Runes were a bitch.
No, listen guys! they totally are! Severus had a basic knowledge of them, true, but trying to teach Petunia was taking a toll on his psych. Yes he had gotten an O on his OWLs and NEWTs, but damn it, the girl wanted to learn to use runes for casting all possible first year spells! And thank you, he bloody well knows that all spells they use with wand, were originally a rune, or a ritual. But he couldn't fucking make those work with runes and he had memories of being a powerful adult wizard! This girl was barely more than a squib, and just 14 or something. He couldn't find the energy to do so and yet, the idiot girl kept nagging at him that she could do it!
In these 3 weeks, they had gone over things Severus thought she could try her hands at, like Astronomy ( she hated it, said she would get a weird neck shape if looked up to sky all night).
Artimancy (bored her to death, numbers were not her fort)
Herbology ( somewhat tolerated it, just because it was bloody Womanly enough)
History of magic ( fucking loved it, the stupid chit)
Potions (a no-no. messed with her hair, smelled bad)
So he joggled between Herbology, Runes and History lessons. She had already finished first year history, don't ask how. And got a good grip on basic herbology.
But runes.
Bloody runes.
So far, she could work herself, and him! To exhaustion by learning how to make a flower florish, how to make heat with runes and how to freeze something. And now this cooling runes was making both of them acting like neanthertals.
It just didn't work!no matter what time they chose, or the place, or the position of the sun and moon.
It was impossible.
Lily would be back this weekend, and PETUNIA needed to show her – more like rub it in her face- that she could do it better, cause she could do with runes what she still hadnt learned to cast with that silly stick of her. And she was dead set on that cooling rune, because it was supposedly cooler than the other two.'I mean we have stove, and fridge, not living in a jungle are we? and flowers are just pretty. But cooling…you know how cool it is? You can avoid this humid stupid air altogether!'
Aha.
Yesterday he nearly went mad with fury, and Petunia was about to get a good burn because his magic was about to do what he couldn't do and get rid of her.
Err, not that he was a murderer, he meant that scare her off? Severus had other friends to worry about, like Charity and her obsession with the wolf, or frank, or Remus or the trouble twins and Amelia and Ted and Andromeda and Reg and Marlene… a whole fucking long list to care about.
To think that he thought he would just hold his head down, be a harmless hufflpuff bunny and leave in peace. What nonsence.
He worried constantly for Nymphadora , if she would fall in love with Lupin again. he thought about Peter, and how to get him to stand up and not take whatever was thrown at him.
And Lily…
Oh Lily.
He had forced himself to be less involved in her life, to accept her as a sister, and he worked hard for it. He had busied himself with Black family problems, Quiddich and not dying. She had distanced herself too, he could tell. He sometimes wondered if he had been like a bug, a familiar background noise or a token of good days for her.
He wasn't her best friend, hasn't been since the day she went to Gryffindore and met other magical kids, witches.
Good looking – not half famished wizards.
What he couldn't understand with his 11 years old mind, he could see clearly now. Lily cared about him, yes. Cared about him enough to send letters, or engage him in her activities.
But it was more of pity than genuine friendship. It needed trust, it needed believing in the other person at least half the time.
Which she didn't.
He had told her about bulying, she retorted with Slytherin bullying other people. He had lent her his notes, and she had given them to fucking Marauders for whatever reason, probably Lupin being sick.
Just why Lupin deserved kindness, for being a werewolf, and he didn't because he was …he was bullied and abused? It ate him, made him want to go to umbridge and convince her to get those laws against those beasts earlier… but of course his sodding conscious had a problem and didn't let him do it. Because this Lupin hadnt let his friends get away from bulling, or almost killing him, or convinetnly forgot to drank his potion.
This Lupin was a annoying bonless kid, another coward. But just a kid. An innocent kid.
And to top it all, Eileen was getting bigger, and acted wierder. It could be pregnancy hormones mind you. She disappeared from time to time, and stared at Tobias- when he wasn't looking- with hatred.
He was worried, his future baby sister was in danger. Tobias was more distant, subdued. He had not argued with Eileen much, and he had not come home drunk at all. he even had given him some pocket money for once.
Those two were made for each other. Both were wrong in the head , just look at their offspring to make sure. Severus had become the fucking – the only fucking Spy in two magical wars.
His future baby sister. That made him feel protective in a good way. He was in two minds to drop out of school and protect his sis, or go to school and get help from his allys and remove himself and her from tender mercies of those two lunatics.
He could think about it, he had to come to an answer, and soon. But first, he had to work on Petunia, who he ha not decided if she was a friend or accuintance.
"well? You have been looking at nothing for a minute, what was it you wanted to say?"
Oh joy. He had forgotten. He was supposed to talk her to get her parents approval for a floo network installation. Tobias would never hear of it, and besides they lacked the money. He also needed to be able to connect to his friends by a more suitable way than bloody mile long letters. And yes, getting Petunia to like magic was a bonus. After all, if worst came, he didn't want to leave Harry in a magic hating house. He was a Potter through and thourogh, but he too was a kid in need of guidance and kindness.
So He would do his best, but he had to consider the fact that in his memories, he hadnt seen any of his friends adulthood. Just some chats with Charity, and Lupin and the less sane Black brother. He thought that maybe his memories were incomplete like Emerald told him, but he had to accept it.
He knew Frank went insane, and Sirius and Lupin survived, Pettigrew – he had to separate his shy friend Peter from the death eater- was alive too. about others… not so much certain anymore. These past days he had dreams, pieces of future, mostly his teaching days and some harmless memories of himself. They were normal, not at all tramautizing.
But it could change .
So he had to get Petunia to see the good in magic, and have a floo installed in their home.
Just in case.
"do you want to know how to travel to magical world without having to go all the way to Londen?"
"suppose I want, then what?"
Didn't he tell you Petunia was a bit of a snobbish, impertinent brat? If one mixed Potter arrogance, Malfoy's air of 'so better than you' and the bossiness of Molly Weasley alltogether, you would have Petunia Evans. She could be kind, considerate and rational, only when she wanted.
"You see Petunia, Floo is a network, it connects magical places together and you can talk with other people with it. It just needs a permit from ministry. And you can travel to diagon in less than seconds"
Now he had her hooked.
After telling Evans parents and getting their approval- which was not as easy as he though, took two whole minute looks of what he pulled on Halloween on the teachers, the look of ' Im a little cute bean, hug me please!' he hated so much, and calling on the special number they gave muggleborns, the Evanses were proud owners of a floo.
Henry scratche his head.
"all that hussle and we now have a fire place that is working in summer?"
Oh right, he had to show them how!
An evil grin appeared on his face, he could totally freak them out! They didn't know about stepping into the fire and floo powder, the clerks were in a hurry and seeing a half blood present, they assumed he knew.
"let me show you" he said with an innocent smile on his face, he used the powder, shouted diagon alley and stepped into the fire, ignoring three loud cries of "NO!!!!"
He could have so much fun!