Chapter Text
With almost two weeks left of school until the Leaving Feast, Severus decides to use his blocks of free time between and after classes exploring Hogwarts as a Parselmouth. He is careful, setting up tight area disillusionment and privacy wards before hissing at snakes carved into the woodwork. He starts inside of Slytherin House and then works his way around the dungeons. When he finds a snake that animates, he lets it babble at him for a bit. Then he asks it questions. What he learns surprises and alarms him.
Apparently, there are now two factions of Parseltongue-animated snakes at Hogwarts. Some, like the ones in Slytherin House and the surrounding dungeons, are unaltered from their original purpose given to them by Salazar Slytherin himself. It seems that Slytherin had set up a Parselmagic defense array that complements the school's defensive wards, somehow, and also acts as a last line of defense should those wards ever become compromised.
According to the animated snakes, however, the array no longer works the way it was intended. Intrigued, Severus begins seeking out other snakes he can interact with outside of the dungeons. The problem is that there are snakes literally everywhere. Far more than he had ever noticed before he started seeking them out. Many of them are hard to spot, too, intentionally blending into complicated designs and floral motifs. Every room and corridor seems to have at least one snake somewhere—carved into an arch, all but hidden in a tapestry, painted into an old portrait, inlaid as a mosaic in a floor. Some snakes are highly detailed, some stylized—just a hint of a snake, really—but some of these hints of snakes are animated also.
Rather than spending his own time searching them out, Severus writes to Gizzy asking for large quantities of individually wrapped sweets that are anything other than lemon-flavored. He also asks her to request a favor from the Hogwarts Elves on his behalf. He makes copies and enlarges five maps of Hogwarts from the plans in Hogwarts, a History. These five are linked together to show a mark made on any of them. With four, he posts one each on a wall near a different Common Room door. He spells those with a modified notice-me-not spell that excludes himself and anyone currently a second year at Hogwarts or below. The fifth map he keeps in his room as a constantly updating master.
He seeks out a couple of first- and second-years in every house, gives each a few sweets, and asks them to spread the word about a secret end-of-term treasure hunt for sweets that he is organizing for the younger years. When a new mark appears on a map, identified with the child's name, a Hogwarts elf checks the location for a new snake and gives one of Severus' sweets to the child who found it. The sweet rewards make a secret end-of-the-year treasure hunt irresistible to the younger years who have had no easy source of ultra-sugary sweets during the school year beyond care packages if they got them, the goodwill of upper years on Hogsmeade weekends, and visits to the Headmaster's creepy little tea parties. Even desserts at dinner, apart from special feast days, are simple and not even overly sweet usually. It must be hard to work up a decent sugar high from blancmange, strawberries and cream, or lemon gelatin. It is hardly surprising when an army of 12-and-unders turns up chomping at the bit to compete to be the first to find a new snake and mark it on a map to win a coveted treat.
Severus is well aware a secret treasure hunt isn't going to stay secret for long. In fact, he attached the word 'secret' to it to make sure that word gets out. He informs Horace about it, framing it as good PR for Slytherin House. Horace, of course, is happy to take full credit for the idea and to get Dumbledore and the other teachers on board, most of whom are pleased to see the younger years getting involved and staying occupied while appreciating the art and history of Hogwarts before heading home for summer. Sprout is in love with the whole concept as a nice balance for the students too young to participate in Hogsmeade trips. She claims next year is Hufflepuffs' turn to host the new 'annual event. 'Next year the secret hunt will apparently take place outdoors and involve the identification of plants in exchange for sweets.
The map in his room filled up in no time with snakes for Severus to question. His treasure hunt also makes him rather popular with many of the younger set, who were always aware of who their true benefactor with the mountain of sweets was. Gaining support and goodwill from them was not his original intention, but it also isn't a bad outcome, either.
Not every snake he talks to outside of the dungeons is from the other faction. Some loyal to their original purpose are in the same area as rogue snakes. The other faction is easy to identify. They talk to him but aren't nearly as helpful, chatty, or forthright. They are cagey when he questions them about their purpose, but some do mention that they work for the Great Speaker. That could only mean that Voldemort had corrupted them. He points this out to a few of them, that their honorable purpose in a school full of innocent children has been corrupted by someone who means to harm children. This clearly bothers them, but they can do nothing to change their new purpose, they say. He asks them each repeatedly how he can change their purpose to benefit the children. One finally answers that he would have to convince the great snake at the heart of Hogwarts.
The next time he comes to chat, he brings Manasa with him, hidden from the human population under his sleeve. She talks to the animated snakes of the rogue faction at length but soon grows frustrated and weary.
"They are not real snakes. Their heads are made of trees and rocks, Severus. I cannot make them see sense. I do not think that I am the great snake they talk about. It would be another of tree or of rock like them, I think."
"Thank you, Manasa, that's very helpful. Would you like to come with me down to visit the place of bones to see this so-called Great Snake and put it in its place?"
"I would like to see this great snake they think is greater than me, but you must keep me very, very warm while I am down there."
He and Manasa descend into the Chamber once again. This time he casts area Shrinking charms on the bones down there to get a better look at the flooring. In the main chamber, Severus finds the great serpent. It coils in the floor mosaic with its tail in its mouth, an ouroboros as large as the main chamber itself.
"You must be the Great Serpent," he says when he finds where its head clutches its tail, aligned with a minor passageway, that he puts on his to-do list to explore one day.
The snake animates. It pulls its tail from out of its mouth. "At last! Thank you, young Speaker, or should I say Headmaster? You have reanimated me, breaking a curse placed on me far too long ago by a Dark Speaker. He twisted my purpose to oversee the school defenses. He pointed nearly half the magical fangs inward at Hogwarts herself, some at the defense professors too, and has undermined the Parselmagic array's ability to protect and heal the school's wards. Now, I can reset us all to our original noble roles as protectors and healers for the School of Four. May children forever rest easier here, as they learn and grow." The snake bows its head to them and makes a rapid full circuit of the floor. When it passes its former position and reaches the mouth of the statue, it bites its tail again and fades back into the floor's mosaic design.
Severus can feel the difference. It is subtle, but somehow the magical ambiance of Hogwarts has altered. It is as if the heaviness he hadn't previously given much thought to had lifted somehow. Hogwarts had never felt dark, but now it felt lighter and brighter.
"He is perhaps great, but not greater than me."
"Of course not, Manasa. No one is greater than you."
"You make sense, Severus."
After, Severus talks to many of the loyalist and formerly rogue snakes. They all confirm that they are returned to their original purposes as guardians and ward healers. It would seem that the current Defense professor, Miguel Rodriguez, a former Auror instructor from Tortola in the British Virgin Islands and one of the most competent of all the DADA professors I've met or trained under, might not be retiring and returning to Tortola this summer, after all.
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The day before the Leaving Feast, Severus receives an Owl at breakfast, as do all the other 5th and 7th years. He retrieves an owl treat from his bag for the delivery owl and takes the fancy ribbon off the bird's foot, stashing the silky white ribbon in his bag. He breaks the seal on the envelope and slides out his OWL marks. I'm most pleased to see that I passed every OWL. True, I'm pushing 40 now, not really sixteen, but I still feel like I've accomplished something academically.
"Prince!"
"Longbottom. How did you do?"
"E on practical, E on written! I'm going to be an Auror!!!"
"Congratulations, you deserve it."
"I—I don't even know how to thank you."
"You just did. You did the work."
"How about you?"
"I did well enough."
"That probably means you took twelve OWLs."
"Thirteen."
"No way! I didn't even know that there are thirteen exams!"
"I wrote and requested to sit the Alchemy exam as a self-study since the class wasn't offered."
"You scored an O, didn't you?"
"I did."
"Self-studying to an O in Alchemy? It sounds... impossible!"
"Dumbledore did it."
"Oh well, if Dumbledore can do it, anyone can, right?"
"Exactly."
"The only person I've ever met with as much drive as you is my mother. She only took twelve OWLs. Listen, I've been courting Alice Smith, and since I now have a clear path to become an Auror, I am going to ask her to marry me. If she says yes, I was wondering if you would do me the great honor of being my best man at our wedding?"
"She'll say yes. And, yes, I'd be honored."
"Thanks! I've got the ring. I'm going to ask her right now!"
The next night, at the leaving feast, Dumbledore gives out his usual random points for miscellaneous, often questionable reasons. James Potter is awarded 20 points for the best Quidditch goal ever, or some such rot. A young woman in Hufflepuff I have no memory of takes 15 points for having the year's best whistle. A Ravenclaw 7th year gets 25 points for the best NEWT scores of her year. Apparently she took eleven, all with straight Os. Severus applauds her achievement.
"Now I must award 25 points, for the twelve perfect Os on her OWLs, to Miss Pandora Abbot of Ravenclaw. Well done indeed!"
Snape stands and applauds. The girl looks serenely unbothered by everyone's attention, which he also views as quite a laudable achievement.
"And now a further 25 points for the most OWLs passed this year—thirteen—with twelve Os and one E in Divination. Well done, Mr. Prince of Slytherin!" There is a smattering of applause, most of it from within Slytherin. Pandora Abbot waves to him, and he nods back.
"And, now that everything is tallied, my congratulations and the House Cup go to… Slytherin House!"
Avery and Wilkes are suddenly pulling him out of his chair. Severus tries not to flail as he is hoisted physically into a seated position onto their shoulders. Someone nearby starts a chant whereby "Prince" is repeated over and over again. He has never felt so popular, or more like he wants to crawl off and be left entirely alone somewhere dimly lit. He also hates that Albus is the reason for him feeling both.
"Decorum, gentlemen, put me down this instant."
To his surprise, they actually do. Persephone Greengrass hugs him. As does Reg, and first-year Ada Fawley, the sharp-eyed little Slytherin who found him more snakes than anyone else did.
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Early on Saturday, June 26, 1976, when everyone is supposed to board the Hogwarts Express at 11am to return home for summer, Severus is already exercised, showered, and packed. He has all his belongings shrunk down inside of his shirt pocket, and Manasa wrapped around his wrist. He is wearing his nicked pair of Herbology earmuffs, his mother’s protective goggles, new dragonhide gloves and apron, and his old dragonhide boots. He feels as ready as he will ever be to take on the Horcrux infesting Rowena’s diadem.
Not wanting to get any closer to it than is necessary, he lengthens an old chipped Quidditch bat that he finds near the door and transfigures a hook onto the end. He finds a hat box and casts a containment spell for dark magic inside the box and lid. He looks around and soon finds half a pair of cat's-eye glasses. He pops out the glass lens, transforming it into a glass bowl. He casts the spell that allows glass to contain basilisk venom and also spells the bowl unbreakable. He levitates the glass bowl into the hatbox. He hooks the crown down off its perch and places it into the glass bowl. He levitates the lid onto the box. He retrieves the bag in his pocket, unshrinks it, takes out brown paper and twine from the Elves' packages, spells the paper impervious, and hits it with the containment spell for Dark Magic. He uses the wrapping spell he often used for Lily’s gifts.
He shrinks the package full of horror and puts it into his bag. He takes off his earmuffs, gloves, and apron, putting those in the bag as well. He knows that there is still every possibility that the repairing Hogwarts wards are sensitive enough during this time to detect the now miniscule level of Dark Magic bleeding off it if the item were properly in the castle instead of this pocket dimension that has its own rules. He calls up a Floo and some Floo Powder to take him directly to the Leaky Cauldron. He has a leisurely Full English (minus the beans) with a cup of strong black coffee that he is sure will make his teeth less white. Before setting off to Gringotts, he performs a teeth cleaning spell, a teeth whitener, and a breath freshener in the loo, marveling at what Lady Magic has managed to do to him.
He asks the teller if Assistant Chief Ragnok is available and is taken to wait for him in a plush leather chair in a comfortably appointed office. Ragnok and several other Goblins appear. They have detected the presence of a very dark object. Ragnok offers a chest for the object carved in Dark Magic- suppressing runes, which is available to Severus to rent for the low fee of ten sickles per day. Severus agrees and puts the package inside it, securing the lid. The other Goblins, who Severus assumes are security, are dismissed by Ragnok.
“Heir Prince, what is that object, and why have you brought it here?”
“Lady Magic said that I can trust you. I will do just that if you can tell me that there are no listening magics or devices, no surveillance of any kind, magical or otherwise, and that our conversation in this room this morning is secure and will be kept strictly between us.”
“Very well, a moment. Nothing seems to happen, but a moment later, Ragnok says, "Our conversation is now secure." I will not betray the trust that you and Lady Magic place in me. Be aware that we have known that you are her agent since claiming your ring, Heir Prince.”
“I am not a young adult. I lived a busy, complicated life and died in 1998 at the age of 38, at which point Lady Magic recruited me as her agent and replaced me into the body of my sixteen-year-old self.”
“What happened to the sixteen-year-old version of you?”
“That I don’t know. Lady Magic found a use for him as well, I trust. Part of my task is to rid the world of Voldemort. In the chest is one of a number of horcruxes he has made. I believe that he has made five. In the future he will make two more unless he is ended by someone before then. I know what form these objects take and approximately where they are but do not know what traps or curses may protect them. I'd certainly expect and prepare for something quite nasty.
“I would like to commission Gringotts to gather the existing other four of these. I have the means to safely destroy them. When he is killed, he will have no Horcruxes left to keep his soul anchored to life and will have no opportunities to return. I can assure you that Voldemort is a great threat to the Goblin Nation. There is no treasure, no source of knowledge, wealth, magic, or power that he does not covet for himself or wish to destroy completely.”
“This may become a costly endeavor.”
“It is in both of our best interests, Assistant Chief Ragnok.”
“What is the rest of your mission for Lady Magic?”
"To topple Dumbledore from power. He is the other major obstacle that the Magical World faces in its quest for continued survival.”
“Dumbledore has been a stone in the kidney of the Goblin Nation for a very long time now. Why do only decent wizards ever die young?”
“I can assure you that some of us who died young also entirely earned it. According to Lady Magic, how the magical world goes, so goes the rest. There are many changes that must occur before the year 2000, or we will be exposed to the Muggles, their superior numbers, and well-developed, well-tested war technologies. The magical world can only survive exposure for so long before we are all killed or enslaved. At that point, magic and life itself will begin to unravel, taking the rest of the planet with it. If I cannot stop this chain of events, this entire world will collapse by 2036, and probably years before then."
“And just what kind of new world would you build in the absence of the Dark Lord and the so-called Light Lord to make sure that what you describe never comes to pass?”
“The magical world must be strong to keep the Muggle world in check. There is only strength in unity. For too long now Wizards have led poorly and at the expense of other Magical Creatures."
“You admit that Wizards ARE Magical Creatures, then?”
“Of course, we are not above you and rely on you just as you rely on us. Our worlds and our magics are different yet interconnected. I would have sentient magical creatures, Goblins, Wizards, Centaurs, Werewolves, Vampires, Elves, Veelas, Merpeople, on down the list, all known as equals, all part of the solutions to our common problems. Unity is strength, and we are only as strong as the weakest among us.”
“This is why you are setting up a self-governing nation for House Elves, under everyone’s noses, including their own.”
“Princely Helpers is hardly that yet. It is a start, a road to independence and self-determination, perhaps. The House Elves have great potential, as you well know. Wizards, in our arrogance, have kept them from achieving what they are capable of becoming. The Dark and Light Lords in power do not trust in symbiosis and transparency. They trust only in compartmentalization, conflict, and control. I want to change that. I propose an Inter-magical Council with one representative from each sentient magical group overseeing everything and answering only to Lady Magic.”
“Well, it can’t possibly be any worse than having two insane warring wizards in charge. I need your permission to run all of this by Chief Udrub. Only he can authorize your Horcrux hunt.”
“Do you trust Chief Udrub?”
“Oh yes, Heir Prince. I trust him and suspect that Lady Magic does, and that was part of the reason at least, that she sent you to me. Chief Udrub is my father. He—Is that a basilisk hatchling?” Ragnok asks, looking down at Severus' little sleeve monster.
“No, of course not. This is Manasa. She is a sixty-foot-long, ancient Basilisk. I reduced her down to hatchling size for purposes of transport and feeding. She’s my friend and poses no threat to you. She is another topic that I wish to discuss soon, but not today. Please do speak to Chief Udrub, or let me know when he might be available, if he is willing to meet with me. May your knives stay sharp, Assistant Chief Ragnok.”
"And may your enemies find no cover, Heir Prince."
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Severus checks on the Elves at Horizont Alley. The business is brisk with Elves appearing only to take another Owl order and disappear again. Gizzy has installed a long multi-owl perch at Elf level beside the main window. Owls perch there, accepting Aunt Hortensia's Healthy Owl Treats and water. Some groom themselves and nap before leaving. Gizzy reads incoming orders off like a Muggle chef, assigning the job to an Elf who quickly takes the order form and disappears. She levitates Owl whitewash poo into a container that she explains will be taken to compost at Prince Castle and used for fertilizer in the greenhouses. The pellets, which are mainly compacted bones and teeth, are banished.
“None of us know a good use for Owl pellets. When one is found, the pellets are not exactly in short supply!”
Two more Elves were sent over by Gringotts. Gizzy purchased both using the household accounts and put them to work filling orders. One she introduces as Aglet, returning from an hour of work somewhere. She whispers to Gizzy, who nods and writes something down in a ledger.
“I’m writing down all the stories so you can read them. We all think they will help.”
“Help how? For training purposes?”
Gizzy laughs and says that she thinks I’m very funny. “We are not training! We are spying on places where we work and gathering information to help you and Lady Magic!”
Severus takes care not to let his mouth hang open. It is not his most dignified expression. “How?”
“Oh, we all know Lady Magic! She is the Elf Mother, oldest of all the Elves!”
"Of course she is. On behalf of us both, I thank you for gathering information. Is it all here in this ledger?”
“No! There are two more ledgers in your room!”
“In my room?”
“Yes, we all voted for what we wanted to do first with our discretionary account money. We all wanted to make a room here for you!”
“Gizzy, no, that is not what the discretionary account money should be used for!”
“Of course it is! You said we can spend it on family!”
“I meant for you to spend it on your families.”
“We are all only one family! We all are Princes now! You are our family! We are your family!" Suddenly he sees Gizzy's calm confidence waver. "Am I wrong?”
“No. You are absolutely right, Gizzy. I have clearly been dunderheaded, and I have been bested by your logic. I’d very much like to see my gifted room, please.”
He follows Gizzy into the kitchen, where she gestures to the new door. It leads to a bedroom ensuite they created of their own accord, with their own money, just for him. It is perfect. There is a twin-sized bed made from blonde wood, possibly Arolla Pine, known even among the magically impaired for its sleep-enhancing properties, a blonde wood desk with a golden tan leather blotter and matching leather upholstered desk chair, and a tall blonde wood bookcase with nine shelves, with only two ledgers, one on top of the other, on a lower shelf. There is a space-efficient built-in closet, next to a small basic cream-tiled lavatory with a toilet, a basin, and a shower roughly twice the size of the one he installed at Spinner’s End in his last life. The walls are a warm, creamy off-white in the bedroom, accented with dark purple draperies, towels, and other soft furnishings. There is a blonde and tan hardwood herringbone floor and gold hardware, taps, and accents throughout, or in other words, his room and ensuite are appropriately done in Prince Family colors.
He sits on the bed, which has a blonde wood frame and an upholstered golden tan leather headboard. The mattress is gloriously firm, just as he recently discovered that he prefers. The sheets and duvet cover are fine-quality dark purple flax linen, in plain weave, and are whispery soft. The down pillow is almost identical to the pillow he uses at Hogwarts but is a tad more filled and fluffy.
When he returns into the kitchen to speak with Gizzy, who is still standing in the doorway, he sees many other hopeful faces peeking into the kitchen from behind her.
“Do you like it?” Gizzy asked far too cautiously.
“Come in, everyone, please.”
He waited until they had all entered the kitchen.
“It is perfect. Thank you to each of you. I am so delighted with your magnificent gift to me that I’ll be staying here tonight with my school friend Reg Black to try it out.”
Eggy whoops. Gizzy does a little twirl. Conker claps. Ixum kicks up his heels. Apple and Digby hug. Aglet jumps up and down. Handle laughs, slapping his knees. Pendy wipes away a tear. The sheer joy and feeling of belonging in the room was frankly a little overwhelming. Severus isn’t accustomed to feeling so very welcome, so embraced, in any home he’s ever lived in or visited.
"Gizzy is copying your bed for your friend!"
“Apple is making your dinner!”
“Ixum is setting your place at the table!”
“We are all eating together, I take it?”
“There was a pause, and all the other Elves look to Gizzy, who asked, “You want us all to eat together, with you?”
“I insist upon it.”
“Ixum is setting ten places!”
“Apple is making lots of food!”
Dinner is three succulent baked chickens, of which he eats a thigh and a wing, with broccolini and a salad of shaved carrot, apple, walnuts, and sultanas in salad cream, which was a luxury rarely found in the Snape household. He asks if they are enjoying their work. They all agree that they are, and a few regale him with mad stories of the happenings at the places where they went to work.
Just that morning, Ixum appeared at one address just as the lady of the house got an Owl from her sister and had to leave suddenly. She told Ixum to watch and protect her two-year-old, saying she’d be right back, and flooed away. Ixum watched the child, just as he was told, as the child destroyed the house. Ixum thought he might have to take the child with him when he left, too. Finally, the lady arrived home just at the end of Ixum’s time there. Upset at the state of things, she told Ixum to clean up after the child. Ixum just had time to clean and repair all the child’s messes before he popped away, leaving the house basically in the same state that it was in before he had arrived there to clean.
It is a simple meal, not overly heavy, which is exactly what Severus had wanted. It tastes better for the company and the sense of happy family that Severus has never felt a part of before. Mr. and Mrs. Evans are nice people, but he always felt like a thief at their table. They weren’t the Snapes by any means but didn’t have much to share either, certainly not enough to feed another hungry mouth on even an occasional basis.
At Malfoy Manor, he encountered the opposite problem. Lucius and Narcissa were always, without fail, as good as they knew how to be to him. They had far too much to give. Even gifts they thought were humble were beyond extravagant by his standards. He could never feel at home there amidst the lavish finery, where no expense was ever spared, and where so much of their bounty was just... wasted. He would arrive there already planning his quick exit.
Not long after dinner, it is time for Severus to meet up with Reg at the Hogwarts Express at Station Nine and Three Quarters. When he arrives, Mary McDonald is standing with Lily, speaking to the Evans family. Severus walks up and addresses Mary directly.
“Please excuse my interruption, Miss McDonald. We've never been properly introduced. My name has been recently changed and is now Severus Prince. I owe you an apology. When you were hanged upside down by Mulciber, I laughed thinking that it was nothing more than a harmless school prank. I hadn’t realized at the time how very humiliating, disorienting, and traumatic it is to hang up there helpless until Potter and Black did the same to me and threatened to remove my clothes in front of a crowd.
"I hope that nothing of the kind ever happens to you again, but if it does, I will duel the person or persons responsible. I have let it be known to Mulciber and to the other Slytherins involved that you have the protection of House Prince and that they or anyone else who bothers you at Hogwarts will pay in kind if you are ever again caused emotional distress, physical discomfort, or are detained against your will. The same holds true if your assailants are from other houses.
"This apology is a sincere one. I hope that one day you will forgive me for the lack of empathy I demonstrated in that moment. I am truly sorry for adding to your distress with my tone-deaf laughter. I promise you that I will never again laugh when I see you or any other student bullied in the future. In fact, I will do all I can to stop it. Thank you for hearing me out.”
“Wow, Prince, that’s the nicest apology I’ve ever gotten or ever heard even. Of course I accept it and forgive you for laughing. I can’t help laughing in church sometimes even when nothing is funny, and I know I’ll feel bad after. Don’t remember you being there, to be honest. I know you’ve never bullied anyone, despite being on the receiving end often enough. I’m sorry for what those stupid boys did to you after OWLs. I don’t think you deserved that any more than I did, from Mulciber and that lot. I told Sirius and James the same when they came around bragging about it, expecting all hearts and flowers. I hope that someday you get an apology from them as well.”
“Thank you, McDonald, I do appreciate it. I don’t think I’ll hold my breath. I don’t expect that you’ll receive one from Mulciber, either. Please stay as far away from him as you can. Also, you might want to ask for a heredity test at Gringotts. You can put it on my bill.”
“Well, that’s a fine kettle of fish! I’m your best friend, and you’ve never offered me the protection of your house or put anything on your bill!”
He knew she was kidding, but he couldn’t let the opportunity pass. “I don’t believe anymore that you are my friend, Lily. I saw you smiling at Potter when he had me hanging upside down, humiliating me in front of half the school. I’ve thought about it a lot since then. I don’t think you’ve treated me like a real friend since we’ve been at Hogwarts.
"You’ve used me for the things I can help you with, including making Potter jealous, but you’ve never gone out of your way to help me, ever. You promised that you would help me with Charms in second year. You never found the time. You’ve certainly never helped me drive off Potter and Black to keep me from missing classes while laid up with broken bones in the infirmary.”
“I stick up for you with them! You wouldn’t have been able to get loose like you did last time if I hadn’t been there distracting them. But I could never fight against them, Sev. Pete just went missing! They’re mostly good guys, too, and they’re both Gryffindors like me, so…”
“Being a prefect means that you need to stand up to the members of your own house, even your own friends, when they aren’t following school rules and/or are endangering themselves or others. I got the distinct impression that both you and Potter were using my distress as an excuse to flirt. I don’t appreciate being used. You wouldn’t be smiling now if someone had done the same to you."
"Look, I'm sorry if you're upset, but it really is your own fault!"
"No, it isn't my fault. That's no kind of apology that I will ever accept from you, either. You can take an inheritance test on my bill. You have the protection of my House. If someone ever hangs you upside down by your ankle and threatens to strip you naked, I’ll fight them tooth and nail to help you, Lily, whether it is the Slytherins, Marauders, Death Eaters, or the Dark Lord himself leading a band of monkeys.
"You, on the other hand, weren’t bothered enough by my obvious suffering to fire off an Expelliarmus spell, and this wasn't the first time either. As a prefect, isn’t it your sworn duty to disarm other students engaged in bullying or fighting? So, the way I see it, Lily, you can’t be bothered to do even as much for me, your supposed friend, as you should do for anyone else in the school.”
“I—Sev, don’t be this way. We’ve been friends since we were nine!”
“No. We were friends when we were nine, real friends. Now I’m just a useful acquaintance to you who is about to make himself somewhat less useful. It will be for the best for both of us if we give each other some space this summer. Know that I wish you well, though, always.
"For whatever it’s worth, Potter is an arrogant, childish idiot, a bigot, and a bully, but I think he truly is taken with you and will shape up into a decent person if you put your foot down and tell him to prove himself worthy of you. I can tell that you like him, too, Lils, though I find your taste quite unfathomable. Instead of these silly games the two of you are playing, both dragging me into the middle of it all, maybe you should just tell him to take you out to Puddifoot’s and buy you a cuppa, come the first Hogsmeade weekend next term.”
“You’ll change your mind. I’m not just your best friend; I'm your only friend. We’re your only ride home in case you've forgotten!”
“As I told you at school, I’m not going home. Mr. and Mrs. Evans, I only came over to apologize to McDonald. Sorry to have kept you. Lily Evans, thank you for being my true friend when we were both nine. We’ll always be on the same side, but I need to go it alone this summer. Perhaps we can revisit this discussion again next term.
“Don’t think we won’t be having words about your behavior, Lily Jasmine Evans,” says Mrs. Evans. Lily wisely ducks her head down. “Are you sure we can’t drop you somewhere, Severus? I’ll even ride in the back with the girls and let you sit up front, stretch your legs out?” This is a reference to an old family joke about the Evans' mini—that Sev will have to sit up front and stick his long legs out the window if he wants some proper leg room.
He chuckles dutifully, “No, but I thank you for the very kind offer, Mrs. Evans.”
“However things are with you and the girls at the moment, you’re still part of this family. You’re always welcome around ours. Don’t you forget that, Severus,” says Mr. Evans, who extends his hand.
Severus shakes it. “Thank you, Mr. Evans."
“No, thank you. We appreciate you looking after Lily when we can’t. You’ve always been a good lad. You’re growing up into a fine man.”
"Thank you, sir. How's the delivery job been?"
"Well, it's not the mill. Longer hours, lower pay, mainly night runs, lots of drops all over creation, no help unloading. But I'm getting used to it. I'm luckier than some. Take care; you find something better when you're out of school," he says, and follows after Mrs. Evans and Lily.
"Petunia, don’t let your anger endanger you or your sister, who I know you love. Don't let Lily wander around Cokeworth without you this summer. It isn’t safe for either of you to be out there all alone.”
Petunia purses her lips at me. Just when I didn’t think she would speak to me at all, she says, “Never thought I’d see the day when the likes of you would grow a spine. Maybe you’re not a complete shambles. Still clinging to girly hair, though, I see. At least you’ve cleaned yourself up a bit.” Then she primly turns on her heel and follows the rest of her family, taking short and quick steps, awkwardly hobbling from side to side, trying to balance the pain in her smart-looking, neatly polished, second-hand, black high-heeled Mary Janes that are obviously at least a size too small and are killing her feet, not that she will ever admit it.
“Tuney.”
Petunia stops and turns, looking truly annoyed now. He hits both her shoes with wandless, wordless, spelled-to-fit charms. She looks alarmed at first, then stares down at her feet, flexes them, takes a step, looks back up at Severus, and nods slightly. “Well done,” she says. Then she turns and strides away.
Not for the first time, he realizes that he and Petunia aren’t as different as he’d like them to be. Perhaps that was why Lily had been able to get along with him even when they first met. She was already conditioned to spending all her time with a dour, ruder than necessary, difficult personality. It wasn’t as if he even minded what Petunia was right now, but he had seen what a bitter, sadistic abuser she would become, one who incarcerated a child in a cupboard and starved him to the point of physically damaging his growth. He wonders what, if anything, he can do to help her improve her future self for the sake of her family at least. Maybe some of the changes he needs to make in the world have to start very close to home.
"You didn't forget about me, did you?" says Reg, grinning.
"I'm here, aren't I? Let's get you home. Gizzy!"
"Are you and Master Black ready?"
"We are, thank you, Gizzy."
That night Severus sleeps in his newly gifted bedroom for the first time. He is watched over by adoring house-elves. Reg, having gorged on leftovers from dinner, is dead asleep on a second twin bed, an exact copy of Severus' own. Between the beds, Manasa rests in her terrarium on the current favorite of her two rocks. Both Hogwarts students hardly stir all night long, which is lucky since Severus has forgotten to hex both of their pillows.
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Thank you for reading! Your thoughts are always welcome!