35 – The Train to Cambridge

Snape felt compelled to warn Voldemort about the new Christmas Challenge judge, Miss Rouge Arrow, whom he'd never heard of until now and was shrouded in complete mystery, but as he made his way to Slytherin, the urgency in his step started to slow, and that sinking feeling was creeping in again commandeering all of his thoughts. Lily. How was he going to tell Lily he couldn't go to the Yule Ball? His mind began to drift…

This time Snape saw himself not at the Spinner's End Carnival, which had ended the day before, but at the town's train station. He was sitting on a bench in front of the Stansted Line and could see the carnival debris scattered everywhere (the town square was paces away), half of it being flyers that advertised Caspian the Great's Walk on Water, where the magician literally walked across a large water tank, never once dipping below the surface. The illusion was so good that all of Spinner's End was buzzing about it, except for Snape, of course.

He was unimpressed, at best, after noticing the mostly transparent pillars spaced apart in the water tank. Caspian's crew had done a great job hiding them from the audience, but Snape was an audience of one, and he always came to the carnival before anyone arrived—especially to watch the magicians setup.

The tracks started to shake on the Stansted line, and the train was finally in. Snape immediately boarded, taking a window seat and pulling out a copy of a black, weathered book to a page about the Fourth Deadly Curse. This one wasn't so much about casting the Dark Tourist, but it discussed how to prevent it.

Harry sat next to Snape on the train and was trying to guess his age. He was a boy still, ten or eleven perhaps, nearly ready to go to Hogwarts. "You were reading this stuff already?" Harry mused. He looked around the train, which wasn't very different from the Hogwarts Express.

"Tuney, stop pouting!" Just then, Lily boarded the same car with her sister, sitting two rows ahead of Snape's. Harry couldn't tell if his mom even saw the potions master.

"This is going to be fun!" continued Lily. "Everyone said Caspian walked on water last night."

"I don't want to ride a train two hours to see a stupid magic trick."

Lily sighed. "Well, it's what we're doing today since we couldn't go last night, so try to have some fun. I have some money for the food cart."

"I don't want lousy train food," sneered Petunia.

"She's right."

Harry whipped his head to the side. Snape had hidden the Fourth Deadly Curse book already and was turned in Lily's direction.

"Oh, hello." Lily took a hand through her red hair, almost as if to straighten it. "We've been bumping into you a lot lately."

Snape blushed and didn't say anything.

"He's a freak."

"Tuney! Stop that right now! Severus has been nice to us."

Snape didn't seem to hear the comment from Petunia. He was beaming. Harry guessed that it was probably because his mother remembered his name.

"Well, she's right about Caspian the Great. It's not a very good trick."

"See!" shouted Petunia. "Even the frea—even he agrees with me."

Lily sighed. "Severus, would you like to sit with us?"

Snape didn't need to be asked twice; he sat next to Lily if it were his main purpose in life. He could have done without Petunia facing them, a small table being the only buffer between he and Lily and her extremely-extremely-tough-to-like sister, but it would do. "Thanks," said Snape, turning to Lily. "This is going to be a long ride today."

"Oh, I never asked. Are you headed to Stansted too?"

"No, I'm going to Cambridge. There's an… exhibit I want to see at the Fitzwilliam Museum."

"What kind of exhibit?"

Snape paused for a moment, and his hand instinctively patted the book underneath his clothing to make sure that it was there. "It's a rare silver collection that supposedly has magical properties."

The train door opened, and two people stepped on out of breath. Snape gave them a quick glance, but they must not have registered very firmly, for they were blurry figures in the memory. Harry recognized one of them to be Dumbledore and the other as Miss Rouge Arrow—he'd only seen blurry likenesses of her thus far. They sat a few rows behind Snape, Lily, and Petunia, and the conversation they shared must have registered just enough in Snape's subconscious because Harry could faintly hear what they were saying.

Dumbledore quietly said to Rouge Arrow, "He's the one I was telling you about."

"You really think he'll be a powerful wizard?" she asked.

Dumbledore didn't answer right away. "It's not a question of powerful. It's more of a question of which direction his heart will fall. I believe you watch tennis, Miss Rouge Arrow. Imagine match point coming down to a ball that hits the net, teetering on it for seconds, before finally falling one way or the other."

"Ah. And you don't know which way the ball will fall, do you?"

"I really don't know. But I did catch wind of Severus's interest in the Dark Tourist, and wanted to bring you along given your history with the Fitzwilliam Museum. I want to understand more of his interest in this curse."

Just then their voices started to break up, slowly fading from Snape's subconscious. The last thing Harry could make out was Miss Rouge Arrow saying, "My family's silver collection does have magical properties. And it can stop the Dark Tourist. It was something I figured out as a girl…"

With that, Dumbledore and Rouge Arrow faded from the scene entirely, occasionally coming back into partial view, some of their discussion audible, other parts sounding mumbled.

Meanwhile, Snape was explaining to Lily and Petunia why Caspian the Great wasn't so, well, great. "He doesn't do any real magic."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Petunia. "Of course he can't do any real magic. Only freaks like you believe—"

"Well, that's where you are clearly wrong," he snapped back.

"Look, the food cart!" Lily interrupted the conversation. "Do you want something, Tuney?"

"Allow me. It's my treat," said Snape.

"Oh, I couldn't let you."

"I insist. It's nice to be able to ride with you today."

Lily giggled a little and flashed a smile. Hers was one straight out of a romance novel that could light up an entire room. In this case, it lit the Stansted line train car out of Spinner's End, and they all could feel it. "I can't believe this," said Petunia. "You like him."

"Tuney! Stop being so damn rude!"

Petunia raised an eyebrow and didn't say anything. Her sister never cursed.

Snape was gushing with excitement as he handed them the Smarties, vinegar and salt chips, ham and cheese sandwiches, and Cokes from the food cart. One of the sandwiches looked old and stale, so he gave that one to Petunia. They ate the meal mostly in silence, save Petunia's occasional nagging about how ridiculous Caspian the Great was.

After the meal, food coma set in, and Petunia began to slump in her seat.

Harry could read Snape's eyes, willing her to fall asleep. He wasn't sure if the potions master could summon a sleeping charm this early in his life. Either way, he got his wish when Petunia's head fell gently on the sidewall, eyes firmly shut.

Snape started to turn to Lily, but her head fell onto his shoulder—she'd fallen asleep as well. Harry chuckled at the expression on Snape's face. If he weren't on a train, he would've guessed that it was his wedding day. Severus Snape had a smile ear to ear, and Harry was pretty sure that in that moment, he was the happiest boy in Britain.

He stayed that way for the next hour, all the way to the stop in Cambridge. When it was announced over the train PA system, he finally had to nudge Lily and tell her it was his stop.

She was a little startled at having fallen asleep on his shoulder, but when they exchanged a look, they just knew. No apologies needed. Something was there between them.

"Do you want to continue on with us to Stansted? I mean, I know you hate Caspian the Great and all, and I know you have that thing at the Fitzinator Museum and—"

"It's Fitzwilliam," said Snape.

"Oh, right. Sorry, the Fitzwilliam Museum. But you're welcome to join us."

Snape drifted off to another place for a moment, and Harry could only guess how he was weighing the decision to learn more about the Dark Tourist versus spend the rest of the day with Lily. He seemed to be agonizing over it.

Miss Rouge Arrow and Dumbledore faded back into view for a moment. Harry could hear Dumbledore whisper, "This will be telling."

"Last call for Cambridge," came over the train's PA system.

"I think I should go." The words came out of Snape as if he were being tortured. "But thank you, really."

"Oh okay. Sure, no worries." Lily looked a little hurt and pulled her hands through her hair.

"I guess I'll see you back home," offered Snape.

"Yeah. I'm sure we'll meet again soon," she said.

Harry could hear Dumbledore sigh as Snape walked off the train. If Dumbledore and Rouge Arrow followed, he would never know, since they again faded out of Snape's memory.

Harry quickened his pace to catch Snape, who was now already through the train station and out onto the streets of Cambridge. In the background, the train was billowing clouds of black smoke into the air for its next departure, Stansted.

Snape suddenly stopped and turned around. He looked to the ground for a moment, and then charged back towards the train station. Harry didn't move. He could see Snape arguing with someone about buying a ticket, then charging through the turnstile, but by the time he reached the tracks, the train was already gone.

By the time Snape came back into view moments later, the potions master was visibly distraught. He shook his head and lowered it, mumbling a few wizard swears under his breath, as he disappeared into Cambridge alone.

Harry didn't follow him. He didn't need to. "Dumbledore was right," he said. "That was telling indeed."