Complications // Severus Snape

• Ch 20 A Match Made in Hell •

It was the last day of the break, and I had put out signs for Rutherford. I only received one interest letter, and was going to meet the man today.

I had not been able to determine the name signed onto the letter, as that part had been smudged by the melted snow which had found its way into the post. However, the rest of the letter was still legible, including the man's address.

He did not live very far away, and my dad drove me to meet with the potential monkey-owner. Once we arrived at the drab house, my dad asked, "Are you going to be all right?"

I smiled. "I'll be fine. If I can obtain a monkey from a zoo, I think I can interview someone who wants a pet monkey. Come on, Rutherford." Rutherford climbed onto my shoulder, and I walked to the door. I knocked twice, and waited a few seconds before the door was answered by a tall man with lank, black hair curtained around his sallow face and clad in a long black jumper with dark trousers.

"Severus?" I asked, stumbling backward in shock.

"Amarina?" he said, sounding equally astounded.

"You want a monkey?"

"You're a monkey-dealer?"

Severus waved me inside, and we sat on his sofa. The interior of his house was just as depressing as its exterior; its furnishings were all centuries old, and in neutral colors.

Severus eyed the monkey and said, "It's alive."

My eyes widened, and my jaw dropped. "You—you were expecting a dead monkey?" Severus looked at me as if this were obvious and I continued, "What were you going to do—use him in a potion?"

"Precisely." said Severus.

"What kind of person would put up ads for a dead monkey?" I asked.

"What kind of person would put up ads for a living monkey?" he retorted.

I took a cleansing breath and said calmly, "Listen, Severus, I don't know what kind of Dark potion you were intending on brewing with a dead monkey, nor would I care to. But I assure you that this monkey is not the monkey you will use for such a ritual."

Severus nodded, and said, "I may regret asking this, but why do you have a monkey as a pet?"

I told him the story about how I rescued Rutherford from the cruel Muggles, slightly over-exaggerating here and there, until he was caught up.

"You were the only person who expressed interest in having a pet monkey, and now I don't know what to do with Rutherford. I mean, look at him." We both turned to look at Rutherford, who was currently playing with Severus's potion ingredients.

"If you cannot find a place for the monkey, I can put it out of its misery."

"You're a—you're a monkey murderer!" I said in disgust.

"Amarina, it is a primate. Its insignificant life is already traumatic enough—"

"Rutherford is going to have the best life a monkey can have! You, Severus Snape, are disgusting. Talking about lives as mere numbers, statistics. Is that all I am to you—just another number? Is that all you see in people? You, sir, are sick! Let's get out of here, Rutherford."

I stood up angrily, and Rutherford climbed back on my shoulder. As I made for the door, Severus gently grabbed my arm. "Wait, Amarina, that isn't what I meant—"

"Goodbye, Severus." I said, breaking out of his grip and going back to my dad's car.

"How did it go?" he asked.