the marriage stone (Discontinued)

Chapter 16 - Meeting the In-Laws

Harry hadn't really known what to expect when he'd returned to the dungeons after his etiquette lessons with Neville and Hermione. He'd come to the conclusion, somewhere between discovering there was a right and wrong way to unfold your napkin and that salt could only be passed from the left to the right that he was probably going to make a complete fool of himself at dinner.

He'd later changed into the clothes Snape had chosen for him, amid hilarious comments from his former dorm mates. He'd stared horrified at himself in the bathroom mirror. "Don't you think these pants are a bit tight!" Harry had protested when he'd shown the results to Ron and the others. He felt horribly exposed in them. Looked more like something Gilderoy Lockhart would wear.

"Supposed to be that way, mate," Ron assured him.

"You look great Harry," Seamus agreed. "And if you don't believe us, let's go ask Colin."

That set Ron and Dean into a fit of giggles, and Harry had groaned in exasperation. The lot of them had come to the conclusion sometime in fifth year that poor Colin Creevy was hopelessly in love with Harry. Harry had of course not wanted to believe it, but had eventually given in when he'd discovered a life-sized picture of himself in Colin's dorm room next to the boy's bed.

"I have to go," he told his friends in disgust and tromped down the stairs to the common room. To his annoyance, the four of them followed swiftly behind.

The common room was unusually crowded for a Saturday afternoon, and as Harry entered he was greeted by a wave of good-natured whistles and catcalls, which had him bright red with embarrassment in a matter of moments. Hermione had eventually stepped in to shut them all up, but one glance at the look of hopeless adoration on Colin's face had set Ron and Dean into fits again and Harry had eventually had to flee to escape them all.

He'd waited nervously for Snape by the fire, worried about all the things Neville and Hermione had tried to teach him. There was no way he was going to get through a formal dinner without messing up royally, and he wasn't looking forward to enduring the wrath of Severus Snape. The man could flay a person alive with his voice alone. Harry had been on the receiving end of his sarcasm more times than he cared to remember, and he guessed before the night was though he was going to be utterly humiliated.

He looked up in shock as Snape had entered the room, almost not recognizing the man at first. No black robes for one - he was dressed much the same as Harry was, only in dark blue instead of green. And damn! The man looked, well . . . attractive, maybe even handsome. Not in the Gilderoy Lockhart way of course - Snape didn't really have the features for it. But he looked very distinguished certainly, and those clothes certainly emphasized the fact that the Potions Master had a good body. And there was something different about his hair; it looked. . . . really nice.

He vaguely remembered blurting out a couple of compliments, mortified by the fact that Snape had found them amusing. But at least the man hadn't really teased him over it.

And he'd been utterly amazed when Snape had put his fears to rest concerning the etiquette issue. Truth be told, it almost sounded as if Snape was hoping Harry did something shocking. He vaguely wondered if he could work out a way to earn points for Gryffindor by misbehaving.

He wasn't too keen on using portkeys, not since the Triwizard Tournament. But he took hold of the coin firmly and let himself be transported to wherever it was they were having dinner.

He staggered a bit as they landed, might have fallen if Snape hadn't grabbed hold of his elbow to steady him. "Sorry, don't like portkeys much," he muttered. Snape said nothing.

Looking up he noticed they were standing on a gravel roadway directly in front of large iron gates that were decorated with a rose pattern that reminded Harry of the tattoo he'd briefly seen on Snape's back. Beyond the gates Harry could see an enormous house with elaborate gardens surrounding it. "Is that Snape Manor?" Harry asked.