Title: Blue October, Volume One – Chapter Seventeen.

Author: Woodland Goddess.

Rated: M

Author's Notes: Another chapter ^_^ Yay. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing guys. I appreciate it all!

Chapter Seventeen: Midnight Mass

Every day that passed, throughout the month of December, was painful for Severus. There was a constant chill in the air, which burned the healed bone in his left arm. The previous year the cold had not had that much of an effect; Severus had been inside almost every day, save for the walks across town between the Pharmacy and his parents' house. Now, however, Severus was out in the cold on a daily basis. Lily never wanted to miss a chance to play in the snow, which covered the ground in thick layers.

Severus had been mystified by the snow at first, staring wide-eyed whenever he was out in it, watching the snowflakes cling to Lily's hair for dear life, but the novelty of it had quickly worn off. Lily was beautiful in the winter weather, her hair like a stream of fire, the colour intensified by the abundance of white around her. Her cheeks and nose were always tinged with a pretty red when she was out and her skin veritably glowed with the strength of her inner happiness. Severus did not look so fantastic now that the cold weather had set in; his skin was blotchy and the tip of his nose stung. His eyes were almost constantly streaming.

Severus made use of the coat, gloves and hat that Mr Evans had purchased for him on the day of his release from the hospital and his knitted scarf that he had received from Lily regularly, but the majority of his new clothes he kept in the wardrobe. He was almost afraid to wear them. He wanted to keep them in good condition, in case he was ever invited somewhere by Lily, which seemed to be much more likely in these winter months. He needed some good clothes and they were a rarity, indeed.

At present, it was Christmas Eve and early evening was approaching. There was a pleasant atmosphere in the air. Lily had a skip in her step as she dragged him across the town. Mr Evans had given him the week off, just as he had done for Halloween. Severus was restless; he wanted nothing more than to be bent over his books and notebooks, working away, but it was impossible at the present time. Lily led Severus over to the toy ship, whose proprietor dealt with old-fashioned wooden toys.

Severus eyed the marionettes with something akin to distaste, though Lily appeared to be fawning over them for some unfathomable reason. Severus hated wooden and porcelain toys that had faces; he always felt they were possessed and moved whenever he was not looking in their direction. Lily had dragged Severus over to this particular store every day since he had been released from the hospital. He was convinced that she was trying to give him a hint, but even if she wanted to receive a present from him...well, it was not possible in the slightest.

Severus thought the girl would have understood that by now, but it appeared that he had been incorrect. Severus' pursed his lips, eyeing the price tags of all the available toys. He shook his head fractionally and wished Lily would get sick of looking at them all. He hated looking at items that he would never be able to afford, especially when he was in Lily's company. All she needed to do was ask her father and Mr Evans would be able to provide for her every whim, if she so wished.

Severus stuffed his hands into the pockets of his coat and glared down at the floor, his obsidian gaze threatening to burn holes in the floor. When Lily had her fill of ogling the merchandise, she skipped out the door. Severus followed behind her at a more sedate pace, sucking in a breath as the winter chill hit his face and his bones. He ignored the urge to grab at his left arm. "Let's head back to my house," Lily suggested, sounding chipper. "We can practice our Magic safely, there."

Severus remembered with painful clarity the day they were caught by Nancy and her gang in the trees near the playground, causing the fallen leaves to whirl around them though there had not been even a hint of a breeze. The incident had occurred a week ago and had resulted in a volley of harsh words and stones being thrown at them. Lily had a large bruise on her shoulder from the incident, which still filled Severus' with a dark hatred for the pretty blonde girl and her friends, who went out of their way to make Lily miserable.

Severus had wanted to slap the girl in the face, hard, but had forced himself to refrain from doing so. It was not right to a hit a girl. He could only imagine Mr Evans' horror if he ever did something untoward to a girl – physically, at least. Instead, Severus had focused his mind and Magic and used a Trip Jinx to knock her into the nearest tree. Nancy had hit her head off the trunk and had not moved for a moment, sending a pang of worry through Severus' gut and sending Lily into a panic.

The girl had been fine, however; she had received only a mild concussion at worst and a bruise at best – nothing fatal. It was nothing to cry over and Severus did not bother himself with guilt. Why be guilty for defending oneself and one's friend against an enemy? Lily had scolded him, though, and pushed him into offering an apology that he did not mean. Nancy and her goons had been too afraid to punish Severus for what he had done that day, but they made a point of harassing them every day since.

As Severus and Lily walked across town, their heavy boots crunched through the snow. They were halfway to Lily's house when something collided with the back of his head, sending him to the ground in an explosion of snowflakes. It had been a snowball, with a rock hidden inside. "Son of a –" he managed to say, before his mouth was stuffed with snow. Lily whipped around, hands curling into fists at her sides as Severus pulled himself up from the ground, shivering. A handful of snow had made it inside his coat and was now melting against his skin, sending chills through him.

"Bugger off," Lily said, her voice drenched with almost uncontrollable hatred, reaching out to help Severus stabilise himself. Severus rubbed the back of his head gingerly, wary of the tender flesh there. Lily's green eyes were alive with righteous anger as they glared across at Nancy and her gang. "Can't you give us just one day of peace? Just one?! At Christmas?! Is that too much to ask? What did we ever do to you?" Lily's questions were demanding, but Severus could detect the slightest quiver in her voice, signalling to him that her emotions were threatening to overwhelm her. She would be in tears soon.

Nancy's eyes glittered wickedly. "Well, it's more the fact that you exist," the girl replied, a cruel smile dancing across her pretty mouth. Lily gasped and her green eyes filled with moisture that quickly began cascading down her cheeks. "What's the matter, Evans? Finally realized your whore of a Mum gave birth to a freak of nature?"

"Take that back, you bloody bitch!" Lily roared, lunging at Nancy without a moment's hesitation. The blonde cried out as Lily ploughed into her, sending them both to the ground. Angry tears streamed down Lily's cheeks as she brawled with the girl, biting and scratching and slapping and kicking at every available inch of her. Severus' eyebrows had disappeared into his hairline, watching the girls fight. He was partially amused and partially shocked; it was strange seeing Lily so...violent. He had no love for Mrs Evans, but Lily clearly held her in the highest regard.

Severus had not even known that Lily was aware that the B word existed; it seemed he was learning new things every day, even when he was not in the backroom of the Pharmacy. He felt a grin pull at the corners of his mouth; Lily was going to win this brawl. She was stronger than Nancy, not to mention smarter. He frowned harshly, however, when one of Nancy's cronies made to grab Lily by the hair. "Hey," he shouted, jumping forward to defend his friend's back. He landed a good, hard kick against the older boy's genitals, knocking the wind out of him.

A nearby shop owner, who had clearly heard the disturbance caused by the children, came barrelling out of his shop, wielding a sweeping brush. "Get out of it, you lot!" he cried, waving his brush around, as if he would strike them with it. "Or I'll call your folks! I know your mothers!" Everyone looked up, jumping away from each other quickly, making a swift escape. Severus and Lily ran all the way to the Evans' household. They did not dare to look behind them to see if they were being followed.

Lily led Severus through the side gate, into the back garden, where Lily promptly threw herself down on one of the garden benches. Her cheeks were scraped and bleeding, even as tears cascaded down her cheeks in torrents. Severus sat beside her and awkwardly attempted to comfort her when she leaned against him. Even after so many months of being Lily's friend, he was still quite unused to comforting people. He just did not seem to be able to get the hang of it, as it were. "Severus, will there be bullies at Hogwarts?" she whimpered, sniffling as he rubbed her shoulder.

"No," Severus replied, giving her the slightest squeeze, "and if there are...they wouldn't be interested in you. You're smart and funny and pretty; you'll be one of the most popular Witches in the school!" Lily let out a strained laugh and reached for his hand, holding it tightly in her own. "It'll be alright, Lily; you'll make loads of friends and each one of them would be ready to punch that cow in the face if they ever heard her say such things," he assured her quietly. He hated seeing Lily upset like this and not only because tears unnerved him.

Eventually she pulled away and looked down at her hands. "I can't believe what that...that girl said about my Mum," Lily said, rubbing at her cheek and wincing. Severus nodded sympathetically; he knew what it was like to have one's mother insulted in such a fashion. The culprit in his case was usually his father, though, so Severus' sympathy only stretched so far. "What does she know about anything?! She's nothing but a...a...a jealous fool!" Severus snorted in amusement, but said nothing. A voice in his head whispered, who wouldn't be jealous?

Lily jumped up from the bench, huffing in lingering anger. She put her hands out, her face contorting with concentration. The other bench, at the opposite side of the garden, rose from the ground. It hovered there, in the air, before moving towards them. Lily grinned, a trace of happiness returning to her at last. "Your turn," she said, returning the bench to its original location with a flick of her wrist. Severus rose from the bench with a smirk and glared across the garden at the opposite bench, focusing intently.

The bench rose from the ground again and zoomed around the garden, like a dog chasing its tail. Lily giggled and clapped her hand excitedly. Severus had just set the bench back down when the back door open and Mr Evans poked his head out. "Lily, dinner's ready – oh, Severus! Hello! Would you like to join us?"

"I can't, Harry," Severus replied, bowing his head slightly. "Mum's expecting me home this evening."

Mr Evans' smile fell slightly and Severus felt a pang of guilt course through him. "Oh...alright...well...some other time, then?"

"Yes, of course," Severus managed to say, before he was almost toppled by the strength of Lily's farewell embrace. She kissed his cheek, sending a flare of warmth through him. He glanced sideways at her, briefly, before extricating himself from her grasp. He looked up at Mr Evans, who looked as though he was trying not to grin in amusement at Severus' plight. Severus stuffed his hands in his pockets and hunched his shoulders; he did not like knowing people wanted to laugh at him, especially when it was Mr Evans.

When Mr Evans got himself under control, he asked one more question, "Do you want to come to Midnight Mass with us? Lily's been dying for me to ask you. She was too much of a chicken to do so herself..."

Severus glanced sideways at Lily once more, who was gazing at him hopefully, hands clasped together eagerly. "Alright..." Severus replied slowly, not wanting to upset her more than she had been already that day. It was Christmas Eve, after all; children were not meant to be upset at this time of year. She squealed with delight and ensnared him in another hug. He swallowed thickly as another blush raced across his face and quickly pulled away. "I will...see you later, then," he finished.

Severus waved at Mr Evans and slipped out the side gate. He did not waste any time in getting home; he was not a fan of this cold weather that had fallen on Cokeworth. He would brave Tobias' angry words and heavy hands if it meant getting out of the snow. Tobias was still absent when Severus arrived home. "Thank Merlin," he muttered, heading into the kitchen, where his mother was brewing in relative silence. "Hi, Mum."

Eileen hummed in greeting, reaching into the pocket of her apron. She withdrew a candy cane from it, causing Severus' eyes to light up in surprise and pleasure. She glanced up from her Potion, her dark eyes glittering with some unnamed emotion. "Our little secret," she said quietly, a small smile stealing across her lips. She winked at him and tossed the candy cane at him. He fumbled in his efforts to catch it, almost dropping it. Eileen went back to her brewing as if she had never spoken in the first place.

Severus whispered his gratitude and disappeared upstairs. He savoured the candy cane, but it was still demolished well before midnight. He used the remaining time to scrub himself clean in the bathtub and to get dressed in his good clothes. Thankfully, by the time Mr Evans' car pulled up outside, Tobias had returned home and had passed out in his bed. Severus made a brief explanation to his mother, before running out the door, not noticing the frozen expression on her face.

Severus joined Lily in the backseat, barely sparing a moment to wonder why Petunia was not in the car. He assumed she was already at the Church. They chose a pew in the middle of the Church, on the right hand side – close enough to see that Petunia was, in fact, standing amongst the Choir members. Along the sides of the Church, candles were burning in the middle of wreaths. Severus wondered why the Health and Safety inspector had never banned such a fire hazard, but he pushed the thoughts out of his mind as Mass began.

He forced himself to stay awake through the entire thing, though his gaze grew glassy halfway through. He rubbed at his left arm idly. Severus really did not want to be in the Church, listening to countless religious passages and hymns, but he made the effort for Lily's sake. Mr Evans glanced sideways at him and leaned down, whispering, "I don't hold much stock in it, either." Mr Evans winked at him, just as his mother had earlier that night, and straightened once more, an amused grin stretching across his mouth. In silence, Severus' reached for Mr Evans' hand.

Mr Evans squeezed his hand lightly, a gesture of affection and assurance – he knew very well how dreadfully insecure Severus was. If the man noticed how Mrs Evans was glaring venomously at their joined hands, he did not make it known. Severus was glad; he did not want to make a scene in the middle of Church, considering it would only embarrass Lily and Mr Evans. Severus eventually pulled his hand away, however, especially when Lily linked her arm around his elbow. It was a reassuring weight.

Severus sat through the rest of the Mass, surprised when Petunia stepped away from the rest of the Choir at the end. It seemed there was one last hymn to be sung and the elder Evans child had a solo. Severus found her shrill soprano voice grating as she sang Angels from the Realms of Glory – originally written by the Scottish poet, James Montgomery – but, judging from the peaceful, closed-eyed expression on his face, Mr Evans was enjoying it immensely. Mrs Evans was gazing up at her fair-haired daughter with pride and adoration.

Severus' insides twisted sharply at seeing those emotions in Mrs Evans' face. Eileen was never so open with her affections and he often wondered why; was it because she was afraid to draw Tobias' ire towards her...or did she resent him for being an underage Wizard, whose every use of Magic – intentional or not – led to Tobias treating them like garbage. Severus stared down at his hands. He did not want to think that his own mother resented his existence, while she loved him simultaneously.

Lily stood up beside him, pulling on his arm slightly as she withdrew her arm from around his elbow, drawing Severus' thoughts back to the present. Everyone was clapping. He quickly joined in, though he had not enjoyed Petunia's performance in the slightest. Petunia nodded her head towards the congregation in gratitude and the gatherers and the Choir broke up. The blonde girl made a beeline for their pew, a broad smile on her bony face. Severus fought down the urge to kick her before she could say something scathing, when her eyes narrowed upon seeing him with her family...

To Be Continued.

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