Mudbloods
Petunia was disgusted when that boy showed up at the gates to the estate community.
Severus had walked several blocks to the bus stop, taken the bus into Manchester around 8 a.m. and then, after a wait of about an hour and a half, the train into London. From there, he had taken the tube to the London Euston station, where he had picked up yet another bus to Lewisham after another wait of about half an hour, since the tube didn't go as far as that borough. And then, finally, he had walked the last six blocks to the two-story, ten-flat building where the Evanses lived, passing one identical building after another, each neatly surrounded by a hedge, until he reached the one distinguished only by having the correct number on the building. The whole trip had taken him most of the day and it was now after 4 p.m.
His greasy hair was tied back in a red bandanna and his black T-shirt was drenched with sweat from taking crowded, un-air-conditioned public transport in August of one of the hottest, driest summers in years. His Hogwarts gear and the potions he was intending to sell on Diagon Alley were stuffed into an army issue backpack from the surplus store, that he had slung over his back. The Princes had made excuses about Apparating him and his trunk to London this time, especially since it would be no trouble to take the train and he could stay at a friend's place while he did his school shopping in Diagon Alley. Of course, it would have been nearly impossible to man-handle his Hogwarts trunk onto two buses, a train and the tube and then carry it single-handedly for six blocks. And it wasn't as if he had a lot to take to Hogwarts anyway. The only awkward thing had been his cauldron, which he'd had to carry in his arms, and he'd had to endure glares and pushing on account of it.
Petunia wasn't about to let the weirdo in herself. "Lily," she called. "Your vampire is here to see you!"
That wasn't quite fair, because he was wearing perfectly ordinary flared jeans and a T-shirt. He looked much more like a vampire in his black robes. But she said it anyway to annoy Lily.
"Dammit, Petunia, why can't you just let him in instead of making him wait for me?" Lily growled back, as she rushed past her sister on the way to the gate. Before she slammed the door to their flat, she called over her shoulder, "And he's NOT a vampire!"
She ran down a flight of stairs and out the main entrance of their building. From there, it was just a few steps across the tiny fringe of grass, yellowed because of the drought and the ban on watering, to the gate in the hedge. In a motion she could do blindfolded in her sleep, she shook the correct key out of her key ring by feel, unlocked the gate and turned the lever to open it in one fluid motion. "This way," she said and after a glance over her shoulder to make sure he was following her, she retraced her steps back to the main entrance.
Another key, another lock, this time a knob instead of a lever and they were actually in the building. Severus looked around with some curiosity as they climbed the stairs. Lily's council estate building wasn't like the closely arranged company houses of Spinner's End, nor yet like the ones they had in Manchester - council towers with several floors of flats.
"You can dump your bag and cauldron here," Lily said, waving to some space on the floor by the coat rack / umbrella stand. "Right. Then here's the tour."
"There's the loo and the shower," she said, waving toward a door on the right of the sitting room / entrance hall. "Down that hall are Mum and Dad's room on the left, and Petunia and my room on the right. And straight through here is the kitchen." As she said that last, she led Severus into the kitchen, which was big enough to fit a table and four chairs. "You get the sofa at night."
She waved Severus to a chair and put on a kettle to boil, then pulled out bread and butter and a tin of sardines and set them on the table. "Hungry?" she asked.
"Starved," he answered, reaching for the bread and sardines. "I didn't pack any food for the trip."
"That was stupid," Lily noted. She grabbed another tin of sardines and a bag of crisps and sat down at the table to watch Severus eat. When the kettle whistled, Lily got up to make the tea and then brought the teapot and a couple of cups over to the table. She poured herself a cup, then pushed the teapot over to Severus, who served himself while she added sugar to her own cup.
"Thanks," he said, when he had finished. "Any chance of a shower? I must be pretty disgusting by now."
"Just a sec," Lily said, then called out, "Petunia! You've got five minutes to use the loo. Severus's going to take a shower."
"I'm fine," huffed Petunia from the girls' room down the hall. "But don't you think you ought to wait until Mum gets home?"
Severus raised an eyebrow in question and Lily just rolled her eyes. "I'm not worried," she called back. "I have you here to protect my virtue." He smirked at that, then went over to his backpack and pulled out some clean Muggle clothes and a plastic bottle of Palmolive that served him as both soap and shampoo.
Lily looked at the clock on the wall. "Five minutes up," she called. "Last chance."
When there was no response from the hall, she nodded to Severus and he made his way to the bathroom.
When he came out again, he was wearing a green and black plaid button down shirt, black Sta-Prest Levis and black loafers.
Florence was in the spare room, which looked a bit like a mad scientist's lab from a Dr. Who episode. The Altair's red lights were blinking uselessly while bits and pieces of electronics lay scattered over a wooden plank set over two sawhorses. Her home-built radio was hissing static over a barely audible music program while she contentedly took apart a digital clock. It was her brother's, the one who was still at college, not the one who was married and living in America, and it was broken, which is why he had given it to her.
Mum was spending a few days with her sister. Dad would be home from work soon. He was bringing carry-out for dinner, as they had done yesterday after Mum had left and would do tomorrow and the next day, until Mum came back. Florence was hoping for curry this time.
By the time Mrs. Evans had gotten home from work, stopping to pick up some groceries on the way, Lily had dinner started. Half an hour later, Mr. Evans came home and the five of them sat down to eat. There wasn't room in the kitchen for an extra chair, so Lily and Severus took their plates out to the sitting room. Severus sat on one end of the sofa, while Lily sat on the nearby chair.
After dinner, Petunia went to the kitchen to clean up, since Lily had prepared dinner. Mr. and Mrs. Evans went into the sitting room to watch the news on the telly. Lily and Severus went to the girls' room to listen to the stereo.
Lily put on the Sheer Heart Attack album. It was quite different from the music Severus heard at his Uncle Rafe's house. To judge from his cousins, most Muggle teenagers around Manchester were into Motown, although Jenny had just discovered a weird band called the Sex Pistols.
He had the Anderson's house. This should be a piece of cake - an underage Mudblood witch and her filthy Muggle parents. The Death Eater broke into the house with a simple Alohomora. Then he stalked through room after room, blasting furniture when it seemed that no one was at home. Finally he noticed noise coming from the basement. Wand at the ready, he went downstairs, straight into Florence's workshop.
Florence looked up from the guts of the clock, into the eyes of a masked wizard with his wand leveled at her. "Stupefy!, she heard, then rolled under the table.
The first song was Brighton Rock, a fluffy, somewhat silly song with an old fashioned feel to it, as if it could be something Uncle Rafe might listen to. He could imagine the "holiday" quite well. Before his mum had died, the Snapes had taken day trips to the coast at Blackpool in the summer and his cousin wasn't the only Muggle girl he knew named Jenny.
Then a different lead singer came to the fore. He recognized the voice and the song, Killer Queen. It must have been something he'd heard on the radio at Uncle Rafe's, since he was sure his cousins had no records by Queen. The words were both clever and sarcastic - a combination he greatly approved.
The next song, Tenement Funster, featured yet a third lead singer. The change to the harsh fuzzy sound and rough cocky voice on this song took him by surprise. It made him think of the members of a local gang.
When the fourth song came on, Flick of the Wrist, they were back to the lead singer from Killer Queen and back to clever and sarcastic.
Motown music made an acceptable background and his cousins declared it eminently danceable. The Sex Pistols were just noise, as far as he was concerned. But Queen-them he could get used to. Not for the first time he wondered if there were some way to make electricity work in a magical environment. He wouldn't mind having a stereo of his own.
Florence felt a bit fuzzy, but most of the spell's power had met interference from all the electrical devices on the table, in addition to the usual electrical background of a Muggle house. She upended the table onto the wizard and ran out to the laundry room, which was right next to the main line bringing electricity into the house. There was also a phone there. She called the police, then hid behind the water heater next to the main power line.
It took some time before the Death Eater could limp away after her. Something had bruised his shin when the table and various loose electronics had pelted him. Then his wand had made an interesting booming sound and set off a shower of black and red sparks, temporarily blinding and deafening him, when it had touched the computer chip that was the heart of the Altair.
He spent some time searching for her, but Disapparated when he heard the sirens.
Petunia, finished with cleaning up, flounced into the bedroom with a look of disdain for the song that was just ending. "You're not listening to that again, are you?" she sniffed. She sat on her bed and began looking at the latest issue of Jackie Magazine. She still had the Donny Osmond poster tacked to the wall from the August 8th issue.
"Does that mean you're offering to let me play your "Bay City Rollers?" Lily answered with mock sweetness. Then, in a voice that meant business, added, "We made a deal. I get to listen to my music while Severus is here. Unless you want to return the earrings I gave you."
Her sister answered with a huff and turned her back to her freak sister and the vampire.
Mr. Anderson came home to broken furniture and broken glass and a team from the Ministry of Magic. A couple of people were repairing the damage, while one witch gently led him to the sofa, already repaired, to sit next to Florence.
So far, so good. The outside gate had responded with no problem to her Alohomora, as had the lock on the main door to the unit. Up the stairs, down the hall. Ah, there it was. Yet another lock to take care of and she stepped into the sitting room, where two Muggles were watching pictures on a box. She was a bit surprised - she hadn't thought the Muggles had pictures that could move. The man turned to tell her to leave, but his face paled when he recognized the wand. "Get out!" screamed the woman sitting next to him, then she gasped as green light hit her husband and he collapsed on the sofa next to her. She got up and launched herself on the witch, but was nowhere near close enough or fast enough. Mrs. Evans was next to crumple under the witch's Avada Kedavra.
The teenagers in the girls' room heard Mrs. Evans scream. "Sissy," Severus summoned. Neither he nor Lily knew how to Apparate yet. He hoped he would be able to summon the house-elf, even though it wasn't one of the days she was at Spinner's End.
"Maybe it's just a Muggle," suggested Lily hopefully. She and Severus together, with their wands, were more than a match for any Muggle, even with electrical interference. Which reminded her. "Petunia, shut off the stereo and the light," she barked in a tone that brooked no opposition. The less interference the better.
"And maybe it's not," answered Severus. "As soon as the door opens, we both do the Disarming Spell at the same time. Protego won't block a Killing Curse."
"Right," said Lily grimly. "Petunia, under the bed."
They heard Alohomora and the door sprang open. Lily and Severus shouted Expelliarmus and directed a force at the intruder that should have knocked her against the wall. With the electrical interference, it didn't do that, but it did manage to knock her wand out of her hand and send it skittering across the floor and under one of the beds. Within easy reach of Petunia.
Lily's sister stared at the wooden rod with a look of abject terror. Then she was overcome with rage. How dare one of those freaks break into their flat and threaten her with their unnatural powers! The wand seemed to call to her. How long had she wanted to -. Petunia grabbed the wand, imagining it was her sister's, and broke it in two. Then the world exploded.
Sissy arrived in time to place a powerful stasis spell on Petunia, until they could get her to St. Mungo's. The house-elf made short work of the Death Eater, easily immobilizing the wandless witch.
The Ministry of Magic teams were very busy that day. There had been Death Eater attacks on five Muggle-born households. 14 people were dead, including one Hogwarts student.
Mr. and Mrs. Anderson pulled Florence out of Hogwarts and moved his family to the States, where their oldest son lived with his family.
Mr. and Mrs. Evans recovered after a stint at St. Mungo's. The Death Eater's Killing Curse hadn't been quite strong enough to kill. Petunia also recovered, after a somewhat lengthier stay.