Chapter 2
In the end it was easier to settle down with the Evans than what I expected. They were a lovely couple and after living a life full of uncertainty and danger I gladly accepted the routine.
It had been a wonderful week, the majority of which I had spent observing each family member and my surroundings. I was mostly trying to get a feel of their habits and what made them tick.
My father was an English professor; he loved to read to us and would do his best to find the most enlightening books for us. My mother on the other hand, loved to bake and cook but was also a really musical inclined person she enjoyed playing the piano and viola. She would spend whole afternoons teaching us music notes and making petunia lily and I sing together.
I enjoyed our afternoons together the most, just siting and enjoying their company was enough to fill me up with joy. For a person with no previous knowledge of what a true normal family meant I was adapting exceptionally well.
Even in this lifetime I was a quiet child and kept mostly to myself and my books, so my new behavior didn't really seem out of the ordinary to anyone.
My nightly terrors did worry my parents, but they mostly blamed it on my over active imagination and obsession with more complex books. To be honest my post-traumatic stress disorder wasn't as bad as it used to, so far I had only suffered one attack since I started this life time.
The only thing I did regret was making Lily cry.
Lily is a really sensitive kid and seemed to be really attuned with my emotions, so much that just seeing me anxious would immediately set her on edge. So I promised myself to start doing my meditations and relaxation exercises. Not just for me but also for Lily's sanity.
A part from that, everything seemed to be running smoothly. I had been trying to see if Lily had already awakened her magic core, but so far it all seemed In vain. Maybe it was still a bit too early in the game, but I did need to start her soon.
I didn't wish to be the first one to start showing signs of magic, It would call to much attention to myself. I had a feeling that if both lily and I started using our magic at the same time it would be a smoother transition for the whole family.
I needed to take action soon and do it fast, my magical core felt like that of an adult and I was starting to feel the stress of pent up magic. I needed to find an outlet, maybe the better option was to show Lily magic and that would push her into subconsciously mimic my actions.
I am aware that most children, even those born in magic families, didn't show any signs of accidental magic until they were at least a bit older, like around Petunias age. However if a magical child encounters a situation that stimulates their senses, like fits of temper or dangerous situations, the child in question opens a self-defense mechanism, that allows them to use their magic core.
So when the opportunity presented itself to show Lily magic, I didn't waste it.
It was a quiet afternoon; mom had decided to take us to the park. The girls and I had had just started playing around the lake, and that's when I saw him, Severus Snape.
He seemed like a ghost or a dark spirit. All dressed in black, pale and with the darkest pair of eyes, but even with that façade I could not ignore the child face that was staring back at me.
His nose was not big, so I could just assume that he had probably broken it later in life and had never gotten it fix. I remember my promise of helping him out, so when we got a bit closer to where he was hiding behind the tree I made a point of making direct eye contact with him.
I might have seem too intimidating for the four year old because the moment he saw me staring at him he blushed and hid more behind the three.
Lily didn't seem to like my lack of attention. She started pulling me towards the blanket that Tunney had set up in front of the lake.
"Mione! Let's play, come on!" she said impatiently.
Snape was still close enough to listen and observe, so I decided this was the perfect opportunity to get his attention.
If I performed magic in front of him I was sure that it would push him enough to want to make him talk to us. Plus I was just dying to get rid of all this pent up energy.
"Hey Lily let's play that we are fairies and Tunney is our princess" I told her with a smile. She seemed to like the idea. It also helped that it seems to brighten Petunias face to be called a princess. Tunney is not what I would call vain but she does seem a little self-conscious about herself since she has a different beauty from Lily and I.
I've learned that the best way to win Petunia over is just to give her an important role so that she feels needed.
Each one of us had a very different aura from one another. Lily was the epitome of spring, all bouncing and full of love. Petunia was more down to earth and was constantly worrying about doing the right thing. She was what I liked to think as our own personal Jiminy Cricket. Always watching over us and our actions.
I on the other hand was the silent protector. Even if the girls might not notice, I was always checking things over before they did anything. War made you paranoid and I would prefer not to take any unnecessary risks.
"Oh yes! Can I be a pretty fairy?" Lily asked with a bouncing enthusiasm.
"Of course Lily, you are the fairest fairy of them all" I told her with a smile. This made Lily giggle.
"Silly Mione, I can't be the fairest cause you are just like me!"
"Okay then, how about you are the Prettiest Lily fairy? After all there is only one Lily flower with us" That seemed to be a good enough answer for her.
I turned to look at Petunia "Oh princess Tunney, we come from the deepest parts of the woods to just admire your beauty" I said with a playful voice to the already laughing Petunia, and giggling Lily.
"Pretty, Pretty Tunney!" Repeated Lily while jumping in circles around Petunia.
"For such a fair princess deserves the biggest of treasures. Tell us princess what is it that you wish? And we shall give it to you!" I said to Tunney while bowing deeply.
"I wish for…" Said Tunney while taping her shin. Suddenly her eyes sparkled "the prettiest flowers"
Lily face fell a bit when she turned around and couldn't even find a dandelion on sight.
"But we have no flowers" she told me with a worried frown
"Lily we made a promise to our princes, and powerful fairies always keep their promises. So if the princess wishes for flowers we will use our magic to give her flowers" I explained to her with a mischievous smile. This seemed to grab Snapes attention because I could see him trying to get a better look at what we were doing.
I got to my knees and plucked a fistful of weeds. I had yet to acquire my wand, therefore my magic was a bit on the wild side without anything to focus it.
However I did count with the alchemy based part of my magic. All I had to do is use another plant to transform it into the flowers Tunney wished for. Equivalent exchange, one for the other, and just as simple as third year transfiguration.
I went back to where Tunney and Lily were sitting and made sure to stay in a position where Severus had a clear view of the magic I was about to perform.
"Princes Tunney, do you believe in magic?" I asked her, I was taking this opportunity to introduce Petunia to magic in a different light. One full of wonders and beauty. Maybe this way Petunia wouldn't grow to feel scared of what she doesn't understand and just take it for granted.
"Yes I do!" she replied exited. "Magic is only possible if you believe in it! So you have to wish for it from the bottom of the heart" I said to Petunia, although it was more of an explanation of the intent of each spell that would probably later on help Lily.
I put the weeds in between the two of us and focus an image of the flowers I wanted to give to Tunney. I could see the wonder and excitement that grew on both their faces when I opened my hands and bluebells stared growing instead of the dead weeds I had picked earlier. I had decided to use bluebells because of the tale our Dad had read earlier that week, bluebells represent fairies magic and wonders, even in the magical world.
"It's magic!" Lily screamed exited, while trying to take the blue bells out of my hands. I pushed her gently away. "No Lily flower, this where created especially for Tunney" I turned and saw that Petunia seemed speechless. "Tunney this are for you, I made them because they are just as pretty as you"
She seemed hesitant at first but my smile and Lily's eagerness convinced her in the end. "Thank you Mione" she said shyly while blushing once she started smelling the flowers.
"Me too, I want magic too" demanded Lily with a cute pout adorning her face. I focused my magic in the breeze surrounding us and summoned some bubbles for Lily to chase,. Lily left out a loud squeal and started running around the lake.
When I turned and look at the tree where Severus was hiding, he was already out and smiling trying to grab my attention so he could walk up to us. I feign a curios look, and that seemed to be all the encouragement he needed. He came near us and whispered 'witch' under his breath.
"Who are you?" Tunney demanded while standing protectively in front of me. Severus turned and almost cower intimidated by the older girl.
But his eyes snapped back at me, I gave him a shy small smile. That seems to push him forward and find a bit of backbone.
"I'm just like you" he explained with small traces of excitement on his voice. His voice was low but very childlike. I found it extremely bizarre to actually see Snape with such an innocent disposition. War does indeed change people completely I mussed to myself.
Petunia did not like his intense focus and me, it was making her nervous. "who are you?" she repeated again and completely blocked me of his view. It was cute to see her acting so protective, she seemed like a little kitten with her hackles raised.
Snape completely changed his stance, he was now really annoyed to be interrupted. I could only assume his snarky attitude was a self-defense mechanism towards unknown situations.
Lily came running towards us when she saw the new addition to the group. She seemed curios about the new boy "Hello" she said to Snape with a smile.
Surprisingly Snape only spared her a glance and didn't even answer. Maybe Snape's attachment to Lily started only when he saw that they had magic in common. Well that did make sense; he was way too young to actually feel any type of romantic attachments, and kids this age made friends with children with common background. Except instead of games, magic was the thing that held Snape's attention.
He tried to get around Tunney so he could talk to me, but Petunia was not giving in. "get away from Mione!" she told him with a scowl. That seemed to get Snapes attention.
"Mione?" he asked to no one in particular. "You are Mione?" he tried to ask me over Petunia. It was funny how they kept trying to pass on another but it was starting to get on my nerves.
"Tunney it's okay. He seems nice" I said to her while touching her arm. When Petunia looked at me I made a point of smiling at her and pushing her gently to the side. Petunia pouted for a bit but slowly relented, she kept an eye on Snape though.
I looked at Severus more closely; he seemed elated to actually have gained my attention. "Hello, my name is Hermione" I told him.
"Hirmani?" He said with difficulty. Lily started giggling and Tunney had a smirk on her face. "No silly! Her-MY-oh-knee!" Lily explained in between more giggles. Snape seemed to blush under the attention.
"You can call me Mione, it's easier" I told him while stepping closer to him.
"I'm Severus" He said to me quietly. And even though it wasn't above a whisper Tunney was paying enough attention to catch it.
"What type of name Severus" she asked mockingly. "What kind of name is Tunney?" returned Snape with a scowl. He turned to me again "I saw you doing magic" He told me shyly.
This seemed to push Tunney over the edge "You were spying on us?!" she asked with indignation while Severus only blushed harder.
I let out a loud sight. I felt too old to be dealing with childish feuds. Both Tunney and Snape had to be in good enough terms so that things could run as planned. "Now, now, stop fighting both of you" I said with my best no nonsense tone.
"You are a witch!" Yelled Severus. Lily gasped and Petunia pushed him to the floor. "Don't be mean! Mione is not a witch!" Lily responded with trembling lips. I had to stop this before it escalated to a full grown tantrum.
"Enough!" I said with a strong voice that grabbed everyone attention. "Why did you call me a witch?" I told to Severus. "It's not a bad thing! My mom is a witch too, and I'm a wizard! See we are the same" he explained with excitement shining thru his eyes.
"A witch?" I asked putting a little wonderment in my voice.
"Yes! Only witches can do what you just did! It's called accidental magic, muggles don't do it" Severus explained in a rush while grabbing one of my hands. His hand was cold to the touch, I felt bad for Severus he obviously did not have many interactions with normal children his age.
In a way he reminded me of Harry and I when we were younger. Isolated from his peers and desperately trying to find a place to fit in.
Severus just needed a bit of self-confidence to turn into the great wizard he deserved instead of the servant of two self-centered masters.
"A muggle? What's that? Sounds weird" Said Lily with a funny face "Muggle is non-magical people" explained Severus but didn't stop staring at me. "I can show you more about magic, witches and wizards" He said excited.
"More magic! Yes please Mione lets make more magic. Can we Tunney?" said Lily while making puppy eyes to Petunia. "I'm not sure, Mama is waiting for us" said Tunney and turned around to me to see what I wanted to do.
"Come on Tunney just for a bit please?" I asked her and grabbed her hand softly. Tunney smiled at me "Okay, but just for a bit"
When I turned to look at Severus I could see he didn't seem overly happy with the addition. But I guess he came to the conclusion that if my sisters were not included I was not going to stay. "I'm not supposed to tell Muggles about magic" he said with a frown growing on his face.
"It's okay; they are my family so they are also magical!" I reassured him with a smile." Tunney is older than me and she always knows best. And Lily is my other half, my twin" I tried to let Severus know the importance of each one of us. Petunia smirked at him and Lily hugged me from behind.
This made Severus curious "Twins? You two are twins? I can see it although you seem smaller" He said to me, couldn't blame him I just looked even younger because of my height. "Mione is tiny!" Lily said in between giggles while I patted her head. "Yep Lily stole my height when she was born" Tunney started laughing and even Severus broke a smile at my comment.
"Do you do magic too?" I asked him and pointed at him to sit down so we could rest in the blanket where we had our lunch. "Well sometimes, but not like you. It happens when I'm tired or sometimes when I don't expect it. I can't just make it happen all the time." He seemed frustrated when he explained this.
"Then maybe you are just weak" said Tunney with a sneer on her face. "Come on Tunney be nice, Severus is our friend now" I told her trying to gentle but leaving no pace for any argument.
Severus seemed to be surprised to be defended by me, but I wanted to make it clear that he could rely on people taking his side. "Well maybe we can do more magic together" I told him with a smile.
"Yes! I can do that" he seemed excited by this. We started to unpack lunch and I could see Severus taking longing peaks at the different sandwiches we were taking out.
"Here this is for you, do you like mustard? Mama always puts mustard on our sandwiches" explained Lily while passing a wrapped sandwich to Severus. He blush under the attention but whispered thanks to Lily and she just responded with her winning smile.
I could see Tunney start to relax when seeing the interaction between Lily and Severus. It was a bit of a Rocky start but I can see this working in the future.
"Why don't you tell us more about the magic world?" I asked Severus, and that seemed to be enough to break him out of his shell. He started to talk about how much of a wonderful society it was and how it worked.
Meanwhile I just reclined and enjoyed the expression of wonder and innocence on each of their faces. I missed this side of magic I didn't even remember how beautiful it could be to hear it again for the first time.
For now I would enjoy each moment this new life could spare me, I needed reminders of what I was fighting for in the future.
A/N: Thank you all for the follows and favorites, it means a lot to me that you actually want to keep reading more. I will try to do updates more often, college keeps me busy and I also have two part time jobs so I don't get a lot of free time. Hope you enjoy this new chapter and let me know what you think of it!