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Chapter Text

Chapter 1: Lily (Age 7)

On a bitter cold January evening, in a small village in northern England, Eileen Prince Snape gave birth to a son. She cradled the tiny black-haired boy in her arms, gazing down at his little face. In that moment, the pain and exhaustion from her many hours of labor didn’t matter, she was overwhelmed by love for the child that lay in her arms. As she peered down at his face, his big dark eyes opened, staring back up at her. She traced a finger along his small chin, reflecting on her life. She was a stranger to this world, cast out of her own, alone, with the exception of her husband Tobias. She wondered if her son would inherit her abilities. Regardless, he would be her everything.

She bent her head, gazing into his deep eyes, gently cupping his tiny cheek in her hand and whispered, “I love you, Severus. Whatever choices you may make as you grow, you’ll have my love. Always.”

She gently kissed his small forehead, then held the boy close to her, bundling a quilt around them to shield them from the frigid night.

(***)

The small village of Cokeworth on the outskirts of greater Manchester was unremarkable in most ways. The sleepy village had been transformed into a bustling industrial town during the Victorian age with the addition of a textile mill along its sluggish river. In its heyday, once home to quaint farming cottages and more sheep than people, the village had been transformed practically overnight with the addition of the mill, with new roads and terrace homes being constructed for its vast workforce along the river. However, after over a century of production, the old mill had gradually fallen out of use, in favor of more affordable modern production outside of England, leaving the majority of its original workforce out of work with nowhere to go. The once bustling middle-class neighborhood of workmen’s housing had fallen into disrepair, it’s residents’ now jobless and destitute. The once neat brick row homes were crumbling, with drafty windows and overgrown gardens, it’s gilded age in the industrial era long forgotten.

Spinner’s End was the first street in the now neglected industrial sector of Cokeworth, running parallel to the murky, polluted waters of the meandering river that had for so long been the lifeblood of the little town. The cobbled street was home to many unsavory sorts, pushed to the fringes of society by their poverty.

Hidden among the forgotten residents of Cokeworth, the last house on Spinner’s End was home to two rather remarkable individuals. Among the home’s three occupants, two belonged to a fantastical world outside of the mundane village. For tucked away from the rest of Cokeworth, the mother and son who inhabited the dilapidated dwelling were a witch and a wizard.

(***)

Severus Snape was often miserable, even at the young age of seven. His father hated him, simply because he was like his mother. Severus was a wizard, born to a magical mother in a non-magical world, rejected by his father for gifts he didn’t choose to inherit. His mother had failed to mention her magical abilities to his father until Severus had begun to display accidental magic as a toddler, shocking his father, and making him believe that his wife and son were possessed by some sort of evil entity. Any semblance of a happy family was ruined, as instead of embracing their unique talents, he lashed out at them with verbal and physical abuse, blaming his wife for their poverty and for depriving him of the normal family he had so desperately wanted. He especially despised Severus for coming along and making his life hell with magic, ruining what he’d had with his wife. As a result, Severus and his mother lived a life tucked away from society, alone in the house on Spinner’s End, while Tobias spent the day drinking away what little money he earned.

Unfortunately for Severus, this meant he was friendless and often picked on by the other kids around the village, especially the older boys of Spinner’s End. Nearly everyone poked fun at the freaky, strangely dressed “Snape kid” if he ventured out of his home. He lived an isolated life, and rarely spoke to anyone besides his mother.

However, despite his tumultuous home life, Severus was brilliant. He possessed a strong aptitude for magic, even at his young age, and was always hungry to learn. Whenever his mother was home alone with him, she instructed him in both Muggle and magical studies, even allowing him to use her wand to practice spells. Eileen was incredibly proud of her son, despite the fact that they were forced to hide their magic from her abusive husband and Severus’ father. This was not the life she’d wanted for him, having grown up in an unpleasant home in the magical world herself.

Severus was very close to his mum. He loved learning about his magical heritage from her and was very proud to be a wizard despite the fact that his father resented him for it. Knowing that he was special, and having magical abilities that his father and bullies could only dream of got him through his worst days. He couldn’t wait to join the magical world and leave Cokeworth behind when he turned eleven.

(***)

Early Saturday morning, Severus awoke to a loud crashing noise, followed by the booming voice of his father spewing profanities. He quickly dressed and pulled on his trainers. He knew well to get out of the house when his father had spent the night drinking. He scrambled downstairs, potions book in hand, and ran for the door. But, he didn’t make it there in time.

His father turned on him just as he set his hand on the door handle. “Boy! What’s that you’re holding? Is that a magic book, you freak? You and your wretch of a mother! Not in my house! Get out!”

Panicked, Severus fumbled for the door handle, wrenching the door open just as glass shards rained down over his head from a picture frame his father had thrown at him. He snatched the picture that had fallen out of the frame, slid it into his book, and set off on a brisk walk away from his sullen home and his father’s aggravated shouting at his mum.

The park was only four blocks from Spinner's End, but it seemed like eternity in the summer heat. By the time Severus reached his hiding place between the big beech tree and the river, he was exhausted. He really hoped that the school boys wouldn’t turn up at the park today, he wasn’t in the mood to be poked fun at or chased. It was lucky that he was tall and skinny for his age, he could outrun all the boys despite their larger size. His thoughts shifting from the bullies, Severus opened up the potions book that had nearly gotten him a trip to the muggle hospital. The picture from the offending frame dropped into his lap. As Severus glanced at it, he suddenly felt tears rising in his eyes. The picture was one of the few magical ones that had been allowed to remain in his house, he wasn’t even sure why, it wasn’t like his father cared about their family. In the picture, a younger Tobias had his arms wrapped around Eileen, who was holding a baby Severus. The two adults were smiling and glancing at their baby son with looks of admiration. Severus hated what his father had become. He was certain the man felt no love for him anymore. Unable to bear the memory of the happy image, Severus ripped the picture in half and threw it in the murky river, watching it disappear, just like the love in his family.

When Severus returned to the tree, he found himself unable to concentrate on his reading. He curled up against the trunk, and fell asleep with tears still falling from his eyes.

(***)

“Eww! Lily! Don’t touch that! Mum won’t let us come by ourselves again if you dirty your jumper touching filthy animals!”

“But Tuney, it’s just a toad. He’s really cute, see?”

“Keep that disgusting thing away from me! Stay here with your pest while I go see my school friends. Don’t you dare bring that creature near them, you’ll make them think I’m a freak.”

Severus awoke to the sound of a shrill voice. At first, he thought he was back at home, and he immediately became alert and stiff, curling into a ball to protect himself from potential blows. However, when he realized the voice belonged to a young female and not a drunken man, he peered out from behind the beech tree to see who was causing the commotion. A blond haired girl who looked a bit older than him was marching towards a group of giggling girls that appeared to be around her age.

“Muggles, how obnoxious,” Severus thought with a scowl. They were really ruining the tranquility of the park, and now they were preventing him from leaving. He didn’t want to be seen in his shabby clothes and mocked by the girls.
Just as Severus was about to slump back against to resign himself to studying his potions book until the girls left, he spotted the girl Lily whom the older girl had been scolding. Severus assumed they must be sisters as she certainly didn’t seem to be included with the others and she looked younger than the shrieking girl, maybe even smaller than him. He was caught off guard by her stunning looks. He had expected her to resemble her pallid blond sister, however, Lily was nothing short of brilliant. She had beautiful, deep red hair that was nearly the entire length of her back and stunning green eyes, like gemstones. Unable to tear his eyes away, he studied her as she peered at the toad as it hopped away, while picking flowers from the field, amusing herself as her sister chatted. Severus watched her until the sun began to set when the older girl announced that they were leaving.

“Lily, get out of the dirt, we need to go home, mum has dinner and you need to look respectable.”

“Tuney can we please stay a little longer? I’m playing with the flowers.”

“Don’t be so childish Lily, we’ll come back tomorrow if we don’t have homework, I’m meeting my friends, and if you play by yourself and aren’t a bother you can come.”

“Okay Tuney.”

Severus watched them go, wishing Lily would want to be his friend, she seemed different from the other Muggles around town. She seemed kind, reminding him of his mum. But of course, she wouldn’t want to befriend the freak from the poor, abusive family. He trudged home, not looking forward to returning when his father was sure to be in a foul mood. His only consolation was that he would be back to see Lily again from afar tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: Magic (Age 7)

By the time Severus returned home from the park, the sun was beginning to set. After his father’s outburst that morning, he was dreading having to spend the evening there. He had considered spending the night in his secluded nook in the park, but had thought better of it, knowing that he needed to check on the well-being of his mum. He had high hopes that his father would be out of the house. It was a vicious cycle, Severus thought. On one hand, he enjoyed when his father spent the night holed up in one of the local pubs so he didn’t have to deal with him, but on the other, he always returned drunk, ready to take his anger out on him or his mum.

As Severus neared his house, the last and one of the shabbiest on Spinner’s End, he pondered what part of town the girl Lily and her sister Petunia might live in. From what he had seen of them at the park, they both had nice clothing and the Petunia girl seemed very concerned about appearances. Severus assumed they lived on the other side of the river where the wealthier people lived in clean brick houses with pretty gardens, a far cry from the garbage strewn street of Spinner’s End, lined with dark and decrepit stone houses. He pondered what he would say to Lily if he met her. He couldn’t talk to her about magic, but perhaps she liked to read Muggle books. He’d read through the few Muggle books that his father had in the house, though he doubted the man had ever so much as looked at them, but maybe he could talk about them with Lily. Severus frowned, abandoning his daydream, even if he ever got the chance to speak to Lily, she’d probably just assume that he was some disgusting gutter rat like his father.

Reaching his house, he pushed open the creaky front door. The house was far too silent for his father to be home. “Mum?” Severus called. “Mum, are you okay?”

Severus heard the sound of soft footsteps coming down the stairs a moment later. As his mum came into the dim lamplight of their small foyer, Severus could see that she had a few cuts on her arm, likely from the glass of the picture frame, and a bruised cheek.

He frowned, “Did he hurt you again, mum?”

Eileen looked down at her son in his overly large clothing and scuffed trainers. He was really a sorry sight, she thought. She wished she could have given him the lavish, carefree childhood that her own parents had provided. She missed living in the magical world, even if it meant she would be all alone, having left her prejudiced pureblood parents, at least she could have given Severus a better chance.

“I’m alright Severus, nothing I can’t fix with a healing spell in a moment. I just needed a lie down after your father’s outburst this morning” Eileen said with a sigh. “Where have you been all day?”

“I was at the park mum, the one on the other side of the river.” Severus considered his next words carefully, and then, while still feeling bold, asked “Mum? Are all muggles bad people, like father?”

Eileen was startled for a moment. Her son was so young, yet already so distrusting due to her poor choice of a husband. She started carefully, “I wouldn’t think so, Severus. I’ve never really known any other than your father and his parents. However, I would assume that there are good and bad muggles, just like there are good and bad wizards. You’ll just have to judge their characters for yourself. Now come along, I’ll fetch you some supper, you haven’t eaten all day.”

Eileen fixed Severus a meager meal of some stale bread and vegetable stew, then joined him at the table. At first, they ate silently, until Severus worked up the courage to ask his mum a question he’d been stewing on.

“Mum? Why do you stay with father?” his voice quivered, “I don’t like that he hurts you, and he hates magic.”

His mum didn’t respond for a moment, taking another spoonful of stew, with a pained look on her face.

“Your father is all we have, Severus. As much he may be… unpleasant at times, he’s still your father. I don’t want to break up our family.”

Severus scowled at her, “Family, mum? He hurts us! He hates us because we have magic!”

He glared down at what was left of his stew and muttered under his breath, “you could stop him if you wanted to, you have magic.”

“Severus!” Eileen admonished, slamming her hand down on the table, rattling the dishes. “Don’t say things like that! I’m not going to hurt your father with magic. He doesn’t hate us, it’s just the drink that makes him say things he doesn’t really mean.”

Severus glared at her, tired of her excuses, “Well I hate him mum! I hate how he treats you! You deserve so much better!”

Now thoroughly upset, he angrily grabbed his bowl, throwing it in the sink, slammed his chair against the table, and stormed up the rickety staircase, his footsteps echoing through the small house. Had he turned around, he would have seen his mum’s tear stained face, staring after his retreating figure in despair as he stormed off.

Severus entered his room, slamming the door behind him, before collapsing onto his bed, staring blankly at the cracks in the ceiling plaster. He couldn’t understand how his mum, a witch from an old and powerful magical family, could allow his father to treat them like rubbish. He supposed the man had cared about her at one point, otherwise they never would have gotten married, but he couldn’t see why his mum didn’t see that his father was a lost cause now. He did love his mum, but it was nights like this that made him feel like she didn’t care about him. How could she let his father continue to hurt him and still love him at the same time? Letting his sadness overwhelm him, he rolled over on his bed, burying his face in his pillow, allowing his tears to stain the pillowcase.

He heard the muffled, soft footsteps of his mum walking up the stairs. Quieting his crying, he curled up on his bed, pretending to be asleep.

“Severus?” she called softly, gently knocking on his door.

Ignoring her, he slowed his breathing, focusing on imitating sleep. He was too annoyed with his mum to talk to her tonight. She clearly cared more about staying with his horrible father than his well-being, Severus thought bitterly, squeezing his eyes shut tightly as more tears threatened to fall.

He heard the click of his lock as his mum opened the door magically, followed by her light footsteps as she padded closer to his bed. There was silence for a moment, then he felt her hand lightly ghost through his hair and gently squeeze his shoulder. He remained still and silent. She must have stood for a moment, looking over him, before he heard her sigh and turn to leave the room.

Severus heard the lock click again, then nothing but silence, not even his mum’s footsteps retreating down the stairs. Assuming she’d placed a silencing spell over the door, he drifted into an uneasy sleep, spared from the commotion downstairs when his father returned home.

(***)

The next morning, Severus awoke, never having heard the sounds of his father’s drunken rages upon his return from the pub in the early hours of the morning. Today, he had a plan. After last night’s argument with his mum, he didn’t want to be in the house. Severus planned to return to his secret spot at the park and spend the day reading, avoiding both his parents for the day. Surprisingly, he found himself hoping the girl Lily and her sister would return to the park as well. He thought Lily seemed lonely like him, and even if he wouldn’t speak to her, watching her provided him with silent company.

He grabbed his potions book and a stale end of bread from the kitchen. Noiselessly, Severus crossed the small living room to the foyer, tugged on his trainers, left a note for his mum, not wanting to worry her even if he didn’t want to speak to her, and then slipped out of his silent house.

The early morning air was crisp and cool, but the overcast sky only made Spinner’s End look all the more depressing. Severus enjoyed the walk. Cokeworth was nothing much more than a small mill town, but it was rather charming once you crossed the dirty river on the antiquated stone bridge where there was a lot more greenspace and nicer homes.

Upon reaching the park, Severus settled himself among the roots of the enormous beech tree that grew beside the river, propped open his book, took a bite of bread, and prepared to wait until Lily and her sister finished school and hopefully returned to the park.

(***)

The sun was quite high in the afternoon sky by the time Lily and Petunia reached the park. Glad to be out of the classes for the day, Lily ran ahead of her sister towards the small swing set at the center of the park with a laugh.

“Lily!” Petunia shouted. “Lily! Don’t run ahead like that. Don’t you remember what dad said? We’re close to the bad part of town. You need to stay close to me in case any of those ruffians are around.”

Lily sighed. “Okay Tuney”, she conceded, slowing her pace. “Promise you’ll go to the swings with me then? I want to show you my new trick I learned at school today.”

Petunia nodded, trailing a bit behind her sister, glancing around the park suspiciously.

(***)

Severus was alerted to Lily’s presence as soon as he heard her laugh. He quickly shoved his book away and clambered up to peer out at the sisters from behind the bush that granted him privacy in his secret spot. Lily’s laugh was nearly as good as magic, he thought. He’d never heard someone laugh with such carefree happiness. He watched the two sisters with envy as they played on the swings, wishing that he could join them. He tried to imagine what his life would be like if he was like them, to have a friend or sibling to laugh and play with, and caring parents to run home to.

Suddenly, Severus was distracted from his musings when Petunia let out a shrill shriek. He looked up, startled by the sudden noise, just in time to see Lily catapult herself from the highest point of the swings path. Severus was immediately frozen with panic, thinking that Lily was about to fall and hurt herself, however, he was as shocked as Petunia when Lily floated down gently from her point of release, landing perfectly on her feet. He stared, fascinated, with his mouth agape. Lily was a witch!

Chapter Text

Chapter 3: A Day Gone Wrong (Age 7)

Severus felt like skipping as he walked home from the park. Lily was magical, just like him and his mum! He kicked a stone as he walked down the cobbled street. As he drew closer to the main bridge in Cokeworth, the houses became shabbier. The houses near the park and up the hill were well manicured and stately compared to the likes of Spinner’s End. Cokeworth was home to a now mostly defunct mill where his father sometimes managed to find meager work. Most of the old mill workers lived in the old brick terrace homes that lined the narrow streets of Spinner’s End like rows of tired sentries. Across the river, newer and nicer homes had been built for families with higher paid jobs in nearby Manchester. Severus would always gaze up the hill as he sat in his glade in the park and imagine what it would be like if he lived in a house like that, with a normal, hardworking father. He figured that Lily and her sister Petunia must live in one of the nice homes on the hill by the way Petunia seemed to feel about people from the other side of the river.

As he was contemplating how to approach Lily and her sister to introduce himself to tell Lily all about the wonders of magic, he realized he had reached the end of Spinner’s End. He gazed up at the brick edifice, darkened from the smog of the mill. The front garden was overgrown with tall weeds and the fence was broken in several places. The back garden looked much the same. Severus sighed and made his way up the crumbling stoop. The door creaked as he opened it.

“Mum?” he called. No response.

He crept inside in case his father had passed out on the couch again. If he woke Tobias, there would be hell to pay. He didn’t see either of his parents downstairs. The old floorboards creaked as he peered around the small living room. The stained sofa was vacant and the small television was switched off.

“Mum?” he called again. No response again. And then he heard it, quiet sobbing from upstairs.

All his excitement from seeing Lily do magic completely drained from him as he rushed upstairs. The rickety stairs creaked as he ran up them and down the short hallway to his parent’s bedroom. He paused by the door long enough to hear that his mother was certainly crying. He quietly pushed the door open and was shocked to see his Mum sitting in a heap on her bed, holding a bloody handkerchief to her lip and staring down at two small shards of wood on her threadbare comforter.

“Mum?” Severus whispered. “Mum? Is that your wand? What did he do to you? You’re a witch Mum! How could you let him do that to your wand?” Severus was shocked.

Eileen slowly lifted her head to meet Severus’ eyes. The image of his Mum’s face was haunting. Her left eye was swollen and bruised. Her lip was split and her tears mixed with the blood on the soiled handkerchief. She fixed him with a vacant stare, almost as if she was looking through him. She looked like her spirit had been broken. In that moment, Severus wished so badly he could be a fully-grown wizard so that he could rescue his Mum from the horrors of Spinner’s End. If his father tried to stop him, he imagined hitting him with some horrible hex or curse so that Tobias could have a taste of what he constantly tortured his family with.

Severus gently picked up his Mum’s broken wand. The two pieces were held together by a thin, glistening strand. Probably the unicorn hair core, he thought. He didn’t think it could be fixed and he doubted she could afford a new one. He placed the pieces back down on the bed. His Mum stared down at her shattered wand, a tear mixed with blood dropped onto the comforter.

Severus gently tugged the sleeve of his Mum’s housedress. “Come on Mum, let me help clean you up”, he said gently, attempting to get her up off the bed and lead her to their small washroom downstairs.

“Go”, she whispered, and pushed Severus away.

When he didn’t let go of her sleeve, she fixed him with an absolutely broken look that Severus thought would be burned into his mind for the rest of his life.

“Go away Severus”, she whispered again, and pushed his hand off her sleeve.

He took one last look at the crumpled form of his Mum, then turned and rushed from the room. He then stopped by his own, tugged the thin quilt off his bed, grabbed a potions book, and ran for the front door. He ran until he reached his glade down by the river in the park, his lungs burning from exertion. He curled up against the old beech tree, wrapped himself in his quilt, and only then did he allow his tears to fall.

(***)

Since the day he had come home to find his Mum utterly broken, things had only gotten worse in his home. His father now came home drunk more often than not, and Severus and Eileen were his favorite things to take his frustrations out on. Severus was losing track of the number of nights he went to bed with too many bruises to lay down comfortably. He knew his Mum wasn’t much better off. Ever since the day Tobias had broken her wand, he seemed to have no reservations about hurting either of them and his Mum seemed to have given up trying to stop him. Since that day, she’d given up on their lessons too. They no longer spent peaceful afternoons together learning simple spells or studying the geography of Britain. Eileen had become a shadow of what she once was, moping silently around the house, sometimes spending an hour listlessly dusting the same piece of furniture. To make matters worse, Tobias was out of work again, and what little money they had went to the pub. Somehow their lack of money was always Severus or Eileen’s fault.

Tonight was no different. Severus was clearing the table after a pitiful dinner of a cup of tea and stale bread he had managed to convince his Mum to consume when the front door banged open.

“Eileen? What’s for supper? I’ve been out of the bloody house all day long trying to support this damn family”, Tobias slurred.

“We haven’t got any food”, Eileen mumbled.

“What’s that woman? Speak up. I can’t hear a bloody word you’re saying.”

“We don’t have any food left, Toby. We ran out of money yesterday and I haven’t got enough to buy anything at the market”, she whispered, a fraction louder.

At this, Tobias exploded. “You damn witch! You and the damn boy! What good are you? Where’s your magic now, you useless woman? You’re worthless the both of you. I don’t know why I bother to put a roof over your heads. I’m the only one that contributes to this bloody family and you can’t even put dinner on the table. I don’t know why I even bothered coming back tonight.”

Severus cowered in the corner of the room as his father shouted at them, his long dark hair falling in curtains around his face as he curled in on himself. He peeked at his Mum who was standing in the archway between their tiny kitchen and the living room. Her face was devoid of expression and he wasn’t even sure she was registering what his father was saying.

“Are you even listening to me, woman?! Get out of my damn sight, I don’t want to see either of you for the rest of the night”, Tobias shouted. He picked up the nearest object to him, which happened to be one of Severus’ trainers, and hurled it at Eileen’s head. Thankfully, being completely addled meant that his aim was rather poor, so instead of hitting its intended target, the trainer sailed into one of the remaining picture frames on the wall, shattering the glass with a resounding crash and knocking the frame crooked.

Severus took the momentary distraction as a chance to tug his Mum out of the doorway and towards the staircase. He bolted for his room, hoping she would follow him upstairs. He locked his door, even though he knew it wouldn’t make much of a difference and slumped against the wall.

His room was no less shabby than the rest of their house. It had one window, which Severus occasionally would use as an emergency escape route to retreat to the park if things got especially bad. He had an old brass framed twin bed with a thin green quilt and a splintering nightstand. The sole light source was a single, uncovered bulb dangling from the ceiling. Squeezed in between his bed and the narrow closet door was an old-fashioned desk and chair, covered in stacks of books and parchment. On days when he remained inside, this was where he spent most of his time.

However, tonight, even books could not comfort him. Severus peeled his back off the wall after hearing the couch downstairs groan under Tobias’ weight, soon followed by the drone of the television. It seemed like his father had settled down for the night and was unlikely to heave himself off the couch in his drunken state to bother his wife or son. He only hoped that his Mum had made it to her room and would fall asleep soon. Thankful that they had at least escaped physical harm for tonight, he peeled off his clothes, threw on his nightshirt, and practically fell into bed, letting sleep embrace him.

(***)

Yellow morning light filtered into Severus’ room through the thin sheer curtain on the single window. He slowly blinked awake, realizing his father hadn’t bothered to come up and disturb them at any point in the night. He hauled himself out of bed and threw on a clean pair of trousers and an overly large shirt. All his clothing was second hand and threadbare. His Mum had even thrown a few of her more masculine high-quality blouses from her younger years in his closet in an attempt to provide him with proper clothing. Unfortunately, it just made him look more ridiculous and he’d lost count of how many times the neighborhood boys had mocked him for his clothing. They were just as poor as his family, but apparently their mothers had a better grasp on second hand muggle fashion than his Mum.

He quietly pushed his door open, at just the right speed so it wouldn’t squeak, and tiptoed to the staircase landing, avoiding the squeaky boards. He peered down into their living room and saw his father still snoring sprawled out on the couch. He wasn’t sure if his Mum was awake yet, but did not want to risk making enough noise to wake his father. Deciding sneaking past Tobias to make a break for the front door was a bad idea, he silently returned to his room. He sat back on his bed, staring at the cracks in the ceiling plaster.

I never want to be like my father, Severus thought to himself. He thought about Lily and her sister Petunia at the park and wondered how different their life was from his own. He glanced at the stack of books on his desk, contemplating how to spend the day, and suddenly it struck him. His Mum had all her old school and magical things tucked away in the attic of their home. He doubted his father even remembered the house had an attic. The entrance was actually through a trapdoor in the ceiling of Severus’ closet. He had never been up himself, but his Mum had handed him down some of her old books when they did lessons together. He crept back over to the door and listened. He could still hear his father snoring downstairs on the couch. Figuring it was safe enough, he quietly opened his narrow closet door and peered up at the attic trapdoor.

There was a short string attached to the door to pull it down, but it was too high to reach. He silently pushed his desk chair into his closet and was just able to catch the small length of old cord with his fingertips. He gave the door a tentative tug, crossing his fingers that it would not make too much noise. Surprisingly, the door slid open without a creak. He unfolded the skinny ladder attached to the underside of the door and began to climb.

As soon as Severus poked his head up into the attic, he was shocked by how much stuff had been stored in the place. He half wondered if his Mum had cast some kind of spell to dissuade his father from venturing into the attic when she’d still been well, because he was certain his father would have been happy to sell his Mum’s old possessions for a pint.

The attic was big enough that Severus could stand completely upright in the center, under the top eave of the roof with several inches to spare. There was one small, yellowed, circular window at the far end of the little room, as the Snape residence was the last house on Spinner’s End and only had one conjoining neighbor. It let in just enough light to let him study the objects in the room. There were six big crates pushed to the edge of the attic where the eaves made the ceiling too low to stand. At the far end, just next to the window, was a large trunk with ornate brass letters spelling out E.A.P.

Severus could barely contain his excitement, he’d found his Mum’s old school trunk! He slowly crept towards it, taking care to keep his steps silent so as not to alert either his Mum or father downstairs. He flipped the latches and tried to push it open but it didn’t budge. He pushed again, determined to get it open, and this time he heard a latch click somewhere within the trunk and the lid popped open. He figured at one point his Mum had sealed the trunk magically and he’d managed to open it with his own accidental magic. He smiled and excitedly rummaged through the trunk. He pulled out an ornate wooden chest that smelled strongly of herbs. When he opened it, he saw neat compartments labeled with the names of various potions ingredients. Best yet, the chest wasn’t empty, it was full of neatly organized ingredients. Severus couldn’t believe his luck. He knew from his lessons with his Mum that some potions required fairly expensive ingredients and now he had a whole stash of them to experiment with. He pulled out his Mum’s old cauldron, a few phials, a scale, and a copy of Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger. He placed the cauldron and supplies in the center of the attic, and grabbed the chest of ingredients and the book to take back downstairs to his room.

(***)

That day Severus promised himself that he was never going to turn out like his deadbeat father. He threw himself into studying anything and everything he could find from his Mum’s old things in the attic. He wanted to know as much about the magical world he belonged to before he went to Hogwarts. He’d filched a box of matches from the kitchen when his father had been out and had started practicing simple potions from his Mum’s books in the attic. He’d been very proud of himself when he had successfully brewed a bruise salve, although it was not nearly as potent as claimed in the book he had gotten the recipe from. He suspected the age of the ingredients reduced the potency of the salve. He had started experimenting with the method of preparation for each ingredient to achieve maximum potency despite their age.

Often when his Mum was sleeping, he would creep into her room and apply some of the salve on any of the bruises he could see. He knew it wouldn’t heal them completely, but it did help with the pain.

Severus would often daydream about a day when he’d be done with Hogwarts with a respected career and a big home of his own. His Mum would come live with him and she’d smile and laugh again, and Tobias wouldn’t be able to bother them anymore. Occasionally, when he was daydreaming about the future, a certain red haired girl from the park would pop into his thoughts, and he’d imagine staring at her bright smile as he told her all about the magical world that they shared. Now, he just needed to get up the nerve to talk to her.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4: The Girl Next Door

The last two years had passed monotonously for Severus. Things had been much the same in the Snape house ever since the day his father had snapped his Mum’s wand. His Mum would shuffle around the house like a sad phantom, and spent her days sluggishly cleaning and cooking whenever they had enough food for meals. She only ever left the house to tend their small garden in the backyard, which had been added out of desperation as a source of cheap food, or to go to the local market when there was money to spare. She rarely spoke to Severus and looked as though she had aged five years in the last two. Eileen had always been a slim woman, but now she appeared gaunt and tired. Her raven hair that she shared with Severus was now lank and oily. She had taken to wearing long sleeves despite the hot summer weather to cover the bruises Tobias frequently left on her arms.

On the other hand, Tobias was unchanged. Two years had done nothing to temper him, and he still regularly took out his frustrations on his wife and son. He too had aged substantially in the past two years due to his constant abuse of alcohol. When he was younger, Eileen had told Severus that Tobias had once been a handsome man. Severus certainly could not see any trace of that now, and felt that his father’s outward appearance accurately matched his nasty demeanor. Tobias was a tall man of over six feet who towered over his wife and son. Years of labor at the mill had made him broad and strong too, although his drinking habit had diminished his physique. Unlike his wife and son, he had chestnut hair and stormy gray eyes, although unfortunately, Severus shared his rather prominent nose.

Tobias had managed to find a job again down at the old mill and was earning a meager, yet steady paycheck. However, Severus knew the situation all too well to think that his father was getting back on track. His father would get a job, hold it down with mediocre regularity for a few months at best, would return with regularity to the pubs, start skiving off more and more shifts in favor of the bottle, and eventually get sacked for not showing up. In fact, regardless of whether or not his father was working, he’d find some seedy pub that would let him rack up a tab until the cash was flowing again. His father also distrusted the government, and therefore refused to go on the dole and gain a reputation as a government scrounger. Severus wasn’t sure what reputation his father was trying to uphold, as he was certain anyone reputable in Cokeworth thought the Snape’s were gutter trash along with the rest of the downtrodden on Spinner’s End. He knew the only reason why nobody had thrown them out on the streets was because the house had been purchased outright when his parents had first moved to Cokeworth, thanks to his Mum’s sale of some of her family heirlooms.

It was not uncommon to hear the shouting and banging that accompanied the domestic disputes of neighbors down the street, so Severus learned early on that no one was going to help him or his Mum. Rather, the residents of Spinner’s End seemed to take great pleasure in knowing that though their own homes were unpleasant, none was regularly as bad as the Snape house.

(***)

Severus had woken up early before either of his parents. He wasn’t even sure if his father had made it home last night, but had learned it was better to be up and out of the house early. This summer was shaping up to be one of the hottest of the last decade in Cokeworth. He’d overheard the news on the telly last night that this whole week was expected to reach temperatures of over 30oC. That news had decided for him how he would be spending his week, as it was far too hot to be cooped up in the attic bent over a hot cauldron. He dressed in his lightest pair of trousers and white long-sleeved blouse that had once been his Mum’s. He knew he looked ridiculous, but it was the most comfortable clothing he could find to wear in the extreme heat without displaying his bruised arms. He grabbed his oversized, secondhand overcoat to cover the blouse, figuring it would be worth suffering in the heat for a short amount of time to avoid becoming a target of verbal abuse by the neighborhood boys of Spinner’s End. He perused the selection of books on his desk that he had brought down from the attic, and decided on one detailing hexes so that he could imagine how he would get revenge on his father and the boys down the street. Thankfully, his father never bothered to look closely enough at the books to realize that they were magical if he came up to Severus’ room.

Severus left his room, quietly shut the door and walked down the short hallway to check on his Mum before he went out for the day. He cracked her door open soundlessly, and saw that she was still asleep, his father nowhere to be seen. He shut the door, and then padded down the stairs to the small washroom. He brushed his teeth and ran some water through his hair, taking a moment to study himself in the cloudy mirror. His obsidian eyes stared back at him like two dark tunnels. He glared at his overlarge, hooked nose that he had unfortunately inherited from his father. His raven hair had gotten quite long, slightly past his collar bones, but he was rather fond of it because he knew his father couldn’t stand his son having long hair.

He thought about how he would introduce himself to Lily, and practiced smiling in the mirror so he wouldn’t scare her off. He couldn’t help but think the expression looked unnatural on him, as he had not had much to smile about the past two years. He took one last look at his crooked smile, scowled at his reflection, and made his way to the kitchen.

He grabbed a bruised apple from the icebox, and a slice of stale bread, then returned to his thoughts about Lily. Severus had wanted to introduce himself to her many times since he had first seen her that day in the park, but had never worked up the nerve. He had spent so much time daydreaming about what a friendship with her would be like, he did not want to bugger it up with a terrible introduction. He knew her sister Petunia was going to mock him for his shabby clothes and judge him for growing up on the wrong side of the river too. He wasn’t sure if she would even let him approach Lily at the park.

He laced up his trainers and made his way out the door. Spinner’s End was always deserted early in the morning so Severus almost enjoyed his walk down the rubbish strewn street, listening to the flow of the murky river that paralleled the street. He crossed the bridge and continued a quarter mile to the park in the nicer part of Cokeworth. The park was adjacent to a cleaner branch of the river, that was shallower and ran more swiftly than the sluggish murky one in Spinner’s End. This side of town hadn’t suffered from the pollution of the mill, although he could still see the tall brick stack of the mill over the treetops. The river bank was lush and was home to the glade under the beech tree that Severus frequented. Most of the park-goers never bothered to navigate through the brush down to the river bank, so he was left undisturbed under the shade of the old beech tree. Down the hill on the other side of the beech tree was a set of swings and some other playground equipment. Lily and her sister often played on the swings, allowing Severus to overhear their conversations while he sat on the far side of the tree.

He propped his book open and tossed the apple core remaining from his breakfast into the brush. He hoped Lily would come to the park today. Listening to her always made him feel less alone.

(***)

Severus had been reading for a few hours when his focus was jarred by a shrill voice, signaling the arrival of Lily and her sister.

*“Lily, don’t do it!” he heard Petunia shriek.

He peered out from behind the tree and watched as Lily let go of the swing at the very height of its arc and flew into the air, launching herself skyward with a great shout of laughter, much like he’d watched her do two years ago, and landed lightly on her feet.

“Mummy told you not to do it anymore!” Petunia shouted, dragging her feet in the gravel, and stopping her own swing to march over to Lily, hands on her hips.

“But I’m fine,” Lily giggled. “Tuney, look at this. Watch what I can do.”

Severus watched as Petunia glanced around, as if expecting someone to walk by and be appalled by Lily’s behavior. He watched as Lily picked up a fallen daisy from one of the bushes near the beech tree. Petunia curiously approached her, looking disapprovingly down at her sister. Once Petunia had gotten within clear view, Lily held out the flower in her palm, with the petals opening and closing like some bizarre oyster.

“Stop it!” Petunia shrieked.

“It’s not hurting you,” he heard Lily say quietly, but she closed her hand and let the flower fall back to the ground.
“It’s not right,” Petunia said, studying the flower on the ground. “How do you do it?”

Severus could hear a note of longing in her voice. He didn’t know what came over him, but he felt the need to defend Lily from her sister. Without thinking, he emerged from the bushes in front of the beech tree, throwing on his coat to cover his ridiculous shirt despite the midday heat.

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” he stated.

Upon seeing him suddenly appear from behind the bushes, Petunia shrieked again and ran back towards the swings, but Lily, though clearly startled, remained where she was. Severus felt heat rise to his cheeks as he looked at Lily, already regretting his decision to suddenly talk to them.

“What’s obvious?” Lily asked.

He glanced down at Petunia standing next to the swings, he really didn’t want her to drag Lily home. He lowered his voice, “I know what you are.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re…you’re a witch,” he whispered.

Lily looked affronted, and sent him a dirty look.

“That’s not a very nice thing to say to somebody!” She glared at him one last time, stuck her nose in the air, and marched off toward her sister.

“No!” Severus nearly shouted. He was certain his pale face was now completely flushed now, and not just from the heat. He didn’t want to lose his chance with Lily. Making sure his oversized coat didn’t expose his shirt underneath, he started down the hill after Lily and her sister. Both girls shot him disapproving looks as he approached them, holding onto the swing set poles.

He tried again, “You are. You are a witch. I’ve been watching you for a while. But there’s nothing wrong with that. My mum’s one, and I’m a wizard.”

At his declaration, Petunia let out a cold laugh. “Wizard!” she shrieked, seemingly recovered from the shock of his unexpected appearance. “I know who you are. You’re that Snape boy! They live down Spinner’s End by the river,” she told Lily, her tone emanating her disgust for his part of town. “Why have you been spying on us?”

“Haven’t been spying,” Severus said. He was hot, uncomfortable, and thoroughly embarrassed by Petunia’s words. “Wouldn’t spy on you, anyway,” he added spitefully, glaring back at her, “you’re a Muggle.”

Petunia clearly didn’t understand what he meant, but he could see the hurt on her face from his rude tone.

“Lily, come on, we’re leaving!” she said shrilly, grabbing Lily’s hand and tugging her towards the park gate, glaring back at him as they left.

Severus stood, miserable in the midday sun, watching after them as they left the park and headed up the street toward their home. *

(***)

As soon as the girls were out of sight, he angrily kicked the gravel around the swings. He couldn’t believe himself! He’d imagined the day that he would finally work up the nerve to speak to Lily for years, and he’d completely buggered it up. To boot, he knew he looked absolutely ridiculous and was now dripping with sweat under his heavy coat. He was painfully aware of how dirty and greasy his hair was against his face, and was certain that Petunia was now convincing Lily to stay far away from disgusting gutter rats like him. It probably didn’t help that he’d been rude to her sister as well, but he was so tired of people choosing to judge his character based on where he’d been born. It wasn’t as if he’d had a choice in the matter!

Having lost all motivation to continue reading, and not able to stand being in the park any longer after his humiliating attempt to meet Lily, he pushed back through the bushes, collected his book, and finally conceded to removing his overlarge coat. He figured between ridicule and heat stroke, he’d choose the teasing, it wasn’t as if today could get any worse. Of course, he should have realized with his luck that was a risky bet.

Severus started his walk back to the end of Spinner’s End. On a normal day, the park was only a fifteen minutes’ walk away from his home, but in the oppressive heat, he felt like every step took twice as long. He crossed the bridge to Spinner’s End and lush front gardens faded to weeds and dry grass. Spinner’s End was no longer as deserted as it had been that morning. Its residents were now milling about in the dirty street, or sat on their stoops having a smoke, anything to avoid the broiling heat indoors. Severus had folded his spell book inside his coat, and clutched the bundle closer to his side. It was rare that he went out during midday, and was incredibly uncomfortable with the number of people in close proximity. He bent his head forward, staring at his feet as he walked, letting his long hair cascade around his face like a curtain, hoping he could make it home without anyone noticing him.
“Hey Snape! What’d you raid your Mummy’s closet?”

Severus snapped his head up and glanced over his shoulder. Three older boys were approaching him from the other side of the street. He recognized the leader as Thomas Clarke. The Clarke’s lived a few houses down from them and he knew Clarke Sr. was one of his father’s drinking buddies.

“Hey Snape? You hear me? Where does your Mummy get your clothes? She think you’re a girl? With hair like that it’s hard to tell.”

Clarke closed in on Severus and grabbed his shoulder, smirking down at him. Although they were a few years older, Severus wasn’t much shorter than the boys, but they were twice as wide. Thankfully, he was a lot faster than them.

“Your ears working Snape?”

Severus had had enough; this day didn’t need to get any worse. “Shove off Clarke,” he spat, twisting out of Clarke’s grip and slamming him in the stomach with his coat wrapped book.

“You little…,” Clarke seethed.

Severus took off running to the end of the street before Clarke’s friends even realized what had happened. He heard them shouting after him, but kept running, sweat pouring off his forehead.

“You run home to Mummy, Snape. Next time we see you, we’re gonna shove your greasy head in the river!”

He heard the boys laughing as he reached his door. Desperately wanting to escape after being thoroughly humiliated for the second time today, he wrenched open the front door, not caring if his father was home. Thankfully, his father was nowhere to be seen, and he bolted up to his room. He flopped down on the floor, staring at the plaster cracks on the ceiling. The air was so still, there wasn’t any reprieve from the stifling heat. He rolled up his sleeves but it hardly made a difference. After his impromptu run-down Spinner’s End, he felt like he was melting into his floorboards. He remembered a cooling charm in one of the books he’d read recently and focused on the incantation and intention of the spell, trying to channel his magic. To his amazement, it actually worked. Suddenly, a wave of coolness washed over him, like he had just jumped into an icy lake.

As he began to cool down, he began to think about how horribly his day had gone. In the two years he had watched Lily at the park, he’d gotten his hopes up thinking that he had finally found someone who could understand him because she had magic too. He’d felt so alone in Cokeworth for so long. Her magic was strong too, similar to his own, which had greatly excited his Mum when he was younger. Her ability to manipulate objects with her magic like the daisy she’d held today indicated that she could already channel her abilities, rather than exude random bits of accidental magic. Severus had been able to do the same since a young age, and his Mum had been impressed and told him that he would be a powerful wizard. He wished he could tell his Mum about Lily, but was rather glad he hadn’t now that things had gone so poorly.

Severus lay on the floor for hours, not finding the motivation to do anything else. Sometimes weeks at a time would pass without him speaking anything but a few words to his Mum, perhaps he was doomed to eternal loneliness. Eventually, as it was approaching dusk, he peeled himself off the floor to go in search of food downstairs. He saw his Mum was outside tending the vegetable garden, but didn’t feel like speaking to her. He grabbed a piece of cheese and another two slices of stale bread from the icebox, wolfed it down, and gulped down a glass of water. He quickly rinsed the glass, and hurried to the washroom to take a shower before his father came home.

Severus always prided himself on being as clean as possible despite the squalor of Spinner’s End. Although decrepit, his Mum always kept their clothes and home clean despite his father’s best efforts to soil it. However, despite his best efforts to keep himself looking tidy, his hair always hung lank and oily around his face no matter how many times he washed it. He suspected it was due to the fact that bars of soap were the only bath product they could afford. He figured his father wouldn’t take kindly to his Mum picking up fancy bottles of shampoo at the market. Though his hair never looked nice, at least he could pride himself on smelling clean unlike some of the other inhabitants of Spinner’s End.

He finished his shower, toweled off, and threw on his nightshirt. He opened the washroom door to find the living room still pleasantly Tobias free, padded up the stairs, and collapsed in his bed. He lay there for a long time, trying to avoid thinking about how awful the day had been. He heard the front door slam downstairs, and his father’s muffled shouting followed. He drifted off to the sound of his parent’s argument, promising himself that tomorrow would be a better day.

(***)

He woke early the next morning, around 5am, covered in a sheen of sweat. The oppressive heat had not abated during the evening and the air felt thick with humidity. Severus groaned, in this weather he couldn’t bear to stay cooped up inside all day long. He knew that once the sun came up, the temperature would become even more unbearable inside. Although he wasn’t sure that he could stomach returning to the park after yesterday’s disastrous introduction, the cool shade of his river glade refuge was too tempting to pass up. It wasn’t as if he had anywhere else he could go.

The house was silent, but he knew that his father had made it home last night. He quietly threw on a faded pair of jeans that were a bit too short on him, and an oversized gray long sleeve shirt that his mum had picked up at the local consignment. It was heavier material than the shirt he had worn yesterday, but hopefully he looked less ridiculous and would draw less attention than he did the other day. He perused his selection of books and decided on one detailing magical herbs and plants of Britain. Though it was too hot to work on his brewing experiments, he had been contemplating searching the area around Cokeworth for replacement ingredients. He figured learning about what he could find locally and spending a few days hunting for magical plants in the area could be a good distraction from thinking about Lily.

Severus quietly padded down the stairs and peered into the living room, hoping his father wouldn’t be there so that he could rinse off in the shower before heading to the park. Unfortunately, he saw his father sprawled out over their worn sofa, snoring slightly. He glanced at the kitchen, but decided not to risk waking his father by rummaging for something to eat. Going hungry was preferable to the assault he would likely endure if he were responsible for waking his father this early in the morning. He snuck past his father’s sleeping form, avoiding the squeaky floorboards, made it to the door, and laced up his beat-up trainers. He very slowly eased the front door open, cringing when it squeaked ever so slightly. He saw his father move slightly on the sofa, but thankfully his eyes remained shut. Grinning at his unusual luck, Severus hurried out the door before he could tempt fate.

Spinner’s End was deserted again, with no sign of Clarke or any other unsavory individuals. He planned to walk back later tonight to avoid having to deal with anyone. He knew his father wouldn’t care where he was, and in fact would probably be thrilled if he never turned back up at home. He wasn’t sure if his Mum even noticed he was gone most days, since the day he had come home to find her slumped over her broken wand, she hardly acknowledged much of anything, as if she was off in her own world.

Severus’ luck improved even further that morning. When he reached the main gate of the park, he noticed a crumpled paper on the sidewalk. Picking it up and unfurling it, he was shocked to find a five-pound note, with nobody in sight. His stomach grumbled, and he decided before settling in at the park, he would walk down to the main village of Cokeworth for a spot of breakfast from the local bakery. He stashed the herbology book in the brush by the glade and set off along the river in the opposite direction of Spinner’s End.

Severus had only been down to the village once before with his Mum a few years ago when things had been a bit better at home. They’d been to the local bakery together, and Severus remembered the pastry he’d eaten there being one of the best things he had ever consumed. The village center was quiet as Severus approached it. It was too early for the morning commuters to be on their way to Manchester and all of the shops were closed with the exception of the bakery.

The village of Cokeworth was quaint, and had been a quiet farming town before the mill had been built a bit further down the river. The village was small, with two pubs, a small theater, the local market, a chemist, the bakery, and a small stone library and church. The village square contained a bronze, weathered statue of Queen Victoria, who’s rein had resulted in turning the farming village of Cokeworth into an industrial contributor to nearby Manchester. The district school sat on the outskirts of the village, but Severus had never been allowed to go as his father feared he might exhibit some of his abnormal tendencies in front of his classmates. Past the village, away from the mill, the land was still largely undeveloped, with sloping green farm pastures and intermittent groves of trees. Severus had never been much past the village, but planned to explore the land in search of ingredients.

Reaching the bakery, he pushed open the door, a bell tinkling as he entered the shop. He was pleased to see that the shop was empty save the plump shopkeeper woman behind the counter. He saw her eyeing him suspiciously as he entered the shop, clearly wondering what a gutter rat like him could be up to in her shop at this hour of the morning. He made sure to hold the five-pound note obviously in his hand to assuage the woman’s fears of him nicking her precious pastries. He perused the selection of pastries and breads behind the counter, trying to weigh what would keep him full for a good part of the day without spending his entire fiver.

“What would you like, dear?”

He looked up at the shopkeeper, who was now giving him a sympathetic glance, clearly having decided he wasn’t here to cause mischief. He decided to get himself a hot-cross bun, as he remembered his Mum purchasing one last time and giving him a taste.

“I’ll have a cross bun, Ma’am.”

The woman nodded, and turned to pack up the parcel with the pastry.

“Two pounds, dear,” she said, smiling at him.

Severus handed over his fiver, happy that he’d spent less than half of the money. The woman handed him back three one-pound notes, which he promptly stuffed in his pocket for safe keeping, and the string wrapped pastry parcel.

“Thank you, Ma’am,” Severus murmured, surprised that she was being so kind to him.

She smiled after him as he left the shop, the bell tinkling again as the door shut behind him. Severus was very hungry by this point, so he walked a little way down the street, back up towards the park, and found a bench along the river to eat his breakfast, figuring it was still early enough to remain undisturbed. He hungrily pulled the string off the parcel, unwrapped it, and was surprised to find that the woman had given him two large buns, rather than the single one he had paid for. He was again surprised by her kindness, as he was certain that she hadn’t given him the extra bun in error as he had been the only person in the shop.

He tore open the bun, a bit of steam escaping from the middle. It wasn’t the best day to eat something so warm, but Severus couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten something so hot and fresh. He savored the sweet, warm bread, trying to make it last as long as possible. He decided against eating the second, figuring it would be better saved for lunch. He wondered if he should save a bit to share with his Mum when he got home later if his father wasn’t around. They rarely had sweets in their house aside from the small apples that came from their tree in the backyard. His Mum had told him all about magical sweets when he was small, and he couldn’t wait to try them when he finally went to Hogwarts.

Finishing the last of the first bun, he re-wrapped the second one and headed back up the street to the park. Walking on this side of town, he thought Cokeworth didn’t seem like such a bad place to live. It was still before 8 am, so he passed a few cars with people on their way to work, and the occasional dog walker. Thankfully, nobody spared him a second glance, so he reached the park without incident. The park was deserted too, and Severus let out a sigh of relief knowing that he wouldn’t have to sneak past anyone to reach his glade.

He retrieved his book from where he’d stashed it in the brush, and decided against sitting in the roots of the beech tree in case Lily and her sister returned to the park today. He didn’t think he could handle overhearing them mock the strange Snape boy they’d come across in the park the other day. Instead, he made his way down the embankment, and lay down on his stomach on the grassy bank of the river. He cupped his hands and splashed some of the cool, clean water on his face before propping his book open and letting his focus drift to the pages.

(***)

Severus had been reading for a few hours, enjoying the cool breeze coming off the river, when he started to think about pausing to eat the second bun. He was startled from his thoughts by a loud rustling noise, just up the embankment from him, near the bushes that separated his glade from the park. He jerked upright, nervous that someone had found his spot, when he was shocked to see none other than Lily pushing her way through the brush.

She was wearing a pretty, yellow, floral sundress, and her dark red hair was shining in the sunlight. Severus rubbed his eyes, just to make sure he wasn’t imagining her. Lily made her way carefully down the embankment to where he was standing, confidently approached him, and stuck out her small hand.

“I’m Lily Evans.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 5: A Friend (Age 9)

(*SS*)

Severus was shocked. He felt like he stood for over a minute with his mouth agape, staring at Lily’s outstretched hand. She had come back! She didn’t think he was some dirty creep from the wrong end of town like her sister did! He couldn’t believe that Lily was standing right next to him, having come to find him on her own accord. He quickly recovered, trying to pick his words carefully to make a better impression, and reached out his hand to take hers tentatively.

He noticed now that they were standing next to each other that Lily was quite small compared to him, he was nearly a whole head taller, but her eyes were absolutely brilliant, like two little almond shaped chips of emerald.

“Severus Snape,” he said, trying to sound as confident as possible. He dropped Lily’s hand quickly, not used to the contact.

“Is it true what you said the other day? Am I really a witch? Is that why I can do things no one else can?”

Severus could hear the slight edge of longing in her voice, waiting for confirmation. He gave her a slight smile. “It’s true, let me show you.”

He plucked a bud from a nearby daisy bush and held it flat in his palm, concentrated on the little flower and willed it to open. He could see pure delight dance in Lily’s emerald eyes as white petals slowly spiraled out, coming to lay flat against his palm and revealing the yellow center of the flower. He handed Lily the daisy, “See? I’m just like you.”

Lily shot him the brightest smile he’d ever seen, and then her face turned suspicious.

“Why were you spying on me and Tuney?”

“I wasn’t spying!” he said indignantly. “I come to the glade to read often and I hear you and your sister when you come to play. I saw you do magic one time and I wanted to know more about you.”

“When did you see me do magic?” Lily asked, raising her eyebrow suspiciously.

“Um… two years ago, I saw you jump from the swings and you didn’t get hurt,” Severus felt his cheeks flush from more than just the heat.

“Two years!? And you never said hello? That sounds like you were spying,” she shot him a glare.

“Err… I overheard what your sister thought about people from my part of town,” Severus fumbled with the hem of his ragged, oversized shirt. “I thought you’d think I was insulting you too, which you did!”

Lily looked a bit embarrassed. “I don’t care where you live as long as you’re nice. Why did you call Tuney a mean name if you want to be our friend?”

Severus wasn’t sure he and Petunia would ever be friends by the way she’d looked at him the other day, but he certainly wanted Lily to be his friend. “You mean a Muggle?”

“Yeah”

“A Muggle is just someone who isn’t magic, most people in Cokeworth are Muggles aside from you, me, and my mum. There aren’t many magical people in Britain compared to the number of Muggles. Most wizards and witches live in small communities around the country away from Muggles so that they can practice magic freely. I’ve got a map I could show you. When we’re eleven we’ll go to Hogwarts so that we can learn to do magic properly.”

Severus eyed Lily, hoping he’d convinced her that he wasn’t being nasty to Petunia. He had meant to be rude to Petunia, but only because she had been nasty to him. He was tired of being mocked and mistreated by everyone, save his mum and the nice lady at the bakery, which had frankly surprised him. However, Petunia was clearly important to Lily, so he didn’t want to speak of her badly in front of Lily.

“What’s Hogwarts? Why do you and your Mum live here instead of a magical place?” Lily looked at him inquisitively.

“Hogwarts is Britain’s wizarding school. You’ll get a letter on your eleventh birthday. My Mum went there and we will too. I’ve got loads of my mum’s old school books I can show you! And we live in Cokeworth because my fathers’ a Muggle too,” Severus said, growing more and more excited to be sharing parts of his world with Lily.

Severus could see the excitement growing in Lily’s eyes too. He sat back on the ground and motioned for Lily to join him. He pulled out the herbology book from where he’d stashed it and opened it up to show Lily.

“Do you want to see my book? This one’s on magical herbs and plants, I’ve been wanting to see if I can find some of these around Cokeworth for potion making,” he said proudly, glancing at Lily to see her response.

Lily nodded excitedly, and moved closer to Severus to share the book with him. He flipped to the beginning, and launched into a detailed description of all the plants he was familiar with and how they could be used and prepared in different potions. The two of them spent the afternoon laying on their stomachs by the edge of the river, excitedly flipping through Severus’ book. He’d been so absorbed talking to Lily, he didn’t even remember to have his second bun for lunch. He answered as many of her questions as he could from what his mum had taught him, ecstatic to be sharing his world with someone else. They sat together until the sun started to get low in the sky, when Lily stood up to head home.

“Thanks Severus! Can you come tomorrow too and bring some more books? I want to hear more about Hogwarts! I won’t bring Tuney, so it can just be the two of us.”

Severus smiled when he heard Lily say his name. “Of course, see you tomorrow then? I’ll bring you some you can borrow too, but you have to promise to take good care of them.”

“Promise!” Lily shot him another fantastic smile as they made their way up the embankment and through the bush into the park, making their way toward the main gate. They parted ways at the gate, as Lily headed up the street and Severus turned to walk down towards the bridge.

He made it a few paces down the street, before turning to look over his shoulder at Lily’s retreating figure.

He saw her turn to glance at him as well, waved, and shouted at him, “Night Sev! See you tomorrow!”

Severus waved back, and as he turned to walk home, the biggest smile lighting up his entire face. Even dreary Spinner’s End couldn’t ruin his mood tonight!

(***)

After an uneventful walk back in the late evening, Severus reached the front gate of his home, and made his way up the short walk to the front door. He crossed his fingers, hoping that his father would still be out, and perhaps wouldn’t return at all for the evening. He put his ear to the front door before entering, listening for his father, but all he heard was silence. Taking that as a good sign, he hesitantly opened the door, revealing the empty entranceway and living room. He pulled off his trainers and placed them neatly by the front door, and looked for his mum. He found her sitting at their small, beat up kitchen table, absentmindedly stirring a cup of tea while staring off at a nondescript section of the kitchen wall.

Remembering the uneaten hot cross bun he had brought home, Severus crossed the kitchen, grabbed two plates, tore the bun in half, and set one of the plates in front of his mum at the table. The whole time, his mum’s eyes remained fixed on the wall and she continued stirring her tea slowly.

“Mum?” he tried tentatively, “I got a bun at the bakery in the village today, it should still be pretty fresh. I remember you liked these when we went together.”

Her eyes slowly shifted to where Severus stood and she seemed to come out of her trance.

“Thank you, Severus,” she said quietly, tentatively lifting the bun to her lips.

With no sign of his father, and his mum seemingly lucid, he decided to tell her about Lily.

“Mum, today at the park I met a girl. She lives in Cokeworth and she can do magic like us! I’ve seen her do it a few times now! Her parents are Muggles, but her magic is really strong,” Severus then launched into an explanation of how he’d seen her manipulate the daisy and fly off the swing. He then looked at his mum to make sure she was listening to him.

His mum gave him a faint trace of a smile when he finished speaking, then spoke, her voice barely above a whisper, “She sounds very special Severus, I’m glad you have found a friend.”

His mum then finished the last of the bun, gave his arm an affectionate, gentle squeeze as she got up to wash their plates, then bid him goodnight as she made her way upstairs, silent as a ghost.

Severus sighed, it was the most she’d spoken to him in ages aside from quiet greetings. He hadn’t seen her do any magic since the day her wand had been broken either. At least he’d been able to bring her out of her depressive trance for a few moments this evening, he thought to himself as he made his way toward the washroom. He showered and dressed in his nightclothes, then made his way to his room to select books to show Lily tomorrow. Before searching through his books, he dug out the three one-pound notes from his pocket, lifted out the loose floorboard under his bed, and stashed them in the hole along with the rest of his precious things. Then, he browsed through the books on his desk and decided to bring Hogwarts a History to loan to Lily along with a book on introductory charms and one of his favorites on simple potions. He stacked them neatly on his nightstand, hoping his father would stay out all night and not ruin his wonderful day. Regardless, he had seeing Lily again tomorrow to look forward to.

(*LE*)

Lily made her way up the hill from the park. The Evans’ house sat atop the hill in Cokeworth, providing them with a lovely view of the stone church spire, the mill stack, and the rolling green fields beyond the village. Their brick home was unattached, with a chimney on either end, and a tidy wall and iron gate leading to the large front garden. There was a neat hedge behind the wall, and colorful flower beds planted near the path to the front door. The house had a big bay window at the front, which Lily loved to sit and read in, watching life go by in the village below. They had a big back garden with a large oak tree that nearly touched Lily’s bedroom window. The back garden abutted a nearby farmer’s field, giving the appearance of more space. The inside of the house was cozy, yet well decorated, as Lily’s mum, Rose Evans, took great pride in keeping the house tidy and presentable. Lily’s dad, Harold Evans, worked at the University of Manchester as a professor of engineering, providing his family with a good life in Cokeworth.

Lily walked up the short gravel driveway to her front door, and let herself inside, tossing her trainers in the coat closet. Her sister and father were staying in Manchester for a few days, so it was just her and her mum at home.

“Lily dear, your dinner’s getting cold!” her mum called from the kitchen.

Lily hurried into the kitchen and took her place at the table, waiting for her mum to sit down before eating.
Her mum joined her at the table, hanging her kitchen apron over the back of Petunia’s unused chair. “Did you meet some school friends down at the park? You’ve been gone all day Lils, you must be starving!”

“Um… no mum, none of the girls from school want to play with me outside of class. I actually saw Severus, er… the Snape boy that Tuney mentioned the other day.”

Petunia had dragged Lily home the other day after their sudden encounter with Severus at the park, and promptly told their mum that the Snape boy from Spinner’s End was creeping around the local park and had been rude to her and Lily.

Lily noticed her mum looked quite concerned upon her declaration, “He’s not like Tuney says mum, he didn’t mean to call me a rude name, and I don’t think that he can help that his family is no good. I think he was quite embarrassed the other day when Tuney was rude to him.”

Her mother looked considerate, and Lily knew she would offer Severus the benefit of the doubt, if Lily was convinced of his good character. Both her parents knew that Petunia had a bit of a cruel streak, and it probably wouldn’t have surprised her mum to know that Petunia had been the catalyst to Severus’ rudeness. Also, her mum was probably rather happy for Lily to have a friend, as whenever she wasn’t spending time with her sister, she was alone with a book.

“Besides,” Lily continued, “Severus has been very kind to me. He shared his book with me, and finally explained to me why I can do special things that no one else can! He can do things like me too mum!”

“Oh?” her mum raised her eyebrow, her curiosity peaked. “And what did he have to say, Lils?”

“I am a witch mum! And it’s not a bad thing, I can do magic, and so can Severus and his mum!”

Her mum smiled and laughed, but didn’t seem to be taking her seriously. “That’s lovely Lils! I’d love to meet your wizard friend. Why don’t you bring him round for lunch once your father and Petunia are back, although perhaps we’ll have him over on a day when Petunia is out with friends.”

“Alright mum!” Lily said, smiling brightly. She’d never had a friend round to her house before, and hoped that Severus would come.

Her mum tidied up after their meal, and Lily dried their dinner dishes. Her mum went to the fridge and started to prepare two sandwiches.

“If you’re going to be out at the park all day again tomorrow, you best bring lunch this time. Bring one for Severus too. It’s kind of him to share his books with you,” she smiled at Lily.

Lily nodded, then hurried upstairs to get ready for bed, excited to see Severus at the park in the morning.

(*SS*)

Severus awoke to another sticky, sweltering summer morning. Already the heat in his room was unbearable and the thought of seeing Lily again in the afternoon was enough to get him out of bed bright and early. He threw off his night clothes, and pulled on his shabby jeans and another ratty, overlarge long-sleeve his mum had gotten at consignment. He grimaced as he pulled on the garments, wishing that he could wear something more comfortable in the heat. Severus rummaged in his closet and found his mum’s old school satchel to transport all the books to the park. He carefully made his way downstairs, and with no sign of his father, darted to the washroom and then tossed a few apples in his satchel and grabbed two slices of bread from the kitchen on his way out the door.

It was so early in the morning that the sun was only just starting to rise. Glancing towards the mill as he left his front gate, the combination of steam from the mill chimney and the haze of the humidity in the faint light gave the early morning sky an ominous orange glow. Making his way down the street, Severus had an unfortunate encounter. About halfway down Spinner’s End, stumbling toward him in the dim morning light, was his father. He quickly attempted to cross the street before his father made notice of him, but it was too late. His father lurched towards him, grabbing his upper arm with a vice-like grip.

“Sevrus… where ya going?” his father slurred.

Tobias towered over him, and Severus tried to yank his arm out of his father’s grip with no success. “Get off me!” Severus spat.

“Bloody disrespectful bastard!” his father roared.

Severus knew it was coming before it even hit him, speaking back to his father never ended well, especially when he was drunk. Tobias’ free hand whipped around and back-handed him across the face. Tobias simultaneously released Severus’ arm, sending him flying backwards onto the cobblestones, his satchel falling from his shoulder.

Mildly dazed, Severus tried to pick himself up off the ground, grimacing in pain as he tried to stand. He could taste the metallic tang of blood, and when he ran his tongue over his lips, he could tell that his bottom one had split and was already swelling. Before he could stand, his father was looming over him, reaching out to grab Severus by his collar to yank him up.

Suddenly, Tobias yelled out in pain as he touched Severus and quickly retracted his hand as if he’d been burned. Tobias stumbled backwards.

“Ya freak! Ya burned me!”

Taking advantage of his father’s momentary distraction, Severus heaved himself up, grabbed his fallen satchel, and legged it down the street despite protests from his bruised body. However, his father’s angry shouts from down the street were motivation enough to keep moving. He didn’t dare look back to see if his father had attempted to give chase. He didn’t stop running until he reached the main bridge, when the shouting had faded far enough into the distance that he knew he was safe.

Panting from having run in his heavy clothes in the thick humidity, Severus limped the remaining way to the park gate in semi-darkness of the morning and stumbled through the bush to reach his quiet glade. Collapsing on the bank of the river, he scooped up handfuls of the clear, cold water, and poured it over his head, trying his best to wash off the blood that had trickled down his face from his lip. He rolled up the sleeves of his now damp shirt and lay on his back, gazing at the orange sky through the foliage of the large, old beech tree. Eventually, exhausted from his encounter with his father, his eyes slid shut, and he drifted into a fitful sleep on the grassy river bank.

(***)
A bright beam of sunlight trickled through the dense foliage cover of the old beech tree, rousing Severus awake. He groggily rubbed his eyes as they adjusted to the bright light. The sun was now fully up and beating down on Cokeworth. If not for the gentle, cool, breeze coming off the river, the heat would have been unbearable. As he awoke, the aches and pains from his impromptu meeting in the street with his father began to set in again. In addition to his swollen lip, his lower back and right ankle were quite sore, not enough to be broken, but enough that he knew there would be bad bruises if he lifted his clothes. He had some of the bruise salve he’d brewed at home, but going back to Spinner’s End at this point was out of the question. Not only did he not want to miss Lily’s arrival to the park, but his father would be back in the house by now, and he didn’t think it was wise to chance going home before his father had time to sober up. Severus hoped that his father would be too drunk to remember what happened between them on the street that morning and would be calmer by the time he got home again later. He also hoped that his mum was safe, and that his disgrace of a father didn’t take his anger out on her.

Severus pulled his potions book out of his bag, as it was always a good distraction from his thoughts about his family, and began to read until Lily arrived. Another hour passed before he heard the bush at the top of the embankment rustle and saw Lily’s deep red hair emerge into the clearing.

She hurried toward him, carrying a small bag of her own, “Morning Severus!” she said cheerfully before getting a good look at him.

Severus knew that he probably looked a right mess. He’d tried his best to clean his face up in the river, but he knew that his lip was still swollen and some of the blood had dried where it had split. He was sure overall, he looked disheveled and sweaty from the heat of his clothing and his unplanned morning run down Spinner’s End.

Lily plopped down next to him on the grass, finally getting a good look at his face. “What happened to you?!” she asked, her features twisting into an expression of concern.

Squirming uncomfortably under her pitiful gaze, Severus muttered, “fell in the street this morning, I’m fine.”

Lily didn’t look particularly convinced. “I can run home and get some antiseptic cream and a plaster from my mum, if you’d like.”

Not wanting to waste any time with her, Severus shook his head and dug through his satchel, pulling out Hogwarts a History, and the introductory charms book. He handed her Hogwarts a History, and kept the charms book on his lap with the potions book he’d been reading while waiting for Lily to arrive.
Hoping to distract her from his injuries, he launched into an explanation of the book he’d handed her, “This one will tell you all about Hogwarts, the castle is centuries old so it has a lot of unique magical qualities. It also tells you a bit about the four school houses and the original founders of the school for which the houses are named.”

“Thanks Severus, I’ll be sure to take good care of it,” Lily said, and began eagerly flipping through the book, “which house do you think you’ll be in?”

“Slytherin,” he said confidently, “my mum and most of her family have been in Slytherin house, so I suppose I’ll carry on the tradition.”

“Then that’s the house I want to be in too!” Lily exclaimed.

Severus gave her a soft smile. He certainly hoped that he and Lily would be in the same house when they got to Hogwarts. He wasn’t very good at making friends, and figured that being poor and shabby wouldn’t make him popular with his magical classmates either, although he certainly would fit in better in the magical world than the Muggle one.

He confidently answered all Lily’s questions about Hogwarts, feeling proud that someone finally wanted to be around him for his intelligence. They’d been discussing the magical school for about an hour when Lily rifled in the canvas bag she’d brought along, pulling out two paper wrapped packages, and thrust one towards Severus.

“What’s this?” he asked, confused.

“Mum made us both lunch today.”

When Severus looked as though he was uncomfortable accepting it, she added, “if you’re going to bring the books when we meet, I can bring us lunch!”

Nodding his thanks, Severus slowly and meticulously unwrapped the paper to reveal a robust looking ham sandwich. He tucked into it, finding it to be the most satisfying lunch he’d had in a long time. He was glad that Lily had finally given up on worrying over his injuries, although he did catch her peering at his lip once in a while. As he ate, he wondered where Petunia was, as she seemed to be protective of her little sister, but she had yet to interrupt one of their meetings. Severus wasn’t complaining, as Petunia seemed to have an innate dislike of him before even speaking to him for the first time.

“Where’s your sister?” he asked Lily curiously.

Lily gave him a bit of a guilty look, “Er, Tuney doesn’t know I’ve been meeting you. She’s been away with my dad in Manchester to look at new schools for Year 6, they’ll be back at the end of the week. Cokeworth village school only goes up to Year 5, and mum and dad want us to go to private school in Manchester after we finish Year 5. Course, I’ll go to Hogwarts for Year 6 now! I’ve told mum all about you and how we’re magic though!” she said cheerfully.

Severus wasn’t sure what to make of the news about Petunia. He certainly hoped that her return wouldn’t prevent Lily from joining him in the park. They finished their sandwiches and Lily opened up the charms book that Severus had set beside them in the grass.

She flipped through a few pages, detailing proper wand movements and incantation pronunciation, before running a hand through her coppery hair and giving Severus a concerned look.

“I’m going to be so far behind!” she exclaimed, “I bet the kids that grew up in magical families already know loads of spells and magic before they go to Hogwarts.”

Severus shook his head and then smiled confidently at her, “Loads of kids won’t know any magic until we get to school. There’s lots of other students with Muggle parents and we can’t do proper magic without wands anyway. Besides, we can practice together with my mum’s books and I’ll teach you everything I know,” he said proudly.

The two of them sat together all afternoon practicing wand movements for charms with sticks from the old beech tree until Lily had to head home to her mum.

Before they parted ways at the park gate, Lily turned to Severus and said, “Thanks Sev, it’s been nice to have a friend who’s like me, Tuney always says I’m strange, and the girls at Cokeworth village seem to think so too. See you tomorrow!”

She shot him a wonderful smile and then went skipping up the street towards her home, red hair streaming behind her. He thought to himself as he made his way home, if Lily was happy to have him as a friend, he was positively elated. She’d been the first person to accept him for himself outside of his mum. His spirits couldn’t be broken even as limped home down Spinner’s End to face his father.

(***)

Severus and Lily had been meeting in the park glade every day during the week. The two poured over Severus’ large collection of magical books and Severus shared everything he knew about the magical world with Lily. She was particularly interested in, and perhaps equal parts horrified by the dementors of Azkaban, which Severus had explained to her in great detail upon her request, after reassuring her that neither of them could be sent there for performing their underage accidental magic. Lily had begun to bring her books from the Muggle school in Cokeworth too, and Severus was particularly interested in learning from her math and science books, which his mum hadn’t taught him much of at home.

Sometimes the two of them would just lay in the grass and talk, looking up at the sky through the filter of the beech leaves. They filled each other’s void of loneliness, and by the end of the week, the two of them were inseparable during the day.

Severus had even begrudgingly disclosed that his home life was not happy to Lily after showing up at the end of the week with a black eye and bruised wrist. He didn’t want her pity, but it was nice to have someone who cared about his well-being. Under the excuse of forgetting their lunch, Lily had run home and come back with a small tube of antiseptic ointment which she thrust at Severus, before dropping the topic as she could tell he was uncomfortable.

On Saturday morning, Lily met him in their usual spot at the park with a frown. Severus sent her a questioning look.

“Tuney comes back today Sev, I have to be home for lunch today or mum will have a fit. I still have a sandwich for you though!”

Severus thanked her and accepted the consolation sandwich. Petunia’s return hung over him like a dark cloud, as he knew she would restrict his precious time with Lily.

Lily could clearly see that he was upset as she looked at him sympathetically and said, “Don’t worry Sev! Tuney has lots of her own friends, she’ll be glad I’m not following her around anymore, and if she’s not happy I’m spending time with you, who cares! We can still meet every day, even when school starts in the fall. I can bring my lessons and homework here after school so we can learn together!”

Severus immediately brightened with Lily’s promise to still spend time with him, “Thanks Lil. I’d miss seeing you.” He felt his face flush a bit, but Lily just smiled at him.

“I’d miss you too, Sev! Oh, I forgot to tell you. Mum wants you to come round for lunch. Tuney’s going to be with a friend on Monday, can you come then? We can meet at the park in the morning and then walk up to my house. Mum will probably have lots of questions about magic.” Lily knew that Severus might be uncomfortable coming to her home, so she hoped that the promise of sharing his knowledge with her parents would be enough to convince him.

Severus was a bit shocked. His own parents were so absent and uninterested in what he did during the day, he had never thought that Lily’s family would take much interest in him. He wished that his mum would be well enough again so that she would ask about and want to meet Lily.

“Of course, I’ll come, Lily. I hope that your mum doesn’t mind that I don’t have anything nice to wear to lunch though,” Severus muttered, a bit embarrassed by how Lily’s parents were sure to view him, especially in light of Petunia’s comments.

“Don’t worry Sev! Mum and Dad aren’t like Tuney. They’re going to love you.”

Severus gave her a weak smile and pulled out a book, propping it open in front of him and Lily. The two continued to read until Lily announced she had to get back to her house. Once she left, Severus was left alone with his thoughts, dreading the mortification that would surely come with meeting Mr. and Mrs. Evans. He certainly couldn’t imagine that they were happy that their daughter had befriended “the Snape boy” from Spinner’s End. Sighing heavily, he focused back on the book and tried his best to ignore the negative thoughts swirling in his head.

Chapter Text

Chapter 6: The Visit (Age 9)

(*SS*)

Sunday evening had Severus nervously pacing a path along the worn floorboards in his bedroom. When he’d agreed to visit Lily’s family for lunch, he hadn’t fully considered the arrangement. Despite Lily’s optimism, he was worried that they wouldn’t be happy that a boy from Spinner’s End was hanging around their daughter. Severus knew Spinner’s End had a reputation around town for being home to the unsavory sort, and that reputation was deserved. The street was home to numerous drunks, thieves, and vandals. His own father had made a name for himself around the village as a regular of the pubs, having been kicked out of both for disorderly drunken conduct and fighting on a frequent basis. He figured that given Petunia’s comment about him being “the Snape boy”, Lily’s parents were well aware of what a deadbeat his father was. He was beyond worried that after meeting him, they’d put an end to Lily spending time with him at the park. She’d even so far managed to dodge Petunia and had spent most of today with him before having to return for dinner. Having had a taste for her company now, he was certain he couldn’t give it up. The last week he’d spent with Lily had been one of the happiest in his life thus far, and spending time with her made him feel not so alone.

Severus was also worried about his appearance too. He was by no means vain, but he valued looking respectable, which was currently impossible given the squalor they lived in. He didn’t know how to fix his hair, as no matter how many times he washed it, the barred soap only seemed to make it look dirtier. He liked the length, as his mum had told him that long hair was common among respected wizards in families like hers, and he was proud to carry on the tradition, but it was a bit choppy at the edges as his mum wasn’t very good at cutting hair in her current state.

He took a break from pacing the length of his room to rummage through his closet in an effort to find something to wear that wouldn’t make him look completely ridiculous to Lily’s parents. He found a pair of faded grey trousers, with only a slight tear at the cuff. He knew they were a bit short on him, but they were the best he had. Shirts were a different story, Severus desperately dug through his small collection of them, but was unable to find anything that wasn’t ragged, enormously oversized, or had belonged to his mum. He eventually decided on a grey long-sleeve, which although overlarge on him, had few tears or stains. It wasn’t ideal, but he figured it was good enough given the options he had to work with.

He made his way to the downstairs washroom, thankful that his father had somehow managed to maintain his current job at the mill, meaning he was out at the pubs most nights. Severus had been very careful to avoid his father for the last few days in order to avoid any additional cuts and bruises. He’d managed to mostly heal his latest black eye, reducing it to a faint shadow on his pale skin, thanks to his homemade bruise salve.

As he finished in the washroom, with limited improvement to the appearance of his hair, he could hear his mum shuffling around in the kitchen. Severus contemplated telling her that he would be going to Lily’s house tomorrow, but decided against it in case it went poorly. His mum’s mental state seemed so fragile lately, he didn’t want to worry her with anything else.

Making his way back upstairs to his bedroom, another concerning thought struck Severus. He knew that Lily had mentioned magic to at least her mum, but being Muggles, they were unlikely to believe him. He had to find a way to show them that magic was real. Severus figured that it was safe to assume that the Statute of Secrecy didn’t apply to Lily’s parents as they had a magical daughter, but he still didn’t know what he could show them without a wand that would be convincing. He just hoped that they would be more receptive then his father had been. From what Lily had told him, her parents were nothing like his father, but he was still especially worried about meeting Mr. Evans, not sure how he would react to magic. Severus tried his best to push his nerves aside and focus on his current task.

Thankful that the miserable heat had somewhat abated, Severus climbed up through the trapdoor in his closet to the attic. Deciding that a potion with unique properties would be the best thing to prove the existence of the magical world, he flipped through the stacks of potions books that he had sorted out of his mum’s things. He ruled out several potions due to time constraints and his limited ingredient collection. He perused a book entitled Practical Potions for Household Use, wondering if he could create some kind of miracle cleaning product for Mrs. Evans, when he flipped past a page that seemed promising. The page he’d turned to detailed the developer potion, which was used to create the moving photographs of the wizarding world. He scanned the page with interest, noting that the potion only required simple ingredients and took about an hour to brew. Feeling pleased with his selection, Severus only hoped the potion would have the same effect on Muggle film.

He lit the burner under the cauldron and began brewing. Severus was thankful that he’d experimented with the preparation of his aged ingredients to maximize their potency. Therefore, an hour later, with a final clockwise stir, the potion had achieved the glossy silver sheen that was detailed in the book. Pleased with himself, Severus poured the contents of the cauldron into a glass jar and stoppered it. He snuck downstairs after checking that his mum was in her bedroom, and cleaned his brewing equipment in the kitchen before slipping back upstairs.

Satisfied that he was prepared as he could be, Severus threw on his nightclothes, laid out his chosen clothes over his desk chair, and carefully tucked the jar of developer potion into his satchel. He then got into bed, tried his best to fall asleep, and crossed his fingers that tomorrow would go well.

(***)

After a restless night’s sleep, Severus woke to the early morning sunlight trickling through his window. Anxious to start getting ready, he hauled himself out of bed, and threw on his pre-selected outfit. He quietly opened his door, listening for any activity in the house. Hearing only silence, he made his way to the washroom, brushed his teeth, and borrowed his mum’s hairbrush in an attempt to fix his hair. Studying his appearance in the yellowing mirror, his skin still looked pale, with a hint of dark circles under his eyes. His raven hair, although still a bit oily looking, was smooth and neat. He neatly cuffed the sleeves of his shirt to his wrists to make it appear as though it fit a bit better, while still covering his bruises. Sighing, he turned away from the mirror, deciding that he looked presentable enough for what he was working with.

Severus climbed back up the rickety staircase and grabbed his bag. He stopped by the kitchen to leave a small breakfast out for his mum, but he was too nervous to eat anything himself. He put on his scuffed-up trainers, scowling to himself as he put them on, promising himself that one day he’d be able to afford better clothing. Taking a deep breath, he left the house and started down Spinner’s End for the park, thankfully avoiding any early morning encounters with his drunken father. Severus glared at the rubbish strewn street of Spinner’s End as he walked towards the bridge, resenting the whole stupid place for making his life hell.

Reaching the park, he headed towards the bushes near the base of the beech tree. As he made his way into the glade, Severus was surprised to see that Lily was already there.

Noticing that he had appeared at the top of the embankment, Lily looked up and waved to him. As he made his way down to her, he noticed she was reading Hogwarts a History. He sat down next to her and took the jar of developer potion out of his bag.

Lily turned to look at him, “Morning Sev! You look nice today!”

Severus felt his cheeks flush, and let his hair fall in front of his face. Even if her parents were displeased with his appearance, the fact that Lily thought he looked nice had already made his day.
“Thanks, Lil. You always look nice,” he murmured, feeling even more heat rise to his cheeks.

Lily smiled at him and tossed her deep red hair over her shoulder. Her focus then shifted to the jar that Severus had placed in the grass.

“What’s that, Sev?” she pointed at the jar.

“Developer potion. It will make photographs move like in some of the books we’ve read. I made it last night so that we can show your parents magic. It should hopefully make Muggle photos move too,” Severus said proudly, sitting more upright and tucking his hair back behind his ears.

“That’s a great idea! I can’t wait to show them! My dad should be taking Tuney to her friend’s house soon, so we can walk up to my house whenever you want to. I want to show you around my house before we eat.”

Severus nodded, packed the jar back in his bag, and offered to carry Lily’s book. Lily then led them out of the glade and towards the park gate. For the first time, Severus was heading up the hill from the park, rather than down towards the river. He grew more nervous with every step. Lily was happily chatting to him as they walked, pointing out houses and going on about which of her neighbors lived in them. Severus was only barely listening, giving her small nods and murmuring one-word responses. As he looked at the neat brick houses, each with a car in the drive along Lily’s street, the feelings of dread he’d had since the morning grew stronger as they grew closer to Lily’s home.

“Sev?” Lily was staring at him with concern in her eyes, “this is my house. I promise they’re going to like you.” She shot him a reassuring smile.

Severus snapped out of his thoughts, returned Lily’s smile with a tentative one of his own, then turned to look at Lily’s home. As he had expected, it was as unlike his own home on Spinner’s End as could be. Lily’s house looked warm and inviting, with its colorful front garden and tidy brick face. They walked up the gravel drive, their trainers crunching on the stones. He noted that there was no car in the drive, and wondered if Mr. Evans was still dropping off Petunia. Lily led him to the front door and tugged it open. Lily tossed her trainers in a closet next to the front door while Severus neatly placed his next to the doormat.

Severus peered around the Evans’ house. Past the entryway, he could see into the living room. The living room was very different from the sparsely furnished, wallpaper-peeling one he was used to on Spinner’s End. The room was bright, and filled with natural light from the bay window at the front of the house. It had neat, very pale pink wallpaper with a faint striped pattern, with white wood trim. There was a white marble fireplace mantle centered along the back wall, with two plush cream sofas on either side, and a television set in one corner of the room. There was an armchair near the television, and a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf in the far corner of the room near the stairs. Although well decorated, the room had a cozy, lived-in feel. Unlike in his own home, the room was adorned with pictures of Lily, Petunia, and the Evans family.

Severus stared at his holey, faded socks, feeling very out of place. He was roused from his thoughts when Lily placed one of her small hands on his arm gently and led him through the living room towards the kitchen.

“Mum, we’re here!” she shouted cheerfully as they entered the kitchen.

Severus saw Mrs. Evans bent over the oven, putting a dish in. The kitchen smelled delicious. If anything, he was certainly looking forward to a good lunch. He noticed that Mrs. Evans looked a lot like Lily, she wasn’t very tall, certainly much shorter than his own mum, but shared Lily’s vibrant, deep red hair. She was wearing a blue summer dress and a floral apron. As she turned to face them, Severus could see that unlike Lily, Mrs. Evans had bright blue eyes.

She gave them both a kind smile, “It’s nice to meet you, Severus. Lily’s told us so much about you, we’re so happy you could join us for lunch. My husband will be home shortly from dropping Petunia at a friend’s house and then we can have lunch.”

Lily gave Severus an encouraging smile. He was surprised by Mrs. Evans’ kindness. In his experience, most Muggles were rude to him without even speaking to him, much like Petunia, perhaps due to his strange appearance and quiet demeanor. However, Mrs. Evans hadn’t commented on his shabby clothing or oily hair, and instead had welcomed him into her home. He was hesitant to trust any adult after growing up in such a volatile home, but wanting to make a good impression, especially for Lily, he tried his best to be well mannered.

Tilting his head down slightly to allow a few strands of his raven hair to fall in front of his eyes, he said softly, “It’s nice to meet you too, Ma’am. Thank you for sending lunch to the park with Lily.”

“Of course, dear! We can’t have you two going hungry when you read all day, you need to keep your brains fueled!” she laughed, her eyes crinkling at the corners.

Mrs. Evans glanced over to Lily, who looked like she was about to start jumping up and down from excitement at any moment. “Heavens Lils, go show Severus around the house before you wear a hole in the kitchen floor. I’ll call you two down when lunch is ready.”

She gave them one last smile, shaking her head at Lily’s antics, before turning her attention back to cooking.

“C’mon Sev!” Lily gave a gentle tug on his sleeve.

Not wanting to quash Lily’s excitement, Severus placed his bag on the couch and followed after Lily as she proceeded to give him a full tour of the house. She proudly showed him the large collection of books in the living room that he only briefly got a chance to peruse, before Lily continued the tour. She showed him where the downstairs washroom was, then headed upstairs. The Evans’ house had four bedrooms, one for Lily and Petunia each, one for Mr. and Mrs. Evans, and a guest bedroom. There was also a second washroom upstairs. Lily enthusiastically pointed out each door as they made their way down the hallway. She opened the last door on the right, and invited Severus inside.

“This is my room, Sev. Come see all my books, I’ve got my own shelf and everything,” she said proudly.

Severus followed her into her room, and like the rest of the Evans’ home, her room was completely different from his own. Lily’s room was painted a pale green, with two large windows facing out into the back garden. She had a double bed with a cream comforter, a desk under the windows, a wardrobe in the corner opposite the bed, and a large bookshelf that seemed to be nearly overflowing. There was also a plush rug alongside the bed. Unlike his own, Lily’s white wooden furniture all seemed to be part of a matching set. He slowly walked to the middle of her room, noticing that Lily had several paintings of tulips decorating her walls.

Lily noticed him looking and said, “They’re my favorite flower, not lilies. Mum has a friend who painted them.”

“They’re lovely,” Severus agreed, thinking that the colorful, spring flowers fit Lily’s cheerful personality well.

He turned towards her bookshelf, and Lily joined him. She pulled some of her favorite titles off the shelf and carried them over to her bed. Still standing by the bookshelf, Severus watched as she flopped down on her stomach on the bed, kicking her feet up in the air, and cracking open one of the books she’d chosen. She patted the comforter next to her, motioning for Severus to join her. Feeling his cheeks flush, he joined her on the bed, feeling a bit uncomfortable. He had to imagine her parents wouldn’t think highly of it if they were to walk by her room. However, being so close to Lily was a welcome distraction from his nerves. Turning his attention to the book, he joined Lily in reading, committing the moment to memory just in case lunch went horribly wrong.

(*RE*)

Rose Evans was taking her last dish out of the oven when she heard the car tires crunching on the gravel drive. A moment later, the front door opened, and she heard her husband, Harold, cross the threshold to the kitchen.
“Hello, darling!” he said, crossing the kitchen to give Rose a hug. “Smells great in here, you’ve really gone all out for lunch today.”

“Thanks, Hank. Everything go okay with Petunia?”

“Of course, you know how she is, always excited to get out and see her girlfriends. I think she’s trying to make the most of the summer with the girls before she starts with a new class in Manchester this fall. Where’s Lily and her friend?”

Hank peered back into the living room to double check that he hadn’t walked past the kids. He was a bit skeptical of Snape’s kid hanging around his daughter, as Tobias Snape was a regular menace down in the village. Everyone who’d ever visited either of the village pubs had at one point encountered Tobias, drinking himself into oblivion at the bar, usually resulting in trouble. There were also rumors around the village that he mistreated his reclusive wife and son. Hank didn’t have any respect for the man, and had made it clear to his daughters to steer clear of Spinner’s End for their safety. He didn’t necessarily judge its residents for their poverty, as jobs had become limited around Cokeworth to anyone who didn’t have the means to get to Manchester on the daily, but the stories he’d heard about its inhabitants around the village were enough to worry him.

Having been young during the last great war, he wanted to preserve Lily and Petunia’s innocence about the horrors of the world for as long as possible. That had been a main factor in him and Rose choosing Cokeworth to raise their family. They figured the quiet village would provide Lily and Petunia with a carefree childhood, unlike their own teenage years that had been torn apart by the death and destruction of war. He was worried that Snape’s kid would introduce Lily to a darker side of life that he had worked so hard to protect her from. However, he was willing to give the kid a chance as Rose seemed to like him, and was happy that Lily finally had a friend.

Unlike Petunia, Lily was a little different, and his second daughter could often make the most bizarre things happen. This seemed to deter her classmates from wanting to spend time with her, and she often came home looking dejected. While Petunia was almost constantly spending time with other girls her age, Lily was often alone with her books if she wasn’t with her sister. Hank worried about Lily, and was curious to talk to the Snape kid over lunch as Rose had told him Lily had come home excited with the notion that she was a witch following meeting the boy. He knew his daughter was special in some way, but passed most of her peculiar abilities off as odd coincidences. He figured the kids must just be playing pretend, although a small part of him was curious to hear what the boy had to say.

Rose’s voice startled him out of his thoughts.

“Lily and Severus are upstairs in her room.” Rose lowered her voice and gave her husband a pointed look, “give him a chance, darling. He seems like a sweet boy despite his upbringing, I think Petunia was exaggerating what happened in the park. I’m sure Lily will be a good influence on him, rather than the other way around. You know what they say around town about his father, I don’t think the boy gets treated very kindly at home, so don’t be too harsh.”

Hank nodded. “I’ll be on my best behavior, dear. Although, I’m not sure how I feel about Lily having a boy up in her room alone!” he said, scowling slightly.

Rose laughed, “they’re nine years old Hank! I don’t think they’re getting into anything but books up there, knowing Lils.”

She handed him a stack of plates before he could object further, “be a dear and bring these out to the table, I’ll call the kids down and we’ll eat. We can’t have things going cold!”

Rose left Hank to bring the plates out to the dining room table, and crossed the living room to the bottom of the stairs.

“Lily! Severus!” she called up the stairs, “lunch is ready!”

(*SS*)

Severus jolted up from their shared book, Lily’s copy of A Wrinkle in Time, upon hearing Lily’s mum calling them from downstairs.

“Coming Mum!” Lily shouted back.

She slipped off the bed, grabbed a bookmark from her nightstand, and handed the book to Severus.

“You can borrow it Sev, just take good care of it,” she said, winking, echoing the same thing Severus had told her when he’d loaned her his books.

“Thanks, Lil,” Severus accepted the book, and slid off the bed to stand next to Lily.

He tried to steal his nerves as they headed back downstairs, feeling his anxiety from before rising again. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a family meal at home. It had to have been when he was very young, if ever, because he couldn’t remember a time when his father had ever wanted to spend a meal with him and his mum. He really hoped that Lily’s Muggle father was different from his own, and wouldn’t react violently when the topic of magic was brought up.

He must have looked worried enough for Lily to notice, because before they reached the bottom of the stairs, she reached over, gently squeezed his hand, and gave him a reassuring smile. Severus felt his cheeks flush at the unfamiliar contact, and shot Lily back the most confident look he could muster.

As they entered the dining room, Lily slid into the seat across from her mum and gestured for Severus to sit next to her. Severus sat down, shocked by the spread of dishes on the table. He didn’t think he’d ever seen so much food on the table for a single meal, as food was a luxury in his home.

He gave a tentative glance at Mr. Evans, and noticed that he looked quite different to his own father. Whereas his father was tall, broad, and dark featured, Mr. Evans was slimmer in build, and Severus estimated that he was a few inches shorter than Tobias, although he still seemed fairly tall. He didn’t share Lily or Mrs. Evans’ deep red hair, but instead shared Petunia’s sandy brown color. Though, Severus noted that he did share Lily’s emerald eyes, which were currently staring right at him. Severus quickly focused his gaze back on his plate.

The momentary silence around the table was broken by Mrs. Evans, “dig in everyone, don’t let the food get cold!”

She seemed to notice that Severus was overwhelmed by the spread of food, because as Lily and Mr. Evans filled their plates, she turned to Severus and took his plate, loading it with a little bit of everything. He gave her a shy, tentative smile in thanks.

He remained mostly quiet as they ate, momentarily entranced by Mrs. Evans’ delicious cooking, while Lily talked enough for the both of them. He felt his nervousness grow as Lily turned the conversation towards magic, paying closer attention to the conversation, but keeping his head tilted towards his plate.

“…And today Sev was telling me all about how they make photos and pictures move in the wizarding world,” he heard Lily say excitedly.

Shooting a hesitant glance across the table, he saw that Mrs. Evans was smiling with an intrigued expression on her face. Mr. Evans, although more stoic than his wife, had a hint of a smile on his face as well, although he had one of his eyebrows raised, as if humoring Lily’s story as merely fiction. Severus was glad Petunia hadn’t joined them for lunch, as he was sure her reaction would have been more akin to his usual experience at home.

“Severus.”

Snapping out of his thoughts, Severus jerked his head up awkwardly to meet the eyes of Mr. Evans, who was now staring at him quizzically. He immediately stiffened. His own father rarely addressed him by name, and he half expected Mr. Evans to start shouting at him for placing nonsense about magic in his daughter’s head.

“Yes, sir?” he answered tentatively, matching Mr. Evan’s emerald gaze with his own onyx one.

“No need for the formalities, Severus,” Mr. Evans expression softened slightly, “Lils comes home with all these tales about magic, witches, and wizards. You must understand it’s a bit hard for Rose and I to believe,” he turned his gaze to Mrs. Evans momentarily as if looking for confirmation, then turned back to Severus, “Er…we do know that our Lily can do some pretty unique things, but magic?” he finished awkwardly.

Severus bristled, his face twisting into a scowl, feeling incredibly uncomfortable under Mr. Evans’ gaze, his defenses raised by Mr. Evans comments. This was the trouble with Muggles, he thought, they never gave anything or anyone a chance that didn’t comply with what they felt was normal! He noticed Lily looked equally agitated, frowning, likely due to the fact she had been under the impression that her parents had believed what she’d shared with them about the magical world.

Mrs. Evans intervened, shooting her husband a look, “what Hank means, Severus, is that it’s a bit hard for us to understand, as we obviously don’t share the abilities that you and Lily have, but we’d like for you to tell us about what you’ve shared with Lily, if you’re comfortable,” she finished, smiling gently at him.

Severus saw Lily giving him urgent glances, as if desperate for him to prove their case to her parents. He felt incredibly uncomfortable with everyone’s attention on him, and unconsciously shrunk further back into his chair, a few strands of hair curtaining in front of his eyes. However, Lily’s parents seemed more interested than angry or rude, which was better than he had hoped for.

So, leaning forward and tentatively sweeping his hair back behind his ears, he began in a quiet but firm voice, “what Lily’s been telling you is true. They’re not just stories we’ve made up. There’s a whole magical society living in Britain, it’s just a lot smaller than the Muggle… err non-magical one. My mum is a witch like Lily and we’ve been reading her old school books together.”

He glanced around the table. Lily looked enthusiastic and Mr. and Mrs. Evans were giving him their rapt attention.

Not used to adults being interested in what he had to say, he continued quietly, “Perhaps I could show you, I brought over the potion that Lily was talking about that makes pictures move. I made it last night,” he finished rather lamely, trying to gauge their reactions.

“Really?” Mr. Evans looked rather fascinated, as if he certainly hadn’t been expecting Severus to be able to show them definitive proof, “how does it work?”

Rose turned to Severus, “Hank’s an engineer, he teaches engineering at the uni in Manchester, he’s always taking things apart, trying to figure out what makes them tick.”

Severus nodded, feeling more and more relieved, as Mr. and Mrs. Evans seemed supportive. “I need a tray or some kind of dish we could put the potion and the photograph in. We’ll need to treat it in a dark room too. Oh… and we’ll need a photograph.”

“I’ll get a picture!” Lily jumped up from the table and hurried into the living room.

Mrs. Evans went to get a tray from the kitchen, leaving Severus alone with Mr. Evans. Feeling a hint of his prior nervousness returning, Severus glanced down at his now clear plate to avoid eye contact with Mr. Evans.

Mr. Evans broke the awkward silence by getting up from the table and announcing, “I'll shut the blinds in my study, it should be dark enough in there. Come join me when you’re all set.”

Severus nodded in response, waited until Mr. Evans left the room, then joined Lily and her mum in the living room to get the potion out of his bag. He grabbed the brown glass jar out of his bag and glanced over to Lily and her mum who were removing a photo from its frame on the mantle. Once they’d retrieved it, they all filed into Mr. Evans’s now dark study. Mrs. Evans handed him the tray and he poured enough of the developer potion in to cover the photograph. Lily leaned over his shoulder as he dropped the photograph in, feeling a pang of envy as he noticed it was a happy family picture of the four Evans’.

“Now we just wait five minutes and then we flip it,” he said.

Mr. Evans started a timer on his watch, and ten minutes later, after flipping it once, Severus pulled out the picture, desperately hoping that the potion had worked on the Muggle film. Holding his breath, he flipped the picture right side up, and thankfully, even in the dim light, he could tell that the family was now moving. He handed the picture to Lily and followed the family back to the brightly lit living room.

Lily triumphantly held up the photograph to show her parents, “see mum and dad! Magic is real!”

Pleased with himself, Severus watched as Mr. and Mrs. Evans both carefully analyzed the moving photograph. Mr. Evans’ mouth was agape as he studied the now moving image of his family. Mrs. Evans looked positively delighted by the image. They both seemed impressed, and a bit shocked, Severus noted smugly.

Now thoroughly convinced, Severus and Lily spent the next hour over tea and cake describing the magical world to Mr. and Mrs. Evans. Lily’s parents peppered them with questions, and Severus allowed himself to relax slightly, enjoying the feeling of importance that came with being their resource for the magical world. The looks of admiration that Lily would occasionally shoot his way as they spoke didn’t hurt his confidence either. He did his best to describe Hogwarts and the fact that Lily would receive a letter of formal acceptance on her eleventh birthday. Mr. Evans seemed especially interested in how the magical education system worked, being an educator himself.
Their discussion continued until late afternoon when Mr. Evans announced he had to go collect Petunia from her friend’s house. Mrs. Evans headed back to the kitchen to clean up after lunch, followed by Lily. Severus took a moment to retrieve the jar of potion from Mr. Evans’ study before joining them in the kitchen. He regularly helped his mum clean up when they ate together, and figured it would only be polite to offer the same to Mrs. Evans after such a delicious meal.

“Can I help with anything ma’am… err… Mrs. Evans?” He asked hesitantly.

“Thank you, Severus, you can help me dry the dishes while Lily clears the table. We’re happy you were able to join us for lunch,” Mrs. Evans glanced to see that Lily was still busy in the dining room, and lowered her voice a bit before turning back to Severus, “you’re always welcome in our home Severus, anytime. I know Petunia may have said some hurtful things to you, and while it’s her responsibility to apologize for her actions, those opinions are not something either Hank or I, or of course Lily share. Petunia is going through a difficult time right now with her transition to private school in Manchester. It's no excuse, but hopefully she’ll feel better in time. And thank you for proving me right, I always knew there was something special about our Lils,” she gave him a gentle smile and then turned back to the dishes.

“Erm…,” Severus stammered, as he didn’t know what to say, and stared at the floor. He’d never had an adult, or anyone apologize to him for their actions. Not that he thought Petunia was actually remorseful for what she’d said, but he was still floored that Mrs. Evans was being so kind to him after only knowing him for a few hours. His father certainly never apologized for beating him and his mum, or for all the horrible things he said to them. Even his mum had let him down, but he found it hard to blame her, clinging to the good memories they shared together when he was young. He was saved from an awkward response by Lily re-entering the room, precariously holding a stack of dishes.
“Here you go mum, table’s all clear!” Lily only narrowly avoided dropping the dishes before reaching the counter as Severus rushed to help her.

They finished cleaning up and Severus started preparing to walk back to Spinner’s End. He was tired after spending so much time socializing, and was worried about overstaying his welcome. He was still amazed with how well his visit had gone and didn’t want to jinx it. He handed Lily back his copy of Hogwarts a History that he’d carried back in his bag for her along with the developer potion.

“Keep it,” he said quietly, “you have more use for it than I do.”

“Thanks, Sev,” Lily smiled. “I’m glad you came, I knew it would be okay. The potion really helped too, I feel silly that mum and dad didn’t really believe me at first. Do you want me to walk home with you? It might get me out of being grilled by Tuney,” she laughed.

“No!” Severus nearly shouted, before noticing the shocked look on Lily’s face. “Err… no thanks Lily, I’ll be okay on my own,” he said more gently, feeling his face flush as he looked down at his shoes. He didn’t want Lily anywhere near Spinner’s End, he couldn’t imagine how its vile residents would treat her, given that she was clearly from the nice part of town.

Following his shout, Mrs. Evans emerged from the kitchen, “everything okay, kids?”

Severus and Lily both nodded, although he noticed Lily still looked worried.

Mrs. Evans handed him a large paper package, “take these home to your family Severus, we have more than enough food for the four of us and I’m always cooking. There’s some leftover meat pie, Yorkshire puddings, and tea cake.”
Severus was hesitant to accept handouts, as he prided himself on being independent and self-reliant despite being impoverished. But, in the end his desire to indulge in Mrs. Evans’ cooking again won out over his refusal.
“Thank you,” he murmured quietly, accepting the package and putting it in his bag.

Followed by Lily and her mum, he walked back to the front door to put on his trainers. As he was tying the laces, he heard the gravel crunch of the car returning followed by doors slamming and footsteps. The door opened and suddenly he was face to face with Petunia.

“What is he doing here!?” she shrieked, a revolted look on her face as if Severus was a stray dog on their doormat.

“Petunia! Manners!” Mrs. Evans admonished sharply.

Lily glared at her sister, “I told you Tuney, Severus was coming for lunch.”

“Hmpf,” Petunia huffed and rudely brushed past Severus, muttering “freak” under her breath as she passed him.

Feeling his anger spike, Severus hurried out the door scowling, thanking Mr. and Mrs. Evans for lunch as he left. He quickly walked down the drive, turning only when he heard light footsteps on the gravel following him. He turned and saw Lily behind him, her vibrant hair streaming behind her.

“Sev, wait!”

He paused, waiting for her to catch up. She pushed a book into his hand. Glancing down, he realized it was the copy of A Wrinkle in Time that they’d been reading together before lunch.

“I’m so sorry about Tuney, Sev. I don’t know what’s wrong with her. You’ll still come to the park tomorrow?” Lily gazed at him, sadness written across her delicate features.

Finding he couldn’t bear to see her unhappy, Severus felt his anger soften, “of course Lily, I’ll be there. Always.”

She immediately brightened, “See you tomorrow then,” she said softly, then turned to walk back up the flower lined path to her front door.

Severus watched her until she reached the door, noticing how lovely her deep red hair looked swaying in the late afternoon sun, then he turned and started his walk back down to the river.

He sighed as he walked, anger fading as he reflected on his visit. He was exhausted from all the time he’d spent worrying about how Mr. and Mrs. Evans would view him, not to mention from all the socialization. Conversation with Lily was easy, but with her parents, he was reminded of how little he actually regularly spoke to other people. However, aside from the expected incident with Petunia, the day had gone well, in fact, much better than he could have ever anticipated. He was surprised they had been so accepting of him and had been so willing to hear about the magical world. Lily wasn’t ashamed of him around her family either, which meant a lot. Meeting her had given him so much to look forward to everyday. Though he’d only known her for a week, he wasn’t sure how he’d managed before.

As he trudged home, trying to make the walk last as long as possible, his bag heavy with Mrs. Evans leftovers, a thought crossed his mind. Perhaps all Muggles weren’t as bad as he thought.

Chapter Text

Chapter 7- Summer’s End (Age 9)

(*SS*)

The summer was passing far too quickly for Severus’ liking. Ever since joining Lily and her family for lunch, he had seen Lily nearly everyday. They’d spent countless hours reading and talking together in the park glade and had even ventured around the village outskirts in search of magical herbs and plants. Spending time with her was a welcome escape from his miserable home life. By spending most of his time away from Spinner’s End, he had managed to mostly avoid his father and was spared from his mum’s oppressive melancholy. He still couldn’t believe that Lily wanted to be his friend, and never teased him for his ridiculous clothes or unkempt appearance.

That morning, he went about his normal routine, preparing to meet Lily at the park. He threw on a pair of shabby jeans and regrettably, one of his mum’s old shirts. He wrinkled his nose, scowling, and lifted the offending article of clothing out of his drawer. He tried his best not to wear them around Lily, but it was his last clean shirt. He knew Lily wouldn’t tease him, but a chance encounter with Petunia or the boys on Spinner’s End wouldn’t be pleasant. He grabbed the book he and Lily were currently reading, The Standard Book of Spells, and tossed on his overly large coat to cover his shirt.

It was still early, and Severus could hear his father’s loud snores coming from his parent’s bedroom down the hall. Deciding he was safe enough to leave the house, he hurried down the stairs, stepping lightly to avoid the creaky spots on the rickety staircase. He darted to the washroom to freshen up, hoping the noise wouldn’t wake his father. With the house still quiet, he finished in the washroom and went to the kitchen to take something small for breakfast, just to get him by until he and Lily had lunch together. That had been another pleasant side effect of being Lily’s friend. Mrs. Evans religiously sent Lily to the park with lunch for the both of them, and her sandwiches and occasional baked goods provided him with at least one satisfying meal a day. It made the days when there wasn’t enough food in the house for dinner much more bearable.

He stopped abruptly as he entered the dimly lit kitchen, noticing his mum sitting at the table in her tattered dressing gown with a chipped teacup. Severus rarely saw her in the morning, typically disappearing from the house before she left her bedroom. She could have passed for a ghost, he thought, slumped at the table in the early morning light with her pale skin, lank hair, and worn gray clothing.

She glanced up, noticing him in the doorway, “Good morning, Severus,” she whispered.

Surprised she acknowledged him, he whispered back, “morning, mum,” before grabbing two small apples from the bowl on the counter, and turning to leave the room.

“See you tonight, mum,” he murmured.

He met her eyes briefly, then left the kitchen, not waiting for a response.

Severus hadn’t told her about his visit to the Evans’ house or anything more about Lily. She had been so despondent lately, it was easier to shut her out than to get his hopes up that she might return to the person she had been during his early childhood. If he was honest with himself, his mum’s lack of care hurt him far more than any abuse from his father ever could. He tried his best to pretend he didn’t care, it was better that way, and once he went off to Hogwarts it would only be a few more short years before he could be out on his own. Leaving the house without another word, he tried to push the thoughts about his mum out of his head, hoping that Lily would never let him down the way his family had.

(*LE*)

Lily rolled out of bed, rubbing her eyes as they adjusted to the bright morning light streaming through her bedroom windows. Still in her pajamas, she shuffled down the stairs to join her mum and sister for breakfast.
She entered the dining room just as her mum was putting steaming bowls of porridge on the table.

“Morning, Lils! Just in time for breakfast! I’ll be right in to join you girls,” her mum said cheerily, wiping her hands on her apron before disappearing back into the kitchen.

Lily plopped down in her seat, glancing over at Petunia. Ever since Severus had come to visit, Petunia hadn’t been very nice to her. She’d taken one look at the magical, moving photograph that Severus had created and scoffed, muttering about how Lily and their parents were wrapped up in some kind of hoax that the Snape boy had devised to take advantage of them. Even after their mum had reprimanded her, Petunia had continued to make rude comments about Severus and tease Lily about magic.

“Morning, Tuney,” Lily said, attempting to be pleasant, suddenly very self-conscious of her frizzy hair and pajamas.

“Good morning, Lily,” Petunia said coldly. “I suppose you’ll be meeting that boy again today, as always. Does he bother to wash his hair for you, or does he always come looking like a gutter rat?” She sent Lily a nasty smirk.

Lily blushed, feeling embarrassed for Severus, and opened her mouth to retort when her mum returned from the kitchen.

“Petunia!” she said sharply. “That isn’t a very kind thing to say about Lily’s friend. I’m certain you would be upset if she talked about your friends that way.”

Petunia gave them both a haughty look, “She doesn’t need to. All of my friends come from respectable backgrounds! May I be excused now, mum? I’ve already finished my breakfast.”

Rose looked between her two daughters for a moment, then gave a defeated sigh and waved Petunia off, “yes, I suppose Petunia, but apologize to your sister first and then do your dishes.”

Petunia shot Lily a dirty look. “Fine, I’m sorry Lily,” she said, and stormed out of the room.

Lily frowned, “I don’t know what I did to upset her, mum. Ever since Sev came to visit, she’s been really mean to me. Sev can’t help that he doesn’t have nice clothes and stuff like Tuney’s friends, and we both can’t help that we have magic. I want to share what I’ve learned with her but she says she doesn’t believe me,” she said glumly.

“Don’t take what she says to heart, Lils. Petunia is going through a lot of transition right now, and I’m sure she feels that she needs to be a certain way to fit in with the girls at her new school this fall.”

Rose gave her youngest daughter a reassuring smile, “besides, she might be a little upset that Severus has taken her place as her little sister’s favorite teacher. That doesn’t excuse the rude things she’s said about him, but try to think about it from her side too. She probably misses you tagging along after her all the time even if she doesn’t say so. You know your father and I like Severus, he’s always welcome here.”

“I’ll try my best, mum,” Lily murmured. She sighed, based on how Petunia had been acting the last few weeks, she didn’t think that there would be improvement anytime soon. It hurt that her sister had suddenly started treating her like there was something wrong with her.

“Good! It’s important to me that you girls get along, don’t forget that. Even if you are very different, you’re always going to be family.”

“I’m trying, mum!” Lily sighed with exasperation. It hurt that Petunia didn’t seem to have any interest in learning about the magical knowledge that Sev had shared with her. She missed spending time with her sister, even if Petunia could be a bit of a nag.

“Lily?”

“Yes mum?” Lily said, snapping back to attention.

“You looked a bit far away for a moment. Why don’t you try to talk with your sister for a bit? I think she’d appreciate you spending time with her even if it doesn’t seem that way. I’d like you to wait until after your father gets back this morning to go see Severus in the park today too. We have a surprise to share with you girls!” She smiled brightly at Lily.

“Now go get yourself dressed and make up with your sister, I’ll call you girls down when your father is back!”

(***)

Lily dragged a brush through her hair and threw on a clean sundress. She figured Petunia would only scoff at her further if she set foot in her room looking unkempt. Ever since their parents had announced that Petunia would be starting at a private girls academy in Manchester in the fall, Petunia had become a stickler for manners and appearances.

She hoped that people would be kinder at Hogwarts because she hated how Petunia teased Severus for his shabby appearance. She could tell how much it bothered him, and she knew he suffered enough at his own home as he was frequently covered in all manner of cuts and bruises. Lily had quickly stopped buying his excuses that he was frequently clumsy, and Severus had admitted to her that things were not good at his home when his father was drunk. It scared her that someone could be so cruel to their child. She and Petunia were lucky to have loving parents and nice things! She still felt guilty for not telling her parents about Sev’s situation, but he had strictly told her not to say a word to anyone else and she couldn’t betray the trust of her only friend. She hoped that Sev wouldn’t mind her being late to the park this morning. They’d met almost every morning this summer by 10 am in their secret spot by the river.

Pulling herself from her thoughts, Lily finally put her brush down on her dresser, deciding she shouldn’t put off seeing Petunia any longer.

She padded down the hallway and gently rapped on Petunia’s door, “Tuney? Can I come in?”

There was silence for a few seconds and she half wondered if Petunia would just ignore her, but then she heard her sister sigh loudly.

“Fine Lily, you can come in.”

Lily opened the door with cautious optimism and noticed that Petunia was folding a stack of jumpers that were part of her new school uniform.

Hoping that starting with a fresh topic of conversation would do them some good, she said, “Are those for your new uniform? I’m really going to miss being together at the village school with you, Tuney.”

Petunia scoffed, “Really Lily? I thought you had the filthy Snape boy to chase around now, you’ll hardly notice I’m gone.”

Lily frowned, she didn’t understand why Petunia hated Severus so much, but thinking of her conversation with her mum, she tried again, “Severus doesn’t go to the village school, Tuney. And besides, I still want to spend time with you. You have lots of other friends, why can’t I have one too?”

Petunia just glared at her, “my friends don’t come from the wrong side of town, Lily. You know what some of the boys from Spinner’s End are like at school, and the Snape’s are the worst of the lot. That’s probably why he doesn’t even go to our school, and now he’s putting all kinds of strange thoughts in your head, I don’t know why mum and dad are entertaining it for your sake! Mark my words, he’s going to be bad news for you! You don’t want to be a freak like him, Lily!”

At this point, Lily could feel tears starting to spill from her eyes, and she felt her anger rising with Petunia. It not only hurt to hear her say bad things about her friend again, but now she was insinuating that Lily was lost in some sort of fantasy world going on about magic when Petunia had seen her do incredible things!

“Magic is real, Tuney”, Lily said firmly, meeting her sister’s glare with her own, “and Severus and I are not freaks!”

At that moment, the small glass bottle of perfume that Petunia had sitting on her desk exploded.

Lily, still standing in the doorway, looked at the ruined bottle and the remaining perfume that was now slowly trickling down the side of the desk. She was shocked, “I’m sorry Tuney, I don’t know how I made that happen.”

She genuinely felt bad, and hadn’t meant to ruin any of Petunia’s things. It definitely wouldn’t help things between her and her sister. She glanced at Petunia. Her sister also looked shocked, but recovered quickly, fixing Lily with a nasty look.

Lily was expecting the worst, but just as Petunia opened her mouth to tell Lily off, their mum shouted from downstairs, “Petunia, Lily! Your father just got home, come downstairs please!”

Petunia huffed, shot Lily one last glare, and pushed past her to meet their parents downstairs. Lily slumped her shoulders, feeling like she’d only made more of a mess of things with Petunia, and dutifully followed her sister downstairs.

(***)

When the girls made it downstairs to the living room, their parents were waiting for them on the sofa, looking incredibly cheerful in contrast to Petunia’s scowl and Lily’s frown and red rimmed eyes.

“Why the long faces, girls?” Hank asked, confused, glancing at his wife with concern. “Your mum and I have a surprise for you girls, so hopefully we’ll see some smiles back on those faces.”

Rose looked skeptically at her daughters, she assumed Lily’s talk with Petunia hadn’t gone well. It hurt her heart that her two daughters seemed to be at odds with each other lately. Trying to stay cheerful, she said, “your father and I have decided to take you girls on holiday before the start of school! We’ve rented a cottage on the shore in Yorkshire for four days, and you can each bring a friend.”

Lily was excited, although their family lived comfortably, it wasn’t common that they went on holiday. She glanced at Petunia, assuming that she would be excited too, but noticed that her sister was still frowning.

“Lily doesn’t have any friends other than that Snape boy. Are you really going to let him come on our holiday? What will my friend think? I don’t even know who would want to come if that boy is there!” Petunia wailed.

Lily noticed that both her parents looked rather shocked by Petunia’s outburst. Her father nodded to her mum, and her mum promptly led her out of the living room to the kitchen. She could hear her father scolding Petunia followed by what sounded like her sister’s sobs.

“Why don’t you go see Severus in the park now Lily? I was hoping that this would be exciting news for our family, but it seems like Petunia is very upset.” Her mum gave her a quick hug, “I don’t like to see my girls fighting.”
Lily just frowned, “I don’t know how to make things better with her, mum,” she said softly. “I don’t want Tuney to hate me.”

Her mum handed her two wrapped sandwiches and ruffled Lily’s hair. “It’ll get better Lils, there’s just a lot of transition for everyone right now and we’ll talk to Petunia while you’re gone. Just try your best to be kind to your sister.” She smiled gently, “and please tell Severus that we would love to have him along on the holiday, maybe it would be a good chance for you three to find common ground.”

Lily was doubtful that Severus would even want to come if Petunia and her friend were going to be there, but she nodded, still sniffling a bit. She gave her mum one last hug, slid on a pair of sandals, and bolted out the back door of the kitchen. She needed to see Severus, he always made her feel less alone.

(*SS*)

Severus had been waiting in the park for hours without any sign of Lily. He always got to the park long before her in efforts to spend as little time at home as possible, but today the sun was already high in the sky, and it was well past midday.

He was sure that she hadn’t mentioned having something else to do with her family today, or he would have planned to spend the day brewing in the attic. The longer he sat alone, the more doubts began to seep into his mind. Maybe Lily had finally started to listen to Petunia and didn’t want to see him anymore.

Just as he was starting to contemplate the possibility of spending his days alone again, he heard the telltale rustle of branches as someone entered the glade. Severus turned to see Lily walking towards him, although she was lacking in her usual exuberance. Even at a distance, he could tell that she was upset, her shoulders were slumped, and she was missing her bright smile that always made his day. As she drew closer, he noticed her eyes were red and puffy, making her vibrant green irises look even more vivid.

Severus suddenly felt very guilty for assuming the worst of Lily. He stood to greet her, realizing he had no idea how to comfort her. Whenever his mum was upset or hurt after an encounter with his father, she always wanted to lick her wounds in solitude. He figured her remaining pride made her too ashamed to seek comfort from him. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d hugged his mum, probably sometime before her wand had been broken. She used to be affectionate and caring when he was young, but he barely remembered that these days. Lily was the only one that seemed to care about him or his well being now.

Unfortunately, that didn’t help him very much now. Lily’s current pain wasn’t something he could fix with his homemade bruise salve or the muggle antiseptic she would bring for him after a rough night with his father.
They sat down together, nestled in the roots of the beech tree, when Severus noticed Lily was crying again.

Awkwardly, he reached his arm around her shoulders, and gave her a gentle squeeze, “it’s okay now Lily, err… we can talk about it when you feel better”, he said calmly, hoping he was coming across as soothing.

However, it seemed to have the opposite effect, as Lily began to cry harder and suddenly shifted her body so that she was now fully hugging Severus with her face squished against his shoulder. He nearly panicked at the sudden physical contact, he felt his heart rate speed up and a sudden urge to get away. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath, reminding himself that he was not caught in his father’s vice grip, but just the arms of his upset friend.
Lily continued to cry, her tears dampening his shirt. Not knowing what else to do until she calmed down, he awkwardly patted her back. He focused on studying Lily’s deep red hair to keep himself calm, noticing it smelled lightly floral now that she was so close to him. It was very strange to have another person touching him without the threat of physical harm.

The two of them remained together in silence for a few minutes, save for Lily’s quiet sobbing. Finally, she took a deep breath and lifted her head from Severus’s shoulder, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“Sorry, Sev,” she mumbled, looking a bit embarrassed as she untangled herself from their awkward embrace.

“What happened? Are you okay?” he asked gently, not really sure how to help her.

“Tuney hates me!” Another tear slid down her cheek.

Severus was torn. In a way he was glad Petunia and Lily were fighting because it was clear that she despised him and he didn’t want her to take Lily away. He couldn’t stand how Petunia treated him like filth that was slowly poisoning her little sister. He may have grown up on the wrong side of Cokeworth, but he was magical and she was not. When they grew up, he and Lily would have amazing magical abilities and Petunia would still just be plain old mean Petunia! However, he didn’t want Lily to be upset, and he certainly did not want her to stop spending time with him in efforts to repair the relationship with her sister.

He tried his best to keep his tone even, “I’m sure that’s not true, maybe she’s just jealous of our magic.”

Lily squeezed her knees to her chest, as if trying to make herself as small as possible. She leaned her cheek against her knees and glanced towards Severus, “I don’t know, Sev. I’ve never seen her like this before,” she murmured.
He sighed quietly, wishing they could be reading together instead of spending the day discussing Petunia, but no matter how much he hated Petunia, he couldn’t bear to see Lily upset, “alright, tell me what happened with her. We’ll figure it out together.”

(***)

They spent the whole afternoon discussing Lily’s unpleasant morning. Frankly, Severus wasn’t surprised that Petunia had been so unkind to Lily. He wasn’t sure why Lily thought that it was worth trying to fix things with her sister, in his opinion rotten people didn’t change overnight, but he supposed he didn’t have any siblings for comparison.

However, he had been shocked when Lily shared with him that her family had invited him on their holiday trip. No wonder Petunia was so enraged, he imagined she wasn’t pleased that her parents were inviting along the filthy charity case!

“So will you come, Sev? Please? I don’t want to be alone with Tuney and her friend after today,” Lily pleaded.

Severus pondered Lily’s invitation. Under normal circumstances, his answer would have been a definite no. Spending a few days trapped with Petunia alone, subject to constant verbal assault was no better than sticking around the streets of Spinner’s End. He could only imagine how much worse it would be with Petunia’s friend there too. Petunia had made clear that her friends were the “right sort”, so he was sure that whatever girl she brought along would be equally repulsed by the boy from the wrong side of town dressed in shabby, ill fitting clothes. He might as well march up to Clarke’s door and volunteer to be his personal punching bag while he was at it!

He worried about Lily’s parents too. He wasn’t used to having adult supervision. As much as Mrs. Evans seemed to like him, he wasn’t so sure about Mr. Evans. He didn’t seem to be like his own father, and Lily had never mentioned anything bad about him, but Severus wasn’t fond of the idea of being alone with him for any period of time. He didn’t have any money either to spend on a holiday, and it was laughable to think of his father forking over any of his drinking funds. More likely, he’d get a backhand to the face for daring to ask. Even though he trusted Lily, he couldn’t bring himself to become the Evans’ charity case either. It would only serve to make himself look more pathetic to Lily if he proved Petunia right and accepted their family’s handouts.

On the other hand, the offer was tempting as it was four full days with Lily rather than a few hours a day. He knew she’d be starting at the village school again in the fall and their time would be even more limited together. Selfishly, he wanted her all to himself.

He’d also never left Cokeworth before. He knew his mum had grown up in Yorkshire and he couldn’t help but be a bit curious to see more of Britain and where his wizarding family was from. He often tried to imagine the vast Prince estate that his mum had told him stories about when he was very young, wondering about how different his life might have been if his mum had married a wizard from another prestigious family rather than his drunk muggle father.
Plus, he reasoned that the seashore would be optimal to stock up on additional potion ingredients that he wouldn’t be able to find anywhere in Cokeworth. He had been wanting to brewing a nutrient potion for his mum that required fresh seaweed, so the trip could be beneficial.

“Sev?” Lily tried again looking hopeful and forlorn at the same time.

“Alright Lily, I’ll go with you,” he conceded, hoping he wouldn’t come to regret it.

She brightened considerably, “thank you, Sev! I promise we’ll have lots of fun together. We can bring our books and go swimming in the sea!”

Severus listened as she continued to list all the exciting things they could do on the holiday, glad that his concession to go had cheered her up a bit.

(***)

As evening set in and they parted ways at the park gate, Lily made him promise to come to her house the next morning to prepare for the trip.

On his walk home, Severus tried not to let doubts crawl into his mind. He hoped this trip wouldn’t turn out to be a disaster. He reached his home, and bolted to his room, collapsing on the bed.

He stared at the cracks in the dingy plaster ceiling for a long time, wishing he could be somewhere else before sleep finally claimed him.

Chapter Text

Chapter 8- Summer’s End II (Age 9)

 

(*SS*)

“Ye useless woman!” Crash!

Severus jolted awake at the sound of his father’s shouting. He panicked, realizing his mum was alone downstairs with his inebriated father and the crash he had heard could have been her getting hurt. Stumbling slightly, as he still wasn’t fully awake, he rushed to his door and bolted down the rickety stairs, still in his night shirt.

The kitchen and living room were only lit by dim electric lights, but he could see his mum on the floor, slumped over the worn floorboards. He felt his heart drop and rushed to her side, hoping that she wasn’t seriously hurt or worse.

“Mum?” He knelt next to her and gently pushed on her shoulder to get her to sit up. Thankfully he could immediately tell that she wasn’t hurt seriously as she was alert and had been bent over a shattered teacup and saucer. Even though she was now sitting up, he watched as her hands continued to attempt to sweep the sharp porcelain shards into a neat pile. Severus looked her over, feeling his anger rise when he noticed her split lip and purple tinged cheek. In this pitiful state, he had to remind himself that his mum was indeed a witch. He might as well be muggle born with how she put up with his father.

Severus realized that he had made the mistake of not checking that his father had left the house too late when he felt his father’s large hand clamp around his shoulder and forcefully yank him to his feet.

“What’d ye think yer doing boy?” Tobias slurred, spinning Severus to face him.

Severus tried his best not to cower under his father’s stare, inclining his head to meet his eyes. Severus was tall for his age, but unfortunately he’d inherited his height from his father, so the man still towered over him and was several times broader than his own scrawny body. He forced his fear down, trying to focus on his anger instead. His father was just a horrible muggle!

Not breaking eye contact and trying to keep his voice from wavering, he said firmly, “you’d better not hurt her again!”

Tobias studied him for a few moments, as if surprised, then burst out laughing.

“What’re ye gonna do boy?” he mocked.

He grabbed both of Severus’ shoulders, lifting him off the floor so that the two of them were eye level. His fingers dug into Severus’ collar bones painfully and Severus knew he’d have bruises.
Severus tried not to flinch, but his confidence evaporated with the pain. He dropped his head, breaking eye contact with his father, letting his dark hair curtain his face. He’d really done it now, he thought. He’d be in a right state after his father got through with him, meaning he couldn’t join Lily on holiday. Her family would have too many questions. And his mum too, his father would probably just hit her more to punish her for “her” son’s actions. He couldn’t protect her.

“Look at me boy!” Tobias shouted with such ferocity that Severus felt droplets of spit spray his face.

Feeling his fear overwhelm him, Severus didn’t lift his face, trying to endure the pain as his father squeezed his boney shoulders tighter. A single tear slid down his face, but he tried not to show any reaction as he had learned that only made things worse. He retreated into his mind, trying to focus on feeling nothing to numb the pain and fear.

“Pathetic.” Tobias scoffed, tossing Severus to the floor. “You and ye mother both, pathetic, good fer nothin freaks!”

He shoved his boot into Severus’ ribcage and kicked him towards Eileen, then turned and stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

(***)

Severus laid on the floor, his ribs and shoulders throbbing, until he was sure that his father was really gone. He felt broken. Obviously his physical injuries hurt, but he wished he had a father who actually loved and supported his family, like Mr. Evans seemed to. His father wasn’t so bad if he wasn’t drunk, mostly just gruff and despondent, but it had been a long time since Severus had seen him sober for more than a day. Were he and his mother really so repulsive that his father had to be drunk to put up with them? One day, when he could use magic, he’d make his father regret everything he’d ever done to him and his mum.

Groaning, he peeled himself up off the floor and limped over to his mum, “mum are you okay?”

She didn’t initially respond, still scraping at the porcelain shards on the floor. After a few moments of silence, she murmured, “I’m sorry Severus”, then went back to focusing on the floor.

Severus sighed, the more his father hurt her, the more his mum seemed to disconnect from the world. It was clear she wasn’t going to take care of him or herself, so he gingerly made his way back upstairs to assess the damage his father had inflicted and get some bruise salve for both of them.

He changed out of his night clothes, trying not to let the pain bother him, glancing at his bare shoulders and chest. There were definitely going to be bruises on his shoulders and the left side of his rib cage where his father had kicked him. He could already see purple splotches blooming beneath his pale skin. Severus was thankful that he had recently managed to brew an improved bruise salve. He and Lily had been able to replenish some of the more common ingredients that it required. Rather than reading some days, they searched the wooded area of the park by the river or the nearby farm fields for common ingredients, to surprising success. He’d also gotten more proficient in his methods of chopping or crushing older ingredients from his mum’s dated collection to maximize their potency. With the additional ingredients, he had been able to enhance the salve so that it also reduced swelling and inflammation, which was a regular need with his father around.

He scooped a bit of the purplish salve out of the jar and rubbed it into his side and shoulders. He sighed in relief as he felt the telltale warmth of the salve spread on his skin, followed by the numbing sensation that made the pain much more bearable. Thankfully, he thought, he could still join Lily on her holiday as none of the marks would be visible under his long-sleeved shirts and continued application of the salve would help them heal quickly and dull the pain.

Lily!

Severus suddenly remembered he’d promised to meet her at her house this morning, rather than at the park to finish planning for the holiday. He supposed he might be a bit late because he still had to take care of his mum, but the thought of seeing her made him feel better, even if he would have to put up with seeing awful Petunia too. With that in mind, he picked out the least offensive clothes from his drawer. He figured that Petunia would think he looked like a gutter dwelling vagrant no matter what, but hopefully Mr. and Mrs. Evans wouldn’t find him too offensive to be in their home if he made an effort.

Feeling better, at least physically, now that the salve was dulling the pain of his injuries, he walked back downstairs to take care of his mum.

(***)

His mum was no longer on the floor when he came back downstairs. She had discarded the broken porcelain pieces and was now sitting at their rickety kitchen table, staring into the distance at nothing in particular. Severus approached her carefully, he didn’t want to risk startling her after the morning they’d had.

“Mum?”

He was surprised that she responded on the first try, “yes, Severus?”

Her voice was quiet, but at least she was responsive to him. He walked closer to her and assessed the damage on her face. Her cheek was now a deep purple, and he could almost see the imprint of his father’s hand. Looking at her more closely, he could see deep bags under her eyes that didn’t fit someone, especially a witch, of her age. Lily’s parents certainly didn’t look like that.

“Here Mum, I made some salve that will help”, he said, offering the jar to her.

She looked surprised, but took the jar from him and rubbed a bit of the salve onto her face. Her eyes widened slightly at the instantaneous effect and Severus was proud to note that she looked impressed.

“You really made this, Severus?”

He nodded, but he didn’t know where else she thought it could have come from since there weren’t any wizarding apothecaries anywhere near Cokeworth.

“You’re going to make me proud when you go to Hogwarts, Severus. I should be the one taking care of you, but here you are, taking care of me,” she gave him a sad smile, her voice fading to a murmur as she stared off into the distance at nothing in particular.

Severus beamed with pride, it was so rare his mum said anything at all these days, let alone a compliment. While he had her attention and his father was seemingly out for the rest of the day, he thought he’d tell her about his holiday plans with the Evans family. She might get worried if she didn’t see him for four whole days.

“Mum?”

She refocused her attention away from the kitchen wall and back towards him, “what is it, Severus?” she asked softly.

“Do you remember when I told you about Lily? The girl from the park who also has magic?”

His mum made a quiet noise of acknowledgement.

He continued, “Lily’s family invited me on holiday to some cottage on the sea in Yorkshire for a few days. I said I’d go with them. We’re leaving this Friday morning.”

Severus waited for his mum to say something in response for a few moments. It wasn’t as if either of his parents really cared where he went on a daily basis, but he really hoped his mum would at least acknowledge him.

“Wait a moment, Severus,” she said finally, and slowly left the kitchen.

He heard the stairs creak as she went upstairs, perplexed by what she could possibly be getting. She returned a few moments later and held out three crumpled five pound notes to him.

“I was saving these with some of the money I’ve kept to buy your Hogwarts supplies, but you deserve to have fun on your holiday with your friend. I know it's not much,” she smiled at him softly and pushed the notes into his hand.
Severus was shocked. This was the most his mum had done for him in years. It was almost as if he could see a tiny sliver of the person she had been when he was little again.

“Umm… thanks, Mum,” he said, still recovering from his surprise.

“It’s very kind of her family to take you, don’t forget to be polite to them, my little Prince,” she met his eyes and reached over to gently squeeze his hand.

Still shocked by her uncharacteristic display of parental affection, Severus nodded and mumbled something to her about having to go meet Lily before excusing himself from the table.

He mulled their conversation over in his head as he began to walk down Spinner’s End towards Lily’s house. The morning might have started terribly, but he was elated that his mum still seemed to have a bit of her old self locked away, and better yet, she was proud of him! He didn’t want to be too hopeful, but maybe this trip could be the start of things between them getting better again.

(***)

Friday morning came all too soon, and Severus awoke early, already feeling the heat of the day creeping into his room. He could tell it was going to be hot because the sun hadn’t even fully risen yet. He still wasn’t sure if he was more nervous or excited for the coming trip. He got out of bed and focused on packing. He’d had to ask Lily to borrow a rucksack, as all he’d found to pack his things for the trip was his book satchel, which was much too small, or his mum’s old school trunk, which was much too big. Lily had kindly provided one that had belonged to her father, and Mr. Evans had told him to keep it. Its brown canvas was worn, but it was one of the nicest things Severus now owned outside of his mum’s school things.

He rummaged through his dresser, and filled the rucksack with a few pairs of worn socks and underwear before surveying which four outfits he could piece together from his shabby clothing that would make him look the least repulsive to the Evans family. He didn’t own anything that looked remotely appropriate to what he imagined muggles wore to a beach, but he finally decided to bring one pair of worn jeans, a pair of faded trousers, and three long-sleeved shirts that albeit being a bit ragged and oversized were passable. He tossed a book entitled, “Plants, Herbs, and Magical Flora of Britain” to the bag as well to aid his hunt for potion ingredients when they reached the sea. Severus contemplated bringing an additional book as well, but Lily had promised to bring plenty for them to share. He zipped up the rucksack and grabbed his satchel. He had decided it would be best to bring the beautiful chest of ingredients that he had found with his mum’s things in the attic. The spells to keep the ingredients fresh still seemed to be holding up on it despite its age, which would prove helpful if they found the plants he was looking for.
Severus surveyed his room to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything, stuffed the fifteen pounds his mum had given him in his pocket, and then snuck quietly out of the house before anyone else awoke.

Spinner’s End was silent, save for a rat or two he saw picking at the garbage on the street. Severus planned to wait in the park until a little before he was expected at the Evans’ house. He didn’t want to show up too early and get chewed out by Petunia. Besides, he mused, he wasn’t going to get much time to himself over the next few days, so he wanted to enjoy it before having to suffer through Petunia and her friend at all hours of the day. But, the reward was spending days of uninterrupted time with Lily, and that was certainly worth it!

(***)

Severus finally made his way over to the Evans’ house at a quarter past seven. Mrs. Evans had told him they were planning to leave around eight, so he felt like it was appropriate. As he entered the gravel drive, he noticed that Mr. Evans was already in the process of packing the car.

Mr. Evans turned around when he heard the sound of Severus’ feet crunching the gravel, “good morning, Severus! Bring over your bag and I’ll pop it in the boot.”

Being alone with Mr. Evans still made Severus a bit nervous, so he cautiously stepped towards him, slid the rucksack off his shoulders and held it out to him.

Mr. Evans grabbed the bag and placed it in the boot. He then turned back to Severus and asked, “is that everything?”

Severus nodded, letting his hair fall over his face. He wasn’t sure if Mr. Evans had expected him to bring something else to contribute to the trip.

Mr. Evans chuckled, “I thought I was the nutty one, Severus. I’ve only packed a rucksack too, but you should see how much the girls are bringing,” he motioned to the already large collection of bags in the boot. “Everytime I go inside, Rose sends me out with another load of things. You’d think we’re moving into this place, not just going on holiday for a few days!” He laughed good naturedly and shook his head.

Severus smiled weakly and shook his head in agreement. It was so strange to be around a muggle man who was making jokes and laughing with him rather than harming him.

“Well, I’ll be out here for a little while because I’m going to need some magic to get this boot to close!” Mr. Evans surveyed the stack of bags again and scratched his head. “I’m sure Lily is bouncing off the walls waiting for you. Let Rose know we should be all set to go once Petunia’s friend arrives, would you?”

“Yes, sir… uhh Mr. Evans,” Severus said quietly.

Glad to have an excuse to leave, he walked over to the front door and knocked.

Lily appeared seconds later with a huge smile on her face, “Sev!” She shouted excitedly and ushered him inside.

Lily led him into the kitchen where Mrs. Evans was wrapping lunch parcels on the counter, “Good morning Severus! I’m so glad you could join us, it looks like it's going to be a lovely, warm weekend to be at the sea!”

Severus thanked her and relayed Mr. Evans’ message before Lily suggested they sit down at the table. They looked through the bag of books that Lily had packed for them to share, and then Severus pulled out the chest of ingredients from his satchel to show Lily. He had just opened it and begun to show Lily how she could turn a small dial on the interior lid to magically change the selection of ingredient compartments it displayed when Petunia stormed into the kitchen.

“Mum!” She wailed, “has Margaret phoned? She was supposed to be here at half past seven.”

Mrs. Evans shook her head, “I haven’t heard the phone ring at all, Petunia. I’ll ring her house if she doesn’t arrive within the next ten minutes.”

“Fine!” Petunia huffed and stormed out of the kitchen, glaring at Severus and Lily, but not saying anything.

Severus noticed that Mrs. Evans looked concerned and shared a glance with Lily.

“Petunia is going to have a fit if Maragaret doesn’t show up soon,” Lily whispered to him.

Severus nodded in agreement. Privately, he was still contemplating which was worse, having to put up with Petunia and this Margaret girl for the duration of the trip, or having to deal with an irate, snubbed Petunia. He wasn’t sure which was worse. Regardless, he planned to stick close to Lily and Mrs. Evans at all times during the holiday. Petunia would rarely say anything foul to him and Lily in front of their mum, the worst she could do was shoot them an occasional dirty look.

He was interrupted from his thoughts by the shrill ring of the telephone. He and Lily exchanged looks and sat quietly so that they could listen.

Mrs. Evans picked it up, “Hello? Oh hi, Helen… Oh dear… We’re sorry too, I’ll let her know. Send along our best wishes to Margaret… goodbye,” she set the receiver down with a click.

Severus noticed that Petunia had made her way back into the kitchen while Mrs. Evans had been speaking.

Mrs. Evans frowned, and then looked at the three of them, “Petunia, I’m sorry dear, but that was Margaret’s mum. Apparently she’s come down with some sort of bug and hasn’t been well since early this morning. It looks like it will just be the five of us now.”

“What?! If Margaret can’t come, why does he…” Petunia violently jabbed her finger in Severus’s direction, “get to come? It's not fair!” she shrieked.

Clearly realizing that things were only going to escalate if all of them remained in the same room, Mrs. Evans turned to them and said, “Lily, Severus, please go wait outside in the car. We’ll be out soon. Make sure you’ve got all your things, and Lily, send your father inside.

Lily nodded, and gently grabbed Severus by the hand, and hurried the two of them out the door and to the car to avoid the impending explosion from Petunia.

(***)

The car ride started off with an awkward silence. Despite the events of the morning, they only left thirty minutes later than planned. Severus was uncomfortable. He felt nervous as the lone guest of the Evans family with Petunia’s clear ire for the situation bubbling just underneath the surface. He was also squished against the left window in the backseat of the car with Lily pressed into his side. Lily was in between him and Petunia, and even though there was plenty of space for the three of them on the bench-like seat, she had positioned herself as far from Petunia as possible. Petunia seemed to be sulking and hadn’t said anything since getting into the car with her parents, which was just as well in his opinion. He wasn’t sure what Mr. and Mrs. Evans had said to her, but he hoped she would leave him and Lily alone for the duration of the trip.

It was his first time being in a muggle car as his father had never been able to afford one. The sensation of flying along the motorway in a metal box was very strange to him, but he was fascinated by the landscapes flying by outside the window. Lily had offered him one of her books and she had buried herself in one to avoid any potential conversation with Petunia, but he was content to watch the green countryside whip by the window. It was enough to keep him distracted from the awkwardness of the situation for the time being.

(***)

The hours passed quickly, and sooner than Severus expected, he overheard Mr. Evans say to Mrs. Evans that they would be reaching the cottage within ten minutes. They had gotten off the motorway a while back and were traveling down narrow country lanes. Severus noticed that this area was more rural than the outskirts of Cokeworth, as besides a few farm cottages, the landscape was an uninterrupted swath of green fields and forests.

Mr. Evans piloted the car onto a narrow gravel lane flanked by trees that became more and more sparse as they drove along. Severus was still glued to the window when he felt Lily tap his shoulder.

“Open the window, Sev!” she exclaimed.

Severus looked at the window, trying to figure out how to roll it down, not wanting to admit to Lily that he didn’t know how the muggle contraption worked.

Realizing his confusion, she leaned across him and grabbed the crank on the door to lower the window. A salty scent unfamiliar to Severus immediately filled the car. Lily took a deep breath.

“Smell that, Sev? That’s sea air! We’re almost there!” she said, trying to keep her voice down to not bother Petunia.

No sooner had she said so when a small stone cottage came into view. “We’re here kids!” Mr. Evans announced.

Severus immediately loved the cottage. To him, from the outside, it looked like a home where he could imagine a magical family living in the countryside. The cottage was built of a rough hewn, but neatly laid, sand-coloured stone, with a slate tile roof. It had white washed shutters and a short stonewall encircled the home, complete with a wooden gate leading to the driveway. Within the wall, and all along the house was a chaotic abundance of all manner of flowers and plants, giving the salty air a sweet scent close to the home. There was even a wisteria vine crawling up the front of the cottage, with its large, purple blooms dancing in the sea breeze.

Severus glanced over at Lily to see her reaction and noticed that she had a bright smile on her face.

They all got out of the car and Severus noticed an elderly man in old fashioned clothing waiting by the front door and an old, rusty, blue car next to the Evans’. Mr. Evans instructed them all to grab a bag or two from the boot, and then they made their way to the front door to greet the man. Mr. and Mrs. Evans cheerfully greeted the man, and Severus gathered that he was the owner of the cottage that they were renting from. He let them into the house and gave them a tour.

Downstairs, there was a cozy living room with a stone fireplace looking out into the garden, and a kitchen facing the back of the house that gave Severus his first glance of the sea. The cottage was situated on a craggy peninsula with cliffs that led down to the sea. The view was even better from the upstairs of the cottage which contained four small bedrooms and a bathroom. Lily and Petunia each selected a bedroom as far away from one another as possible, so Severus took the one in the middle of the hall.

He settled into his room while Mr. and Mrs. Evans finished talking with the caretaker. It was a bit bigger than his room at home with a wooden-framed bed that had a cozy quilt and plush pillows on it. Severus set his rucksack on the chair in the corner of the room, sat down on the side of the bed, and peered out the window at the sea. He reveled in the moment of silence after the hectic morning. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been in the same place with so many people for so long. Lily was different. Even though she talked more than him, she was also happy to sit in a comfortable silence, reading by the river or in her room with him. And even when she talked a lot, she never annoyed him or made him feel uncomfortable like so many others did. He didn’t have to worry about her judging him, or thinking he was strange, she just seemed to like him for what he was. He reminded himself that he came to spend more time with her, and tried to push thoughts about Petunia’s rude comments out of his mind. He knew he was better than the bully of a muggle anyway.

A moment later, his silence was interrupted by the light wrap of Lily’s fist on his bedroom door, followed by her muffled voice, “Sev, can I come in?”

He opened the door and was greeted by Lily, who had changed into her swimming costume and shorts with a wide-brimmed sun hat.

“C’mon, Sev! Get ready and let’s go down to the beach! Dad said he’d take all of us while Mum unpacks”, she said cheerfully. “I can’t wait for you to see the ocean. Books don’t do it justice.”

Severus smiled and nodded, Lily’s enthusiasm was infectious. It seemed like the sunshine and the sea air had cured her sadness from Petunia’s antics that morning, which he was more than happy for. He grabbed a few things from his bag and joined Lily at the door.

“Let’s go!”

Chapter Text

Chapter 9 - The Storm’s Ire (Age 9)

(*SS*)

The ocean surpassed Severus’ expectations even though he didn’t have the proper clothing to join Lily in the water. He’d already enjoyed the salty smell of the air and the view of the glistening blue expanse from the windows of the cottage, but up close, it was even better.

The cottage sat high above the ocean on a cliff, so they had to make their way down a grassy path behind the back garden of the house to reach the cliff edge. There, a narrow, steep path led them the rest of the way to the short strip of pebbled beach before the cliffs rose up again on the other side.

The walk to the beach had been a bit awkward in the company of Mr. Evans and a still clearly disgruntled Petunia. However, aside from shooting him a dirty look and scoffing at his out of place attire, Petunia ignored Severus, which made her presence bearable.

Severus knew that he looked peculiar next to Lily and her family who were all wearing swimming costumes and shorts fitting for a sweltering summer day by the sea. By contrast, he hadn’t changed out of his jeans and long sleeved top. Under no circumstances would he even consider removing his shirt to get in the water for fear of exposing his still bruised rib cage and he simply did not own nor could afford a pair of swim trunks. He’d settled for rolling up his jeans to his shins and walking barefoot, which was an unusual, but not unpleasant experience for him.

Lily had let out an excited shriek as soon as they’d reached the beach and ran into the crashing waves. Severus smiled at her antics but remained on the shore. When Petunia realized that Severus wasn’t going to follow Lily in, she smirked at him and ran after Lily, leaving him alone with Mr. Evans.

“Don’t go too far out girls!” Mr. Evans shouted, shaking his head. “You’re the sensible one, Severus”, he said as he started unpacking the bag of towels he’d brought along while occasionally glancing at Lily and Petunia bobbing in the waves.

Severus made a noise of acknowledgement, looking down at the pebbles on the beach, silently hoping that Lily or Petunia would come back to the shore so that he could slip away from Mr. Evans. He still hadn’t had a bad experience with Mr. Evans, but being alone with him made Severus nervous. Lily never mentioned her father hurting them. He had learned early on that most of the men that lived down Spinner’s End weren’t the kind of people he would go near if he had a choice either. They shared his father’s love of drink and violence.

He eyed Mr. Evans in his peripheral as he rummaged through the bag. It was strange to be alone with an adult man and not be fearful he mused.

“Severus?” Mr. Evans gently tapped him on the shoulder and Severus immediately flinched back, whipping around to look at Lily’s father. Mr. Evans looked apologetic and gently continued, offering Severus a small bottle, “why don’t you put on some sun cream? You’ll burn without it, you might even be paler than Lils”.

Severus cautiously took the offered bottle. He wasn’t used to this type of supervision and care from adults and had never worn muggle sun cream in his life. He’d seen a salve in one of his potions books for sun protection so he assumed this must be similar. He awkwardly rubbed some of the cream onto his face and exposed ankles, then returned the bottle to Mr. Evans with a quiet thank you.

Thankfully, he was saved from any further awkward interactions with Mr. Evans when Lily bolted towards them. She snatched a pair of odd looking glasses from Mr. Evans’ bag, then grabbed Severus by the hand and started pulling him towards the water.

“C’mon Sev! You’ve got to get in the water!”

He dutifully followed Lily to the point where the sea lapped on the pebbles when the waves crashed and stuck his feet into the foamy water.

“It’s cold!” he exclaimed, immediately stepping back to the warm stones. He didn’t know how Lily and Petunia had been swimming in the chilly waters.

Lily tugged on his hand again, “you’ll get used to it if you just get in! It's so warm out, it will feel nice!”

Recovered from the initial shock, Severus decided that she was right and he liked the cool feeling of the water lapping around his ankles once he acclimated to the temperature so he followed Lily in deeper.

She started to put on the strange glasses that she had taken from Mr. Evans’ bag and Severus couldn’t help but laugh, the uncomfortable moment with Mr. Evan’s disappearing from his mind.

“What on Earth are those? You look like a grindylow!”

Having seen a picture of the referenced magical creature in one of Severus’ books, Lily laughed and kicked her foot, splashing Severus with water.

“Don’t be so mean!” she whined, giggling while trying to look offended. “They’re swimming goggles, so I can see underwater. I felt a bunch of seaweed out there,” she pointed to where she and Petunia had been swimming. “I’ll bring it back and you can tell me if it's a useful potion ingredient or just a regular plant, but only if you agree to try on the swimming goggles”, she giggled, sticking her tongue out at Severus.

“Fine”, he grumbled, splashing Lily back as he took the goggles from her. She burst out in laughter as Severus clumsily tried to pull the goggles on, struggling as they caught in his long hair. By the time he managed to get them on, Lily was practically wheezing from laughing so hard so he decided to chase her through the shallow water, pretending to be a hungry grindylow.

As much as he tried, he couldn’t be annoyed with Lily, even if she was asking him to do something embarrassing. Their antics had cheered her up since Petunia’s outburst that morning and Petunia herself was leaving them alone.
He and Lily spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the sea, looking for the various plants and creatures that Severus wanted to collect as ingredients, occasionally hurling hunks of seaweed at each other, while Petunia and Mr. Evans sat on the beach reading. Despite the tumultuous start to the day, it was one of the most carefree afternoons Severus had ever experienced.

(***)

The following day, Mr. and Mrs. Evans decided to take them all to the seaside town nearest to the cottage. Severus would have preferred to spend another day at the cottage’s isolated beach rather than amble around a busy town full of muggles, but unlike in his own home, Lily’s parents wouldn’t leave him to his own devices.

They all piled into the car, and Mrs. Evans informed them that they would be going into the town for a pub lunch of fish and chips followed by a walk around the town shops.

Lily chatted happily to her parents on the car ride while Severus quietly watched the countryside pass by from the window. He was anxious for the impending afternoon. Even though Mr. Evans had spent the whole day with them on the beach and Mrs. Evans had joined them later in the afternoon, they had left him and Lily to do as they pleased. While he enjoyed the uninterrupted time with Lily, it was hard to adjust to the constraints of adult supervision. He had always wished that his parents cared to spend time with him, but in practice, he found the lack of freedom that he was accustomed to a bit suffocating.

Severus also didn’t trust that Petunia would continue to put up with his presence on her family holiday. He glanced at her tentatively. She was almost as quiet as he was, only occasionally engaging in conversation if her parents addressed her directly. He suspected her irritation was bubbling below the surface of her dour demeanor.

(***)

They arrived at a weathered pub on the waterfront. Despite the fact that his father spent most of his waking hours in a pub, Severus had never been in one nor a restaurant. A waiter directed them to a worn wooden booth in the back of the room and passed around menus as they sat down. Severus was seated in between Lily and her mum on one bench and Petunia sat with Mr. Evans on the other side of the table.

Feeling out of place, Severus glanced around the room, noting the weathered beams and the touches of seaside decor hanging haphazardly on the walls. The pub looked like it had been there since the middle ages by the looks of the rusty decor and the uneven flagstone floor.

He noticed Lily was already carefully inspecting the menu and looked at his own. He had brought the fifteen pounds that his mum had given him for the trip, but didn’t want to spend it too quickly or assume that the Evans’ would pay for his meal.

“What do you think you’d like, Severus?” Mrs. Evans asked kindly.

“Uhh… I’m not sure, what’s good?” he replied awkwardly, overwhelmed by the choices.

“Try the cod with chips and mushy peas, Sev”, Lily pointed to a meal option on his menu, rescuing him. “It's my favorite”.

Petunia finally broke her silence, “at least my friend would have known how to read a menu”, she scoffed.

Mrs. Evans shot Petunia a stern look but was interrupted by the waiter’s sudden return. He reappeared with a tray and while he passed glasses of water around the table he asked, “ready to order?”

“We are”, Mr. Evans replied and gestured for Petunia to start.

Petunia, Mrs. Evans, and Lily all quickly shared their food and drink selections with the waiter. Not wanting to give Petunia another chance to poke fun at him, Severus parroted Lily’s order to the waiter and hoped he would like it too.
The waiter turned to Mr. Evans last. “Anything from the tap, mate?”

Mr. Evans started to say something in response when Severus noticed Mrs. Evans give an almost imperceptible shake of her head.

“Ah… actually, I’ll just have a coke. Long day of keeping up with the kids ahead”, he joked.

Severus wasn’t sure what he would have thought if Mr. Evans had gotten a pint. The drink seemed to turn most of the men on Spinner’s End into monsters and he didn’t want to be near an irate Mr. Evans. He thought it was very kind of Mrs. Evans to intervene. He supposed she was braver than his own mum. He couldn’t imagine his father’s reaction if his mum tried to prohibit his drinking, she’d probably be dead.

The food came soon enough and was delicious as Lily promised. Another benefit of the trip for Severus in addition to being with Lily was that he got three square meals a day and could eat his fill. Adjusting to the limited intake of food when he returned home again would be difficult.

Petunia didn’t try to start any more trouble as they finished their meals. However, Severus could tell she was agitated when Severus offered her parents some of his money to pay for the lunch and they turned him down. He sighed. Just like with his father, he suspected that nothing he could do would ever be good enough for Petunia. She’d always see him as a poor, shabby freak.

(***)

They spent the rest of the day poking in and out of shops around the village.

Severus was wary that an icy standoff had developed between him and Lily and Petunia. Petunia remained in the company of either of her parents while he and Lily looked around shops together. Whenever Lily tried to engage Petunia in conversation with them, she would merely give a curt response and walk off in a different direction.

Petunia’s bitterness was further stoked when Lily selected a pair of swimming trunks for Severus and asked her mum she would buy them for him at one of the shops they had stopped in. He was already loath to receive handouts, but the look of pure disgust that Petunia had shot him from across the shop while Mrs. Evans and Lily were distracted at the till was on par with the likes he was subject to on Spinner’s End. Severus knew that it was only a matter of time before Petunia’s seething rage finally boiled over.

“Petunia looks like she wishes I’d drop dead any second” he whispered to Lily as they walked out of the shop.

Lily looked hurt, and grabbed his hand in an effort to comfort him but didn’t say anything as Petunia emerged behind them. Her parents seemed oblivious to Petunia’s antics and he didn’t trust them enough to mention anything. Petunia reminded him of Clarke and the other boys that bullied him on Spinner’s End. Just another cruel muggle in the making, he thought.

(***)

The situation with Petunia quickly went from bad to worse. As long as Lily’s parents were around, Severus knew that she wouldn’t dare be cruel to him or Lily directly. However, shortly after they returned to the cottage, Mr. and Mrs. Evans announced that they were going to go back to the village that evening for dinner to celebrate their anniversary, leaving the three of them alone.

Severus hadn’t realized that this had been part of the reason for the trip and nervously glanced at Lily. The two of them had been sitting on the overstuffed loveseat in the cottage’s living room sorting the potions ingredients they had found into their proper compartments in Severus’ magical storage box.

Lily shrugged her shoulders in response. “Maybe Tuney will just stay upstairs in her room. She clearly doesn’t want to be around us. Mum and dad will only be gone for a few hours for dinner,” she whispered to Severus.

They both turned to look when Mrs. Evans called them from the kitchen. Unfortunately, she’d also summoned Petunia. Severus watched her warily as she sulkily made her way down the stairs.

“I’ve left a casserole in the oven, you’ll just need to heat it up for dinner. Petunia knows how to use the oven,” Mrs. Evans said, gesturing to the kitchen. “There’s plenty for everyone so I don’t want to hear any complaints.”

She smiled, but Severus could see that she was tense. When Mrs. Evans left the living room to go get ready, Severus was immediately uncomfortable. Petunia was glaring daggers at him and Lily.

“Why am I stuck looking after them? Petunia finally broke her silence and jabbed her finger in their direction. “It’s bad enough that Lily was still allowed to bring this… this charity case along on our family trip even though Margret couldn’t come, and now I have to look after them?! Why did I even bother coming on this holiday?” She stamped her foot.

Severus felt his blood boil and levied a glare at Petunia. Lily looked close to tears. He didn’t dare say anything to her while Mr. Evans was still in the room, but unlike Clarke or his father, he wasn’t physically afraid of Petunia. He might be poor, but she was just a useless girl without magic.

Mr. Evans sunk onto the couch, running a hand through his hair, clearly exasperated. “Look girls, and uh, Severus, I don’t get to take your mother out like this often. This was supposed to be a special treat for our fifteen year anniversary and for the whole family. I’m sorry that your friend couldn’t come, Petunia, but there was no reason to prevent Severus because she was unable to join us at the last minute. We’ll just be gone a few hours, please try to be civil with each other for that long. Is that possible for you to manage, Petunia? Lily?”

Seemingly further enraged by the situation, Petunia grit her teeth. “Fine,” she spat and then stormed back up the stairs of the cottage. Severus nearly jumped at the sound of the door slamming a moment later.

“You two,” Mr. Evans turned his focus to Lily and Severus, “please don’t do anything to antagonize her.”

“But, I…,” Lily mumbled.

Mr. Evans cut her off with a pointed look.

“We’ll be good,” she conceded, glancing at Severus.

Severus had wanted to leave before the whole conversation had even begun. He felt out of place to be in the midst of what was clearly an Evans family dispute, and had rarely experienced any kind of discipline or instruction from an adult that didn’t involve physical violence. His parents never spoke to him in such a manner and certainly never went to dinner together. Not knowing what else to do, he simply nodded in agreement. He could tell Lily was upset, as she squished closer to him on the couch.

Mrs. Evans came downstairs a short while later in a nice dress. Severus noticed she looked tense and gave them a tentative smile.

“You look so pretty, mum! Have fun tonight” Lily tried to smile.

Severus shifted on the couch as he watched Lily interact with her parents. Lily had a way of trying to stay positive even in unpleasant situations. He silently berated himself for agreeing to the trip. He had enough trouble at home. At least there, he could escape.

“Rose?” Mr. Evans called from the front door. “We’re going to miss the reservation if you don’t hurry up.”

Mrs. Evans kissed Lily on the head and gently patted Severus’ shoulder, which he tried not to flinch away from out of reflex. With one last request to get along with Petunia, she hurried out the door.

(*LE*)

Following the crunch of gravel as her parent’s car pulled out of the drive, the cottage went eerily silent except for the distant crashing of waves against the shore.

Lily could tell that Severus had become uncomfortable being with her family following the events with Petunia. He had barely said anything to her since Petunia’s antics this afternoon and was now sitting rigidly next to her on the couch, methodically organizing the ingredients they had collected.

Unlike Severus, Lily hated silence when she was upset. It made her skin crawl knowing that there was tension in her family. She didn’t understand why Severus upset Petunia so much. Petunia always had plenty of other friends from the local village school. Lily often felt left out when Petunia chose to play with Margret or one of the other girls at the park without including Lily, but it never made her hate her sister. Maybe it was different because Severus was a boy. She desperately wanted to get along with Petunia again, but didn’t want to hurt Sev either. He clearly couldn’t stand Petunia and always seemed visibly agitated when she was around. She didn’t know how to fix one relationship without hurting the other. Both Sev and Tuney meant a lot to her!

She sighed and reached for one of the books Severus had bought along. Asking Sev to share his knowledge of the wizarding world with her was a sure way to get him to perk up and distract herself as well. Lily always noticed how he seemed to come out of his shell when they talked about magic. He would transform from the shy boy that hid behind his long, dark hair to a whole new person as he happily shared the magical world with her.

“Can we read, Sev?” Lily glanced down at the title of the book she had grabbed at random. It appeared to be a book on the history of the magical world.

Severus nodded and carefully latched the ingredients box, turning to focus on Lily. She noticed he still seemed ill at ease.

Lily thumbed through the table of contents of the book and gasped.

“What is it?” Severus peered over her shoulder in curiosity, clearly trying to figure out which book she had selected.

Lily pointed to a title in the index. “The Ministry of Magic” she read and glanced at Sev. “I didn’t know wizards had their own government!”

Severus laughed lightly and Lily was glad to see his mood improving, even slightly.

“Of course they do Lily! Muggles have the queen and parliament. The wizarding world has its own body to make laws. Even magic is regulated. Otherwise, don’t you think muggles would have known about magic a long time ago?”

“That does make sense,” she agreed. “It’s just so strange to find out that essentially a whole other country exists within England for everyone magical!” Her mind was already filled with more questions, but as she moved to flip to the chapter on the Ministry another section caught her eye.

“What’s Azkaban, Sev?” Lily pointed to the strange name on the page.

“It’s the wizarding world’s prison,” he answered promptly. “It’s in the middle of the sea and guarded by dementors.” Severus leaned over to flip the book to the chapter on Azkaban, skimming through the pages until he found what he was looking for.

“Here,” he pointed to an image of what Lily could only describe as the grim reaper come to life. The black and white drawing showed a creature shrouded in a tattered black robe with rotten looking hands and nothing but a decaying mouth where its face should be.

“They’re dreadful!” she gasped.

Severus continued, “they drain you of all your happy thoughts so that all you have are the worst moments of your life and then if you’re really horrible, you get the dementor’s kiss.”

“Kiss?” Lily gasped and peered at Severus with rapt attention and mild horror. There was so much to the magical world that she just didn’t know!

“They suck out your soul and then you’re just left as an empty shell,” Severus said solemnly.

“That’s horrible, Sev! What do they send people to Azkaban for? I don’t ever want to end up with the dementors!” Thoughts raced through Lily’s mind. She hadn’t grown up in the magical world, what if she broke a law unknowingly and the ministry shipped her off to have her soul sucked out?

Clearly seeing the panic on her face, Severus softly smiled at her and shook his head. “Azkaban is only for people who do really bad stuff. You’d never end up there, you’re too…”

A creak of a floorboard had them both jerking their heads towards the stairs. Severus’ normally pale face flushed red and Lily saw Petunia crouched on the dark staircase, where she had clearly been peering through the banister at them.

“Who’s spying now?” Severus shouted. “What’d you want?”

Petunia had stood up quickly and was clearly trying to make it look like she had just been coming down the stairs instead of watching them. Lily could see the embarrassment on her face at being caught, even in the low lighting.
The embarrassment quickly twisted to anger. “Why are you scaring my sister talking about prisons anyways, freak?” Petunia fired back at Severus. “Preparing to get sent there when you turn out like your nasty father?”

Lily gasped, horrified, and turned to comfort Severus in the face of Petunia’s cruel words when suddenly there was a crash and Petunia shrieked from the stairs. Lily screamed as Petunia tumbled down the last few steps and collapsed on the floor, sobbing. Before Lily could do or say anything, Petunia had picked herself up and run out the back door of the cottage.

Lily surveyed the scene and was shocked to see a framed painting had fallen from the stairwell, presumably hitting Petunia and causing her fall.

She rounded on Severus, “did you make that happen?” She knew full well that like herself, Severus could make things happen with his magic at will.

“No.” He looked scared, yet defiant, anger still written on his face.

“You did!” As Lily began to process what happened, she started to see her friend in a different light. What Petunia had said to Severus was out of line, but to lash out by hurting her was a step too far. Perhaps Tuney had been right when she said people from Spinner’s End were dangerous.

“You did! You hurt her!” Lily repeated, backing away from Severus as she felt her fear mounting.

“No, no, I didn’t!” Severus looked panicked and miserable, but Lily didn’t see remorse on his face.

In that moment, Lily made the decision to go after Petunia. She needed to try to make things right with her sister and Severus was scaring her. She didn’t want to be alone in the cottage with him. She fixed him with one last burning look and then fled out the door after Petunia.

(*SS*)

Severus slumped back onto the couch as soon as Lily shut the door. His mind was swirling with emotions as he tried to process everything that had happened over the course of the day. He’d never felt more disgusted with himself. Lily’s horrified face and obvious fear had made him feel like the monster he had always believed his father to be. At the same time, he had lied to her. When Petunia had bought up his father, he had lashed out with his magic. In the moment, it felt good, watching the smug look slide off her face as she tumbled down the stairs. However, Lily’s reaction had wiped away his momentary satisfaction.

Now though, he didn’t know what to do. Should he go after her? Lily clearly didn’t seem to want his company following the accident and her parents would be home soon.

Severus swallowed thickly. He hadn’t even considered what would happen when Mr. and Mrs. Evans returned from their dinner. Petunia was sure to tell them what happened and he didn’t know what they’d do. Would they even agree to drive him back to Cokeworth? He didn’t have enough money nor know how to get back on his own.

He knew nothing he did would ever make Petunia like him, but maybe he could explain to Lily why it happened and apologize. He did feel guilty for frightening her even if he couldn’t find it in himself to care that Petunia had gotten a bit hurt.

Serves her right for being so mean, Severus thought. He was tired of being treated like dirt.

He was startled from his thoughts by a thump against the door. Thinking that Lily might have returned, he peered over at the door and was surprised to see how dark the sky had gotten. It normally was light until quite late in the summer, but the sky had gone prematurely dark with thick storm clouds. Growing worried, Severus made the choice to follow Lily outside, even if she was still mad at him.

As soon as he opened the door, he was buffeted by strong gusts of wind. Pushing his hair out of his eyes, he glanced around for any signs of Lily and Petunia but saw none in the garden. He set off at a brisk jog down the path that led to the beach, not knowing where else they could have gone.

The closer he got to the ocean, the stronger the wind became, and fat drops of rain began to fall. Severus was forced to stop running and bend into the wind to avoid losing his footing on the damp path. As he neared the bluffs that overlooked the beach, his heart rate increased as he heard what sounded like screaming over the deafening wind. He swallowed down guilt as he forced himself to increase his pace and he reached the edge of the bluffs where the path continued down to the beach moments later.

What he saw made him bolt down the path as fast as he could in the slippery conditions. Unlike the other day when they’d been at the beach, the tide was high and the waves had more than doubled in size, crashing violently on the rocky shore. The waves nearly reached to the bottom of the cliffs, leaving very little of the pebbled beach untouched.

Desperately trying to edge her way further into the rough surf was Lily, soaked from a combination of the worsening rain and sea spray. She was holding out a weathered driftwood branch, in a desperate effort to reach Petunia who was quickly being tugged further out to sea by the swirling currents. No matter how hard she was paddling, she couldn’t seem to make any ground back towards shore.

Severus’ blood ran cold as he carefully edged his way along the cliff bottom to avoid getting pulled into the rough surf until he reached Lily. Between her distress and the sound of the storm, she hadn’t even noticed him. He couldn’t forgive himself if she got hurt. Severus reached out and grabbed her arm, yanking her out of the surf and to relative safety between the onslaught of waves. He didn’t even care if she was still mad at him, he just wanted her safe.
“Sev!” she shrieked. Even with the rain, Severus could tell she was crying.

“Tuney got pulled in by a wave, we need to get her out,” Lily sobbed. She desperately tried to claw free of Severus’ hold on her arm to get back into the water. “Please, Sev!”

“Help! Get help Lily!” Petunia cried out before spluttering as another wave briefly pushed her under. They could barely hear her over the pounding waves and wind.

Severus looked at Lily. She was in no state to be rescuing Petunia. She was already shivering from the cold water and clearly in a state of panic. Even though Petunia was awful to him, Severus didn’t want her to die. Lily would certainly never forgive him for that.

With every second that passed, Petunia was getting further from shore and Severus could see that she was panicking too which hindered her ability to swim back to shore. He scanned the beach for anything that could help but saw nothing besides the branch that Lily had been holding earlier.

He wasn’t the strongest swimmer, but his mum had taught him in the clean branch of the river by the park when he’d been younger. Severus took a deep breath, forcing down his swirling emotions from the argument and made up his mind.

He chucked off his trainers and gently gripped Lily’s shoulders, “I’ll get Petunia. I’ll swim out to her. You stay here and run for help if we’re not back soon. Okay?”

Before she had the chance to disagree, Severus glanced once more at where Petunia was and then stepped into the crashing surf. The water was positively icy without the sun and he clenched his teeth and shivered involuntarily as the water grew deeper.

The next wave knocked him off his feet and he dove under it to avoid getting pounded into the rocky shoreline. He desperately paddled in the direction of Petunia before resurfacing, coughing on the salty water that had entered his mouth. He shook the long, dark strands of his hair out of his face as he tread water, looking for Petunia in the choppy waters. As he bobbed down in a wave, he saw her.

“Petunia!” he shouted. Between the current and his strokes, he was already nearly next to her.

She spluttered and struggled to keep her head above water with the onslaught of the waves. “You!” Petunia choked. Even though her voice was weak, it was tinged with malice.

Internally, Severus grimaced. Even in a life or death situation, Petunia could still find time to be cruel.

He glanced back at the shore, they were only about ten meters away from the beach where Lily stood waving her arms about desperately, but the current was pulling them out.

“Come on, shut up and swim for the shore!” he yelled to Petunia and reached out to grab her arm as they were buffeted by another wave. He wasn’t a strong enough swimmer to pull her into the shore if he was only paddling with one arm.

“I’ve been trying!” Petunia wailed, coughing on some seawater. She shrieked and Severus turned to look over her head and saw a huge wave headed their way.

“Swim!” he shouted desperately.

Petunia tried her best but they made little progress before the wave crested over them. Severus held Petunia’s arm tightly as they were pounded under the wave. They tumbled in the dark churn, frantic until Severus managed to swim towards the surface, using all the strength in his skinny body to pull Petunia along with him.

They both gasped and spluttered as they broke the surface, teeth chattering from the cold. They barely had a second to breathe before another wave pushed them back under, cutting the sound of Lily’s scream from the shore short with the eerie quiet beneath the waves.

Severus was beginning to panic as well. He was quickly realizing how little progress they were making in getting back to the shore and Petunia was clearly tiring from the time spent in the waves. He wasn’t faring much better. Between the cold and the current, they were both struggling. His arms and legs felt like lead weights. He barely managed to drag them to the surface for a second time.

He heard Petunia cough next to him and then scream as another wave hurtled towards them and Severus could see that they were being pushed towards one of the rocky crags in the small bay. Still holding Petunia’s arm he swam against the current in desperation, to no avail and gulped in as much air as he could before they were forced under again.

Tumbling beneath the waves, Severus mentally prepared himself to be smashed against the rock for his efforts to save Lily’s stupid muggle sister.

When he attempted to swim to the surface again, he was shocked to find that one of his feet touched the ground. He forced himself to stand and once his head broke the surface and he wiped the salt water from his eyes, he realized they were back in the relative shallow of the waves crashing violently against the beach. Still clutching Petunia’s arm, he dragged them both forward through the waves before they could be pulled out again.

“Sev! Tuney!” Lily helped pull them out of the waves and they collapsed on the narrow strip of dry pebbles in exhaustion.

“I’m so glad you’re both okay,” she sobbed.

Still coughing and now shivering violently, Severus barely managed to pull himself back to his feet. He supposed that his body was used to pain after living with his father.

“We need to get back,” he croaked.

The rain was coming down in sheets and the wind hadn’t let up. Severus knew they’d all be hypothermic if they didn’t make it back to the cottage.

Beside him, Lily nodded and they both hauled Petunia to her feet. The three of them stumbled up the treacherous path to the cottage, grateful to be alive.

(*LE*)

Lily didn’t think she’d ever been so happy to see a building when they reached the door of the cottage. Her legs burned from the effort of supporting Petunia along the path and she was soaked to the bone. She didn’t know how Severus had managed to help her up the hill with Petunia after the ordeal of being in the ocean. Although he was as tall as Petunia, he was skinnier than she was. She glanced at her friend as he pushed open the door to the cottage, breathing heavily. Severus’ long black hair was plastered to his face and his normally pale skin now looked almost blue. Petunia hadn’t fared much better. She was shivering uncontrollably and leaned heavily against Lily. Her normally well groomed blonde hair looked no better than Severus’ and even had a bit of seaweed matted in it.

Lily helped Severus slam the door shut against the wind and they all collapsed on the kitchen floor, breathing heavily. After a moment, Lily collected herself enough to get up and try the lights but nothing happened.
“Ugh!” she cried and flipped the switch a few more times.

“The storm must have knocked out the power,” Severus stated, getting to his feet. “I’m getting dry clothes.” He slowly trudged over to the stairs, glaring at the fallen painting on his way up.
The room was silent except for the quiet ‘drip, drip’ of water from their sodden clothes.

Lily glanced at Petunia who was still sitting on the floor.

“I’m so sorry, Tuney,” she murmured. Lily had felt guilty about the incident on the stairs but she felt even worse knowing that their tiff had almost resulted in Petunia drowning.
Petunia didn’t reply and busied herself by flicking the piece of seaweed from her matted hair.

Lily sat back on the floor next to Petunia and wrapped her sister in a hug. She half expected to be pushed away so she was pleased when she felt Petunia squeeze her back.

“I thought I was right about him, you know,” Petunia began suddenly as they pulled apart. She wrapped her arms around her knees and shivered in her damp clothes.

“About Sev?” Lily asked carefully.

“When he dropped that picture on me, I thought you’d finally see what an awful boy he is and you’d just go back to being normal like me. No more of this freaky magic stuff,” Petunia sighed and glared out the window.
“I never wanted him to hurt you,” Lily said softly, “but Sev didn’t make me not normal. I’ve always been able to do magic, I just didn’t know what it was. And he’s my friend, just like Margaret is to you.”

“I know,” Petunia muttered. “I didn’t expect him to save me when I fell in. I still don’t know how he managed to get us back to the shore.”

Lily smiled. She had forgiven Severus for the incident on the stairs as soon as he had gone in after Petunia.

“Magic, Tuney,” she gave her sister a meaningful stare, “I guess it’s a good thing we’re freaky after all.”

Petunia let out a noise halfway between a squawk and a laugh. “Guess so. I still don’t like him though.” She crinkled her nose as she glanced at Lily disapprovingly, but her voice lacked any malice.

“Good thing he’s my friend and not yours then,” Lily joked. “Can you please try to get along though? I promise I’ll ask the same of him,” she pleaded. “I’ll even show you some of the magic books if you want.”

“Fine. I’ll try if he does.” Petunia huffed and crossed her arms.

Lily tackled Petunia with another hug.

“Ack! Lily, get off me, you’re all cold and clammy,” Petunia shrieked.

Lily drew back and giggled. “Not like you’re any better, Tuney!”

Petunia tried to glare at her for a moment and Lily thought she looked ridiculous trying to act all prim and proper with her dripping hair and soaked through clothes. It only took another second before Petunia joined her in a fit of giggles.

“I’m glad almost drowning in the sea is humorous.” Severus had quietly returned and eyed Petunia warily but he tossed them both a towel.

Lily noticed that he had put on a dry pair of clothes but his hair was still damp, leaving water marks on his shabby shirt.

Petunia stood, wrapping the towel around herself. Lily could tell that Severus was on edge so she stood too and moved closer to him.

“Err… Severus?” Petunia began awkwardly.

Severus looked at her blankly, and seemed to be struggling to process that he and Petunia were having a polite conversation. Beside him, Lily beamed. Maybe her best friend and her sister could get along!
“Thanks…thanks for saving me and making sure Lily didn’t get hurt trying to,” Petunia finished, wringing her hands in the towel.

Severus glanced down and his hair slipped in front of his face. He nodded slowly. “Sure, Petunia.”

Lily watched the two of them look at each other in silence for a moment before she interrupted once she realized the time, “Oh! Where are mum and dad? Shouldn’t they have been back from dinner by now?”

Petunia and Severus followed her gaze to the kitchen clock.

“I’m sure they’re just waiting out the storm in town,” Petunia reassured her, then blanched. “Oh no,” she wailed.

Lily exchanged a look with Sev. “What is it, Tuney?”

“Mum and dad are never going to let us be home alone again after this!”

Lily glanced at Severus and he raised an eyebrow in response.

“Well… we don’t want to worry them,” Lily began quietly. She didn’t like to lie, but Tuney did have a point. Her parents would be worried sick if they found out that all three of them had nearly drowned in the sea because they argued.
To her surprise, Petunia seemed to agree. “It might ruin their anniversary date,” she added.

“So this stays between us?” Lily asked carefully.

The three of them looked at each other. Severus nodded solemnly and Petunia followed suit.

Lily smiled despite the circumstances as they all dispersed from the kitchen. Perhaps she could have both her best friend and sister after all.