The baker and the potion master

Vhaoter tweenty four: a scalding confrontation

The handful of customers in the bakery scattered before Severus as he stormed towards the employee-only entrance at the Deathly Confections. He had to put a stop to this boyhood crush Dudley the Baker held for him. Severus feared the gentle approach might not get through to him. Besides, being gentle wasn't in his nature. He wasn't certain that Dudley would believe him if he wasn't forceful.

In the hour since he had digested the letter the baker had included with the book, anger had bubbled in Severus besides. As much as it flattered him that this young man had expressed such interest in him, had seen him as attractive, had made a fumbling attempt at courting him, a part of Severus couldn't help but feel as if Dudley was mocking him. Nothing humiliated him more than when someone played pranks on him. Until now, he hadn't wanted to let that vicious thought into his mind, but now that he had confirmation of the sender's identity and the clear lengths Dudley had gone to protect his identity, Severus couldn't help but wonder if it had all been a game. He didn't know the objective, but he certainly wasn't going to let this foolishness continue.

"Sir, you can't be back here!" A tall and lanky man cried as Severus pushed through the door. "No customers in the kitchen!"

Severus ignored him, zeroing in on the beefy man staring at him with wide eyes and a goldfish expression on his face, his mouth agape. Severus stormed up to him. He crossed his arms. In a low, menacing voice, he asked, "Do I look like a joke to you?"

"I don't know what you mean, sir." Dudley's brows drew together in knots of confusion. He took a step back, shuffling on his feet. "I would never think of you in that way, sir. Never."

"I know when someone is making a mockery of me," Severus snarled. He loomed over the baker. "I've let you do just that for far too long now. And it will stop. Immediately."

"I haven't, I swear." Dudley said, his hands twisting a rag in his hands. "I don't know what you're talking about, honestly. Why would I mock you, sir? How have I mocked you?"

"You know what you've done. You've been doing it since I opened my shop." Severus glared at him, his eyes narrowed. "I have zero tolerance for foolish boys who presume that they can do whatever they please, whenever they please, consequences and other people be damned. I believe it is time that you end such foolishness and cease such odious behavior. I see through your prank, its contrived attempt to make a fool of me. Tell me, do you share the results of your little tricks with your friends? Does my humiliation amuse them?"

"Foolish boy? Even now that is all you can say about me?" The words were hissed. "After everything? All you see is an entitled attention seeker?"

A deep flush crept up Dudley's face as he stared up at Severus. His hands balled at his sides, fists clenching and unclenching. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. The longer their gazes met, the harder his blue eyes became. Icy and full of righteous anger, the young man appeared ready to unleash his temper.

Good. So he had some fire in him under all the sugar.

"You can't come into my kitchen and just make accusations, sir," Dudley said, his voice deathly quiet. "I have no idea what you're accusing me of, and I don't appreciate you coming into my place of business to confront me in front of my staff. How dare you make a mockery of me?"

"Perhaps I wouldn't have done so if you hadn't started by mocking me first," Severus said. He stepped closer. He whispered each word clipped, "You know what you've done. I am done playing your game."

Dudley flinched away, an incredulous look on his face. His small eyes narrowed further and his large arms crossed over his chest. "I don't have the slightest idea of what you're talking about, sir. None. You stormed into my shop and started this, not me. I've been busy running this bakery and putting on my annual Christmas display. Whatever game you think I'm playing, I can assure you that I am not."