Severus did not sleep.

The boggart stirred around four again, startling him out of his notes.

Right, he had to do something about that as well...and he had until Friday to figure out what. That meant he had two more days.

"You'll be quiet today, won't you?" He whispered, fully expecting no reply.

There was none.

"If you're good, I'll even let you out into the closet." He continued.

There was another thunk and it caught him just enough off guard he jumped again.

"Bloody hell." He breathed.

It was an hour too early for work, but it would allow him time before his father woke up to get ready and leave the house. He could kill an hour or so before he needed to be there out of Tobias' reach.

Severus put away his journal and banished his flame. He showered and dressed similarly to the day before, though this time he finished in a much more efficient time.

Since he still had a half hour to spare, he headed down to quietly make something to eat. Between skipping supper and not sleeping, he would need it.

After rummaging through the kitchen, making sure there was no pause in the light snoring from the living room, Severus made a pot of coffee, tea for himself, and enough sausage, toast and eggs for everyone once they woke.

He did it for his mother, one less thing for her to worry about today since he had the time to spare. For all he cared, Tobias could suffer, but not at her expense.

He sat himself at the table and practically inhaled his breakfast. As he cleaned his plate, he heard someone descending the stairs. He had hoped to be gone before anyone woke.

"Good morning, mother." Severus said quietly without turning around.

She was silent until he set his dishes to dry and turned towards her. She was staring at the table.

"Did you make breakfast?"

"Obviously." He drawled.

She frowned at him.

He picked up his bag and headed towards the door. "There's fresh coffee in the pot, I daresay the rest is self explanatory."

She still had no verbal response for him so he left her stunned in the middle of the room.

He kissed her cheek and headed toward the front door. "I promise to be home at a decent hour today." He said on his way out.

Severus was halfway down the street when he realized what he had done. That was the first time since he was ten that he'd shown any affection towards his mother. Well...someone should, Tobias wasn't about to start anytime soon.

Perhaps that's why…nevermind.

He stopped at the playground to sit on a swing and go over his notes.

He had a few theories, but he had no way to test any of them. It was frustrating to not have access to many potions ingredients during the summer, hopefully he could use his 'cloak fund' for some. He also didn't have a werewolf on hand to experiment on. He would have poked at Lupin more if he'd had the bloody time.

That was one thing he had now, that his older self didn't. Time.

If he had resources too, he could do just about anything. And have time to spare! What the hell was he doing before?

Getting seduced by death eaters...

Moving on…

He scrawled a quick note about a possible alternate ingredient and headed off to work.

The workday went as expected and Mr. Courtney was still weird. Severus learned a few new things that he had not encountered the day before, but he picked it up in no time.

Park tried to theorize more about the 'living nightmare' with him, convinced that was the beast they were tracking in the woods. Severus had to remind him that he was not going to be helping them with their monster hunt any longer. Luckily they only had a small overlap in their shifts for Park to annoy him.

When he arrived home, the front door was yanked open before he had the chance to grab for it.

He withdrew his hand. "Afternoon, Mum."

"Sit." She ordered.

He entered the house slowly to make himself comfortable on the sofa.

Eileen joined him at the other end, as was their usual seating arrangement when Tobias wasn't home.

"Am I actually grounded?" He asked.

She let his words hang in the air while staring at the floor by her feet. It was a long time before she finally spoke. "No."

He frowned. "Okay."

They spent what felt like an age in silence.

He slowly stood and she indicated no intention to stop him. Severus returned shortly with two cups of tea, handed one to her and returned to his seat.

"How old are you?"

What sort of question is that? "Have you actually forgotten?"

She gave him a blank look.

Oh. So that's what this is about… She believes me?

He cleared his throat. "I was thirty-seven when I died."

His mother did not ask him any more. She was apparently having trouble processing the information she was given while sipping her tea.