Disclaimer: Not mine, sob, sob.

Turmoil

Eileen discreetly cast another feather-light spell on the trunk since the last one had worn off sometime during the year at Hogwarts, pulling his now lightened trunk. Severus followed his mother to a nearby alley that was deserted of people.

'This alley is encompassed into the same Muggle-Repelling Charm that Platform 9 ¾ is concealed with. Since it is so close to the station, wizarding families that have no other way of getting home can use this alley to call The Knight Bus safely.' His mother explained lifting her wand high in the air so that with a deafening BANG, an obnoxiously bright purple massive triple-decker bus, violently slammed on its breaks right in front of them.

The ride home was just as violent and uncomfortable as Severus remembered it to be. He held onto a nearby candle bracket and kept a firm grip on his trunk while he tried to valiantly stop himself from losing his lunch or even falling over.

After arriving home Severus noticed immediately that things hadn't changed even a little, his father was still as cantankerous as always, starting in on Severus no sooner than having walked through the door.

'Yer finally came 'ome did yer? Fought you was too good ter show yer face 'ere. Couldn't those namby-pambies keep yer all year?' Tobias sneered.

Severus winced, pulling his trunk in behind him. When Tobias was drunk he would at least mumble some half-hearted, backhanded compliment to him, but when he was sober Tobias was an aggressive, domineering antagonist of an old geezer. As far as Tobias was concerned, having a wizard as a son was a matter of the deepest regret. Severus wasn't a normal person like his father. He was like his mother Eileen, someone capable of using magic. Severus was a wizard - a wizard fresh from his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

'Why yer draggen yer truck if yer such a big wizard now? Why ain't yer magicked it with yer wand like the Freak that yer are?'

His mother pushed past him in a fit of pique. 'British witches and wizards between the ages of eleven and seventeen are not permitted to use magic outside of Hogwarts as legislated in the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery.' His mother hissed.

'Yer think I care about yer snobby rules! What with you swannin' all over the place who knows where. The least the boy could do is make my life easier around 'ere!'

'SEVERUS, IS NOT YOUR SLAVE!' His mother screeched loudly

'THEN YER FREAKS AINT GOOD FER NOTHIN'!' His father's hurtful bellow followed Severus as he hightailed it back out the front door bringing his trunk along with him. Not for the first time, an argument had broken out at number 13 Spinners' End.

Severus sighed as he towed his trunk down the road to the Evans' house He was just now coming to realise that his father may never love him because Severus wasn't a normal boy. As a matter of fact, he was as not normal as it is possible to be. He was a wizard - a wizard fresh from his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A magic-user just like his mother, someone who his father saw as tricking him into an unhappy marriage.

Severus trudged down the street past the park spotting the empty Evans house not far in front of him, but looking forward to being around people who actually cared about him, wishing they had used a faster mode of travel Severus happily anticipated when he could finally be in a less volatile home.

As Severus sat on top of his trunk waiting for the Evans' to come home, Severus felt that he missed Hogwarts so much it was like having a constant stomach ache. Despite having to put up with Potters' gang, Severus missed Hogwarts, with its secret passageways and ghosts, his classes, the mail arriving by owl and his raven, eating banquets in the Great Hall and sleeping in his four-poster bed in his dormitory. But what he would miss the most was being able to do magic. All Severus' spell books, his wand, robes, cauldron, had been meticulously packed away in his trunk and the only thing he would be allowed to do was his summer homework.

Roughly just under two hours later headlights shone in Severus' eyes as the Evans' van pulled into their driveway. Squeals of joy pierced through the silence of the evening as four girls burst out of the van and tackled Severus, making him fall off his trunk onto the rough ground beneath him acting as though they hadn't seen him in forever. Severus blushed in embarrassment being pinned down underneath them all.

'Honestly girls! What on earth are you doing?' Mrs Evans asked, standing over them with her hands on her hips. 'Would you be so kind as to get off of poor Severus? You're going to suffocate him!'

'Sorry mum!' all four girls chorused, gently removing themselves from the tangle of arms and legs they ended up as.

'Princess! Lily bug! Don't forget to bring in the barn owl and Edelweiss.' Mr Evans called back over his shoulder after he had unlocked the front door.

Petunia and Lily both bounced over to the car and carefully pulled a large owl cage out of the boot, from where Severus was lying on the ground he could see his small black Raven nestled in next to E.B.O on the perch inside the cage.

'Richard and I thought that it would be safer for Edelweiss to travel inside the owl cage' said Mrs Evans smiling, then grabbing hold of Severus' arm, she helped him to his feet and brought him into a quick hug.

Stepping out of Mrs Evans embrace, Severus lugged his trunk up to the attic, nestling it in at the end of his bed. On the way back down from the attic, Severus ran into Mr Evans who was walking out of Petunia's and Lily's room, having left Petunia's trunk at the end of her single bed, which was covered in some obnoxious pink duvet. Severus walked with Mr Evans' back down the stairs and out to the car.

'Do you need any help carrying Lily's trunk?' Severus asked nervously,

'Sure, I would appreciate the help' said Mr Evans with a knowing smile on his face, Severus looked at him confused because he had absolutely no idea what Mr Evans' was thinking.

Shrugging it off, for the time being, Severus grabbed a handle on one side of the trunk, and Mr Evans took hold of the one on the other side, after Mr Evans closed and locked the van, they both carefully traversed the house until Lily's trunk was at the end of her emerald green duvet covered bed. This had been the first time Severus had been in any of the girl's rooms, the walls were covered with a cream wallpaper with tiny flowers of all colours scattered all over it, in the room were also two standing wardrobes with drawers inside it.

'Everyone! Come and choose what you would like for dinner!' The voice of Mrs Evans echoed throughout the house.

Walking into the kitchen Severus was slightly confused about what they would be eating, on the table in front of him were red boxes with the words, Hamburger Helper written on them in white, at the end of the word Hamburger was a white smiling cartoon hand/glove holding a spoon, underneath the brand name was each of the flavours written in red on a gold banner.

'These meals usually feed two, depending on how much someone can eat. Since we have an uneven number, I'll need to share a meal with one of you kids. If you're alright eating a whole one yourself, Richard?' Mrs Evans asked politely

Mr Evans grinned in response. 'No problem, that just means I can have it as spicy as I like!' He strode over and picked up one of the boxes that said the flavour was Cheesy Enchilada.

'I like the sound of Cheddar Cheese Melt.' Petunia said after she had looked through the boxes and picked one up.

'Ooh,' Exclaimed Rose in an excited voice bouncing over to Petunia and looking at the box in her hands. 'I like the sound of that too! Can I share with you?'

'Of course!' Petunia said indulgently.

Lily and Tansy had both grabbed the same flavour of the table and giggled simultaneously, the packet they were holding was Four Cheese Lasagne. Which left Severus to share a meal with Mrs Evans.

'Go ahead dear, I'm not that fussy so why don't you pick out a flavour for us?' Mr Evans asked kindly

Going over to the table Severus perused the boxes on the table, not knowing how spicy some of them might be, he picked up one that was labelled Bacon Cheeseburger. 'How about this one Mrs Evans?' he asked

'That looks lovely dear, now why don't you all get changed out of your Hogwarts uniform while I cook Ricard's dinner. When you girls are changed, I'll need your help cooking the meals for everyone else.' Mrs Evans asked.

'Ok mum!' Chorused the four girls. Severus shook his head as the girls thundered out the room and up the stairs the sound echoing throughout the house. Walking out of the door at a more sedate pace, Severus made his way up to the attic, pulling out a dark green button-down shirt, and a pair of black jeans from his trunk he changed into them, once dressed he padded back down to the kitchen in his sock-covered feet, an amazing aroma was wafting through the house as Mrs Evans expertly threw ingredients into a skillet. Severus was shocked and confused about being the first one back to the kitchen seeing as the attic was the furthest away, Mrs Evans must have seen his face because he heard her chuckle.

'There is no need to worry dear, the girls should be down soon. Despite some of the girls not being too picky it still takes them a little longer to get changed, you may find one of the many differences between men and women is the time it takes to get ready.'

'There is one thing you can count on with women' Mr Evans said with a smile on his face

'Yes, dear? And what would that be?' Despite the narrowing of Mrs Evans eyes, she had a small smirk on her face and a teasing tone of voice.

'They'll make your life interesting and they tend to smell better than us men, ' Mr Evans said laughing, giving his wife a kiss on the cheek. Severus' eyebrows rose in astonishment as Mr Evans stood there placidly while Mrs Evans laughed musically and playfully swatted him the arm, and continued cooking his meal.

Not long after, the sound of thunderous echoing of feet and chattering came rumbling down the stairwell

'Sometimes I have to wonder how it was that rampaging animals have replaced our delicate little girls without us even noticing.' Mr Evans teased as the girls tumbled through the door.

'Daddy!' Lily exclaimed in mock outrage 'how do you expect us to be delicate little girls when you were the one who insisted on us all learning to box?'

Mr Evans grinned unrepentantly, 'If some hooligan tries to hurt you, there is nothing wrong with knowing how to defend yourself against them.'

Petunia grimaced as she washed her hands 'It is so uncivilised Father, I prefer not to be thought of as a barbarian'

Tansy rolled her eyes, 'I don't think anyone can confuse you with being a barbarian, Princess Tuney.'

'That's enough arguing girls!' Mrs Evens said, intervening before Petunia could retaliate. 'Richard, Severus can you please gather plates for everyone? And girls I'm just about finished with Richard's dinner if you could get started on the others'

Everyone bustled around the kitchen with activity, and before long everyone was digging into their simple but filling meals.

'Thank you for the meal Mrs Evans, it was delicious.' Severus said scooping the last of it into his mouth

'Oh, it's nothing dear' said Mrs Evans as she smiled at Severus.

Severus squirmed in his seat as he could feel his cheeks blush red with embarrassment.

While Mrs Evans cleared the table, Mr Evans grabbed an apple pie from the fridge and a tub of vanilla Ice Cream from the freezer, 'How about some of my famous apple pie with Ice Cream for dessert?' He asked the room at large.

The sudden and delighted sounds of 'YES PLEASE! Chorused from the girl's mouths across the table.

'How about you, Severus?' Mr Evans turned to ask when he finished handing the girls their portions.

'I've never had anything that lavish before, maybe just a small piece to try, please?' Severus said uncomfortable with bringing up his dreary and unfortunate past. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see all of the girls looking at him aghast over the fact that he thought something as simple as a slice of pie and ice cream to be lavish. Thankfully for Severus Mr and Mrs Evans were not showing the same amount of shock, Mr Evans just calmly cut a small bit of his apple pie and a small serve of ice cream and handed it to Severus without even commenting.

Taking a small bite of Mr Evans pie, Severus was surprised and pleased that it tasted so fantastic! It wasn't long until his whole portion had disappeared into his stomach. Severus sat back in his chair feeling extremely well fed and at peace with the world as he watched the Evans laugh and tease each other. Such a happy and relaxed scene was impossible to imagine taking place at Spinner's End with the amount his mother and father seemed to resent each other Severus had no idea how they ended up getting married in the first place. Severus shook his head sharply; he didn't want the Evans to think he'd gone doolally.

'Aright you lot,' Mrs Evans said as she was clearing the table, 'go and watch a bit of T.V before bed.'

The girls eagerly ran out of the room while Severus picked up the rest of the dishes and brought them over to the sink.

'There is no need to keep an old woman like me company dear,' Mrs Evans said smiling 'go on, into the sitting room.' She made a small shooing motion with her hands.

Severus gave her a small smile in return and scampered off into the sitting room. It was just as he remembered it. At one end of the rectangle sitting room, two low long beige couches were offset at a 45-degree angle for easier viewing of the T.V with a coffee table sitting in between them. The T.V itself was a brown box with dials, and an antenna sitting on top of it. The girls were already kneeling in front of the cupboard T.V stand playing with the dials tuning it in.

Fearing he may break the T.V if he touched it since not even a black and white version had seen the inside of Spinners End. Severus looked around the rest of the long sitting room, in the middle of the room was the Evans' fireplace where they hung up everyone's stockings at Christmas time. Down the far end of the room was an antique Victorian oak writing desk with drawers. Next to the archway leading into the room was their HMV radiogram and a set of four squishy arms chairs arranged in a semi-circle around an oak bookshelf for reading.

'SEV, quick we managed to get Channel 3! Catweazle is doing reruns!' Rose and Tansy called over to him.

'Cat? ... Weasel? Are you watching a show about animals?' Severus asked.

'Nope!' Tansy said making an odd popping sound when she said the p. 'It's a fun silly show about a terrible wizard named Catweazle, come and watch.' she said patting the seat next to her.

Severus sighed in resignation, placing himself down next to her, Lily turned and grinned happily at him as she bounded over to join them on their couch. Comfortably squashed between the two girls, Severus watched the jaunty cartoon credits rolled along the screen with an intermittent crackle every now and then.

Introducing Geoffrey Bayldon as the wizard, named Catweazle with Charles Tingwell, Neil McCarthy and Robin Davies playing other roles in the show, then came the title of the episode they were watching: The Sun in a bottle by Richard Carpenter.

The show started off in the woods with the character looking extremely scruffy with wild grey hair, crazy blue eyes and wearing a dirty and ratty brown robe. Catweazle then proceeded to look for herbs all the while hissing like a cat. Severus found the "wizard" to be completely terrible but he sat with the girls watching them laugh at Catweazle's antics. Less than two minutes into the show French-speaking Norman soldiers track him through the woods, finding and chasing him out of his lair with only enough time to collect his magic charm and his toad familiar. Catweazle then led the Norman soldiers to a big lake he climbed out onto a tree branch that was hanging over the lake, said the ridiculous flight spell he was trying to get working and then proceeded to jump into the lake trying and failing to fly.

Roughly five seconds later Catweazle re-emerged in a pond in the middle of a farm thinking he had flown there, dripping wet he make his way into someone's barn without even asking permission and was then terrified and hid when a man came driving a tractor into the barn with a red-headed boy following close behind. Catweazle was caught by the boy after sneezing a second time. At first, he is worried that the farmers are part of the Norman invasion but the boy reassures him by introducing himself as Edward. For the rest of the episode, a boy who is nicknamed Carrot (Robin Davies) hid Catweazle from his father and the farmhand Sam. The girls found it particularly funny when Catweasle mistook all modern technology for powerful magic, pronouncing electricity as "elec-trickery" often when his spells failed and he would sigh "Nothing works". The episode ended with Catweazle calling the boy "a young sorcerer" and saying that the boy would teach him the "new magic."

'Look at the time!' Mrs Evans said suddenly, checking her wristwatch. 'You really should be in bed, the whole lot of you!' Mrs Evens bustled them out of the door. As Severus was drifting off to sleep that night feeling happy warm and safe, he thought about how much the Evans' house felt more like a home than Spinners' End ever had.