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Heiress of Prince	By : ElleGrey Category: HP Canon Characters paired with Original Characters > Het - Male/Female Views: 2402 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: All characters, universe, and rights property of JKR/Scholastic/WB, I in no way own or profit from anything to do with Harry Potter or subsequent story elements.

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She rapped on his door at 7 precisely. For a single panicked moment, he looked around the room for a place to hide. Regaining his senses, he steeled himself and took another long, pained look at himself in the mirror. The dress robes that had been laid out on the bed when he returned to his room were expertly tailored for an ideal fit and cut from the highest quality fabrics. He liked the feel of the luxurious material against his skin but was still not comfortable with his reflection. The suit was a more modern cut than he would have chosen and did not cover his neck as he would have wished. Julianna’s mandate regarding his hair stood, and he felt increasingly vulnerable with his face and neck exposed. He had been growing accustomed to tying his hair back around Julianna, but with their hosts? He was reluctant to invite further staring.

“Severus, are you ready? How do the robes fit?” Julianna’s voice filtered through the door. Snape grimaced and murmured an incomprehensible response, wasting seconds, trying to save as much time as possible before disappointing her. Even dressed in such rich, fashionable attire he just looked like the Demon of the Dungeons. He had never been more keenly aware of his own physical failings.

Another soft rapping and the door slowly opened. Julianna poked her head in, eyes covered, “Are you decent?” Snape snorted disdainfully.

Snape swallowed hard as she stepped into the room. Julianna wore an evening gown of exquisite emerald silk, tightly fitted in the bodice, tastefully displaying her generous décolletage, with a daringly exposed back. Her sable curls were pinned in a loose Grecian style, with only the most tantalizing tendrils sweeping her collar bone. The opal collar she wore could have financed a small country, but she wore it as comfortably as most women wear jumpers. She appraised him silently, inspecting every inch of the suit she’d purchased for him. He watched her eyes take his measure and waited for dismay to register. It never came, “You’re in danger of becoming a very striking man, Severus Snape,” she said softly.

“Nonsense, woman,” he said gruffly, “let’s get this over with.” He strode manfully toward her, tucking her hand in his arm. For once, Julianna had no reply.

*****

Isaac and Constance Pillings greeted them at the floo. Constance immediately gathered Julianna into an enormous embrace, swirling her thick, syrupy perfume through the air. Severus coughed into his hand, trying to play it off as floo dust, as Julianna introduced him to the older couple. Middle-aged and plump, Constance’s once honey-colored hair was now liberally sprinkled with gray, her dark eyes twinkled merrily as she enthusiastically shook Snape’s hand and welcomed him to her home. Her rose and cream dinner gown was highly fashionable, if not particularly flattering to her softened figure. Isaac was more reserved than his wife—for what it was worth—with salt and pepper hair and a bushy moustache concealing most of his mouth. He wore extremely dated navy blue robes, though he would have appeared perfectly comfortable in a pith helmet with an elephant gun in hand, “So you’re the lad who’s been keeping our girl so busy, eh?” Isaac mused as he looked Severus over, “Heard an awful lot about you, Severus Snape!”

“None of it good, I presume?” Snape kept his face passive. He was perfectly aware of his reputation, having intentionally cultivated it.

Isaac guffawed, “Indeed, not a bit! Not one bit of it good, but what’s gossip? Hen prattle, I say. Connie and I trust Julianna’s judgment, her good word’s all that matters to us. Now come in! Come in! Must rejoin the others!”

“Oh indeed!” his wife cried excitedly. “Oh, we’ve got the most wonderful little party attending, it’s going to be such fun!”

Snape detected a headache coming on as he fell into step with Julianna. She took his arm and looked at him from beneath her lashes, “Please be on your best behavior, they are very dear to me,” she whispered.

*****

In the drawing room they were introduced to the rest of the party. A handsome couple stood by the brandy cart, the man tall and sturdily built, with dark wavy hair; the flame-haired woman stately and serene, gracefully aged. They were introduced as Mr. and Mrs. Royce and Harriet Atherton. A trio of young people were gathered by a gaming table. The first, Bif Atherton, was an extremely handsome young man with a smarmy grin and perfectly coiffed dark hair, wearing an absurd set of white dress robes. White! Beside him was his sister, Lavinia Atherton. She wore her dark auburn hair deliberately piled atop her head and wore an obscenely tight plum gown with black, plum, and white…poofy flowery things that cascaded from one shoulder down the back of her gown in an effect Snape supposed was supposed to emphasize the curve of her figure or some such nonsense. No emphasis was necessary, as her gown left embarrassingly little to the imagination. Finally, Aurora Barclay had pale blonde hair tied in a simple knot and a light, airy blue gown that floated around her. Across the room, an aging man, Mr. Robert Barclay, sat chatting with a severe looking woman in a high-necked black dress, Lady Adelaide Thornleigh, behind whom stood her offspring, an odd looking young man and woman with identical eerie pale eyes and thick black curls, introduced as Clark and Carys. All of the “children” were around Julianna’s age and, to his growing horror, Snape recognized Bif, Lavinia, and Aurora as former students...and not too many years graduated, either.

Julianna was swiftly engaged in a discussion with Isaac Pillings, Royce Atherton, and Robert Barclay about horses while Constance, Harriet, and Lady Adelaide removed to a corner for gossip. Clark and Carys seemed to be a self-contained, anti-social unit and kept to themselves. In short order, Snape found himself facing his three former students in torturous silence. Lavinia was staring him down with unnerving intensity, like she was a cat and he the mouse who dared scurry in front of her. He vaguely recalled her being a troublesome youth, provoking licentious behavior from the boys and intense jealousy from the other girls. At least in Aurora’s eyes he found his own terror reflected. Bif, poor dim thing that he was, simply stood there with a goofy grin on his face, rocking back on his heels. “Well,” Bif said at last, “how have you been, old chap? Finding retirement quite the thing? No responsibilities, not a thing to do all day, must be smashing!”

Snape blinked at him in disbelief. Ten points from Gryffindor for stupid questions! As intelligent as he was handsome, Snape could hardly expect more from a boy who positively reeked of privilege. Imagine being envied for retirement from a tosser who never worked a day in his life! “Smashing, indeed,” he intoned dryly.

Bif carried on, oblivious “I mean good for you, old boy! You know I never believed the things everyone said about you, couldn’t be! I always said no bloody way old Dumby’d let a real Death Eater round all us kids, not in a million years! Rubbish! Say, is that where that big old snake had at you? We heard about that, right in the neck!”

Snape had too many caustic replies to choose just one, so he simply stared at Bif, running curses through his mind.

Lavinia sidled up to him, “Excuse my brother, he doesn’t think before he opens his mouth...he doesn't really think at all, actually. What he means to say is that we’re all very glad you’re alright. You are so lucky to be with us today!” her voice was like honey gliding over sex; no wonder she was such a problem at school.

Snape stared across the room at Julianna, smiling gently at Isaac. “I certainly am lucky,” he agreed.

“You’re a hero now, isn’t he Aurora?” Lavinia prompted. Aurora squeaked nervously in agreement. Lavinia rolled her eyes and continued, “One day Professor Binns will be lecturing about you!”

“Though no one will listen to him then, either!” Bif laughed at his own joke.

Snape sighed, unable to contain his aggravation much longer. Happily, a house elf chose that moment to announce dinner.

*****

Unhappily, Julianna was seated at the other end of the table for the meal. She sat between Constance and Bif and across from Mr. and Mrs. Atherton, while he was stuck between Lavinia and Aurora at the far end with the Thornleigh twins sitting silently across the settings. How humiliating. Severus felt like he’d been banished to the kids table. Julianna shot him an apologetic look as Bif held her chair out for her, “please,” she mouthed.

Swallowing another sigh, Snape began to sit when he realized that Lavinia was staring at him expectantly. He stared back, not comprehending until she cleared her throat and looked pointedly at her chair. He indulged her, then sat and took a deliberately long time arranging the napkin on his lap, taking a sip from his water glass and adjusting the silverware until it was just so. He was keenly aware of the terrified Aurora on his left, sitting so tensely and still that he thought if he made any sudden moves she would run screaming from the house. On the other side, Lavinia was inching her chair closer to him, leaning into him and breathing just hard enough to make her breasts heave against her dress. Snape fancied he could hear its seams screaming. Only six courses until freedom.

“So, Severus, it’s alright if I call you Severus now,” it was not a question, “what will you do with your newfound freedom?” Lavinia inquired as the cold soup appeared before them. “You know, we do have a local amateur Quidditch league, of course. Bif is quite the sportsman, and even my father often participates. Naturally, I attend almost all of their matches. I find it quite stimulating. I do hope you’ll consider jumping on the broom” she confided breathily. One need no talent for Legilimency to understand what Lavinia found stimulating.

Right then, Quidditch is definitely out. Snape decided to sidestep that trap, “Aurora, I remember you had some talent for Charms back at school, Have you done anything with it since graduating? Perhaps an apprenticeship?” Anything? He mentally beseeched her. Aurora merely stared back at him with large doe-eyes begging him not to make her answer.

“Aurora, stop being such a goose!” Lavinia laughed. “You won’t get a word out of her, Severus, you’ve been the bogeyman to her since we were first years. I told her you are a perfect gentleman, as she can well see, but she insists on being a ninny. Don’t waste your time! Don’t you want to hear what I have been about since Hoggy-Warty-Warts?”

“I’m on the edge of my seat,” Severus dumped a huge spoonful of soup into his mouth.

“Well, of course I didn’t seek an apprenticeship or anything droll like that…”

For the next two hours, Severus ate his meal in silence, occasionally shooting wistful glances down the table to where Julianna had the entire company wrapped around her finger. Bif in particular looked star struck, hanging on her every word. Severus felt the ugly beast of jealousy rearing its head in his stomach, but he knew how the boy felt. Even though Severus couldn’t hear her words, watching her laugh made Lavinia’s monologue sufferable. He learned more in one meal than he had in his entire life about fashions, clothing, shoes and the most delightful little handbags. He learned that while many people of society considered Julianna’s wardrobe to be the very thing, and so tasteful, Lavinia disagreed, “She’s just not very fashion forward, is she? She always chooses such plain frocks! I've even seen her wear the same dress twice before! Can you imagine? I make a point of visiting Paris twice a year to stay ahead of the fashion, you know, it’s very important to me, reigning as the forerunner of style in all the British circles. I’m becoming quite well known for it, aren’t I, Aurora?” By dessert, Gryffindor had lost 450 imaginary house points.

As the gelato was served, Snape felt a rush of triumph, one last course to go! His elation was cut short, however, when a taloned hand landed on his thigh. He almost leaped out of his seat, but froze instead, as Lavinia leaned against his arm, rubbing her fingernails against the inside of his leg as she tilted her head toward his neck, whispering in his ear, “I never pictured you with your hair like that, Severus Snape, it makes you look positively roguish. I imagine you’re a devastating lover…” she giggled huskily.

Sweet Circe’s tits! 1,000 Points from Gryffindor! Snape had no idea what to do. He began to jiggle his leg nervously, trying to dislodge the offending hand. He stared hard at Julianna. Feeling his gaze, she met his eyes questioningly. Her eyes processed the intimate way Lavinia wrapped herself around Snape, and the abject terror on his face. She shrugged and frowned apologetically, unable to rescue him.

Desperate, Snape looked across the table at the twins. They blinked back at him, faces giving nothing away. “Help. Me,” he mouthed.

*****

The moment dessert was cleared, Snape bounded away from the table, tearing himself from under the witch’s grasp. He was more than ready to be on his way back to Harrowthwaite, but instead found himself shuffled off the billiards room with the rest of the men for cigars and port while the women retired to the parlor. Disappointed to have to endure more of the evening, Snape was at least relieved to be separated from Lavinia by copious amounts of space. And doors. With locks.

“Got her claws in you, my sister?” Bif Atherton chuckled as he chalked a billiards cue, his father taking the other.

Snape shuddered, “The lady is…persistent,”

“Right bleedin harpy, that one. My advice to you is run! Run for your life!” Bif grappled his father and mimed sucking the blood from his neck, “She can be a nasty piece of work,”

“Who’s that, now, Lavinia?” Robert Barclay asked, entering the room. “Scary. That woman makes me glad I’m not ten years younger,” he slapped Snape companionably on the back. All the men guffawed.

Isaac nodded, “Sorry about that, lad. Constance insisted on placing you amongst the young ladies, forever playing the matchmaker. We never had children, you see. She likes to play mother hen to all her little birds, setting them up with this match or that, waiting to see sparks. I’d wager she’s planning your wedding as we speak.”

Snape was ill-accustomed to being part of such camaraderie, “I’ve no intention to marry her!” he objected vehemently.

“Oi, you playing with my sister’s feelings?” Bif stalked up to Snape threateningly, Snape glared in response. Bif burst out laughing, “Oh, mate, you ought to see your face, it’s priceless. Honestly I don’t think Liv even has feelings. Vagina Dentata, and all that.”

Snape looked to see what Royce Atherton thought of all these men discussing his daughter with such distaste. Royce saw the look. “Don’t look to me, son, that girl has made her bed. Her case is beyond me. She’s been hunting men down like dogs since she figured out what men were for.”

“Poor bastards,” Robert said solemnly. “Julianna on the other hand," he brightened, "now there’s a tidy bit of girl, makes me wish I had those ten years back. Women like that don’t come along very often.”

“Ah, be still my heart! Beauty, Julianna is thy name!” Bif put a hand to his heart and fluttered his girlish eyelashes, pretending to swoon onto the table. Royce swatted his son out of the way to set up his shot.

Snape’s discomfort returned. He didn’t like the idea of Julianna being the subject of such discussion. Luckily he didn’t have to bear more of it. The lady in question floated into the room, followed by Constance. “Severus, I’m feeling awfully tired, are you ready to go home?”

“Of course,” he said softly, feeling a rush of warmth at hearing her refer to their shared home. He and Julianna were going home together. He shot a look at Bif, who looked daft as ever, smiling dumbly at Julianna without a glint of intelligence in his eyes. They made their good-byes and the Pillings walked them back to the floo.

“It was so lovely to have you back,” Constance said, smothering Julianna in another massive hug, “I’m so pleased you finally got to meet the Athertons! Isn’t Bif so charming? Severus it was wonderful to meet you! You simply must come visit us at any or every opportunity! Just say the word and I’ll send an owl to dear Lavinia, too!” She crushed him in a hug as well. Isaac winked at him over her shoulder, “Good night!”

*****

“Not so bad!” Snape cried indignantly, brushing himself off as he stepped out of the floo, “I’m going to reek of that simpering little harlot for weeks. You saw the way she was pawing at me! And you did nothing! Not so bad?! No matter what you say, I am never attending another one of their soirees!”

Julianna ignored him, sweeping through the foyer out to the piazza. Snape stalked after her, railing against the indignities he suffered at the dinner party. “You knew that it was a set up! You knew they would throw ‘suitable young people’ at us from all sides! And that Bif Atherton!” he spat, every syllable dripping with disdain, “of all the insufferable buffoons I have ever—and the way he was gawking at you—and his hair! And white robes! Really, Julianna, I’d come to expect more taste from you, how could you subject me to such abuse?”

She came to a stop at the edge of the lawn, staring out over the vast expanse of grass, shimmering silver under the moonlight, “Stop it, Severus, that’s enough!” she cried, crossing her arms under her breasts. He took a closer look at her. The cool evening breeze was lifting goose pimples on her arms and teasing curling tendrils of hair to slip from their pins, twisting in the drafts around her. Her brows were furrowed in distress, “I don’t enjoy those events any more than you do. I’m not the most naturally social person, so it is incredibly taxing to sit there and smile and laugh and flirt! It is not easy for me either, but Constance and Isaac have been good to me--better than anyone, ever. I had not visited them in a while and…they’re good people, I wanted you to know them. I’d do anything for them. I did not know that so many were invited. Do not accuse me of conspiring against you, please,” she sounded near tears.

Snape shifted his weight, unsure of what to say. He removed his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. She pulled it closed around her. “Thank you,” she whispered. They stood in silence for a while, Julianna staring intently towards the tree line, Severus watching a curl dance against her neck.

“Why?” he finally asked.

“Why what?” she looked at him, delicate, unspilled tears shimmering in her liquid silver eyes.

“Why are they so important to you? Why was it important that I meet them?”

Julianna took a deep breath, “My mother loved parties. She was a great socialite in Prague, and my parents marriage was very…prudent. Yrenka never settled into the Prince way of life. She tried but she couldn’t change who she was. Living here, she was bored, she was restless. When I was born, a few of the older Princes were still around and kicking, Atticus, Eugenia, a few others, and great, fabulous Uncle Thurston. The older ones made my mother feel smothered in her role as a prestigious Prince wife. When they went away, which they often did to Bath and such, Yrenka went wild. She was famous for her parties. She and Thurston were..indiscriminate with the guest list, inviting neighbors and friends and all the right people from all around Europe, even people they met on the street. My father would shut himself away in his laboratory while my mother threw legendary bashes. Sometimes she would have my governess dress me up like a doll and bring me out to sing a song or do a dance--a few minutes entertainment for the guests to coo over. Eventually, my governess would gather me up and make me say good night to everyone before tucking me away. Constance and Isaac especially loved this tradition. They never had children so they doted on me. Sometimes I think Connie was friends with my mother just to be close to me…I know how off that sounds, but I adored her. To my mother, I was just a doll, no, better than a doll since I could learn tricks, but I was just as easy to forget when she was done playing with me. To Constance, I was just a baby. She would play games with me and read to me, brush my hair and cuddle me. She would show me pictures and never shouted at me when I tried to walk around in her shoes…

In any case, when I was seven, my mother threw a party that was over the top in every way. It was…it was a lot. There were people everywhere, and house elves and servers…I’ve never seen alcohol run like that since. I was trotted out, as was customary, looking adorable in my pinafore and laces. I sang my song and charmed the drunken revelers…I remember eating cake. The cake was bright pink and so fluffy and pretty I almost didn’t want to eat it. The icing was fluorescent orange with spun sugar roses and it tasted like a fresh orange. At some point I got bored. I looked for my governess, I wanted her to play brooms with me, but she was as far gone as the guests and told me to play by myself. So, I decided to find a unicorn, and where do unicorns live but the forest? I skipped off and went in search! It felt like I was wandering around the woods for hours, hiding behind trees and then popping out, hoping to surprise a unicorn! It wasn’t even until I was getting really tired and decided to go back home that I even realized I was horribly lost. Suddenly, the forest wasn’t full of wonderful magical beasts, it was full of monsters. I was so scared and I just kept wandering, trying to remember which way I’d come from…and then I fell. I fell down into a ravine and broke my leg. It hurt so badly…I didn’t even try to get up again. I just lay there crying for hours, waiting for a troll to come gobble me up.”

Julianna looked so forlorn, staring back at her memories, Severus fought to resist the urge to hold her. He could see the lonely, neglected little girl in her and the lonely, neglected little boy in him reached out to her. Frustrated, he shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Isaac and Constance were the ones who noticed I was missing. They saw my governess stumbling around obliterated and realized she had never made a production of my ‘good night,’ and so they came looking for me. Constance swears she already knew something was wrong the instant I hurt myself. Who knows? Maybe she did? Isaac worked up one amazing locator spell, though, and Constance sent her patronus to comfort me until they found me. They brought me straight home to my father and he was so furious. Yrenka had had no idea I was ever missing and here I was scratched up and muddy and bleeding, with a broken leg. I couldn’t stop crying or apologizing to my mama for ruining the pretty dress she bought me. I remember them shouting at each other as Constance carried me to my room, and the guests trying to get out of the line of fire. Isaac summoned a healer to fix my leg and Constance sat with me through the whole night, holding my hand…

That was the last party my mother ever had here. My father was so livid, he finally put his foot down. Yrenka tried for a while, she really did feel awful about what happened, but she was the Fabulous Yrenka! She was simply not built to be a mother. She left not long after that, and Thurston with her. They were cut from the same cloth. I only saw her a few times after that, she eventually drank herself to death after Thurston was killed in a yacht fire,

The point is, I owe the world to Isaac and Constance, who knows if I would have lived past seven without them? It could have been days before anyone really noticed I was missing. Maybe I would have been eaten by a troll. They are my family, and now you are my family, so it’s important to me that you have a relationship with them and try to make the most of their eccentricities. They’re only trying to do what they think is best,” she finished with a brave smile. Severus was thinking carefully, trying to construct an apology that did her confession justice. Their silence lingered--apologies were not his forte--and it frustrated him that he couldn’t come up with anything worthy of the moment to say. She held his gaze evenly, watching the emotions play across his face. Just as he was about to open his mouth, she swept his coat off her shoulders and tucked it in his arm. “I know,” she said softly, little more than a whisper, and raised up on her toes to nuzzle her silken cheek against his bristly one for a moment, “It’s okay.” Severus once again watched her walk away, the muscles of her back moving against her skin, the soft silk train rustling behind her, and he felt oddly like crying.

*****

A/N: I hope you all love reading this chapter as much as I loved writing it! This one took a marathon of effort!! Thanks again to my readers, my reviewers, and most especially to my Naeve and my Shenanigans for putting up with my authory shit!

Love and Snuggles!

Ellie
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Heiress of Prince