Sometimes stories are easy to write, and pop into being like they've simply been waiting for you to make room on a page; this was one of those times. Making this story even sweeter, the collectively brilliant and awesome lena1987 and iulia linnea stepped up to beta, for which I am greatly appreciative of. It was originally posted as part of the 2017 LJ Snapecase Fest, and will be complete in three parts.


31 October 1970
Cokeworth, England

Nose ostensibly buried in a tattered back-issue of Eagle, Severus tried to pretend that he wasn't listening to all the fuss his parents were making as they prepared to leave for the night. But as the clock ticked ever closer to seven, he couldn't help but sneak glances under his lashes at their woefully slow progress.

Come on, come on! he mentally chided, turning the page of the comic book blindly. Just go already!

Next to him, an empty teacup rattled in its chipped saucer and Severus froze, realising only belatedly that he'd been jiggling his leg against the side table.

"Do you ever sit still, boy?" his Da snapped, taking a quick nip from his flask before shoving it back into his battered leather jacket.

"You don't," Eileen retorted as she carefully applied black eye-liner in the hall mirror. "Why should he?"

"Stop making excuses for the lad. He's ten, not two. If you don't stop mollycoddling him, he'll end up being even more of a freak than he already is."

"Ah, yes, because you stand as such a sterling example of manly virtue…"

Toby Snape made a noise halfway between a growl and grunt and returned to pacing, peering out the window at the empty street. From the mirror, his Mum raised a stern brow at him. Understanding the look for the warning it was, Severus sank lower in the chair and tried his best to fade into the background; she could only protect him so many times in one evening.

"They're late," Toby groused irritably, tapping his fingers against the grimy window sill.

Eileen rolled her eyes and reached for a tube of lipstick. "And so are we."

With another glower in her direction Toby snarled, "I don't know why you're going to all that trouble. It's not as if it's going to help. Paint on a pig and all that rot."

His Mum's lips thinned, and she put the lipstick back down with a muted click. "I imagine that I put on make up for the same reason you like to drink. It makes you think that you look far better than you actually do."

Whatever nasty reply his Da was primed to make was interrupted by the loud bleat of a horn as a white Triumph Herald swung to the kerb.

"Let's go," Toby ordered, striding towards the door.

Eileen pointedly picked up the scarlet tube and pursed her lips.

Toby halted, an equally red flush of temper appearing on his face. "Woman…"

"Go," Eileen drawled coolly. "I'll meet you out there in a minute."

"I don't know why I put up with you, yeh mouthy bint…" Snatching his keys from the ring, Toby stomped out, slamming the door behind him.

Severus kept his eyes glued to the brightly coloured illustrations of the comic book as a hot ball of impotent rage exploded in his belly. One day, he vowed, hands clenching, one day I won't let you speak to her like that! Taking a deep breath in, he forced himself to relax, eyes darting to the thin frame of his mother.

Her shoulders had slumped and her eyes were shut, leaving her nothing but a motionless shadow in the hall.

From the depths of the threadbare armchair, he stirred, wondering if he should go to her. But before he could make up his mind, her fierce black eyes opened again and she stared at him in an assessing manner.

"And just where are you off to tonight?"

Placing the comic carefully on the table next to the cup, Severus stood up, feeling a touch nervous. If she forbade the outing, he would obey, full stop. And there's no point in trying to lie about it, 'cause she always knows…

"To the travelling fair on the other side of town."

Eileen dabbed at her mouth with the corner of her handkerchief. "I suppose you're taking that Evans girl, aren't you?"

Severus nodded, hearing the insistent tick of the clock again; he and Lily only had until nine, and if he didn't leave soon, all their plans would be for naught.

"Have her parents given permission?"

"No."

With a final pop of her rouged lips, Eileen replaced the lid to her lipstick and slipped it in her purse. Walking over to the cabinet by the fireplace, she opened the door and pulled out a glass bottle. Swiftly, she poured a measure and downed it; eyeing the rowdy group of men gathered at the car, she hesitated briefly before taking a second shot. She gave a low, sibilant hiss, and Severus could smell the acidic tang of gin even from several steps away.

"That girl's not one of us," she said finally, voice gone rough.

Severus bit his lip. "She's a witch."

"No, she's a Muggle, and a middle class one at that. Mark my words… she's nothing but trouble. Gingers always are." She gave a flat laugh. "Woman generally are, for that matter."

Despite her harsh words, her face softened as she glanced over to her son. High heels clicking on the wooden floor, Eileen walked over and smoothed a tender hand over his messy hair. "Don't get caught. If you do, I won't run interference with your father nor her parents, do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Worry flickered through her expression. "Be careful, Severus. Tonight is Samhain. The dark half of the year has begun, and you know better than to think it's all cheerful fairy tales and bobbing for apples."

"I know."

"Good." With a slight smirk, she dug into her purse. "Open your hand."

Minding quickly, Severus held his palm out and blinked with amazement as a small fortune in coins filled it to the point of nearly overflowing.

"That's almost two pounds! Where'd you get all that?"

"I nicked it from your father, of course. Tell me, what is the first rule?"

"Slytherins don't get caught." He grinned, fist closing over the money swiftly.

She gave him a quick buss on the forehead, wiping away the resulting trace of lipstick. "That's my clever son."

The horn sounded again, and his mum huffed with annoyance. "Don't spend it all on the girl. And I want you home by ten. I will know if you disobey. Is that clear?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Pulling her black woollen overcoat from the back of the settee, she made for the door, a faint billow of fabric following her.

"Mum," he called softly, and she paused, looking over her shoulder. "You do look pretty."

She smiled, hair falling back from her face for a brief moment. "Such a silver-tongued boyo, you are…"


Severus waited ten additional nerve-wracking minutes just in case his parents returned for some forgotten item. Peeking out the front door the instant the grandmother clock ticked over to seven-twelve, he confirmed that the coast was clear and then bolted for the narrow side alley that was the quickest way out of the estate. Deftly leaping over the large puddles of murky water, he made it to the river bridge in record time.

Gods, I can't believe my luck tonight. Two whole pounds to spend on whatever I want! And if Lily can actually manage to get away…

It had been her idea to sneak off to see the travelling fair. Severus didn't understand why she simply didn't ask to go—her parents were ridiculously soft-hearted and would do almost anything to make their daughters happy—but he had to assume that the sneaking part was somehow fun to her. Personally, he could do without the added complications; after all, it felt like he spent half his days sneaking around to escape either his father or the estate thugs.

Galloping over the rickety pedestrian walkway, he tugged at the battered sleeves of his ill-fitting coat before giving it up for a lost cause. Severus didn't need a mirror to tell him that he didn't fit in, but he was a frequent enough sight in the neighbourhood that people had stopped outright glaring at him, at least. Fleetingly, he wondered if he should save some of the money to buy himself a new coat.

No. Da would see it and only start asking questions. Best to spend it on something he can't see or take…

The last time that his Mum had come into an unexpected windfall—she had made a small fortune peddling an 'old family herbal tisane' to the neighbours during a flu outbreak—Toby Snape had accused his wife of prostituting herself. The recollection of the sounds his Mum had made during the resulting beating still woke him up at night. His vanity—indeed, even cold wrists—just weren't worth the risk of catching his father's notice.

Casting a cagey eye about, Severus slipped past the skeletal lilac bushes that separated Lily's garden from her neighbours. Unlike the Snapes, who lived in a narrow grey-bricked terrace house with nary a patch of green in sight, the Evans' spacious home had both a front and back garden. Scooping up several small stones by the birdbath, he tossed them at her second-storey bedroom window and waited for her to appear.

After what seemed like an eternity, the pale yellow curtain fluttered and he saw her face briefly before the sill jerked up. Lily grinned at him and swung a leg over, snagging an old trellis with one hand to use as a ladder. Nimble as a monkey, she was down on the ground in a flash. Cocking her head towards the bridle path that ran next to their back shed, she silently motioned for them to move away as the sour figure of Petunia shut the window with a glower.

Once they were far enough away from the house to not be overheard she whirled to face him, her hair glowing like a banked fire in the last rays of daylight. The sight of her—vibrant and lovely and always so happy to see him—never failed to make his heart race and palms turn sweaty; for about the hundredth time, he wondered why she was friends with the likes of him.

"Well?" he asked, curious as to how she'd engineered her great escape.

Her grin turned smug. "Guess who caught Tunie and Michael Roberts snogging last night by the swings?"

Severus grimaced. "She traded spit with that troll? Gross. He looks like someone's hit him in the face with a shovel."

"I know, that's what I told her. I dunno why she wanted to snog him, of all people…" Lily gave a delicate shudder of disgust. "Anyway, I promised her I wouldn't tell Mum, and that she could read Anne of Avonlea before I did if she covered for me tonight."

"And you think that she will stay quiet?" he questioned dubiously.

"Yeah. She'll be in as much trouble as me if I get caught now. Plus, she gets to take her sweet time reading my new book. I've saved up almost a month to buy it, and I swear, that greedy cow is reading each page three times just to torture me!"

He rolled his eyes. "Just steal it back when she's sleeping and read it then."

"I'll wait, I want to enjoy it.… but because I had to buy the book, I don't have much money for tonight." She exhaled, appearing uncomfortable for the first time; Lily knew he never had any allowance.

Not tonight! I can pay my way, and yours… Pulling the gleaming coins from his pocket, Severus flourished them with all of the grandeur of a showman. "No worries, Lily, I've got this."

Lily gawked. "Sev, how did you get all that money? You didn't..?"

Shoving the money back in his pocket quickly, he glared at her. "I didn't steal it. My Mum gave it to me for tonight."

Her emerald eyes went wide. "Does she know?"

"That we're going to the travelling fair? Yeah, I told her." Seeing the dawning horror on Lily's face, he added, "Don't get all bent out of shape. She's not going to stop us, or tell your parents about it. Besides, you know I don't lie to my Mum."

She flushed, kicking at a rock in the path. "It's not like I lie to my Mum all the time…"

Yes, you do, Severus thought, but not without sympathy. She could be reckless with the truth in ways that he couldn't understand, but given the magnitude of her secrets—like not telling her parents she was a witch—he could see how easy it was for a single lie to snowball into dozens more. "Does it matter, Lily?"

Apparently, she took his words as further criticism. "You lie to your father all the time!"

He gave her a flat look. "He's different."

"He's a Muggle, you mean."

"No, I lie because he's a right bastard," he shot back, and Lily gasped at his language.

"Severus, you shouldn't say things like that about your father!"

"And he shouldn't do half the things he does, but that never stops him, does it?"

Lily stepped back, recognizing for the first time that he had become truly angry. "I'm sorry…" she began, but he cut her off.

"Do you want to go to the fair or not?"

"Yes…"

With an effort, he curbed the outward signs of his temper. "And are you sure that we aren't going to get caught? Because if we do, I'm the one that's going to take the blame, not you."

"I'm sure. Petunia can't tell, and you know that Mum always watches 'Corrie Street' and then falls asleep during that one boring show about the War. As long as we get home before my father at nine-thirty, we'll be fine."

"Alright. Let's go before it starts raining."

She stopped him with a cautious hand to his arm. "Severus… I wouldn't let you take all the blame."

Her forlorn expression made him feel like a heel. "I know that," he told her with a sigh. "But it no one else would care whose idea it really was, Lily."

"That's not fair," she said, a touch petulantly.

"No, it's not," he agreed quietly, reflecting that he'd learned that painful lesson long ago. "Come on."

They walked in silence together until they crested the ridge above the fair pitch. In the gloom of a late October night, the flashing, multi-coloured lights of the attractions and loud carnival music were especially jarring, and he could see her slow grin appear as the possibilities of the evening unfolded before them.

"Thank you for taking me, Severus."

"I still don't understand why you wanted to come so much," Severus grumbled, but he was inwardly pleased at her reaction. "It's not like it's as big as the spring fair. There aren't even any pony races…"

She turned, slipping her cool hand in his. "Because… next year, it'll be different."

He stared at her blankly.

"We won't have a choice about going to the Halloween fair. We'll be at Hogwarts."

"Yeah," he said slowly, the realisation of just how little time was left in Cokeworth suddenly hitting him, "we will be."

And, oh, did he want to go! No more hiding his spell books. No more wondering if there would be enough food for the week, or what sort of mood his Da would be in. He'd be a wizard and finally learning magic properly. No longer a freak. He'd be a proud son of Slytherin, and with Lily at his side…

But who's going to watch after Mum?

His stomach tightened agonizingly at the thought. It wasn't the first time that particular worry had occurred to him. Her life would certainly be easier—she would only have to protect herself, for one thing—but there would be very little to stop her drinking. No one to make sure that she was eating, or properly taking care of herself…

"Everything's just going to be so different, you know? And we'll be so far away…"

He squeezed Lily's hand, trying to project confidence and ice out his own doubts; it wasn't like he could fix anything anyway. Everything would fall to shit, or it wouldn't. "Don't worry. It'll be better than all this Muggle rubbish. And anyway, things always change, yeah?"

"Not everything," she replied stoutly. "We'll always be friends, won't we?"

"Always," he told her fiercely, and meant it with every scrap of his being.

Her smile when she looked at him was wide and full of pure joy. "Come on, then, you slow poke!"

Tugging at his hand eagerly, she started to leg it for the entrance; all it took was her challenging laugh to turn it into a foot race over the abandoned sheep pasture. For the first twenty steps they ran in sync and then she had to dodge a large rock, which slowed her down considerably. Severus couldn't help but let out a wild whoop of triumph, streaking ahead of Lily.

Feet pounding over the hard-packed earth, Severus inhaled deeply, feeling the weight of his worries drop away. The autumn air flowing over his body was heavy with rain, and cool enough that it almost felt like he was shooting through water like the missiles found in one of his comic books.

Free..!

Exhilaration pushed him ever forward, and he made it to the ticket counter first. Gasping, he turned and was just in time to catch Lily before she barrelled into him.

"I… always…used… to win," she gasped, leaning her forehead against his shoulder as she tried to catch her breath.

"You used to be taller than me, too," Severus answered smugly, chest heaving with the effort. Pulling half the coins from his pocket, he slid them through the window towards the clerk. "Tokens. Loads and loads of tokens, please."

The woman in the kiosk laughed, passing over a satisfyingly thick stack of red fair chips. "As speedy as you both are, I do believe it'll still take you some time to work through all this."

"Thank you!" Lily chirped, and they made a mad dash for the rides.

"What do you reckon?" Severus asked, anticipation thrumming through his blood as he took in the wonderful multiplicity of their choices.

Lily gave him a saucy grin.

"Dodgems!" they shouted at the same time.

"Bagsies on the green car," Lily yelled, pushing past him.

"Not if I get there first…!"