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Chapter Text

What ironic timing. The silence was deafening as Severus glared up at the white peahen as it gracefully flew towards him, even through the pissing down rain. Severus’ lank hair sat soaked around his face and shoulders, the long strands sticking to his skin. He was limply holding a bouquet of flowers in his hands, standing in front of the freshly covered coffin that his mother lay in. There was nothing fancy on her headstone. Just her name and the years she was both brought into the world and took out of it. 

He seriously couldn’t believe that that damned peahen couldn’t have just waited for him to get home. It wouldn’t have even taken that long. He sighed deeply, crouching down to place the bouquet beside his mother’s grave, looking up from behind his lashes when he noticed the white peahen land graciously on the headstone. 

“Stupid bird.” Severus mumbled softly as he stood up, boots crunching against the mud and grass on the ground. As if summoned, the pompous peafowl hopped down, strode up to him and presented its leg, tied to which was a scroll of black parchment. He notices, as he freed the bird of its cargo, that the bird was completely dry, Lucius having most likely cast a drying charm on the bird before it left.  He would have rid himself of the note rather than reading it, Lucius tended to send him irrelevant messages on topics he would rather not clog up free brain space, but the bird stared at him. Severus knew that it wouldn’t leave until he had read the message and would tell Malfoy if he “lost” it. So, sighing, he reluctantly opened the scroll. 

Its contents were rather unexpected. He had been invited to the Malfoy’s Summer Solstice Ball. Although Severus hated parties and formal gatherings, he knew that this would be an opportunity to get to know his…colleagues? Associates? He did not truly know what the pureblood families, filled to the brim with Death Eaters, were in relation to himself. He tended to keep a modicum of distance between them as they could be rather loud and obnoxious at times. 

Besides Lucius, he would only ever interact with Death Eaters against his will, or more likely soon to be Death Eaters, since most of them were just his classmates. He could hardly stand half of his classmates, how pompous Mulciber was, or how abrasive Avery was. In Slytherin, he could only really stand two, or maybe three people in his year or the year below. Wilkes was on that list, only because he kept his nose out of other people’s business, something that his other roommates couldn't relate to, and then there was Regulus. That boy had practically wiggled his way into Severus’ life the moment he realised that it would piss off his brother, Sirius. 

There was only one person who he would ever say that he would ever say he enjoyed the company of, and even then, they had been drifting apart since their fourth year. She hadn’t even bothered to come to his mother’s funeral. Maybe she didn’t know? But her parents had been there, even Petunia had gone. Why wasn’t she? 

Chapter Text

People called him The Riddler. He had, of course, been hoping for such a conclusion, one does not theme their crimes only to be called something like “Local Gotham Criminal”. Something that was, he thought, thoroughly demeaning. There was a plethora of criminals in Gotham, there was only one Riddler. Unfortunately, his luck had once again run out. The Bat, along with the GCPD were searching for him after a particularly tricky stunt that he would later regret pulling. His face, his civilian face, was being broadcast on near every channel in the local area, nothing a little makeup and a trip to another state couldn’t fix. 

And yet.

There was a small nagging voice, possibly one of reason, that warned him against his usual hubris.

He did not want another term in Arkham.

The thought of leaving the country crossed his mind and, for the first time in years, he had considered it. He had family who, while they may not be too fond of him, could at least be trusted to not rat him out to the law. This was more for their own self preservation than anything but it was better than nothing.

As he made his trip to the airport, Edward had looked at his freshly renewed passport over and over. The name upon it hadn’t been considered his own since he began his less than legal escapades. He obviously hadn’t had it changed legally, that would have linked the two together. Everybody was looking for Edward Nygma.

They wouldn’t think to look for Edward Rosier.

It had, of course, been many years since he had seen his family. Especially the ones overseas. The last time he had seen Evan, his cousin, they had been 11. Evan had just started at Hogwarts and Edward had finished his last year in a private secondary school. And yet, despite his academic achievements, his family still looked down on him and why? The simple answer was that he was born without magic. A squib. A failure. A disgrace. Well, he showed them. 

The Riddler was renowned throughout the world of vigilantism and heroics. The Smartest Man Alive! The King of Conundrums! The Prince of Puzzles! So what if his family was a hive of shortsighted, snivelling worms!  He already far exceeded them in every way!

As he filed into the plane, Edward suddenly realised how cramped it was. How many people were crammed into that metal tube like sardines in a tin? He could feel every bead of sweat that formed on his burning face. When did it get so hot? At least he had an aisle seat, an easy escape if needed. If no, no, when the plane crashed, he would be able to make a mad dash to the parachutes and leap out, plummet towards the ground and wait for impact. He was spiralling again, he knew he was, so slowly started counting the passengers in front of him. Numbers were easy. They were reliable and a constant. It was human error that was largely the foil of his work. It was why he liked The Bat, who felt much more like a machine than a man to Edward. Reliable, predictable, rigid in his values to a fault. The Bat was an integer in the chaotic, sprawling equation that was Gotham.

His arrival to England was in the early hours of the morning, the sky a solid stony grey. Not too different from Gotham, if he was being honest with himself. The air was cleaner and the plants more alive, but it was that same dreary, damp darkness that enveloped the city he had made a home in. Edward took a deep breath and made his way to the home of the Rosier Family. 

He had decided on this impromptu visit randomly, but on later consideration it was probably for the better. No matter how much he tried to lie and ignore it, he was still only 15, and once the Wizarding World realised that they hadn’t heard from the only Rosier's in America, they would start sticking their noses where they most certainly didn’t belong. And so, off to England he went. 

As he stood before the door, Edward paused, the rain seeping into his skin. He could feel the cold stabbing into his flesh, killing what little warmth he had left. His clothes clung to his body, leaving him with an almost slimy feeling on his skin. His measly green trench coat did nothing to ward off the biting, icy winds, leaving his gloved hands lightly trembling.

He reached up, hand curling into a fist, ready to knock on the large, redwood door.  

While he had known better than to hope for a warm welcome, Edward still expected better from his family than this. The only one who had cared to greet him was the family house-elf Dorris. Edward would very much be lying if he said he didn’t like Dorris, she was intelligent and made good company, more adjacent to a brownie than a house-elf as, if frustrated, she would start hiding things. Especially milk. The family had no way of knowing it was her, the fools would misplace things often enough that if they did lose something irritating just as they needed to use it then they would assume they had put it down somewhere different. Dorris usually returned it to somewhere near its regular place when she felt that she had her revenge. This spiteful streak of hers was similar to that of Edward, if less homicidal, which meant they got along swimmingly. 

“Come in Master Edward, Master Geraint is in the drawing room and Master Evan is in the library. Mistress Pandora is currently occupying the study to attend to her correspondence.” Dorris pulled him in as she spoke and forcefully took the bags he had been planning on carrying up himself to avoid interacting with his unpleasant relations. “They have been made aware of your presence and would like you to join them in the Dining Room after they have finished their evening activities.”

“Thank you Dorris, it is good to see you again.” 

Chapter Text

A pair of dark, nearly onyx eyes slowly scanned around the room, gazing over the bustling crowds of the elite that filled the large ballroom. An expression of boredom was plastered on his face, as he slowly nursed a room temperature glass of wine.

His eyes fluttered closed, fingers raising to rub between his eyes in a vain attempt to quell the migraine brewing beneath his brow. Severus absolutely hated parties. He really couldn't fathom how people could even remotely find being surrounded by people ‘enjoyable’. He was never invited to parties anyways, which was fine by him. So he genuinely had no idea why he had even accepted the invite Lucius had sent.

He had originally been standing around with some of his classmates, who had practically been forcing him into social interactions. Evan had spent over an hour dragging him around by his sleeve, blabbering on about a cousin? Severus really couldn’t remember, but he swore he heard something about them being crazy. 

Severus felt absolutely knackered, even if he had only been there for around an hour. He sat at a table far into the corner of the ballroom, hidden away from every other attendee. Well, all except one. 

A young teen who Severus hadn’t recognised, had practically bounded up to him, sliding into the empty chair beside him. The boy looked almost haggard, to the point that Severus didn’t believe they were the same age. Deep eyebags, long, scruffy hair, and yet his face had a shit eating grin. This ginger prick looked absolutely mental, so he just assumed this is who Evan was talking about.  

“Can I…  help you?” Severus looked around the large ballroom, scowl on his face as he tried to see if anyone had lost their mentally ill teenage child.

“How are you at riddles?” The boy asked, leaning towards Severus, still grinning widely.

“Riddles?” He scoffed, leaning away from the ginger, chair tipping back slightly, “If you’re just going to bother me for trivial children’s games, then don’t bother.”

“...I’m sorry ‘Children’s Games’?!” He stood, hands shaking as the smile fell from his face. “Do you even know what you’re saying? You all dress up in- in long fancy dresses and cast sparkles at each other but riddles are childish!?” The boy waved his gloved hands around, the cane he had apparently been carrying nearly hitting Severus in the face as he brandished it before him.

“Wh- I’ll have you know that I don’t cast ‘ sparkles ’ at anyone. I don’t have time for stupid incantations or silly wand waving,” Severus looked the stranger up and down before rolling his eyes, “Just like how I don’t have time for daft riddles...”

The boy forced his face into a twitchy grin as he dug his hand into the pocket of his raggedy trench coat.

“No time huh?”

Before Severus could even register what was happening, cold metal wrapped around his wrist, locking his hand in place.

“Riddle me this, if you value your hand! 

You fear me when I’m running out, you never have enough, you’ll wish you cherished me, as your hair you slough. What am I?”

Severus was shaken up, however he scoffed once more, shakily rolling his eyes. The whole reason he didn’t enjoy riddles, is that he always managed to answer them quickly, and this whole situation didn’t help. One doesn’t usually enjoy being restrained and threatened, Severus already knew that from experience, in fact his own father frequently sought to show him that emotion.

“Time. Obviously.” He practically spat out.

There was a moment of silence between the two. 

“...Oh thank fuck, I tried that in Gotham last week and had to kill the guy. I almost pitied the poor imbecile.” As he spoke the bracelet clicked and fell off of Severus’ stiff wrist. 

Severus awkwardly rubbed the sore space in which the metal had originally been, shooting a scathing, judgy look at the other boy, before chugging the rest of his wine. He shouldn’t even be drinking wine since he was underage, but he was too stressed to care right now.

Severus exhaled.

“Thank Merlin…wait. What?” His eyes widened, before they sharply narrowed, glaring darkly at the man before him, who seemed far too comfortable under his careful scrutiny, almost like he hadn't even noticed the icy glare . The music still droned on in the background but there was still at least an hour or two ‘til the rabble left. 

“I know how could anyone not get that? He asked if I could give him clues! The audacity!”  The man gesticulated wildly as he spoke, the volume of his voice slowly increasing. “And when I told him ‘ no! I won’t give you any clues. That makes the whole point void! ’, he had the nerve to say that it was ‘my whole gimmick’! Well, you can imagine the look on his face when he finally kicked the bucket. You’d think the room filling with sand and a timer on the wall gradually ticking down would have been enough of a pointer towards the answer, even if he was too dim witted to answer my riddle. Shame really, the games his company made were halfway decent.” 

The man finally shut up, and slumped in the seat adjacent to Severus, looking drained in comparison to what had seemed like his boundless energy from just moments before.

Severus stared, a more than mildly disturbed look on his face. He slowly scooted his chair away, trying to be as quiet as possible as he dragged his chair across the smooth marble floor. As he shuffled away, Evan’s cousin sat bolt upright. He removed his glasses, which reflected light from the chandelier into Severus’ eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Fucks sake, I thought I’d stopped monologuing...” 

Severus couldn’t hide the judging look this time, not that he had even attempted to in the slightest. “What are you even waffling on about?”

“Well, it’s really rather simple. I won’t expound upon that though, monologuing and 

all.” The boy replaced his glasses on his face and refocusing dark green eyes and training their gaze on Severus. “I’m Evan and Pandie’s cousin, Edward, I just got back from the States. Who’re you?”

Unlike many in the past who Severus had been introduced to, Edward did not offer a hand for him to shake. Instead he patted his shoulder in a far too friendly demonstration that brought Evan’s warning back to the forefront of Severus’ mind.

Severus stared blankly at Edward, before rolling his eyes. He turned away from the other boy, looking down at his empty wine glass, the taste still heavy on his tongue.

“Severus.” 

“Severus….what?” Edward walked so that he was in Severus’ periphery but didn’t get into his face. “I know for a fact that a good chunk of people here care oh so much about their family line. Forgive me for being curious. But then again, it is my trade.” 

“Snape.”

Edward stuck his head back into Severus’ line of sight, grinning. He had gotten so close that his wild ginger hair had brushed against Severus’ face, causing him to immediately reel back. This, of course, just made the boy laugh, as if he hadn’t been tormented enough that year. 

Severus placed his hand almost directly onto Edward’s chest, harshly pushing the boy away.

“Do you mind? There's a little thing called personal space , maybe you should make a riddle about it.”

“I’m sure, but where’s the fun in that? The simplicity of it could never amount to anything more than a puzzle for a sub-par imbecile.” 

Despite his words, Edward did take a few steps back. Still wearing that infuriating grin.

Severus just glared at Edward, his fingers threading through his lank, black hair, silently threatening to pull it out from the stress. He honestly just wanted to be left alone. He would've preferred his hand being blown off so he could just bleed out and finally be left alone. Rather anything than have this raving loon prattle along all night. 

He rubbed his tired eyes, before letting his head fall against the wooden table, just lying there as his forehead started to sting. Thankfully he heard the click of shoes and a cane fading away, leaving him to his own devices.

—

Severus wasn't one to admit embarrassing things, but he had absolutely accidentally fallen asleep while he was hidden in a dark corner. 

His hair was splayed out around his head, said head resting on his arms like they were pillows. Unfortunately, they weren't and were actually now very numb. The ballroom was near deserted, many of the guests clearing out with only a select few staying. Those few being the servants of The Dark Lord and their relatives.

Severus pushed himself to sit up, only to flinch as he felt something tap his shoulder. Standing beside him was Lucius Malfoy, using his stupidly intricate cane to nudge at his half dead body.

“I trust you had a good nap, Severus. It was quite embarrassing having to explain to the Dark Lord that the figure napping in the corner was actually my protegé.” Lucius crossed his arms, grey eyes narrowing down at Severus, “Now, get up. The dinner is starting soon and I can't be late to my own dinner.” 

Lucius began to walk off, not checking to see if Severus was following. His cane loudly echoed around the room, for the most part people were caught up in their own conversations but a few turned to look. Unfortunately, one of those few was Edward.

Rather than stare at him, however, Edward’s eyes were staring at Lucius’ walking implement. Perhaps due to its extravagant nature, though Severus believed that he had surely seen such wealth before, he was a pureblood afterall. 

Eventually, everyone filed into the dining room. It was only slightly smaller than the ballroom, but that was to be expected. It was still larger than Severus’ house. 

Severus felt out of place. He was probably the only poor half-blood in the whole mansion. In all honesty, he didn't want to sit around for another hour or two with this group. He couldn't stand how egotistical most purebloods were.

He paused, watching as Lucius kept walking forward. Severus' dark gaze shifted to looking out of the large window that stood beside him.

Technically, he didn't have to stay and sit through the dinner. It might piss off Lucius but Severus was far too tired to care.

He turned slowly, before just walking away.

—-------

Edward watched as Severus left the room, drawing stares from the assorted Death Eaters and their families. To a certain extent he got it. Severus did not share a surname with any pureblood families in Britain, most likely being a halfblood.

No one had complained after Severus left, meaning that it wasn’t mandatory to stay. It didn’t matter how much Edward liked attention, he was still a squib. He did not want to imagine what bodily harm could possibly be inflicted upon him if he stayed in that room for The Dark Lord to appear.  He cast a few cursory glances around, noting that Evan was looking at him wide eyed. He took this as a cue to make his exit. 

Unsurprisingly, he ran into Severus again in the corridor. Severus was leaned up against a wall, arms crossed as he looked out of one of the large windows. It was a full moon, and the dark sky was surprisingly clear, not a cloud in sight.

Severus was tapping his foot against the floor, his slightly battered shoes making a quiet sound as it hit the exotic hardwood floor over and over. It wasn’t dissimilar to Edward’s own actions when stressed or irate, although to be so oblivious to another person approaching was a slight concern.

“So…” Edward wandered closer slowly, drawing the word out to take attention away from his uneven steps, “you not feeling up to the crowd?”

Severus jumped, obviously having not expected anyone to so suddenly interrupt his self-imposed silence so soon after he had left. Edward watched him quickly compose himself, a look of displeasure rapidly returning to his face. 

“Can I help you?” Severus grumbled, already starting to lean away from Edward.

Before responding, Edward sat down beside where Severus stood, propping his cane against the wall. In comparison to the one sported by Lucius Malfoy, it looked rather drab. 

“You assume that just because I followed you out here that I want something from you?” He placed his hand over his mouth for a moment, mocking shock. “I’m offended. How did I come across as such a shallow creature?” 

“It's probably because you started rambling on about bullshit riddles last time I saw you. I'm surprised you didn't choke on your own words with how quickly you were jabbering on.”

“Ah, yes, well, wordplay is my trade. It is my main source of employment and of entertainment. I do admit that the monologing grew a tad…out of hand. However I am, surprising as it may be, capable of alternate trains of thought.”  

“Colour me surprised…”

“Now, will you answer my question?” Edward’s eyes shifted from being gazing at the intricate ceiling above to looking at Severus, if only slightly. “It’s only polite.”

He sighed, running his hand through his hair, “Fine.”

There were a few moments of silence. 

“Oh, you don’t remember me asking it, ok.” It was only a mutter before returning to normal speaking volume but Severus still heard it. “Why aren’t you still in there? Aren’t you part of that whole dark wizard club thing they’ve got going on?”

“I'm not big on… pureblood… pastimes , I suppose you could say.” Severus slid down the wall until he was sat beside Edward. “Nor do I particularly care what that serpentine fool thinks of me anymore.”

“Huh.” 

Once again quiet flooded the corridor, all the sounds from the dining room muffled. Edward began to fidget with the dress robes his family had forced him to wear, to look presentable. It had a thread he had progressively loosened over the night and now he pulled at it, ruffling the dark green fabric. 

“Do you, um, want to know why I’m not in there?” He eventually asked, there was only so much mental stimulation one could gain from string.

“...Go for it.” Severus turned to look at Edward, his eyebrow raised.

“Well, to put it in simple terms, I’m a squib. They hate that right?” Edward laughed to himself, though his heart wasn’t in it. “No magic and all. I really don’t want to find out what would happen if I met Him and He knew, you know?” 

“I suppose that's fair. I don't particularly want to find out how he's going to react when he finds out that Lucius Malfoy’s ‘protegé’ is a half-blood with one fully muggle parent.” Severus rolled his eyes weakly.

Edward turned, more threads had been pulled from his robes while they had been talking. 

“I guess we’re in similar boats then. I’m glad he doesn’t have much power where I normally live.” He had been smiling again, though after a moment of consideration frowned again. He grabbed his cane and used it to propel himself upwards, wincing slightly. “You want to leave? People will probably be coming out this way, you know.” 

He did not wait for an answer, making his way down the corridor that led towards the main entrance. Once he reached a doorway he stopped, looking back to see if Severus would follow.

Severus sighed weakly, pushing himself to stand up. He placed his hands into the pockets of his dress trousers, before following Edward. He would rather spend his time with someone crazy, as long as he didn't have to deal with how stuffy some purebloods were.

Edward was grinning again by the time Severus reached him and was off once more with Severus in tow, not stopping until they were in the gardens. A few ornate birds were still out and about, despite the hour, making their presence more obvious than their white feathers already made them by calling to each other. The air that night was crisp and surprisingly cool, if one took the season into consideration. Edward speculated on whether the Malfoy’s had enchanted the grounds so they wouldn’t melt in the summer heat. 

He glanced back at Severus again, who looked almost ghoulish in the moonlight.

Maybe ghoulish wasn't the right word. He was so pale that he almost seemed to glow in the light of the full moon. It looked kind of daft if Edward had anything to say about it.

Severus breathed in the cool, summer night air, before reaching into the pocket of his robe, pulling out a small cardboard box. Cigarettes.

“You know that’s super bad for you right?” Edward asked, pointing at the packet. The white of the Marlboro cigarette packet seemed far brighter than it should have, but neither of them thought too much about it, thinking it was probably just a trick of the light.

“That's… kind of the point.” He looked away, placing one of them in between his lips. He snapped his fingers, a small flame appearing between them as he lit the cigarette.

Edward pulled a face, angling himself so that he wouldn’t inhale any smoke. He began to loudly fake cough, gloved hand curled into a fist, covering his mouth. 

Severus glared over at him, dark eyes narrowed in annoyance. He inhaled deeply, removing the cigarette from his mouth. He turned to Edward, before blowing the smoke directly into his smug little face.

He, of course, took the opportunity to gasp dramatically. Realising his mistake too late, Edward began coughing with more vigour, doubling over.

Severus snickered quietly, looking away, “Dumbass…” 

From his lowered position, Edward glared up, gripped his cane, and promptly swung it into the back of Severus’ knees.

“Ugh- You asshole-” Severus’ bent back as he stumbled, cigarette falling into the grass, “That hurt, you prat.”

“That's… kind of the point.” Edward used Severus' own wording from earlier back at him, his smug expression returning. He shifted, stomping out the cigarette with the end of his cane, neither of them noticing the little flecks of green light coming up when his cane hit the ground. 

Severus grumbled, kicking the bottom of the cane suddenly. It wasn't hard enough for the cane to go flying, but it immediately was pushed out underneath Edward's weight, leaving the boy to just fall over.

The ginger reached forward, grasping at the thin material of Severus' old cloak as he fell, bringing Severus down with him. They both landed on their arses with a harsh thump. 

“ Fucking prick .” They both spoke in unison, only to glare sharply at each other straight after. 

Severus was glaring in annoyance, while Edward had a shit eating grin on his face. Behind them, the remaining guests began to file out.

Severus pushed himself to stand, picking up the fallen box of cigarettes from the grassy floor before stuffing it into his cloak pocket. He began to walk off when two familiar figures finally exited the Malfoy's Mansion.

“Edward.” Pandora smiled as she walked over, pure white hair flowing in the light breeze.

He looked as if he would jump out of his skin when his name was called. Warnings blared in his head. And also around him, apparently, as large exclamation marks glowed around him. They then promptly vanished as he realised who it was.

“Pandy, you can’t sneak up on someone like that.” He breathed out in relief, obviously not processing the bewildered silence around him. 

The two purebloods – plus Severus – stared at him, silent and with eyes wide. 

“What?” Edward narrowed his eyes, arms crossed over his chest.

“Uhhmmmm- Eddie, you’re kind of onomatopoeia-ing…?” Pandora fiddled with her fingers, scratching at her purple nail polish.

“What in the world are you talking about?” He glared, only for ghostly question marks to appear around his head.

“You’re doing it again.” Severus blurted out.

Chapter Text

The weeks following the Malfoy Solstice Ball was a blur. Since they had realised he was doing magic, the Rosier’s were rushing to catch Edward up on what he was meant to already know. It was strange, being behind on something, but he took it in his stride. He had received a letter from Hogwarts. Him. No longer was he ‘Stupid Squib Edward’ , to the elders of the family he was now just ‘Stupid Edward’. Not one without magic on top of that. Edward himself knew, of course, that they were just attempting to compensate for their ineptitude. Even they had to admit that, if anything, Edward was a fast learner. He burned through all of Evan and Pandora’s school books, tackling them by the year to get him caught up on precious missed time.
Luckily for the Rosiers, and by extension Edward, late bloomers in magic were not completely unheard of. One such case had occurred while Hogwarts was overseen by Headmaster Black. This meant that the image of the Rosier Family would not be so utterly besmirched as it had been for them to have a squib in the family.

Edward sort of wished he had stayed a squib however, since his late onset magic now caused him to have to be stuck around the other idiots that would be in his year. He would’ve rather passed away in a fiery death then sit with half of the purebloods his age again. Even his cousins were on thin ice, Evan more so than Pandora. If he had to sit through Evan babble on about blood purity one more time then he was going to spill Evan’s blood all over the pure white marble. On the other hand, Edward knew that this was the perfect opportunity to mess with his relatives and, in association, the rest of the pureblood population.

First things first, supplies. It was humid the day they went to Diagon Alley. Edward was used to this kind of heat, Gotham’s general damp darkness always led to summers where the air felt thick with warmth, but Evan and Pandora looked as though they would drop dead within a few hours. It probably didn’t help that Pandora was wearing her usual twee garb, whereas Evan was dressed to the nines, like most ‘self-respecting’ purebloods nowadays. Edward was just wearing a pair of black dress trousers, and a green, question-mark covered button-up that he had pulled out from the bottom of his trunk.

It was odd that such a place was so ingrained in the culture and consciousness of British wizards. It was cramped, the sounds of a clamouring crowd flooded the senses which were already under assault from the clashing scents and the bright colours often worn by the wizarding populous.

“Well, here we are.” Edward’s aunt had stopped them outside of ‘Madame Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions’, grimacing at the robes on display. “Best get it out of the way.”
A bell rang out as they entered, heralding their arrival to the robe boutique. Edward glances around the shop, before his eyes landed on a young woman, probably only around 30. She was pottering around the boutique, holding many different rolls of fabric. There weren't many other people getting fitted, since it was a week before school, and most people wouldn’t cut it so late. Edward was glad that once it was over. He didn’t enjoy being prodded for more than a second. Actually, he preferred to not be prodded at all.

The next stop on the agenda was Flourish and Blotts. Edward had half a mind to spend the rest of his life there, surrounded by books. He did not have that luxury. He was given his list and left to his own devices as Evan and Pandora were shunted off by their mother.
Edward strolled around, gazing at the different books as he walked, trying to figure out which ones he needed. His green eyes stared at one book about jinxes as he walked past, only for his pace to be disturbed when he slammed into the side of someone.

Both Edward and the figure turned to look at each other, both blurting out something at the same time.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry-”
“Sor- Holy shit, thats alot of scars-”

There was a prolonged silence before Edward finally clocked onto what he had said. He didn’t feel like backtracking would work, so instead he improvised, “Wanna see mine?” Without waiting for an answer, he pulled his sleeve up to show that his arm was littered in scars of different sizes and shapes. Some were even small question marks.

The scarred, both metaphorically and physically, individual just stared for a moment, a disturbed look on his face. Edward could feel the air brushing against scars that hadn’t seen the light of day since his incarceration in Arkham. He regretted this whole conversation but it was far too late to go back on it.

“Uhm…. Cool… I guess?” The young man in front of him spoke awkwardly.
Edward slowly rolled his sleeve back down, still wearing a strained smile, as he thought through what he was going to say. This was why the rogues didn’t like him, especially Harvey. He had clearly made the boy uncomfortable, he would just have to apologise and explain himself the best he could. Taking a deep breath, Edward prepared himself for whatever response he would receive.

“I am…so sorry, I did not think any of that through.” Before the boy could respond, Edward continued, words blurring with the pace he made. “WhereInormallylivethereareloadsofuswhohavesomesortofscarorsomethingoranotherandtheotherssometimescomparethemIdon’tknowwhatpartofmethoughthat’dbeappropriatehereI-”

Remus stared in shock, eyes narrowed, “It- Uh- It’s fine…”

“Ok, cool, um…how about we introduce ourselves, start a new conversation and pretend that never happened?” Edward tapped his gloved digits along his cane as he talked, in time with the rhythm of his speech.

“I’m Remus… Remus Lupin.”

“Edward.” The silence settled awkwardly around them for a moment. “Hey, do you know where to find these books? I’ve never been here before.”

He turned the list in his hands so that Remus could see the books listed. Leaning forward, the boy examined them carefully and then shifted his gaze up to Edward.

“These are this year’s school books.” He stated before leading Edward to the appropriate sections.

–

About half an hour later, the two boys stood in line, ready to pay for their newly acquired books. Edward was impatiently tapping his foot against the wooden parquet flooring. He glanced forward, eyes landing on the group of children standing in front of him, who were all taking far too long to buy their own books. It was stupid, really. It shouldn’t take you nearly 15 minutes to pay for 7 books.
He scoffed, before glancing back to Remus, who seemed far more patient than he was. Edward had half the mind to just push those kids to the back of the line.
It took an agonisingly long time, but eventually they reached the till.

“Hello, what can I help you with-” The cashier was cut off by Edward dropping his books, as well as Remus' books, directly onto the counter.

“Wait,” Remus spoke, “I'll pay for mine-”

“Shh sh shshsh!” Edward shushed him, reaching back to place a gloved finger on the other boy's lips. “I am paying and there is nothing you can do about it!”

Edward pulled a pouch from his pocket and turned back to the cashier who, to their credit, seemed to be tolerating the scene unfolding before them.

“That’ll be 80 galleons all together.” At the cashier’s verdict, Remus winced, but the boy next to him simply nodded before placing the money on the counter, scooping up the books and stepping out of the line, dragging Remus with him.

Edward crouched down, sorting the books into two piles before practically shoving the books into Remus’ chest. “Okay, bye then!”

Remus’ eyes had been closed for less than a second, only to find that when he opened them, Edward was gone, the faint pattering of footsteps running out the shop being the only thing Remus could hear.

“What in the world…” He looked down, only to find a book that was absolutely not on the list, “A book on… riddles??” When did that guy have the time to grab it?

————————

If given the choice, Severus would have been getting his school supplies a few weeks before the beginning of the year, and preferably, he would have been alone. He, unfortunately, hadn’t had that luxury. Every year, he had to go with Lily to get their school supplies together. It wasn’t that he disliked the outings, far from it, they got him out of the monotonous cesspit that was Cokeworth, but he didn’t like how late they were. That year was no different. He had been escorted to London by the Evans family before they went their separate ways, Lily and him went to Diagon Alley while Lily’s parents and sister would go on a small outing to make the most of the time.

Severus and Lily were looking for some new ink and quills. The girl had been rather pissed off that her ink had run out last minute, and even more pissed off that her other friend’s owls refused to take her small scraps of notebook paper. Lily had been itching to reply to the letters she had been getting, so she couldn’t wait to get another pot of ink. He had asked why she couldn’t just head to Diagon earlier to get a new pot of ink, however when she gave him a slightly deadpan look, he realised that her parents probably wouldn’t drive her all the way to London from just outside of Birmingham just for a pot of ink.

He was lucky that he didn’t have anyone to write to over the holidays, and therefore he rarely ran out of ink outside of school. In fact, he was pretty sure he only ever ran out of ink due to his almost incessant potion studies. Severus was almost thankful for that, seeing as he could sell potions to the people in his year to cover the costs of his equipment, especially since there was a specific group who had the tendency to… destroy his things.

Severus had zoned out, head tilted down as gaze focused on his rather old, scabby shoes. He silently acknowledged that he needed to to save up to buy a new pair. He would probably pick some good leather boots this time instead of these shitty, thin trainers, which had started falling apart not even a year after he brought them, and definitely weren’t handling the resizing charms all too well. He was wordless as LIly dragged him around Diagon, heading into one shop after another, wordless as his meagre amount of money slowly dwindled with every purchase. He almost wanted to cringe. He hated spending money, no matter if it was his own money or someone else's. He was much more inclined to trading for the things he needed, but not many people were willing to trust the potion expertise of a 15 year old who constantly looked like his name should be ‘Oscar’ rather than Severus. He supposed that he was already grouchy enough for that to work. Not that he had ever watched Sesame Street, or that he’d admit if he had.

He was pulled from his reverie by a familiar voice, a voice that filled his chest with warmth. The sound of the soothing lilt immediately shaking him from his wool-gathering, his originally vacant gaze snapping up to look at the owner of the voice, almost like an obedient dog. Lily stood in front of him, her fiery red hair tied up, some strands falling over her face. It was messy, but Severus thought she was beautiful. However, his engrossment was cut short when he realised that she had actually been talking.

“Oh… Sorry, what was that?” He blurted out, his ears having turned a soft shade of pink, either from the embarrassment of having to admit that he wasn’t listening, or from being flustered from being around Lily. Probably both.

“Seriously, Sev?” Lily glared, jabbing him in the cheek with her finger, “Why do none of you ever actually listen to me? I swear… Anyways, I was wondering if there was anything else on the list we needed, since you’ve been hogging it this whole time.”

Severus glanced down at his hand as Lily gestured to it, looking past the bags he was holding. He was, in fact, tightly holding their shopping list between his rather thin and spindly fingers, the parchment scrunched up in his hand. He fumbled with the list, before pulling it open and checking. He had been keeping a mental list of the shops they had already been to. Flourish and Blotts? Check. Amanuensis Quills? Check. Madame Malkins? Check. The Cauldron Workshop? Check. What else did they need…?

“I think…- I think we just need to head to The Apothecary now...” Severus wanted to sigh. He hated the Apothecary in Diagon Alley. Expensive slop is what it is. The ingredients were rarely well fresh, and they were being sold at insane prices. It’d just be better for them to go to the apothecary in Knockturn, or better yet, harvest them themselves from the Forbidden Forest when they got to Hogwarts. However, Severus knew how LIly felt about those locals, so he held his tongue. ‘Forbidden for a reason’, she had said. Unbelievable. Knockturn wasn’t forbidden. Anyone could go there at any time, and sure the… people there weren’t great, but Severus had done shady things for money too, so he really couldn’t judge them too harshly.

The Slytherin and Gryffindor duo walked in silence to The Apothecary. Severus had been grumbling to himself in his head about potions ingredients and how to store them, whereas Lily was focused on getting to the Apothecary itself. Severus chucked the crumpled up list into the bin as they walked past it, eyes widening a fraction as the ball missed the bin by a long shot, heading down into the alleyway between two shops. He turned away, choosing to ignore it instead of getting off track.

Once they reached the Apothecary, they pushed open the glass door, eyes taking a moment to adjust to the darkness. Their arrival was heralded by the annoying ding of the bell over the top of the door. Severus was immediately pissed off by the noise. The two teens stumbled through the ingredient aisles, Severus occasionally reaching up to grab things. Every single time however, he would be cut off short by Lily’s faster hands reaching out to grab it before him, a mischievous grin on her lips. With every smile she sent his way, Severus felt his heart flutter. With every brush of their hands, Severus felt himself falter more and more.

Severus and LIly held different small bags in their hands, all holding different ingredients. Severus refused to allow any of them to touch, choosing to bag them all up separately as the duo headed towards the till. They had to wait in line for only a few minutes, minutes of which were filled with whispered jokes from Lily about how the place stank worse than Slughorn’s potion stores. Soon enough, they stepped up to pay.

“We can split the cost.” Lily said, reaching into her jacket pocket, the jacket of which was actually her father’s, pulling out a little wool purse that her mother had crocheted for her. Severus smiled, pulling his money straight from his pockets, holding the metal coins in his hands.

“Thank you for shopping at The Apothecary. That’ll be 15 Galleons.” Lily and Severus cringed, before quickly working out how much the two of them needed to give. They just as quickly handed over their money to the shop owner.

The two quickly grabbed their own ingredients, placing them into the bags they were both holding. They scurried out of the shop, neither of them particularly wanting to stay. Lily, because it stank in there, and Severus, because he thought the shop was just a place to sell overpriced ingredients. 21 Galleons for chipped unicorn horns was insane when he could just sneak into the Forbidden Forest and find mostly fresh ones that the unicorns had shed themselves, instead of the ones in the shop which looked to be harvested. He shuddered at the thought.

Once they were outside, Lily rubbed her eyes, forcing them to quickly adjust to the sudden brightness. Severus on the other hand let it happen naturally. Lily suddenly gasped, Severus jolting in reply, eyes widening slightly. He turned to look at her.

“What-” He was cut off by Lily herself.

“Is that Pandora?” She grinned, before turning to look at Severus as well, “Would it be okay if I go hang out with her until we need to meet up with my parents again? I haven’t been able to talk to her in forever because I ran out of ink.”

Severus almost wanted to say no, since he himself hadn’t hung out with Lily much either over the Holidays. Lily hadn't even been home for half of it, apparently having gone to stay over at her friend Marlene’s house for a few weeks. Weeks which had unfortunately coincided with his mother’s funeral. However, when Severus looked into LIly’s bright, almost glimmering eyes, he felt himself falter. He sighed, before nodding.

“Go-... Go for it, Lils. Besides, if she’s here, it probably means her brother is too and I can catch up with him…” He absolutely was not going to go catch up with Evan. He had dealt with a vaguely tipsy Evan Rosier at the Malfoy’s ball, and alongside having interacted with that heathen that the Rosier’s called their cousin, he was all Rosier’ed out, willing to not see any of them, at least until he had to return to Hogwarts.

He watched as Lily turned and ran off to go catch up with Pandora. Another sigh slipped past his lips, as he reached into his bag. He might as well start reading those school books he brought earlier, since he had at least an hour until LiIly’s parents and sister came to pick them up.

—
Edward was perusing the different potions ingredients The Apothecary had in store. HIs eyes raked over newts eyes, beetle legs, and things similarly gross. He almost wanted to gag, feeling lucky that all of them were in jars. He turned his head away, before glancing around the winding shop, looking for his cousin. He had entered the shop with Evan, who had wanted to grab something for a friend, who’s name had sounded familiar to Edward but he couldn’t place a finger on it.

He noticed Evan crouched down, looking at something that seemed to be moonstone, on the other side of the shop. Edward groaned, before starting his trek over. As he walked past one aisle, he caught sight of a familiar figure on his periphery. He smirked as he recognised the figure as the boy who he had thoroughly enjoyed pissing off at the Malfoy ball. Edward changed his course, rushing down the aisle to follow, silently hoping to be able to rile the boy up once more. However, when he turned the corner, he was gone.

“How odd…” Edward muttered.

“Edward, what are you doing?” Evan said from behind him, startling him.

Edward practically spun around, tapping his cane against the floor. “Nothing, are you finally done? Can we finally go home now?”

“Well, yes, I’m done, but didn’t you want to check out that one shop after this? What was it called… ‘Bats! Bats! Bats!’?” Evan smirked as he spoke, raising his eyebrow.

“Ah… Yes.” He cleared his throat. “To the bat shop, dear cousin of mine!”

Edward grinned to himself once he heard the half hearted sigh from behind him.
They quickly vacated The Apothecary and marched off down the street. If it wasn’t for the rush, Edward would have spotted the boy from the ball, alongside a red haired girl, walking over to Pandora. But, as it happened, he was intent on getting to Bats!Bats!Bats! Afterall, the opportunity was far too great to give up. A Gotham Rogue getting a pet bat? One would think it utterly contrary. At least, that’s what Edward thought to himself as he thought over his idea.

The shop itself looked rather inconsequential. A tall, sturdy looking thing painted to be utterly desaturated. The Bat himself would have adored it, Edward not so much.
The interior was marginally better. Many muffling charms must have been placed over the internal walls, because when the door shut behind them the racket from the street became little more than a whisper.
Evan shuffled slightly beside him, probably to ensure he hadn’t gone deaf or something.

Bats hung from the rafters, from the shelves, from the walls. Anywhere they could get their little claws in. Edward could see the appeal now. He was surrounded by small, fuzzy, breathing bodies, and he was utterly enraptured. There were so many species in one space. Flying Foxes, Vampire Bats, Long Eared Brown Bats, False Vampire Bats. Although, the latter were kept in their own area to prevent them from eating the other bats.

A nudge in his side brought him back to the present. Evan glared at him. Right, he needed to be quick to regroup with the rest of the family.
He remembered seeing somewhere that fruit bats are diurnal, which would be preferable to purchase so that he would not disrupt a bat who was asleep. That felt cruel. Unfortunately, that seemed to be widely false. The majority of the bats, insectivore or not, were fast asleep. He scanned over the sleeping forms before coming across a small bat that was further away from those of its species. It looked underfed.
When did he grow a bleeding heart?
He plucked the small form from the wall and walked up to the counter. The person sitting behind it looked at the bat within his hand, then at Edward himself and nodded before they tapped a sign at their side. It was a surprisingly small price for a living creature.

Once they stepped back out into Diagon Alley, the bat crawled up his arm and clung to his shirt. Edward couldn’t stifle his smile as he cupped a hand under it. He was so excited to introduce his little companion to Pandora that, once he spotted her, everything else around him did not register. He strode up to her, Evan in tow, and cleared his throat.

“Greetings my dearest of cousins,” behind him Evan gave a gasp of feigned offence, “may I introduce to you, my newest henchgirl, Brucie Kirkland Rosier!”
With his final words, he plucked Brucie from her place on his clothes and held her aloft. She opened her eyes and looked around blearily. The sun caught her ginger fur so that she almost glowed. His radiant little bat pup.

“That’s a terrible name…” Edward turned to see Evan covering his mouth. Trying, and failing, to stifle laughter.

“Oh my poor ignorant cousin,” Evan was going to eat his words, “ you laugh now, but wait until you hear the backstory. She is named for two of the most chiropteran people in Gotham!” He could tell that Evan had already lost interest, but Pandora was paying enough attention for him to continue.
“First and foremost, Brucie, for Bruce ‘Brucie’ Wayne. Well known for his fear of bats, despite his home housing the largest bat colony in the state.” He could laugh at that little joke later..
“And secondly, Kirkland, for Kirkland Langstrom. Colloquially known as ‘Manbat’, through no fault of his own. He has a condition similar to lycanthropy, but it was caused by his own experimentation with bat DNA alongside genetic engineering to try and cure inherited sensory issues.” Nobody was listening at that point.

All save for one who most certainly was not part of his family. Rather than allow the slightly embarrassing situation to get to him, Edward tucked Brucie back into place, where she immediately snuggled back into his shirt, and walked over to them. He recognised the boy immediately. He knew he had seen him earlier! A slight pause was necessary to reassess.

Pandora was talking with a ginger girl who, if not for the fact he had never seen her before, could have been mistaken for a relative of his. She reminded him of someone, the way she held herself maybe? Definitely not the stuck up pratts that his family normally mingled with. Meanwhile, Evan was making a rather pathetic attempt at talking to the boy. Aha! It finally hit him, this was who Evan was getting something for! He knew the name sounded familiar. Severus.

Evan and Severus were standing off to the side, enough so that Edward couldn’t hear their conversation, and it looked as if Evan had sort of ambushed the boy. Severus looked as if he would rather be literally anywhere else, expression conveying that Evan had most likely interrupted his alone time. Edward contemplated interrupting. It would be funny, but Evan would probably strangle him for it. Instead he chose to focus on the newest addition to his hench-creatures. He absentmindedly stroked Bruce’s fur and went over a mental checklist of what she could eat. She was an Egyptian Fruit Bat, which meant she could eat soft fruit. Now he just had to figure out where to get some figs.

—

It had started pissing it down not long after Severus and Lily had met back up with Lily’s parents. Lily was wringing out her hair as they sat together in the car. Severus was leaned up against the car door, gazing out the window as he watched the houses and trees zip past them. He had his bag in between his legs on the floor of the car, silently praying that the books and ingredients inside hadn’t been damaged due to the rain. Petunia was sitting in the middle, looking completely miffed. It almost looked as if steam was going to spew from her ears at any moment, most likely due to both being soaked, and being forced to sit beside her sister’s ‘freak’ of a best friend.

Petunia had never liked him. Severus wasn’t even sure why, since he hadn’t done anything to her — if he was to ignore the time he dropped a whole tree branch on her, but in his defense, he was 9. Even then, the only reason he had dropped it had been because she was being a right prat that day, having been making fun of both himself and Lily. Severus didn’t particularly want her to like him anyway, since he didn’t enjoy spending time with most muggles in his life. Couldn’t stand muggles to begin with. What could he even talk to them about? Sports? Absolutely not. He may have been called a pansy because of it, but he had never liked sports, and he wasn’t going to force himself to start liking it just for a conversation starter. The weather? Also not an option, since the weather in England was an utter drag half the time. There was rarely any ‘nice weather’, so he would be lying if he said the opposite.

This car ride was dragging on, even though it had only been about an hour and a half. The seats were cramped, and the scent of the air freshener made Severus feel as if he wanted to throw up. It felt far too warm, probably because Mr. Evans had turned on the heating to keep them all from freezing to death during the ride back. Slowly, the sight of the trees lining the road and large patches of farmland shifted to a more urban area, buildings and smaller roads appearing more frequently. Mr. Evans pulled off the motorway, and Severus could see that they were getting closer to Cokeworth, even if they had to drive through Birmingham to get there.

It had taken another 40 minutes until they had reached Cokeworth. Severus had been dropped off in Spinner’s Circle, which was on the slightly less dilapidated side of Cokeworth. Spinner’s Circle was closer to where LIly lived, however it wasn’t too far away from Spinner’s End, if the names hadn’t already been a dead give away. It was still raining as Severus trudged through the graffiti littered streets, hands stuffed deep into his coat pockets. A coat, of which, was doing less than the bare minimum of keeping the cold out, since he still felt frozen to the bone. His soaked hair hung around his shoulders, some sticking to his face.

It had taken him an extra 15 minutes on top of that to reach his house. The front garden was a mess, all of the plants and grass overgrown, making it hard to even see the path up to the door. The door itself looked equally as bad. It had originally been painted blue, however the colour had faded, so now it just looked grey, as well as the paint having started to peel, revealing the sycamore wood beneath. Severus reached for the door handle, before twisting it and pushing it open. He never locked the door anymore, he literally couldn't, since the lock had been broken since he was 12, and he wasn’t allowed to use magic to lock it either, both because of his father, as well as the trace. Even if his father was currently missing, Severus didn’t know when, or if, he would return, but he didn’t want to be on the receiving end of his father’s rage again. He had enough scars to do him for life already.

As he stepped into the house, the silence enveloped him. He was completely alone. He kicked his waterlogged trainers off at the door, socks squelching against the carpet. He hunched over slightly as he pulled his backpack off his back, he went to chuck it onto the sofa as he passed it, however he remembered how his father used to react whenever he would leave stuff around the house. He froze, before choosing to just take it upstairs to his bedroom. He shuffled through his living room, dark eyes being drawn to different objects littering the room. The old TV that they had brought when they had moved in, so old that they could hardly see the tiny thing from where the sofa was placed. A sofa of which was equally as old, the leather worn and ripped in some places. Their old glass coffee table, the glass clouded from dirt and grime. Severus didn’t even want to touch that thing. Even the carpet felt coarse beneath his feet.

Severus finally reached the stairs, making sure to skip the step with the raised nail. He actually skipped multiple steps, wanting to just be in his bedroom already. He really, truly hated this house. Even when it was empty, devoid of the brash presence of his father, and the lack of a presence his mother had in his life before she passed, it felt so suffocating to be in the building. One thing he applauded his father for, was that at least Tobias expressed his hatred of his son, instead of letting it fester like Eileen did. At least Tobias hadn’t lied about loving him. Once he was on the second floor, Severus rushed into his bedroom, quietly closing the door behind him. He placed his bag in front of the door, before heading towards his bed.

It was a mess, and he didn’t have a quilt, just a bedsheet and a throw blanket that had a houndstooth pattern on it. Severus hated it here. He hated it here, but he also hated it back at Hogwarts. He wished he could just fade into the background, forgotten by everyone. Especially those daft Gryffindors, Potter, Black and their two little hype men.

Severus Snape hated everything.

Chapter Text

Edward could finally breathe. He was on the train. He was leaving his family, their judgement, their expectations, far behind. The rhythmic thumps of the locomotive drummed in time with  his heart as he moved along the carriages. He had been trying to find an empty compartment, but that was proving difficult. He would have thrown his lot in with Pandora or Evan, but they each had their own friends and would have probably found his presence to be a hindrance to conversation, so instead he pressed on. Finally he came across a compartment that was not currently occupied and sat down.

He knew that there would be a while to go once the train left the station, so quickly got comfortable, leaning his cane where seat and wall met. Brucie, made a nest for herself in his bag rendering it sufficiently guarded from thieves, and Edward. He had wanted to do a crossword or sudoku but could only long for such things with his bat so dutifully nestled. 

Sighing, he slumped in his seat and stared out of the window at the station. Gradually, the noise that only hordes of children could bring filled the remainder of the train. 

Edward was not used to this. Sure public transport was a thing in Gotham, but there were so many dodgy people around that only the truly broke could risk it. He hadn’t been on a train for many years. His ‘aunts’ had chaperoned him everywhere since they took him in. He missed them. While he had dubbed them his henchgirls, they were so much more than that. Diedre had given him somewhere safe, somewhere away from his family. Nina, in the meantime, had given him lessons in self defence and left threats at his parents’ door. 

He missed them.

Edward’s mind snapped back to the present as the compartment door slid open. There was a group standing in the door. He recognised Remus, but the others in front of him were completely unfamiliar. The two at the very front looked as though they would be fun to annoy. The one with the glasses had a stupid grin on his face. He looked extremely slappable, especially since the plaster on his nose looked as though someone had already started the job. The one with long hair had what was meant to be a teardrop tattoo, but had obviously been drawn on with a quill and made to stick with a charm. That was a gargantuan red flag right there. Edward looked between the two, noticing how Teardrop was standing rather close to Glasses. Huh. They seemed close. Slightly behind them was a little mouse of a boy. He reminded Edward of Tetch, it was something about the pitiful expression mixed with a slight malevolence behind the eyes. 

Edward stared at the group at the door. Were they going to just stand there? Would they leave? Was Remus okay? Edward’s eyes looked around the compartment awkwardly, green eyes looking everywhere but at the quartet of boys. Mentally, Edward was praying, to a god he didn’t even believe in, for himself to just disappear.

Finally, the silence was broken by Remus clearing his throat. Right. Better just see what they want. Edward took a deep breath, trying to dispel any stress that may have been showing before. 

“Hello Remus and…” he eyed the others carefully, “friends?” 

His scarred acquaintance relaxed his shoulders and offered a small wave. 

“Hi Edward. All the other compartments were full, so we were wondering if we could sit in here.” 

Ah. Great . It was to be expected, he supposed, one can hardly expect to go a whole train journey with an empty compartment. At least he knew Remus, sort of. He could only hope that the boy was a good judge of character.

“Sure.” After the words left his mouth, the small group filed in. Teardrop and Glasses sat next to one another on the seats opposite him, and Mousy sat by the door beside them. Remus sat next to Edward.  

They were…looking at him. Edward was used to attention, of course, but this kind of scrutiny made his skin crawl. He did not like to be…analysed. To be picked apart piece by piece as though he were nothing more than a text assigned to a student. As though he were a piece of art to be examined, appraised, displayed and critiqued. He could feel the questions he would face. Feel their burning hunger for answers. A greed that would consume every part of Edward to fill idle stomachs. 

Beside him, Remus cleared his throat.

Right. 

Remus knew what it was like. He hadn’t said anything of the sort, but Edward could tell. Knew from their first meeting, when he had observed the boy and been met with an uncomfortable, nervous presence. Remus could understand. And so he shifted his attention to him instead of those opposite him. 

“I should…uh…probably introduce everyone right?” He was trying to smile, but it was the brittle sort that would shatter easily if pressed. Edward did not want stress to lie heavy on the already weighted soul of his…acquaintance. It would be unnecessarily cruel. And so he spoke instead.

“There is no need, I assure you, I would prefer to make my own introduction. Especially as we have only met once. You need not be burdened with it.” He hoped that his reassurance was adequate. Remus had looked relieved. At least…Edward believed that the expression was relief. He turned back to the hungry gaze of those sharing the compartment, hating how he subconsciously corrected his posture. “My name is Edward Rosier.”

The stares turned sharp. And Edward did not know why . Trying his best to ignore them, he continued. Talking was what he was supposed to be good at.

“This-“ he gestured to Brucie “-is Brucie Kirkland Rosier.” As if on cue, she yawned. The boys opposite exchanged glances, seemingly confused. Weirdos. “She is an Egyptian Fruit Bat, which are nocturnal, and she is named after some people I met in the city in which I lived.”  He did not want to give them the stories of the names. Names held an innate power, Edward knew this, it was why he had chosen his own. Maybe he would give the story to Remus, but not these strangers. 

Teardrop chuckled to himself. A thoroughly unpleasant sound, although it was probably his demeanour and that stupid fake tattoo that gave that impression. “I’m Sirius Black.” Right, star names, Edward knew stars. 

“Peter Pettigrew.” Mousy squeaked out. He really did remind Edward of Tetch. Mild mannered, shrinking into himself when looked upon. Although this one was obviously a bit weak willed, Tetch had a stronger presence. 

Finally it was Glasses’ turn. “James. James Potter.” 

Wow. The most common name Edward had ever come across. Potter held himself high, as if the name was meant to be of importance. Edward felt the need to at least guess.

“Are…uh…your family artisans?” It felt heavy in his mouth. A question borne of apparent necessity to know rather than actual curiosity. He did not care about the answer. 

The group all exchanged another look. Were they telepathic? They seemed to communicate so much with one look. All that Edward ever said with his eyes was ‘I will scream’, usually directed to his aunts when they embarrassed him. 

“Uh…no? Not unless you include potions mastery. Why?” They were all looking at him again. Asking for information on a name. Edward was more than willing to provide an answer.

“Well, the name Potter is quite common, particularly in the United Kingdom. It is in the same vein as Fletcher, Cooper, Fisher, Smith and other such names. Based off of an occupation of the first ancestor who took the name, as it was their job. As jobs were very frequently passed down, the child of the practitioner would share that title. Eventually they became surnames as people started to move around more, travelling away from their small villages or expanding to the point where more than one family would have that title. Potters were those who worked with clay, making pots as is very obvious given the name. As Wizarding society seems to value family and tradition rather heavily, I assumed that your family would have passed down the occupation that sourced the name. Although, I believe a potions master is more in the vein of a Brewer.” 

After he finished, the warm flush of an explanation thoroughly given blossomed in his chest. It had been a while. After that, the others seemed content to keep to themselves, letting Edward tend to his sudoku. 

—------------

Severus hated the rush up to him going back to Hogwarts. He hated that he knew he would have to deal with that group of miscreants again. He hated that he knew Lily would hardly focus on him now that she was back with her Gryffindor friends. He hated being surrounded by the people in his house. He was awkwardly sat beside Petunia once more, the older girl grumbling that she was 18 now and she would have been fine home alone. Severus couldn’t agree more, wishing the girl was a whole planet away from him. He seriously didn’t understand why Lily was so quick to defend her when Petunia was constantly being a stuck-up, prissy asshole. Maybe his accidental magic should’ve dropped that branch on her harder, maybe then she wouldn’t be here to make fun of him and Lily.

…

Honestly, Severus really needed to keep those homicidal ideations in check. He was already on thin ice with Lily after he had insulted Petunia when he was at her house the other week. It seriously wasn’t his fault though. The older girl had dropped her whole drink down him. If anything she needed to be slapped, but he knew she’d just moan about how he ‘shouldn’t slap a woman’. Little did she know, he’d slap anyone. Female or not. He loved a good fight, even if he’d tell others the opposite. In fact, the only reason he never used a more powerful hex on those Marauders is because he knows everyone would prefer to take their side, even if he looked like he had just been mangled by wolves, while they looked as smooth as babies.

It hadn’t taken them much longer to get to the station, Severus having practically thrown himself out the car the moment it had stopped. Mr. Evans had installed a new car air freshener and it had caused him to nearly throw up. He would’ve kept the window open the whole ride, but Petunia had whined that it was ‘too cold’, so instead he suffered in silence. He quickly grabbed his and Lily’s trunks from the back of the car, his significantly lighter. Lily had hopped out soon after, leaning through the front windows to give her parents a kiss goodbye, since they had something booked and couldn’t stay at the station with them. 

They walked side by side up to the station. Just like old times. However, where they used to talk endlessly, there was just silence. Silence as they got to Platform 9 and 10. Silence as they walked through the wall to Platform 9 ¾/. Silence as they waited for the train. Severus watched as other people said bye to their parents. To their families. He was jealous. He would never admit that to anyone. Jealous that they got to say bye to their mothers. Jealous that they didn’t have a deadbeat alcoholic father who ran off after killing their mothers. How come they got that, and he never did. What did they do to deserve it that he didn’t. Did he…did he deserve this? Was this all because of him? The more logical part of him argued that of course it wasn’t because of him, that he had done nothing wrong. But then why did everyone else have it so much better? 

He glanced at Lily, eyes narrowing. Was it wrong to say he was jealous of his best friend…? It really seemed like she had everything. Nearly everything, at least. She had loving parents, friends who cared and weren’t raging bigots. She was smart. Smart in a way that was genuinely respected by her peers, instead of skiving off homework. The professors respected her word. Believed she could do no wrong. She was a gryffindor, afterall, and the other professors definitely believed that being gryffindors rendered someone completely above the moral code. She was everything he was not. 

They made their way onto the train. The carriages crammed with the undulating mass of the student body, the sound of which was bordering on cacophonous, especially with all the tiny first years scurrying about excitedly. He swore that they got smaller every year, definitely not just because he kept nearly falling over them, where would you ever get that idea. He and Lily had to wade through the swarm to see what compartments were free. A small part of him wondered why Lily was bothering to stick around him for the train journey when she had all of her other friends. It was because he was her first friend, he knew that. It was just…hard. Now was certainly not the time to be thinking this over. 

Severus paused as he caught sight of what looked like a familiar figure in the frosted glass of the compartment windows. Familiar red hair that sent a shot of dread through his body. That dread deepened when he noticed the other four figures inside that compartment. He felt his heart stop. Edward Rosier fraternising with the Marauders of all people. Severus felt like maybe he should end this school year quickly. The Killing Curse straight to his heart would do the job fine, but as a first year bumped into his side, he realised it would only cause more hassle to the people who would eventually find him. 

Instead, he pressed forward, dragging Lily with him. Partly so they wouldn’t be separated. Partly so the thought of sitting in that compartment would not cross her mind. If it did…he wouldn’t have brought himself to say no.

—————

Edward was glad to leave once the train stopped. Suffice to say that he did not care for Remus’ friends. Peter was…fine, but was far too much of a snivelling worm for it not to be an act. Surely. Then there was James and Sirius, who had started questioning him about his family, whether he was in a specific house in Ilvermorny, whether he thought he was going to be in Slytherin or not. Then James started ranting about his girlfriend and a ‘Snivellus’.

That day had just seemed to be getting worse and worse. 

He would have followed Remus off down a track with the other students, but before he could he was pulled aside. 

No. No. No. This was not meant to happen. He may as well just die. Edward would rather have died than that. He had to go in with the first years . Of all the humiliating things that could possibly have happened to him, that was by far the worst. Arkham? Fine, no one his age was there to watch him. In Arkham everyone had been too bewildered at him being there to even do anything that bad . The sorting ceremony though? If he didn’t die from embarrassment on the spot, he knew that he would be picked apart by the vulturous devils that were the student body. 

Why couldn’t he have been sorted at an earlier date? Why did that stupid hat only get unleashed on the populous once a year? He was damned if he knew. Edward hated not knowing. 

———————

It didn’t take long for Severus to get seated at the Slytherin table. He missed this. Even when people were infuriating, it wasn’t as bad as living in Cokeworth. Here he could think of things that weren’t his dead mother. Things that weren’t his currently absent father. Things that weren’t how lonely he truly was. 

He glanced up as the new first years filtered in the hall, eyes scanning the crowd. He wasn’t actually interested in whoever was joining Hogwarts this year. He rarely interacted with the younger years anyway, and by rarely, he meant never. He was 15, there was really no reason why he would ever need to talk to a first anyway.

However, in the middle of the gaggle of 11 year olds, a slightly taller one stood among them. Shoulder length ginger hair, white streaks littered between the strands. Green eyes. Severus nearly burst out laughing at the scene before him. How cocky now, was he? Edward looked miserable.

Severus hadn’t even noticed the almost manic smirk that had taken over his face, not until Evan had tapped him on the shoulder, asking him if he was alright. His smirk still hadn’t faltered as he silently nodded, looking down at the table in front of him, hair falling to hide his expression.

He watched as other first years went up the Professor McGonagal and the sorting hat. He really didn’t care for them though, his eyes trained on Edward. The other boy had his own eyes trained on his shoes, impatiently tapping away at his cane. Soon enough, he too was sitting underneath the ratty, old, talking hat. As it was placed on it head, a few minutes passed and then,

“SLYTHERIN!”