Disclaimer:

Everything, that in some way sounds like JK Rowling (characters, plot, dialogues, etc.) belongs to her.

The mistakes (spelling, grammar, whatever) are mine, though. So, if you find some which escaped me, please send them back. I'll care for them.

Chapter 9

five days later

Severus was nervous. He would be leaving hospital today. Sure, that was a good thing. He felt like he would go made if he had to stay in that awfully bright and bleak room any longer. The constant fussing of the nurses and doctors. At least he had been allowed to get out of bed and walk around a bit. But Dr Harrison had forbidden him to stay outside for longer than a few minutes at a time. It was February and therefore freezing. Not good for his health. As if he cared. As if he had ever cared. Thus being trapped indoors, around the other patients, he had preferred his room. He was glad to leave it now, today.

On the other hand this meant he would stay with Lily and her family, as his mother wasn't allowed to take him in again. Yet. He still didn't know what to make of it, though. He looked forward to being around her more. But he dreaded being around Petunia and Mr Evans. How they would react to him being present all day.

To make things worse, Dr Harrison had said his wounds still needed treatment. Only applying healing salves once a day, but... He couldn't do that himself. Parts of his back, maybe, but not all of it, definitely not with a broken arm. Not doing it wasn't an option, Mrs Evans would make sure of it. Thus he would have to let her do it. The problem was, he didn't really know and therefore didn't trust her completely. Letting her anywhere near his back, he didn't know if he could handle it. His other option was letting Lily do it. She would probably agree. Anything to help him, she would say. But he couldn't stomach the idea of her seeing him like this. Seeing his scarred back. Anyway, he doubted her parents would allow it.

Severus sighed. It was a trap. He couldn't stay, he couldn't go. He didn't know what to do. A small part of him wished things hadn't changed. That no one had noticed, that he were still with his father, still facing the daily beatings. At least he would have known what to do.

'It's going to be alright, you'll see', his mother tried to cheer him up. He nodded absent-mindedly. A look at the clock revealed it was nearly time for them to arrive. Lily's parents had said they would come pick him up before school was over, to allow him to settle in before Lily came home. Right now they were waiting in the hospital's entrance hall for them.

His mother got up from the seat next to him. When he looked to the doors, he spotted them. Both of them had come, he had hoped only Mrs Evans would be there. He suppressed another sigh and stood up as well. They walked over to greet them. His mother carried his bag, only a few spare clothes and his school things. He'd never had many belongings. Only what was strictly necessary, sometimes not even that.

'Hello Eileen, hello Severus!', Mrs Evans said, shaking his mother's hand and nodding towards him. Mr Evans offered to take the bag. Severus tensed slightly. Whenever his father had laid hands on his things it was likely he wouldn't see them again. He didn't know why he projected that expectation on Mr Evans, though.

'Are you ready to go? Do you have everything?', Mrs Evans asked him. He shrugged. No, he wasn't exactly ready, but he wouldn't say that. He couldn't avoid it anyway, so best go forward and face it. 'Well, then let's go.' She sounded so happy, probably wanted to make it easier for him, lift the tension. That would take some time. They crossed the parking lot and walked to their car. Eileen would come with them, see where he would stay, reassure herself he was alright. Severus didn't mind it, he actually found it comforting, not having to go into this new situation alone.

Severus sat on the bed. His bed, for now. His mother had left a few minutes ago. Mr and Mrs Evans, Richard and Mary, as they had asked him to call them by their first names, had brought her to the door, leaving him to get accustomed to his new room. It wasn't big, but a bed, a cupboard and a table with a chair easily fit in it. A window sat in the wall opposite the door behind the desk, a plant decorating the windowsill. He would try to identify it later, he had always been good with it. The walls were painted in a warm shade of yellow, not too bright or dominant, but welcoming.

He hoped Lily came home soon. He felt... lost in this house without her. Sure, they had showed him around. Not that it had been necessary, he already knew where everything was. He supposed they had done it to officially welcome him in their house. In his new home.

Suddenly there was a soft knock on the door. 'Sev? May I come in?' Lily. She was home. How long had he sat there, lost in his own thoughts? 'Sure.' She entered and closed the door carefully behind her. Then she sat down next to him.

'How was school?', he wanted to know before she had a chance to ask him if he was alright. She had already opened her mouth. A small smile crossed his lips. Lily rolled her eyes.

'Actually quite nice. We had a free period in the morning, Mr Jenkins had an appointment.' She told him a few more things, subjects they had discussed, homework they would have to do. 'Anyway, we can talk about this later. Mom said lunch is ready.'

'Do I have to come?' He had never eaten with them before. When he had visited they had taken some food upstairs to Lily's room. Now, with their whole attention on him, it wouldn't be easy.

'Yes', Lily said simply. This time it was on him to roll his eyes. At least she would also be there. Thus they went downstairs. Lunch was already on the table. Mrs Evans, Mary, came out of the kitchen to join them and her husband in the dining room. She smiled at them.

'Ah, you're exactly on time, I just finished. It's not much', she said, turning towards Severus, 'We'll have a bigger dinner in the evening when everyone's home.' Petunia and Richard, who usually would be working until afternoon. He only nodded. 'Not much' was already more than he would have eaten in a whole day at home. Or two when things were bad.

After lunch Severus and Lily went back upstairs to do their homework. It had been better than he had expected. His hesitation to eat at first had drawn the attention he had dreaded, but as soon as he did eat, it shifted away from him. They actually didn't ask him one single question. Good.

'So, we've already done history. What would you like to do first, then?' He doubted she only referred to homework. Talk first or do school stuff?, was more what her question had sounded like.

'Don't know, maths?' Lily sighed, but didn't comment on his choice.

Evening came earlier than he would have liked. Dinner was served and passed equally uneventful as lunch. Petunia shot him a few glares, which he answered accordingly, but nothing more from her. This time, though, Mary went upstairs with him. In his room she made to close the door but left it ajar, not wanting to trap him in there, he guessed. Not that it mattered with her standing in front of it. She wanted to talk with him, he couldn't avoid it.

'So, did you enjoy your first day with us?', she asked to brake the tension. He shrugged, could have been worse, a lot worse. He still felt strange, out of place here. He supposed it would take some time. It had been fine, he decided, but didn't voice it. Lily would have snorted, claimed it was his standard answer and therefore not really an answer at all. She wasn't wrong.

'I was wondering if you want to go to school while you stay with us or wait until later?'

'I do. Want to go back to school, I mean.' Of course he did, what was there for him to do in this house? Lily went, why shouldn't he do so as well? Thanks to her he had no work to catch up. He'd assumed he would go with her tomorrow, anyway.

'Am I reading you right that you want to go tomorrow already?', Mary asked a bit surprised. How did she know? Usually he was very careful to keep his thoughts to himself, out of his eyes. Maybe the tone of his voice, he had been a bit sloppy with that. He nodded.

'Well, if you feel ready, I'm fine with it.' Good, he didn't know if he could change her mind, find the words to do so. 'Then to the other matter I wanted to talk with you about. As you probably know, Dr Harrison said we need to apply a healing salve to your wounds for a few more days.'

'Dr Harrison already did it this morning', he intercepted her before she could ask him to do anything.

'So, tomorrow morning, then. I guess you don't want Richard to do it.' It wasn't a question, but he shook his head anyway, hesitating at first. 'Are you comfortable with me helping you?' He turned his head away. He couldn't say no, but didn't want to agree either. Thus he just nodded. He had another night to figure out what to do, to prepare himself.

'Alright. Do you want the door to be open over night?' Another shake of his head. 'Anything else I can do for you?'

'Would it be alright if I sleep without a shirt?', he blurted out before he realized what he was doing. Asking for something. An adult! Had he gone mad now? He was about to apologize, try to avoid what was sure to come, when Mrs Evans interrupted him.

'Of course, if you like. It's not a problem', she said, smiling warmly. That smile irritated him a bit, though he didn't let it show. As did her general reaction. Well, the Evans family was different to his own, he supposed. She wished him a good night after that and left, closing the door behind her.

Severus slept fitfully. On one hand he was glad to have his own room again, alone. In hospital he had to share it with his mother, who had insisted to stay overnight. He hadn't minded that much, he just wasn't used to it. On the other hand he didn't know what to expect from Lily's parents. Would they come into his room in the middle of the night? Probably with good intentions, check if he was alright. His father had not. It made him wake up at every sound outside. But they didn't come.

When he opened his eyes it was still dark outside, stars visible through the window, thanks to a cloudless night. Only once had he seen the stars at night, summer three and a half years ago, when he had run away. One night of freedom. Relatively, the worries about his mother had kept him awake.

It was no use to go back to sleep, so he got up and put his shirt back on. He checked the bed for stains and found none. Good, he didn't want Mrs Evans to be angry because he'd bloodied their sheets. Severus walked over to the table and sat down, looking out of the window, watching the stars. He couldn't understand why most people didn't like the night. It was quiet, calm, and offered plenty of opportunity to hide. Unless, of course, you were trapped inside with a drunk of a father who hated you. That part he didn't like, either.

All to soon the sky faded from dark blue to grey. Only a few minutes more and Mrs Evans would come to wake him up, tell him to get ready for school. Probably ask again if he really wanted to go. He wouldn't change his mind, not even to avoid some of the teacher's pity, as they surely knew why he'd been absent for a week.