The summer sun shone dimly through the grimy windows of The Hog's Head Pub. In one of the darkest corners, Severus Snape huddled. His ever-present scowl was visible through the shadows. He looked across the table to the empty chair facing him, then to his watch. Snape cast a quick glance to the door. Snape was impatiently waiting for Lucius Malfoy.
At exactly noon, the pub door opened and Malfoy entered. Malfoy caused heads to turn. He looked out of place in the run-down pub, wearing an elaborate ebony and emerald cloak that fluttered behind him. It was pinned at the neck with a silver serpent pendant. Shiny, dragon-hide boots clicked rhythmically with every one of Malfoy's footfalls. He carried himself with an arrogant manner. He was a stately man and it amazed many that he and Snape were friends.
Snape was tall like Malfoy. But he was lanky and his black, greasy hair was a great contrast to Malfoy long blonde tresses. Snape was not dressed to impress, but instead, in practical black robes fastened with simple black buttons. His eyes were dark, where Malfoy's eyes were light. Snape did not receive as much attention as his companion.
Snape stood to great his friend. He smiled faintly, though his black eyes remained cold as ice. Malfoy narrowed his own blue-gray eyes and frowned.
"My God, Snape! This place is awful! Why on Earth did you pick itplace?" Malfoy exclaimed in disgust. He sneered.
Snape shrugged lazily before sinking into his chair, "It's cheap. Sit." Snape gestured to the empty chair across the table.
Malfoy glowered at his own chair as he sat down. "I don't doubt that," he snorted. His voice suddenly became conversational. "Ah well, no matter. I met you this afternoon to tell you Draco has received his Hogwarts letter."
Snape sneered, "I suppose this concerns me, Lucius?"
"I should say it concerns you most deeply, Snape. You'll be his head of house, naturally! I should call a toast, perhaps?" Malfoy said, with the traces of a smile.
"Don't count your dragons before they hatch," Snape retorted, frowning. "I doubt a toast is necessary."
Malfoy laughed coldly. "One won't kill you. What do they have here? Anything remotely sophisticated?" he asked, perusing the grubby menu.
"I shouldn't know," Snape said flatly. "I don't drink."
Malfoy ignored his friend and signaled to a passing waitress. He spoke with her in harsh, cold tones. The stunned waitress stuttered out a barely audible answer. Snape paid them no mind. He was trying to think of what would best get him out of his predicament.
"She'll be back... But I've ordered two firewhiskies," Malfoy said softly, interrupting Snape's train of thought. "Cissy doesn't allow the stuff in the house, what with Draco still at home and all… It's a rare treat…"
Not long after, the frightened looking waitress returned with two dusty bottles, which Malfoy took with disdain. The waitress ran off quickly and didn't look back.
"I'm filing a complaint on cleanliness and service," Malfoy said, wiping the dust off with a handkerchief. "In the meantime-"
Malfoy flicked his wand and conjured two crystal goblets. With another wave of his wand, he poured the Firewhiskey into each goblet. Snape rubbed his temple, and then rested a hand on the table. Malfoy seized the unguarded moment and shoved a goblet into Snape's outstretched hand.
"A toast!" Malfoy said grandly. "To Slytherin; to Draco."
"Indeed," said Snape, as he put his goblet to his lips, pretending to drink.
The scent of Firewhiskey burned Snape's nostrils. The scent was too strong, as was the memory it provoked. The scent took Snape back twenty-one years to a house on Spinner's End, and to his childhood.
"Eileen! Where's my Firewhiskey?" the drunken voice of Tobias Snape boomed from the kitchen.
Ten year-old Severus Snape glanced up from his math homework and went unnoticed as his mother, Eileen Prince-Snape ran past to see what her husband needed. Severus was used to his father going on one of his binges. Severus seemed to become invisible and was ignored by his worried mother, who tried to hide her husband's alcoholism. He was used to his father's shouting.
Eileen took one look at her husband, Tobias. His bloodshot eyes bore into hers. She looked away hastily.
"Well? I'm waiting for an answer, woman," Tobias spat.
"Don't you think you've had enough for one night, Tobias?" Eileen said, smiling brightly. "Tobias…."
"You know bloody well I haven't! Where's the blasted stuff?" Tobias yelled.
"I don't know," Eileen said, wincing.
She walked out of the kitchen and passed by Severus. Severus looked up, hoping his mother would be able to help him with his homework.
"Mum?" Severus whispered. "Are you busy?"
Eileen rushed to her son's side to glance at his homework. The black numbers glared up at them both. She ruffled her son's hair, lank and black, like hers and drew him close to her.
"Let me see... Don't worry. After this semester, you'll have no more Muggle problems to solve..." she crooned. "Next year, you'll be at Hogwarts and you'll learn potions and spells… No more Muggle problems…"
Tobias swaggered from the kitchen and into the dining room. "He's not attending some stupid school to learn card tricks! No son of mine is gonna be some idiot magician." Tobias seized Eileen's wrist and knocked her wand from her hand. "You're gonna stop filling his head with fantasy, and start getting me more Firewhiskey. That's the only good thing you're idiot fantasy world brought about. Besides, what makes you think he's going to go to you're stupid school?" Tobias' voice echoed throughout the small room.
Severus leapt from the table and scrambled for the fallen wand. He aimed it at his father and bellowed, "Relashio!"
Tobias was blasted backward, and forced to release Eileen. Eileen grabbed her wrist and rushed to her husband's side, he was unconscious. She smirked.
"That's what makes me think he's going to my 'stupid school'," she said to her unconscious husband.
Severus stood just behind her, breathing hard, his black eyes darting nervously around the room. Eileen turned to face her son.
"Mum, I-" Severus said at long last.
His mother strode over to him and looked him in the eye. Eileen's eyes were tear-filled and bursting with pride. "My boy is going to Hogwarts," she said, placing her hands on Severus' shoulders. "And he won't have to deal with Muggle problems. He'll get out of this dump and build himself a better life."
Eileen hugged her son and whispered in his ear, "The Firewhiskey is in the cellar, flush them all down the toilet. I'll whip up a potion to get your father sober."
She released Severus, who dashed for the cellar. Severus made numerous trips back and forth, from the cellar to the bathroom and back again. The cases of Firewhiskey were heavy. Every few minutes he'd flush another case down the toilet. The smell of alcohol still surged through the air as Severus flushed the last case of Firewhiskey down the toilet. He gripped the toilet seat, feeling dizzy and sick to his stomach. Severus looked down and watched the amber liquid swirl in circles before disappearing from his life.
"I'll never drink that stuff," he swore to himself.
Snape was jerked back into the present by Malfoy, a nostalgic look still on his sallow face. Lucius glared disapprovingly. Snape's face hardened immediately.
"Snape, drink up. I know you haven't touched it," Malfoy said loudly.
Snape looked at the goblet and saw his face reflected in the amber liquid. He saw not only his face, but his father's face. He set the goblet down, and pushed it away. The Firewhiskey spilled all over the table and flowed onto the floor.
"No, Lucius," Snape said forcefully. "I don't drink."
A/N: To anyone who may recognize this story, I've posted it once before on Mugglenet's fanfiction site under the screen name Madame Marauder. This is not stolen.