AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am working on this chapter. Been working on other stories and a later chapter of this. Plus real life work isn't helping with getting it typed up. I am going to post part of this chapter now and come back later and put the whole up.
THIS IS ONLY A PEEK AT THE CHAPTER
Wonderful chapter 8
Black Owl
It had been on the roof, waiting. Given strict orders not to be seen by muggles, the black owl waited for the coast to be clear. Inside, Severus had a feeling something magical had been lurking. When the suspicion did not leave him, he went to look. The boy opened the door and peeked up. Excitement spread all over him when he saw the bird. A whisper escaped his lips, "Hogwarts?" It couldn't be. That owl wouldn't be coming for many years yet. The boy realized that the other kids still kicking the soccer ball around with his father were keeping the owl from delivering its message. Despite all that had happened earlier, Sev knew he could do something to lend a hand in getting rid of them. It was a simple spell performed by the unsophisticated magic of an underage wizard. He looked up to the sky and merely made a wish. "I wish it would rain." As requested, a light drizzle began to fall. This didn't seem to deter the players. Sev closed his eyes adding, "Harder."
Above the makeshift game, a rumble of thunder rolled and the rain picked up. When one of the neighbor boys slid on the stone street, Toby told them, "You best be getting home now lads."
Just as the last of the muggle boys melted away from the cul-de-sac, the owl flapped its wings as if it was about to swoop down on its target. Then another Muggle joined the man. Stone looked like a man one would not want to meet in a dark alley. In fact Tobias was not happy to see him. "Toby Snape," Stone greeted in a gravelly voice. "Sober so late in the day, I'm shocked. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised to find that you have my money?"
Toby turned pale. "I have two more days." Nervously he scanned up the narrow roadway that led away from the cottage. He couldn't see Stone's thugs, but he had a feeling that they couldn't be more than a whistle away.
"Meaning you don't have it?"
"Not at the moment."
"Burnman tells me you won big this morning."
"If you're so well informed, he should have told you that I put most of what I won on another."
The man Stone shook his head. "You had enough to pay me off, and you parleyed it? I thought you were smarter than that."
"I have two more days." Toby was trying to hide the fear in his voice.
Severus was wondering whom this person that his father seemed to be afraid of was; and he knew that Tobias was afraid. Fear oozed off of Toby. Sev's unfocused childhood magical senses were strong. From his father's mind he saw a flash of being hit by a group of men while the one called Stone watched. Was this a memory, or a fear of what might come in the future? That he was too young to distinguish.
"You had better hope your luck holds out Snape." Stone let something he'd been hiding up the sleeve of his leather coat slide down to his hand. "Here's something on account." The blow came quick and unexpectedly. It knocked Toby to the ground. In spite of all of Toby's own bad behavior, it shocked his son to see this. "DAD!" The boy shouted and ran from the door jam. Stone looked down at Toby down on the stoop. His hand now covering the gash where the small metal bar had hit his head; a small amount of blood was running through his fingers. He saw the child kneeling next to Toby look up at the thug. Through the rain he could see the boy's black eyes narrowing. A small bolt of lightning hit the bricks near where Stone stood. If he didn't know any better, he'd of thought that the boy had made it happen. "I'll be back in two days. If you actually get the money tonight, I suggest you find me first."
WILL COME BACK AND PUT WHOLE CHAPTER HERE SOMETIME THIS WEEKEND
