Lindsay watched as the Malfoys walked away. Snape remained in place, but his eyes followed a very beautiful witch as she sauntered past him. His expression didn't change as his gaze followed the woman. She disappeared into a shop and Snape returned to perusing some odd holiday trinkets. Lindsay stepped out of the shop and was about to join her chaperone when she saw a witch who'd watched Snape's interest in the beautiful woman who'd passed him. Lindsay put her hand over her mouth to hide her laughter.
It was obvious what sort of woman this witch was, and Lindsay wasn't going to interrupt her advances until she knew what Snape's reaction to her would be. His private life was his own to manage. The plain-looking, but not unattractive, young witch was seeking to ply her wares, or even better—land a man with a steady job. She approached Snape and stood very close to him. She looked up at him, smiling, and spoke quietly so only he could hear. Snape shook his head, but didn't engage in conversation with her. She attempted a second time to get his attention, but he moved away from her. She followed him and put her hand on his arm. He turned and leaned down to her, and Lindsay watched as the expression on the young woman's face moved quickly from confidently happy to a boiling rage. She slapped his face and stormed off. Snape smiled. Lindsay took this as her cue to rejoin her surly companion.
"Took you long enough," said Snape.
"I had to find the perfect gift, and I had a nice chat with the lady—"
"You were standing outside the shop for at least five minutes."
"You saw me? Your peripheral vision is excellent."
"It has to be, given my line of work." Snape extended his arm for her to take, and they began walking slowly in no particular direction. "Is there anything else you need to buy?"
"I have everything I need, but I thought we could stop for some—"
"Apples!" declared Snape suddenly in a tone of voice that would've sounded quite natural coming from a small child. A vendor with a small cart had apples, pears, and strawberries for sale, and Snape darted toward it to buy half a dozen ruby-red apples. Lindsay thought they looked too good to be real and remarked on the fact when Snape returned to her, apples in hand.
"They've been magically ripened. It can only be done in small batches and takes great skill; otherwise the trees can be damaged." He took an apple out of the bag and offered it too Lindsay.
"No, thank you. I thought maybe we could stop at Florean Fortescue's."
"As you wish." Snape rubbed the apple on his sleeve before biting into it. They chose an outdoor table and Fortescue was out to take their order before Lindsay had even sat down.
"Afternoon, Lindsay," said Fortescue. "What's your pleasure?"
"Hello, Florean, good to see you again. I'd like whatever Albus ordered for us the last time. It was divine."
"And you my good fellow?" said Fortescue to Snape.
"Nothing for me." Fortescue disappeared with speed into his shop and Lindsay settled down next to Snape. They were both facing the street and watching passersby. "Albus brought you here?"
"Yes, we have an understanding. I buy tickets to a music event and Albus escorts me to it. Then he takes me out for ice cream the next day. We have such fun picking out clothes."
"Courting the Headmaster is a waste of your time," said Snape with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
"Very funny, Professor; I'm aware of Albus' preference, which doesn't matter in the least to me. We have fun together because we enjoy many of the same things. We both love people, and gossip, and shopping, and food, and trying new things."
Fortescue emerged from his ice cream shop with a large wide bowl containing a great variety of ice cream and toppings. He set it proudly on the table in front of Lindsay. "Eww," said Snape as he grimaced and turned away from the bowl. Fortescue took offence and opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Lindsay whispering to him.
"He's not feeling well, Florean," said Lindsay as she patted Fortescue's arm. "Ate too many apples."
"Oh, I see," replied a well placated Fortescue. "This is on the house, Lin."
"Oh, I couldn't possibly," replied Lindsay.
"Any friend of Albus is a friend of mine. Enjoy."
Snape waited for Fortescue to disappear back into his shop before he spoke. "Can you actually eat all of that?"
"With a little effort, yes. Would you like to try it?"
"No."
They sat in silence, each eating their preferred treat. The only sounds were Lindsay's spoon occasionally tapping against the bowl, the crunching of Snape's apples, and the chatter and footfalls of passing holiday shoppers. Lindsay normally enjoyed people watching; she liked it almost as much as conversing with people, but today she was mostly Snape watching. His eyes scanned the street and shops, focusing on nothing in particular. His expression was impassive. Another very attractive young woman hustled past and Snape's eyes locked onto her. There was certainly nothing unusual about a man looking at an attractive woman, but Snape appeared to be studying her more than appreciating her beauty. He had precisely the same expression when brewing a potion. He did the same thing each time a particularly attractive woman passed by, yet his bearing never changed and his face showed no emotion whatsoever. Snape was undoubtedly the most peculiar man Lindsay had ever encountered.
Snape finished his apples and rose to buy two more bags of both apples and strawberries before taking Lindsay home. He dropped one bag of apples and one bag of strawberries on her kitchen table. "You'll enjoy these," was all he said before apparating back to Hogwarts. She didn't even have the chance to thank him.
"I'm usually pretty good at reading people," said Lindsay to the air, "but you, Professor, are inscrutable."
Lindsay retired to her garage where she kept a dusty smattering of small woodworking tools that she hadn't touched since she was an art student. There were a fairly large number of mechanic's tools in there too, but they weren't hers. She allowed a friend to store his tools there. In exchange, he kept her car running well and kept her brother's old motorcycle in good condition. Lindsay wasn't really a motorcycle enthusiast, but her brother loved that noisy old thing and she had fond memories of clinging to his back while he drove her around town. She gently ran her hand over the gas tank; candy-apple red, his favorite color. Tears began to well-up in her eyes as his handsome smiling face flashed across her mind. She shifted her attention, and took up the rowan branch that she'd taken from the graveyard and began to study it. She wanted to make something from it, but wasn't sure how to begin. Brother Timothy told her that rowan wood could provide protection from enchantment. She'd learned from her Hogwarts studies that the wizarding world believed the same thing so her choice was obvious.
Two failed attempts to produce something workable reminded her of a lesson that she periodically retaught herself: The skill in one's hands doesn't always match the knowledge in one's mind. Her third attempt produced exactly the vision she had in her mind's eye, a round trinket a bit smaller than an average-sized belt buckle. She hollowed it out just enough to hold a tiny braid of hair. She didn't know why she'd kept the wad of hair that she'd pulled from Snape's head; it was a strange thing to do, but she felt compelled. She busied herself with intertwining her hair with his and placed the finished braid inside the tiny wooden chamber she'd created. Behind it, she'd carved the rune for protection and inlaid it in silver. She wouldn't dare put the rune on the outside fearing that Snape might reject it. There was also the possibility of it putting him in danger with the Death Eaters. Lindsay wasn't sure how a group like that would react to a protective amulet, so she was deliberately cautious. The idea was to protect him, not get him killed.
She hand carved filigree on the outside, careful not to overdo it as Snape was the minimalist sort, and inlaid it with gold. She knew from her jewelry-making class that gold was a soft metal and fiddly to work with so she took her time. It was an exacting process. In the center of the filigree, she carved a stylized rune for knowledge and inlaid it with silver. She surmised that a bookish academic like Snape might be more inclined to accept a gift that made reference to learning rather than protection or good luck. The sealing of the amulet was the most difficult part for her as she used magic instead of a muggle adhesive to lock the joints in place.
It took Lindsay several days to complete her art project. After she'd finished it, she was grateful to herself for not attempting to make her own portrait frames. Her woodworking skills had never been stellar, but they'd declined to such a degree that she was sure she would've failed to produce anything usable let alone appealing to the eye.