Severus stood frozen in front of the door to his home on Spinner's End.
Should he knock? Should he just walk in? What if they weren't there? What if they were? What if they knew something was off about him?
Not that his father would notice, but his mother might...maybe.
He steeled himself with all the courage he could muster and walked in the door like he would own it someday.
He didn't know why he felt disappointed that everything wasn't where he left it. It had reverted to the way it was before his parents had died. Well, they were still alive after all…
He felt like a stranger who had broken into the home of an unhappy couple. Unsurprisingly accurate for the situation.
His father was zoned out in his chair watching the telly and a half empty bottle of whiskey was hanging from his fingertips. His mother was in the kitchen mechanically cutting up something to throw in a pot without making a sound besides the knife on the board.
Neither of them noticed him, or cared that he had entered. He wasn't exactly quiet while dragging his trunk through the door so they had to know someone came in.
He felt more like a ghost than their son.
Severus made his way up the stairs to his room. He dumped his trunk on his bed in order to sort through it. Making a pile for everything that needed washed, including his current clothes. Afterward, he rummaged around his room and found some clean pants, a t-shirt with a band logo and some tattered jeans that were once his fathers. More searching rewarded him with his favorite belt he had forgotten existed (and briefly wondered what happened to in his other life) and some socks that he deemed 'clean enough' for the moment. Finally he unearthed his jacket that had all sorts of interesting things in the pockets that his younger self had treasured.
It was still early evening by the time he put everything else away. He decided to go for a walk to clear his head so he slipped on his trainers and stuffed his wand into his jeans.
He trotted down the stairs only to be stopped by his mother at the bottom.
"And where do you think you're going? You just got home."
No thanks to you… "For a walk?"
"No, you're not. Go set the table."
Should he pull the teenager sass card on his mother? ...Best not, she could still make his life miserable and that would ruin his summer plans.
"Yes, Mum."
He followed her back to the kitchen and set the table for three. When he finished he stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, trying not to be in her way but waiting for more orders from his reacquainted overlord. He was unsuccessful in that she almost crashed into him with the stew. She looked more annoyed than Mr. Evans had. "Go fetch your father before he starts complaining."
He nodded and retreated to the living room where his father was still slumped in the chair exactly as he was little more than an hour ago. The only sign he had moved was the whiskey bottle was almost empty now.
Severus stopped between the man and the telly.
Tobias scowled at his son.
"Mum says dinner's ready."
"You're in the way, boy."
Severus scowled back at him and returned to the kitchen. He was pretty sure he heard his father utter something like: 'useless boy.'
He ignored him and and sat himself next to his mother and they silently ate without the man in the other room.
Afterward, he cleaned his dishes and escaped out the back door before his mother could stop him.
He walked with no direction in mind, he just wanted to walk.
And breathe.
He ended up at the playground where he first met Lily. There were some children playing so he wandered over to a nearby field and lay in the grass to stare up at the clouds.
His parents were alive. It was bizarre, more bizarre than everything else for some reason. And it sucked.
As bad as it sounded, he wished he didn't have to deal with them, especially knowing what was coming… He didn't even know if he could stop it. And if he could, he didn't know if he wanted to.
Why bother though...Because they are his parents and he should love them. Did he love them? He wasn't sure about that either.
It was unfortunate how long he would have to wait to do anything.
He couldn't do anything about the Horcruxes yet.
He couldn't break the curse on the Defense position without being at school. He couldn't research anything outside of his school books unless he found a way to a wizarding library. He couldn't even teach Lily occlumency yet, she was busy readjusting to muggle life, just like him. She would probably want to hang out in a couple days.
...He needed a job, with the thirty-first of July off. Harry bloody Potter's birthday, nice date choice for your party Malfoy.
Irony was painful.
He sat up and marched his way to the town center. Most of the shops would be closed but he could scout out his potential options.
He mostly just wanted to kill time until it was dark so he could go back home and to bed without being bothered by either of his new (but old...in more than one way) housemates. Perhaps if he was lucky he could find some potion ingredients as well. He had plenty of small containers in his jacket pockets to fill up.