Chapter 15: A Kiss to Build a Dream On
"Who are you? Give me your name! I'll see that you lose House points for your impertinence!" Snape threatened the girl.
"Are you feeling well, Dad? I'm Salacia. Don't you recognize your own daughter? You just saw me this morning at breakfast!"
Snape and Clancy exchanged looks of bewilderment, but just then, Hagrid opened the door of his cabin. His coarse hair was grayer; his massive shoulders, slightly stooped, but he was still an imposing figure. He spied Salacia.
"'Lacia Snape! What're yeh doin' in my pumpkins? If I catch yeh one more time in there with tha' lad, I'll go straight to yer uncle!" Hagrid opened his door a bit wider, and at last noticed Snape and Clancy. "Beggin' yer pardon, Professor Snape -- ma'am," he said, addressing Clancy. "Yer both lookin' young an' fit today. Bin 'sperimentin' with a new potion or summat? Mrs. Snape don' look no older than she did the fers time I brung her over on the boat! Hardly knew yeh in a kilt, Professor Snape, meanin' no offense, sir."
"Hagrid," Snape asked, "would you mind telling me what year this is?"
"Why, it's 2015, o'course." Hagrid looked at Snape suspiciously.
Inside Hagrid's cabin a short while later, and after several cups of his strong tea, Snape and Clancy were still grappling with the concept than they had somehow been transported to the future. They sat facing an attractive 16-year-old girl who claimed to be their daughter. She did resemble them. Salacia had Snape's dark hair and eyes, but her eyes were much more lively. They glowed defiantly with wanton mischief. She had Clancy's chin, and most fortunately, her nose and teeth. But, Salacia's mouth was something else, again. Her lips wore an amused expression that could be attributed to none other than Aunt Hillary.
"Salacia?" Snape said, wrinkling his nose at the sound. "That's a most unusual name. Your doing, no doubt," he accused Clancy.
"Don't blame Mum! Uncle Albus named me."
"Uncle Albus?"
"Honorary Uncle Albus," Salacia said slowly, as though talking to a child -- or a moron.
"Tell me, Salacia," Snape questioned the girl, "what House are you in?"
"Need you even ask? Slytherin! What else? I am my father's daughter, after all. I mean, my other father -- that's you, too, I suppose. This is a bit confusing, isn't it?"
Clancy seemed disheartened by Salacia's disclosure. "Don't worry, Mum. I sing in the choir. And, before you ask," she said, looking back to Snape, "my marks have always been top-notch. I excel in Potions." Snape smiled proudly.
"Are you popular at school?" Clancy inquired, worried about the fact that her future offspring was a Slytherin.
"Yes, very. Why shouldn't I be?"
Clancy described the resentments among the Houses that she had observed. Salacia waved this off. "House rivalries still exist, but they're not too important. I'm dating a Gryffindor boy."
"That young idiot from the pumpkin patch, I presume," Snape said, suddenly growing protectively paternal. "What is the scoundrel's name?"
"Are you sure you really want to know?" Salacia asked dubiously.
"Nothing could unnerve me at this point. You may as well tell me."
"J.S. Potter, but I call him Jimmy."
Snape flew into a rage. "POTTER? Surely you don't mean --"
"Yes Dad. Jimmy's the son of The Boy Who Blighted Your Life."
Snape began pacing furiously about the room then turned back to Salacia. "He's Gryffindor Seeker, I'll wager."
"No," she laughed. "Jimmy's awful at Quidditch. He's a soloist in the Harmonious Hinkypunks, though."
"Really?" Clancy said, warming a bit. "He can't be all bad, then."
"Not bad?" Outraged, Snape gaped at her. "I would give that boy endless detention and take away every Gryffindor House point -- at least, my future counterpart should!"
"You tried that. Every time you deduct House points from Jimmy, Mum gives them right back again. She knows it's not easy for me to be the daughter of the terrifying Professor Snape. All the boys avoid me like the plague. Jimmy's the only one brave enough to risk seeing me."
"He didn't seem too brave when I confronted him in the pumpkin patch!"
"It must have been the horror of seeing you in a kilt. He probably thought you'd finally gone 'round the bend," Salacia said with a smirk.
"I see your attitude hasn't mellowed throughout the years," Clancy noted to Snape.
"Mum," Salacia said suddenly to Clancy, "your hair's so golden. I'd forgotten how pretty it used to be."
"Does it look that bad now, I mean, will it in the future?"
"Well, you have gone a bit gray."
Snape threw back his head and laughed wickedly.
"Not so fast, Dad," Salacia cautioned. "You're completely bald!" Snape's laughter cut off. "Just joking! Your hair looks the same as it does now--only cleaner," she said, winking at Clancy. "Oh, and you do have one wide patch of white growing down the back. You're beginning to resemble a rather dignified skunk!"
Snape regarded Salacia evenly. "You've a ready wit, young lady."
"I come by it honestly. I was served puns with my porridge and satire with my soup. And, I was tutored in the finer points of wordplay by the very best there is," Salacia revealed, smiling at her mother. "I even picked up a few pointers from you, Dad." Clancy giggled, and even Hagrid, who had been pretending to busy himself with the clearing up, guffawed.
"Professor Snape," Hagrid said, as he crossed the room to join them, "how d'yeh think yeh got here?"
"We were returning from Diagon Alley by broom. The broom began breaking apart, so we had to land on the outer side of the Forbidden Forest. We came through the Forest on foot, and then we arrived here. That is all I know."
"Wait just a minute," Clancy interjected. "Do you recall that hedge with the glimmering leaves? It looked very unusual. Perhaps it could have been bewitched, or something?"
"No!" Hagrid gasped. "Yeh didn' tangle with the Hedge o' Cronos, did yeh?"
"The Hedge of Cronos?" Snape repeated.
"Professor Dumbledore and me are the only ones who know about tha'. 'Ceptin' the centaurs, o'course. They're s'pposed ter keep it trimmed back. I'll have ter let Dumbledore know abou' this."
"Dumbledore's still alive?" Snape asked, incredulous.
"Why certainly, Salacia confirmed. Uncle Albus is the picture of health! He's a veritable phoenix, or didn't you know? His beard's dusting the floor, but he just flings it over his shoulder and carries on. He's still sharp as a Grindylow's horns; I've never been able to beat him at anagrams."
"Hagrid," Clancy asked, "Will we be able to return to our own time?"
"O' course yeh will, ma'am. Don' be worryin' abou' tha'. Make sure yeh go back through the same spot yeh come out, though, or yeh might end up sommers else." Snape and Clancy relaxed when they heard this. "Jus' one more thing yeh should know," Hagrid continued. "Professor Dumbledore put a Memory Charm on the Hedge. Once yeh pass back through, yeh won' remember yeh was even here. He did tha' because it's a bad thing to be messin' with Time Travel."
Clancy nodded sadly. The Memory Charm made sense, but she wished she would be able to remember what she had learned.
Salacia gave her a hug. "Don't worry, Mum. We'll meet again." The daughter reached for her mother's hand and led her over to a corner by the fire for a private chat. "Was this the weekend?" Salacia queried.
"What do you mean?"
"You know, when Uncle Albus sent Dad to the Leaky Cauldron to return you to Hogwarts?"
"How on earth could you possibly know about that?" Clancy asked, astonished.
"You told me the story when I was old enough to ask you about your courtship. You two were in love, but neither of you wanted to be the first to admit it."
"Salacia, I --"
"Come on, confess! I know quite a lot about your future. During the school week, I stay at the castle, but at the weekends, I stay with you. Sometimes, when you think I'm sleeping, I sneak down the passage and listen outside your bedroom door. I often hear you call Dad 'Snapini', and tell him how great he is. Then, he starts calling you 'Lulu'. Before too long, you invariably end up discussing all the odd things one can do with a pineapple ... "
"SALACIA!"
"Shh, Mum! You don't want Dad and Hagrid to overhear us, do you?"
"Certainly not."
"Dad tells a completely different version of the story of your courtship," Salacia said, baiting her mother.
"Does he really?"
"Yes. He says you were so hot for him, that you couldn't keep your hands off his buttons. He went on to say that you were always all over him like a Blood-Sucking Bugbear, and he had to beat you off with a Bludger bat at least five times a day!"
"There's not a grain of truth to his story! He's completely fabricated everything! By the way, your father still wears frock coats, doesn't he?"
"Yes."
Clancy breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, just checking."
Snape and Hagrid had moved over to the window. "Come have a look," Snape said, motioning for Clancy to join them. "You might find this interesting." Clancy walked over, while Salacia remained behind. Salacia stole a scrap of parchment and a quill from a side table near the fire, and hurriedly scribbled a brief message.
"Look 'cross the green," Hagrid told Clancy, pointing to a small, white house with an undulating thatched roof. "Tha's Snape Cottage, where yeh live now."
"It's charming!" Clancy marveled. "It's so bright and cheery! Lovely view of the lake, too. Now isn't that much nicer than those clammy old dungeons?" she asked Snape.
Snape made no reply, but continued to gaze with interest toward the cottage. Before long, they saw their future selves returning home from Hogsmeade. Professor and Mrs Snape were walking arm in arm, engaged in a lively conversation. They turned down the path toward their home. Professor Snape gallantly opened the garden gate, and made a courtly bow as his spouse passed through. Then, he deliberately slammed the gate hard behind her, and it struck her derriere. She sprang around like a tiger to throw a fist at him, but he grabbed her wrist, and then drew her near for a playful kiss.
"Apparently we're quite happy," Clancy said, as she continued to stare in awe at what her future held in store.
"You seem to have put on a bit of weight," Snape observed.
"I don't think I look too bad at all. I'm obviously very content."
"Don' mean ter be rushin' yeh both, but I think yeh bes' be startin' back," Hagrid suggested.
"Mum," Salacia said to Clancy, "I wish you didn't have to leave, but at least I'll see you both at dinner tonight!"
"Yes," Clancy said wistfully, "but it will be quite a few years until we see you again."
Salacia hugged and kissed her. As she did so, she slipped the little piece of parchment into the pocket of Clancy's jacket. "Goodbye, Mum."
Tears were swelling in Clancy's eyes. "Goodbye, Salacia, dear," she said.
Salacia walked over to Snape. "Give us a kiss," she said, and before he could object, she reached up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
Snape stood stiffly, his expression never changing, but he said, "Keep your mind on your studies, girl, and stay away from that J.S. Potter boy. By the way, what does the 'S' stand for?"
"I'd better not tell you. The shock might kill you."
After a brief farewell to Hagrid, Snape and Clancy both took one last look at Salacia, then exited the cabin. "This is a day we won' be forgettin'," Hagrid told the girl. "Good thing they didn' run in ter no trouble, or take summat back with them ter their own time tha' they shouldna. Might change the whole course o' things."
Salacia turned away slowly from Hagrid, rolled her eyes upward, and choked, "Uh-oh!"
"Couldn't we sneak over to Snape Cottage and peek in the window? I want to see the furniture."
"Clancy!" Snape scolded, as he pulled her back toward the Forbidden Forest. "How completely irrelevant. There are more important things in life than nesting."
"I almost wish we could stay," she said regretfully, ignoring him.
"One of you is more than enough. I fear the living arrangements might prove to be too complicated. I am certain being beside ourselves at every turn, would soon grow cumbersome."
Without much difficulty, they retraced their path and located the Hedge of Cronos. A wide break in the branches confirmed that they had found the spot they were seeking.
"You know," Snape reflected, before they entered the shrubbery, "Salacia is rather lovely, don't you think?" Clancy nodded, and smiled.
"Perhaps we're not such a bad team when we put our heads together."
"I imagine her conception involved more than just our heads."
"Yes. I believe I see what you mean."
"Do you suppose this has all been real, or just an unexplainable illusion?"
Snape gave the matter some thought, and then gazed searchingly into Clancy's eyes. "There is only one way to find out." He moved in closer and kissed her, employing his vast reserve of fiery passion.
"Well?" he asked, in expectation of high praise.
"Well, what?"
"What did you think of it?"
"What did I think of what?"
"What I just did!"
"Did you do something? I must have blinked and missed it." Clancy was enjoying having Snape right where she had wanted him for so long; she intended to make him suffer deliciously.
"It was only a first attempt," he said defensively. "I will admit to being a trifle out of practice. Shall I try again?"
Clancy shrugged. "You may if you wish. Only this time, try to actually come into contact with my lips."
Snape kissed her again -- and again. An hour and a half later, Clancy was convinced that he was beginning to get the hang of it. Somewhere along the line, they had shifted to the ground. Snape lay supine, looking up at Clancy with a foolish grin that matched her own.
"I don't believe I've ever seen you look at me quite like this before," she told Snape. "You don't appear too bright."
"From the expression on your face, you don't object too strenuously to my letting down my guard temporarily. I have merely been giving you a taste of what you've been craving."
"'Craving' is much too strong a word, but I do wish we could have arrived at this point sooner."
"There's one thing we haven't considered," Snape reminded her, turning serious. "According to Hagrid, we will not retain any memory of this time once we pass back through the Hedge."
"It doesn't seem fair! We're obviously meant to be together, yet in a few moments, we'll be just as we were, sniping away at each other and fighting like two cats in a bag. Isn't there some way we can defy Dumbledore's Memory Charm?"
"I'm afraid there isn't. We had best be returning and not dwell on the unattainable." Snape helped Clancy to her feet. They embraced, and engaged in a lingering lip lock that neither wanted to be the first to break. Snape at last pulled away, and guided her back through the mangled branches, leaving their future in the past, to return to their uncertain present.