The school year passed by in the blink of an eye and before Severus knew it, the students were on the train back home for the summer.
She had tried writing letters to her mother, explaining that her son was her daughter, but hadn't been able to put words to paper so the few letters she'd sent were generic and about school related items and a little about her friendship with Lily.
So, she decided she would take a page out of the Gryffindor's book and be brave. She'd bring it up sometime when it was just her and her mam.
The Evans' gave her a ride back to Cokeworth and even bought her a meal at a diner on the way home. Petunia had made snide comments about how long her hair was and her mam's hand-me-down blouse, but she ignored her in favor of what was probably the last decent meal she'd have in a while, excluding times when she went to Lily's house.
It was late by the time the group got to the old factory town. Finally she dragged her beaten up trunk to the step of the rundown two up two down her family lived in. She couldnt hear her father through the door so maybe it would be safe to go in. She softly opened the door and saw her father crashed on the couch, the ten p.m. news playing on the old fashioned telly. She spotted her mother sitting at the kitchen table, smoking a cigarette and doing a crossword in last week's paper.
She gently carried her trunk inside and set it down behind the couch as softly as she could and snuck into the kitchen to give her mam a hug.
"You've grown a few inches." Eileen said softly, looking over her child.
Severus nodded, sending her shoulder length hair bobbing around her face.
"Tobias won't like this long hair business, but I'm glad you're doing some wixen traditions. I could trim it tomorrow if you like."
"I'd like that, mam. But i definitely wanna keep it longer."
"Alright." She gave Severus a kiss on the cheek. "Now off to bed, you're helping me with the wash tomorrow."
The next day, Severus woke up early, still on school time. She heard the tell tale sounds of Tobias getting ready for work and decided it would be a good decision to stay in her room a little longer. Soon enough the house was quiet again so she changed into a clean pair of trousers and and older short sleeved workshirt she had stolen from her da.
Her mother was drinking coffee and looking out the small kitchen window to the backyard where the clothes line lived. "Oh Severus, good that you're up. Mrs. Hutch next door saw you come in last night and called this morning. She'll pay you 15 pounds a week to cut her grass. I think it be good for you to have a summer job. Growing into a young man now. A little responsibility is good for you and the extra money would be a boon."
Severus frowned at being called a 'young man' but nodded. Maybe she could get more jobs and save some money for new clothes. She opened her mouth to speak up and found no words. She cleared her throat.
"Mam, I've got something to tell you. I dont think we should tell da though. Its a magic thing…i think."
She raised a thin dark eyebrow. "Go on."
"Mam, I dont think I'm a boy. I feel like a girl. Madame Pomphrey called it Betwixt."
Eileen was silent. She took a sip of coffee and set her mug down, running a thin hand through thinner hair.
"Well you're right. We cannot tell your da. I don't know much about betwixt wixen but I do know I'd never want to do anything to hurt you. Have you thought this through?"
"Yes'm, Madame Pomphrey started me on potions to stop my regular puberty and said if you signed off on it, she could start me on hormone potions as soon as fall term. I've…I've also thought of a name but wanted to talk to you first. To see if there was a name you had considered when I was a baby."
Eileen smiled at her only child. "We were gonna call you Anna if you'd been born a girl."
"Anna…I think that sounds nice. The name I like is Sadie. So I could be Sadie Anna."
"A beautiful name. So that's why you grew your hair?"
Sadie nodded.
Eileen wrapped her daughter in a tight, brief hug and straightened. "Alright washing time. Go collect the dirties and I'll get the wash bin set up outside."
Together the mother and daughter worked on house chores until the sun was low in the sky and Eileen started some dinner=, expecting Tobias at any time.
Sure enough, at 6:30, the tall wiry man walked through the door and set his lunch pail by the couch and began unlacing his heavy work boots. Sadie watched from the kitchen, noticing similarities between her frame and her father's, just as she had observed her mother most of the day. She was a mix of her parents, getting dark hair from both, her thinness from her mother, and her facial features from her father, most noticeably her rather large nose.
She had complained about her nose only once, when a couple school kids had made fun of her the first week of primary. Her father had set her down and explained the facts of ethnic Judaism and that some Jewish people had prominent noses and dark hair and said a few words on her grandparents. A young mixed couple, a Catholic and a Jew escaping the war on the Continent and hoping for a good life without harassment for their children and grandchildren. Her gran still wore a star of David necklace that hung just outside her dresses. And Grandpop Snape was a tough man that took no hard words against his wife and her culture.
She loved her grandparents and clung even closer every time they went to visit, due to the Prince side abandoning her mother for marrying a muggle. Her father had been raised with both sides, and had decided to raise his family to keep kosher but wasn't strict about holidays. Due to a lack of jewish community, they didn't go to temple and Grandpop Snape had decided if the family couldn't be fully jewish, he wouldn't force them to be fully catholic either. He went to Christmas Mass and confession on occasion but didn't force the issue.
Tobias stood from the couch, a tall man standing 6'5 easily. "What for sup, Leen?"
"Beef mash and potatoes today. I was running short on time today." She said.
The small family sat down and blessed their food before tucking in.
"So Severus, what are you gonna be doing this summer? Not lazing about in my house I hope."
"No, sir, I've got a job cutting Mrs. Hutch's grass and I'm hoping I can do more houses in the neighborhood. Maybe washing windows if they dont want me to cut the grass." She said, back straightening.
He nodded. "Good I wont have you wasting the day on books and naps."
She nodded and finished her food before heading to her room to put away her Hogwarts things.