Work Text:
Mrs Woodrose was, for all intents and purposes, a very proper lady. She was a lady of a certain age, born and raised in an environment of propriety. But, as life would have it, she outlived her parents and her husband, and - since she had no children - she ended up living alone.
It wasn’t such a morbid development, she decided, as the years passed and she came to terms with the way that her life was progressing. Having a large fortune but no one to share it with, she opted to buy an apartment. That way, she could live in the buzz of the city, where there were people around and things were interesting.
For most of the years in which she lived in this apartment, there were no issues. Everything was a short distance away, and her neighbouring tenants were always nice. In the course of a decade, she had a lawyer (nice lad, but a bit pretentious), a university student (such a wild girl, rowdy, but always wore a bright smile), a pair of newly-wed architects (such a lovely couple; she loved those two, but they had to move out when they decided to permanently leave the country). Her complaints were kept to a minimum; they were polite and well-spoken for the most part.
Things took a turn for the odd sometime in 1999 when yet another tenant came to occupy the apartment next door. It was a surly man, who seemed to hate the very air he was breathing.
He was a bit scary-looking, dressed as he was in all black. Maybe he was a widower of sorts?
But that wouldn’t deter her from welcoming him the same way she welcomed every previous tenant.
“Hello! Welcome–I’m Anne Woodrose, and I have been living here for–” she said, the first day the man unlocked the door of his new apartment, with a big, heavy box in his arms.
“Thank you, Mrs Woodrose, but it matters not to me how many years you have been here,” was all he said, before entering his apartment and closing his door behind him, leaving the dumbfounded lady outside.
This man is so peculiar…
***
The new neighbour, Mrs Woodrose found out, was named Severus Snape . He introduced himself one day to Mrs Rosewood, on one of the (very rare) occasions that he left his apartment - seriously, was that man a recluse? She had been trying to pry any sort of information off him, to no avail! He was a man of few words and even fewer niceties. He wasn’t nasty per se, but he was cold, distant, and clearly avoiding interaction with people as much as possible.
Not that Mrs Woodrose was watching, of course, but only one woman frequented the man’s apartment. A stern-looking old lady, who was apparently obsessed with tartan fabrics, for that was what she was mostly wearing.
(Not that Mrs Woodrose was watching…)
During most of the visits, nothing was heard from the man’s apartment (not that she was actively trying to listen, no…It wasn’t her fault the walls were paper-thin, was it?).The visits were rather frequent, too: at least once every two months, Mrs Woodrose had checked -for safety reasons, of course…
However, one day, after more than two years of Snape living next door, something peculiar happened: he and the elderly lady had a big row. Mrs Woodrose wasn’t certain what was said, but she clearly heard the man, shouting angrily, and the visitor, shouting even louder than him.
After that, the elderly lady shut the door behind her and didn’t show up again for several months.
***
Even more peculiar was this: a year and a half after that row, Mrs Woodrose accidentally overheard a new visitor coming along.
But it wasn’t exactly a visitor…
A few months into 2002, a young woman came to the apartment of the surly man. With a great amount of surprise, she saw Severus open the door to the young woman, who was dressed in a very becoming, white dress.
With a greater amount of surprise, Mrs Woodrose realised that they both now sported a gold ring on their left hands.
But-but-how was this possible?
The man barely left his apartment, and now, he went out one morning, only to return married? Preposterous!
***
The new wife–Hermione Snape - as she introduced herself to Mrs Woodrose the very next day of her arrival - was everything Severus Snape was not: she was decidedly more talkative and polite, eager to engage the lady next door in a few minutes of idle talk every morning as she walked out for her work (she said she worked in an office; however, she was rather vague and Mrs Woodrose still wondered about what kind of office Hermione worked at). She was decidedly more cheerful, and even her appearance stood witness to it. Where her husband was quiet, glowering, and dressed as if he had just returned from a funeral, Mrs Snape was polite, smiling, and her attire consisted of very becoming dresses and skirts in warm colours. The woman even had a mane of curls that was barely tamed.
Despite Hermione displaying a cheery and loud demeanour towards her neighbour, once she stepped back into her apartment didn’t show the same attitude, for Mrs Rosewood could hear no sound coming through the walls.
The Snapes, apparently, didn’t engage in much talking, or other things. (Not that Mrs Woodrose was actively listening, but, you know, the walls were paper thin…)
***
As time went on, Mrs Woodrose was still too intrigued by the details of life in the Snape household. Why was Severus Snape so quiet? What could he possibly have that made a much younger woman choose him as her lifelong companion? Why did those two look so different? Why wasn’t there a child in their lives already?
Almost a year passed with those questions, and then, another peculiar thing happened.
They, too, had a row. (An inevitable thing, Mrs Woodrose thought; after all, the man was too much of a loner.)
She didn’t mean to eavesdrop, of course, but... the walls …
All she got was the young woman’s insistence that he was stuck up in a past that wouldn’t ever happen and that he should see what was right in front of him . And then his retort, that she was too naive to understand how this world works in unfair ways .
***
After that, Mrs Woodrose noticed a change in the life of the Snapes: Severus started going out more, especially during the evenings, and Hermione – well, she did as usual. She chatted with Mrs Woodrose, was polite, and worked every day. But she looked as if the light was dimming from her eyes.
The elderly woman’s visits also recommenced with a vengeance, as did her rows with Severus.
Until, one day – another peculiar turn of events, but, at the same time, not unexpected – the Snapes had their biggest row yet.
“I know I’m not Lily, but can’t you even see me?”
“I see you, Hermione, but you know you can’t live with those delusions. This is just a convenient arrangement.”
“ You are living with delusions! You can’t move on, you arrogant, sad man!”
(Mrs Woodrose couldn’t even attribute this to the paper-thin walls. At this point, she was too intrigued by this conversation. Lily? Was there another woman? How in the world Severus Snape has managed to have not one, but two women?)
The very next day, Mrs Woodrose spotted Hermione leaving her apartment with a suitcase at hand.
***
For the next few months, Mrs Woodrose spotted Hermione Snape returning to the house, one evening a week. She didn’t stay for long, and she always left before midnight, always casting a longing gaze at the door as it closed behind her.
On the other hand, Severus opted to leave the apartment almost every evening now. He was still distant but, on occasion, he would stop and listen to his neighbour’s chatting. He even smiled at one of her greetings once – but it was a sad, small smile, and he only did it because Mrs Woodrose made mention of a novel she had borrowed from Hermione, and she meant to return it.
“I can take it off your hands,” was his answer. Mrs Woodrose found this more peculiar than all the peculiar things that she associated with that man.
***
It was a summer evening, more than a year after the Snapes stopped living together, that the next odd thing occurred.
Even while living together, the Snapes had a notoriously quiet domestic life (almost as if they didn’t speak at all), except for the few times they had an argument.
It wasn’t Mrs Woodrose’s fault – it was a warm, humid summer, and she had inevitably left the windows open to let the breeze in.
Next door, Hermione Snape was visiting again, and for the first time since Mrs Woodrose could remember–there was a fuss next door that wasn’t an argument, but rather a soft laughter and some other sounds that Mrs Woodrose hadn’t had the honour of hearing (or making) in years.
Both sheepish about overhearing that and pleased that something seemed to change for the best, Mrs Woodrose closed the windows, making a mental note on how to subtly let Hermione know that their apartments weren’t that soundproof…
***
In the Snapes’ apartment, life resumed pretty quickly as Hermione Snape was spotted moving back into it a couple of months after their little… tete-a-tete , sporting a large smile.
Another peculiar thing, as observed by Mrs Woodrose, was Severus accompanying her with a smile of his own.
These two, Mrs Woodrose thought, did all things rather backwards. The first time Hermione Snape stepped in as a bride, both of them were solemn, timid, not touching. Now that a few years had already passed, the woman stepped for the second time into this house, with her elated (as elated as this man could look) husband carrying her over the threshold, only to start making those noises almost as soon as they were into their home.
They were so peculiar, Mrs Woodrose decided. She liked them anyway, and if she had to close her windows every now and then for their sake, well, it was worth it.