Title: Against All Odds
Rating: T
Based On: Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling, (c) Scholastic, Bloomsbury, WB, etc. etc.
Disclaimer: If I owned this work, would I publish this on fanfiction? All rights copyright their respective owners.
Past & Present
A gentle summer breeze whisked by in a rustic suburb just north of the Manchester-Lancanshire border (1). Away from the Calder river snaked a small dirt road weaving through the grass occasionally flanked by what once were proud and majestic adobes. It had been thirty years since the last factory closed shop, a good ten years before the second great war. Unkempt paint, once vivid and bright, lay dulled by mysterious downpours of ash, allegedly a result of the great fire.
Despite being a ghost town, nature has a way of coming back to life. Flowers and weeds claimed back lands once lost to civilization. The previously dead river, no longer burdened with manufacturing waste, bloomed back stronger than ever, as only the sturdiest survived.
Following them came a wave of newly arrived families, new members of the middle-class seeking a better life than that found within the city, attracted by the beauty of the wild, and unable to afford a life in wealthy districts. Of course, few moved into the abandoned brick shacks that housed the previous inhabitants. Rather, most moved to the other side of the bank, a "fresh start" for the town, they declared.
And so, all was forgotten on the long and windy road of Spinners End. All, save for one family who stubbornly refused to move.
The Snapes
It was all his fault really. Him, and beer that is. At least, that's what the bastard wife of mine kept saying. If I were sober, I'd probably agree with them.
But really, who wouldn't drown themselves in beer to dull away the curse that is called life? Supporting a family isn't easy you know, especially after losing years of savings in the sham deal buying the accursed factory from P- and W-. And what did I get, for slaving away alone from dawn to dusk in the death trap that was P.W. & Snape Imprints? For getting fined, subpoenaed, and jailed for "management failures" long before even taking over the factory? Nothing! Nothing at all.
And today, she had the gull to ask for money to visit the magical mall of theirs? Did she think money grew on trees? The nerve of her! Watching me work and refusing to use the bloody magic of hers to just conjur up some gold.
Well...well. I sure showed them. Eileen and that son of his. All he ever does is go over and mooch off of the Redens, Evans, or whoever it is. He's never around for dinner, which by god is supposed to be a family time. Only running in past curfew and blaming me. A disgrace, that's what it is! My father, grandfather, and fathers before them always said: A Snape takes pity from no one. I raised the tip of the glass to my mouth.
"Goddam it, we're outta beer again," I moaned, throwing the bottle away.
It was all her fault. Always holding me back with magic, always denying me of beer. And that boy-
I paused, staring at a sticky substance which landed on my hair and a roll of parchment on the floor.
An in-explainable rage came over me as I yelled, "EILEEEN! WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT RUDDY OWLS IN OUR HOME?" completely forgetting the already unconscious state of my wife at my feet.
I heard a loud BANG! before everything became black. Who would have thought this was the last thought I would ever have?
...
DAILY PROPHET SPECIAL EDITION
August 12, 1969 (2)
WIZENGAMOT ELECTS NEW MINISTER OF MAGIC AFTER VOTE OF NO-CONFIDENCE
Lord Marvalo 'Voldemort' Gaunt pledges stability during the transition as Ex-Minister Nobby Leach is sacked from office.
p.3-4
ALBUS P.W.B. DUMBLEDORE DECLARED ENEMY OF THE STATE
Leader of terrorist organization 'Order of the Phoenix' wanted for the death of twenty, attack on Minister of Magic.
p.5
MINISTER GRANTS PARDONS TO REFORMED CONVICTS WILLING TO WORK FOR THE MINISTRY
"Everyone deserves a second chance," says Minister Gaunt, "these ex-convicts have agreed to help down the ministry track down other criminals currently at large. I call upon members of both sides of the conflict to put down their weapons and come forward for dialogue. Anyone who does so within this week will be given a full pardon."
p.7
(1) According to the Harry Potter Wikia, Spinners End is in a Mill Town located in Northern England. Cross Referencing with major Mill Towns in the United Kingdom shows Lancanshire, Chesire, Greater Manchester, and Yorkshire as possible locations. Props to whoever can guess which Mill Town I chose.
(2) Severus Snape was born in 1960 according to HP Wikia. Historically from August 13-17, riots broke out in Northern Ireland.
A/N: This is an idea I've had since last summer, although I did not start rewriting it (original lost) until recently.
AAO 0.1
