My Princess

Chapter 28

I hurried through the chilling rain towards the apothecary, thunder booming overhead as lightning cracked around me. Everyone else in the village had the good sense to stay indoors today and yet, here I was, running through puddles towards my place of work.

I had never been so grateful for new shoes as I was right now, my pace much quicker without having to avoid every slightly damp area. I pulled my cloak tighter around my body as I jogged, the potion's shop coming within my sights.

Scurrying into the dark shop I felt a shiver run down my spine, removing my cloak and leaving it by the door to dry out a bit. The apothecary was even darker than normal with the lack of natural light that normally filtered in through the windows and I had to blink a couple of times as my eyes adjusted.

Thankfully Wednesday was one of our least busy days and with it storming so badly I highly doubted I'd have much actual work to do today. Nevertheless, I immediately set to work on my daily tasks, watering plants, organizing shelves, feeding the insects, etcetera.

I had grown used to the potion's master making no appearance for hours on end, the soft light from the back room telling me he was in the shop even when he wasn't in the storefront. Around 11am I had just begun wiping down the front counter when the door finally swung open, the dire man whisking towards the front of the shop mumbling incoherent thoughts under his breath.

He seemed to pause as his eyes landed on me, a look I couldn't quite decipher in his pitch black gaze. The man grabbed a vial of purple liquid off a random shelf without so much as a word to me, hurrying back to his brewing room once more and leaving me just as confused as ever. Severus Snape certainly was an odd one.

I furrowed my brow and shook my head as he slammed the door again, chalking it up to him just being strange and in even more of a mood than normal today. I worked on, busying myself even when there was nothing left to do as I awaited the end of the work day, daydreaming about my girlfriend.

The hours passed incredibly slowly, the potion's master confining himself to that tiny room for the rest of the day as the subtle sounds of glass tinkling and potions bubbling found their way to my ears. Even lunch was dull, the man too caught up in whatever he was working on to take a break and eat with me like he normally did.

Just as I suspected there were no customers at all today and I eventually just took a seat at the front counter, drumming my fingers on the countertop as I watched the outside world grow darker and the rain pelt the Earth. It was very nearly sundown when the potion's master emerged from his hovel again, hurrying to the front of the shop with just as much anxiety flowing through him as earlier.

"Is everything alright sir?" I asked softly, a bit fearful of upsetting him. I didn't believe he'd intentionally harm me but I had never seen him quite so worked up. The normally cool, collected potion's master was sweating buckets and I had to admit it unnerved me a bit to know something could rattle him like this.

The man turned to look at me, peering at me with wide eyes as if he was just now seeing me for the first time today. He stared at me in silence for a moment, breathing hard as he tried to speak, finally running one hand through long black hair as he released a stressed sigh.

"You need to leave." He spoke, eyes staring straight down as he worked his fingers through greasy hair, free hand resting on one hip.

"Leave? Like, right now?" I began shuffling around, gathering my things to return to the inn.

"Yes, right now. You need to take Narcissa and leave this place." Mr. Snape's fearful gaze found mine as he stepped closer to the counter.

"Like, leave the town? What, why?"