I Was Younger Then

Good Riddance

The water fell from the slightly rusted faucet, filling a tub that looked as though it had never been used before. Snape straightened himself and reached into a cupboard, pulling two, very soft looking towels from it.

"Are you going to drown me in the bathtub now," Penny said, arms crossed, her mood still sour.

The glint in Snape's eyes elicited a scowl from her, causing the corners of his mouth to twitch. After setting the towels down, he turned back and retrieved a small basket which he thrust at her.

"Don't tempt me," he warned.

"What's this?" Penny asked, confused by the objects wrapped in pretty colors and bows within the basket.

"Why does it not surprise me that you do not know what soap is," Snape said, taking a strand of her red hair between his fingers and giving it a look of utmost disgust.

A giant grin spread across Penny's face as she looked between the basket and her Professor, trying hard to suppress her laughter at the absurdity of the situation.

"Be sure to wash thoroughly ," Snape said, letting go of her hair and making to move past her.

"Not even a house tour and you're forcing me into the tub? Where are your manners."

He stopped just beside her and turned his head ever so slightly to look down on her with that contemptuous expression of his.

"I have no use of pleasantries. You will do as instructed while here, no questions, unless you'd prefer I return you to that half-breed of course," he said, returning to the demeanor of severe potions master who did not tolerate misbehavior.

"I suggest this one," he said after a moment's pause, and handed her a very pretty bottle with a yellow label that read 'ylang ylang.'

"There's just the minor technicality that I don't have any of my own clothing to change into," Penny called after him as she popped the lid open and smelled its contents.

She had to give the man some credit, it smelled amazing.

"I"ll leave something outside for you." And he shut the door with a snap.

Penny submerged herself into the scalding hot water. It was curious to think of Severus Snape as a melt-your-face-off kind of shower man. She'd imagined him as a man who hated all nice things, including comfort and would have opted for the cold shower. The man never failed to surprise, that was for sure. Penny did her best to scrub the disbelief from her, along with the filth of the evening's experience. She rubbed herself raw trying to remove the memory of that horrible boy's hands on her. The situation, though had only occurred less than an hour prior, already felt so far away, as though experienced in some other life. Her brain did not seem able to catch up with the day's events, and some part of her felt like she would open her eyes and be at the Dursleys.

She pinched herself a few times to no avail. Snape really had dragged her back to his own home. But why? He'd been so infuriating, why had he relented? Was this just a pit stop? Perhaps he put her in the tub to distract her while he summoned Lupin. It'd be rotten if he had, but she tried not to think about that. Instead, letting her aching limbs and brain drift off to the glorious fumes of ylang ylang.

When she felt like she'd probably been in the tub too long, she got out and dried herself, breathing in deeply the hint of bergamot on the towel. Was that what it was, his laundry detergent? Wrapping herself tightly, she peered out the door and found a neat pile of clothing on the floor waiting for her. She snatched them and shut the door quickly.

What had Snape pulled for her to wear? Surely he lived with no one else, what would he have that'd fit a girl her size? The shirt was a tattered black t-shirt that definitely did not look like it would fit him now. Paired with it was slim grey sweatpants that also looked absurdly small for the grown man. She stared at them, confused until an idea crossed her mind. Had these been Snape's when he'd been somewhere around her age? Why would he keep them this long? That was something only a mother would do. . .unless. Penny had a hunch, but could not be sure. Was this the home Snape grew up in, if so, where were his parents? He wasn't old enough for them to be dead of old age, yet.