Of Blood and Serpents

First Year: Chapter Eleven

The Pure

A/N: This amazing chapter must be accredited to my Beta who is very effecient and who spent TWO hours fixing all my mistakes! Thank you brianna-xox.

Lily only had to stay one night under the Ministry's care before the Malfoys came. Lily suspected something suspicious had gone on because she was supposed to stay with the Ministry until the trial, but now it had been arranged that she would stay with the Malfoys until the hearing. Lily didn't know how right she was, a member of the council who would be presiding over her trial was now sitting with slightly fatter pockets thanks to the Malfoys. Everything felt surreal to Lily, who cried after realizing she hadn't been allowed to take Bee with her and hoped that Severus would take good care of her until she returned. If she returned. She thought glumly, but then a worse thought surfaced 'It would be a relief to Severus if he never had to deal with me again.' As she lay on the stiff Ministry bed remembering his livid black stare before she had left, she thought forlornly. 'He won't even miss me.' Tears had pricked the corners of her eyes.

When the Malfoys came she actually felt relieved. Narcissa had immediately fussed over her and it had actually raised her spirits a little. 'At least someone wants me,' she thought disparagingly. The room that Narcissa and Lucius had ready for Lily seemed as if it had been designed for her and she realized after a moment that it probably had been. Books lined the walls in beautiful dark hardwood shelves. There was a fireplace with a very posh looking armchair and a gorgeous four poster bed with thick velvet curtain not unlike the ones at Hogwarts. Slytherin memorabilia adorned some of the walls, and in the closet Lily found everything Narcissa had bought her in Diagon Alley that day that she never sent. The Malfoys left Lily alone to get acquainted with the room, but she was told to come down for lunch and tea. Lily sat with her school trunk for a minute until she stood and paced around the room, running her hand over the books in the case and picking a few out that had caught her interest. One book she paused at: 'The Pure.' She took it out, and saw it was a well worn copy, seemingly quite old. She put it on the side with several others she had picked out. She then freshened up at the vanity in the bedroom, several bottles and powders and even a salve or two. Some of the liquids in the bottles looked suspiciously like potions. Lily was delicately picking one up to sniff when there was a rap on the door.

"C-come in," Lily said putting the potion down hastily, as if she shouldn't have been playing with it. It felt as if she was in a stranger's room still, not something to call her own. Narcissa came into view and had a pleased smile like a cat that's gotten the cream. She'd had that smirk ever since they'd picked her up Lily if she was being honest about it.

"Are you settling in well?" She asked, entering the room in a smooth stride. When she notices Lily's Hogwarts trunk was untouched her smile faltered. "You should unpack." 'You won't be leaving for awhile,' was the pleased undertone of her words.

"I was exploring the room," Lily explained, and Narcissa's smile brightened again.

"Is it to your liking? We can change anything you'd like."

"It's quite wonderful actually… I was picking out some books to read." Lily gestured to the pile she'd handpicked from the wall and Narcissa strode over to examine them. She looked especially pleased to see the worn cover of 'The Pure' sitting on the top and she skimmed her fingers across it gently.

"Excellent choices." She hummed. "Well, lunch is served in the dining room if you are ready to come along?" Lily nodded, realizing she felt quite famished. The Ministry food served for breakfast had been quite plain and sparse. Knowing how good the Malfoy dinners had been before, Lily knew lunch would be delicious.

"How is the room?" Lucius asked her once Lily had entered and taken a seat near him. He seemed so pleased to see her; they both seemed so happy to have her. Lily hadn't felt so wanted ever before in her life.

"Dear?" Narcissa prompted Lily out of her introspection and she smiled nervously, pulling herself out of her thoughts.

"Sorry… I just... I feel very welcomed."

"And why wouldn't you be? You're a lovely young woman and we are so pleased to have you. Really, dear," Narcissa said smoothly and reached out tentatively to smooth Lily's hair with her hand. Lily's eyes fluttered closed at the touch, feeling an odd ache deep within her that told her to lean into the touch. She resisted, biting her lip and swallowing. 'Severus never welcomed me like this'.

"The room is wonderful," She told Lucius sincerely, taking a dainty sip of her water the way she had seen Narcissa do it.

"If you would like a better selection of books, we of course have the Library. Did you tell her about the Library, Cissy?"

"No, but perhaps a tour is in order after lunch? Would you like that Lillian?"

"Yes, thank you."

Severus arrived home in a puff of soot and green flame. He brushed himself off and dropped Lily's little creature 'Bee' onto the floor, finding himself at his home in Spinner's End. He looked around his small sitting room, his rickety bookshelves that were overflowing with books lining every wall, two well worn armchairs facing the fire. He'd changed everything about the home since it had come into his possession; he'd removed anything that had remotely reminded him of his father and dressed it up sparsely to his liking. He sat now in one of the armchairs and tapped his fingers in a rhythm against his leg. How long had it been since he'd been alone in the house? He hadn't realized how Lily had come to fill the space, but now that she was absent the house felt empty. He stood abruptly, forcing himself from his ruminations, and strode into the kitchen where he opened the fridge to see barren shelves. He supposed if he wanted to eat he'd have to go out. 'Better not to leave it,' he thought as he walked up the creaking stairwell to find passable muggle clothes. His clothing had vastly improved since he was a boy. He no longer tolerated ill-fitting, baggy, sloppy clothing and even went through the trouble to go to muggle shops that suited his needs instead of the wizard 'muggle' shops that sold phony, cheap things that hardly resembled what a real muggle would wear in the street. No, Severus was quite particular with his tastes and he dressed accordingly in black slacks and a black jumper. He even had a black coat that was quite unnecessary in the current sunny weather, so he left it on his coat hanger. He needed muggle money, so he dragged out a box in his closet that had all the muggle money that was left to him in his father's estate when he passed and took out what he needed. Where once the box had been somewhat full, it was now nearly empty and it reminded him that he would have to convert his currency soon if he was to continue purchasing groceries from the muggle store.

As he opened the bedroom door to leave, Bee was standing there with her lamplike golden eyes staring at him as if to ask 'where is Lily?'

"Not here." he said walking away in quick strides down the stairs and out the front door. Bee looked after him for a long moment before walking into his room and hopping on his bed for a nap.

The markets were quiet; they were hardly ever bustling in Spinner's End, not since the factory closed down. It seemed as if only the very old or very young lived in Spinner's End. Severus picked up the essentials, eager to get home for some tea and some reading. There were only two tills open, and one was serving a particularly old woman whose hands trembled violently as she carefully took a can of soup out of her full cart. Severus went to the empty one. As he swept up to the checkout he noticed the girl standing behind the cash register, he did not often pay attention to the muggles but he remembered this one, the one Lily claimed smiled at him in particular. She was smiling at him again, recognition in her eyes.

"Afternoon," she said in a cheery voice. Severus usually didn't answer them, but perhaps he was off his game because he was thinking of what Lily had said because this time he responded.

"Good afternoon." She looked quite surprised, clearly not expecting an answer and smiled wider.

"I think that's the first time you've ever responded," she said with a breezy laugh, and tucked her dark brown hair behind her ears with her hand before she started scanning his items through. Severus said nothing at first, then responded slowly.

"I don't much like mindless chatter," he said by way of explanation.

"Well, thank you. You've made my day a little better," she said sincerely, and Severus was wondering why this woman was so keen on him. It was almost suspicious, he narrowed his eyes at her while trying to rummage through his memories. How long had the girl been working at the grocery store? Was it recently? Perhaps she was a spy of some sort. Some sort of muggle plant, or a witch pretending to be a muggle. Or perhaps he was completely delusional. He took his shopping bags, giving her a small polite nod before heading out the doors. He swore he could feel her persisting gaze and somewhat irritating smile as he left.

'Suspicious… very suspicious…'

Evelyn had felt a burst of happiness that had lasted after Severus Snape had left the grocery store. She finished her shift humming and more chipper than usual, something her coworker, Linda noticed.

"What's got you in a mood?" the older woman asked as they sat in the break room. Evelyn was gathering her things from her locker, ready to leave for the day.

"He finally said something to me. It's silly, I'm a grown woman after all. But it's put me in a good mood, I guess." Linda immediately knew who he was. Linda had been in town a long time and knew quite a bit about him. The Snape boy who had finally grown into his clothing and big nose. Linda wasn't sure why Evelyn had taken a fancy to him, but she had since the first time she saw him, even though Linda had told her that he hardly had anything to do with anybody. In fact, his house often seemed empty throughout most of the year, before he'd spontaneously appear again. There had been lots of talk about that, the spontaneous coming and going, appearing and disappearing. Mysterious stuff. Evelyn hardly bothered with the gossip, but she did have a keen ear when they were talking about Mr. Snape.

"That is some news. I can't remember a day when he's said a word."

"He said several today."

"My my, when's the wedding?" They both laughed at that and Evelyn shrugged into her cardigan, picking up her purse to leave.

"Well, see you tomorrow."

"Bye, love."

Evelyn buttoned up her cardigan and slung her long purse strap over her shoulder as she exited the grocery store. She was debating which way she'd walk home. Feeling particularly in a good mood, she decided to take the long route home and began making her way. As she walked, she hummed songs she remembered from the radio and was thinking to herself about what she'd make for dinner. Her thoughts drifted to Mr. Snape as she saw a blip of black ahead of her.

Evelyn was perhaps too pleased by the fact he'd talked to her; she had been nursing somewhat of a secret fantasy of the mysterious man ever since she saw him. It was the closest thing she had had to a real relationship with a man for four years.

She had known almost immediately what he was; it was only confirmed by the gossip and rumors about him. He was a wizard, that much she knew almost certainly. She wasn't one of course, that is a witch. Much to the grief of her entire family, and to her own sorrow. Evelyn had left them a long time ago, never having been able to reconcile their cruelties to her. She had kept in some contact with her brother before… well, before what happened to him. She didn't much like to think about it.

Now as Evelyn walked at her very fast pace, the black blip in front of her was steadily growing bigger as she neared. As she got closer she thought more of Severus. She had been almost deliberate in choosing to like a man that was clearly emotionally unavailable. It was safer that way in the long run. She found herself drawn to him for several reasons. His standoffish demeanor made him quite a mystery, and what lady didn't like mystery? His authoritative, deliberate manner- who didn't like a man who seemed to know what he wanted? Those dark eyes that seemed to pierce right through her. And lastly, he was a wizard that dressed as a muggle (very well, mind you) and shopped in a muggle grocery. In her fantasy, (which she knew was just a silly daydream and not at all based out of reality) this meant that he wouldn't even blink when he learned that she was a squib.

The black clad man was finally close enough for her to see it was in fact Severus, and he was struggling with his shopping bags. Without really thinking, Evelyn jogged forward to his side.

"Let me help you with those." His black eyes looked at first surprised, but then focused her with a withering glare. Evelyn had experienced worse glares, her mother's in particular.

"I'm quite alright," he snapped, shifting his hands slightly. Evelyn could see his fingers were turning purple as the plastic handles cut off his circulation. How badly must he want to use magic she wondered. A lesser wizard would have caved in already.

"Fine, I suppose I'll just walk beside you and watch you walk miserably slowly with completely empty arms," she said, and as if to emphasize she crossed her empty arms and slowed her walk to his snail's pace. His glare intensified.

"Fine. Make yourself useful," he bit out and handed her several of his shopping bags. Evelyn took them with a smile, feeling quite pleased with herself as Severus flexed his hand to get the blood flowing back into it properly. Severus was wondering what the irritating shop woman was doing following him home, his suspicion deepening. Was she a lost puppy or something more sinister? He found himself observing her as they walked, her eyes were trained ahead and her pace slightly faster than his own deliberate stride. She had high cheekbones and a long necked silhouette. Her neck was bare now, exposed to the sun, revealing a few freckles. She certainly didn't look sinister, but things were rarely as they seemed and Severus thought that given the situation he couldn't be too careful. A muggle woman taking interest in him and even following him home? Something was definitely off.

Evelyn matched Severus' stride with her own, slowing herself down considerably and walking in silence as they made their way to his home. Evelyn had heard through the gossip grapevine where Severus lived and wasn't surprised at all to stop in front of the small run down house- that she actually passed on her 'scenic route' to and from work. It wasn't a scenic route she'd often taken, but she had enough times to be fairly familiar with the area.

"-some tea?" Severus asked abruptly when they had reached his front door. Evelyn blinked, thinking she'd misheard him. "Would. You. Like. Some. Tea?" Severus enunciated each word as if he was speaking to a four year old in response to her rather stupid blank expression. Anxiety rushed through Evelyn, squeezing the air out of her lungs and making it difficult to answer. She wasn't expecting him to invite her in. 'You should never have talked to him!' her mind screamed.

"Uhm I-." 'Bloody hell, just say yes!' the other half of her brain screamed. "Yes, yes." She said it twice just to be certain of it, and Severus' expression was clearly one of judgment as if she was a blithering idiot.

"Come on then." He grumbled and kicked open the door which swung open easily. Evelyn followed, suddenly feeling very nervous as the darkened house seemed to press her in on each side in the narrow hall. Severus moved through the house quickly, going straight to the kitchen and expecting Evelyn to follow. She hesitated however, swallowing the lump in her throat as her mind assaulted her. All she could think was how easily he could overpower her or shove her against any one of the walls if he so chose. She shook her head violently.

"Well don't just bloody stand there!" Severus' harsh voice yanked her back to reality. Instead of walking towards him, Evelyn held the bags out towards him, forcing him to cross the small living room and take them from her. He was scowling at her, his dark eyes taking in her very different demeanor. She was skittish almost, and Severus was suddenly very assured in his decision of what he was intending to do. "Take a seat," he snapped, gesturing to one of the armchairs as he entered the kitchen. He quickly stored away the items that needed to be refrigerated and started the kettle. Then he opened a cabinet, taking out two tea bags and a small golden vial. Briskly, he set out two mugs and un-stoppered the phial, dripping in a small amount of clear liquid into one mug. He then removed his wand and waved it at the kettle from across the room, causing it to boil instantly with a whistling screech. He filled each mug up and had them both in hand as he reentered the living room. He saw that the woman was playing with a frayed seam in one of his armchairs looking nervous. 'Nervous about what, we shall see,' he thought as he set the mug down on the table beside her. Evelyn gave a nervous sort of smile, averting her eyes from his dark probing ones.

"So," he drawled, wondering what he could possibly have to say to this woman. "What was your name again?"

"Evelyn." She cleared her tight throat, her voice coming out a little funny. She took the mug from the table to take a dainty sip to loosen the tightness squeezing her throat. Severus smirked as he watched her take a sip.

"I appreciated your assistance." He said, not sounding very appreciative at all. "How long have you worked at the grocer?" He tested gently.

"I suppose it must be three years now." She replied, her tight throat suddenly feeling much better. The words popped from her mouth easily and freely.

"And what are your intentions, smiling at me and following me home as you've done," Severus asked, feeling very certain he was about to get to the bottom of it.

"Well, I secretly fancy you. I mean from afar of course; you're sort of this strong silent type and obviously completely totally unavailable which makes it totally safe for me to imagine having a romance with you since it will clearly never happen." Her hands clapped over her mouth in horror. Severus stood stock still, barely processing her words as she looked at him in mortified. "What have you done?" She cried in mortification. "You've slipped Veritaserum in my drink haven't you! I should have known to stay away from a bloody wizard!"

"How did you know I was a wizard?" Severus snapped, honing in once again on his suspicion and ignoring everything else she had just said.

"Well I have eyes for it, being a squib, and of course what with all the rumors of your mysterious comings and goings it was pretty easy to put together!" Evelyn stood abruptly, trying to keep the words from flooding out of her mouth but finding herself quite unable to. She did the next best thing and bolted straight for the door, leaving an extremely befuddled Severus once again alone in his house.

Lily found herself in the Library of Malfoy Manor quite often in the days that followed. She had read 'The Pure' - an interesting book that detailed the pureblood lineages as well as the effect of muggle blood in the lineages, such as increasing the likelihood of having squibs in later generations, which the book states was a great travesty. Lily supposed she could understand an aversion to squibs. The book got her interested in pureblood lines. Several names, the most prominent being Salazar Slytherin, mentioned in the book caused Lily to delve deeper into the Malfoy Library. The Malfoys had several huge tomes of exactly what she was looking for. The great bloodlines were soon spread before her, some tomes so old she had to be very gentle to thumb through the pages. Names like Black, Malfoy, Lestrange, Gaunt, Prewett, Weasely all leapt out at her as she ran her fingertips through the pages. The lines were all inevitably crossed, some dozens and dozens of times. The Gaunts she followed in particular with fascination, their line running all the way back directly to Salazar Slytherin himself. She stopped on his name almost being able to feel the power of it and recalled the Sorting Hat's words to her, whispering in her ear as if coming from the depths of her own mind. 'Strong, pure Slytherin blood in you, perhaps your family house?' She traced the lineage back to Gaunts, but was disappointed to see the line clearly end with a woman named Merope who died much too long ago for her to be of any relation to Lily. She found herself not dissuaded and traced it right back up to Salazar himself. There were many names sprouting from him, clearly having sired many children, and Lily found herself drawn to one. A dead end. Silvana Slytherin. The name tugged at something deep inside her, like some sort of odd sense of knowing. Lily felt eyes suddenly upon her and she looked up and saw two massive tennis ball shaped green eyes staring at her. She jumped.

'Excuse me!" Shrieked the little thing in a pitiful nasally voice. "Bad, Dobby. BAD! Didn't mean to scare the young missus!" He said, smacking himself in the head and causing Lily to frown.

"What are you?" Lily asked, unable to stop herself, then remembered she had seen the creature before at the Malfoys.

"Dobby is a house elf who serves the Malfoy family. Dobby has been instructed by madam to tell the missus dinner is served." Came his squeaky reply. Lily looked to the wall clock in surprise, not realizing how much time she'd spent in front of the detailed lineage books. Flustered, Lily started closing them hurriedly, folding the pages carefully back into place.

"If the missus would like, Dobby may put away the books." Dobby said, sounding nervous, as if he expected Lily to jump out at him or say something nasty. Lily simply looked up in surprise.

"That would be lovely," she said with a nod, but feeling a little awkward asking the creature to clean up after her. Somehow she was certain the Malfoys expected her to. She rose and left the room then, feeling her belly rumble, having been so absorbed by the books she hadn't even noticed how hungry she had gotten. She was eager to see Lucius and Narcissa and talk to them about what she had seen in the old tomes.

Thoughts of squibs brought to mind old spinsters with more than a few cats, or tarot card readers. Squibs seemed to flock to that profession, convinced they have some magic. And what had that bloody woman said about him? 'Emotionally unavailable,' he sneered. He wasn't emotionally unavailable, although he wouldn't call himself emotionally available either. As Severus tossed and turned in bed, his thoughts continued to lash out against his will. 'And what kind of woman has secret fantasies about men they hardly know?' These are things he should have asked before she ran off, but was quite unable to now. Then it occurred to him he could just go to the grocer and ask her himself, no demand answers from her himself for all the ridiculous things she'd said. At that thought, even as flustered as he was, Severus fell into a fitful sleep.

A/N- Yes, another OC! I feel like Severus needs some more interactions so be prepared for some more Severus filled chapters! Please take the time to review, I Love hearing from everyone on the story.