In the morning before work he noted that Amun's feathers were, in fact, showing signs of improvement. Severus wore a satisfied smirk as he readied himself. The owl would be patchless by the end of the month.
He was determined to let nothing spoil his good mood, not even Jethro Park.
It was also payday.
Before he left the shop at noon, Mr. Courtney gave him his cheque and a somewhat decent cut of pork that he could not sell the following week since it had a bit of freezer burn. Severus expressed his gratitude and made for the door, but the boy who had pestered him about magicians all week pulled him to the side to show him a sleight of hand trick he had been practicing.
"Thats...cute, Park." He said before swiftly departing the premises.
Eileen could not be bothered to take him to London, though he could practically see her plotting different meals around the pork he brought home.
Since he did not want to lose the blasted cheque or, gods forbid, accidentally destroy the thing, he cashed it at muggle bank with the teller who now had a habit of glaring at him. Severus kept a small portion as spending money, but the rest would go straight to Gringotts once the opportunity arose..
On his way out of the town center he intercepted a stray ginger on her way to the library. He tagged along and they browsed for anything new and interesting. Lily did end up checking out a fiction called The Space Vampires, though he thought the very idea ridiculous.
If she found it amusing perhaps he would give it a go anyway.
Unfortunately, she was expected home by her father after her little library trip, so their time together that day was cut short.
He did, however, convince her to let him buy her a treat with his newfound riches.
She led him to the little grocery store, not the bakery like he expected, and picked out a small orange wrapped candy.
"I do love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups." She said with a smirk. "Thank you, Sev."
Remembering the name from when it was the headmaster's password, he grabbed one for himself to try.
Chocolate was alright, as say: cake or in a pastry. By itself in a bar or filled with peanut butter, he could live without. Lily could enjoy the little discs of disappointment without him.
He lay in the grass in the middle of a field debating how cross his mother would be if he managed to get himself to London.
Footsteps approached.
"What do you want, Bauers?"
The boy stopped a few paces away. "How'd you know it was me?"
"Lucky guess. You've made a habit of crossing my path lately."
He inched closer. "I guess that's true...Can we talk?"
"No."
"Okay."
Instead of leaving, the boy sat down next to him.
"Are you trying to annoy me? Because it's working."
Bauers sighed. "Look, your dad has been at my house all week. Kimmy won't even come over anymore since he's always there...I know he's upset... and it's different than usual. My dad has been trying to talk to him about it...He's not even drunk."
"How nice, you should enjoy that while it lasts."
Bauers shifted uncomfortably. "When my...when my mom left-"
"Keep your sob stories to yourself, I'm not interested."
Bauers sat with him in silence for a while.
Arguably, not silent for long enough.
"...You know, after last week with everything that happened...you're not at all like I thought, like he says you are...You're kind of cool."
"Congratulations, you have managed to perform independent thought."
He scoffed. "You're kind of a prick too."
"Package deal."
The boy huffed a laugh.
Severus pushed himself up into a sitting position. "It is...unfortunate he's now decided to inconvenience your life instead of mine, but I don't actually have any control of the man. He left...and he's not really my responsibility to keep track of."
"Yeah, I know, it's just...I had hoped you'd at least try to collect him I suppose…"
Severus suppressed a cackle. "Yes, because he has always done as I've asked him. It always worked out well, and I never got the belt for being 'disrespectful' or whatever tripe my crime of the day happened to be."
Bauers slowly decoded the sarcasm.
"It's your house, Bauers, you are completely within your right to tell him to leave. The worst he can do is get angry, I doubt your dad would let him beat you."
"Either way, I don't exactly want him to hate me…"
"Then be polite about it." He lay back down in the grass. "Would you leave me alone?"
"Yeah...sure." The boy stood. "And sorry about Jet, I didn't think he'd start obsessing over magic tricks. I know he's been pestering you..."
"Like my father is not my responsibility, Park is not yours. He will figure out sooner or later that I have no desire to be his 'magic buddy' and then maybe I'll find him tolerable at work again. Or I'll strangle him, I haven't decided yet."
A look of concern crossed his features. "Was that a joke?"
Severus pinched the bridge of his nose in mild frustration. "Yes, Bauers, that was a joke. Now...please go, I officially have no more patience to deal with your company."
"I-...okay." The boy left.
It was only a few minutes later he thought it was as good of time as any to head home himself.
