literature

Chapter 11: 'Revelations'

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The summer was easing along very nicely – the days fell by in perfect pace; the hours passed neither quickly nor too slow.  At the Evans household, Petunia was keeping true to her promise, employing simple lies to cover Lily’s friendship with Severus.  Up and down the river, Spinner’s End was peaceful.  A bit of calm had even crept over the Snape home, though Eileen Snape was unsure how that had happened.  

Tobias had been strangely relaxed lately.  He had not flown into a rage for many a week.  Eileen thought that, perhaps, this was due to the odd absence of their son.  Tobias had never been comfortable in the presence of Severus, possibly because he feared future retribution for the hell he had put the family through.  Eileen was a well-broken, now-fragile woman; Severus was a growing boy who already harbored intense feelings of hatred against his father.  

With Severus absent for hours a day Tobias was sleeping more and fighting less.  Eileen knew the calm was too good to last, but she allowed herself the simple pleasure of relaxing under this strange spell.  

Eileen was not certain where Severus went off to on his daily excursions, but she had a feeling it involved the Evans girl next door.  A chance meeting at the marketplace with Mrs. Evans had revealed that Lily, like Severus, was frequently gone from home.

“Well, they’re growing up,” Mrs. Evans had remarked.  

The two women had never spoken before, and both were mutually surprised at the easy way they had fell into conversation.  Eileen felt a little less bleak knowing there was a friendly soul right next door.  

The careless summer continued.  

It was in late July when an owl brought a note from Druella Rosier Black, a former best friend of Eileen’s.  Of all Eileen’s friends, Druella was the only one who continued to keep Eileen informed as to the happenings in her lost world.  Everyone else had given up; Eileen rarely replied to correspondence, for fear of Tobias and his temper.  Occasionally, Druella invited Eileen to visit, but this was next to impossible for Eileen.  This time, however, Druella - true to Slytherin form - was insistent.

The letter was short.

“My dear Eileen,  
          The girls and I will be visiting you and Severus this Sunday.  Confund the muggle, if you must, or hit him with a curse send him off to bed.  We will be at your house at noon.  No excuses, my dear.

Much love,
Druella Black”

Eileen, at first, did not know how to react.  Confund Tobias?  She had considered it before, but had never tried; if it did not work she knew his rage would be great. A visit with Druella and her daughters, however, would be exceptionally pleasant.  

Eileen had never met Druella’s children.  She knew, from letters and photographs, that there were three girls: Bellatrix, Narcissa, and Andromeda.  Eileen herself was godmother to Narcissa, the middle daughter.  She had always dreamed of meeting the girls, of introducing Severus and Narcissa.  

There was the dilemma of Tobias, though, that clouded Eileen’s rising enthusiasm.  
Eileen felt mixed feelings of fear and excitement as she showed the letter to Severus.  Perhaps her son would have an idea.  

*****

“So we need to make a potion to knock my dad out for a few hours.”

Severus sat, legs crossed, in front of Lily.  It was evening and both children were due home soon.  Severus had waited until the last moment to tell Lily of Mrs. Black’s letter.  As he had hoped, Lily was animated at the idea of the visit.  

“And she has children,” she had exclaimed, “magical like us!”

Severus had brought up the fact that Tobias might prevent Druella’s visit.     
Now Lily was staring at her hands in thoughtful stillness, contemplating the situation.
Severus was surprised to see a small smile play across Lily’s face.

“Severus, we don’t need magic.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, muggles have medicines for this sort of thing.  To calm someone down, make them sleep.  I know- my mum takes them when she can’t fall asleep.”

Severus looked shocked.

“Lily!  We can’t just be slipping my dad pills.”

“Well, why not?  Potion, pill, what difference does it make?”  

Severus squirmed uncomfortably.

“I don’t know.  It just doesn’t seem right, somehow.  Magic just seems better.”

“But there’s lots of ways to mess up magic.  We don’t really know what we’re doing, Sev,” Lily gently reminded her friend.  

Severus sighed and glanced up.  The bluish haze of sky above was turning black.  It was getting late.  

“Sev?”

“Maybe you’re right.  But wouldn’t it be fun to make potions together?”

“Well, yeah, but not as an experiment on your father!  No matter how bad he is, Sev, you wouldn’t want to hurt him.”

Severus tried to hide the small frown that creased his brow.  

“Okay then.  Can you ask your mum for a sleep medicine?”

Lily stood up as the last of the twilight disintegrated into darkness.

“No, she’d never let me have it.  But I know where it is.  We can slip it in his tea on Sunday morning.”

Severus felt a little ripple of pleasure run through his stomach.  The feeling of rebellion, especially rebellion planned with Lily, sat well with him.  Besides, he would be helping his mother have one happy day – something Eileen had not had in a very long while.

“I’ve got to go home, but I’ll meet you by the gate tomorrow?”

Lily’s voice broke through Severus’ thoughts.

“Yeah, sounds good.”

“Okay then.  Good night.”

“G’night.”

Lily touched Severus lightly on the shoulder, turned her back, and disappeared down the darkling country lane.  As soon as she had gone, a familiar wave of loneliness swept over Severus.   Was this how life would be from now on?  Happiness only when Lily was near, and then as soon as she left: this pain?  This loneliness?  

*****

As Sunday drew close, Severus realized that Lily’s excitement at meeting the Blacks would be short lived.  How could he ask his mother to allow a muggle-born into the home?  Especially when the Blacks were a very prominent pureblood family?  As he was trying to formulate a plan, something miraculous happened.  Eileen came bustling happily down the stairs, a rare smile alight on her lips.  In one hand she clutched the bottle of sleeping pills Lily had brought, and in another she held her wand.  

“Severus, I’ve been thinking – we should invite the Evans family over when Druella comes.”  

Severus blinked.  Had he heard correctly?  Eileen gently tapped her son’s torn shirt with her wand.

“Reparo!” Eileen exclaimed, and the shirt mended itself.

Severus gazed at his mother in wonder.  He had never seen her so happy, nor had he ever known her to use magic in daylight.  

“Where’s dad?” Severus whispered.

Eileen waved her wand around the kitchen.  Instantly, the room began to clean itself.  All sorts of household tools swept about unaided, polishing and dusting.  As a tattered broom nudged Severus out of the way, Eileen boiled a kettle of water.

“Your father is sound asleep and oblivious to the world,” Eileen said simply.

“Mum, those pills were for Sunday!”

“There were a few extra.”

Severus did not know how to respond.

“Mum,” he persisted, “mum it isn’t right!  You’re – you’re drugging my dad!”

A heavy shadow passed Eileen’s face.  With a sigh, she turned from the kettle and came to her son’s side.  Kneeling down she stroked his long hair.

“My love.  Ever since I married your father I’ve been dreadfully unhappy.  You know what he is like, Severus!  You know that he has robbed us of a happy family.  We could have been happy, you and me, Severus.   Happy …”

The word lingered on her lips and fell slowly into the ether.  A familiar, dark expression sprang into the weary, troubled eyes.  

“I don’t make a habit of drugging my husband, Severus.  You found me four sleeping pills.  Let me have my two days of happiness.  This is a lovely morning, your father is blissfully unaware, and we can be happy for once!”

“Couldn’t you have used magic?”

“No.  I would need a wand, and if your father saw me with a wand he would break it in half.  It isn’t worth using magic on him.”

A horrible thought came to Severus.

“Mum,” he said in a broken voice, “will he even let me go to Hogwarts?”  

Eileen straightened up immediately.  

“Severus Snape.  You are going to Hogwarts.  Never you worry about that.  Your father is an arse, but he isn’t stupid.”

A wry smile came to Eileen’s lips.

“Well, not so stupid as he seems.  He knows that … bad things will happen if he denies you Hogwarts.”

Severus felt a rare impulse to hug his mother.  He fought it off.

“Why do you want to invite the Evans, mum?”

“I bumped into Mrs. Evans at the marketplace.  We’d never spoken before, but she seems lovely.  It would be nice to have someone trustworthy next-door in case …”

Eileen’s gaze traveled upstairs, to the door Tobias slept behind.    

“… well, in case we ever need help.”    

“But she’s a muggle!”

“I am coming to realize that not every muggle is like your father, Severus.”  

Severus frowned.

“But muggles are dirty; you’ve always said so!”

Eileen peered through her son’s façade.  

“Is Lily ‘dirty’?”

Severus flushed scarlet.

Eileen nodded.

“Ah.  I thought so.  As soon as Sara- Mrs. Evans, to you – mentioned that Lily’s been sneaking off every day, I started making connections.”

“Is it ok?  Am I in trouble?”

Severus eyes his mother’s wand nervously.

“You’re not in trouble, Severus.  You need a friend even more than I do.  I just wish you had a witch or wizard friend – someone you could practice with.”

Severus had forgotten that his mother was unaware of Lily’s magical ability.  In what felt like one long breath, Severus spilled out proof of Lily’s magic, starting with the Elder tree flowers, and ending with the ‘wingardium leviosa’ charm.  Eileen sat in stunned silence.

“Now we really must have them over for tea tomorrow.  There are many things to explain to Sara Evans about her daughter.”  

Severus was not sure he should feel pleased or sad.  It was wonderful that his friendship with Lily would not remain a secret. On the other hand, it had been the best secret of his young life.  

*****
:bookdiva: Chapter 12 [link]

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Not my best, but a necessary chapter to set some things up. :)

:heart: Hope you like it! :heart:

copyright 2008 :)

ps - :iconnorthangel27: called Lily's mum 'Sara' in her fic "The Alchemist" so I figured I'd let well enough alone. :)
© 2008 - 2024 lilynoelle
Comments28
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Ooo - I love the idea of Sev meeting the Black sisters this early in his life. That should be really interesting! A little Bellatrix sounds frightening XD