Even before they reached the Black house, Severus felt someone's gaze on him, sharp and unwavering. He did not need to guess whose it was. When he looked toward the source of that feeling, he was met by a pair of cold, dark eyes.
Well, we're never going to get along, are we... He smirked inwardly and shifted his gaze from the window down to the front door of an otherwise unremarkable four-story building, which was already beginning to open. At the same instant, Bella's hand moved away from his, and his hand slid from her waist.
"This can't be hidden any longer. They already know."
"There is no 'us'!" She shot him a sharp look, and in the next instant she yelped in surprise, her cheeks flaming, her hand flying back to cover herself after the slap that had just landed there. "You...!" But she did not finish the sentence. A man had emerged from the house. She turned away from Severus with a furious glare, adopted the brightest smile she could manage, and inclined her head. "Good evening, Uncle. As you requested, I've brought him."
"Lord Black," Severus said with a slight nod, taking the measure of the man before him with quiet interest. He would have been difficult to place at forty. He had dark hair worn long and tied back, a short beard that joined smoothly with a mustache and sideburns, and the same dark eyes that seemed to be a family trait among the Blacks, along with an aristocratic pallor. He wore black trousers, a shirt a shade lighter, and a matching waistcoat.
"Mr. Snape. I'm glad you decided to come." The aristocrat smiled faintly and gave a slight nod of his own, studying the young man in front of him. "Please, come in. I hope you'll dine with us this evening?"
"I'd be honored."
"Excellent. Bellatrix, escort our guest."
"Yes." She shot Severus an unfriendly look, drew a slow breath to compose herself, and said, "Follow me."
"Of course." She stepped through the door, and he followed. Lord Black entered last, his gaze trailing after them thoughtfully.
Interesting young man... In his forty-nine years, Orion had moved among many people, none of them particularly simple, and had spent a great deal of time wading through the swamp called high society. He had learned to read people quickly. A single glance was usually enough to tell him whether he could do business with someone, whether to keep them close or at arm's length. But to his surprise, behind the half-smile on this schoolboy's face, he could make out nothing at all. It was not the first time he had encountered someone like that, but such people were usually a good deal older than this boy. It was perhaps not so surprising, given that this one had accumulated a small fortune in a short time and established himself among the wealthiest families in Britain.
"Hmm!" The sound came from the staircase. He glanced over to find his wife watching him, and her expression, while carefully composed, told him she was barely keeping her temper. Hardly surprising: he had neglected to tell her that Severus would be dining with them, only that a guest was coming, a fact that produced a wry smile somewhere in his chest. I should never have let her mother move in here...
"What is the meaning of this?"
"I wanted to see for myself who could have such a strong influence on our niece," he replied, meeting her gaze steadily.
"You actually intend to marry off our niece to this impertinent half-blood?! Have the Galleons in his account clouded your judgment?! Do you want to taint our bloodline?!" By the end of it, the lady's voice had risen to something close to a shout, and the man's expression tightened.
"Calm yourself..."
"Do you understand what you're doing?!"
"Enough!" he said sharply, stepping forward until he stood directly in front of her. "You've worked yourself into a frenzy over blood purity. Yes, our family motto is 'Toujours pur,' but it's precisely because of that motto that I wouldn't be surprised to see us end up like the Mrkses or the Dollases, whose patriarch was born with severe damage from generations of marriages between close cousins. Or have you forgotten our family's second motto: 'Everything for the family'?"
"Those wretched trips abroad of yours have changed you beyond recognition! If you allow this, you'll bring nothing but shame to this house!"
"He is not Muggle-born, but half-blood. What exactly is your objection? We discussed this a year ago, especially after your idea of proper upbringing led to Andromeda running off with a Muggle, and you weren't opposed to half-bloods then. What's changed? And nothing has even been decided between them yet. What is this really about, or is it simply personal?" At those last words, the woman's expression shifted, and she remembered the day that boy had humiliated her in front of the whole family, an insult her pride could not let go of. Orion caught the change, and the grimness on his face deepened. "So. Personal. What happened between you?" But her expression told him she had no intention of answering, and a weary sigh escaped him. "Very well. We'll talk properly after dinner, and you will tell me everything."
Meanwhile, Severus and Bella had been listening, if "listening" was quite the word for eavesdropping on an argument loud enough to carry through the whole house.
"We're already married," Severus remarked with a smirk, watching the witch fix him with a displeased stare.
"What happened between you and my aunt?" She ignored his comment, because getting Walburga Black to set herself against you with that degree of fervor took some doing. In aristocratic circles, the woman was often called the Iron Lady.
"Nothing of great importance. I simply made it clear that she shouldn't meddle in your life and should let you decide for yourself what to do with it," he replied calmly, washing his hands under the warm faucet while she stood in the doorway frowning at him. "I also, as it happens, roughed up your house-elf a bit, though in my defense he attacked me first."
"I see... but you shouldn't have." She offered nothing further, simply turned and left. "I'll wait outside."
"Fine. I'll just wash my face and come out." He watched her go with a faint look of amusement, then caught his own reflection in the mirror. Women really are impossibly complicated. He hadn't done anything, as far as he could tell, and yet here they were. Though she had received the news without visible reaction, inwardly there had been such a rush of conflicting emotions, from something almost warm to something distinctly cooler, that Severus had to dampen the seal within her to avoid feeling it all himself.
A minute later he left the room and followed Bella downstairs, where she had already returned more or less to her usual self. The staircase was empty; the rest of the family had assembled in the dining hall. Seated around the long table, alongside Walburga and Orion, was Narcissa, watching the entering pair with mild curiosity. It was not, after all, every day that one saw one's parents quarrel over a half-blood, and she retained a certain interest in Severus since that other evening.
"Please, sit down." Orion waved a hand in welcome. A house-elf, invisible until then, pulled out two chairs facing one another, and shot a rather hostile look at Severus for his earlier offense against the mistress.
Thank you. With a brief nod, both of them sat. A moment later the table was laden with a vast and varied spread of dishes.
The next hour passed pleasantly enough, conversation drifting to entirely neutral ground: the weather, books, life at school. Severus was mildly surprised to learn that Orion had known his mother, though Orion had been a year above her at Hogwarts. He spoke well of her, though with some puzzlement that she had ended up with a Muggle, given that she had been seeing a pureblood when she graduated.
They also spoke about other countries Severus intended to visit after finishing school, and when he described what he planned to do with himself afterwards, Orion offered a few suggestions worth considering.
The two of them, to Walburga's evident displeasure and the sisters' quiet surprise, found common ground without much difficulty and settled into an easy conversation. It was not, in truth, especially remarkable: if one accounted for the forty-seven years Severus had lived in his previous life and almost two more in this one, the two men were of a similar age, and Severus read widely and thought broadly enough to hold a conversation with virtually anyone. He could probably have found common ground with Dumbledore, if it came to it.
When dinner was finally concluded, Orion asked him to stay on for a private word. The women excused themselves with varying degrees of willingness; Walburga visibly did not want to go, but a look from her husband was enough, and she left with a pointed step, leaving the two men alone.
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Chapters on Patreon progress: Currently at;
1. Harry Potter: Satan? Nah, Just My Family Crest = CHAPTER 269
2.Marvel: Cosmic Forger of Infinity = CHAPTER 188
3.Harry Potter: Beyond Good and Evil in the Wizarding World = CHAPTER 270
4.Harry Potter: Reborn as Draco Black = CHAPTER 115
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