After turning it over in his hand for a while, Severus shook his head and simply tossed the ring into his wallet.
"I will figure it out later." Smiling, he stroked the owl on the head and headed for the door. "Come on, I will feed you something."
~ Hoot! Hoot! As if understanding him, the owl happily rubbed against Severus's cheek. It still remembered the delicious fish it had been given a week ago.
"What a sly one!"
When he finally stepped into the house, he looked in bewilderment toward the living room. Everyone was there, even Eileen, who had asked to stay home.
"What is going on?" Severus took off his shoes and walked calmly toward the group, and as soon as he opened the door...
~ Pop! Pop!
At the loud pops the startled owl took off from his shoulder with a frightened hoot, and the surprised Archmage was showered with confetti.
"Happy birthday!" all three shouted cheerfully, making Severus freeze for several seconds.
"Birthday?"
"Today is your birthday! Your mom told us! You should not have hidden it!"
"And it is true. Today is already January ninth, which means that ring is most likely a gift from Malfoy." Grinning, he finally understood, though the fact there had been no letter was still strange. "Thank you. Honestly, I completely forgot about it." He stroked the delighted house-elves on the head, looked warmly at Nagini, and then turned a much more thoughtful gaze to Eileen.
"Come on, thank your mom. She is the one who remembered!" Nagini wrapped her tail around his palm and pulled him toward the phantom.
For the first time in his life after losing his family, Severus felt something like awkwardness.
"Um, thank you." He nodded with a strained smile. Eileen's eyes seemed to come alive. The earlier coldness faded, replaced by warmth. Smiling gently, she drifted closer and kissed his forehead.
"Happy... birthday."
"Why are you acting like the cat got your tongue?" Nagini nudged him in the side, and when he finally came to himself, he smiled bitterly. For a moment Severus saw his mother's face, looking at him with the same tenderness on his last birthday.
"... Thank you."
Noticing his strange expression, Nagini was a little surprised, and then, remembering Severus's story, she felt guilty.
"I cannot wait to try the cake," Severus added with forced cheer to break the tension hanging in the air. He stroked Nagini on the head and looked at the house-elves. "You sit at the table too."
"We would not dare!" Nelly exclaimed, horror on her face, and Tobby nodded silently, fully sharing the feeling.
"It is an order!"
"Y-yes!" they answered in chorus, but they sat only after Severus sat down first.
The cake was not very big, just an ordinary medium-sized one, but it was delicious. Few could compete with house-elves in cooking. After blowing out the candles, Severus cut it into four equal pieces and set them in front of everyone. Then, taking a fifth plate, he touched the pocket watch hanging on his neck. A few seconds later a fifth piece of cake appeared on it. Everyone was surprised because it was slightly transparent, but Eileen clearly liked it.
The next hour passed in a rather quiet atmosphere. The house-elves were afraid to speak, few people understood Nagini, and it was a little difficult for Eileen to speak, but Severus still tried to keep at least some conversation going. In general, it was quite good, compared to the last thirty holidays that Severus had not celebrated at all.
For today, Severus decided to postpone the matter of the armour and spend the rest of the day with the people closest to him.
Closer to evening, Shafiq dropped by. He congratulated Severus in person and handed him a small box stuffed with letters, along with gifts that had been sent to the shop. There was everything: expensive robes, artifacts, rare ingredients, books, and much more. Among them were also a couple of cursed things without a sender. That was a little sad, but he would dump them in Knockturn Alley later, so he did not think about them much.
In the pile he also found the letter from Malfoy that should have come with the ring. Someone had simply forgotten to include it. He also found a letter from Bella that, to his surprise, contained pleasant wishes and even a gift: a bracelet that shocked its owner with electricity as soon as the wearer started acting cheeky or arrogant.
He also liked Regulus's gift: a school robe made of very expensive fabric, with curse-reflecting and self-cleaning charms. Severus had always worn the most ordinary robe and had not even thought to put charms on it, so the gift was perfect.
Besides that, someone had sent the latest model flying broom, a "Nimbus 1001." Severus put it at the very bottom of his wallet, just in case. He still very much wanted children in the future, and he did not trust charms that were supposed to protect that place at all. No one was immune to accidents, especially those. Still, Severus was not in a hurry to sell the broom, because he already knew who he would give it to.
Of course, he also had a lesson with Slughorn, and he did not skip it even at Christmas. Slughorn congratulated him and had sent a rather rare copy of a book in advance, authored by Flamel, "The Laws of Alchemy." Severus had asked about the French wizard more than once, so the professor gave it as a gift, thinking Flamel was his idol.
In general, the evening was very fun, especially writing replies to everyone.
And Monday came again, the day when he had to return to studying. Putting on the new robe, which shortened itself to the right size, Severus moved Eileen into the necklace. Then, letting Nagini climb onto him, he called the house-elf:
"Tobby."
Tobby appeared beside him and bowed silently. Severus snapped his fingers, and in the next moment they moved to Hogwarts, straight into Severus's room.
"Home, sweet home," the Archmage sighed, walking to the window. A beautiful view of the castle grounds and the nearby village opened beyond it.
After all, although the Slytherin common room was in the dungeons, the view here looked as if the room were on the top floor of Hogwarts. Charms Severus had seen before, in the chief goblin's office, turned the window into a kind of screen that broadcast an image from a certain point in the castle.
He tossed his robe onto a chair and sat on the bed.
"Severus."
"What?"
"Will you answer one question of mine?"
"Ask away." He nodded with interest.
"You have a huge amount of Galleons. With your knowledge, and seeing how much you read, I can confidently say you could give any teacher a head start, and that is not even mentioning your combat skills. So why are you still staying here?" Nagini asked in bewilderment. She had been racking her brain over that question for a long time and could not understand it, so she finally asked directly.
"It is very calm here, and I will not be able to study properly with Slughorn once I leave," Severus answered without thinking, looking at her. "I am interested in runes and spells, and there are two real masters here. I also want to uncover all the secrets of this castle. Is that not a good reason to stay another year and a half? It is not that long."
"Hm. I still do not understand you." Nagini swayed from side to side, but nodded anyway. "All right, it is not my business. Maybe it is for the best. It is much safer here than outside."
Severus did not answer her muttering. He only turned his gaze to Tobby.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes, Master! I will not let you down!" Tobby exclaimed, thumping himself in the chest.
"Good. Glad to hear it. Get ready, at six o'clock we begin our performance."
Then, taking out a cauldron and a small table, Severus made ingredients appear on it. He also pulled out several hairs from his head and laid them on a glass plate.
"What are you doing?" Nagini asked, breaking out of her thoughts as she stared at the ingredients in surprise.
"A potion that will let us be in two different places at once," Severus answered calmly, noticing how the water was starting to boil. "You probably do not know this, but they have started suspecting me." He extended his hand and pulled out one of Nagini's scales, using pain-relief charms in advance, of course.
"Hey!"
"Because of you, by the way." He smiled and poked her displeased face.
"Me?"
"Yes. Lately we have been watched too often, both by Death Eaters and by the Ministry. After catching one from each side, I learned they suspect there is no teacher. They think what happened in the cave, and all those gangs, were just prepared performances to scare everyone, and it is all because of your colouring." Stirring the liquid in the cauldron, Severus dropped a leech into it. "But you can understand them too. They do not want to believe a wizard that terrifying exists, so they invent all kinds of nonsense."
"Sorry."
"You take everything too much to heart." Severus smiled warmly at the saddened Nagini and stroked her head. "On the contrary, you helped me a lot with this."
She tilted her head in confusion.
"Now I can dispel this misunderstanding so they will not even dare think that I and he are the same person."
Seeing the bloodthirsty grin on his face, Nagini understood there would definitely be casualties today.
//===================//