Author's Note: This story is based off of events and conversations as found throughout the Harry Potter series as written by J.K. Rowling. Most of this work will contain original prose and dialogue, but references will be made in specific chapters where Rowling's exact words are used. This is written purely for recreational purposes; I do not own any rights to Harry Potter or affiliations of Bloomsbury Publishing.
Chapter Two: The Birthday Gone Wrong
Winter was light and hardly distinguishable from fall. Snow finally fell before Christmas came, but it did nothing to make Severus's holiday any better than the last ten. Mr. Snape had forbade a tree to ever go up under his roof, and gifts were given discreetly between mother and son, handed under the table or passed in the hallway. This year there were no gifts; pay cuts at the mill demanded changes be made. The week of Christmas and New Years they ate nothing but potatoes and peas.
Then his birthday came. They were still living on a tighter budget, but he didn't need gifts or a big meal. Lily came to spend the day with him.
At first he was embarrassed that she saw his house. The day had been going poorly to begin with—his father had been short with his mother, the peas were cold and sticky, and he had to wear yesterday's socks and drawers because his mother had forgotten to do laundry. As he was drying dishes while his mother washed them, there was a knock on the door.
Eileen paused, looked over her shoulder, and frowned in the general direction of the door. Severus looked as well, although his expression was more of dread. He hastily stuffed the plate he held in the dish cupboard and rushed to the door before his father could get there. He unlocked the bolt and discarded the chain lock, then opened the door halfway to peer out.
Outlined by the white and grey street was Lily. Her brilliant dark red hair was the most vibrant thing he'd ever seen, especially framed by the bright white snow. Her eyes lit up the moment she saw him. "Happy birthday, Severus!" she said, holding up a package.
"What are you doing here?" he immediately retorted.
Her face fell a bit. He grit his teeth. "Sorry, I just mean—how did you find out where I lived?"
"What's at the door, then?" his father called out behind him. Severus immediately darted out and closed the door, standing in his T-shirt and socking feet.
"I—I'm sorry. Tuney told me where you lived. I wanted to surprise you... I didn't mean to make you angry."
"I am. Surprised, that is." He looked her over anxiously; she appeared crestfallen, and he had no idea how to repair it. "What's that?"
She looked at the box. "It's a fruitcake. Mum taught me how to make them."
"Thanks." He gently took the box. T=He stood there awkwardly holding it between him and her, and the silence grew bigger and longer.
"What are you doing today?" she asked timidly.
"Nothing."
"Want to go to the park?"
He looked around. "Isn't it too cold for that?"
"Well..."
"Hold on," he said quickly, "I'll go get my coat."
He ran inside, dashed up the stairs, deposited his gift under the bed, then ran back down to stuff his feet in his boots and shove his arms in his enormous coat. Before either of his parents could stop him and ask him just what he was rushing about for, he was out the door again, next to Lily.
"Ready?" he asked. She smiled warmly and nodded.
So they set off, mostly silent but once in a while throwing questions at one another ("Your parents didn't plan anything for you?" "They let you go out without finishing your chores?"), but once they reached the playground, which was blissfully deserted besides themselves, they broke into more conversations about the wizarding world. Luckily for Severus, Lily had endless questions to ask, and she most certainly never tired of hearing the same story twice.
The afternoon wore on, and just as he was thinking they would spend the entire day talking about magic and Hogwarts, she fell silent and started to pack snow together. "Want to make a snowman?" she asked.
He knew what snowmen were—he'd seen some of the other children at school make them once before. But he didn't understand the novelty of it. "Why?"
"It's fun," she said with a broad smile, already starting a giant snowball. "You can give them personality."
An image in his head popped up of a snowman strutting about in a smoking jacket barking orders at children, but Severus decided Lily did not mean her words literally. He agreed to help her build one, her giving him tips now and again. After they built the first one, he still didn't know how to feel about making them, but after the third and fourth (they used up all the snow in the park), he was starting to enjoy it.
"Want to make another?" he asked as he brushed the snow off his jeans.
Lily looked up at the sky; the sun was setting and turning the world pink and yellow. "I can't, Severus, I'm sorry. I should be heading home for dinner."
"Oh."
"But we can make them when the next snowfall comes!" she assured, trying to cheer him. "And my birthday—we're having a party. Would you come, Severus? Oh, please say you will."
"Yeah, sure. When is it?"
"The thirtieth. On my birthday. It's a Saturday. Come around lunch time."
"Okay. Will I see you before then?"
"Of course. But, um... is it okay if I come to your house?"
"You'd better not. I'll come stand outside yours."
Once again, she looked like she had taken a blow from him. "All... right. Sorry. That I came today."
He shook his head. "I don't want you to see that."
She gave him a sober look before slowly heading home.
That night at the dinner table, the air was thick and full of anger. "You left before finishing your chores," his father said, sombrely cutting his potato.
Severus said nothing. It was best to just remain silent and let Mr. Snape berate your person without interruption, or else it got longer and harsher. "You won't do it again."
"Yes," Severus agreed complacently.
"Yes, sir."
"Yes, sir."
The rest of dinner was quiet and brooding. After the meal, Severus helped his mother clean. He waited for her to say her customary "Happy Birthday" to him, but she never did. The look on her face told him she was far away. When he went up to bed, he reached for the parcel hidden under the bed frame, and opened the box carefully, making sure neither his mother or father heard the paper ripping. A flood of pleasant smells brushed across his face when the box was opened—lemon, cranberry, mango—and most prominently—cinnamon. He squinted at it through the dark, trying to get a good look at it; he wanted to appreciate his best birthday present as much as he could. With the faint streetlight, he could vaguely see HAPPY BIRTHDAY written on the face of the cake in red icing. He took off a chunk of the corner and ate it slowly at first, but lost self control three bites in and devoured two more chunks in seconds flat. He hadn't had anything so delicious in months.
Deciding he should savour the gift, Severus finally found the will to put the box back under the bed and save the rest for later. It would be his only decadence while they could not afford other food. He also made sure to keep it a secret from his mother and father—he wanted it all to himself. And besides, if his father had found it, it would be promptly thrown out. "If we all can't enjoy it, none of us will," he would say before upending it into the trash bin.
The cake lasted for three days before it spoiled. He took it down the street and deposited it into a trash bin, like he was going to a private funeral. For some reason, he was more stricken about losing the cake than he thought he ought to have been.
When Lily's birthday approached, Severus tried desperately to find her a decent gift. He had little pocket money, but after hearing when her party was, he saved what little he was given from his father. Since the currency was being revolutionized by the government (Severus remembered hearing the word decimal thrown around by his father once or twice), he was receiving very little, just to ensure they had enough to "prepare for the worst," in his father's words. Severus didn't understand much of it, and it only made him eager to immerse himself in wizarding currency, which seemed much less complicated.
In any case, he had collected all his pocket money and ran down to the bakery by the tea shop Lily had taken him once. He asked the lady for a birthday cake, but it cost sixteen pence, and he only had seven. In the end, he could afford nothing of worth in the bakery, so instead went to the flower shop. He was able to afford a single flower with his money. He didn't remember what it had been called—it wasn't a rose, but it was a deep shade of red, and he knew upon seeing it that it was meant to be Lily's. Then, with nervous feet, he took himself to the Evans' household.
By the time he got there, he had lost feeling in his fingers and toes, and his nose was starting to drip. He sniffed constantly, but it did nothing to stem the flow of snot. When he knocked on the door, he quickly wiped his nose on his sleeve, just to avoid looking shabby when Lily opened the door.
A blast of warmth and sweet smells greeted Severus when Mrs. Evans opened the door. "Oh, Severus, what a pleasant surprise! I almost thought you wouldn't be joining us today! And—oh, look at this lovely flower. Is this for Lily? Why, that's thoughtful of you. Please, come in, the children are playing games in the family room, you must join them!"
All this was said with such alacrity that Severus felt his head spinning. She led him inside and took his coat from him, and he noticed her make a small face at the smear on his sleeve. As she walked away, he crept into the family room.
No one noticed his entrance, so he hovered by the doorway. The first thing he saw was her bright red hair flying; she was twirling on the spot with a blindfold over her eyes, three girls around her pushing her along. She wore a dark green dress, white stockings, and polished black shoes. Her skirts shimmered in the light when she spun. She looked lovely.
Finally one of the girls grabbed her shoulders from behind, held her still, then gently shoved her forward. Lily stumbled clumsily, holding out something black with a tack at the top, and headed for the wall, where a poster board with the picture of a tailless donkey hung.
Severus wrinkled his nose as he watched Lily stumble to the picture. This must have been some obscure Muggle game he'd never heard about. When she reached the poster board, she patted her hands along the frame, trying to get a feel for where she was. Then she promptly stuck the tack in the poster and removed her blindfold. The tail sat about an inch above the donkey's hind end.
"Oh, well," she said, "that was pretty g—Severus!"
All the girls turned to the doorway were Severus stood as Lily rushed toward him. She had the biggest smile on her face he had seen yet. He looked around at all the other girls in the room—he was the only boy. None of them wore remotely approving expressions. Petunia's was the most sour scowl of all.
"These are my friends from school," Lily said warmly. "Everyone, this is Severus—he lives down the road from us."
"Down the road?" Petunia repeated with sauce.
Lily eyed her sister, but chose to ignore the comment. "We were playing Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Have you ever played before?" she asked him.
"No." He sounded affronted that she would even ask such a thing.
But Lily chose to let that comment roll off her skin like rain as well. "Come on, then, it's your turn!"
"I don't—"
"I'll take this," she said excitedly, gently taking the fragile flower from him with a grateful smile, "and you put on this!"
"But I think—"
"Like this!" She shoved the blindfold over his head and snugly fit it over his eyes. He stood still for her as she adjusted it, then she led him out to the middle of the room.
"No, Lily," he said through gritted teeth.
"Just one game." She then abandoned him on the floor, rushed off somewhere, then came back to shove something in his hand. "Try to pin the tail close to where it should go," she instructed. The other girls around him scoffed—who needs instructions on how to play Pin the Tail? Lily was not accepting no for an answer, so he grudgingly let her turn him over and over on the spot. When she stopped him, she gently pushed him forward.
"Straight ahead, Severus!"
"Don't give him hints!" another girl snapped.
He shuffled forward, his hands out, feeling a little humiliated and angry. When he felt the board under his hands, he thought, Just get it right and show these Muggles, and promptly stuck the pin on the picture. He removed his blindfold and smiled to himself; he had gotten it right on the rear.
"You cheated," Petunia said nastily from the other side of the room.
"I did not," he shot back.
Lily's delicate confidence was already wavering. She looked around the room. "Severus didn't cheat, he's just really good at everything."
This made his chest swell with pride, and he smiled at Lily appreciatively. The other girls were far from convinced, however. "That just sounds like he's a big pig head," some brown haired girl said. This made all the others laugh cheerily, all but Lily.
"No, it means I'm just smarter than all you dumb Muggles!" He flared with anger before storming to the front door. As he stuffed his feet in his boots, he heard some girl repeat the word "Muggle" derisively, sounding another chorus of laughter from the others. He snatched up his coat and rushed from the house before even putting it on. His heart was thudding so hard and the chagrin made his thoughts fuzzy and incoherent. He was simply mad at everything. So he took to the park and started to kick down all the snowmen he and Lily made (they were half melted anyway) and sat down on the swing when he was done.
About twenty minutes later, he was still angry, but a burst of remorse struck him once he saw Lily run up the street to the park. She slowed when she caught sight of all the destroyed snowmen, and then hurried over to Severus on the swing. He could tell that she was very sad.
"What happened to our snowmen?" she asked. "Who kicked them down?"
He hung his head. "I dunno."
"That's so... why would somebody do such a thing?"
"It's nothing."
"It's nothing?" Severus was starting to wish he could think about what he was saying before he said it. "We made those together. That was a fun day—you had so much fun."
"It's a dumb Muggle thing, anyway," he retorted, kicking up snow in the small ditch beneath his seat, "just like your friends."
There was stunned silence, and at once Severus knew that was the worst possible thing he could have said to her, short of "I hate you." He looked up at her slowly, and found her with tears in her eyes.
"That wasn't a very nice thing to say," she said quietly, her voice quavering. "Are non-magic people that different?"
He turned his head away.
"You said being Muggle-born didn't matter, in the wizarding world. Why would being a normal Muggle be any different?"
"They just... don't understand," he said, immediately thinking of his father.
"Maybe it's you who doesn't understand!" Lily shouted with a sob, tears trailing down her cheeks from both eyes. "Why do you always have to be like this, Severus?" With that, she turned and ran, leaving a streak of red in her wake.
"Wait!" he called, but she did not. She hurried all the way back home, not once looking back at Severus. He watched her go, trying to think of all the reasons he was right, but only coming up with the reasons why he was so wrong. He hung his head, and the anger was slowly displaced by guilt and frustration.
This had to be the worst year for birthdays, overall.