One shot, a tale of a crossroads in Severus's life. My other fic has not been abandoned.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
A fork in the Road
Severus stood at the mailbox. He had a stamped and addressed letter in his hand. He had been standing there for the last ten minutes, thinking.
He had just graduated from Hogwarts. That bit was finally over. He had even been offered a job at Hogwarts, a Potions professor, maybe even the Defense against the darks arts professor one day. It was a steady job, good income, he could settle down. And have a nice calm life. He would even have a retirement fund when he was older. The benefits of this job were staggering.
Or so his mother had told him
Severus had other dreams.
Since youth, Severus had a great interest in ancient history; Mythology, ancient civilizations, since he was 10, he had decided that he wanted to be an archeologist. His father had apparently been an archeologist as well, but Severus could not remember it. It was so long ago, back when we was still a baby. He taught at a muggle university, and was killed when a fire broke out in a nearby lab. Apparently, his father had been doing carbon dating tests on a figure, a Minoan Snake goddess.
To be an archeologist, he had to go to classes at a muggle university, as his father had. He had wondered often what a wizard's perspective could add to the world of ancient history. A lot, a little, He didn't know.
He and his mother had a fight the other night. He had mentioned going to this muggle university, and trying to be an archeologist. His mother had been well opposed, and demanded to know why he would give up a guaranteed job at Hogwarts to pay thousands of dollars to go to a muggle school, where he may not even get any job after.
It interests me. And I don't want to teach... That had been his only argument.
Even to get his application, it would cost him fifty muggle dollars.
And that was where he stood. Application in hand, and the fifty dollars he had sold his old and only broomstick for in a smaller envelope. He had had his muggle high school papers. He had gone to classes every summer while he was going to Hogwarts, and his grades were more then good enough to get him into the school.
So, there he stood. There was nothing stopping from sending in his application. It was a very warm day in late June. He has very little time left to send in his application. The streets in the quite suburbs that he lived in were quiet, strangely devoid of children. The sky was cloudless, and the sun beat down upon him, making his baggy black t-shirt itch him. He could almost smell the heat in the air.
The streets were empty. No one was a witness. Even if he didn't get accepted, no one would know.
And if he did get accepted, He had his own P.O.box, so there was no worried about his mother finding out sooner then he would like.
No one was around... no one would see him. There was nothing preventing him from sending in the application.
Then, why had he been standing there for fifteen minutes now?
He thought back to his second year at Hogwarts, First year student were not allowed to be a part of many clubs, but as a second year, he was able to join anything he wanted to. He had looked through all the clubs, and found so many that he liked... there was the writing club, a place for aspiring writers to have peers read and review their work, the drama club, Severus had always wanted to act. Quidditch, of course, there was a chaser position open; Severus had always been rather quick. There were so many clubs, and Severus had been so excited.
He remembered writing a long letter to his mother. This year will be different; I am getting more involved in things. He wrote a long, detailed letter about the various clubs he wanted to join, why, and the people that were already in them. Not only would he learn lots of new skills, but he would perhaps make a lot of friends.
The next day, his mother sent a reply. Involvement is good, but school is for study. You can join, if you really want, but you could focus on your studies now, and have a good time later on in life, when you have a good secure job and need not worry. There will be plenty of time for these things. If you want to get involved, try the charms club, or the potions club. You will get involved in a lot of things, meet a lot of new people, and you will improve you marks. You did so well in potions last year, why not build on that?
Severus did not join drama, or quiddittch, or the writing club. He had joined the potions club, and his marks in potions had risen. He had passed the year with the highest marks in potions. But, he refused to go to one quidditch game, and did not go see the Drama performance. Slowly, he stopped writing, and lost his skill at that. Potions, his skill was at potions. Did it not matter what he enjoyed, what he wanted to do? Because he had a little aptitude at potions...
Severus was jostled out of his memories by a cat across the road that had been working at knocking over the trash can across the street. Severus smirked; the cat would get nothing out of it. The Barrens, who lived across the street composted; there would be nothing there in the trash for a cat to eat.
A few moments later, Severus was proven wrong by the fish leftovers the cat dragged out. 'Good for you, cat' Severus thought. He looked at the letter in his hand.
He opened the mail box.
The letter was half in.
He hesitated, and pulled the letter back out. No, for now, he could hold onto the fifty dollars, and try teaching for a year. It was good money and a secure job as well. Besides, if things didn't work out, he could always send in his application next year.
He would give it a shot, just for one year.
What's the worse that could happen?
If you don't know how this ended, Severus became a teacher, and taught for 15 years, I think he hated his job, he never go the position he wanted, was the most hated professor in the school. As well, most of us know his actions as of recently. If he had applied to that Muggle School, I wonder how things would have been different…