Part 25 – Unexpected Guests
Severus had hidden out in his room all evening, unwilling to venture downstairs where his father continued to shout, venting his fury on Eileen who had now become the focus of his anger.
Severus unpacked his trunk and stretched out on his bed listening for the sound of the door slamming, the familiar sound that would signal it was safe to leave his room.
The minutes ticked by and he pulled his pencils and paints from their hiding place under a loose floor board to pass the time. Unfortunately he hadn't been able to concentrate long enough to draw anything. Twirling the pencil in his fingers he had chewed at the end for a while until he had finally given up and thrown them across the room.
He wondered why it was easy for him to slip away into his drawings at any time except when he most wanted to escape.
It was past midnight when Severus finally heard the bang of the front door. Pushing his trunk aside he opened the door and looked downstairs.
He could hear his mother sobbing in the living room and knowing it was now safe he ventured back down the stairs.
He looked around the living room and saw Eileen Snape was curled up in a thickly stuffed chair. She moved to wipe her eyes and attempted to force a smile to her face when she saw him standing there.
Severus walked over to the fireplace and bent down to pick up the broken Christmas ornament from the floor.
"Reparo," commanded Eileen and the ornament sprang back together in Severus's hands. He placed it back on the mantle.
"Good as new," announced Eileen with another forced smile. Severus looked at the ornament that had already suffered the ravages of time before it had broken this evening but didn't comment.
"Has it been really bad the last few months?" Severus asked. He had shut his home from his mind for all the months he had been at Hogwarts but there was no shying away from it any longer. He was home again and he had to know what had happened.
"Don't you worry now," Eileen replied as she gave him a quick hug before hurrying back into the kitchen. Severus noticed that she was careful not to aggravate his aching shoulder.
"But has it?" Severus insisted.
"He was just worried about us," Eileen explained in a tone of voice that said she was trying to convince herself as much as him. "We were late. Now let's hear no more about it."
Severus nodded in agreement. He did not need her to answer the question anyway. He could see the answer for himself. The dark circles under her eyes betrayed many sleepless nights and there were bruises on her right forearm that were several days old. He was sorry he hadn't written more often and resolved to send an owl once at week at the very least when he returned to school.
Sitting in the kitchen a short while later Severus sipped the hot tea and ate a late night snack whilst he let his mother fuss over him. She patted his hands every few moments and a watery smile played about her lips.
He knew he should have left well enough alone but before he went upstairs to bed he turned at the door to ask just one final question.
"Why do we let him treat us like that?"
Eileen shook her head as the tears started to fall again and Severus hesitated to go and comfort her.
"You go to bed Severus" she whispered as she gathered their plates and turned to the sink. Severus did not need telling again and he headed for the stairs.
The next morning Eileen woke Severus early and suggested they go shopping for presents in Diagon Alley.
Grabbing a handful of floo powder Severus stepped into the fireplace and called "Diagon Alley" to activate the spell that would speed him there. He knew his mother had never told his father about the muggle entrance to Diagon Alley. She'd long ago made Severus promise not to breathe a word about it either and as such it was one of the few places they were allowed to floo to without fear of retribution.
Stepping out of the fireplace at the other end he waited a moment for his mother to follow and brushing the dust from their clothes they wandered down the alley to the shops.
"So what would you like for Christmas?" asked Eileen as Severus looked in the cheerfully decorated windows.
"Whatever," Severus replied. "Anything will be good."
"But isn't there anything special you'd like?"
"I wouldn't mind an owl." Severus looked towards the store down the road where an assortment of owls were sitting outside of Eeylops Owl Emporium in the December sunshine.
"I don't know," Eileen hesitated. "We have Rupert already and your father doesn't much care for the mess. Besides you have a pet toad already."
"Okay," said Severus. He had known what the answer would be before he'd asked. He had heard the complaints about their owl numerous times and he knew that his father would not care that a toad was not the best choice of pet. He didn't even ask about a cat, his father insisted he was allergic to them although Severus had never seen him suffer any ill effects when a cat was in the vicinity. He'd only questioned the allergies once…
"Do you have many people to buy for?" Eileen asked.
"Just a few," Severus answered.
"What would they like?"
Severus shrugged. As much time as he had spent with them he hadn't a clue what to get Lucius or Bellatrix. Or even if they were expecting presents from him. He wondered if they'd sneer at his gifts which would be far less expensive than the luxuries they were used to. He brushed the uneasy thoughts aside and reflected that at least he could be assured that Lily would express delight at whatever it was he got for her. She had never turned her nose up at any of his Christmas or Birthday gifts no matter how poor he thought they were.
After a long time wandering through the stores Severus eventually found a book on Charms that he thought Lily might like and he paid for it out of his savings from Gringotts.
An hour later he still had no idea what to buy for Lucius or Bellatrix. He looked towards Knockturn Alley and considered what his chances were of persuading his mother to let him look down there for presents. With a wry grin at his own foolishness he knew that she would never let him wander down the most disreputable alley in London.
He eventually settled on a couple of rather unusual snake ornaments that could be used to store potions. After they were wrapped he added them the rest of their purchases and they headed for home.
Severus was relieved to get home again and after wrapping the presents and sending Rupert out to deliver Lily's first he helped his mother begin the baking for Christmas dinner.
"Why are we making so much?" he asked after a while as he considered that they were using far more ingredients than they needed, especially with his grandparents away in Africa.
"We're having guests tomorrow for Christmas dinner."
"Who?"
"My parents."
"They're coming for Christmas?" Severus asked, a note of fear in his voice. The Princes only visited very rarely, barely once a year and never during the holidays. The last time had been the day after he'd received his letter from Hogwarts and they had come over, apparently to ensure that Tobias would allow their grandson to attend the school.
"Yes, they're in the country this year and since your father's parents can't make it they've decided to spend the day with us."
Severus frowned. He didn't know whether it was intentional, but it sounded as though the Princes simply didn't want to come over on other holidays because they didn't want to spend time with the elderly Snapes. He thought back over the years and realised that he'd never actually seen his two sets of grandparents at the same time.
He wondered whether they had even met each other. Surely they'd been at his parents' wedding. He thought back to the last time he'd looked at the family photo album; he could picture his father's parents standing proudly by their son but try as he might he could not remember seeing any record of his mother's parents being there to celebrate their daughter's marriage.
He left his mother to her baking and wandered into the living room. Crouching on the floor he rummaged through the cupboard next to the fireplace until he found the photo album. He flicked through the pages until he found the ones from the wedding. Elaine and Tobias looked into the camera and wore radiant smiles that he'd never seen on their faces in his whole life. He checked each of the wedding photos twice before he came to the conclusion that his mother's parents had not been at the wedding, or at least they had not been in any of the pictures of the wedding party. He supposed they might have been off camera but he doubted it. The fact that every photo from the day was a muggle one and not one of them moved led him to believe that not only did his grandparents not attend their daughter's wedding, no one else from the magical community had either.
Christmas Day came quietly for the Snape household. There had been no more rows since Severus's homecoming, though that probably had much to do with the fact that Tobias Snape was frequently absent from the cottage.
Severus wandered downstairs shortly after 9am to find his mother waiting for him with a handful of presents. His father sat opposite reading the Daily Mail. He nodded a greeting in response to Severus's "Merry Christmas".
Seeing the parcel from Africa with the promised letter Severus put that one to the side to open later. Eileen looked at him questioningly before realising that he was merely saving the best for last.
Severus reached first of all for the present from his father. He had learnt several years ago that it was best to open that one first.
He worked his way through the presents one by one. He was surprised to find that his favourite was a gift forwarded from his mother's parents, a book that he'd seen in Diagon Alley and had wistfully looked at in Flourish and Blotts: Animal Curses of the Middle Ages. Severus grinned and began to flick through the pages, the rest of his presents momentarily forgotten.
"Well open the rest of them dear" Eileen pushed another present into his hands. Severus put the book to one side and began to peel the paper from the next present. He did not see his mother pick up his new book and rifle through the pages. He had just managed to peel the wrapping off of a new set of cauldrons from his mother when he heard her gasp. He turned to see her looking in horror at his new book.
"What is it?" he asked her, putting aside his cauldron set.
"This…this…" Eileen looked at the book as though the snake on the cover was alive.
"What's the problem?" Tobias asked putting down his paper.
"This book…" Eileen asked. "It's not suitable for a child of Severus's age."
Tobias leaned forward to look at the open page and frowned. "One of those books," he muttered. "They all look the same to me."
"They're not all the same. T-t-this book…" Eileen stammered and faltered. Severus knew what she was struggling to explain just as certainly as he knew she was wasting her time. To his father, any book on magic was a bad book. It didn't matter what the contents were.
"Well you'd better speak with your parents about it, hadn't you?" Tobias sneered. "They're your family so you can sort it out when they get here."
Severus saw the smirk on his father's face as he anticipated the drama that would enfold that afternoon.
Eileen paled slightly before mumbling something about checking on the turkey. She hurried into the kitchen with Severus's new book clutched in her hands.
Tobias remained in his seat and picked up the paper once more. "Well carry on opening the rest."
As Severus reached for the next parcel, he noticed absently that his hands were shaking. A full blown fight had been averted but he didn't know how long for. He opened the rest of his presents quickly but all the joy was gone. Not even the set of paints from Grandpa Jack or the magical pencils that drew in whatever colour you wanted from Lily could brighten his mood. He wondered for a moment how she had known what to buy him before realising that Remus had probably told her about seeing him sketching.
The morning stretched on until at 11am prompt the doorbell rang and Severus walked down the hall to greet their guests.
He opened the door and felt his jaw drop at who he saw standing there.
