Title: Blue October, Volume One – Chapter One
Author: Woodland Goddess
Rated: M
Pairing: Severus/OC (as a whole) , but there may be glimmers of childish Snily throughout Volume One.
Warnings: In this story there WILL be adult content, so don't say I didn't warn you. I'm sorry, but as it's my take on Severus' story that is pretty much to be expected.
Disclaimer: I own none of the publically recognised characters or settings; they are the property of J K Rowling and her various publishers. I am making no profit from this; it is purely for my own enjoyment, though I don't begrudge others reading it. However, any Original Characters that I may or may not use in this story belong to me.
Summary: One encounter between a seemingly unimportant child and a kind-hearted family; that's all it took to change the fate of the world. This is Part One of the story of Severus Snape, an innocent soul corrupted by a darkness out of his control.
Author's Notes: This is the first part of a trilogy. I hope you'll enjoy the ride that the trilogy will be. I'm fleshing out his story, so bear with me and thinks that make no sense initially will start to make sense as the story continues. ALSO, please note that updates for this story will be much slower than they are for Trust.
Chapter One: An Unfortunate Beginning
The year – looking back it seemed so long ago now – was nineteen-sixty-four. A great many things happened in the United Kingdom that year, though the majority of occurrences would long be forgotten as the years went by. At the start of the year nineteen men were put on trial for the Great Train Robbery that had been carried out five months previously. In March, the Queen gave birth to her fourth child, a lovely son named Edward. In May, Joe Orton's black comedy Entertaining Mr Sloane was premiered at the New Arts Theatre in London.
But those months were long over now and the month of July was swiftly coming to its end the day our story began. It was, as it happened, the twenty-eighth – a Tuesday, to be precise. That day was the day that Winston Churchill, eighty-nine years of age at the time, retired from the House of Commons. It was, however, of little importance in the town of Cokeworth, situated in northern England. Like many towns, Cokeworth had its subdivisions within its borders, invisibly dividing the poor from the middle class.
The most dramatic change for Cokeworth that year was rather detrimental to quite a number of townsfolk. The Mill, which had been running for one-hundred and thirty-five years, had closed in February. It was a devastating blow to the economy; it rendered one thousand of the town's citizens unemployed. The more well-to-do workers were fine for some time as they searched around for other employment, dipping into their hard-earned savings which had been kept for a 'rainy day' as it were.
It was the unfortunate citizens at the bottom of the income scale that had the most trouble, finding themselves struggling to make ends meet, unable to find employment due to their now threadbare appearance. One such member of the unfortunate ranks of the unemployed was Tobias Snape. He had been a strapping man, once upon a time, with well-kept dark hair and a strong clean-shaven jaw line. In recent days, though, his appearance had made quite a turn around. His hair was rather straggly, now, as on many occasions he had to forgo showering to do odd jobs around his street – fixing roofs, trimming lawns and other menial tasks.
His clothes were wearing thin, his shoes were quite tattered. The skin around his eyes was dark and bruised from the stress of everything going on in his life at that time. He began, much to his wife's horror, to drink. It was, to him, a psychological comfort but it had life-altering effects on the Snape household. Now, if the Mill had never closed, this would never be an issue and the future would be unaccountably different. But it had and a darker future lay in store, not only for the Snapes, but the world at large.
Tobias Snape's ever-growing problem with alcohol would be one of the larger dominos that would lead to great pain happening in the world...but more on that later. For now, our story begins with a little boy named Severus – he was, unfortunate though it may seem, the only child of Tobias Snape and his wife, Eileen. Early in January our young hero turned four and true to his age, Severus was a rambunctious child. Getting into mischief was quite his forte, though he would soon be conditioned out of that trait.
After breakfast on the twenty-eighth of July, Severus was alone in his house on Spinner's End. Tobias had gone out – the pungent odour of alcohol still clinging to his breath – to trim the Pettigrews' bushes a few streets away. Eileen, unable to afford a sitter, but unable to bring her young son with her, was scrimping away as a brewer in the basement of the Apothecary in Diagon Alley. Being a woman and a blood-traitor at the time, finding employment was unbearably difficult; she was forced to take what she could get her hands on, however measly it was.
Severus, sitting on the floor of the cluttered living room, was playing with one of Eileen's spare stirring rods and a broken cauldron, making music as he struck the cauldron over and over with the rod. His hair was rather unkempt – though brushed, it had clearly not been washed in some time. His clothes – trousers, stockings, a shirt, coat and shoes – were quite frayed, having been worn repeatedly. His collection of clothes was limited; he had outgrown the majority of his wardrobe and there were insufficient funds to buy him new clothes.
Making music with a cauldron and rod was one of the few ways Eileen had found that could keep her mischievous child out of trouble. He was quite fascinated with the sounds it made when he hit different areas of the cauldron's surface. It was rather unfortunate that his slapping of the rod against the cauldron became too vigorous. The rod snapped in half, the sound echoing in the empty living room, startling the little boy into stillness as he stared down at the cauldron, wide-eyed with shock.
The boy's lower lip jutted outwards slightly and began to tremble below his nose – not quite the protrusion it would be in later years. He might have cried had something not distracted him in that moment. In the distance, he could hear laughter. Curious, the boy climbed to his feet and toddled out towards the front door. His progress was hindered by his inability to reach the doorknob. It did not deter him, after looking around for something to stand on and finding nothing, young Severus turned to look at the door, glaring at it.
Though he was young and still adorable by social standards, he was already taking after his father. His glare could wither a healthy plant. His body tingled from the roots of his hair to the nails on his toes; he had felt this on many occasions, but as of yet he had no idea what it signified. The door was no match for the strength of his gaze and a satisfied smirk, reminiscent of his mother's, tugged at the corner of the boy's mouth as he heard the click of the locking mechanism within and watched the doorknob turn.
The door swung inwards, revealing the outside world to him. Emboldened by his achievement, Severus stepped out into the world before him, pulling the door closed behind him with hardly any effort. In silence, the young boy listened again for the sound that had enchanted him; the gleeful laughing of a happy little girl. Young Severus had often heard the sounds of other children being happy outside, but he had never had the opportunity to see it. His mother, strict as she was, hardly ever allowed him to leave the house.
The one occasion for which he had been taken out of the house was when his Uncle, on Tobias' side, had passed away due to a heart attack – a rather unfortunate side-effect of eating fried foods drenched in butter, three times a day. However, that journey through the unknown was such a distant memory young Severus was no longer capable of recalling it. With a purpose in his stride, his small, delicate hands curled into fists and his face tight with determination, our hero marched off in search of the laughter's source.
He toddled along the quay, the cloying perfume emanating from the sewage-ridden river barely registering within his one-tracked mind. Severus was lucky there were very little cars out and about at that time of day; he paid little heed to road signs and made no effort to check for possible oncoming traffic. In later years, he would look back on this moment and curse his own idiocy, but four-year-old Severus was quite content to just reach wherever he was headed, regardless of where that would be.
He took no notice of the strange and worried looks aimed at him by passing adults. He was entirely focused on reaching his destination. The source of the laughter, Severus learned, was a playground. He had never seen the playground in person, but he knew what it was – he could recall a picture, in a book Eileen would read with him at night, bearing a striking resemblance to the sight before him. There were very few people at the playground – the only one in the entire town.
Recalling his numbers with a little difficulty, Severus counted how many people were in the playground. In total, there were three; a man, a woman and a young child. The man seemed to be a rather sturdy fellow; it was clear hard work was nothing new to him. He wore trousers and a shirt with his sleeves rolled up, showcasing his powerful arms which were dashed with dark blonde hair. The first few buttons of his shirt were undone and he wore no tie. Severus secretly wondered whether he was having a moment with his family, before going off to work.
The man's shoes – even from Severus' distance – were clearly freshly shined. It was quite obvious that their family were rather more well-to-do than Severus'. The man's hair, light blonde in the sunshine, was thick and slightly wavy, but cut short at the same time. He had a strong jaw, an average nose, bright green eyes and a healthy shine to his skin. He seemed, to Severus, the definition of health. The man turned, smiling, to the woman at his side and bestowed a kiss upon her cheek, causing her face to flush with warmth.
The woman – young Severus assumed she was the man's wife, judging by the gleam of gold on her left hand – was rather pretty with a heart-shaped face and soft auburn locks to her shoulders. Everything about the woman was delicate, rather like the petals of a rose, or the hand of a porcelain doll. She wore a charcoal pillbox hat without adornments, a charcoal boxy jacket with large black buttons over a white ruffled blouse, a snug charcoal skirt and black heeled shoes. She was stunningly feminine; it was a great contrast to what Eileen would normally wear, which, to Severus, often seemed quite mannish.
The woman had healthy skin, flushed with life and a smile that could have melted the cockles of a cold heart. Her nose was a small and delicate as the rest of her and her eyes, a warm brown, were evenly set and framed by long lashes. Her arm was lightly linked around her husband's elbow and she seemed quite contented with her lot in life. Severus tore his gaze from the lovely couple and turned his head to look towards the little girl they had accompanied to the playground, whose laughter had caught Severus' attention.
The little girl was wearing a machine-sewn overdress of sheer ivory organdy with a natural waistline. The overdress was gathered below at her knees and had a scooped neck with a Peter Pan collar. It had shorted puffed sleeves with bound edges. There were detailed bluebirds embroidered in shades of blue and pink; two clustered at her collar, one near her stomach and the others scattered around the skirt. The centre back opening closed with a hook and eye on the bottom, a snap on the top and four pearlized off-white plastic shank buttons in between.
Though Severus could not see it, the under-dress was a machine and hand-sewn garment made of heavy ivory taffeta. It was sleeveless and had a slightly shorter gathered skirt than the overdress did. The neckline was a bound, plain scoop. It closed with snaps up the back and hook and eye on the bottom. Around her waist, the girl wore a shiny blue ribbon. She had matching ribbons in her hair – auburn like her mother's, but quite straight rather than slightly curled. Her sweetly rounded legs were clad in white frilly stockings that stopped mid-shin and she wore blue shoes, freshly shined, on her small feet.
Her face, similar to her mother's in shape, was quite lovely, smooth white in places and flushed pink with life in others. Her eyes were a vibrant green, much like her father's, and they seemed to sparkle with an inner fire that rather blew Severus' mind. The sight of her mystified young Severus; he had never seen another child his age. "Higher, Papa!" the little girl cried, her delight plain, as the swing on which she sat moved through the air, her auburn locks flying behind her like a banner. Laughing, her father obliged.
Enchanted by the sight before him Severus entered the playground through the kissing gate, his gaze rather fixated on the set of swings. The playground was of average size, with pits of sand resting beneath the swings and slides and go-'rounds – in case a child should fall off. He made his way over to the swings, amazed by the workings of the swing, wondering how much effort and body strength it would take to get one moving on his own. Severus circled the swinging girl, heading for the empty swing, unaware that the married couple were startled by his sudden appearance.
Severus glared at the chained seat before him, which was roughly level with his eyebrows – he was rather short for his age. Eileen had assured him he would start growing like a weed in no time at all and not to worry about his stature for now, but at times Severus felt rather cheated by his height. With small hands he took hold of the swing and struggled to pull himself onto it. His face quickly filled with the red of exertion as his breathing shortened with the effort he was putting into his actions.
"Having trouble, there, young man?" The question, coming from the man, was calm and warm, with a hint of amusement laced in its tone.
"No," Severus groused, the word tumbling out with a sharp exhalation, "I'm well able to do it by myself!" Already his voice held hints of the snarl that would be so well-known in years to come. Remembering Eileen's constant orders to be polite, the young boy dutifully bit out, "Sir." Eventually, however, huffing and puffing from exertion, he was forced to give up. He released the chains of the swing and stumbled back, landing hard upon his rump. He turned his glare on the red-haired little girl when a giggle escaped her, her swing slowing to a stop as she veritably stared at him. "Do you mind?" Severus almost demanded of her, his upper lip curling slightly – much like Tobias' did.
"Don't speak to my Lily like that," the girl's mother said, resting her hands on her hips as a stern expression came over her pretty face – it was a look that would haunt him in later years, when her daughter began adopting those traits, but more on that later.
"Jen," her husband murmured soothingly, brushing her arm with his larger masculine hand. "She just laughed at him; the poor boy's humiliated." He was rather lucky Severus had no idea what that large word meant or he would have a highly indignant little boy ploughing his foot into his shin. The man turned towards Severus, smiling at him, and asked, once the boy's breathing and blood pressure had calmed down a great deal, "Are you sure you don't want some help?" His vibrant green eyes sparkled pleasantly in the morning light.
Severus glanced around to be sure no one else would witness his defeat and, finally, muttered, "Alright. Will you help me up? Please?" His cheeks filled with the pink of mortification as the man reached down and lifted him, with apparent ease, onto the seat of the swing. "Thanks," Severus mumbled, glaring down at the ground, cursing his own shortcomings – mainly his diminutive stature and lack of upper body strength. But such shortcomings were to be expected when he was not getting the full amount of nutrition that he needed.
Severus tried with all his might to make the swing move on his own and, even though he never saw the action, he had a feeling Lily's father had taken pity on him and had pushed the swing a little. "So, young man, where's your mother?" The man asked gently, but it was quite clear that he was extremely curious. After all, it was not every day one stumbled across a child that did not seem to have any parental figure watching out for him – and outside of the home, that was a rather dangerous thing.
"At work," Severus said simply, avoiding looking at the kind man with brilliant emerald eyes.
"And your father?"
"At work," Severus reiterated, a hint of annoyance beginning to creep into his small voice. Young Severus knew, of course, that he was being a very bold boy, coming out of the house without his parents' permission, but he had no idea why it would be any of this man's business.
"And your sitter?" The more the man questioned him, the more troubled the man looked. At this point his brows were knitting together with the strength of his frown and his mouth had thinned to an almost invisible line. Severus was unaware of this change, however, as he was still determined to not look in his direction.
"What's a sitter?" Severus asked, turning to the man now, his nose scrunching up with the power of his confusion.
"Well, I suppose that answers that question," the man muttered, looking to the sky briefly, before fixing his gaze on Severus once more. He gave the boy a benign smile. "A sitter is someone who looks after you while your parents are at work."
"Oh," Severus replied, looking back down at the ground. With his confusion gone his nose was now wrinkle-free. "I don't have one."
"Well, my wife and I are going to leave soon and we can't very well leave you by yourself. The world is a dangerous place for a child, you know."
"Not for me," the boy said, with all the pride of a child coddled by his mother. "My Mama says I'm special."
"Of course, you are." The sincerity in the man's voice was honest, as if he truly believed that young Severus was, indeed, quite special. A smile stretched across the green-eyed man's face. "How about I walk you home, eh?" Then he frowned a little. "What did you say your name was?"
Young Severus smirked up at the man, his amusement plain. "I didn't. It's Sev...Seveh...Sevyus!" He always had trouble pronouncing his name; it was not quite yet within his vocal grasp.
"Sevyus? That's a strange name."
"It's Roman," he said, recalling what Eileen used to tell him as he hopped off the swing, looking up at the man in front of him. Having made a mess of saying his name, confusing the man before him, Severus started to grow rather distressed, his eyes stinging with tears he could hardly control and his cheeks flushing pink with mortification.
The kind man was quick to understand what the troubling matter was and was just as swift to try to put it right. "Hey," he said soothingly, crouching to down to be on the same level as the small boy, "it's alright. We all have trouble in the early days; you'll be saying big words with ease in no time at all." Then, he smiled that warm smile again as Severus began calming down, coaxing a little smile out of the boy. "Maybe you can spell your name out for me? I bet you're really good at spelling!"
Severus nodded vigorously, eyeing the man earnestly, though his eyes were now slightly reddened from his brief emotional turmoil. "S-E-V-E-R-U-S," the boy rattled off his letters with great success, smiling happily when comprehension dawned on the man before him.
"Ah! What a name! I have a feeling you're going to be a great man one day." The man stretched out, looming over him with a warm smile. "Come on, now, best get you home before one of your parents finds you missing." He held out a hand to the boy and, after a moment of hesitation, Severus decided he trusted the man and took his hand. The man had no need of asking where the boy was from; he could tell just by the cut of his clothes and the state of his hair, but wisely he kept his thoughts to himself as they escorted Severus out of the playground.
Lily, the young girl with her red hair in ribbons, was being carried by her mother, Jen, and the unnamed man walked between them and Severus. At the kissing gate, the man parted ways with his wife and child, who headed towards their parked car – a red Jaguar Mk 2 – in the opposite direction to Spinner's End. Severus and the mysterious green-eyed man made their way towards the boy's rather dilapidated home, talking animatedly to one another, ignoring the looks passersby shot in their direction...
To Be Continued.
Feel free to tell me what you think.