On Sunday, Severus woke up with a thoughtful smile which gradually went sour as he ruminated on whether he would get the job at the library or not, and grumbling while trying to comb his thick clumps of hair after taking his shower. Deciding his white school uniform and black slacks were suitable for the day, he briefly wondered if he had to wear a necktie too.
But surely there wouldn't be such a hard interview, right? Do librarians even need to be interviewed? He just wanted to get started on his spell project and being away from the ever-suffocating atmosphere of Spinner's End, that's all!
Sighing, he put his Slytherin tie into his satchel, checking his Muggle money for the final time (hoping it would be enough for the trip to town and return home) and his wand before going downstairs where his mother was preparing breakfast. She pushed a bowl of lukewarm porridge toward him with a raised eyebrow and left him alone, heading to the basement where she would work on some of the potion orders she received.
When his father sat across him, Severus barely held his shock, struggling to swallow down the last spoonful of his porridge.
"Thought ye said yer going to the library," Tobias spoke, eyeing him from head to toe in suspicion.
Severus drank his entire glass of water before answering, "Best to wear formal outfits, just in case." Taking his bowl, he then washed it along with the pots his mother used and left them hanging on the rack by the sink.
"I'm going, Pa."
Tobias merely grunted as he ate his breakfast. Rolling his eyes, the boy put on his shoes and left to the bus stop, taking time to knot some of his hair into a reasonable ponytail.
He really hoped the blasted vehicle won't take long to appear.
Luckily, nothing major happened on his trip to Muggle London and once the bus stopped in front of the public library, Severus couldn't hide his grin upon seeing the 'Help Wanted' sign before walking into the premise.
An elderly woman was dusting the bookshelves near the check-in/check-out counter. A nameplate was displayed on it, written 'Rose Davis'.
"Uh… I- I'm here for the job," he began, avoiding her stern gaze. He could feel how she was critically inspecting all over him, clicking her tongue at his old satchel and messily-tied ponytail. After a few minutes, she hummed in disinterest, stowing away the dusting feather and sat on her chair behind the counter.
"What's yer name?" she spoke, a pen poised to write in her hand.
"Severus Snape."
Her eyebrows rose curiously, "Ye good with cataloguing?"
He nearly scoffed right there, "Absolutely."
"Writing and reading?"
He wondered if this really was an actual interview question or the librarian was just messing with him. "I write well enough and love reading," was what he said instead, barely holding back his sarcasm.
"Typing?"
Severus drew a blank over that one. Mrs. Davis merely quirked her eyebrow over his reaction in amusement.
"…I can learn. If you want to teach me, that is." Oh, Severus hated it when he didn't know something that's supposed to be common knowledge. Then again, he really had no desire of taking Muggle Studies since his family already had one, albeit being quite a horrible example of them.
She gave him a crooked smile. "Well it's about bloody time I got myself an assistant. Kids these days, they only want to do menial grunt work. How are we supposed to get ahead of other nations when the young ones barely know anything! Now ye better listen to me, Mr. Snape. Knowledge is power. Knowledge is the real bliss, not of that ignorance nonsense. Ye hear me?"
Well, Severus had known that too well from his time in Hogwarts but since Mrs. Davis wasn't supposed to know about it, he merely nodded in agreement.
Before he could grasp what happened, she dragged him to arrange some books according to their subjects, alphabetical order and sizes.
And soon enough, dusk fell without they noticing, being too engrossed over their tasks.
"Oh my, time sure had flown by," Mrs. Davis chuckled as she looked at her watch, which showed 5.30 pm. It was a day well spent if he were to be honest.
"We can talk 'bout yer schedule and start on the typewriter tomorrow," she suggested.
Severus blinked. "That's it? I… I get the job, then?"
"Sure, why won't ye? Just for the summer, right?"
He nodded eagerly and smiled throughout his journey home.
As per usual, his father was not interested. His mother on the other hand, grinned and told him how proud she was for him to be independent at a young age.
His first week working at the library went great, with him allowed to do his summer homework in a comfy and safe place, far away from the terrible heat and his turbulent house in Cokeworth. Mrs. Davis didn't bother him much and even gave him a spare key, telling him he was welcome to come over at any time.
For his spell project, he ended up reading lots of detective novels and was intrigued with all the possible ways Muggles had come up with to solve crime cases. But what he had in mind was more of showing people the final 'memory' of an object or even a dead person, wanting them being able to be 'witnesses'.
When the weekend rolled by, he decided to take a morning walk. The fresh air rejuvenated him and he sure hoped it would be one fine summer day.
By the time he arrived at the park, he saw a small group of children was surrounding the oak tree, their laughter were sounding rather cruel for simply having fun. Curious, Severus headed toward them and stopped short as he attempted to make sense of what was in front of him, immediately felt sick to his stomach.
They were beating and throwing stones at a raven, which was hung upside down with a thick rope. The poor creature kept swaying side to side as it tried to avoid the thrown projectiles by flapping its wings, but even from afar Severus could tell the bird's left side was injured badly.
"Hey!" he blurted out, which promptly made the kids to stop.
One of them began to snicker evilly. "It's Snape!"
Severus' face went a bit paler. He was supposed to get used of being called out, but years of friendship with Lily Evans certainly had left him vulnerable than ever. Why, oh why did he even bother of playing the hero to a measly raven? Was it really worth his time?
"Where's your little girlfriend? Did she dump you already?"
It was just a horrible rehash of his worst day ever. The black bird who was crying for help was him. The crowd was the same as the spectators who saw his weakness and did nothing about it. The taunting and jeering were in Potter and Black's voices. Severus had nearly let out a bloodcurdling scream right there and ran away as he tried to block the awful memories.
But no, he wouldn't lose control this time. They were cruel, yes, but ultimately they were just runty kids who barely scratched on how vile one can be. They were not James Potter and Sirius Black. They were not his father. And so, he began to walk toward them with gritted teeth, schooling his visage akin to someone dangerous out for revenge.
He sure as hell wouldn't bloody care if the words of him terrorizing the other kids ever reached his parents' ears. Or even the Evans family.
Panicked that the bullied boy marched over instead of running away, the group of children started to disperse, screaming in terror all the while. For once, Severus felt grateful of his rather menacing aquiline features. Panting, he turned to the poor raven that beat its wings in fear as he approached it.
"Shush, will you?" he tried to comfort the black bird, "I'm gonna untie you." He frowned as to think who would catch the bird as soon as he freed it. If Lily was with him, it would be easy enough-
No.
No, no, no.
Just why did he still think of her? She was gone, ensnared into Potter's arms. He wanted to forget her forever, but was it even possible? Perhaps it could be another of his projects, but right now he had a bird to rescue. He just needed to be quick as possible.
The raven, seemingly sensing his kindness remained still as he carefully undid the knot around its right foot, and swung itself upright as soon as it was freed. Smiling over its cleverness, Severus brought it home and told his mother about its condition, who only warned him to be quiet of its existence.
The day just kept going downhill.
His father was drunk that evening.
Dinner went in high tensions, with Severus kept glancing nervously at his mother and his room, sincerely hoping that nothing would go wrong for the night.
As usual, his rotten luck struck by when a loud croak erupted into the air.
The entire kitchen immediately fell into silence. He shared a horrified look with his mother. From her distraught expression, apparently she had forgotten to cast the silencing spell inside his bedroom as promised.
"What. Was. That." Tobias' suddenly focused eyes were fixed at his son, who despite his best efforts, instinctively cowered in his seat.
"It's nothing, Pa," Severus tried to brush away his father's suspicions, much to no avail. "Probably just an owl or something."
With speed more akin of a sober man rather than a drunken one, the man rushed upstairs with his son nearly screamed in fright as he slammed the door open and had his eyes on the raven, which shrieked out of shock and tried to fly away but failing due to its injuries.
"We barely had enough to eat and now the boy's keeping one of your bloody freaky animals! As if people hadn't ever gossiped about us! I think I've suffered enough with you two!" Tobias pulled out his belt and immediately with dawning terror and utter resignation, Severus closed his eyes.
Despite his hatred toward his father, Severus couldn't help but to obey his orders. His mother had ingrained it within him that he should respect the older man no matter what, even when the latter was at fault. And so, he endured the painful lashes on his back with gritted teeth even after his knees buckled down onto the floor and he curled himself in vain, remaining silent.
"Toby! Toby, please stop! We… we don't have to do anything with the bird! Just let the boy take care of it!" Eileen shouted amongst the punishment but the enraged man took no notice, simply continuing the whippings over his estranged son with no remorse.
After about 30 strokes, his father finally stopped. "Fine, then! Leave him, Eileen. The boy really needs a lesson on responsibility, after all," the man barked. Severus barely heard him over his mother's hysterical sobbing and his ringing ears.
When the bedroom door was slammed shut, he absent-mindedly thought about what his father had said. Maybe… maybe his father was right. The raven's left wing was utterly battered and he doubted it has a magical core that would speed up its recovery. And yet…
Gingerly, he stood up with his back hunched and searched inside his school trunk with bleary eyes. He almost sighed in relief when he found the familiar jar of bruise salve he had stocked just before school ended and applied some onto his wounds that he could reach. For the rest, perhaps he might ask for his mother's help although the man might threaten her into submission first.
"You need a fine name," Severus whispered, to which the bird replied with a soft croak as if apologizing for indirectly hurting him.
He sure was fighting against his father for keeping the injured raven, but what else he could do? Just leaving it to die slowly in agony? No, just… no. Severus Snape might be one morbid boy, but even he drew the line when it comes to torture.
Rebelling… but for the right cause. That sounded much like what he heard from his Slytherin Housemates, about a rising Dark Lord who was currently trying to protect the wizarding world from falling into oblivion. Yes, that certainly had intrigued him, and he had the perfect name for his new pet and what he now believed in.
"How does 'Rogue' sound to you?"
The raven blinked at him before trilling happily.
"'Rogue' it is, then. A pleasure to meet you."
His eyes drooped and he fell into a fitful sleep.