Chapter One
Mass
It was only tuesday. Severus Snape dismissed and blessed the small group of people who attended mass. The villagers peacefully bid him farewell. Each said their own "thank you, Father Snape," and "goodbye, Father Snape," as they walked down the aisle laid with a red carpet. The priest nodded at them.
He watched as everyone headed out the arched wooden door. Everyone, save one boy. It was him again. The boy was sitting on the last row of the benches, holding his cap tightly in his hands. He looked at the priest with lips slightly parted, as if he were to speak. The priest wondered what he was doing there.
The priest was about to ask, when the boy stood up and left the holy building. The church echoed with his hasty footsteps, and the boy left the priest standing behind the altar with a hard on under his green vestment.
It was already nightfall, Severus Snape paced towards home on the lonely and narrow dirt path. His destination was the lone house on the hill from the outskirts of the village. The house was not very big and it was rather bare. Planted by the house, was a small apricot tree. It's fragile branches were swaying in the January wind.
Rubbing his arms for warmth, he arrived at the small brick walkway before his home. The priest checked his mailbox and found a small brown envelope. The edges were uneven and it looked like it was glued clumsily by hand. He placed the envelope into his pocket and entered the door into his cold house.
The priest set his things down on the table by the entrance. He fetched a tea kettle from the kitchen and walked to the living room to heat it over the fireplace. The man stood there and stared into the fire as he waited for the water to boil. The only sound in the room was the crackling of the firewood.
Remembering about the envelope, he took it out of his pocket and tore open the paper with prudence. Inside was a green clover leaf. The man thought of it as something childish, but he felt a warmth growing in his chest. He went to his desk and carefully put it away. The kettle screeched and a small jet of steam shot out of the spout. The man made himself some tea and had a light dinner consisting of fish and bread. He read by the fireplace until he was tired and fell asleep on the chair.
When the man awoke, he groggily walked to the bathroom and washed up. Then he made his way to church and prepared for mass.
At the start of mass, the priest noticed that the boy was here again. He felt slightly excited. The sacrament proceeded as usual. When the priest raised the chalice over his head, he glanced at the boy and found him looking back. Mass ended with the priest's dismissal and blessing.
Everyone had left. But there was still someone standing by the door. The boy had stayed behind.