Wonderful ch. 27
Wanta' Go For a Ride
The Snape family walked with Toby and Sev on either side of Ele, both of her 'boys' holding her hands. They looked like any other family in the park that day; like respectable people from a respectable part of the city. Unlike the playground Severus could walk to on his own, this park was quite a ways form Spinner's End and the polluted river. Seeing a crowd of muggle children surrounding a small vending wagon, Eileen held out a twenty-five pence coin out and told Severus, "Here, go get yourself a box of popcorn." Her son scurried off to join the other children in line. The boy stuffed a few handfuls of the salty treat into his mouth on the way back to where he had left his parents. They were now sitting on a bench, arms around each other's shoulders. 'Okay,' the boy thought. 'They've made up. For how long?'
Severus hopped up next to his parents to contently eat his popcorn. As he did this, he saw other people sharing theirs to pigeons and squirrels. Seeming like fun Sev threw a handful on the grass in front of him. Birds and small rodents pounced on it then looked up at the boy expectantly. Sev threw another handful.
"Don't go wasting that on bloody pigeons," Toby had spoiled the moment. Severus stopped feeding the critters, and closed up the box. Tobias couldn't see the glairing look his son was giving him. It was probably a good thing he didn't.
As the littlest Snape sat pouting, looking the other direction because his parents were being all icky, kissing and junk, he saw another family. Each of them were feeding the birds, even the adults. There was a blond girl who seemed a few years older than he was, and a red haired girl who must have been like Sev on the verge of seven. Muggle families didn't hold any interest for Severus normally, but he saw something no on else seemed to notice. Not even the girl's mother and father. The red haired girl throwing the popcorn down for the birds, she was making it float out to the exact one she wanted to get it. Only someone watching very intently would have noticed. The boy wondered, 'Is she magic?'
He watched them until the family got up to go to another part of the park. Severus unconsciously stood to follow them.
"Where'd you think you're going?" Toby asked.
Severus sat back down. "Nowhere," he sighed out. Having to sit back on the bench didn't stop Sev from watching the red haired girl's family as they went in the direction of the merry-go-round.
"Severus - - " Eileen noticed something. "You're not eating your popcorn?"
"I've had enough." The boy held out the almost full box in the hope that his mother would hold it.
His father had other ideas. "You keep hold of that yourself. Your Mum's not your servant."
Severus took the box back to himself not believing what Toby had just said. Was this the same man he'd seen ordering his mother around; was she not the same woman who often waited on Toby hand and foot?
Eileen made up for Toby's grumpiness by suggesting they go to the merry-go-round, which stood in the center of the park large park. "After all, we came here to let Severus have some fun, didn't we?" This had been said with a light tone in Ele's voice, but the look in hr eyes told Toby, that she had just saved his hide do he'd better behave in a fatherly fashion at least for one day.
"Right," Tobias said on standing to go there. The man actually held out his hand for his son to grab onto, but Severus jumped back away automatically thinking the hand was going to smack him somewhere. On seeing that reaction the offered hand was removed. It was an awkward moment for both father and son. Without comment the Snape family walked on to the children's amusement ride. To Severus' delight the two girls he'd seen earlier were waiting in line for the next turn. He nearly jumped out of his skin waiting for his mother to dig out the twenty-five pence for him to pay. No sooner did the coin touch his fingers than Sev was running to the end of the line. He was only three kids behind the red haired girl and her sister. He'd find out if these two were wizarding children.
'It would be great if there were others,' Severus thought to himself. 'Some that I didn't have to hide what I am from.'
Sev could hear the two girls arguing as they waited. "Let's go on the coach that has the swans pulling it," the blond one said in a bossy tone.
The red head had a different idea. "No, I want to go on one that goes up and down."
Severus definitely thought the red head made more sense. Going up and down was better than just sitting there going around. He wondered what the two girls would think of the wizarding version of this ride that his mother had described to him. On that one the painted statues of animals came to life and flew about the whole park, not just in a tiny little circle. If these girls were magic kids, maybe his mum would take them to see it sometime. In the little boy's head all sorts of great schemes were already hatching. He knew if they were muggles all bets were off, he could still dream.
When the ride stopped the children on it got off and the attendant let the ones waiting in line on. Severus wondered if he could position himself so he would be riding next to the red head if the blond sister was too much of a chicken to go on a moving animal. Disappointment came when the attendant stopped the line just after the two sisters. 'Oh crud,' Sev thought. He'd have to be content to watch the girls as he waited for his turn. At least being near the front of the line, he'd get to pick what he wanted to ride. He had already spied a unicorn.
A smile came to the boy's face when he saw the red head defy her sister and climb up on that very unicorn. 'I like her.' The blond girl seemed content to share the non-mechanical seat with a couple of snot nosed four year olds. 'That one's not brave at all.' Each time the ride came around Sev looked for the red haired girl. She was brave; she let go of the pole and held her arms out like wings. The ride stopped again and the group of children Severus was with flooded onto the ride. Sev made a strait line for the unicorn, unfortunately another boy had the same idea. They both put a foot on the stirrup on either side, but the other boy was slightly faster.
"Hey," Sev protested. "I was getting on this one."
"I got up first," the other boy said.
"Don't care anyway. I got to play with a real one yesterday." After saying this Severus climbed up onto a merleopard one spot behind the unicorn.
"My mum told me not to lie to strangers."
"I'm not lying." Severus knew he shouldn't have said what he had either. Seeing magical creatures there had made him forget that muggles didn't believe in them. Still he didn't like being called a liar.
"Are too, there's no such thing as real unicorns."
"That's what you think." The young wizard couldn't stop saying things he shouldn't. He knew he had just played with a real unicorn. No muggle was going to tell him otherwise.
"That's what I know." The other boy had turned around to make sure Sev did not have the last word.
At this point the ride started and the wizard boy was more interested in the sensation of going around in a circle while going up and down on a half leopard half fish statue while tinny music played in the middle. At first he clung to the safety pole for dear life. Then he remembered that the red haired girl had let go. If a girl could do it, so could he. Severus didn't have the greatest sense of balance, but he managed to stay on the moving statue while holding out his arms. It was almost like, flying.
All too soon the ride came to an end. Severus climbed down from the imaginary creature and said out loud to it, "Thanks for the ride."
There was a laugh from the bigger boy who was standing next to the unicorn he had been riding. "What a schmuck. Think that thing can hear you?"
A flash of anger grew in Severus' eyes. It only took a split second for the accidental magic to happen and be over. The 'pretend' unicorn turned it neck around so that it could bite the skeptical boy's fanny, ripping a hole in his jeans. Now Severus was laughing. The muggle boy looked at the statue, that looked as normal as it had before. He then turned to Severus. "What did you just do?"
"Me? I'm way over here, what could I do." Sev marched off of the ride with a stride of victory.
He smiled even wider when the muggle's mother scolded, "Tommy, what did you do to your jeans?"
"The - - the unicorn bit me."
"Don't lie Tommy."
"I'm not lying Mum."
'Stupid muggle'
Severus looked around trying to find the red haired girl, but she and her family were nowhere to be seen.
tbc
