For the rest of the week, Severus spent most of time trying to stay out of the way of any Slytherins whenever possible, positive that the rumour of the disarming was sure to have flared into something enormous and beyond his current capabilities. If they believed such stories, they were sure to want to exact their revenge. Luckily, the worst thing they did was stare at him in a malicious manor, as he was always with a teacher when they saw him, so they were unable to do anything but that.
Unfortunately, the seven days ended on the worst of his life.
Because of all the fuss over his amazing victory, the matter of his letter had gone unnoticed, its dreaded words hidden within the depths of his bag for no one to see, and Lily had all but forgotten the look on his face when she'd gone to retrieve her own letter. Now, however, there was no place to run.
For some reason, the Great hall was surprisingly full for a Saturday morning, so they all saw the overloaded bird fly in through the arches towards its destination; Snape. It held three boxes, each slightly smaller than the one below it, in its claws with ease, the enchantment upon them making them lighter until it reached its destination. When they landed in front of the Gryffindor boy, he felt like he couldn't breath. The shock was overwhelming, so much so that he couldn't even think straight
His belongings, his books, his clothes… his life, was able to fit into three small boxes?
It didn't seem real, like this was all some bad dream, a nightmare, and he'd wake up at home with his mother waiting for him in the kitchen. But it wasn't.
Slowly, he unbound the package he had received, knowing he wouldn't be able to carry them all at once, and definitely not without help, placing them next to each other on the table in front of him. When Lily appeared next to him, her face lit up, not knowing why the boxes were there.
"Wow Sev! Are those from your mum?" She asked, smiling at him. Her grin soon disappeared when she saw the look of anguish on his face. "Sev?"
Severus inhaled and exhaled slowly, trying to keep back the tears that he could feel forming in his eyes. "Could you…" He coughed, his voice too weak and blocked to continued, "Could you help me carry this to my dorm?" He asked, turning to face her.
She tried to grin again, but it came out hollow, her fear for him obvious in her eyes, but he ignored it as she picked up the smallest of the boxes.
"Let me help you!"
Before he could say anything, Sirius Black was holding the biggest of the boxes, ready to head off. Knowing there was no way he was going to persuade him to leave it alone, the Half-Blood Prince grabbed the last of the boxes and made a hasty escape, not wanting to cause a scene with that Malfoy boy. No doubt he would believe it was some sort of reward for what he did to him.
As they were walking up to the common room, which was luckily an uneventful journey, Sirius became curious. "So… Who are these from?"
Severus considered lying for a moment, but then he realised that he didn't want to hide the truth from Lily. He sighed. "My mother."
"Why would your mum send you so much stuff?" she asked as she walked up to the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Singing Beaks." The entire frame swung on its unseen hinges and they stepped through the door into the well-furnished and empty room beyond.
"Do you remember Sirius got a howler last week?" Snape asked quietly, feeling his voice breaking slightly under the pressure of his tears.
They both nodded, the other boy grinning slightly.
"Well, I got a letter like that, but it… It was so much worse." He put the box down and tried to hide the tears that were already flowing down his cheeks. "I can't… I can't go home. This is all of my things. My mum… she sent them here so I didn't have to… I'm never going to see her again…!"
He closed his eyes and let himself cry, not caring what they thought; he couldn't hold them back any more.
Suddenly he felt arms around him, holding him softly, his face buried into a shoulder. When he looked up, he found Lily's red hair next to his cheek.
She turned her head to look at him, a small smile appearing on her lips, "Don't worry Severus, everything's going to be fine, just you wait." She pulled him closer. "I'm going to make sure of it."
"No."
They both looked at the scruffy haired boy, confused looks on their faces as they stared at him.
He smiled at them. "We are going to make sure of it." He came up and put a comforting hand on Sev's shoulder, squeezing it gently. "I'm not going to leave a friend in a situation like this on his own."
Severus smiled back. "Thank you." He drew back rubbing his eyes until all that was left were wet smudges on his cheeks, the source run dry. "Both of you." Friends. It was something he'd never really had, but something he knew it was worth having.
They stood in silence for a moment, looking at each other, before Lily clapped her hands, making the other two jump. "Right, I need to get changed. I appear to have a wet shirt, and we need to get your things up to your room."
They all laughed, the mood lifted, and got ready to move the boxes again.
AN - I know I keep writing about the post, but this is the last one for a long time, I promise! I don't like this chapter too much, but it was the best I could think of, so it'll have to do. The next one will be better... I hope. Sorry it took a little longer than usual to get tis one up, I had a full day yesterday and a late night (party!), so I couldn't write much, and it took up most of my morning. I should be back to the usual time tomorrow, but I've discovered my Philosopher's Stone PC game, and I may get a little caught up in that for a bit. Hope you enjoy!
