Chapter 5



After a fitful night's sleep, Eugenie woke with the glow of the late summer sunrise hitting the flowered wallpaper of her chamber. She lay in bed enjoying the moment when she realized that this would be her last day as part of his household. Arrangements had been made for her to leave after breakfast the following day. She was torn between the need to pack her accumulation of personal items and teaching tools, and spending her final day with her student.

The house elves had brought up her trunk and the boxes for her books. If she could persuade Severus to help her pack the classroom things, it might bring closure to their time together. She entered the classroom to find him seated at the school table with the same volume of Roman History before him.

"Good Morning," she said and he repeated the same to her barely looking up.

"What are you reading about today?"

In his same quiet calm voice he replied, "I've moved on from Hannibal and now I'm reading about the rebellion of Boudicca. Her tribe lived in Norfolk and Suffolk and they fought a vicious uprising against the invading Roman army. Some people think she used magic to fight off the Romans." He closed the book and look at her with his same child like eyes.

"Severus," she said as she knelt on the floor next to the table. "We have one last day together. We can use it to our benefit or we can just shut the door. It's your choice." He looked down at her from his book. At first his eyes were black and cold, his face as severe as his father's, but the longer he looked at her she could see the little boy trying to get out. She stood took the book and summoned the house elf for breakfast.

Their conversation was slow at first, but then began to regain the regular familiarity it had in the past. The mundane topics continued for a while until the child spoke.

"Where will you go?" Severus blurted out after a particularly long pause in the conversation. She had been waiting for that question since the meal started.

"Well," she said trying to sound positive, "I have a sister who lives near York who I can stay with until I can find a suitable position with another family." Trying to change the subject she went on. "We need to make a list of the subjects you have studied so Professor Quen knows where you are standing academically. We can make a list of the books we have read, and document where you are in Latin and Greek and how far we are with mathematics, history and science"

Making the lists and documenting the educational scope and sequences used over the two years took most of the morning. By lunchtime they had the schoolroom in order. Miss. Eugenie's school room things were packed and everything was in its place.

They again ate lunch in the solitude of the classroom and afterward decided to take a walk in the warm afternoon sun. Quietly they slipped out of the house and turned a direction that took them away from the lake. The path circled the small park that surrounded the manner and then turned out into a small copse.



As they ambled they fell back into the roles of teacher and student. They observed plants and talked about their taxonomy and medicinal and magical values. They began to discuss Boudicca and her skirmishes with the Romans. As the walk continued the pauses between the bits of conversation became longer and more frequent. The only sounds were the birds in the trees and the gravel crunching under their feet.

During the lulls in conversation Eugenie began to think of the days she had spent with Severus. When she first came to the Snape household, she found Severus as a quiet reserved child who spent most of his time reading. Memories fled back. The day she discovered they both loved history; reading and discussing favorite books and the exploration of the Snape library.

The thought of the library brought back another memory. That of a cold winter afternoon soon after Isaias' death. The two of them had been working on a plant identification project and they needed a volume she had seen earlier in the library on magical uses for non magical ferns and bracken. She had decided to quickly slip down to the library to grab the volume and Severus was to stay in the classroom and continue with his drawings of the fronds.

It took her a little longer than she expected to find the book. As she climbed the stairs to the classroom she could hear the raised voices of a man and woman. The angry voices became louder and clearer as she came closer to her destination. When Eugenie arrived at the door she realized that the voices were Severus' parents. This was the first time that they had even attempted to visit the classroom and now their voices were raised in anger.

She placed her hand on the knob in preparation to open it but her hand fell away when she realized what they were saying. Valerius was blaming his youngest son for the death of the Isaias. How could he come to this conclusion? How could he say this to his own child? The logic of his argument didn't follow.

"Why were you out of this house," he blared. "Why did you make Isaias go out on the ice after you!" There was no answer from the child and Valerius carried on with his rants. "What were you thinking? Why couldn't have been you instead of your brother. You are a selfish child. Books and reading is all you ever care about. Mark my words Severus; you will never amount to anything."

Eugenie couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could he blame Severus for his brother's death. Rational parents did not do things like that. Isaias' death was an accident. He had been trying to save Severus. Why wasn't his mother trying to defend him. All that Eugenie could hear from her were sobs.

Eugenie stood outside of the door debating what to do. Her hand was inches from the latch when the door flung open and Mr. Snape was standing in the door. His dark lank hair was plastered against his forehead. Valerius' form was pallid and thinner than usual. His black robe swirled gracelessly around his form. His eyes were black and hard and he wore a grimace that expressed his mental state. He walked toward forward pushing her out of his way and flowed down the gallery, his raiment billowing behind him.





When she entered the room Severus' mother was sitting at the school table. Even though she was weeping her countenance was that of a queen: tall, proud, not a hair out of place. Only the smudges of makeup and red eyes gave a clue to the emotions that had passed a few moments earlier. Eugenie scanned the room for Severus. It took a minute to find him cowering on the floor in the corner of the room.

Eugenie looked from Severus to his mother expecting the natural thing to happen, but when Mrs. Snape rose she ignored her son and walked out of the room and never looked back. Eugenie quietly shut the door and went to Severus. She knelt down next to him on the floor near his feet.

"It wasn't your fault," she tried to say in a calm and sympathetic voice. Severus did not reply. His eyes were dry and black. His jaw was set. Severus did not look at Eugenie. He continued in silence.

Again she said, "It wasn't your fault." At this he looked directly at her, rose from the shelter of the corner and walked quietly to his room shutting the door behind him.