Mettle

In the waning light of day, Eileen from beside her favorite parlor's hearth, gazed solemnly at the snoozing body of her only son. Severus's face was slack and, hopefully, his sleep was just as untroubled as his appearance. Setting aside the astrology tome she had been skimming, Eileen rose up from her seat and went to stand beside her boy. Severus's cat, Boots, opened one yellowish eye and then closed it when he saw that she had no intention of bothering his heater.

Severus was almost nine. In another month, he'd be past it. Taking in his stretched out body, she could see that Severus was growing taller (though, she feared he'd never reach the towering height her father had boasted), his face thinning and sharping, and his eyes…

They were her Tobias's. A beautiful cauldron black that could glimmer when pleased and glint when angry. The rest of the time, however, his eyes were constantly dulled with too much knowledge. Eileen had never thought it feasible, but there did seem to be a point where man simply could know too much about something – anything – and her son had reached that limit somewhere in his eight (almost nine) short years.

If Eileen had been the woman she'd been when she came to her mother's home all those years ago, she might have wept. But, thankfully, she wasn't. Time had strengthened her; she knew how to take away the dullness, she knew how to bring out that beautiful glitter of joy to her only son's somber eyes. As for the glint of fury? That was the world's job. Eileen felt badly for allowing that glint to rise in his eyes, but Severus needed to know what their world was made of. He needed to know how their world was structured, where he stood among his contemporaries and not-contemporaries.

If he'd been pure, like her, like her mother, like her father and all the Princes recorded in their history, she might not have had to teach him. An arrogant boy could learn all on his own where he stood in the pecking order, simply because what gave him his lot was his talents, his wits, and his strength. But for a little half-blood like her dear Severus?

He was already halfway down in that pecking order and he would face greater retribution if he were ignorant of such a fact. Severus may lay above Muggleborns – even some Half-Bloods, given his Prince-blood – but, no matter how he may try, he'd never eclipse the purer witches and wizards of their world. Severus was always to be little more than a dog to the Blacks, Malfoys, Notts, and Parkinsons. Even the less uptight Purebloods would look at her son's pedigree and blame his deficiencies on the mixing of magic and muggle.

It was because of these dismal facts that Eileen was working so hard with her son to give him the sharp advantage of knowledge in all the key subjects he would soon be learning at Hogwarts. He would never eclipse a Pureblood by simply breathing, but he could certainly make himself a name in their world yet. All he had to do was prove how smart, how talented, how worthy he was of what little status he did hold among his peers and, someday, the mistake she'd made by loving and mating with a Muggle could be swept beneath the rug.

(Or so Eileen and her mother hoped).

Eileen, though, feared that such a mistake couldn't always be forgotten. After all, once a blood-traitor, always a blood-traitor, right?

Her son, far too sensitive to everything and everyone, began to stir under her scrutiny and opened his dark eyes.

"Mum?" he said.

Crouching down to her knees, Eileen pressed him back into the sofa and asked, "Are you in pain, my love?"

"No, Mum," he answered.

Pressing her cool hands to his cheeks and then his forehead, she questioned hesitantly, "Do you wish to speak of what you saw, Severus?"

Sighing, her son turned his face away and muttered, "What's it matter? You probably already know, I distinctly remember screaming."

"You gave the girl and her family quite a fright, telling her the things you did," Eileen admitted quietly. "But girls her age bounce back quite easily, I'm sure you haven't ruined her Christmas Holidays."

Hand resting on Boots, Severus whispered, "She was just an old lady, it really shouldn't have scared me like it did, but then she started convulsing in her chair and it brought on… her memories? Maybe that's what they were, because they sure do match with other things I know. Anyway, Mum, she was shaking and choking and all sorts of terrible things and these healers were grabbing her and yelling and I could see her seeing somebody else screaming in her memories. It was a guy, and she was crying his name over and over and over!

"'Frank! Frank, Frank, FrankFrankFrank–!'

"She said it so many times, Mum. I think she was even more scared for him than she was for herself. But then, when they weren't getting what they wanted from him, they started hurting her too! I could see in her memories of herself that she was screaming and she felt like she was on fire and everything inside her was melting and snapping until she was too messed up to even be bothered to so much as cry anymore.

"The worst part, though, was when she looked away from her husband and I saw that witch! The one that sent Sirius into the veil! Mum, she wasn't very old in that girl's memories. She couldn't – they could have – Mummy, the two of them might have gone to school together! And I could be going to school with that girl soon too!"

Crying then, Severus reached out to her and Eileen did not hesitate in bringing him into her lap. Cradling him, she shushed him as much as she could, even as they both knew that these visions he was witnessing came closer to fruition with each passing year. Kissing his right temple, Eileen made a promise she wasn't sure she'd be able to keep.

"I'm going to find out who this Dark Lord is, Severus. I'm going to find him and I'm going to figure out how to kill him before he can so much as lay a finger on you."

Her son's head shot up and she was forced to see true, unfathomable terror in her son's eyes. "No!" he cried. "No! No! No, you can't! It's not for you to deal with, that green-eyed boy, he was the world's last hope. I know he was! I saw it! I gave him things he needed in my last moment so he might rescue us all from the Dark Lord. Mum, don't try. He'll only kill you, like he kills everybody else."

Pushing his hair back from his face, Eileen told her son very firmly, "That's all very well, my love, but if he kills you, I won't have much of a reason to live and will probably die soon after you."

"I don't want you to die," Severus sniffed.

Stroking his face, she drew his gaze back to her. Eileen said, "Then let me try and get rid of the Dark Lord so you won't die."

Her son began to sob.

Eileen knew this was too big a decision to lie on an eight-year-old's shoulders, but if she didn't have his approval, how could she hunt this devil down without her conviction being muddled with guilt? If Eileen didn't have his blessing, she knew she wouldn't be able to do it. There was no way.

Finally, when Severus's tears died away, she asked, "What's your decision, Severus?"

"Do it," he croaked. "Find him. Kill him. Do whatever you have to so you won't die, Mummy."

Embracing her son in a long hug, she let the silence between them stretch on as the sun outside their parlor's tall windows set to be replaced by a pale crescent moon. Kissing the spot between his brows, Eileen whispered, "Thank you."

And together, mother and son got up to meet the last member of their small family for dinner.

-v-v-v-v-v-

Christmas a day past, Eileen bundled her son up in a coat and scarf before they headed for the day's destination. Her son, for his part, was the most excited she'd seen him all week.

Anxious, he asked, "Do you really think Quirinus will enjoy his gift?"

"Of course," she replied as she smiled down at him. Taking Severus outside, Eileen prepared them to apparate to the Quirrell's residence. "He's expressed his interest in airplanes before and I can't see why he wouldn't care for the model you bought him."

Still worried, Severus insisted, "What if he's already got this model?"

"Break his other," Eileen offered jokingly as she prepped them both to leave.

Severus looked at her doubtfully and opened his mouth to say something, but the pulling at their navel began and a moment later, they were catching their bearings beside the Quirrell's home. Walking up to the blue-gray door, Eileen only had to knock once before she heard the joyful screech of Quirinus.

"Daddy! It's Severus and Miss Eileen!"

Several thumps later, the boy opened the door, his blond, flyaway hair curled this way and that, and a broad grin giving life to his pallid face. Offering him a kind grin, Eileen asked, "How do you do, Quirinus?"

"Pretty good! You should hurry on in. I got a new game, Severus! It's called Battle Ship."

Her son thrust out his arms, which were laden with the Quirrells' gifts. A model plane for Quirinus, a good bottle of scotch for Quincy, and, for his wife, a pretty china mouse to add to the collection of critters she kept displayed on her fireplace's mantle.

Smiling back at his friend, Severus said, "That sounds wicked, but wouldn't you rather open gifts, first?"

Eileen was about to correct her greedy little son when Quincy's wife appeared, "Now, now boys," she tutted. "Let's have some tea first, eh?" Turning her big eyes on Eileen, she remarked, "Greedy little ankle-bitters, aren't they?"

Giving a slightly undignified snort, Eileen made a second noise, one of agreement and let the woman be the excellent hostess that she was and take her and Severus's coats so they could settle down in the living room. There, they found Quincy fiddling with his radio. Tuning the darn thing through static and crackling music, he only stood when he got what sounded to be like Christmas carols.

A jovial brightness to his pale eyes, he said to Eileen, "It adds nicely to the atmosphere, wouldn't you say?"

"Oh, definitely," Eileen concurred as she accepted the cup of tea handed to her.

The boys were already laid out on the floor, sharing a plate of crispies as they got to work figuring out how to play Quirinus's new game.

For the next several hours, Eileen and Severus visited with the Quirrells' and had a swell time talking about things like the cruddy weather, about the sacking of the Home Affairs Minister in Northern Ireland, the Americans and their spaceship, and when they called the boys into the talk, Severus entertained them all with a blow-by-blow of a book called A Wrinkle in Time. Quirinus chimed in from time to time with his own bit and so, Eileen was quite sure the story must have first belonged to her friend's son because it was definitely not a book she'd given Severus, nor was it one that her mother would have.

All in all, it was a satisfying afternoon. Severus liked playing with his friend and Eileen enjoyed partaking in company that was her mother's. When the evening began to descend, Eileen called on Quincy to show them out.

"It's a little late, I'd like if you stepped out with us to take a look about."

Her friend gave her an odd look, but he was a good man and did not deny her request. "Of course," he said.

Together, the three stepped out. Once on his stoop, Eileen told Severus, "Why don't you go make a sweep for Muggles, my love?"

Severus, happy to be given such a duty, hurried off down the street to look right and then, knowing she'd have a minute more when he went left, Eileen said, "I need your help."

"With what?" Quincy asked.

Eileen sent one last furtive glance to her son and informed him, "It has to do with Severus and his 'migraines'. They might be a bit more than what I've been leading you to believe these past couple years."

"And how do you think I can help?" he questioned with a doubtful frown. "I'm a librarian, not a healer."

Nodding, Eileen said, "And that's just what I need, I think. Look, I'll send you the details later in a letter, but I've heard through Mother that the librarian of Hogwarts is looking to leave as she's pregnant and I'd help you get the job there if you would be willing to assist me with Severus."

"I–" he paused. "What does a job at Hogwarts have to do with Severus?"

Frustrated as Severus came scampering back, Eileen only hissed, "Later. I'll send a letter." And then, with a forced smile, gave her friend a kiss to his cheek. "Thank you for the afternoon, it was lovely."

Next, offering her hand to Severus, she prompted him, "Well?"

"It's safe!" he declared.

Keeping a steady stare with Quincy, she apparated herself and her son back to their home.

-v-v-v-v-v-

"Granny!" Severus yelled as he hugged the aging woman.

Squeezing him back, Eileen's mother beamed at her grandson and asked, "Did you have fun, Severus?"

Giving a vigorous nod, her son answered, "Oh yes, Quirinus had a great new game that we played!"

The old woman spoke with him for a few more moments about what he did, and ate, and talked about before shooing him off to put his new toy away in his rooms. Lifting her gaze to meet Eileen's, she asked, "How did things go with, Quincy, dear?"

"I promised I'd send him a detailed letter, but, knowing him, I'm sure he'll be highly interested in the position – no matter what the reason," Eileen said.

Face solemn, her mother brought a hand to still her anxious heart and sighed. "Excellent, I'll send Horace a letter about Quincy's interest so he may owl out an inquiry of his own to the man and let Albus know about him as a possible candidate."

Eileen smiled. "I think this is going to work, Mum," she proclaimed with a true feeling of hope blooming in her breast.

Smirking, her mother said, "Of course it's going to work! You planned it, my dear!"

"Thank you, Mum." Eileen laughed; she was very pleased by the compliment. Things were still very early, hardly past the planning stages, but if she and her mother orchestrated everything at all the right moments, Quincy would be working at Hogwarts the beginning of next fall and Eileen would have access to their library, records, and with time, the professors there as well.

She would figure out who this Dark Lord was. She would stop him. She would fix the world for her Severus. Eileen was going to set everything right – even if she'd have to die to keep her son from being killed himself.

And this is chapter six! Thoughts?

To reviewers, Saint Snape, The Dark One Rising, KodeV, NightmarePrince, Kazetoame, HP the third; thank you all so much :)

Thank you all a ton for reading and pretty please review!

Edited: 4/15/16