Chasing Moonbeams. Ch8.
Jul. 28th, 2019 07:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pekelekeTitle: Chasing Moonbeams.
Author: pekeleke
Pairing(s): Severus Snape/Harry Potter
Rating: NC-17, eventually.
Length: 82K+
Warnings: Extremely Slow burn. Pre-slash to slash. Enemies to friends to lovers. Pinning!Harry. Oblivious!Severus. Implied Bottom!Severus. EWE.
Disclaimer: Don't own these characters. I make no profit from writing fanfiction.
Summary: “Really?” Harry beams, green eyes wide and full of wonder. “You’re going to let me snog you to my heart’s content?”
Chapter 8.
Severus struggles with the enforced inactivity that is part and parcel of his stay at Hogwarts’s infirmary for the next two days. His meeting with Emille had been both enlightening and reassuring, but the glow it left him with faded overnight. Severus has enough data notebooks to bore ten dedicated goblins to tears. Severus is neither a goblin nor a particularly firm believer of the theory that charm-creation is the result of hour upon hour of studious data analysis. Magic follows straightforward rules. Intent is king in charm work, and no herculean ingestion of result table after result table will tell a spellcrafter worth his salt what the intention of a new charm should be if he can’t glimpse the purpose of it from the start.
Severus has no trouble at all glimpsing the purpose of the spell Emille needs him to craft, but he’s wandless, and therefore stuck working with mere theories until he can get his hands on a new stick. The wait is driving him mad. He’s always been hands-on with his special projects; and although he is perfectly capable of exercising patience Severus is only stuck at Hogwarts because Emille is contractually obligated to offer a full week of round the clock medical supervision to every member of the public he treats with his developing potion as part of the protocol for the brew’s human trials. Severus is perfectly healthy otherwise and growing slowly mad with boredom.
Severus is not allowed to venture outside the confines of the infirmary’s staff ward. Minerva, worried that his current lack of a wand puts him at risk of becoming the unintended recipient of carelessly cast magic, has forbidden him from leaving his sick room. Moreover, being wandless keeps Severus from entertaining himself by brewing the complex mixtures the infirmary is in perpetual need of restocking, assisting his ex-colleagues with their classes or even guest lecturing a small seminar or two either in the field of Potions, Charm Creation or DADA, thus condemning Severus to a most odious and mind-numbing estate of idleness.
Draco writes to him once but doesn’t come to visit. The boy is wary of Hogwarts, just like most Slytherin students of his generation are. Halfway through Severus’s never-ending week, Pansy and Daphne come bearing oodles of grace and pureblood elegance, a large box of Severus’s favorite exploding bonbons, and the lofty ambition to keep him entertained for several hours with the aid of a humongous arsenal of hilarious gossip.
It’s Daphne, whose father happens to be one of the few Slytherin patriarchs to have retained his close ties to the Ministry, postwar, the one who takes it upon herself to enlighten Severus as to what, exactly, is going on in Potter’s professional life just as the tea Severus requests from the house elves finally arrives. According to his ex-student, someone high in the Ministry’s hierarchy has it indeed for Potter, but the situation is neither as dire nor as treacherous in spirit as Severus had presumed. For the small price of recounting the nitty-gritty of his ridiculous ‘interview’ with Prickard, Severus becomes acquainted with the ins and outs of the somewhat puzzling little feud that seems to have developed over the past year between Harry Potter and John Dawlish.
It turns out that assigning Potter to the Safe Neighborhood Program hadn’t been as insupportable a patronizing act of babysitting the savior on the part of the Ministry as Severus had assumed. According to Daphne’s father, a number of high ranking Ministry officials attended a closed-door meeting on the eve of Potter’s graduation from the Auror Academy. It was decided there that giving the savior the least glamorous assignment they could think of for the first six months of his career, would grant the Ministry enough moral high ground to deny the future rumors of blatant favoritism that would indubitably arise as soon as they managed to bring Potter back into the fold and proceeded to pamper him stupid. Thus Weasley was given from the start the prestigious job Potter was denied, while the savior was relegated to prowling up and down Sunlit Lane for half a year.
Potter took the slight somewhat philosophically, Granger was positively incensed, and Weasley was the happiest of the lot. Weasley ended up having to explain to the other two that the people who ran the Ministry probably didn’t have plans to make him Head Auror as soon as humanly possible or push him through hook or crook into running for Minister of Magic the moment he hit a traditionally ‘mature’ age bracket. Long story short, Potter took over Sunlit Lane’s beat. Six months passed in utterly boring peace and, a mere week before the Savior's first assignment would be officially over, the Ministry offered him a Junior Detective Auror position in Dawlish’s team which, bearing in mind that John Dawlish created, and still runs, the only Special Hexes And Battlemages team in the Ministry’s payroll, is an astonishingly prestigious opportunity to waste on a recently graduated Auror.
Shockingly, Potter failed to break out in delighted glee at the generous offer and, in a move that puzzled everyone involved, requested to be granted a six-month extension on his first assignment citing the ‘peaceful’ nature of the job. Cue in instant Ministry higher-ups conviction that Potter suffers a more severe form of war-related PTSD than the rest of us, mortals. They decided that granting the savior his extension would serve two purposes at once: it’d further cement in the public’s mind the idea that the Ministry doesn’t favor Potter, and give the boy hero six extra months of respite to heal after the end of the war.
“So, what happened then?” Severus asks with a frown. Potter has been on his neighborhood’s beat for two years already. It’s obvious that the brat didn’t accept the next cushy assignment either, but Severus can’t imagine how he managed to convince the Ministry’s top brass to let their bright plans for his future go. Potter isn’t a random Junior Auror. He’s a symbol of peace, of prosperity, to everyone in the Wizarding World. Merlin knows the Ministry needs to have that sort of symbol firmly working on their side after the horrible mess Cornelius Fudge made of his frankly inept tenure.
Shacklebolt is a savvy man. He’s dealt with the government's corruption. Overseen the slow and painful process of replacing the stubborn old dinosaurs with younger and more enthusiastic characters, and has passed several laws aimed at encouraging equality and prosperity for a wide swath of the general population in the last few years. Shacklebolt isn’t Potter though, and he never will be. There are things Harry Potter can achieve as a Minister of Magic that are just not possible for any other man out there. Severus doesn’t think anyone currently serving in politics would be willing to shelve those sorts of dreams for any reason whatsoever.
“Well, I heard from Terry Boot, who heard it from Cho Chang, who heard it from Hannah Abbot, who heard it from Reginald Cattermole, who heard it directly from Percy Weasley’s mouth that, ten months into the job, Potter made an official request to be permanently assigned to the Sunlit Lane beat,” Pansy tells him.
Daphne swallows the small sip of tea she’d taken and places her teacup delicately on its saucer with a slight nod of agreement. “That’s right. Potter’s desire to become a permanent fixture in the Safe Neighborhood Program came as a shock to everyone. Well, everyone except his childhood cohorts. I heard from Greg, who heard it from Lavender Brown, who heard it from Seamus Finnigan, who heard it from Angelina Weasley, nee Johnson, who heard it from Ronald Weasley himself that Potter fell madly in love with some motherly sort. The Boy Who Lived won’t accept any assignment that could potentially take him away from home on a regular basis, and he won’t accept any job that could psychically endanger him either. Apparently, Potter’s sweetheart is some sort of peace-loving maniac.”
“Potter fell madly in love with a motherly, peace-loving maniac,” Severus repeats that statement while staring, utterly dumbfounded, at Daphne’s amused expression.
“I know. It’s bonkers, right? This sort of thing never happens to us. Leave it to the Gryffindors to finally produce practically perfect Minister of Magic material, and lose their chance at changing the Wizarding World for the better because their chosen hero is too dumb to realize that he can fall madly in love and stay on task at the same time.”
“So what, is Dawlish in love with Potter’s woman too, and they’re feuding about it? I thought the man was married to the German bint who runs the trendy cafe in the corner of Vertical Alley.”
“Oh, no. Dawlish couldn’t care less about Potter’s paramour, Severus. Dawlish is pissed off that Potter won’t join his task force. He’s offered him the position three times already, and when Potter kept refusing it, Dawlish went as far as to invent some sort of desk-bound consultant job. Potter turned that down too. Robbards tried to intervene then. He pulled rank and ordered Potter to join the special task force or else. Daddy says that Potter went ballistic. He told the head Auror to get stuffed, dropped his badge on the desk between them, and walked right out of the Ministry.”
“Potter walked out on Robbards?” Severus gapes, thoroughly appalled at the news. “How on Earth did they manage to keep that out of the press?”
“Well, there was a lot of bowing and scraping after Potter.” Pansy butted in. “Lisa Turpin, who happens to be Robbards’ latest secretary, told me that Potter insisted he wouldn’t return unless they guaranteed that he could stay at Sunlit Lane. They had to assign him the beat officially before he even agreed to take back his badge. Dawlish was positively mortified and Robbards even more so.”
“That’s true.” Daphne agrees, leaning forward in her chair and lowering her voice, in a subtle attempt to underline the confidential nature of the information she’s about to share, ”Daddy says the members of the upper cabinet have been frothing at the mouth for months. They don’t have a hope in hell of grooming Potter into the next Minister for Magic unless he serves at least two years in a high ranking position in the field of law and order, which they can’t give him if the idiot insists on staying in the Safe Neighborhood Program. Rumor has it they aim to pin a minor misdemeanor on Potter, so they can force him into a desk job for a while and then push him up the Ministry’s ladder from there.”
“I see. I’m afraid I may have ruined their best chance to get at Potter then.” Severus points out quietly, leaning against the backrest of his chair, and wondering how he feels about that.
“Pft!” Pansy snorts delicately. “They’ll find a way to wrestle Potter into submission in the end. The poor bastard doesn’t have a hope in hell of escaping their greedy little clutches. I wonder how that woman of his will react when she learns she has the ear of the future Minister of Magic. She’s about to become the most powerful female in Wizarding Britain.”
“Hmmm. I suppose that’s true. Do we know her at all?” Severus asks curiously, “She can’t pose too much of a threat against former Slytherins if she’s such a rabid pacifist, but it wouldn’t hurt to court her good graces.”
“The words rabid and pacifist shouldn’t make so much sense when uttered together, but they do. Don’t they?” Daphne shudders delicately. “I agree with you, Severus. Buttering up Potter’s woman may be our only chance to ensure someone is in our corner when the Savior makes it to the top. He’s not a fan of Slytherins.”
“That’d be a hell of a lot easier to achieve if someone knew her name,” Pansy grumbles.
“Potter is keeping her in the shadows?” Severus inquires, startled. “Isn’t that a bit strange? You implied that they'd been together for over a year.”
“Maybe she’s as ugly as a Thestral,” Pansy laughs, uncharitably delighted at the prospect. “Or dumber than a garden gnome. Maybe Potter’s girl is a muggle who can’t set foot in the Wizarding World. Wouldn’t that be par for the course for the savior?”
“As amusing as that would be, Pans, I don’t think Potter is dating a muggle. Daddy would know if he was. I can’t see the Ministry refusing to relax the Statue of Secrecy rules for Potter’s muggle lover. They’d lose him altogether otherwise.”
“Well, if she’s not a muggle then who the hell is she? She can’t be a Gryffindor from his year. They’re all either paired up or openly unattached. Lovegood is dating Scamander’s grandson. I’d imagine a Huffy girl would fit the motherly, peace-loving profile, but they all paired up with fellow Huffies when the entire lot was like seven or something. Isn’t it weird how future Hufflepuffs feel drawn to one another? I’ve never been able to understand that.”
Severus snorts, and Daphne laughs outright. Pansy shrugs off their amusement and selects a tiny cucumber sandwich from the platter that accompanied their tea. “It doesn’t make sense for Potter to go to those lengths for a girl he’s unwilling to show off.” Severus points out. “There’s something we’re not seeing.”
“They’ve kept the affair out of the papers too. I mean, nobody outside Potter’s inner circle seems to know the man is taken. Everything is hush-hush about it. There has been no big announcement. No official social presentation. Not even a whisper to imply that Potter’s off the market.”
“Maybe he isn’t, Daphne.” Severus conjectures. “Maybe there’s no girl at all, and Potter is simply tired of fighting evil-wizards. Alternatively, maybe there was a girl, but they broke off, and now he’s trying to lay low.”
“That doesn’t explain why Potter is still sticking to his middle-aged married man demands.” Pansy rejects the possibility Severus just outlined with a firm shake of her head. “No. There must be a girl. And she is skittish as fuck if Potter is trying so hard to keep her out of the limelight.”
“Language, please, Pansy. Your mother will poison my tea the next time she invites me over if she finds out I’m letting you speak thus in my presence.” Severus admonishes her and shakes his head in resigned defeat when she shrugs it off.
“What Mummy doesn’t know won’t hurt her, Severus. I won’t tell if you don’t. And neither will Daphne, so your tea should be safe enough. Now, where was I before you interrupted me so rudely? Ah, yes, Potter has attended every official ball and award ceremony on his own for ages. He used to go to those with Ginevra Weasley. Or Lovegood. Or whichever one of the Patil sisters was free that evening. However, Potter hasn’t taken a girl to a party in over a year. I’m telling you, the man is taken all right. He’s gone from trouble-free bachelor to faithful partner without anyone being the wiser.”
“But someone would have seen them together, Pans. It’s simply impossible for Potter to prance up and down Diagon Alley, shiny new paramour in tow, without attracting the immediate and riveted attention of every journalist alive.”
“It wouldn’t be if they were using Poly-juice.” Severus butts in. “I know for a fact that Hermione Granger is an old hat at making the potion. Potter and his chit could have been masquerading as every Weasley couple in existence for months on end without raising a single eyebrow.”
“That’d work if a bunch of unmitigated Gryffindors had enough brainpower to come up with the idea. However, let’s get real here for a moment: what are the chances that they did? I’m Slytherin, and I didn’t. Would you have, Daphne?”
“I don’t think so. No. That sort of plotting doesn’t come naturally to most. You’re a genius among geniuses, Severus. And the Weasleys may be clever indeed, but they aren’t you.”
“I don’t know what to think then.” He says quietly.
“Welcome to the club, Proffessor.” The girls laugh, and their conversation moves on from Potter’s puzzling love life to Draco’s recent fascination with cursed baroque timepieces, which is a topic Severus finds far less confusing, and a hell of a lot more interesting.
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(no subject)
Date: 2019-08-01 08:10 pm (UTC)And I'd never thought Severus would be so relaxed around former students - he's gossiping with them!
I look forward to seeing more of those two women and (hopefully) their reactions to who actually Potter's woman is. :P
(no subject)
Date: 2019-08-02 01:14 pm (UTC)Thanks, as always, for taking the time to both read and review another chapter of this story, teryarel. Your kind and lovely comment was much appreciated. :)