Mums

They continued talking during the trip, about Hogwarts, about their studies. Sev commented that he would look for a job in the summer and they were surprised, he explained that he had just thought of it.

As they drove through Cokeworth to drop him off at home, he said to Violet, "When you solve what happened this morning, let me know with whatever, I've already arranged with Lily to send me her owl tomorrow morning."

"It won't be necessary, Sev, you can come in peace, I already told you at noon," Violet told him.

"I prefer that you talk about it first with Peter and Petunia, I wouldn't feel comfortable being the cause of a conflict."

"I understand you, and again I tell you that I am very sorry. We forbid Lily to go to your house and you are not comfortable in ours."

"That's not what I meant, I explained myself badly," Sev said. "Of course I'm comfortable and willing to put up with the downpours, but I don't want that to cause you family problems. So I'll be calmer if you give me permission to come again when you've cleared it up."

"Count on it, son."

Son… wow…

When they left Sev at home it was a quarter to seven, they'd arrive before her father. Lily moved to the front seat. "Mum, I'm making dinner today so you can talk to Dad before Petunia starts telling him her way."

"Of course, daughter, I was already counting on it, but it is not necessary that you make dinner, start studying or answering your friend. It's going to take us ten minutes to talk about it, we've been doing it since Christmas."

"Oh really?"

"Of course, since you asked us permission for Sev to come home," said her mother. "Didn't Dad tell you that we already bought the desk?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, we already ordered it as soon as you told us, in case he came, bring it right away."

"Oh…"

"And if you're worried about Petunia's accusations against you, know that we've talked about that many times, too," Violet continued. "Sev and you are one for the other, you transmit harmony when you are together. Whether you're friends or whatever you are, that's fine with us. It already seemed so to us before, but now, in addition, he has made an incredible change, he is finally showing us how he really is, and you don't know the merit he has after all he has suffered. So calm down in that aspect, we are not going to interfere in your life, what you do or stop doing is your business. You are both very mature and responsible and you have less than a year left to be of legal age. And what sense would it make to control you here if you live together in the school? This morning you could have stayed quiet and alone at Sev's house and you didn't, knowing what awaited you at home. That gives us a lot of confidence, so don't worry in the slightest. I'm going to talk to Dad and then we'll talk to Petunia to dot her i's, but know that the answer for Sev is this, that our home is his too. Send Puck to him as soon as we get there so he can calm down, don't wait until tomorrow to let him know."

Lily though, God... how I wish I could tell Mum everything, but I don't have to, she clearly already knows, and she probably didn't come to Diagon with us this afternoon so we could be alone.

"Thanks Mum."

"Don't give them to me, thanks to you both for being the way you are, it's a pleasure to be by your side."

. . . . . . . . .

Eileen was surprised to see Sev arrive so early. "Son, I didn't count on you yet. Why didn't you stay with Lily longer? And that coat?"

"It belonged to Lily's Dad, he hadn't used it for years and they gave it to me."

"Oh…"

"And we've already spent the whole day together, I also want to be with you," said her son.

"But it's enough for us to see each other at night, and since you can't be with her at school, you should take advantage of all the time you have."

Sev thought, Ugh… Mum already knows too many things to go around hiding it in front of her, and now that I have opened up, she no longer hesitates to speak to me openly.And besides, she already smells everything... Well, better, she's giving me the opportunity to talk to her about it. "Well, you see, I did plan to stay at her house until dinner time, more than anything to spend some time with her Dad, since we only spoke during the journey from King's Cross. But it turns out that this morning, which by the way, we have been shopping. Have you entered my room?"

"No, honey."

Sev took her hand and they sat on the couch. "Well, you'll see everything she has given me, and not only that, you know we come from Diagon. You can't even imagine the amount of money they've given her to spend together. At first I have been quite embarrassed, but they are showing me so much confidence that I understand that it is a pleasure for them to do it and I will accept it as long as I need it."

Eileen was torn between astonishment and shame.

"Don't worry, Mum, they can afford it, Lily hardly gives them expenses most of the year, and if they have decided to do things that way it would be contemptuous not to accept it. We have not bought any whims, only clothes and books to continue investigating. And to reciprocate in a certain way, I have bought her a gift with the money you gave me."

Eileen seemed more relieved. "But then... why haven't you stayed at her house to be with her Dad for a while?"

Sev sighed. Although I haven't spoken to her about it in years, when I was little, when I met Lily, I did, and she will understand with a single word. "Petunia."

Eileen's eyes widened. "After so many years?"

"Well yes. You know I hadn't seen her in a long time, and Lily didn't tell me anything either, but apparently she's been harassing her all this time whenever she's home. She continues to be terribly jealous of her, and now that she has seen me appear too, well, this morning, when we came back from shopping, since there were only the three of us at home, she has put on a little show for us." He explained to her in detail, except that she had caught them in bed, what had happened at Lily's house, also their conversation with her mother during lunch and what she had said when she said goodbye to him.

"So they fully trust you and are putting you ahead of her daughter," Eileen said.

"It seems so, but I've preferred that they talk about it among themselves before getting back in, I don't want to force things."

"You've done well, Severus, but from what you tell me I'm sure they'll sort it out. Her parents must have talked a lot about it, otherwise her Mum wouldn't have sided with you like that."

Of course… how did I not notice?Because I'm not a father, Sev thought. "Anyway, they still have to hear Petunia's version, which by the way… is the real one," he finished with a smile.

Eileen's face changed to immense joy and excitement, but not wonder. I don't remember ever seeing this expression on Mum. He also grinned at her.

"I knew it! Ever since Lily came to talk to me at Christmas… Son, you have given me the greatest joy of my life."

They hugged, Eileen crying with happiness, which she infected to Sev.

. . . . . . . . .

Meanwhile, Violet and Lily had arrived home. When they entered, Petunia was in the living room watching the telly, surely waiting for her father, not counting that they would return before.

"Hello, Petunia, don't you have to study?" Violet's greeting was not friendly at all. Petunia was in her first year at the university.

"Hi Mum. I've already spent the whole afternoon, I was resting for a while," the girl said, forcedly friendly.

Lily didn't even bother to say hello, she hung her coat and said to her mother, in a normal tone, "Mum, I'm going up to answer Cecile and study a little, because this morning we hardly had time to do anything. If you need help with dinner let me know." Sev told her to improvise and that was what she was doing, mentioning in front of her sister the two tense situations that had occurred in the morning and leaving her mother free to act her way, since she had already made it clear enough that she was on her side.

And besides warning her in code of what she was really going to do, write to Sev as soon as possible as she had recommended. And something else, giving her the option to talk to her in the kitchen once she had talked to her father.

"Of course, Lily, answer your friend as soon as possible, if she already expected her owl for the night, she will be worried," Violet said. "If I need you, I'll call you."

Mum also making code taunts against my sister! And at the same time, encouraging me to send the message to Sev. And telling me that she will tell me the result of the talk. I'm going to tell everything to Sev in every detail, he's going to be amazed.

So she went straight up to her room. When she entered… it seemed different to her. Her new desk, where they had studied together, and her bed, where they had loved each other... a little. They already had a new place in common, and she was sorry that he didn't have those memories in his of Spinner's End as well. The roles had been exchanged, like when those first kissing afternoons he stayed to enjoy the memory sleeping in the Haven and she had to go down to dinner with the others in the Great Hall.

She immediately got down to business. She headlined:

My Half-Blood Prince:

Look what Mum told me when we came home…

And then the almost faithful transcript of what they had spoken, including the coded messages that had just been exchanged. She finished:

Have you seen? I think my parents are snakes like you. They already know everything since Christmas, they are delighted and we won't even need to say it to their faces if we don't feel like it.

So now you know: I want you here tomorrow at nine o'clock. Four hours ahead of latch! I won't know how to wait…

Your Princess

She put the letter in the envelope addressed to Spinner's End living room. Oh…!Finally writing a letter to Sev with his name, without having to pretend…

. . . . . . . . .

Sev and Eileen, still hugging on the couch, heard Puck knocking at the window. He got up to open it, restless. "It's Lily's owl... ugh... I'm sure something bad has happened."

"Severus, son, what a pessimist you are. It will be the opposite. She has spoken with her Mum while they were coming home and she has told her to reassure you as soon as possible."

I wish... He opened the envelope as the addressee and with his hands in a way he hadn't done with a letter from Lily in a long time. He leaned against the table to read it, facing his Mum, who leaned back on the couch with her arms folded, watching with a smile as her son's worried frown changed to expectation, wonder, slight smile, grin, laughter and with the last paragraph, a peal of laugh.

Eileen was smirking.

"You hit the nail on the head, Mum."

"I have already told you."

Sev thought, I doubt, because of the last paragraph, obviously, whether to share the letter with Mum.But overall, what does it matter?So I can not only ask her about the Hogwarts book, but also talk to her about the Magic of Love and the Moon.She is the only woman I can trust with these issues and she can teach me many things. "Here, read it," he said handing her the parchment.

"Do not care? Isn't it too private?"

"Well, a little, but nothing happens. Just don't be scared by the ending."

Eileen timidly took the letter. Sev, just like she had done, stayed watching her reaction. She was commenting to him, "Half-Blood Prince? Does she call you that?"

"Since first year, she invented it for me, when she found out about all the mess about blood status. When we were little she always told me that I was the prince of the enchanted castle, and I thought that she was my princess, but I didn't tell her."

Eileen sighed and continued reading. "Have you seen? We all realized at once. Her parents probably because they saw her sad and worried and so involved with you, and I because of how she put my cards on the table. She made me feel like she was the adult and I was the timid child. I'm so sorry I was having a hard time reacting and you couldn't come for Christmas. I didn't dare face your father, but I put up the wards as soon as he left again."

Sev thought, Now that I think about it... Ever since Christmas last year, when we beat each other and I almost killed him, Tobias always comes home when he knows I'll be here, in the summer and just before Christmas holidays, despite the scare I gave him. And last summer, even though he kept getting drunk, he didn't touch us at all and barely resisted when I kicked him out.

"It's okay, Mum. I already told you that I was very well, with the castle and the Forest to myself, and I was able to make a lot of progress in the subjects, especially in Transfiguration, which was the one I needed the most and I already master it. I met Ariel, who has been the key to entering the Guard, I did the beech ritual on solstice and the fir ritual on my birthday and invented the potion. So, from what I've seen, it was lucky that I stayed." And let's not forget Malfoy's warning.

Eileen smiled fondly at him and continued reading. She was nodding and smiling. "Merlin, what confidence they have in you, it seems incredible with how little you have treated them."

"Yeah, I'm surprised too. We must correspond to them, both of us. You already saw that they invited you to their home, you have to go visit them."

"Sure, son. It's going to give me a lot of trouble but I'm going to do it, of course. Now we are family." Eileen continued reading.

Of course she is embarrassed, after what they know about her, but I know they are going to treat her very well and she will get over it right away. What can I do so that she doesn't have a bad time at first? I know… she also needs clothes. Rays! I must have exchanged more Galleons into Muggle money. Well, I can go to Diagon tomorrow after lunch by Floo, and I'll give her the money at the evening.

What else, to break the ice? Let she work magic for them... Better yet! Show them Hogwarts in the Pensieve! Wow… What a success to have bought it. Lily has been very inspired this afternoon, discovering the guides, buying the Pensieve without knowing that it also served for that and reading the entire index of the Defense book that I was despising. And on top of all I have scolded her, I hope she has already seen the gift and liked it.

His Mum was reading in amazement. She must have reached the coded conversation between Violet and Lily.Well, yes. Because then she laugh.

"So snakes... the truth is that they seem like it," she said.

Well, now comes the worst, let's see how she reacts.

Eileen burst out laughing. Sev too, but blushing, closing his eyes and covering his face. Eileen controlled herself. "Well… now you already call her Princess. You could have read it to me, I have made you ashamed."

"Bah! I've seen myself in worse. And I wanted to take the opportunity to talk to you about certain topics."

"Yeah…"

"But we better leave it for after dinner," he added.

"Sure, it's getting late and you must be hungry. I'm going to start cooking and meanwhile you respond to Lily. Puck is still waiting."

"No. Don't cook with magic, I'm not that hungry yet. Let's do it Muggle-style together, I haven't done it for a long time and I don't want to lose practice, I can do with it for Potions, and that way I tell you things. I'll answer her in a minute."

"Okay, Severus, in the meantime I'm going to get everything ready," said his Mum.

Sev went up to his room and took the writing supplies out of his trunk. He went downstairs and wrote Lily a note.

I'll be there, at the Princess' Haven, at nine o'clock, if there's no more news. I love you.

He tied it to Puck's leg and let him go.

. . . . . . . . .

Meanwhile, at Lily's home…

Shortly after sending her owl with the letter to Sev, there was a knock on her bedroom door.

"Come in, Mum."

Her mother closed the door and sat on the bed. "Have you warned Sev yet?"

"Yes, I just sent Puck and I'm waiting for an answer."

"Very good. Dad is talking to Tuney. I preferred that he do it alone because I soften. He is telling her what I told you earlier in the car. We've been warning her since Christmas, but apparently too tactfully. Now he's going to make things clear to her and tell her that if she messes with you or Sev again, together or separately, there will be consequences, she's going to be left without pay, without whims and without going out with her friends."

"Ugh... Mum... that way she's going to dislike us even more."

"It's been years since I gave up on my daughters getting along, and at least that way we'll avoid her bothering you while you're here. So I ask you to please tell me if she does it again, like you did today."

"Okay, Mum."

"And don't open the door for her unless it's something urgent, she's respected when she throws a tantrum and she doesn't want to get out."

"Okay."

"Well, I'm going to continue with dinner," Violet said.

"Do you want me to help you?"

"No need, Lily, study for a while."

"Okay, then don't make tomorrow's lunch, I'll do it."

"No, honey, you have to study, because today you haven't been able to do almost anything, and also take a look at the books you have bought. That way you tell us."

"If you want, after dinner we will see the travel guides," Lily said.

"Brilliant! So we are making plans. If there is somewhere nearby and the weather is good we could go on a weekend excursion."

"Tomorrow or the day after Sev will know if it'll be good weather."

"Wow… I forget that now we have a reliable meteorologist in the family," her mother said.

In the family!

"Yeah…"

"Well, honey, when dinner is ready I'll let you know."

"Okay."

Lily really didn't feel like studying at all. She couldn't wait for the moment to go to sleep and for nine o'clock the next day to arrive. That morning idiot Tuney had left her halfway when she was almost ready. And she realized that now she was not only jealous because she was a witch, but also because she had a boyfriend and that her parents consented to it. As far as she knew, her sister, three years her senior, had never been with a boy.

But in the end she forced herself to concentrate for a while on the Defense theory, since the day before she had realized that she was very green and she had to get an Outstanding to take the NEWT. Apart from the fact that she wanted to prepare for the war, Sev had already made it clear that he was going to do both and she wanted to spend as much time as possible near him, in sixth and seventh years they would share more classes, and now that they could talk to each other with their minds when they were close... well, that, to study.

When she had managed to concentrate for a while, Puck arrived with Sev's message. Oh…!The Princess' Haven…

She was pleasantly surprised when she went downstairs to dinner to find Tuney missing, probably sulking at the scolding her father had thrown at her. She greeted him, they hadn't seen each other since yesterday, and he was close but totally unobtrusive, asking her how her day had been and what they'd bought in Diagon, which she enthusiastically explained to him and he responded with interest.

After dinner, Lily did the dishes in no time, and the three of them settled on the couch to study the travel guides. She showed them the Black Lake of Hogwarts, discovering that magical streams that crossed the Forbidden Forest flowed into it, and also the springs of the same. Like the one we cross to go to the fir tree.

"Wow! We'll be able to perform more rituals right there," Lily said.

Magical photographs of the beings that inhabited the Lake also appeared. "Oh…! I know about the giant squid, but I didn't know there were grindylows or mermaids in the Lake."

It even spoke of the Slytherin Common Room below it, illustrated with a magical photograph showing fish and the Giant Squid gliding through the glass panes of the dim room in the depths. "Look! Sev's house! I had never seen it!"

"But they must have very little light and no ventilation," said her Mum, sad.

"Yeah… surely they need candles and torches even during the day. But the bedrooms do have windows."

So at Hogwarts they condemn Slys to the dark just for being Slys.It no longer surprises me that most of the dark sorcerers come out of that House, Lily thought. And she understood one more reason why Sev worked so hard to get the Haven, placed such importance on lighting and liked to air it out so much. And also his fondness for being outdoors.

Then she showed them the Forbidden Forest, discovering that it detailed the location of other hundred-year-old trees and numerous photographs of plants and magical creatures. "I already knew that there are unicorns, but not centaurs..." Her parents were very excited, until they got to the acromantulas and got scared. "But you can see that it says that they live in a very remote place and they don't leave there. Sev knows the Forest every inch and every time we've gone we haven't found anything dangerous."

"Honey, be very careful, please," Violet said. "We had no idea that there could be dangers."

The truth is that I didn't know anything about acromantulas either... This Sev and his mysteries.

Then they looked in the coastal guide for the places she knew. When her parents coincided in their holiday month, which was once every two years, they used to go for a week or fifteen days somewhere on the coast, far from the most touristy places. Two beaches that they had visited appeared. "How well you knew how to choose the places for the holidays, without knowing anything," Lily said.

"It's a pity that we haven't discovered these guides much sooner," said her father. "We could have visited many more places."

"In fact, we found them to be the most charming places we've ever been to," said her mother.

"So, you, in a way, also felt their magic," Lily said

"Let's find somewhere nearby to go with Sev for the weekend," Violet said.

They each took a guide. Lily of woods. So they don't see the acromantulas again. Her Dad the one of sacred places, and her Mum the one of rivers and lakes. The coastal one was left on the table, since it was what they already knew, and they were interested in experiencing new places.

"It's a bit far, but if we get up early, we can go to Avebury and on the way to Stonehenge, which is in the same county," Peter said.

Lily discovered the Ankerwycke yew, impressive, it was much closer, but going there to see only one tree…

"There are some springs in Bath, turned into Roman baths, what do you say, Lily?" her mother asked.

She thought that Sev would like a natural setting better. "I don't know, let's keep looking."

"Belas Knap, in Gloucestersire, is a little closer," her father proposed.

Epping Forest in Essex is a lot closer, but Sev has seen the woods his fill. She changed the guide she was looking at for the coast one.

"Would you rather search the coast, honey?" her Mum asked her. "Of course, at Hogwarts you already have a forest."

"There are some caves in London itself, Chislehurts, but they are very touristy, and we can go there any day," said Peter.

"Grantchester Lake, in Cambridge, is very close to us," said Violet.

But Sev has already seen the lake too… has he seen the sea?I'm sure he's never gone on holidays like us, and when I told him about the beach, he never said anything to me… oh my god! He is sixteen years old and he has never seen the sea... and I without realizing it.That's why he has asked me to buy all the guides. Tears nearly came to her. "Do not look for more in those," closing hers. "Let's go to a beach, even if it is not magical."

Lily's parents looked at each other, realized, and left their guides.

"Sure, honey, but let's keep looking, I'm sure there's one nearby," her Dad said, taking the guide out of her hands and leafing through it. "What do you prefer, daughter? Dunes or cliffs?"

Sev loves the view from the Haven, but it would also be perfect to discover the horizon behind a dune, what a surprise, Lily thought. "I don't know, Dad, what's closest…"

Her father looked in the index. "Bingo! Look, Violet, Camber Sands and Dover are here."

"Oh! So both things…" her Mum said. "You don't know that one, honey, because we were there before you were born. It is a beach with high and very wide dunes, the only one like this in Sussex, and it is quite close to Dover, we can go to one place in the morning and to the other in the afternoon."

"Isn't it a bit far?" Lily asked.

"If we were thinking of going to Stonehenge or Bath…" Violet said.

"And there are good roads up there," said Peter. "It will take us less than three hours and we will take turns driving."

"Besides, it's very windy, and I'm sure there will be almost no one there at this time," said her Mum.

"But Sev won't know how to predict the weather from so far away, what if it's very cold?" Lily asked.

"Well, we'll wrap up well and go with an umbrella, when we'll get tired, we'll come back," her Dad answered.

"And you do not mind returning to a place where you have already been?"

"Of course not, honey, on the contrary, it will bring back good memories," said her Mum.

"And besides, I can't wait to get out of here," said her father. "We haven't been to the beach for almost two years."

What wonderful parents, they turn my whims into their own interests.