Chapter 10
Harry stuck his head into the fireplace, ‘Minerva.’
‘Yes Harry, I’m here.’
‘Is everything okay there?’
‘All’s quiet, the students were not happy about the Hogsmeade weekends being cancelled and they gather that it has something to do with you.’
‘I get that because they saw me at the school not long before the weekends were cancelled. Severus has given me his advice, I need yours as well. I could let them know where the death eaters are even if I don’t really care to help them in anyway.’
‘Severus and I both know why you won’t, but right now even the students cannot enjoy their free time, no one is safe.’
‘Down behind my property is where they are, Salus keeps me informed, could you tell them, I really don’t want to.’
‘I will inform the minister, then hopefully all this nasty business will finally be over.’
‘I’m sorry you lost staff, if I helped sooner you wouldn’t have.’
‘Do not blame yourself for that Harry, they were in the wrong, not you. You felt betrayed and you were hurt. Everything you did and sacrificed seemed to mean nothing to them. Now how is Severus?’
‘He’s healing, he’s a little different as well.’
‘I would expect him to be after spending five years in Azkaban. But tell me how he is different?’
‘Softer, he’s not as hard or as cold as he was. He’s allowed me to help him and see if he’s in pain, which has eased thankfully.’
‘Yes, I’m glad he’s healing, now how are you?’
‘I’m not sure, I love having Sev with me again, but I still feel so empty, it’s only Sev that makes me feel anything.’
‘I’m sure you will start to feel like your old self soon enough.’
‘Maybe, but I’ll let you contact the ministry. If you need anything Minerva, let me know.’
‘I will Harry, just take care of yourself and Severus.’
Harry nodded then pulled his head out of the fireplace to see Severus watching him. ‘She’s worried about you as well.’ Harry slipped his arms around Severus.
‘Minerva has a very caring nature. So you told her where they are?’
‘Yes, she’s going to contact them and if I know them at all I believe we might see some activity going on down there very soon.’
‘Yes, I expect we will. Would you like to sit outside with me, I’m working on how the shop should look, I would like your opinion.’
Harry smiled, every time Severus asked anything of him he felt his heart healing a little at a time. ‘I would like to see what you’ve come up with,’ Harry was surprised again when Severus took his hand and that’s how they walked outside. A few days ago while Draco was visiting Severus, Harry decided to get an outdoor setting instead of always conjuring one that would eventually disappear.
Severus opened his book to show Harry, ‘If I use the name Reginald Parnel, then the name of the shop could be Parnel’s Perfect Potions, what do you think of that name?’
‘I like it, but where did you dig up that name from?’
‘It was my great, great, great uncles name, he died more than a hundred years ago and he was a potions master.’
‘You don’t think anyone would pick up on the name really being you?’
‘I don’t think so, as I said, he died a long time ago and he wasn’t known, just an ordinary wizard who happened to be good at potions but he never did anything big to be known. The other part of this that makes it work is Parnel is part of my name, I never use it, it’s not down on any documents, not in the magical world.’
‘Okay, sounds good so far, so is this how you want the shop planned out?’
‘Yes, naturally a counter and shelves at the front with a secured store cupboard and potions room at the back. So I could be my true self while mixing potions and no one will see me.’
‘You shouldn’t need to do this Sev, you should be able to be yourself and be recognised for your potions.’
‘Maybe once people start buying the potions instead of going to St Mungo’s or having friends or family make them, then I might be able to let it be known.’
‘I hope so, but everyone will ask why you named the shop Parnel’s Perfect Potions.’
‘There are shops that still have the original names from hundreds of years ago even if the owners today have nothing to do with the old owners. It’s like in the muggle world as well, shops or products get named for a variety of reasons. But I had an idea about that, in case someone decides to say I was trying to trick the public, since I was born in a muggle hospital and I am a halfblood my birth records are in the muggle world, so I if anyone wanted to check they would see my name is Severus Tobias Parnel Snape. The other idea is to say that my uncle is the reason I became to love potions so I named the shop for him. Some of those old books I have do belong to him, they had been passed down through the family.’
Harry grinned hugely, ‘You are clever Sev, that is a great idea, no one can say anything about the name if you do that but you’re also legal. Okay, so when do you feel like you will be up to going to the ministry for a business license?’
‘I believe another week, since you do not want to go there I was going to ask if you would mind Draco coming with me, he can change his appearance. Now why I want to ask Draco and not you is I thought maybe you could have a look at some shops for us to use.’
‘Would you trust me to find something suitable?’
‘Yes, I do trust you Harry, that is why I want you to look for the shop and it keeps you away from the ministry. Even if you could change your appearance, if you saw someone from the wizengamot you might not handle that very well.’
‘No, I wouldn’t, okay, you and Draco go and I feel better knowing you won’t be alone even though you are getting well, you’re still underweight. So when are you going to let Draco know about all this?’
‘If it’s alright with you, he could come for dinner and we can discuss everything.’
‘It’s fine and you don’t have to ask Sev, this is your home, I said I’ll give him a go, so if you want him to visit I’ll give him permission to get through the enchantments then I won’t have to bring him in.’
‘Thank you love, it’s just going to take me a while to get used to sharing my life with you. Before it was different, we were at Hogwarts, so it wasn’t my home it was just where I worked. I am close to Draco and I would like to be able to see him and right now he is in the same situation as I am, no one will trust him, and he is alone in the world.’
‘I know, so it’s all good, so I’ll get him soon, I want to see if anything is happening down there, I might even call Salus.’
‘Then go down to the lake, see if your friend is there. I’m just going to sit here and make some more notes.’
‘Okay, I won’t be long,’ Harry kissed Severus then walked slowly down to the bushes near the lake, “Salus, are you about?” Harry called in parseltongue.
A minute later the small snake slide under the bushes, “Did you want something Harry?”
“Yeah, have you seen anything going on over there?”
“No, I haven’t even seen any of them, we’re not sure if they have left or just inside.”
“Okay, I’ve let the ministry know, so I wanted to warn you that there might be a lot of fighting going on soon, but I’m not sure when. So make sure you stay away and tell your family.”
“I will Harry, hopefully that means the rats will return, I do miss rats.”
Harry chuckled, “I’m sure they will Salus, I have to go, keep a look out,” Harry turned and hurried back to Severus who was still writing in his book, so Harry stood staring at the man he loved, he could see Severus was getting better, hopefully very soon it would mean they could make love, something Harry has been looking forward to for years.