Disclaimer: Of course, I do not own Harry Potter. As far as I know, I have not copied anyone else's story.
Muggle Houses
Severus ghosted silently inside his house stepping directly into the tiny sitting room, closing the door softly behind him, he took a few moments to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. A threadbare sofa, an old armchair and a rickety table stood grouped around the middle of the room, in a pool of dim light cast by a poor man's chandelier which held only two candles. A tattered rug stretched across the beer-stained floor while a low fireplace stood empty against the wall. The place had an air of neglect, as though it was not usually inhabited.
As Severus glided through the front room a gruff slurred voice called from the formless shape slumped in the armchair. 'Get me a beer boy'
Severus stood frozen in front of the fireplace but then shook himself and slipped silently across the room and into the kitchen. Grabbing a beer from the icebox in the kitchen, he hurried back into the sitting room, walking past the couch to where his father was sitting in the armchair and passed him the beer.
Tobias Snape was a big and burly man. When he managed to stand upright he reached a height of six feet, he had broad shoulders and arms full of muscles from the factory work he used to do and his dark brown hair often looked black due to neglect. Severus held himself still under his father's piercing black eyes as he seemed to look down at him past his large and crooked aquiline nose.
'Where've yeh been? Yeh've been gone all day!' Tobias growled
Severus, keeping himself out of arm's reach, sat on the couch. He knew better than to not answer his father's questions.
'I went to playground and made some friends. They ask'd me to pop 'round tomorra' Severus had learned years ago that his father hated it when he spoke like some rich toff so he always made sure to mimic his father's speech.
'These friends of yer's, they're normal ain't they boy?' Tobias asked warningly
'Yes Sir' Severus nodded, he wasn't going to tell his father that there was a big difference between what they each considered normal.
'Finally actin' normal! Good lad! You'll be workin' 'ard to keep them friends boy! It won't 'urt yer ter be less like your freak of a muva. 'ere 'ave this!' His father yanked a wallet out from his back pocket and jerked out a handful of money.
'Yer oughta get summat to wear, yeh've been growin' like a weed. Just make sure they don't cost a bomb an' don't you go faffing about wastin' any o' my quid on yer freak stuff. Yer 'ere me boy?' Tobias barked roughly, holding the money just out of Severus's reach.
'Yes sir. Nuffin' freaky with yer quid' Severus replied, hoping to pacify his father enough so that he wouldn't take a swing.
His father shoved the money into his hands. It looked like more money than Severus needed, but this would be the first time Severus had ever shopped for himself. If he was very careful and found a good deal on his clothes then he could hide any leftover money away in his mother's old Hogwarts trunk. He would need a sizable stash for Hogwarts since he had no idea if his mother had any money saved up for his supplies.
His father drained the last of his beer and handed Severus the empty beer bottle, his eyes drooping closed, as he slumped back down into the chair 'If only yer wern' a freak. Then maybe I'd be proud of yer.' His father mumbled, falling asleep.
Severus pocketed the money and dashed back to the kitchen, throwing the empty bottle into the dust bin that stood in the back corner next to the hand crank washer.
Severus started cooking a basic vegetable soup on the well-worn antique coal range. He was quite used to cooking since his father was too busy either drinking or complaining that the man of the house was meant to provide for his family and his mother was in and out of the house working at Mr Mulpepper's Apothecary in Knockturn Alley so that they could at least afford to have meat once a week.
After he had ladled out a bowl for himself, he separated the rest into smaller bowls covering them with Saran Wrap and placing them in the ice box for later.
Severus basked in the relative silence that came only when his parents were nowhere near each other. Eating in the small and dingy kitchen in the dim candlelight, he sat listening to his father wheezing and snoring in the next room. When Severus had finished his dinner he washed up his bowl and spoon and headed upstairs.
There were only two bedrooms on the upper floor of the house. His parents' room had just their bed, mismatched boxes for bedside tables and a worn chest of drawers for clothes since neither of them spent much time there. An ancient-looking jewellery box of his mother's sat on top of the drawers. He had seen his father try to pry open the box but luckily his mother had sealed it with a strong spell that only witches or wizards could break.
Severus slinked into his room and slid the bolt across his door. His room was minuscule, square and simple, his bed was sitting in the corner closest to the window where a lone candle lantern was sitting on the windowsill, and a rickety bookshelf that he had made himself sat sagging under the weight of all his books at the end of his bed.
Against the wall where the door was located was a worn-out chest of draws and tucked in next to it, was his mother's old Hogwarts trunk with her First-Year books packed neatly inside it. Some years previously his mother had replaced the initials on the front, from hers to his. The dull metal of the letters S.T.S flickered in the moonlight.
Severus put on his pyjamas for the night and climbed into his bed, he thought about all the things he could teach the girls tomorrow as he drifted off to sleep.
When Severus woke up the following day it was still too dark to see out of his window. Lighting the candle in the lantern, he pulled out his pocket watch from his jacket and checked the time, it was 6 am. He was too nervous to go back to sleep and knew his mother liked being up early so he hurriedly pulled on warm clothes and scurried down the stairs and into the kitchen. His mother came into the room not long after.
His mother Eileen Prince was a small skinny woman with long black hair, a long pale face and heavy brows over her dark brown eyes. She was frowning at him when her eyes usually held warmth for her son. Severus immediately knew he was in the kind of trouble he would need to use logic, reasoning and persuasion to get himself out of.
'I thought I taught you to be watchful around people who aren't our kind. You should have heard your father! He spent most of the night boasting about you having normal friends! Please Severus, as my son you are descended from one of the oldest Pureblood families.' His mother sounded genuinely concerned as she berated him. Even though she had defied her parents and married a muggle, his mother was still very strict with Pureblood rules. Having descended from the Prince family she had been practically forgotten by her parents when she had gone through with her marriage.
'Mother they are witches' Severus told her knowing that would pique her interest and soothe her worries at the same time. 'Four magical sisters with non-magical parents.'
'What! Really? Are you sure their parents are muggles? His mother asked distractedly,
'That's what the girls said.' Severus replied, happy that his distraction had worked.
'Hmm, I wonder if they have any magical blood in their ancestry, it's rare for pure muggles to produce more than one witch or wizard. What is their last name?' His mother asked while eating her breakfast, lost in thought. The prospect of a new research project must have been far too tempting for her.
'Their last name is Evans and the witches are Petunia, Lily, Rose and Tansy. They've even invited me over today and asked me to tell them more about the Wizarding world. I'm sure they will be very thankful to learn as much as they can ahead of time,' Severus cajoled, trying to reassure his mother that he was making good choices as well as maybe even having friends.
Severus tried not to squirm in his seat when his Mother seemed lost in thought. He wondered what she was thinking since she was frowning and biting her bottom lip. Finally, she spoke.
'Alright, you can go over there. Be a good boy and remember the manners I taught you.' Eileen said. 'Cultivating allies is essential to any good Slytherin.'
Severus finished off his breakfast grateful that he had his Mother's permission, even without it, he thought he would have gone over to the girl's house.
After his mother headed off to work straight after breakfast, Severus spent the rest of the morning going over what he would tell the girls and finishing off his chores.
After lunch, he made his way to the charity shop hoping to at least get something halfway decent. Walking into the shop Severus realised it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be even though the store had a slightly musty smell to it. Going through the sections Severus realised the clothes were in quite good condition. Severus managed to buy a pair of pants, a shirt, a jumper and a nice warm winter coat as well as a scarf and gloves with it only costing a little less than half of the money his father had given him.
Stepping through the broken back fence Severus gave his mother's plants a quick once over with the water hose before having a shower in the bathroom. Not that the bathroom was anything special with just a tub and shower combo, a sink and a loo, but he had heard enough horror stories from his father having to use an outhouse that he was thankful that the bathroom at Spinners' End was attached to the kitchen.
When he was dressed he went to his bedroom and hid the rest of the money at the bottom of his Hogwarts trunk.
At 2:30 pm, he made his way towards Lily's house dressed in his new clothes. He was eager to see her again and teach her about the Wizarding World. If the price he had to pay for that was to teach her sisters as well, then that was a price he was willing to pay.
The Evans house, in comparison to Severus' house, looked like it was well cared for. He knocked on the door as soon as his pocket watch told him it was 3 pm. And the door was flung open by three hyperactive girls.
'Sev!' they all said happily, leading him into a clean sitting room where an older woman and Petunia were waiting. He was suddenly very glad he had brought better clothes to wear as he saw Petunia eyeball him from head to toe trying to find something to criticise. Petunia nodded in acceptance at his clothes and Severus felt himself relaxing slightly.
Peering out from behind his lanky hair Severus observed the older woman in the room, assuming she was the girls' mother, Mrs Evans. She looked quite like the girls' being a thin woman with strawberry blond hair, blue eyes and a long graceful neck. She was wearing a light-coloured summer dress.
Having studied Mrs Evans, Severus swept his eyes around the rest of the room. Light streamed in from the front window making the room feel warm and cosy. Sitting on a cream-coloured coffee table in the middle of the room were glasses of water, finger sandwiches and napkins as well as paper and pens. One of the papers was already filled with delicate-looking handwriting detailing everything he had explained to them yesterday.
'Can you tell us about Hogwarts?' Rose asked pleadingly while Petunia was poised ready to write with a new piece of paper.
Severus glanced over at Mrs Evans, who had picked up a novel and started reading it. The girls had stated yesterday that their mother knew about their magic. So even though he was very nervous about being supervised, Severus decided to go ahead and teach the girls more about the Wizarding world.
'All right. There are four houses at Hogwarts; Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor.' Severus said, speaking clearly and slowly enough so that Petunia could keep up.
'Salazar Slytherin the founder of Slytherin House valued ambition, leadership, self-preservation, cunning and resourcefulness. The animal representing the house is a serpent, and the house colours are emerald green and silver. Slytherin house is located in the dungeons, underneath the lake, behind a blank stretch of wall.
Rowena Ravenclaw, founder of Ravenclaw valued intelligence, knowledge, curiosity, creativity and wit. The animal representing the house is the eagle, and the house colours are blue and bronze. Ravenclaw Tower is on the west side of the castle, the entrance is a door with a knocker in the shape of an eagle and the common room is rumoured to be filled with books.
Helga Hufflepuff valued hard work, dedication, patience, loyalty, and fair play. The animal representing the house is the badger, and yellow and black are the house colours. The Hufflepuff common room is entered from the same corridor as the Hogwarts kitchens hidden behind a pile of large barrels.
Lastly, there was Godric Gryffindor, who valued bravery, daring, resolve, and chivalry. The animal representing the house is the lion, and the house colours are scarlet and gold. The Gryffindor common room is in the east tower behind a portrait on the seventh floor of the castle.' Severus looked up from the floor and found four very excited-looking faces looking back at him.
'I wonder what house we will all be in!' Petunia said. 'I'm ambitious! I could be in Slytherin, but my favourite colour is pink so I have no idea if I want to be stuck under a lake.'
Severus was horrified at the thought of being stuck sharing a house with Petunia, he wished with all his might that she wouldn't be sorted into Slytherin.
'Hufflepuff for me!' Lily eagerly announced 'I know it's not green like my eyes, but it is so close to the kitchens!'
Severus was a bit disappointed that Lily didn't choose Slytherin, the house he was most likely to be in.
'I like the thought of being a brave Gryffindor.' Rose shyly commented 'The gold would look very pretty in the sunrise.
'I think Ravenclaw for all the books. It's a shame no house is purple. But no matter what house we are in Sev, all of us will still be your friends.' Tansy declared
Rose and Lily agreed with Tansy wholeheartedly, while Petunia reluctantly agreed.
'Don't forget to have morning tea.' Severus jumped in surprise, he had forgotten that Mrs Evans was in the room with them.
After the girls, each picked up a glass of water and a finger sandwich Severus saw that there was one plate left, gingerly reaching out he gathered up a glass and a sandwich for himself hunching his shoulders. He was tense watching Mrs Evans closely, she didn't look like she was going to stop him from getting food, but she could be like his father who was prone to striking him fast and suddenly without warning.
Feeling like he was being watched, Severus looked up from his afternoon tea to find all the girls' eyes were glued on him, impatiently waiting for him to finish eating.
Dabbing his mouth with one of the napkins provided, Severus then placed his empty cup and plate back onto the coffee table and continued to tell the girls about the magical world. Petunia was ready and waiting with paper and pen and wrote down everything that he said.
'When the teacher does come and explain magic, whoever they are will take you and your mother or father to get your supplies in Diagon Alley.'
'What's Diagon Alley?' asked Rose
'It's a street full of shops, everything you'll need for school and more can be bought from there. Your parents will have to exchange their Muggle money for Wizarding money at Gringotts.'
'What's Gringotts?' Petunia asked
'It's a bank. The only one Wizards and Witches have, Goblins run it.'
'Goblins?' Lily exclaimed sounding slightly fearful
'Yes, Goblins.' Severus answered. 'They are highly intelligent ruthless creatures with long fingers and feet, that co-exist with the wizarding world.' Severus amended his statement 'Well, sort of co-existing with the wizarding world, they're quite greedy so be careful and don't let them take advantage of you. Gringotts is a tall white building right at the end of Diagon Alley towering over all the other shops. Mum said that there is a minecart inside to take you down to a vault if your family owns one.' Severus cut himself off from telling the girls that his mother's family had a vault, considering he had no idea if he could even access it when the time came.
'What other shops are in Diagon Alley?' Rose asked sweetly
'Well, I don't know all the shops because I've never been there, but to get to the Alley you need to go through a pub called the Leaky Cauldron. There is a shop that sells potion ingredients, shops for cauldrons, books, stuff for writing like quills and parchment, robe shops, second-hand shops and of course Ollivanders, the only wand shop in Diagon Alley.'
'How do you know so much?' Tansy asked shyly
'My mother has been teaching me all about the Wizarding World since the first time I showed signs of magic' Severus explained
'How old were you?' 'What magic did you display?' Petunia and Lily asked simultaneously.
'My mother told me that when I was fourteen months old I accidentally used the levitation spell to get back my teddy bear which had fallen onto the floor.' Severus answered
'That's so groovy.' Lily exclaimed sounding impressed
Severus felt himself blush, not used to any adulation from others. Shifting around uncomfortably Severus was shocked when he spotted the sun setting outside the window.
Checking the time on his pocket watch Severus was surprised at how late it was.
'I better be off now as I need to be heading home before it gets too dark.' he said. Standing up and stretching.
'Will you come over next weekend and tell us more?' Tansy asked pleadingly
'I would like that very much.' Severus said pleased that the girls wanted to spend time with him. 'As long as the others are ok with me visiting.'
Lily and Rose nodded eagerly, while Petunia finished what she was writing and gave him a curt nod in acknowledgement.
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