Anna-Karin 2004
Author's disclaimer: The characters portrayed in this story does not belong to me. They belong to J.K. Rowling. I am merely using them for my own amusement, and I am not making any money of this, so no copyright infringement intended.
Author's note: This is written for Walpurgis night 2004.
Snape manor rose above the heath like a dark cloud on a sunny day. The heath around the manor house was lovely with purple heather and and small juniper trees. Wild bees flew around collecting the nectar from the Heather and other small flowers on the heath. Here and there birds sang, hidden in the thorn rose bushes and the juniper trees. A rabbit hopped from under a bush and ran to a hole only a few yards away.
The manor itself was a dark building. Its stones had darkened to a almost black shade, with only a few glimpses here and there of the original light color. Its windows were huge, nine-glass windows. The gate to the house was always locked, and the wild ivy had begun to climb over it, partially blocking it.
The building was kept together by spells and charms. There were charms to keep the rotten beams from falling down, and there was a spell to prevent the mould from spreading. But there was nothing that could be done about the air of a house where nobody lived. It was stale, smelling of dust and wet curtains and old yellowing papers.
Severus Snape visited the place about once a year. The people in the village, St-Mary-On-The- Heath, on the road to Snape manor knew that he was a chemistry teacher at a school in Scotland. And that was all they knew about him. It didn't stop them from speculating, though.
And speculate they did, over a cup of tea in the parlor of Mrs. Travers, or a pint in The Briar and the Rose, the village pub.
They spoke of a rift between Mr. Julius Snape, Severus Snape's grandfather and his son, Claudius Snape, who was Severus Snape's father. It was common knowledge that old Snape had bequeathed the manor and the heath around it to his grandson. It was also known that Claudius Snape had been banned from the manor. It wasn't old Snape who had done that, but young Snape.
There were rumors of what Claudius Snape had been up to in the manor before his son had thrown him off the property. The rumors involved strange people in dark robes and white masks, rites no good man or woman should be part of, and some sort of sorcery. But those rumors were not commonly believed and told more as ghost stories around the campfire than anything else.
One day in april 2004, a sunny day when the cherry tree in the parson's garden was in bloom, and the thorn rose bushes on the heath were budding, a tall thin man, dressed in an old-fashioned black coat, stepped off the train from London in St-Mary-On-The-Heath.
Narcissa Malfoy, the CEO of Fundeo Potions, sat at her desk in her office on Diagon Alley. She was reading through today's mail, putting aside the bills and the orders for later. At the bottom of the pile was a small envelope. It looked very plain, and of no danger to anyone, but since Narcissa couldn't see anything magical at all about it, she got a little suspicious.
There were people who couldn't put up with the fact that an ex-death eater, and the ex-wife of another death eater, could lead a successful business in the post-Voldemort age. A while ago she'd gotten a curse sent to her that way, and she was a little wary ever since. She picked it up, using a a pair of pliers, and looked at it closely. There were Muggle postage stamps on it, but no sender address. It was addressed to her though, to the address she used when dealing with Muggles.
She opened it and found that it was an invitation to the burning of Snape manor. And it was signed by her head of research, Severus Snape. Puzzled she went to her fireplace and flooed to her son Draco, who was currently handling the company's juridical department. Draco's job was to make sure that the company's activities didn't clash with magical law. In those cases that it did, he was to find loopholes or other ways to resolve the situation. Sometimes it required the help of his assistants Crabbe and Goyle to either carry the illegal stuff or to act as bulvans.
Draco informed her that Snape had invited him to the burning too. He also told her that he had helped him with moving the library and the magical artifacts from Snape manor to a storage vault at Gringott's via floo.
Miss Hermonine Granger, Snape's assistant, who was visiting Draco in his office for a talk about how to legally acquire runespoors, had added that she didn't know either. From what Draco had told her, she thought that the house was due for either a thorough renovation or a burning.
Miss Granger had worked for the company ever since the Second Fall of Lord Voldemort. She was working as Snape's assistant, apprentice, handy-woman and secretary. Often Narcissa had found herself in the odd position of comforting the young woman when Snape had told her off for something or other. But the girl had grown tougher over the four years she had been working at the company.
Neville Longbottom was another employee Narcissa had to play sympathetic aunt to in the beginning. The boy had been frightened by Snape in the beginning, but as he grew into the job as Potions Ingredients Supplier, he got a bit more sure of himself. Why, this year he had even told Snape to shut up and listen once. That had been an a disagreement over what to substitute for for poppy in a sleeping draught based on honey. And Mr. Longbottom had stood his ground.
Narcissa decided that she and Draco should go and see the fire.
Severus Snape, formerly potions professor of Hogwarts school of Magic and currently the head of the research department of Fundeo Potions, looked around. Not much had changed, he thought. The railway station was still an old brick house, and the curtains on the second floor were still made of lace. Nice to know that some things still stayed the same.
Snape took a cab, the only one in the village, to Snape manor. The driver tried to make some small talk, but his passenger didn't answer to any of his questions. The last part of the journey was made in silence.
Within ten minutes everyone knew that Severus Snape had returned to the manor. An hour later the local fire brigade was visited by him. The next day the village was abuzz with the news that Snape of Snape manor was going to burn down the manor. The fire brigade had been invited to make sure the fire was not going to spread from the manor to the heath. They had also been informed that the insurance on the house had not been paid for the past ten years.
The burning of the manor was going to take place on Walpurgis night, which was a week later. It would probably be the biggest Walpurgis night fire ever held in that part of the county.
Then the villagers got another piece of news to chew on, just as they had finished digesting the earlier news. Snape was going to build a new house on the grounds of the old one. A local building company, renowned for their skillful restoration of medieval churches, had made an offer to build the new manor.
When Walpurgis night came, most of the village had decided to go and see the Snape Fire, as the event had been named by the more witty of the gossips. People came from all over the area, and brought baskets with food with them. A hot dog vendor had put up his portable stove close to the house, and prepared for some good business.
Among the spectators were a pair of tall white-blonde persons, who seemed to be mother and son. Both of them were clad in fine hand-tailored clothes in black and dark purple.
The strangers were politely observed by the villagers, and they were observing them in return.
Narcissa Malfoy and her son Draco had never seen so many muggles before, and they wondered why Snape had allowed those people to come to the manor.
"Why would he want to burn down his own house?" Narcissa asked out loud.
"I don't know", said Draco.
At nine o'clock that evening Snape came out of the house, carrying an empty can of gasoline.
To great surprise of the witch and the wizard he did not go to them first, but to the Muggles. He greeted an old man and shook hands with two old ladies, before turning his attention to the Malfoys.
"Hello", he said to Narcissa.
"Hello", Narcissa replied, while Draco waved his hand.
"I see you've accepted my invitation", said Snape and picked up a lighter.
Snape handled the thing as if he was very familiar with it, which made Narcissa rise her eyebrow.
Snape lit the lighter with just the barest minimum of fuss. Then he walked back to the building. Softly he whispered "finite incantatem".
The building began to crumble as the magic keeping it together disappeared. The roof caved in. The floor-beams broke under the weight of the years and the roof. The walls fell together, burying the roof and the woodwork under a pile of stone.
Snape threw the lighter at the ruin that just moments before had been a proud old manor.
The people of the village and the visitors from rest of the county had never seen a bonfire lit up that fast.
A while later most of the people around had recovered from the chock of seeing something crumble to dust so very quickly, and were busy grilling hot dogs and marshmallows on skewers around the huge fire. Someone had brought a guitar and was playing springtime songs. There were also singing and dancing, with some of the bolder jumping over smaller fires protruding from the big one.
And in a corner, close to the manor fire, the Malfoys sat and watched the fire, sharing the picnic basket they'd brought.
Snape was not with them. He was with the locals, the Muggles, and seemed to have a grand old time. He was busy talking to an old man, who looked like a priest.
Narcissa decided to overcome a lifetime of avoiding Muggles and rose to mingle with them. Draco followed her example. To their surprise they had a really good time, talking with the locals, and occasionally changing a word with Snape.
The night passed. The fire died out. The spectators went home, one and one or in groups. Mothers carried their babies, who had fallen asleep during the night. Yawning children were half carried, half lead by their sleepy fathers back to village. The fire department poured water on the smoking remains of Snape manor. Then they too left.
There were loud comments among the leaving people. "Best bloody May Day fire ever", one said. "Nice party, and the hot dogs weren't half bad", said another. "Hic...great..hic...feast... hic...", said a third.
"Severus", said Narcissa, "Severus, my friend, what is all this about?"
Snape, who had returned after seeing the old parson to his house down in the village, didn't respond immediately. Instead he took his time thinking of an answer. The others waited quietly.
"Well", said Snape. "You know", he began, "they call me young Snape in these parts. To distinguish between me and my grandfather, old Snape. I was sent here during the summer holidays. Grandfather taught me my first potions lessons, and he helped me with my homework during the school holidays. He was a good man. He left me this house, and I promised I'd burn it down and build a new manor.""But why burn it down?" said Narcissa when Snape paused to draw breath. "It could have been standing for many more years."
"It was build by wizards, and as such, not very good quality. Everything in the manor had been chosen for their magical properties, not their quality as a building material. And the wards and spells were wearing off. And to keep the house possible to live in, one would have had to renew the spells and the wards at least once a week. And while I was saving up money, I just renewed them once a year, to make sure the manor wouldn't fall together on me."
"I see", said Narcissa, and Draco nodded in agreement. The Malfoy manor were kept together with the same kind of magic so they knew what Snape was talking about.
"I've contracted a Muggle construction company who shall build the new manor. I contacted an architect last autumn, and the building shall start next week." Snape smiled.
Draco knew that seeing Snape smile was a rare thing. And so he put it down in his mental diary that he had seen Snape burn down his manor and be happy about it.
And as the sun rose over the softly undulating hills and boulders of the heath, Snape described the layout and the looks of the new house. He spoke in great detail about the local materials, some of it recycled from other demolished houses in the area. He walked among the ashes of the old manor, pointing out that the library was going to be the center of the house, with the rest of the rooms in wings around it.
"The library will take up the first and second floors of the main building. The ground floor will have the dining room and the parlor. And of course I'll have my laboratory in a wing, separate from the main house, in case of fire or Longbottom", said Snape and continued with a long description of the wards he'd have to put up once the books and the other magical artifacts were in place.
Narcissa listened quietly, letting her mind wander. Then it came to her why one light bonfires on Walpurgis night. All the trash from the previous years, from the winter and the spring of this year, going up fire and smoke, welcoming in the summer.
Snape had had a tough time, Narcissa thought, and had figuratively been out in the cold for many years. Now he had burned up the trash of the past, celebrating the end of those long dark years. As she completed the thought she nodded to herself:
It was going to be a beautiful day.
It was going to be a good summer.
THE END