Tempora Mutantur, Nos et Mutamur in Illis
Chapter 1 Actress and Psychiatrist
"Well, well, well, how convenient it is for a Legilimens to establish himself as a renowned psychiatrist in muggle society!" she recognized the man waiting for her behind the desk the moment she entered the office. It was Severus Snape.
She wouldn'thave dreamed of it. After so many years of avoiding the magical community, sheran into Snape. Yet it made sense for him to live in a non-wizard environmentafter the war. No one would trust a spy, let alone the murderer of AlbusDumbledore.
Nonetheless, she was impressed by his smart occupational choice. An accomplished Legilimens could easily find out the patients' psychological problems without even asking.
However, her psychiatrist was appalled ather remarks. He stared at her in disbelief, as he was trying to figure out who the hell she was.
The woman took the seat across him with unbelievable graceful and sniffed, "I reckon that it's beneath you to take a dose of Polyjuice Potion. Constant vigilance, Snape, if you don't want anybody to recognize you."
Snape, who went by the name of Shawn Prince now, checked the appointment once again, on which written in black and white,that the patient should be the famous actress, Susiel Pond, who had been in theindustry for almost 20 years. No one had ever suspected she was a witch. Therewas just no way she could know that he was a wizard capable of brewingPolyjuice. Considering he had no friends, either dead or in prison, she must be an acquaintance. But who could she be?
Snape studied her more carefully with his best observation. The woman was in her middle thirties, but women's ages were hard to tell nowadays with all those cosmetics, not to mention she was anactress. He had watched her work on TV and the big screen. Some of her roles reminded him of Narcissa Malfoy, the elegant and graceful woman who was kind of a friend. That was the main reason he took the case when her former shrink referred her to him. He wanted to meet her in person. There she was, sitting infront of him, with an ironic expression on her beautiful face. Yet she couldn't be Cissy. Cissy was dead, long gone, with her husband, in that damned war.
"Identify yourself." He demanded,reaching for his wand in the drawer.
"No wand needed, Snape. Surely something has crossed your mind." The woman said wryly, more a resemblance to Narcissa now, as her golden hair completely turned platinum when the last word dropped.
A name dawned. "Nymphadora! People said you were killed." Snape's voice trailed off. Nymphadora Lupin, the Metamorphmagus married a werewolf. Yet he couldn't relate the tall, graceful woman to that petite, clumsy Auror. He had every reason to be an outcast of the wizardry society. Truth to be told, he enjoyed life much more in the muggle world. With his expertise, he had made a fortune and owned afine social status. But what could be her reason? How could she leave her beloved werewolf behind after she went through so much trouble getting him? Not that he cared. Then, why she went through that much to get him in the firstplace remained a mystery to him.
"I mean no harm. I didn't know that you are my new psychiatrist. A mere coincidence, I may say." She returned to Susiel's world-known appearance in the blink of an eye.
Snape asked, "How did you become Susiel Pond after all? She has been an actress before you finished Hogwarts!"
"Stealing people's identities, that's what we shapeshifters do for a living, just like you Death Eaters, mining human suffering for gold. " She drawled with heavy sarcasm.
"Nymphadora, surely you could show your true form in front of me."
"Perish the thought then. It is Susiel Pond to you."
"It didn't occur to me that you hate your previous life that much." He commented.
"Don't you like living with muggles? Oh, those naive muggles, somehow adorable. They still believe with a wand in hand, and you can easily wave all your sorrows and troubles away while you and I both know better." She drawled in a singsong voice reminding him of Bellatrix Lestrange.
Amusingly, Snape found sarcasm suited her well. She had changed a lot. They all did. There was no trace of that colorful young witch left in the woman. She is more of a Black now, dark, round the twist, and with a hint of insanity in her amber eyes, an updated and combined version of her evil aunts.
"I gather you need a psychiatrist to address some personal issues, and I happened to be one of the best in the area, Ms. Pond." He said matter-of-factly and emphasized her name.
"With the help of Legilimency, no wonder you are the best. Yet I must sincerely advise you against the idea of performing it on me, or my lawyer will eat you alive."
"I see. You prefer the conventional way. May I kindly suggest that we start our first session now? I'm on the clock." He indicated her to the timer politely, wearing his best customer-serving smile. Threaten by a witch with a lawyer, that was rich. He could really use the humor in it.
"I am fully aware of that. Rest assured that I am more than capable of paying my bill. No matter how expensive you are, Snape." She walked to the couch in the corner and laid down naturally.
"That's Doctor Prince to you. Your history says you suffer from long-term memory loss and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Quite common in actresses, I'd say. I won't be surprised that you will develop depression eventually if you stay in business."
"Believe it or not, performing suits me well. Come to think of it, my entire life is a show, playing different roles, so why not perform for good money and be appreciated?" The irony and bitterness in her voice were too thick to be missed.
It didn't require a keen mind to figure out that her marriage with that werewolf didn't work well. A happily married woman wouldn't have abandoned everything she had and blended in with muggles. He immediately felt sorry for her, of course, more out of obligations instead of sympathy. Yet deep down, he felt somehow connected to her, as a double agent, he had his fair share of performing.
"Ms. Pond, what do you feel like to talk about today?" He decided to play along, pretending she was just a client and treated her like others since it appeared that she preferred her current life.
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原创同人小说，SS/NT， post-war，AU。
如果有人喜欢我会持续更新。
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