Chapter 3: Arabella Figg

His first impression of Privet Drive was that it was bizarre that muggles decorated their yards with plastic pumpkins, hung streamers in their trees, and put fake tombstones on their lawns. Then he realized why.

"Idiot muggles."

Severus often forgot how the muggles celebrated Halloween. In the Wizarding World, the holiday had taken on quite a different meaning since the defeat of the Dark Lord. The celebration that night meant nothing to Severus. He always wanted to spend the night drinking himself into a stupor, not sitting in the Hogwarts Great Hall watching the students gorge themselves on sweets.

For the first few years, Albus had not required he attend the feast. Even Dumbledore understood mourning. Eventually though, appearances had to be kept up. Now, Severus mourned in silence while the others reveled. It wasn't as if every day of his life wasn't spent in mourning anyway. What else was he supposed to do when he lost the love of his life?

He had been standing against a lamppost, fully disillusioned, for what seemed like hours. The sun had not been up when he had arrived. Now he could hear sounds of breakfast in nearby homes, and there was still no sign of Arabella Figg.

By the time he saw her, it had started to drizzle. Snape cast a quick spell to make himself impervious to water and kept watching. Across the street from his post, a door opened. A very large man walked out carrying a briefcase and a lunchpail. Snape was more inclined to describe it as a waddle.

"Let's go, Dudders. It's raining and I'll drive you to school, so your costume doesn't get wet!"

The large man was followed by a large boy who would undoubtedly catch up to him in a few years. He was wearing some kind of superhero costume with a pack slung over his shoulder. In his arms was a large plastic pumpkin overflowing with candy. As he struggled with it, some of the candy fell onto the ground.

The door opened once again. Even from his post across the street, Severus could see who it was. Potter was dressed in the same loose, light-weight clothing from the dream. Was it his Halloween costume? The boy waited until his uncle and cousin were close to the car, then darted down to pick up the dropped candy.

"Stop that! Stop that, you freak! That candy is for Dudley."

From behind the boy came a shriek that Severus somehow still remembered. Petunia Dursley moved toward the boy as if to strike him, but the child darted into the driveway.

"I was just giving it to him, Aunt!"

Potter's cries weren't exactly timid, but they struck something in Severus. This was not unusual occurrence. The boy handed his cousin the candy through the window and the car drove off. This didn't surprise Severus in the slightest. They were going to drive one boy to school and leave the other one to walk in the rain, with holes in his shoes and no coat.

Petunia snorted and walked back into the house, slamming the door after her. The boy watched the door for a few moments and then began to walk in what Severus assumed was the direction of his school. As he rounded the corner, so did Arabella Figg. She watched the boy walk off until he disappeared out of sight, and then she turned around.

When she turned, Severus followed her. He remained invisible until she was at her door.

"Professor Snape! You gave me a fright. What are you doing here?" Arabella did not seem the least bit frightened despite her words. "You shouldn't sneak up on people like that, you know."

"Yes, well, if you invite me inside, you will learn what I am doing here." Sometimes it was so difficult to keep the sneer out of his voice.

She gave him a once over and unlocked the door. Inside was a plain muggle house that smelled of tea and cats. He paid this no mind and followed her in, taking the proffered chair. He immediately regretted this when a large black cat plopped itself in his lap and regarded him with yellow eyes and a flopping tail.

"Well now, what is it you want with Harry?" Arabella thrust a cup of tea into his hands without asking him if he wanted one.

"Perhaps I should be the one asking you, Madam, why you have not been reporting his condition?" Severus had no desire to sip tea as if this was a social call. He had watched the house for five minutes and he was already outraged.

"Now, now, man! There's no reason to get in a huff," Arabella brandished a chocolate biscuit at him, putting the rest on a tray on the coffee table between them. "As you can see, the boy is fine."

Severus regarded her with a cold stare. Where did Albus find these people. "Fine?"

"He's at home! You saw him yourself, didn't you?"

He wanted to shake her, but Severus had spent plenty of time as a spy and decided it was best to keep his composure. "How much time have you spent with the boy?"

If she noticed the cold tone in his voice, she didn't react. "Well, every once in a while he comes over. When they go on a trip, or out to dinner, or take the whole family shopping. That sort of thing."

Raising his eyebrows at this preposterous statement, Severus decided not to comment and continued. "I see. How is the boy? Does he seem healthy? Happy?"

The question seemed to confuse Arabella. Severus was beginning to wonder if she had been confunded. He continued. "Madam?"

"Well, of course he's not happy!"

"Do you care to elaborate, Madam?" He was really beginning to reach the end of his patience with her. If she did see the same things he did, then why didn't she say anything?

"How could he possibly be happy, Severus, living with those horrible people? They treat him worse than a house elf! But I suppose they are better than Death Eaters…"

"Yes, I suppose." Things were suddenly becoming clearer to Severus. "So you have reported this treatment, then, to Albus?"

"Oh well, yes, in the beginning. I told him the boy never seemed to have enough to eat, and they only dressed him in hand me downs and never for the right weather. He always seemed to be doing chores, and not age-appropriate ones. The older boy, he's a bully. He used to beat up on poor Harry quite a lot."

"Used to?" Severus could not help but interrupt.

"Well, Harry may be small, but I think he is quite quick. Also, the older boy is quite fat."

"Indeed." Severus now did take a sip of his tea, if only to give himself time to think. After a few moments, he continued.

"Have you been in the house?"

"Oh, no. They've never let me in. They never even let me talk to the boy when he's outside. He's never outside unless he's doing yard work. I don't even think they'd let him go to school if it wasn't the law."

"Hmm."

"Severus, can you do it?" Arabella suddenly looked at him, intensely, and almost seemingly for the first time.

"Do what, Madam?"

"Can you get him out of there?"