Friendship

Without school the boys' schedule was considerably lighter and they could finally focus a bit more on working on different potions their mother had shown them. They had to wait for her to get home and for Tobias to go to sleep for the practical part of it but theory they could learn from what little books on magic Eileen had hidden in the house. Mostly, though, their days were spent on practicing the few spells Seuthes had learnt from their grandmother half a year ago. Severus was finally catching up with his brother on that front and the two had moved on to perfecting the wand movements and pronunciation. One of the most challenging spells was perhaps 'Patrificus Totalus', or the 'Full Body-Bind curse' as Elvyra had explained which apparently was considered a mild Dark spell. What 'Dark' exactly was there about it, neither boy could determine.

A month had passed since Severus' not so successful attempt to befriend Lily and for the first two weeks after that both he and Seuthes had gone to the playground every day in the hopes that they'd be able to make things between them at least a little better... maybe apologise or something. But the girl hadn't shown up, evidently trying to avoid them. And then she'd gone on a holiday with her parents and that awful sister of hers God-knows-where, preventing any further attempts to contact her.

And so, the summer was dragging slowly and monotonously, and with every day that passed the boys' desire to start school was increasing. Not the muggle school, of course - that one was even worse than this summer they had to spent alone in their own run-down home while everyone else was living their lives on vacations in all the different places on the globe one could think of. No, it was Hogwarts the brothers were dreaming of - the school their mother loved and their father despised, the school that would get them out of this stupid place once and for all, the school where there would finally be someone worth talking to and not just some stupid Muggles.

Unfortunately, they still had to endure two more years of the muggle school first and all too soon Severus found himself sitting in the corner of the dreaded classroom, calculating how much time he'd need to stay here still until he could go home and play chess with Sev... or not, even sitting in his room was better than listening to that damn woman. The bell rang at last, announcing that he'd be free from the bloody place for the next day and a half, and Severus quickly grabbed his bag and headed for the school gates.

"Severus Snape, right?" a sweet, yet somewhat cold, voice stopped his escape and he turned to face the girl who'd addressed him.

A few meters away Lily Evans was looking straight at him, head slightly tilted to the side as though she was observing an interesting phenomenon.

"Right. Lily Evans," he replied and could almost feel his cheeks turn pink. She appeared not to be really comfortable with the situation either, but after the two had just stayed there looking at each other for far too long, she decided to break the silence.

"Uhm... What you said in the playground this summer... Is it really true?" Her own face turned a strange pink colour this time.

Severus scanned his surroundings. Children were running around the school grounds, some of the younger ones were greeting their parents, some of the older ones were staying in their friend groups and discussing something - probably that stupid sport football they all seemed so obsessed with. But no one was paying him or Lily much attention and it helped him relax a little.

"Yes, it... It's true." He couldn't really think of anything else to say.

"Tuney says you're probably hallucinating. You're not... You're not crazy, are you?"

Severus' face became a vibrant shade of red, matching Lily's own. "No. But she's a Muggle, she's not supposed to know about..." he trailed off, seeing Lily's curious and friendly expression turn cold.

"You don't have to insult her. And what does that mean anyway? Muggle."

"I didn't mean- It's not... It means a person who can't do magic," he managed an explanation at last. Well... he had been trying to insult the older girl that day at the beginning of summer, but...

"Oh," Lily replied. She looked kind of confused. "Well... I'll see you around?"

"Suppose."

And then the girl turned and left, leaving Severus staring at some distant point in the air.

"Two years and you will be out of the Muggle world, eh?" Elvyra whispered so that only Seuthes could hear, while looking facetiously in Tobias' direction. The boy couldn't quite keep his smile in check. "I've brought you a book I read while I was at Hogwarts," she nodded towards her luggage. "But you better not let your mother near it. Those housemates of hers corrupted her while she was at school; still doesn't approve of Dark Magic. I've tried explaining the beauty of it many times but it's like talking to a wall."

Seuthes had no problem imagining that. It certainly sounded like her. But now both his parents were staring disapprovingly in the direction of him and his grandmother and so he quickly excused himself from the table, leaving the old woman to deal with the situation. Elvyra they couldn't punish, at least, so it shouldn't be too difficult for her.

He ran straight to the crevice that was the entrance to the hiding spot both brothers had come to detest, managing to grab his grandmother's bag on the way and extracting the book as soon as he was in the small dark room.

"What's that?" Russ demanded, his gaze locked on the book.

"Dunno yet. Grandmother said it had something to do with Dark Magic." Russ made a move to snatch it out of his hands but Seuthes turned around so he couldn't reach it. "You better go out there before she gets suspicious as to where we- well, her grandson has gone."

Russ gave him a murderous glare but complied anyway.

The following days were spent studying the new book. It did indeed cover the basics of Dark Magic thoroughly and, much to the kids' delight, contained quite a few... interesting spells. The boys set on practicing those almost immediately.

The wind was freezing cold and Seuthes shivered slightly as he watched the dim street lights flicker on and off. No-one ever seemed to repair them and it was a miracle they could produce even this much light. He was sitting on the stone stairs, leading to the front door, his black coat making him almost invisible in the dark night. His right forearm was rested on one knee, the left elbow propped up on his other leg, long slim fingers buried in dishevelled hair.

"Hey," a quiet voice startled him and brought him back to the present. On the street, just a few meters away from him, stood a little girl with red hair, her green eyes visible even in the poor light.

Seuthes cast a quick glance at the door. Russ was somewhere inside the house, probably in their room and he sincerely hoped his brother wouldn't look out the window just now. It would only make him feel worse if he knew he'd missed a chance to speak with Lily.

Their parents had left in the morning, taking a bus to Manchester where they were supposedly going to meet an old friend. Which Seuthes had translated as asking for money but had kept his mouth shut, knowing better than to voice those thoughts. They had already been out of the house when, almost as an afterthought, Eileen had called both boys to her and wished them a happy birthday. Then they had gone, leaving the kids with instructions not to leave the house. And Russ had not taken the whole situation too well, his father's apathy and his mother's lethargy hurting him more than he cared to admit. Not that Seuthes was much different. He'd just chosen a different way to cope, the darkness had always soothed him.

"I'm sorry I didn't come earlier." Lily shuffled her feet but after a moment lifted her eyes and fixed the boy with a perceptive look. "I shouldn't be here... Mum and Dad don't want me to come on this side of the river."

She fell silent, still looking at the boy before her. He was gazing а bit to her right, over her shoulder, not particularly at anything specific, just... looking at nothingness. Not saying anything but obviously struggling to put his thoughts into words. Lily took a few steps forward and extended an arm towards the boy. A small package was resting on her palm.

"It's not much," she said and lowered her eyes, "But I hope you like it. Happy birthday, Severus."

Seuthes took the package uncertainly and peeked inside. A simple cupcake was wrapped in the small piece of newspaper but it was enough to make his face glow.

"Thank you," the boy whispered. Then divided the cake in two and offered one half shyly, not really sure how he was supposed to respond. Making sure to leave some of the present for Russ as well, he moved to one side to make room for Lily to sit next to him.

A slight smile graced Severus' lips as he put his books out of his schoolbag. A note had been tucked in between the pages of one of them and there was only one person who could have put it there. 'Tree, after lunch.'

Following these instructions, Severus found himself standing in what had become his favourite place over the last few months. It was a beautiful sunny spring day, a little after noon and at least an hour before Lily was about to appear. But it wasn't like the boy ever had lunch anyway and in any case, here he could feel Lily's presence even if she was a thousand miles away. It made him feel safe, relaxed, less alone. He had a friend. A beautiful kind friend and one he would do everything in his power to keep.

He sat cross-legged on the ground, pulling at a blade of grass as he waited impatiently for his friend to show up. And sure enough, after what felt like an eternity, Lily appeared from behind one of the numerous brick buildings in the town and crossed the bridge over the river that separated the wealthy from the poor. She never seemed to care that Severus was from a bad street or that everyone all the way to London knew his father for the drunk he was.

"Hi," she called. No, it most definitely didn't make any difference to her.

"Hello."

Lily sat on the ground in front of him, putting her bag on her knees and rummaged through it until she apparently found what she was looking for. "I brought a snack. Did you have lunch?"

"I... yes," Severus said, the lie blatant even to his own ears.

Lily gave him a suspicious look but didn't press the matter and instead pushed a sandwich in his hand. "Is it true that Miss Studge is moving to live in Manchester?" she inquired once both had finished their food.

"Luckily," Severus muttered.

"Oh. I didn't realize you didn't like her," Lily actually looked taken aback by his answer.

"She doesn't like me either. But in less than two years I'd be gone from here anyway, so..."

"I'm so excited!" Lily exclaimed, instantly picking up on the new topic. "Dad says he'd drive me all the way to Scotland as soon as I get my letter," she kept on, her expression darkening a bit as she added, "I think he was joking..."

Severus snorted and felt Lily's excitement fill him as well as he found himself able to tell her more about the magical world, "Oh, he doesn't need to anyway. You go to King's Cross and there's a train that will get you to Hogwarts."

The girl frowned slightly, "How come no-one sees the train? Of the people who are not supposed to know about magic, I mean. Muggles, did you call them?"

"Well, it's..." Severus had never really thought about that. "The platform's called 9 and 3/4, I guess they can't see it."

"It'd be amazing if you had to do something for it to show up. Abracadabra and a door appears and you go through."

Severus suspected that was a likely option, considering the entrance to Diagon Alley, but then again... Children were not supposed to do magic outside of school, there'd be no way for the Muggle-borns to get to the platform. "Yeah, it would be," he agreed. "But I don't think it works like that. Underage wizards - and witches - are not allowed to use wands and the Ministry can punish you if you do magic outside school, you get letters."

His mother had made sure to explain that very carefully when she'd caught him searching for her wand. Of course, according to his grandmother, the Ministry was actually tracking the place and not the person and so as long as there was a registered wizard living where you used a wand, they wouldn't know it was you actually doing it. This had been the key to his and Sev's practices. For a moment Severus wondered if he should share with Lily about his wand but decided against it. Lily was all for following the rules and she wouldn't be impressed if she learnt he was breaking them on a regular basis.

"But I have done magic outside school!"

"We're all right. We haven't got wands yet," are not supposed to, anyway, he thought but out loud continued his explanation, "They let you off when you're a kid and you can't help it. But once you're eleven," he nodded importantly, "and they start training you, then you've got to go careful."

There was a little silence. Lily had picked up a fallen twig and twirled it in the air. Then she dropped it, leaned in towards Severus, and said, "It is real, isn't it? It's not a joke? Petunia says you're lying to me. Petunia says there isn't a Hogwarts. It is real, isn't it?"

She kept asking that as if she hadn't done so about a million times already. But Severus didn't mind. Didn't mind talking to Lily, no matter what they were discussing. Or if they were discussing anything at all. He could just sit with her and that'd be enough, but if he could make her eyes glow and her lips lift in a beautiful smile, as his answer - that yes, it was real - always did, then he would say it a million times more.

"It's real for us. Not for her. But we'll get the letter, you and me."

"Really?" whispered Lily.

"Definitely."

"And will it really come by owl?" she asked again, her voice still a quiet whisper.

"Normally," said Severus. "But you're Muggle-born, so someone from the school will have to come and explain to your parents."

"Does it make a difference, being Muggle-born?"

Oh, yes, it does, Severus thought bitterly. No-one raised by Muggles could become a worthy person, he'd had enough proof of that. Except for Lily, of course. With her it didn't matter. "No," he said after a moment of hesitation. "It doesn't make any difference."

"Good," said Lily, relaxing: it was clear that she had been worrying.

"You've got loads of magic. I saw that. All the time I was watching you…"

His voice trailed away. Lily was not listening to him anymore, her gaze was fixed on the canopy of leaves overhead, her faraway look suggesting she was once again dreaming of the world that was awaiting them. A dream Severus shared and knew Sev shared as well.

"How are things at your house?" Lily asked after a moment.

Severus frowned. He didn't want to talk about his home. He didn't like talking about his home. It hadn't changed much since the last time she'd asked that - Tobias was still coming home drunk at least twice a week (and that was only because he couldn't afford to do so more often) and then he'd beat whomever had the unfortune to be anywhere near him. He'd normally apologize in the morning but that didn't make the whole thing any less scary. And on top of that both he and Eileen were still arguing if they should let their kids to attend a Wizarding School. As if you can keep us inside this stupid house once we've officially got wands, Severus thought.

"Fine," was all he said, however. It was the easiest way to escape from this interrogation.

"They're not arguing any more?" Lily asked, obviously not fully convinced by his half-answer.

"Oh, yes, they're arguing," Severus replied, painfully aware that he was fidgeting but not really sure what else to do with himself. "But it won't be that long and I'll be gone."

"Doesn't your dad like magic?"

Severus grimaced, a snort of disbelief escaping his lips, "He doesn't like anything much." That much was true. Well, except for his alcohol, he certainly loved that.

"Severus?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell me about the Dementors again."

"What d'you want to know about them for?"

"If I use magic outside school-"

Severus couldn't help laughing at the question. Lily in Azkaban, it was ridiculous to even think about it. Besides, he was certain the Universe would sooner end than Lily would do anything out of line.

"They wouldn't give you to the Dementors for that! Dementors are for the people who do bad stuff," Or for Mother, if anyone finds out about Sev... Severus didn't want to think about that. There was a prophecy, a curse, or so he'd been told. It didn't seem right, what was so dangerous about him and his brother? And surely no-one believed in babble like that... But no, Grandmother had given him a very sharp look that night he'd asked about it and assured him prophecies in the Wizarding World were taken very seriously. Which had done nothing to make Severus change his mind but it certainly had made him understand why Eileen and Tobias were so harsh when it came to endangering their secret. "They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban. You're not going to end up in Azkaban, you're too..."

He blushed and turned his face to the ground to keep Lily from seeing his cheeks turn red, while simultaneously picking up a fallen leaf and twisting it in his hands, giving it his full attention.

Then there was a small rustling sound and Severus focused on it to escape the uncomfortable situation, catching the sight of Bloody-Petunia hiding behind a tree. He jumped to his feet, his embarrassment turning to anger, and shouted, "Who's spying now?" just as Lily exclaimed, "Tuney!" actually sounding pleased to see her.

But Severus ignored the welcome in her voice, beginning to feel furious at his own reactions and at Petunia's unwelcome presence. "What d'you want?" he snapped.

She seemed to struggle with her answer for a second but then pointed at his chest and released a false-laugh, "What is it that you're wearing, anyway? Your mum's blouse?"

And if Severus had been angry before, now his fury was practically blinding and the next think he knew - Petunia was running, tears streaming down her face, a branch from the tree above lay snapped on the ground.

"Did you make that happen?" Lily rounded on him, now looking furious as well.

"No."

He hoped not. He should be able to control his magic. Oh, Mother wouldn't be happy if she learnt about this...

"You did!" Lily shouted, stepping backwards in the direction her sister had gone, shaking her head as her face turned red. "You did! You hurt her!" She pointed an accusing finger at him.

"No- no, I didn't," Severus repeated but it was pointless. Lily glared at him one last time and turned to run after her sister.

Severus slid back to the ground, burying his fingers in the unkempt black hair hanging loosely in front of his face. Why did he always have to ruin everything...?

"Severus, go to your room," Eileen said in a stern voice.

An uneven noice of steps as Tobias walked down the flooded street and came to a stop at what must have been the small gate to their flat.

"What about you?" he returned but his mother sent him such a murderous glare that he averted his eyes and sparing one last look at the living room, went up the stairs.

Sev was already in their room. He'd been studying a Potions Book when Severus had left him there but now he was sitting on the bed, knees bent between his elbows, hands covering his ears. The other boy followed his example. Oh, they were such cowards! But even with their palms muffling the sound, the brothers could still hear their mother's pleas for Tobias to stay downstairs until he could think rationally, to drink water or eat something - as if they had enough food for the normal meals, much less to waste it on reducing the alcohol in the man's bloodstream.

A loud crash made both boys jump and then the heavy footsteps of someone going up the stairs - the two searched for a place to hide, looking around frantically and finding nowhere to darkle. The desk was made of a few simple planks with four wobbly legs holding it above the ground - nothing that could shelter either of them from their father's sight. The bed was... thought very comfortable, in reality made of two mattresses on top of each other, thus leaving no room under it. There was no wardrobe - their few clothes and books were organised in a single drawer the boys could not fit inside.

The door flung open, clashing with the wall on one side and shaking dangerously from the effort.

"Where's ma' boys!" Tobias roared, putting a massive hand on the doorframe.

The brothers exchanged frightened glances, but then the man released his grip on the door and without the support of his hand, lost his footing and thumped to the ground.

For a moment everyone stood there, frozen on their spots. Then Tobias got to his feet and proceeded to lurch down the corridor as if that had been his original destination, leaving the two boys to stare after him.

"Go get the salve," Severus turned to his brother.

"What for?"

Severus gave him a calculating look but decided not to comment on Sev's stupidity and instead answered with, "Mother."