A/N: I'm really grateful for the reviews I have...please feed the author!
Chapter Three: Mommy Dearest
Eve stared up at the dark grey clouds hanging overhead, and wrinkled her nose. It smelled like snow, and soon enough her grandmother would be calling for to come inside before she fell ill all over again. She had been walking the through the woods surrounding their estate all afternoon, scraping her mind for a way to get Severus Snape's attention once they were back at school.
Though she was not exactly beautiful, Eve had her fair share of boyfriends. Nothing too serious of course, usually just the usual rounds of snogging and half-hearted promises of a rosy future together. In the past when Eve found that she was attracted to a boy, it wasn't exactly difficult to get him to feel the same. The usual flirting and girlish laughter seemed to do the trick, though Eve had a sinking feeling that Severus would be a different story. For one, she was not exactly attracted him. At least not in a way that she could understand. It was more curiosity that made her want to speak him, made her want him to long for her presence.
She doubted that she could date him. He was practically a nobody, and too many people knew that she was going to betrothed to Rabastan Lestrange as soon as her grandmother finished haggling over money, land, and the like. It would only harm her reputation, and Eve had learned enough from her mother's disgrace to know that outside the embrace of good society was a very cold place to be.
Still, she had a strange desire to see him again. They only shared one class together, now that she really thought about it. She sat a few tables behind him in potions class, but there wasn't really much time to speak there of course. There was no way she could just go barging into the Slytherin common room without looking like a blithering fool, and she could waiting around forever to run into him alone in the library or in the halls.
Eve pulled her cloak more tightly around her chest as a strong winter wind blew past. A few flakes of snow danced in the air, and she knew soon it would falling heavily. Glancing up wearily at the sky again, Eve turned around and started towards home. Her grandmother would be angry that she had stayed out so long in the cold, but she had been desperately hoping it would clear her head.
Could she write him a letter perhaps? Then again, she didn't know if he was the type of boy would show it to all his friends and laugh over it. On the other hand, she couldn't remember if he had many friends. In all the times she had seen him he had been by himself, usually involved in some kind of skirmish with Sirius Black and his group of friends. She felt a little guilty when she remembered that she usually had been one of the people cheering for Sirius and Potter.
Eve slipped in through the kitchen door, nodding at the few house elves who were scrubbing the stone floor. Hopefully she could get upstairs without her grandmother noticing her, and avoid another lecture. Creeping down the long hallway, Eve noticed that the parlor doors were thrown open, and a warm light was spilling out into the hall. Her grandmother only used the parlor when there were guests...
She felt her palms begin to sweat. It couldn't possibly be him, and yet her heart leapt at the thought. Walking towards the door like a woman on a death mission, Eve nearly jumped at the feel of a hand on her shoulder.
"Eve!" Her grandmother scolded. "I was about to send a search party out for you! What were you thinking gallivanting out in the cold after you've just been ill? Have you any sense at all?"
Eve lowered her head, trying her best to appear docile and guilt ridden. Her grandmother clucked her tongue, but did not continue what could have been a dreadful lecture.
"You're mother has been waiting nearly an hour for you. She's in the parlor..."
"Mother is here?" Eve asked, her heart dropping down into her stomach.
Her mother rarely showed her face here, and then it was only to beg for money. Grandmother usually gave in to her, but sometimes she could put up quite a battle. Eve never asked, but she had the feeling that the money was coming from her own account at Gringotts. It contained all of the money her father had left, which was quite a considerable sum. Eve couldn't touch it until she came of age, though her grandmother had permission to use it as she saw fit.
In all the times her mother had come, she had never asked to see her daughter. If Eve happened to be there she might give her a stiff kiss on the cheek, but she never went out of her way to seem interested.
"Go to her now." Grandmother kindly demanded. "The sooner you speak to her, the sooner she'll leave."
Eve nodded, and slipped into the parlor. A bright fire was crackling in the fireplace, and her mother was standing beside it warming her hands. She was dressed in a fashion that had gone out of style a few years before, with fur draped over her silver dress, and long peacock features stuck in her small hat.
"Hello Mother." Eve said stiffly, clasping her hands together.
She had never carried on a real conversation with her own mother, and now felt both nervous and intimidated.
"Eve." He mother curtly replied. "You're looking well. Your grandmother tells me you have been ill."
Her mother sat one of the overstuffed arm chairs beside the fire, and gestured for Eve to do the same. She did so almost grudgingly, carefully eyeing her mother, who took a cigarette out of a fading dragon skin case and lit it with the tip of her wand. Her mother inhaled with a smile, and then exhaled a cloud of smoke into the air above their heads before speaking.
"You're turning seventeen this March, aren't you?" She asked, flicking some ashes onto the oriental carpet as she spoke.
"Yes, on the first." Eve answered, wondering if her mother even remembered when she had been born. "Why?"
Her mother coughed a little, and shifted in her chair, the lit cigarette dangling between her fingers.
"I've heard rumors, that your Grandmother is trying to pawn you off on Rabastan Lestrange."
Eve shrugged, deciding it was best not to say anything either way. Her mother had always been unpredictable at best, and the less information she had the better.
"I think it's a foolish idea to say the least." Her mother said, venom in her words. "If I had been able to choose who I married we might have avoided...the unpleasantness...that occurred."
Eve's face burned at the mention of her father's murder. The nerve her mother had bringing it up now, when she had been the one who was responsible.
"Don't be angry with me Evie." Her mother pleaded. "I only want what is best for you."
"Don't call me Evie." Eve responded, finding it very difficult to keep from yelling.
Her father had called her Evie, it had been the special nickname that they had shared. She could barely remember him now, but she remembered that.
"I've come to you to beg you, please don't allow your Grandmother to push you into anything. I know Rabastan, he is a close friend in fact. He is too old for you, and he is a very harsh man besides. You wouldn't be happy, and after everything you deserve to be happy."
"Since when do you care for my happiness?" Eve hissed, surprised at her own boldness.
Her mother looked as if she had been struck, and drew her free hand up around her throat, nervously fingering the tarnished broach that rested there.
"I know I have failed you Eve." She said quietly. "So many times over. But I care now, I'm here now. I don't want to see you end up like me. Do you have any idea how unhappy I am?"
Eve jumped from her chair, nearly knocking it over. Her hands were shaking with rage, she was so angry it was making her lightheaded.
"You don't deserve to be happy!" She shouted, not caring what her mother might do now. "Not after what you've done!"
Her mother shot up from her seat as well, and moved to strike her daughter. At the last moment she backed away, her face flushed with anger. She flicked her cigarette into the fireplace, sending a small trail of sparks scattering down to the floor.
"I'll leave you then, before we both do something we might regret." She said, reaching for her handbag. "But I need to tell you something first."
Eve stiffened, her heart still beating wildly. She had never lost her temper like this before, not with anyone. Though she made no move to speak or leave, she really didn't want to hear what her mother was about to say.
"If for some reason." Her mother continued. "You decide to do what is best for you, and not marry Rabastan, my home is open to you. There is nothing wrong with waiting a few years and marrying who you wish, even if is just to avoid the mistake that I made..."
"Did you love him?" Eve asked suddenly, nearly as soon as the thought occurred to her.
"Your father?" She asked, looking away from her daughter. "He was a good man, and very good to you...but no, I didn't love him. I suppose I didn't really try."
Tears stung in Eve's eyes, but they did not fall. She was sure that she did not want that fate either, marrying man that she did not love. Still, she found it hard to feel sorry for her mother. She had been selfish and unfaithful, and was every bit deserving of any pain that she had survived through.
"Please consider it, Evie." Her mother said, planting a kiss on her daughter's cheek.
Eve did not move, or try to stop her. She stiffened as her mother's lips touched her skin, but allowed her that small comfort. Her mother looked deeply into her eyes for a moment, before walking back towards the fireplace.
Eve turned her back, she did not want to see her mother go. Any feelings that she had for her had died when she was still a child, and she desperately did not want any to develop now. She had already decided that she would do what Grandmother wanted, if nothing more than to prove her loyalty to her.
Only after the familiar flash of light was Eve able to turn around, and stare into empty space where her mother had stood. Her cheap perfume and the smell of smoke hung in the air, like the ghost of a memory.
"She's gone then?" Grandmother asked, coming in to stand beside Eve.
She had been listening in the hall all the while, Eve knew that for sure. She wasn't going to say anything to Grandmother either way, hoping against hope that maybe this would be enough to change the old woman's mind about Lestrange. Even if it was only to delay the marriage, it would be an improvement. If only Eve had more time, maybe she would feel different.
"I wouldn't trust a word she says." Grandmother said bitterly, staring into the leaping flames. "She's only after your money. She knows how much you'll inherit, and I'm sure she's desperate for it."
Eve sighed deeply, because she knew it was probably true. Why else would her mother want her attention, only months before she was to come of age? She had not asked for money though, as Eve had expected. Could really be concerned? Trying to provide a daughter a single act of love by sparing her the fate that she had endured?
"She's only using you." Grandmother said, looking at Eve.
Eve turned away sharply, and left the room without another word. She could tell already that she would not be able to sleep tonight. It felt like a tempest was brewing in her stomach, as her mind battled between what she knew she wanted and what she thought was right.
Elinor Margot glanced over her shoulder, hoping that she hadn't been followed. She was heavily in debt, and her lenders were the particular brand of wizard that would stoop to violent means of payment.
Darting through the deserted back alley like a frightened mouse, she held back a scream as heap of tin cans was knocked over with a tremendous clatter. Putting her hands up over her ears, she back away, waiting for what she was sure would be the end.
She let out a small laugh as a beaten looking cat emerged from the shadows. It sat in the weak moonlight, and began to lick its muddy paw. It scurried away as Elinor neared, disappeared back into the darkness. Checking over her shoulder once more, she dashed up a crumbling cement stoop, and then opened a boarded up door with a few flicks of her wand. The door shut again behind her, as she quickly climbed a narrow staircase. The only light came from underneath the crack in the door above, and she stumbled once and hit her shin hard on the stairs.
Her eye's welling with tears of pain, Elinor opened the door above with a whispered spell, greedily diving inside with a relieved sigh. The apartment was small, and held a foul odor. The whitewash paint was peeling from the walls to reveal the rotting plaster beneath, and the furnishings were scare and barely fit to sit upon.
It was far from the luxuries that Elinor was used to, but it would have to do for now. She threw her cloak and gloves on the sunken couch, and then crossed the room and pulled back the dusty and ripped curtains. The street below was empty, though she couldn't count on it being so for much longer.
A squeak of the floorboards caught her attention, and Elinor spun on her heels and drew out her wand. She was not about to go down without a fight, not when deliverance was so very near. Acting much braver than she felt, she pushed open the door to the tiny dark bedroom, and let out a strangled cry.
"Merlin Elle, are you trying to scare me to death?" A tall handsome man asked, giving her a mischievous smile.
Elinor lowered her wand and scowled deeply. It was so hard to be mad at him, but now she was nearly close.
"Rabastan, what have I told you about coming here?" She demanded, taking off her feathered hat and throwing it at him. "You could have been seen!"
"By who?" He demanded, opening up an ancient looking armoire and rifling through its contents. "No one knows that we're together, they wouldn't even think to follow me."
"Would you like them to find out?" Elinor hissed, opening the cabinet beneath her night stand and pulling out a dusty bottle of brandy.
She shoved it into his hands, and then watched in distaste as he unscrewed the top and took a giant swig of the murky liquor.
"You've got any whiskey?" He asked, looking hopefully over his shoulder towards the armoire.
"You drank it all last time you were here." She said irritably, stepping back out into the sitting room, the only other room in the apartment besides the small bathroom. "I haven't got the money to buy more."
Rabastan joined her, frowning slightly. He would rather not talk of money, especially when she was so clearly in need of it. It was a sensitive subject between them, because no matter how much he loved Elinor, he wasn't about to abandon his inheritance to be with her.
"Have you spoken to her?" Rabastan asked hopefully.
Personally, he would rather now get married at all, but his mother thought marrying the little Margot girl was best. He couldn't very well tell her that the girl was the daughter of his lover, and he had no interest in marrying a little seventeen year old who he obviously had nothing in common with. His mother would disinherit him on the spot, and then where would that leave the both of them?
"I saw her briefly." Elinor said, grabbing the bottle out of his hands and took a tiny sip.
Her face scrunching up in displeasure she had another, and then handed it back to him.
"And?" He implored.
"And, I told her that marrying you would be a mistake, and that she should leave the old bat and come live with me."
Rabastan snorted, suddenly amused. He had known enough of these straight-laced smiling little pureblood girls to know what was going to happen. They were practically raised from birth to be obedient, there was no way in hell this was going to work...
"If she moves in it will be easier to persuade her to part with some of her money. Once that is done you use your connections to help me find her someone else she can marry. I won't expect anyone rich or handsome of course, just someone that will keep her happy and quiet." Elinor continued.
"A simple plan from a simple mind." Rabastan laughed, finishing the last of the brandy and tossing it into the fire.
"Have you ever considered that she might fall in love with someone on her own?" He inquired, raising an eyebrow. "There was a young man asking about her last night at our meeting, and I'm sure he won't be the only one."
Elinor gave a flippant laugh. Her daughter had hardly inherited her beauty, and other than her fortune she couldn't possibly have anything to offer.
"Who was he?" She asked, more out of curiosity than worry.
"His name's Snape." Rabastan explained, crossing the room the place his hands on Elinor shoulders. "You wouldn't have heard of him. He's not anything special by any means. From what I hear he's a got a muggle for a father, and the family is flat broke besides."
"Is he handsome?" She asked, letting him gently massage her shoulders.
"Hardly." Rabastan said, with an amused laugh. "In fact, I would say the boy is quite ugly."
Immediately, Elinor felt better. There was a part of her that wanted to see her daughter happy, one that she had only just become aware of. Marrying someone out of her class might make her happy for a while, but Elinor knew how these things usually ended.
Elinor had never been motherly, if given the choice she probably would have never had children, but now she feeling the smallest twinges of concern towards Eve. Merlin, she was going soft.
"I've had enough talk about Eve." She announced, pouting. "Do you forget that you're supposed to be charming me?"
He laughed, and scooped Elinor up into his arms unexpectedly. She gave a false cry of protest, and he smiled wickedly.
"I can charm you just as easily in the bedroom." Rabastan laughed, carrying her in and throwing her down on the bed.
Elinor threw her head back, and laughed as well. She doubted this affair would Rabastan would last for long, but she was going to use it for all it was worth. Thinking how funny it was that love and money went so well together and yet so poorly at the same time, she kissed him on the lips, and pulled him down onto the bed with as much passion as she could manage.