Russ the Teacher
Severus approached the tree cautiously, making sure no-one would spot him as he waited for Lily to appear.
"Hullo," a voice startled him and he turned to face his friend. The sunlight was caressing her hair and if the girl was not already the most beautiful pure thing in the world, she would have now.
"Hi," he responded awkwardly and pinned his gaze to the ground. Even a year later it was still somehow weird that Lily was actually taking the time to meet with him. And especially now that he'd suggested something he knew full well she would disagree with.
"Well, are we going?" the girl asked cheerfully, oblivious to his discomfort.
"What?!" Severus exclaimed, not sure he'd heard right. "You are actually coming? You know Mother doesn't approve of this, don't you?"
"Oh, yes, but I got the impression she doesn't approve of many things. And it's not dangerous, right?"
"Well... It could be... But I've been brewing since I was eight, rest assured. I won't let anything happen t' you." He sent her a sheepish smile and then added, "You've got the pot?"
Lily pointed at the bag she was carrying, "Got it. Lead the way."
It was a ten-minute walk up the hill and in the forest bordering the village. The shadows from the tree canopies were a bliss in the hot summer day, the light breeze caressing their faces even more so. Adding to the atmosphere were the bird chirps and the noise of shivering leaves, the murmur of the river not yet polluted by the Mill's waste.
Soon the two reached a clearing. Not a big one, seeing as the twins had had to make it by themselves, but still there was enough room for the two kids to light a fire and sit comfortably around it. Severus had arranged a few rocks in a circle and gathered a stack of sticks, ready to fuel the flames. Drawing a box of matches from his pocket, he lit one up but tossed it on the ground almost immediately when the wind put the fire out. It took two more attempts for him to finally be able to light up the wood. Lily was standing a few feet away, waiting patiently and saying nothing.
"Urgh, finally," Severus breathed as he straightened from where he'd been bent over the campfire.
"And wizards actually make potions in cooking pots?" Lily asked innocently, ignoring his comment.
The boy chuckled, his eyes shining with a humorous glint as he painted an imaginary picture in his head of the Apothecary he'd seen in Diagon Alley selling Muggle cooking pots in place of the various types of cauldrons.
"O' course not," he answered, "It's really much like Muggles describe it, cauldrons and all."
"Oh. Do you have one?" Lily asked as she began unpacking her bag and put the pot on the ground.
"Mother has one. But she only uses it when she teaches me Potions and when Father... Well, when she teaches me Potions."
Lily stared at him. Severus felt his ears heat. He cursed himself silently for the slip. Lily was smart, she'd probably caught on to the meaning of the unspoken words. Dammit! But after a moment she averted her eyes and the boy chose that time to put the pot on the fire. He then emptied his own bag on the ground and handed a canakin over to Lily, "Er... Could you get us some water?"
The girl took the mug and without a comment headed for the river, while Severus began sorting the ingredients he'd brought.
"Hair-Raising Potion," he announced once Lily had poured the water into the pot. He'd chosen to show her something easy but effective first. "They don't teach it at Hogwarts but it's good practice for most of the brewing techniques we'll be studying in First Year."
"First Year... So it's not dangerous then?"
"Ah, no. And I'm even planning on making you drink it," Severus grinned at her and she smiled back with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Only if you drink some first," she teased and the boy's lips tugged upwards again.
He turned to the improvised cauldron and dropped two Billywig stings into the boiling water. "You add those first," he explained. "And then two stirs counterclockwise and one clockwise. Do you want to do it?"
Twenty minutes later the two friends were sitting on the ground, a pot with a disgusting looking green mixture between them. It wasn't perfect but considering they hadn't had a cauldron and had used a campfire to heat the water... Severus was proud.
"I'm not touching that," Lily declared and grimaced theatrically to prove her point.
"There's no going back now," Severus laughed and filled the mug with the mixture. Taking a sip, he too grimaced at the taste.
"How is it?"
"Not too bad, you can stomach it," he reported and handed her the drink.
Following Severus' example, Lily took a sip. At first nothing happened. But then, after about two minutes, both their heads began to itch and a moment later the boy's hair began to raise, as did Lily's a few seconds later.
"We look like Einstein," Severus exclaimed between giggles, pointing at his friend's head.
"Actually, I'd rather say you look more like Jimi Hendrix."
"Who's that?" the boy asked, trying to smooth his hair back down and doing a very poor job at it.
"You don't know? Dad's a huge fan, we have about a thousand records at home. You gotta come listen some day. How about... Tuesday?"
Tuesday... Tuesday... It would be Sev's turn to be able to leave the house. "What about your parents? And sister? She's not gonna want me for sure."
"Hm. Oh! They're both going to Manchester on Thursday, what about Thursday, then?"
Thursday. Sev's turn again. Maybe he'd be able to convince him to switch for a day? "Alright. Teatime by the tree?"
"Teatime by the tree."
Tuesday, July 27th, 1970
"Severus, Seuthes, come down if you will," Eileen's voice reached their ears.
Muttering their complaints, the boys nevertheless made their way to the battered living room.
"Sit," the woman pointed at the couch and once both children had complied, she reached for her bag and extracted a heavy old book the title of which read Guard your mind. "I want you to read this book," Eileen explained. "You are both skilled enough in the art of Legilimency but as I am sure you've noticed, it takes you time to find the memories you're looking for, especially when one of you is distraught," she waited for the twins to nod and continued, "This is because you have no control over your thoughts, nor do you know yet how to look for a specific memory when searching other people's minds.
"This book covers Occlumency. It will help you protect your minds from intrusion, which I suspect might happen while you're at Hogwarts where-"
"Like a shield?" Severus interrupted. Eileen raised an eyebrow and fixed him with a disapproving glare - a habit which the brothers would soon pick up. The boy let his gaze drop to the ground, "Sorry."
His mother nodded curtly and began her speech again, "As I was saying - and be sure not to interrupt me when I'm speaking, both of you - there will be children if not even staff who won't always have the purest intentions. Not many children are skilled in Legilimency but those who are can use it to hurt you."
"They'll learn about me?" Seuthes whispered and involuntary sank deeper into his seat.
"Not only. Legilimens."
The intrusion was so unexpected Seuthes didn't even realize what was happening until it was much too late. Oh, no! But his panic only seemed to make things worse as the images before his eyes began flashing faster until he catched a glimpse of Lily... And then another one, and another one. And then it was over, Seuthes clutching his head with both hands and rocking back and forth in an attempt to ignore the horrible aching between his ears.
"Who is this girl," Eileen demanded, fury flashing in her eyes as she glared at both children at once, her gaze seemingly cutting through them with its force. When she didn't get a response, the woman stared at her other son and repeated the incantation.
This time the redhead was the first thing she saw but there was another thing Severus seemed to be trying to hide even more eagerly. A wand. Long pine wand... Her father's wand! Unable to control her ire, Eileen broke the eye contact and standing up curtly ordered, "Wait for me here. Don't leave the room until I've dealt with you." With that, she retreated to the kitchen, hoping against hope that it will help to defuse her wrath.
It didn't help. She just couldn't stand in one place. She kept pacing - from the sink to the table, from the table to the window, from the window back to the table and back to the sink, and then to the door and then... Before she knew it she was inside the living room, continuing her pacing. Only this time there were two kids rubbing at their cheeks where the back of their mother's hand had left a sore red spot. Eileen didn't seem to care. In fact, she probably didn't even know what she'd done or what was happening around her. The images of her children's memories were flashing before her eyes, mixed with her own anger at her mother for defying her wish to keep the twins away from the Wizarding World until they were old enough, as well as the painful memories of her late father firing spells that made you hold your breath. The long pine wand. She remembered that wand. And it was painful. And blinding. Her pain was escalating into a blinding fury.
She didn't know how much time had passed but eventually she was too exhausted to keep moving, so she dropped on the sagged sofa and buried her face in her pale long-fingered hands.
"Go to your room," she ordered, her voice weak but the tone suggesting the kids best do as she told them. "No," the woman changed her mind. She hadn't really thought this through and right now she just wanted the two to know she was really upset with them. She waved her hand and the crevice to the hiding spot appeared near the never-lit hearth, "Go there. You're not to leave the house until next week. And I'll be taking that wand."
Severus was about to protest but his brother nudged him gently and nodded silently in the direction of the crevice. Both slipped in the dark room without further argument, the light click informing them the 'door' was now closed.
Once alone, Eileen released a shaky breath and tried to compose herself. Looking back, she realised her anger at her children's friendship with the redhead wasn't exactly justified. Perhaps she'd tried too hard to keep them away from their magic and it had only increased their curiosity.But then again, the fact that the two had kept it from her... Now that was worth her wrath. And then the wand... Yes, they certainly deserved their punishment. And maybe she'd even been too lenient with them.
"No! You aren't going!" Seuthes hissed.
"And why not?" Severus bit back. "Because you sure as hell can't stop me!"
Seuthes glared at him. They'd only been locked in the house for two days and considering each of them was not allowed to leave their home while the other was out, it really was nothing unusual (thank God their mother had decided against keeping them in the dreadful dark space for more than 2 hours). In fact, a year ago both would've preferred to stay inside even if they had the option to go out. But now... Now they had a friend. Someone willing to spend time with them, someone who was not their twin and yet felt like family. They'd lost the privilege to meet with that friend for a week but if Eileen learnt Severus had disobeyed her... They might just lose it for the rest of the summer if not worse. Of course, the woman hadn't exactly given them permission to talk to Lily as it was, but if the boys could go out, she wouldn't really have much choice on the matter.
"Unlike you, dummkopf, I prefer not to be locked in here for the rest of my nugatory life. And since we haven't even started the stupid book on Occlumency, Mother won't have much of a problem finding out about your little mummery."
That seemed to work, for Severus froze where he was holding the doorknob and turned to face his brother, his face pulled in a pensive expression.
After a moment, he took a deep breath and changed his approach, "Look. I... I don't think you saw the full memory on Friday. Lily and I, we agreed to meet today so she could show me - I think it was a musical record or something, it doesn't matter. But she'd be waiting for me, we can't just leave her there."
Seuthes' scowl only deepened at the statement, "And when were you planning to tell me this? Because if we weren't grounded yesterday, I would've been the one to meet her today. You were not going to tell me at all, were you!"
"Of course I was! I would've asked you to switch places but I would've told you about Lily. But since it's now my turn to go out, I thought you'd only get upset if you learnt about it."
"Ah. Because your plan has worked out flawlessly. Now I'm not upset at all," Seuthes drawled, bitterness colouring his words.
Severus cast his eyes down. He really had been a fool. Of course Sev was going to find out and confront him about it. Fixing his gaze on the other boy, Severus offered, "Okay. You go then. But don't leave her waiting."
But Seuthes didn't move. Instead he stared in complete shock. For a very long second the room was silent while he analized the situation. And then he shook his head slightly and muttered, "Alright, go. I'll cover for you. But be sure to come home before Mother does."
With a simple nod of thanks Severus left the room.
Seuthes closed his eyes. He tried following the instructions he'd read earlier. Close your eyes. Focus on your breathing. Think of nothing. Think of nothing? What did that even mean! Maybe think of black? No, black was a colour. And a colour was something, wasn't it? Damnit! Was there even such a thing as 'nothing'!? Well, if it was nothing it wouldn't be a thing-
"Sev, Sev, stop," Russ' voice reached him. "It's not working and you're just getting angry."
"What am I s'pposed to do!" Seuthes yelled, "What do you do? 'Cause there ain't no way you're thinking of nothing!"
"I er..." The other boy flushed furiously, "I think of your breathing at night." Noticing his brother's shock and confusion, Severus rushed to explain himself, "It's er- I tried focusing on my own breathing. It didn't work - every time I focused on it, it became uneven. And the image of you sleeping is just... peaceful."
Seuthes stared at him, speechless. How was he supposed to respond to that? Thank him? No. What was there to be thankful for... Shout at him? Perhaps. Russ certainly deserved it but then the admission didn't exactly anger him. Laugh? That was a good option. But his mouth had simply chosen to ignore his commands and no sound came out. Seuthes just continued to stare.
"Okay," he whispered after a long minute,"I'll try it."
He closed his eyes. An image of the dark room floated through his conscious. He was laying on the bed. It had been a long time ago now, but that day Severus had come home grinning like those impossible women on billboards showcasing the newest sunburn product. 'I'll see you around?' Lily had said. Both boys had been unable to sleep that night but in the end Russ had drifted off first, leaving Seuthes to enjoy the peaceful night for just a few minutes more.
"Seuthes, are you ready?" his mother's voice brought him back to Earth. He jerked his head to the side and fixed the closed door with a glare. He really didn't want to be doing this right now. "Seuthes!" Eileen urged him again and he went to open the door and yell back towards the stairs.
"I'm coming, mum!"
"What's taken you so long? Okay, tell me when you're ready."
The boy seated himself comfortably on the chair in front of his mother and repeated the process from earlier until he felt himself relax. Slow deep breaths. "I'm ready," he announced and opened his eyes.
"Legilimens."
The room swam before his eyes and vanished. The same as it had done the previous thousand times they had attempted this. He was staring at the dark ceiling. Beside him Russ was sleeping peacefully, the long strands of his hair shivering slightly with his every breath. Seuthes had been so happy that day. Lily had spoken to him. To Russ. But she hadn't known Russ was not the same person as Seuthes. She still didn't know. Lily. He thought back to the first day he'd seen her. The day he'd followed her out of the house and then his father had found him and- An image of the scene flashed before his eyes, followed by a flicker of stupid Studge's face... He was five and watching as his mother yelled at Russ and both boys were crying, though Seuthes did not know why... He was seven - or maybe four - and staring at the cold walls of the dark space he'd so often hidden in... He was ten and - that had been only two weeks ago! - he was telling Russ 'his plan had worked out flawlessly'...No! You're not watching this! And he felt some weird sensation go through his body and his vision blurred, the battered living room appearing in his sight.
"You lost control. We'll try this again. When you're ready... Legilimens."
The following days rolled by almost too quickly and Severus found himself sitting on the mattress of his bed and looking at his Biology textbook and the new teacher's - Mr Mattil - bloody abstruse explanations.
The front door creaked and the boy jumped from his bed, happy that Sev had finally come home to save him from this hell. He rushed down the stairs but stopped dead in his tracks as he was met by the sight of one Tobias Snape.
"And just where do y' think y're going?" the man questioned and Severus felt his cheeks flush for some unknown reason.
"I- I thought it was Sev and I... was just going to say hello."
"How touching," Tobias sneered and, pushing him to the side, went to sit on the couch. "Go get me a beer." When the boy just stared at him defiantly, he added irritatedly, "Go now, boy. I'm not in the mood to argue with you."
Severus continued to stay there, unmoving, until his father went to get up and the younger Snape's self preservation urged him to do as he was told.
"Get the Backgammon and we'll play a game if you want."
The offer did nothing to reassure Severus but he nevertheless went to fetch the board. His father would normally play a game with him only as a way to apologize for something, normally for beating him the previous night while drunk.
"What's happened?" Severus asked gingerly as he set the board on the table between them.
"One o' my mates got arrested," Tobias replied and gulped from the bottle of alcohol.
His son was about to ask what the man had been arrested for but decided he didn't want to know. Instead he arranged the pieces and the two began the game in silence.
"Bloody stupid game!" Tobias roared and slammed his fist on the table which sent the pieces flying across the room. Severus had a smug expression on his face as he'd been the one to bear off. "Remove this stupid smile from your face, Severus!" the man shouted but the words only made the boy release a puff of laughter. "Again."
They were on their third game when Sev came home with a wounded knee and a bloodied nose. Severus rushed to his side and helped him to the sofa, despite his brother's half-hearted protests.
"What 'appened to you?" Tobias asked distractedly and put his bottle on the floor by the couch.
"Welker's father was arrested today for robbery and apparently chasing me was a good way to distract him from his father's little adventure to the Police Station."
Tobias' expression darkened. "Mind your words, Seuthes. I don't appreciate people talking like that about my friends."
But the boy just snorted and bit back, "Your friends, huh? Well, maybe you should chose more carefully who you hang out with. Wasn't that what you've always insisted we do?"
And while Sev had been too preoccupied with absorbing the blood on his face with a napkin, Tobias had stood from his seat and grabbed him by the collar.
"You should think more carefully before y' speak, boy!" Tobias yelled and leaned closer so his nose was almost touching Sev's own. The boy seemed to shrink into himself and then jerked his body to escape the man's grip but it was no help. His father just laughed darkly, "Get out of my sight, I don't want to see you. Both of you," he added and turned to glare at Severus until both brothers escaped the room hastily.
"Why are you always provoking him!" Severus hissed angrily once the two had reached the questionable safety of their room.
"He doesn't need much provocation, does he?" Sev replied bitterly and leaned his head against the wall. "But if you must know, I think our beloved father had a hand in this robbery."