They Didn't Know We Were Seeds
Even at eleven-years-old she is a true beauty with her clear milky-white skin, thick chestnut waves that fall to the small of her back, dewy brown eyes and delicate, doll-like features. However, her beauty is not her only gift. She can win a room over with her magnetic smile and breezy laughter. In a couple of years, Severus knows she'll have all the boys of Hogwarts chasing after her green-trimmed robes.
It's more the shame, he thinks, that the alluring visage is just that, a visage. Beneath Evangeline Channing's pretty face and impeccable portrayal of a human is a rotten heart. From the shadows, he watches her approach Felix Carrow's familiar, a big white cat. Crouching down on her haunches, she coos at the beast.
"Here kitty, here kitty."
The cat watches Channing with a steady amber gaze.
He can't see Channing's face, but it doesn't stop Severus from picturing her perfect full lips pulling into a malicious smile. "I learned a new spell today, kitty," she says. "But I can't use it here. It will create a mess."
The ears of Carrow's familiar twitch.
Channing gives a tiny, annoyed sigh. "Here kitty," she says.
Briefly, Severus considers trying to get the attention of the cat himself. He just knows that spell Channing wants to use will not end well for Carrow's cat. However, before he can, Channing shifts a little and calls, "I've got fish!" And as if that was the magic word, the cat gets to its feet and goes to Channing. "Good pussy," she praises, picking up Carrow's familiar while it wolfs down what looks to be the remains of the fish Hogwarts's occupants had for supper.
'It's too late,' Severus thinks. There's no minor spell he could use to make the cat jump out of her arms now without alerting Channing to his presence.
Even so, as the eleven-year-old walks toward the common room's entrance, he almost steps out of the shadows. He knows this girl's future. It starts with these familiars, is followed by a dead father next spring, then a dead mother and step-father by her sixth year, a couple of years after her parents' passings, there will be a succession of dead brothers (one full, two step). The Channing family's extinction will be finished well before Voldemort's first fall with a dead uncle and aunt and Channing's first marriage. In the years up until Severus's passing, the deaths continued starting with the "accidental drowning" of her first husband and continuing on with six more. The only survivor of her murderous habit will be her Death Eater son from her second marriage.
Severus's grip on his wand turns taut. He could stop all of the tragedies right here with one little spell. Yet, he hesitates. There's no way it would remain a secret. The professors would bring in Aurors who would stop at nothing to find out who murdered the Channing's pretty, charismatic daughter. They'd realize it was him soon enough – even if they'd never be able to pull a reason out of him. Then Severus would be in Azkaban and unable to help Lily remake their would into the better future they were brought here to create.
So, even as every fiber of his being screams to do something, Severus holds still and watches her go. Then after a few minutes of just quietly breathing and waiting, he goes back to bed.
When the time comes, this is one memory he will let Albus see.
-o-O-o-
He tells Lily about Channing after Gryffindor's quidditch practice ends the next day.
"You just let her leave with the poor thing?" she says, incredulous and definitely angry.
Severus holds back the urge to roll his eyes. How did he know this would be the part she fixated on? "Yes," he replies. "When Carrow notices his familiar is missing in a day or two and starts looking for it, I'll be able to inform Albus of what I saw that night and the killings and disappearances will stop."
"That cat is dead."
He pinches the bridge of his nose. "You don't think I know that?" he demands. "Lily, it's not like I wanted it to die. But Carrow can handle it. He's fifteen and in few years he'll become a Death Eater just like his cousins, Aymcus and Alecto. Trust me, this is by far the least awful of the things that happen to him."
Lily scowls. "I'm not talking about him! The cat, Severus. The cat is dead. The innocent little cat."
He grabs her by her shoulders and gives her a shake. "It will be the only one, Lily. No more innocent cats are going to die. No more rats, no more owls, and never any toads, and if we're lucky, never a human."
Her lower lip quivers. "I'm being a dunderhead, aren't I? Getting so worked up over a cat?"
Severus wants to say yes, but, instead, he just remains silent as Lily begins to cry.
"It's just… Remember how Sage looked when we found him with his owl? Or Mary when Sage gave her Whiskerton? Even if Carrow is fifteen, even if this isn't going to be the worst thing in his life he experiences–" Her hands are trembling as she places them over her mouth.
He sighs. "Hey," he whispers. Bringing Lily closer, Severus presses their foreheads together and tells her, "You're alright. You're not being a dunderhead for thinking about the children."
Lily searches his eyes for a time and, then, smiles a little. "You'll be there for my quidditch game next week, won't you?"
He chuckles at the abrupt change in conversation. "I wouldn't miss it," he promises.
-o-O-o-
On the third day that his familiar is missing, Carrow finally asks, "Has anyone seen my cat?"
The students gathered in the Slytherin common room look up from their games, schoolwork, and conversations, only to shake their heads at Carrow. A few even voice that they haven't.
Carrow's expression turns dark. "I haven't seen him in nearly three days."
"No one's seen it, Felix," another fifth-year grumbles. "Stop whinging about it. Your cat will turn up when it feels like it."
Severus watches as the teenager's face begins to go red, from embarrassment or anger, he's not sure. When Carrow is about to go sit down and shut up about the matter, Severus says, "Maybe it won't turn up."
More than just Carrow's eyes go to him. Absently thumbing the pages of the book in his lap he says, "Before Christmas Hols, Mary MacDonald from Gryffindor's rat went missing. When it didn't turn up, Sage and I helped her look for it. When we found her rat, it was dead."
Students begin to look uneasy as Carrow goes pale. Without another word, Carrow hurries out of the common room. Severus is quite sure he's going to go hunting around the castle for his familiar.
"What did it look like when you found it?" William Wilkes asks.
Before Severus can answer, Sage says, "Not good. It had blood coming from its nose."
From the corner of his eye, Severus can see Channing smile. His blood goes cold. She likes hearing them talk. She likes hearing the details. She puts aside her homework to lean in closer to their conversation. "Why do you think its nose was bloody?" she calls out, drawing Sage's and Wilkes's attention to her.
The boy shrugs helplessly. "I can't say," he says. "Severus, you don't know, do you?"
He does know, but he shakes his head. As clever as Severus's made himself out to be these past couple years, he's steered clear of showing off his more harmful knowledge. "No." Putting aside his book, he remarks to the room at large, "I think, though, it was a spell. If I had a familiar, I would be careful about letting it out of my sight right now. There's someone killing them."
Students start to talk over one another, theorizing about who could be killing the familiars and fretting about the safety of their own. This is a relief to Severus. It means students will be watching one another more closely. Their familiars too. Until Carrow finds his cat and Severus can inform Albus of what he saw, the chances of any more familiars dying are quite slim.
Channing knows people are watching now.
And the killer has been revealed! What do you guys think? Do any of you know who's mother Evangeline is from what was said about her future in this chapter?
Thanks for reading, as always, it's greatly appreciated :)