Chapter 5: A Friend (Age 9)

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. Thank you for your kind reviews! Warning for violence.

Severus was shocked. He felt like he stood for over a minute with his mouth agape, staring at Lily's outstretched hand. She had come back! She didn't think he was some dirty creep from the wrong end of town like her sister did! He couldn't believe that Lily was standing right next to him, having come to find him on her own accord. He quickly recovered, trying to pick his words carefully to make a better impression, and reached out his hand to take hers tentatively.

He noticed now that they were standing next to each other that Lily was quite small compared to him, he was nearly a whole head taller, but her eyes were absolutely brilliant, like two little almond shaped chips of emerald.

"Severus Snape," he said, trying to sound as confident as possible. He dropped Lily's hand quickly, not used to the contact.

"Is it true what you said the other day? Am I really a witch? Is that why I can do things no one else can?"

Severus could hear the slight edge of longing in her voice, waiting for confirmation. He gave her a slight smile. "It's true, let me show you."

He plucked a bud from a nearby daisy bush and held it flat in his palm, concentrated on the little flower and willed it to open. He could see pure delight dance in Lily's emerald eyes as white petals slowly spiraled out, coming to lay flat against his palm and revealing the yellow center of the flower. He handed Lily the daisy, "See? I'm just like you."

Lily shot him the brightest smile he'd ever seen, and then her face turned suspicious.

"Why were you spying on me and Tuney?"

"I wasn't spying!" he said indignantly. "I come to the glade to read often and I hear you and your sister when you come to play. I saw you do magic one time and I wanted to know more about you."

"When did you see me do magic?" Lily asked, raising her eyebrow suspiciously.

"Um… two years ago, I saw you jump from the swings and you didn't get hurt," Severus felt his cheeks flush from more than just the heat.

"Two years!? And you never said hello? That sounds like you were spying," she shot him a glare.

"Err… I overheard what your sister thought about people from my part of town," Severus fumbled with the hem of his ragged, oversized shirt. "I thought you'd think I was insulting you too, which you did!"

Lily looked a bit embarrassed. "I don't care where you live as long as you're nice. Why did you call Tuney a mean name if you want to be our friend?"

Severus wasn't sure he and Petunia would ever be friends by the way she'd looked at him the other day, but he certainly wanted Lily to be his friend. "You mean a Muggle?"

"Yeah"

"A Muggle is just someone who isn't magic, most people in Cokeworth are Muggles aside from you, me, and my mum. There aren't many magical people in Britain compared to the number of Muggles. Most wizards and witches live in small communities around the country away from Muggles so that they can practice magic freely. I've got a map I could show you. When we're eleven we'll go to Hogwarts so that we can learn to do magic properly."

Severus eyed Lily, hoping he'd convinced her that he wasn't being nasty to Petunia. He had meant to be rude to Petunia, but only because she had been nasty to him. He was tired of being mocked and mistreated by everyone, save his mum and the nice lady at the bakery, which had frankly surprised him. However, Petunia was clearly important to Lily, so he didn't want to speak of her badly in front of Lily.

"What's Hogwarts? Why do you and your Mum live here instead of a magical place?" Lily looked at him inquisitively.

"Hogwarts is Britain's wizarding school. You'll get a letter on your eleventh birthday. My Mum went there and we will too. I've got loads of my mum's old school books I can show you! And we live in Cokeworth because my fathers' a Muggle too," Severus said, growing more and more excited to be sharing parts of his world with Lily.

Severus could see the excitement growing in Lily's eyes too. He sat back on the ground and motioned for Lily to join him. He pulled out the herbology book from where he'd stashed it and opened it up to show Lily.

"Do you want to see my book? This one's on magical herbs and plants, I've been wanting to see if I can find some of these around Cokeworth for potion making," he said proudly, glancing at Lily to see her response.

Lily nodded excitedly, and moved closer to Severus to share the book with him. He flipped to the beginning, and launched into a detailed description of all the plants he was familiar with and how they could be used and prepared in different potions. The two of them spent the afternoon laying on their stomachs by the edge of the river, excitedly flipping through Severus' book. He'd been so absorbed talking to Lily, he didn't even remember to have his second bun for lunch. He answered as many of her questions as he could from what his mum had taught him, ecstatic to be sharing his world with someone else. They sat together until the sun started to get low in the sky, when Lily stood up to head home.

"Thanks Severus! Can you come tomorrow too and bring some more books? I want to hear more about Hogwarts! I won't bring Tuney, so it can just be the two of us."

Severus smiled when he heard Lily say his name. "Of course, see you tomorrow then? I'll bring you some you can borrow too, but you have to promise to take good care of them."

"Promise!" Lily shot him another fantastic smile as they made their way up the embankment and through the bush into the park, making their way toward the main gate. They parted ways at the gate, as Lily headed up the street and Severus turned to walk down towards the bridge.

He made it a few paces down the street, before turning to look over his shoulder at Lily's retreating figure.

He saw her turn to glance at him as well, waved, and shouted at him, "Night Sev! See you tomorrow!"

Severus waved back, and as he turned to walk home, the biggest smile lighting up his entire face. Even dreary Spinner's End couldn't ruin his mood tonight!

(***)

After an uneventful walk back in the late evening, Severus reached the front gate of his home, and made his way up the short walk to the front door. He crossed his fingers, hoping that his father would still be out, and perhaps wouldn't return at all for the evening. He put his ear to the front door before entering, listening for his father, but all he heard was silence. Taking that as a good sign, he hesitantly opened the door, revealing the empty entranceway and living room. He pulled off his trainers and placed them neatly by the front door, and looked for his mum. He found her sitting at their small, beat up kitchen table, absentmindedly stirring a cup of tea while staring off at a nondescript section of the kitchen wall.

Remembering the uneaten hot cross bun he had brought home, Severus crossed the kitchen, grabbed two plates, tore the bun in half, and set one of the plates in front of his mum at the table. The whole time, his mum's eyes remained fixed on the wall and she continued stirring her tea slowly.

"Mum?" he tried tentatively, "I got a bun at the bakery in the village today, it should still be pretty fresh. I remember you liked these when we went together."

Her eyes slowly shifted to where Severus stood and she seemed to come out of her trance.

"Thank you, Severus," she said quietly, tentatively lifting the bun to her lips.

With no sign of his father, and his mum seemingly lucid, he decided to tell her about Lily.

"Mum, today at the park I met a girl. She lives in Cokeworth and she can do magic like us! I've seen her do it a few times now! Her parents are Muggles, but her magic is really strong," Severus then launched into an explanation of how he'd seen her manipulate the daisy and fly off the swing. He then looked at his mum to make sure she was listening to him.

His mum gave him a faint trace of a smile when he finished speaking, then spoke, her voice barely above a whisper, "She sounds very special Severus, I'm glad you have found a friend."

His mum then finished the last of the bun, gave his arm an affectionate, gentle squeeze as she got up to wash their plates, then bid him goodnight as she made her way upstairs, silent as a ghost.

Severus sighed, it was the most she'd spoken to him in ages aside from quiet greetings. He hadn't seen her do any magic since the day her wand had been broken either. At least he'd been able to bring her out of her depressive trance for a few moments this evening, he thought to himself as he made his way toward the washroom. He showered and dressed in his nightclothes, then made his way to his room to select books to show Lily tomorrow. Before searching through his books, he dug out the three one-pound notes from his pocket, lifted out the loose floorboard under his bed, and stashed them in the hole along with the rest of his precious things. Then, he browsed through the books on his desk and decided to bring Hogwarts a History to loan to Lily along with a book on introductory charms and one of his favorites on simple potions. He stacked them neatly on his nightstand, hoping his father would stay out all night and not ruin his wonderful day. Regardless, he had seeing Lily again tomorrow to look forward to.eH

(***)

Lily made her way up the hill from the park. The Evans' house sat atop the hill in Cokeworth, providing them with a lovely view of the stone church spire, the mill stack, and the rolling green fields beyond the village. Their brick home was unattached, with two chimneys on either end, and a tidy wall and iron gate leading to the large front garden. There was a neat hedge behind the wall, and colorful flower beds planted near the path to the front door. The house had a big bay window at the front, which Lily loved to sit and read in, watching life go by in the village below. They had a big back garden with a large oak tree that nearly touched Lily's bedroom window. The back garden abutted a nearby farmer's field, giving the appearance of more space. The inside of the house was cozy, yet well decorated, as Lily's mum, Rose Evans, took great pride in keeping the house tidy and presentable. Lily's dad, Harold Evans, worked at the University of Manchester as a professor of engineering, providing his family with a good life in Cokeworth.

Lily walked up the short gravel driveway to her front door, and let herself inside, tossing her trainers in the coat closet. Her sister and father were staying in Manchester for a few days, so it was just her and her mum at home.

"Lily dear, your dinner's getting cold!" her mum called from the kitchen.

Lily hurried into the kitchen and took her place at the table, waiting for her mum to sit down before eating.

Her mum joined her at the table, hanging her kitchen apron over the back of Petunia's unused chair. "Did you meet some school friends down at the park? You've been gone all day Lils, you must be starving!"

"Um… no mum, none of the girls from school want to play with me outside of class. I actually saw Severus, er… the Snape boy that Tuney mentioned the other day."

Petunia had dragged Lily home the other day after their sudden encounter with Severus at the park, and promptly told their mum that the Snape boy from Spinner's End was creeping around the local park and had been rude to her and Lily.

Lily noticed her mum looked quite concerned upon her declaration, "He's not like Tuney says mum, he didn't mean to call me a rude name, and I don't think that he can help that his family is no good. I think he was quite embarrassed the other day when Tuney was rude to him."

Her mother looked considerate, and Lily knew she would offer Severus the benefit of the doubt, if Lily was convinced of his good character. Both her parents knew that Petunia had a bit of a cruel streak, and it probably wouldn't have surprised her mum to know that Petunia had been the catalyst to Severus' rudeness. Also, her mum was probably rather happy for Lily to have a friend, as whenever she wasn't spending time with her sister, she was alone with a book.

"Besides," Lily continued, "Severus has been very kind to me. He shared his book with me, and finally explained to me why I can do special things that no one else can! He can do things like me too mum!"

"Oh?" her mum raised her eyebrow, her curiosity peaked. "And what did he have to say Lils?"

"I am a witch mum! And it's not a bad thing, I can do magic, and so can Severus and his mum!"

Her mum smiled and laughed, but didn't seem to be taking her seriously. "That's lovely Lils! I'd love to meet your wizard friend. Why don't you bring him round for lunch once your father and Petunia are back, although perhaps we'll have him over on a day when Petunia is out with friends."

"Alright mum!" Lily said smiling brightly. She'd never had a friend round to her house before, and hoped that Severus would come.

Her mum tidied up after their meal, and Lily dried their dinner dishes. Her mum went to the fridge and started to prepare two sandwiches.

"If you're going to be out at the park all day again tomorrow, you best bring lunch this time. Bring one for Severus too. It's kind of him to share his books with you," she smiled at Lily.

Lily nodded, then hurried upstairs to get ready for bed, excited to see Severus at the park in the morning.

(***)

Severus awoke to another sticky, sweltering summer morning. Already the heat in his room was unbearable and the thought of seeing Lily again in the afternoon was enough to get him out of bed bright and early. He threw off his night clothes, and pulled on his shabby jeans and another ratty, overlarge long-sleeve his mum had gotten at consignment. He grimaced as he pulled on the garments, wishing that he could wear something more comfortable in the heat. Severus rummaged in his closet and found his mum's old school satchel to transport all the books to the park. He carefully made his way downstairs, and with no sign of his father, darted to the washroom and then tossed a few apples in his satchel and grabbed two slices of bread from the kitchen on his way out the door.

It was so early in the morning that the sun was only just starting to rise. Glancing towards the mill as he left his front gate, the combination of steam from the mill chimney and the haze of the humidity in the faint light gave the early morning sky an ominous orange glow. Making his way down the street, Severus had an unfortunate encounter. About halfway down Spinner's End, stumbling toward him in the dim morning light, was his father. He quickly attempted to cross the street before his father made notice of him, but it was too late. His father lurched towards him, grabbing his upper arm with a vice like grip.

"Sevrus… where ya going?" his father slurred.

Tobias towered over him, and Severus tried to yank his arm out of his father's grip with no success. "Get off me!" Severus spat.

"Bloody disrespectful bastard!" his father roared.

Severus knew it was coming before it even hit him, speaking back to his father never ended well, especially when he was drunk. Tobias' free hand whipped around and back-handed him across the face. Tobias simultaneously released Severus' arm, sending him flying backwards onto the cobble stones, his satchel falling from his shoulder.

Mildly dazed, Severus tried to pick himself up of the ground, grimacing in pain as he tried to stand. He could taste the metallic tang of blood, and when he ran his tongue over his lips, he could tell that his bottom one had split and was already swelling. Before he could stand, his father was looming over him, reaching out to grab Severus by his collar to yank him up.

Suddenly, Tobias yelled out in pain as he touched Severus and quickly retracted his hand as if he'd been burned. Tobias stumbled backwards.

"Ya freak! Ya burned me!"

Taking advantage of his father's momentary distraction, Severus heaved himself up, grabbed his fallen satchel, and legged it down the street despite protests from his bruised body. However, his father's angry shouts from down the street were motivation enough to keep moving. He didn't dare look back to see if his father had attempted to give chase. He didn't stop running until he reached the main bridge, when the shouting had faded far enough into the distance that he knew he was safe.

Panting from having run in his heavy clothes in the thick humidity, Severus limped the remaining way to the park gate in semi-darkness of the morning and stumbled through the bush to reach his quiet glade. Collapsing on the bank of the river, he scooped up handfuls of the clear, cold water, and poured it over his head, trying his best to wash off the blood that had trickled down his face from his lip. He rolled up the sleeves of his now damp shirt and lay on his back, gazing at the orange sky through the foliage of the large, old beech tree. Eventually, exhausted from his encounter with his father, his eyes slid shut, and he drifted into a fitful sleep on the grassy river bank.

(***)

A bright beam of sunlight trickled through the dense foliage cover of the old beech tree, rousing Severus awake. He groggily rubbed his eyes as they adjusted to the bright light. The sun was now fully up and beating down on Cokeworth. If not for the gentle, cool, breeze coming off the river, the heat would have been unbearable. As he awoke, the aches and pains from his impromptu meeting in the street with his father began to set in again. In addition to his swollen lip, his lower back and right ankle were quite sore, not enough to be broken, but enough that he knew there would be bad bruises if he lifted his clothes. He had some of the bruise salve he'd brewed at home, but going back to Spinner's End at this point was out of the question. Not only did he not want to miss Lily's arrival to the park, but his father would be back in the house by now, and he didn't think it was wise to chance going home before his father had time to sober up. Severus hoped that his father would be too drunk to remember what happened between them on the street that morning and would be calmer by the time he got home again later. He also hoped that his mum was safe, and that his disgrace of a father didn't take his anger out on her.

Severus pulled his potions book out of his bag, as it was always a good distraction from his thoughts about his family, and began to read until Lily arrived. Another hour passed before he heard the bush at the top of the embankment rustle and saw Lily's deep red hair emerge into the clearing.

She hurried toward him, carrying a small bag of her own, "Morning Severus!" she said cheerfully before getting a good look at him.

Severus knew that he probably looked a right mess. He'd tried his best to clean his face up in the river, but he knew that his lip was still swollen and some of the blood had dried where it had split. He was sure overall, he looked disheveled and sweaty from the heat of his clothing and his unplanned morning run down Spinner's End.

Lily plopped down next to him on the grass, finally getting a good look at his face. "What happened to you?!" she asked, her features twisting into an expression of concern.

Squirming uncomfortably under her pitiful gaze, Severus muttered, "fell in the street this morning, I'm fine."

Lily didn't look particularly convinced. "I can run home and get some antiseptic cream and a plaster from my mum, if you'd like."

Not wanting to waste any time with her, Severus shook his head and dug through his satchel, pulling out Hogwarts a History, and the introductory charms book. He handed her Hogwarts a History, and kept the charms book on his lap with the potions book he'd been reading while waiting for Lily to arrive.

Hoping to distract her from his injuries, he launched into an explanation of the book he'd handed her, "This one will tell you all about Hogwarts, the castle is centuries old so it has a lot of unique magical qualities. It also tells you a bit about the four school houses and the original founders of the school for which the houses are named."

"Thanks Severus, I'll be sure to take good care of it," Lily said, and began eagerly flipping through the book, "which house do you think you'll be in?"

"Slytherin," he said confidently, "my mum and most of her family have been in Slytherin house, so I suppose I'll carry on the tradition."

"Then that's the house I want to be in too!" Lily exclaimed.

Severus gave her a soft smile. He certainly hoped that he and Lily would be in the same house when they got to Hogwarts. He wasn't very good at making friends, and figured that being poor and shabby wouldn't make him popular with his magical classmates either, although he certainly would fit in better in the magical world than the Muggle one.

He confidently answered all Lily's questions about Hogwarts, feeling proud that someone finally wanted to be around him for his intelligence. They'd been discussing the magical school for about an hour when Lily rifled in the canvas bag she'd brought along, pulling out two paper wrapped packages, and thrusting one at Severus.

"What's this?" he asked, confused.

"Mum made us both lunch today."

When Severus looked as though he was uncomfortable accepting it, she added, "if you're going to bring the books when we meet, I can bring us lunch!"

Nodding his thanks, Severus slowly and meticulously unwrapped the paper to reveal a robust looking ham sandwich. He tucked into it, finding it to be the most satisfying lunch he'd had in a long time. He was glad that Lily had finally given up on worrying over his injuries, although he did catch her peering at his lip once in a while. As he ate, he wondered where Petunia was, as she seemed to be protective of her little sister, but she had yet to interrupt one of their meetings. Severus wasn't complaining, as Petunia seemed to have an innate dislike of him before even speaking to him for the first time.

"Where's your sister?" he asked Lily curiously.

Lily gave him a bit of a guilty look, "Er, Tuney doesn't know I've been meeting you. She's been away with my dad in Manchester to look at new schools for Year 6, they'll be back at the end of the week. Cokeworth village school only goes up to Year 5, and mum and dad want us to go to private school in Manchester after we finish Year 5. Course, I'll go to Hogwarts for Year 6 now! I've told mum all about you and how we're magic though!" she said cheerfully.

Severus wasn't sure what to make of the news about Petunia. He certainly hoped that her return wouldn't prevent Lily from joining him in the park. They finished their sandwiches and Lily opened up the charms book that Severus had set beside them in the grass.

She flipped through a few pages, detailing proper wand movements and incantation pronunciation, before running a hand through her coppery hair and giving Severus a concerned look.

"I'm going to be so far behind!" she exclaimed, "I bet the kids that grew up in magical families already know loads of spells and magic before they go to Hogwarts."

Severus shook his head and then smiled confidently at her, "Loads of kids won't know any magic until we get to school. There's lots of other students with Muggle parents and we can't do proper magic without wands anyway. Besides, we can practice together with my mum's books and I'll teach you everything I know," he said proudly.

The two of them sat together all afternoon practicing wand movements for charms with sticks from the old beech tree until Lily had to head home to her mum.

Before they parted ways at the park gate, Lily turned to Severus and said, "Thanks Sev, it's been nice to have a friend who's like me, Tuney always says I'm strange, and the girls at Cokeworth village seem to think so too. See you tomorrow!"

She shot him a wonderful smile and then went skipping up the street towards her home, red hair streaming behind her. He thought to himself as he made his way home, if Lily was happy to have him as a friend, he was positively elated. She'd been the first person to accept him for himself outside of his mum. His spirts couldn't be broken even as limped home down Spinner's End to face his father.

(***)

Severus and Lily had been meeting in the park glade every day during the week. The two poured over Severus' large collection of magical books and Severus shared everything he knew about the magical world with Lily. She was particularly interested in, and perhaps equal parts horrified by the dementors of Azkaban, which Severus had explained to her in great detail upon her request, after reassuring her that neither of them could be sent there for preforming their underage accidental magic. Lily had begun to bring her books from the Muggle school in Cokeworth too, and Severus was particularly interested in learning from her math and science books, which his mum hadn't taught him much of at home.

Sometimes the two of them would just lay in the grass and talk, looking up at the sky through the filter of the beech leaves. They filled each other's void of loneliness, and by the end of the week, the two of them were inseparable during the day.

Severus had even begrudgingly disclosed that his home life was not happy to Lily after showing up at the end of the week with a black eye and bruised wrist. He didn't want her pity, but it was nice to have someone who cared about his well-being. Under the excuse of forgetting their lunch, Lily had run home and come back with a small tube of antiseptic ointment which she thrust at Severus, before dropping the topic as she could tell he was uncomfortable.

On Saturday morning, Lily met him in their usual spot at the park with a frown. Severus sent her a questioning look.

"Tuney comes back today Sev, I have to be home for lunch today or mum will have a fit. I still have a sandwich for you though!"

Severus thanked her and accepted the consolation sandwich. Petunia's return hung over him like a dark cloud, as he knew she would restrict his precious time with Lily.

Lily could clearly see that he was upset as she looked at him sympathetically and said, "Don't worry Sev! Tuney has lots of her own friends, she'll be glad I'm not following her around anymore, and if she's not happy I'm spending time with you, who cares! We can still meet every day, even when school starts in the fall. I can bring my lessons and homework here after school so we can learn together!"

Severus immediately brightened with Lily's promise to still spend time with him, "Thanks Lil. I'd miss seeing you." He felt his face flush a bit, but Lily just smiled at him.

"I'd miss you too, Sev! Oh, I forgot to tell you. Mum wants you to come round for lunch. Tuney's going to be with a friend on Monday, can you come then? We can meet at the park in the morning and then walk up to my house. Mum will probably have lots of questions about magic." Lily knew that Severus might be uncomfortable coming to her home, so she hoped that the promise of sharing his knowledge with her parents would be enough to convince him.

Severus was a bit shocked. His own parents were so absent and uninterested in what he did during the day, he had never thought that Lily's family would take much interest in him. He wished that his mum would be well enough again so that she would ask about and want to meet Lily.

"Of course, I'll come, Lily. I hope that your mum doesn't mind that I don't have anything nice to wear to lunch though," Severus muttered, a bit embarrassed by how Lily's parents were sure to view him, especially in light of Petunia's comments.

"Don't worry Sev! Mum and Dad aren't like Tuney. They're going to love you."

Severus gave her a weak smile and pulled out a book, propping it open in front of him and Lily. The two continued to read until Lily announced she had to get back to her house. Once she left, Severus was left alone with his thoughts, dreading the mortification that would surely come with meeting Mr. and Mrs. Evans. He certainly couldn't imagine that they were happy that their daughter had befriended "the Snape boy" from Spinner's End. Sighing heavily, he focused back on the book and tried his best to ignore the negative thoughts swirling in his head.

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