Chapter Two:
Secrets and Spies
Severus watched, excited, as Lily followed the worn path through the trees. She glanced around at the thicket, river, and soft grass upon which Severus sat.
Plopping down beside him, she asked, "What is this place?"
"It's a stream off the Thames. I call it the Butterfly Stream."
"Why's that?"
He gave no reply, simply pointed to a patch of clumsily planted lilies, which Lily thought was no coincidence. Mingling with the lavender flowers were about twenty butterflies flitting around, a bouquet of reds, oranges, blues, and greens.
"They're beautiful!"
"Very," Severus agreed.
Lily turned to look at him and saw he was staring at her rather than the butterflies. He blushed, the color bloodred against its pale palette.
"So, why're we here?"
"I need to tell you about the Wizarding World."
"Ooh, it sounds so interesting!" Lily giggled.
Severus half-smiled, which lit up his usually dull eyes.
"Well, there's a Ministry and a Minister of Magic who is sort of like… Oh, what do they call him…?"
"The Prime Minister?"
"Yes, thank you. He's our leader. There are lots of departments in the Ministry, like there's International Magical Cooperation, which takes care of the Quidditch World Cup…"
"I'm sorry, Quidditch?"
"It's a sport, played on broomsticks."
"Broomsticks?"
"Of course! There's four balls: two Bludgers, a Quaffle, and the Golden Snitch. Chasers try to score points with the Quaffle at the hoops on either end, while Bludgers try to knock them off their brooms. Keepers guard their teams hoops and Seekers try to catch the Snitch, which means 160 extra points for the team and the end of the game."
Lily shuddered. "Sounds dangerous."
"It is, but it's the most popular sport in our world."
"Sound rather like soccer."
"Soccer?" asked Severus, interested.
"It's a… Muggle sport."
"Oh."
By this time it had become rather dark, as they had started late in the afternoon.
"Have you ever seen a Quidditch match?" Lily questioned.
"No. Mum won't let me and Dad… well, he's opposed to anything magic."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I've upset you."
"Oh no, it's okay. It's just… they fight all the time. I've become rather used to it."
"Severus, I'm so sorry! I didn't know."
Standing up and turning away from her, he took a deep breath and began, "Mum didn't tell Dad she was a witch until after I was born and started doing magic unconsciously. Dad got angry, but he loves her. He wishes I was never born, though, because he blames me for their problems. Mum argues, says it was her fault for not telling him, but he refuses to listen, thinks she covering up for me…" He trailed off. "Thanks for listening, but it's dark. We should go."
Lily smiled and told him, "I'll see you tomorrow, I suppose?"
He nodded and she set off toward the playground. When Lily stepped out from behind the slide, she saw Petunia looking for her. Spotting her sister, Petunia marched over to her, hands on her hips.
"Where were you? Mummy's worried!"
"I was… exploring the park. There's so much out there!"
Petunia, still angry from their fight, demanded, "You met the Snape boy again and aren't telling me, didn't you?"
Lily, angry with her sister for not keeping to herself, told her, "It's none of your business who I meet and who I don't, is it?"
Petunia, clearly affronted, turned and stalked off. Lily ran ahead of her towards their house, then paused, letting Petunia go in front. Lily turned back to wave at Severus before she left.
The next day found them again by the river.
"What should we start with?" Lily asked.
"How about Azkaban?"
"What's that?"
Severus, a grim expression on his face, replied, "Azkaban is the wizard prison. It's guarded by dementors, who are black-cloaked things who make the world feel cold and dark and like it will never be happy again. And some prisoners get the Dementor's Kiss, which means it sucks the soul out of them."
Lily shivered, suddenly cold in the bright morning light.
"That's terrible!"
Severus simply shook his head.
Lily, continuing, asked, "What kind of things are people punished for?"
"Oh, the usual: murder, stealing, being Death Eaters…"
"Death Eaters?"
Severus look surprised, then explained, "There's a dark wizard and no one speaks his name. We call him He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or You-Know-Who."
"What's his name?"
He hesitated, then replied with difficulty, "Voldemort. But he's gathered followers he calls Death Eaters and you can be killed for being a Death Eater."
Neither of them said anything for a moment, then Severus continued, "And the Ministry can punish you if you've done magic outside of school."
Lily's eyes got wide and she cried, "But I have done magic outside of school!"
Severus explained, "We're all right, we haven't got wands yet. They let you off when you're a kid and you can't help it. But once you turn eleven and they start training you, then you've got to go careful."
A twig fell and Lily picked it up, imagining it was a wand and golden sparks were erupting from it.
"It is real, isn't it? It's not a joke?" she asked, dropping the twig. "Petunia says you're lying to me. Petunia says there isn't a Hogwarts. It is real, isn't it?"
He told her, "It's real for us. Not for her. But we'll get the letter, you and me."
"Really?" she said breathlessly.
"Definitely."
Lily noted how impressive he looked, how confident.
"And if will come by owl?"
"Normally. But you're Muggle-born, so someone from the school will have to come and explain to your parents."
"Does it make a difference, being Muggle-born?" worried Lily.
She noticed Severus hesitated, then said, "No. It doesn't make a difference."
"Good."
"You've got loads of magic. I saw that. All the time I was watching you…" he trailed off, seeing she laid back and gazed upwards.
"How are things at your house?"
Severus' face distorted, unreadable, as he replied, "Fine."
"They're not arguing any more?" Lily asked, surprised.
"Oh yes, they're arguing."
Unconsciously, he began tearing leaves apart. "But it won't be long and I'll be gone."
"Doesn't your dad like magic?"
"He doesn't like anything much."
They paused, then Lily said, "Severus?"
He smiled as she said his name.
"Yeah?"
"Tell me about the dementors again."
"What d'you want to know about about them for?"
Lily whispered, "If I use magic outside school…"
"They wouldn't give you to the dementors for that! Dementors are for the people who do really bad stuff. They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban," he reminded her. "You're not going to end up in Azkaban, you're too…"
Another blush crept up on him and he started shredding leave again. A rustling surprised them and they turned.
"Tuney!" Lily exclaimed, happy to see her sister.
"Who's spying now? What d'you want?" Severus shouted at her.
Pausing for a brief moment, Petunia sneered, "What is that you're wearing anyway? You mum's blouse?"
A loud crack preceded a branch falling and hitting Petunia's shoulder.
Bursting into tears, the eldest Evans sister ran away as Lily cried, "Tuney!"
She turned to Severus, saying, "Did you make that happen?"
Looking scared yet determined, he replied, "No."
"You did! You did! You hurt her!"
"No… No, I didn't!"
but he could not convince her. She glared at him the ran after her sister, leaving Severus miserable and alone.
