The remaining weeks before the Christmas holidays passed quickly. Remus was, once again, out in mid December, explaining that his father had once again contacted a cold. Since his mother was a muggle, it made sense that Remus had needed to help out, but didn't Remus have other magical family members nearby? As they had come to expect, Remus returned looking as exhausted as he usually did upon returning home for a few days.
"It should be a bit easier for you next term, eh?" Sirius asked him the day after he returned, which was a Saturday. "Surely your parents will be happy enough that you're going home for Christmas and won't be nagging you to leave school every few weeks afterwards?"
Severus knew Sirius wasn't being flippant, and so did Remus. It wasn't an issue that Remus missed a couple of days of classes-not to their teachers, anyway. He always turned in his assignments on time, and Severus knew that his grades were good.
It was the exhaustion that followed him after he returned to school. Right now, Remus looked considerably better than he had when he returned, having spent Friday excused from classes, and slept the whole time. Or, at least, he had been asleep when he had arrived right before breakfast, and was still asleep when they returned. Didn't his family see how worn out they were making him?
"I couldn't say. My parents told the headmaster that family obligations would take me away from school fairly often, and he was quite understanding," Remus answered, shrugging a bit. "I sometimes get quite ill as well, although that hasn't happened this year, thankfully."
The other boys exchanged looks as though to say, "Well, obviously."
At breakfast, Severus was both pleased and astonished to receive another owl from his mother-that included ten galleons. Her missive included instructions that he was to use to purchase this money Christmas gifts for his friends.
A part of Severus wondered if she could afford to give him that much money. She was earning ten galleons a week, and even if her room and board were included, surely she had other expenses? Well, perhaps not. Didn't maids usually wear a uniform? In any event, Severus could hardly send it back without seeming ungrateful.
At least, he thought as he turned over the coins in his hands, he wouldn't have to forgo giving gifts to his roommates.
He would have to do a lot of thinking to determine what they would like. Two and a half galleons for each of them felt like a fortune, but that was only because Severus was lucky to have a sickle to spend before. Over the next several days, before the end of term, he scanned the catalogues with his friends, as they seemed to be readily available for perusal. They were all looking for ideas without being too obvious, and he could hear the girls throwing out hints to their friends without trying to appear obvious.
It seemed rather silly to be exchanging gifts, as he knew that Sirius and James came from extremely well-to-do families. Nothing he could buy them would be close to what their parents would buy for Christmas. James, anyway. Was Sirius more or less disowned because of his sorting, or would his family still give him presents, as appearances meant so much to them? No one was going to ask, of course.
All the same, it was rather fun, looking at the catalogs. They were full of presents ranging in value from a few knuts to hundreds of galleons. Severus spent several days searching and making notes on parchment before making his purchases.
In the end, he purchased a large container of Remus' favorite chocolates from Honeydukes for him and, similarly, an assorted box of sweets for Peter. He bought James a newly published book about famous Chasers, as he knew he wanted to try out for the Quidditch team the following year. For Sirius, he ordered a book on famous witches and wizards who were not of pure-blood descent-and hoped that James hadn't beat him to it. Finally, for Lily, he purchased a stuffed lion that was charmed to roar and "interact charmingly" (which he took to mean give cuddles to) with the first person who opened it-and growl at anyone the person directed it to. Petunia would not be amused if she made that list.
That left him nearly a galleon (sixteen sickles and five knuts, to be precise), so he ordered a small, yet tasteful, necklace for his mother. It didn't contain any real jewels, only a chain with a butterfly in the middle, but it looked pretty from the picture, and as she likely wasn't expecting anything, she would hopefully be pleased and surprised.
He still had five sickles left, which he pocketed for future use. Perhaps purchasing sweets on the train next September. He had only had a handful of knuts to spend last time.
Yes, Severus submitted the order form, feeling pleased enough with his purchases, and had them sent out via owl with the instructions that the owls were not to deliver them until Christmas Day. Sure, he could just hand them to his friends, but where was the fun in that?
The way the break fell that year, there would be a week off before Christmas, and another week beginning the day after. Severus and his mother had finalized his plans so that he would visit for the first week, and would return the day following Christmas. He would not be taking a train, as it turned out, but go via the carriages pulled by the invisible thestrals used to go from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts by the non-first year students on the first day. Most of the student body would travel this way, but as fewer students were visiting family in Hogsmeade, this would be their first stop home.
Severus had hoped to sit with Lily in the carriages, but she was surrounded by a group of of her own friends. He only recognized three fellow Gryffindor girls from his year. Were the others from other houses, or older students from their house? He couldn't tell.
Looking back on the term, he realized that he hadn't spent nearly as much time with Lily as he would have expected. All that talk about wanting to be in the same house, and he'd ended up speaking far more time with the two boys he was sure he would be enemies with, instead. It just went to show you that you couldn't rely on first impressions. It wasn't that Lily had become enemies with Sirius or James, but she had formed her own group of girl friends. Severus knew that she was very popular. He was happy for her, but he hoped that they would spend some more time together the following term.
Which led Severus to think about his own roommates. While the five Gryffindors of his year got along well, Severus knew that James and Sirius were the most liked, the popular ones. There was no doubt that they were extremely smart, funny, and good-looking. They also spent so much time around each other that some of the teachers had taken to referring them as brothers. Nor would this be an entirely false thing to declare. Sirius and James, like most of the pure-blooded families, were distantly related. It was hard to find a pure-blood family who didn't have some ancestor in common with another one. Severus knew that his mother's family had been pure-blood, so he likely had a relation that was of a second cousin or something of one of James or Sirius', but being only a half-blood, he felt that the connection was not as strong. Not that it mattered to James and Sirius that the others weren't of pure wizarding descent, but it certainly connected them...really, had Severus not found his place in this group, he might have wished he'd ended up in Slytherin, after all.
James and Sirius were staying at the castle, so they helped as the others packed. That is, they tried to help with the packing, but they ended up getting in the way so much that even Remus asked them to stop trying to help. In the end, they sat on varying beds and asked the others questions about their family traditions.
Severus did more listening than talking. Growing up, if he was lucky, his father would be at the pub, getting drunk with his friends. He would fall asleep-somewhere-and when he arrived the next day, he'd be too hungover to do much except sleep the day away. His mum and him would have a small celebration, perhaps a tea and cake, although nothing as extravagant as a Christmas tree. Once, Eileen had made Severus a shirt from one of her old robes, and it looked half-decent. But, for the most part, presents weren't something Severus had received as a kid.
Lily had invited him over, but his mum had always refused. It was one thing to go trick-or-treating or visit their house during the rest of the year, but Christmas was for Lily and her family. Even though Lily had protested, Severus' mum would not be swayed.
He wasn't sure what to expect this time around, really, but it had to be better than hoping his father would be too plastered to give him and his mum a beating. Anyway, since the inn was in Hogsmeade, Severus thought he could walk around the village, even if he didn't have any pocket money remaining to make purchases.
They all woke up fairly early the next day. James and Sirius didn't have to, of course, because they were staying at the castle, but they insisted on seeing off Severus and Remus and Peter. The five of them headed into the Great Hall around nine, trunks still in their bedroom, to eat breakfast.
Severus made sure to eat a big one, as he didn't know if he'd be able to eat lunch that day. The carriages were coming at noon, and even though his mum had said she'd meet him at the station, she might not be able to get away. He just hoped that he would be able to find the inn, if she wasn't there.
"Are you going to look for secret passages while we're gone?" he asked James, who was sitting next to him.
James swallowed a piece of sausage before nodding. "Nick won't give us any clues, but he'll tell us if we're in the right direction. I'm hoping to find one that leads to Hogsmeade."
"My mum says that one of them is over the Whomping Willow," Peter volunteered. "That's probably why they put the tree up. Too many students using it."
Sirius frowned. "Why go to the trouble of putting a tree there, even if it does hit you back?"
Peter shrugged. "It's just what she said," he mumbled.
"I believe you," James reassured him. "Just reckon it's a shame that they had to plant the Whomping Willow there, of all places."
"Too many troublemakers using it," Remus grinned.
"Well, if you knew a good Stunning Charm," Severus mused. "Mind you, it would take years of training to get it to work on that..."
"I wouldn't risk it," Remus murmured. "I rather fancy keeping my arms and limbs attached to my body."
"Spoilsport," James teased, and Remus shrugged, grinning a bit.
Severus was surprised, although he really shouldn't have been, when Sirius and James nearly attacked the three of them with hugs when it came time to leave.
"It's only for two weeks!" Remus protested, but he hugged James back and was grinning.
"And one week for me," Severus managed to get out, before having the breath knocked out of him by Sirius.
They were all grinning, though, and soon, the rest of them were hugging each other tightly. Severus felt the familiar warmth that the others brought to him. He was accepted here, liked, and even part of a strange family. They all teased each other, perhaps, but they also spent nearly every waking minute together and had gotten to know each other quite well. When they finally boarded the carriages, Severus felt a strange sense of loss at saying goodbye to James and Sirius, even if it would only be for a week.
The ride was short, which was good, because the carriages were open and the day was frigid. Even with warming charms over his robes and his winter cloak, Severus would be glad to go inside. He sat next to Remus and another boy, who he thought was from Hufflepuff. Peter was on the other side of Remus. It was too cold to talk properly, even with the warming charms, so they passed the trip in silence. Some of the other students, those who hadn't known to ask others to charm their clothes, were sitting there with chattering teeth, and Severus felt a wave of sympathy for them.
They all walked into the station, some whose parents or guardians would meet them inside, and most to whom this would only be a stop on the way to King's Cross. Severus clutched his trunk and scanned the crowds for his mum. Upon seeing her, he almost did not recognize her.
Eileen Snape still wore her hair back from her face, but her face did not look nearly as sallow as Severus was accustomed to. Nor did her hair look particularly lanky, either. She was smiling, truly smiling, and even pulled him into a hug upon seeing him.
"Severus, you look well," she murmured, then released him and held him at an arm's length, hands clasped on his shoulders. "I do believe you've grown at least six inches since September. And your hair..." She touched a piece of it with wonder. She pulled him into another hug, a longer one this time. "I am so happy to see you."
Severus had not grown up being hugged very much. Never by his father, and rarely by his mother. Two hugs in as many minutes was a once in a blue moon occurrence-if that. If James and Sirius and even Remus had not been so affectionate with each other and with him (although, they rarely hugged-more arms around the shoulder for them), he might have stiffened in surprise. As it was, he couldn't entirely stop himself from gaping at his mother as she took hold of his trunk and, wrapping her free arm around him, walked with him out of the station.
Author's note:
Up next-Severus gets a look at his mother's new life.