Chapter Three: Summer Holidays
"Come on, Lily!" Severus yelled at the red-headed girl who was currently still shoving things into her disorganised trunk. It was very unlike her.
"Give me two minutes!" Lily protested, as she tried to lock the trunk brimming with clothes.
It hadn't been a very good idea to pack last minute, but she'd had a busy week. And she didn't feel like packing.
"You're usually the first one to be finished packing!" Severus remarked. "What's going on with you?"
"Nothing!" Lily lied.
She began hitting the trunk ferociously with both hands so she would finally be able to lock it. Luckily, Severus came to the rescue and was able to forcefully shut it with a large oomph!
"Wait!" Lily protested. "I need to open it up again! I forgot to put in my washbag!"
The fairly large teal washbag was still sitting on the floor next to the trunk, forgotten.
"Lily…" Severus groaned. "We don't have time!"
"It will take one minute, I promise!" Lily reassured him, but Severus knew better.
"We don't have one minute, Lily. The thestrals are just going to walk to the train station without us! Look, there's only one carriage left!"
They were currently a few metres away from Hogwarts Gate, and it was a miracle they had even gotten that far as Lily had been dragging her very much open trunk along with her all the way from the actual castle, which was a fair few hundred metres away.
"Just let me op-" Lily began.
"Carry it in your hand!" Severus told her, and the pair started running past the open gates and to the carriage.
"Lily Evans and Severus Snape, the last ones on my list." Argus Filch said as he crossed out the names in the long parchment roll he held in his hands. "Hurry up, you two!"
They did what they were told and hopped into the carriage, that quickly departed. Severus watched as Argus Filch closed the gates and walked back up the path to Hogwarts Castle.
"He must live at Hogwarts all year." He told Lily, who was apparently not listening.
She was frantically looking through her washbag, making sure she hadn't left a toothbrush behind.
"Lily!" Severus exclaimed.
"What?!" She replied, startled.
"Is it the detention you got with Potter that's making you so…all over the place?" He asked her.
"What? No! That stupid boy can't possibly affect me." Lily shook her head.
"No, I don't mean him. I think it's just the fact you got detention has shaken you up. You've never gotten one before. And plus, it's the end of term. You must be really annoyed." He told her sympathetically.
"I am really annoyed Sev! I had a clean slate for five years, and now it's all ruined! What must Professor McGonagall think of me…"
"I'm sorry." Severus apologised. "It's my fault-"
"No, it's me who went to see you. I was just silly." Lily sighed.
"Don't think about." Severus told her. "Come on, it's the summer holidays! Surely that's enough to make you smile?"
"Hmmn." Lily murmured in response.
During the rest of the journey the pair remained silent, and even when they got on Hogwarts train and had to share a compartment with a bunch of first-years, they didn't speak much. Severus didn't think Lily wanted to talk, and so he left her to think in silence.
Severus had already planned out in his head what he was going to do all summer. He was going to get ahead on the NEWT syllabus for all six subjects he was taking, and he was going to try and find all the Quidditch books his mother owned. He knew she had quite a large collection of books about magic, and although Severus knew very well that his father would kill him if he ever read one of them, he knew his mother wouldn't mind.
In fact, she encouraged him to read them. Eileen Snape was a coward of a woman, but she did want the best for her son and if that meant letting her son read her books, then she was going to supply all of her much-loved leather-bound books until she had none left to give. Many times when Severus was half-asleep, he would hear his mother open the door to his bedroom and would peek an eye open to see her slide a new book in the gap between his wardrobe and the wall, which was where he had to keep all his books, or his mother's books, rather, so that his father would not find them.
Severus knew that his mother had a fair few books about Quidditch (he had once run into the basement as a bored six-year-old with nothing to do, and saw a large bookcase with books of all sizes stacked inside. He recalled the largest books had the words 'Quidditch' written on them as he had quickly been able to learn how to read during the few years he went to Muggle school), but she had never given any of them for him to read because she probably suspected he wasn't interested in sports. And that had been the case, up until a week ago. Severus couldn't get over the fantastic memory of soaring into the sky after the Bludger had been aimed at him. He would have liked to see the look on James Potter's face then!
And so when he returned home for the summer holidays, by bus as neither of his parents ever went to collect him from the train station, he went to hug his mother, which was not a usual practise between the mother and her son. After giving her a short recount of what had happened during the school year, he asked her if she could give him any books she had on Quidditch.
"Quidditch? You're interested in sports, Severus?" Eileen asked, with a frown on her tired and pale face. She looked sickly.
"Yes, sort of. It's for…a project. Set over the summer holidays." Severus lied.
He didn't want to tell her about the match. He suspected her reactions wouldn't be super positive or joyful.
"What project?" Eileen asked suspiciously.
"It's part of my History of Magic course. They've integrated sports into the NEWT syllabus." Severus said confidently.
"Alright." Eileen sighed eventually.
"But I've only got five books on Quidditch, so you haven't got much to go on-" She began, before the loud slam of the front door being opened resonated through the entire house.
"It's your father!" Eileen gasped, worriedly.
Tobias Snape walked into the living room where Severus and Eileen were sat, and took a long, hard look at his son.
"You're back." He stated coldly.
Severus could tell his father wasn't too happy at his arrival back home.
"Thought you were comin' tomorrow. Would've come home earlier from work to welcome you back." Tobias said.
Severus could feel his father's eyes boring into his Hogwarts robes and trunk. He probably thought his son looked ridiculous.
"You gonna say anything, boy?" Tobias demanded after a few seconds of silence.
"H-Hello, Dad." Severus stammered.
"We've missed you Severus, haven't we, Tobias?" Eileen asked, being wary of her husband.
Tobias Snape guffawed loudly.
"Sure. Sure I miss my weird, freak of a son!" He yelled.
Eileen's eyes widened in fear.
"No, Tobias, don't say that-"
Severus was certain his mother had just tried, and failed, to get his father to be nice to him just once, as she always did each time he got back from Hogwarts. And each time, it ended up like this. He wondered why she even bothered.
"I'll say what I want, you stupid woman!" Tobias snarled. "Get out of my sight, both of you!"
Severus grabbed his trunk and ran up the creaky stairs to his small bedroom, where he tried to calm down. He spent the rest of the day in there deciding to study to take his mind off things, and only came out for dinner, during which his father wasn't present. Severus presumed he'd gone down to the pub to once again waste what little money they had.
"I've earnt it, Eileen." His father would say when his mother would beg him not to go out. "If you started earning money y'self, then you can talk!"
Later that evening, at around ten o'clock, just before he was going to bed, Severus heard a knock at his door. He prayed that it wasn't his father, as he could only just imagine what he would do, especially if he was drunk. But thankfully, it was his mother.
"Here you go." She whispered, holding a pile of five thick books.
One by one, she inserted them into the hiding place, and she then turned to look at her son. In the moonlight that streamed from Severus' window, he could see a large purple bruise that framed her left eye.
"Mum…" He said sadly.
She only shook her head.
"Don't bother wasting your time on me. Just concentrate on yourself and your studies, Severus. Merlin knows you'll be a great wizard one day." She smiled at him, and her eyes filled with tears.
"Mum, don't let him hit you! Don't let him win!" Severus whispered.
He couldn't bear to see his mother like this. Even if she hadn't been the perfect mother, it didn't mean he didn't care for her. Her and him against his father, it had always been that way. He wasn't going to abandon her now.
"Why did you ask him if he missed me?" Severus asked her, wonderingly. "You knew what he was going to do…"
Eileen nodded sadly, and Severus could see that tears were running down the sides of her nose.
"I knew what he would do. But every year…I hope he's changed. That he will be kind. But he never is." She sobbed.
"Oh, mum." Severus said, and they hugged again.
It was strange for Severus to hug his mother twice in one year, let alone in one day. But he knew that she needed it.
The five Quidditch books were nothing short of inspiring. Severus had read all of them twice in one week, and he particularly liked and enjoyed reading, 'Quidditch Through The Ages'. He found it incredibly interesting to discover the past of Quidditch and how it had come about. The four other books were more focused on present-day Quidditch and the champions of the Quidditch World Cup in the last decades. But 'Quidditch Through The Ages' was so much more than that. No wonder it was the most popular book in the Hogwart's library! He had wanted to take it out the library and bring it back home, but of course books could not be borrowed over the summer holiday. He was extremely fortunate that his mother had a copy, although it was one of those books that could be found in every witch's or wizard's household across England.
Severus now knew the rules of Quidditch by heart. The game he had experienced suddenly made a lot more sense. He now knew exactly what a 'Bludger' was, and he was quite annoyed at himself for almost falling off his broom within the first thirty seconds of the game because of one!
And he was ecstatic to go and share his knowledge with Lily, with whom he regularly met up with during the holidays. His father would rather he be out of the house anyway, and so meeting up with Lily suited him fine. They usually met up at the small park that was located a short distance from both of their houses. As Lily lived in the more posh side of town, so to speak, he was rather inclined to go to the park a few minutes early so that she would feel safe. The park was nearer the rough side of town, the side where Severus lived.
They had already met up numerous times during the holidays, but this particular time was an especially important one as they were to receive their OWL results the very next day.
Severus had been waiting for no more than five minutes before Lily arrived, and he noticed she was wearing a floral dress, and beige sandals. She held a fan in her hand and was waving it about almost frantically.
"It's so hot!" She complained, as she kicked off her sandals to go and bury her feet in the sand pit of the park.
Severus joined her in the sand pit, but he kept his shoes on. He didn't really like the feeling of sand. And besides, it got everywhere. His father would not be happy if he found a trail of sand on the stairs.
"How are you surviving? You're wearing a jumper!" Lily exclaimed.
Severus peered down to look at his old navy jumper that had previously been his father's. It was much too large for him, but he didn't have much else to wear. Besides, he was actually lucky his father had given him his jumper, as it wasn't something his father would regularly do.
"I'm fine." Severus said, shrugging his shoulders.
He noticed that Lily's eyes seemed a little red, and wondered if she had been crying earlier.
"Hey, are you okay?" He asked her.
"Well…Petunia's being nasty again…" Lily admitted, with her lip wobbling.
"What did she say?" Severus asked her with pity.
"Oh, it's not what she says. It's how she acts." Lily muttered.
"What do you mean?" Severus asked her.
"Dad and Mum wanted to get me a 'Welcome Home' present, but she obviously got jealous. I don't understand why she thinks she can get a present too- she's at home all year! Anyway, they got me a new dress, but Petunia cut a hole in it-on purpose! She's vile, Sev!" Lily cried.
Severus had never been fond of Petunia; she had always made fun of him being poor. But he did feel a certain sympathy for her. He knew she had desperately wanted to go to Hogwarts, and so every time Lily returned for the holidays it just reminded her of the fact she didn't get in. No wonder she was nasty to her. Still, it didn't justify her actions.
"Did you tell your parents?" He asked her.
"Of course! But they only shouted at her for two seconds, and then they forgot all about it!" She complained.
"Well, you've got other stuff to think about, Lily!" Severus reminded her. "Did you forget about our OWLS?"
"Ugh, don't remind me!" Lily groaned. "It's tomorrow, isn't it?"
Severus nodded and she groaned again.
"I don't want to do NEWTs!" Lily protested. "OWLS were bad enough…"
Severus shook his head and laughed. Was he the only one looking forward to doing NEWTs? He liked doing exams, he liked learning about things. Being knowledgeable was one of his favourite things. As well as Quidditch, he reminded himself. Over the past month he had become completely obsessed with the sport, and now he was almost one hundred percent sure he was going to try-out for the team. He realised that he hadn't spoke about it with Lily yet.
"I've been reading loads of Quidditch books." He told her.
Lily seemed surprised.
"Have you? How come?" She asked.
"I find it really interesting. I don't know why, but I think sports are great now."
Lily burst out laughing.
"Sev, you hate sports!" She reminded him.
"Not anymore." He said. "I might try-out for the Slytherin team this year, actually."
Lily shook her head and smiled.
"Don't be silly, Sev."
Her response discouraged him greatly, and he decided to drop the subject entirely. Why did she take it as a joke? Severus was aware of the fact that for five years he had completely ignored sports and was entirely disinterested in any conversation someone might be having on the topic, but couldn't she see that he had changed? Now he loved Quidditch. And he wanted to play! Sophie had said he had some talent, after all.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you." Lily said suddenly. "I'm sorry for acting so cold and strange the day we left Hogwarts. I should have apologised earlier but…"
"Don't worry about it." Severus reassured her. "It's okay."
"No, it's not okay, Sev. I'm sorry. Truly. James Potter was annoying me so much that last week and during the detention where we had to scrub the floors of the Great Hall with no use of magic, well…I cracked. He kept pestering me to go out with him. Can't he tell I'm not interested? Anyway, after that I just completely lost my cool. I was in a bad, irritated mood for the rest of that week." Lily admitted.
"Well, get ready for more of that in two weeks!" Severus said.
"Two weeks?! We've only got two weeks left?" Lily exclaimed in annoyance.
"Yep. We actually should be getting our schools supplies soon." He reminded her.
Severus joined Lily and her parents each year to do the school shopping, as it wasn't as if his parents would ever take him. Petunia was dragged into coming along, much to her frustration. Severus refused the many attempts Lily's parents made at giving him some more money as he had barely enough to buy some books and new quills. Severus always refused however, as he knew he could go to the Wizard Charity Shop, where he found all of the supplies he needed. Lily's parents always seemed uncomfortable when they walked into that charity shop, as really no one went there. But Severus felt quite at home as he scanned the shelves for books at prices so low many would wonder if they were actually books, or just pictures of books.
"Yes, I need to tell them." Lily made a mental note in her head.
They spent the next few hours chatting about what the next school year was like, and all the time Severus was secretly wondering what her reaction would be if he actually got into the Slytherin Quidditch team. It would be a priceless look for sure, he imagined, smiling.