Part 26 – A Tense Christmas Dinner
"I thought you had some big family gathering for Christmas?" Severus asked when he had finally found his tongue.
Lucius scowled from behind his father.
"Well are you going to leave us standing on the doorstep boy?" Mr Malfoy stood at well over six feet tall and was an imposing figure as he glared down at Severus.
Stammering slightly Severus stepped back from the doorway to allow the Malfoys to pass by.
Lucius followed behind, an expression of distaste on his face as he looked around the Snape house.
The last to enter was Lucius's mother who swept past as though she was entering a ballroom rather than the small hallway of a terraced house.
Severus wondered what it was that had brought them to his home for the day. Lucius had been bragging for a month about the grand Christmas dinner and all day events that were planned for the holidays. Severus had hung on every word he had said in the hope of being asked to attend, but no invitation had been forthcoming.
He was about to close the door and shut out the bitter December wind that was starting to pick up when a crackle in the air signalled someone was about to apparate in the vicinity. Severus looked up and down the quiet street in horror in case one of the muggle neighbours was watching for their own guests to arrive.
Thankfully no one seemed to be looking when Eileen's parents appeared in the street.
"What do you think you're doing?" called Mr Malfoy as he saw them appear from where he was hanging up his outdoor robes. "Apparating into a muggle street in broad daylight where anyone could see you."
Mortimer ignored him as he ducked his head to avoid the doorframe as he walked into the cottage. His wife Millicent followed.
"Do stand up straight Severus," she criticised as she passed by. Severus shut the door behind her and sighed. It was going to be a long day.
Severus hung up the robes of his grandparents as everyone else filed into the living room. Once he had done he turned to join them before realising that there was no spare seats there.
"We'd invited the Malfoys for Christmas dinner," Mortimer explained to Eileen. "But as our plans changed unexpectedly we decided to extend your invitation to include them. We knew you wouldn't mind."
Severus looked to where his mother stood in the door to the kitchen, quite sure that she probably did mind. He could see that she was mentally calculating the number of guests and the amount food they had prepared. He saw her bite her lip as she came to the same conclusion he had reached. They didn't have enough to go around.
Eileen nodded to her father and crossed the room to where Tobias was standing near Severus. "Tobias, I think there may be a problem with dinner," she whispered.
"The food is your concern," he replied with a sneer.
"B-but I didn't know my parents were going to bring extra guests. I d-d-don't think we've prepared enough for everyone."
"You'll manage" Tobias laughed in a jovial manner. The guests nodded their agreement. Severus recognised the veiled threat in his father's voice and glanced sharply at his mother. He saw that she had recognised it too. He didn't know whether to wish the guests gone again or wish they would stay indefinitely. Either way he knew there would be trouble.
Severus hovered in the doorway for as long as he dared and then scuttled around the edge of the room and into the kitchen where his mother stood contemplating the dishes.
"Will any shops in Diagon Alley be open?" Severus asked quietly with a glance into the living room where Lucius's father was arguing with Mortimer about his indiscreet entrance. Eileen shook her head.
"What about a spell?" Severus suggested.
Eileen shook her head again. "There's no time to get permission to use a multiply spell. The Ministry doesn't allow them without a prior application."
Severus looked longingly at the dishes and felt his mouth begin to water. Even so he knew he had to make one last offer. "How about if I eat something else later?"
Eileen shook her head. "With so many extra guests your portions won't make a difference."
Severus went to the cupboards, pulled out the place mats and took them through to the small dining room at the back of the house. Setting the table with care he dragged out the job as long as he dared before heading back into the living room.
He saw his father sitting in one of the chairs and for once it was not his voice that was raised in anger. Instead he was watching Mortimer and Malfoy Senior with an unreadable expression on his face.
"Muggle-borns in the Ministry!" spat Mortimer. "Disgraceful. Shouldn't be allowed, should it Malfoy?"
Malfoy turned to him and shook his head. "It's a growing occurrence though. Lucius has been telling me there are more mudbloods at Hogwarts now than ever before."
Lucius nodded in agreement and a sly look came over his face before he spoke. "One of them seems to have taken a shine to Severus too."
Severus felt his face flush with embarrassment as the heads of everyone turned in his direction.
"Is that true, Severus?" asked Millicent with a frown. Severus stood speechless in horror.
"Well is it?" prompted Mortimer with a hint of impatience.
"Lily's her name isn't it?" Lucius answered with a vicious smirk at Severus. "Common little witch, skinny, red hair and hardly any magical talent at all."
"She is talented!" shouted Severus, the fury at Lucius's lies finally loosening his tongue.
"Severus, why don't you come help me pour the drinks?" his mother called quietly from the kitchen. Severus turned away in relief and escaped back out of the living room. His hand was shaking as he picked up the bottle and went to fill the glasses.
"Is she nice?"
Severus turned to look at his mother. She was the one person to ask about Lily and actually look interested in what he had to say. He nodded once and sank down onto a stool near the stove, determined not to go back into the living room again. But it didn't stop the sounds of the conversation drifting through to him.
"…Mudbloods everywhere."
"Something's got to be done about it..."
"There is one who has a plan…"
"Who's that?"
"…an old Hogwart's student.…calls himself the Dark Lord.…he'll clean them all out once and for all."
"Be quiet you fool! You forget where we are…"
He listened intently to both the discussions taking place in the next room and also to Eileen's occasional gasps and sighs. Sitting by the warm stove he was perfectly placed to see his mother's tear stained face whenever she turned in his direction.
All too soon Severus's brief reprieve from his father and the guests was over and everyone crowded into the small dining room ready for dinner to be served.
The Malfoys had apparently exhausted the subject of the tainted blood in the wizard community and had thankfully moved onto the relatively safer subject of stocks and shares in the Potions Industry by the time Tobias stood up to carve the turkey.
They were half way through the main course when Mortimer turned to Malfoy and raised an eyebrow.
Malfoy looked a little hesitant but took his cue. "So Tobias, we hear you've done a bit of buying and selling in your day?"
Tobias nodded and replied in the affirmative.
"I might have a bit if business to send your way. Help to strengthen wizard-muggle relations, you know."
Severus looked at Lucius who appeared as surprised as he felt. Since when did the Malfoys care anything about muggles, or their relationship with them?
Severus looked at his father who looked equally sceptical.
"What sort of business?" Tobias finally asked.
"Just selling a few things," Malfoy said, brushing the question aside as if it was of no importance.
"Don't know. I don't have as many contacts as I used to. And it's not no weird stuff is it?"
"No, nothing like that," Malfoy assured him. "But you might know someone…?"
"Well I may know a couple of blokes that might be open to a bit of business."
"So I take it you will inquire immediately." It was a statement more than a question and Malfoy did not wait for Tobias to answer before turning to serve himself and his family large portions of vegetables.
Severus sat between his grandmother and his mother and waited until last to be served. Although his mother had indicated he would not have to miss his dinner to serve the others there was barely enough left to call it a meal. Not wanting to finish eating so much earlier than everyone else Severus pushed the last of his food around his plate as he listened to the conversation around him.
"Stop playing with your food Severus," Millicent ordered when she saw that he had barely touched his plate.
Severus swallowed the final forkful of vegetables and waited until the attention was once again focused elsewhere before whispering his request to leave the table to his mother whose plate was the only one even more empty than his own.
Eileen nodded and Severus pushed his chair back as quietly as he could. Unfortunately the creak of the floorboard gave away his movements and he hadn't made it to the door before his father spotted his early departure.
"Where do you think you're going?" Tobias called out in a pleasant but unnecessarily loud tone.
"I said it was okay," Eileen answered before Severus could respond.
"Was I talking to you?" Tobias asked through clenched teeth. No one at the table could fail to notice there was a problem. Eileen shook her head in silence.
Severus moved back to his seat and the meal resumed again.
"A firm hand, that's what's needed with boys. Magic or not, discipline's the key," Tobias declared to the table. Severus caught the nods of approval around him and ducked his head to avoid the accusatory gazes.
After what seemed like hours the dinner ended and the guests departed back to their own homes, Mortimer and Millicent at least agreeing to apparate from the back yard instead of the front this time.
Severus waited with his mother in the living room whilst his father had a quick word alone with the guests before they left.
Tobias came back into the house a few minutes later.
"Go to your room Severus," he ordered in a voice that brooked no argument. Severus nodded and headed for the stairs. This time however he did not go all the way to his room and instead sat on the stairs to listen. There had been so much said at dinner that had confused him. He knew instinctively there was trouble coming but he didn't know what. Listening in silence he waiting for his father's temper to be unleashed. He did not have to wait for long.
"How dare you question my judgement in front of our guests!" Tobias's yell was punctuated with the sound of the smash of an ornament against the wall. Severus's reflexes made him jump even through he was not in the room.
"You better not show me up at the Black's house," Tobias continued.
"The Black's?" Eileen questioned.
"New Year at the Black's," Tobias announced. "Malfoy has invited us as his guests. Seems like you were wrong about most wizards not associating with muggles like me. He seemed quite eager to begin business with me. Perfectly pleasant bloke I thought."
Severus drew in a sharp breath at the thought of having to spend New Year in the same house as Sirius. And he'd thought Christmas was going to be bad…it looked like New Year was going to be worse.
It went quiet in the living room and Severus wondered what was happening.
"I don't know," Severus heard his mother speak in a tentative voice. "You don't think it might be a bad idea? The Malfoys are a very powerful family…so are the Blacks."
"Are you questioning my business dealings now?" Tobias boomed, and Severus edged up a stair or two so that he could make it back to his room that little bit faster if he had to.
"No, of course not."
"My business has nothing to do with you."
"I just worry. I don't want you to end up in Azkaban."
"They can't send me to no funny prison," Tobias laughed. "It's a wizard prison, not a muggle one."
"So you do think there's something dangerous…something risky…about this deal?" Severus heard his mother ask in a pleading tone.
"There's no risk at all," Tobias argued.
"You don't know that! You don't know what they're like…what they're capable of…" Severus listened to his mother in amazed horror. He had never heard her argue with their father as much as she had in the last few minutes. He didn't have to wait long before hearing his father's reaction. A crack sounded before a loud thud. Severus ran up the stairs as his father came out of the living room and headed out the front door.
Running down the stairs as soon as it was safe Severus rushed into the living room.
Eileen sat on the floor dabbing at her cut lip with the edge of her apron.
"He's really mad this time isn't he?" Severus asked as he sank down onto the floor beside her. His mother nodded and pulled him towards her with her free arm.
Once again Severus made sure that he was at least pretending to be asleep when Tobias Snape returned home.
The next morning Severus woke up, washed and dressed, and took as long as he dared before heading downstairs.
The house was spotless again and he listened carefully in the hallway for sounds of a fight.
It all seemed quiet enough so he went through to the kitchen where his mother had left a note explaining she had flooed over to Diagon Alley to restock the larder.
With his father nowhere in sight Severus headed back up to his room to read some of his new book. He wondered curious as to what was in it that his mother had not liked him to see.
It wasn't long before he heard the sound of the front door opening and closing.
"Anyone home?" Severus heard his father call out. Getting up from where he was sat at his desk he wandered out into the hallway to make his presence known.
"Looks like no one's here," another voice answered. Severus did not recognise the voice, or the shaggy brown hair that was sticking out from underneath a grubby wizard's hat.
"Good," Tobias replied. "They must have gone shopping. Won't be back for an hour or two."
"Where do you want these?" the owner of the other voice asked.
"Though there, in the dining room for the moment. I'll get them put away before either of them get back."
Severus waited a moment until his father and the mysterious guest had left the hallway. Then creeping as quietly as he could he hurried down the stairs and grabbed his outdoor robes and ducked out of the front door.
Hurrying down the lane he only stopped when he saw a welcome bench on the pavement.
He sat down and wondered how long he should wait before he risked going back home. He wondered if he should have stayed in his room, but reasoned that if his father had heard him move about he would have wanted to know why he hadn't answered him when he came in. There was nothing he could do now but wait it out.
A light rain was starting to fall before he realised that for the first time since arriving home for the holidays he was not stuck in the house or under the watchful gazes of one or both of his parents.
He was surprised he'd not thought of it immediately. He'd go and visit Lily. She'd invited him after all. He'd be able to spend some time with her…sort out the problems they'd had so far at Hogwarts…and get things back to how they used to be.
As he hurried through the streets towards the area of town that Lily lived in. It wasn't far but the area was a different as could be from Spinners End. Terraced houses gave way to semi-detached houses, gardens and greenery became more frequent and the streets had a much brighter look to them…a look of care and good upkeeping.
He wondered what Lily's reaction would be when she opened the door to see him there. Would she be pleased to see him? Or would she regret having extended him the invitation?
However as it turned out it was not Lily who opened the door to him. Instead it was Petunia, scowling, sour-faced, and no more pleased to see him than she had ever been.
"It's Christmas not Halloween," she stated in a bored tone as she looked him up and down. As insults went it wasn't one of her best, but still it made him conscious of his clothes that were so out of place in the world that Lily and Petunia lived in.
