Snape stood outside a Diagon Alley shop like a grim-faced sentry. His life seemed to grow more turbulent by the day.
He never would have imagined that one day he would stand guard while a Gryffindor Mandrake shopped in Diagon Alley—a Mandrake who had bitten him just ten minutes ago!
What was wrong with him?
Snape began to wonder whether Ritchie's bite had somehow transferred the water in her brain into his.
Inside, the Mandrake kept exclaiming over everything. Her trumpet-like voice came through loud and clear even through the thick glass.
"Wow, those sweets look good. Wrap some up, please."
"That chocolate looks great too—what, it's filled with liquor? No, no, children can't have alcohol. Wrap two separately for me, though."
"Wow, that cake is so much fun! Do you have one where the little candy people on top don't move? Right, I don't want them dancing."
A vein throbbed at Snape's temple.
Worse, Diagon Alley was the busiest street in the Wizarding World. Even on Christmas Day, plenty of people were out.
Passersby cast curious looks at the fool standing alone outside a sweet shop on Christmas.
Snape: ...
He glared at every one of them.
"P-Professor Snape." A stammering voice sounded beside him. A pale young man greeted him nervously. "Y-you came to Diagon Alley yourself?"
What kind of question was that?
"Jones," Snape said with a cold curl of his lip. "I heard you became a pharmacist after graduation. Have you poisoned your own brain?"
"Yes, yes... Ah, no, no." Sweat broke out on Jones's face, and he hurriedly wiped it away. "Sorry, Professor Snape. Have a merry Christmas."
Snape's expression turned even darker.
Jones could no longer withstand the venom dripping from the Snake King's gaze. He forced a smile and hurried toward the street corner.
A sharp crack came from around the corner—Snape had frightened him into Apparition.
At the end of his patience, Snape reached for the door. "Miss Ritchie, if you would be so kind—"
You've wasted fifteen minutes in this one shop alone!
The door opened from inside at that very moment. A small head nearly plunged into his chest, and Snape stepped back in distaste.
Its owner did not seem to notice. Wearing a silly smile, she looked up at him with sparkling eyes. "Professor, is there any candy you like?"
"I did not agree to spend Christmas with you."
Snape made the point solemnly.
"Oh, even if we don't celebrate together, eating sweets together is still fun."
Eliana chattered on like a lively little sparrow. "Professor, do you eat fudge?"
Snape ignored her.
His silence did nothing to dampen Eliana's enthusiasm. She tried another. "Peppermint drops?"
Snape said, "If you've finished shopping, hurry up. Fifteen minutes have already passed."
"Treacle tart? Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans? Candied pineapple? A chocolate-banana ice cream boat?"
Eliana pretended not to hear him and kept asking hopefully.
Snape turned to leave.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Quick as a flash, Eliana grabbed his robe. "I won't ask anymore. I'm going to pay right now. We'll leave in a moment."
She gave him an ingratiating smile, then popped back into the shop.
Snape exhaled sharply through his nose.
Fortunately, Ritchie did not take much longer. Soon Eliana emerged laden with bags and parcels. Her appearance now matched her character perfectly—a dim-witted little turtle.
"Can we go?"
Snape turned to find somewhere to use Apparition. He had had enough of today!
Someone tugged his robe again.
Snape's face darkened as though he might flay a random passerby right there in the street.
Eliana bared her little canine teeth in an appeasing grin. Her voice was small, making her sound terribly well-behaved. "I... I still want to go to The Leaky Cauldron. There's nowhere to buy meat here."
Snape looked down at her without expression.
"Please." She gazed at him with pitiful, watery eyes. "It's been ages since anyone at our orphanage has had a proper meal with meat."
Snape: ...
Eliana: ☆▽☆
Snape: .
Eliana: QAQ ɵ̷̥̥᷄᎔ɵ̷̥̥᷅ orz
Snape let out a heavy breath. "Ten minutes, Ritchie."
Eliana: Yay! (≧∀≦)
In the end, he waited half an hour. Eliana had bought so much that Tom at the pub had worked his hands nearly to the point of smoking before finally preparing her order: twenty buttered flatbreads, twenty with chicken, twenty with beef, thirty Cornish pasties, eight roast chickens, and forty chicken legs and wings.
"Does your orphanage house a roomful of three-headed hellhounds?"
Snape asked calmly, his face numb from waiting.
Eliana gave him a smile full of hardship.
"That's enough, Miss Ritchie." Snape rose calmly. "Now you will leave Diagon Alley and return to your orphanage, and I will return to Spinner's End."
Someone tugged his robe again, yanking him backward by the collar.
"What. Now?"
Clutching the fabric, Eliana tilted her head up like a pitiful kitten. "Professor, could you take me back? There's rather a lot, and I can't carry it all. We young Wizards can't use magic outside school—and I'm afraid someone might rob me on the way."
Her long lashes fluttered expectantly like little fans. Her pink-and-white cheeks puffed out slightly, making her look adorable.
To Snape, she looked nothing but infuriating.
Eliana: looking up.jpg
Eliana: staring.jpg
"London Hope House Orphanage. It's by Vauxhall Bridge."
"Ritchie," Snape growled, finally losing patience, "your detention is extended until after the final exams!"
He grabbed Eliana by the back of her neck and flicked his wand through the air with his other hand.
The world spun. They landed in a familiar alley, and as their feet touched the ground, Eliana's purchases rained down around them with a clatter.
Snape waved his wand again, stacking the bags and parcels neatly to one side.
He looked coldly at Eliana, whose eyes seemed full of stars dancing hand in hand. "Then—"
Though she looked too dizzy to understand a word, Eliana suddenly lunged forward and wrapped both arms around his leg. Then she shouted toward the orphanage doors at the top of her lungs:
"Susan! Susan! Come out! Hurry! I ran into my teacher while I was shopping, and he brought me back but wants to leave without even having a drink of water! Come help me stop him!"
The unexpected move made Snape's pupils widen. For a moment, he even forgot to peel Eliana off—and missed his best chance to leave.
Mrs. Brown rushed out in a panic, still wearing her apron and carrying an empty plate she had not had time to put down.
"What is it? What happened?" she asked anxiously.
Eliana loosened her grip on his leg a little, smug with triumph.
Under the Witchcraft Secrecy Act, no Wizard could use magic in front of non-magical people. Professor Snape wasn't getting away now, hahaha.
Before you continue