CH 6- Am I a witch too?
Hermiones POV...
Severus looked shaken but at the sight of Lily he lightened up considerably and he had a certain look of triumph in his eyes. "Thats magic", he said with a slight smirk. Petunia was standing with her mouth slightly open and her brows furrowed, but didnt say anything.
"What do you mean magic? There has to be a logical explanation. Is that a stick or something?"
Before I could answer, Snape was on it, he seemed quite eager to explain them all about magic, "Thats a wand. I know all this sounds impossible but its there, there is a whole wizarding world"
I let him take over on the explanation part as I pondered over what to do with Snape Sr, whose name I still didnt know. Lily turned red with excitement as if her wildest dreams were coming true. I realised how easy it is to make small kids believe something seemingly impossible, as their principles werent hard set like adults. If I had been older than I was when I got the hogwarts letter I would surely have been more suspicious and wouldnt accept it as readily as I had done.
"So how come everyone doesnt know about magic?"
"Because most folks are muggle, non-magical. You are not though, you are a witch. You can do magic. You belong in our world"
"No one seems to have told me.."
"You are meant to be told at age 11 when you get your hogwarts letter. Its a magic school in Britain"
"So how do you know.. you are not 11", she was determined to find a hole in his story, not daring to believe she could actually be a witch. I didnt blame her, I had been the same.. I had pummelled Mcgonagall with questions, when she visited my house, trying to prove her wrong, I think she might have been a little offended at the time.
"Because my mum is magical. You are what they call muggle-born, that means your parents are non-magic"
"So hogwarts did you say? Do they teach magic there? But if I am magical I can already do magic, what is to be learned?"
"You have to learn to channel your magic and control it, its not that easy.. you need training"
"Alright.. but how do you know I am a witch?", she asked wonderingly.
"I have seen you do accidental magic!"
"Accidental magic?"
"Its kind of like when you are experiencing strong emotions, the magic bursts out of you in weird ways as you still dont know how to control it. I can prove it". He stepped forward and Lily backed away instinctively, but he was approaching Petunia. Petunia was watching with a defiant expression, arms crossed over her chest, her long hair billowing in the wind. Suddenly Snape pushed her and she fell, but miraculously Snape was thrown back and fell too. Lily gasped. "Sev! Why would you do that? Thats very mean"
"I just wanted to show you.. I fell back, you did that.. you did magic as you were in distress and anger as I was about to hurt your sister", he said with the smirk back on his face as he got up. Petunia was breathing fire as she advanced on Snape for her revenge. Lily stepped between them, "Tuney dont. Sev you shouldnt have done that. Dont ever hurt my sister again or I will never talk to you. Tuney its okay, please let it go". I was awed at how mature this little girl was, perhaps more so than her sister. But I did feel very sorry for Tuney, it seemed Sev didnt like her much and didnt try to hide that fact. Though Sev sobered when Lily said about never talking to him again.
Then Tuney asked something I hadnt expected or even thought about, "Am I a witch?". She sounded very nonchalant but I knew she was burning for the answer and was also spiteful to have to ask something to Snape.
"I dont think so, you have never shown any signs"
"As far as you know", then catching up with herself she added, "Not that I care, I dont wanna be a freak like you all! I am normal, I am better". Lily looked quite hurt at that. "I am going to go tell mum what you have been doing"
Without planning to do it I ran to her and stood in her way. "No, Tuney look.. I know you are upset. But please keep this between us. Sev will be in real trouble about his father if someone finds out. We need a plan and I think I have one"
Petunias face contorted with rage, "I dont care! I dont care about any- "
"I know.. I know", I said soothingly, "Can I talk to you somewhere private? We can let Lily and Severus chat until then, I am sure Lily has a lot of questions", I said nodding in her direction. Lily looked gratefully at me and went to sit beside Snape.
I took Petunia a little farther into the trees until we reached a small clearing full of dead leaves. I sat on the ground and motioned for her to sit too. She looked rather offended from before and was reluctant to do as I said.
"Look what do you want? I am not going to be any part of this.. this man you petrified and all". I was surprised she remembered the word petrified.
"Its okay, you dont have to. You can just go on pretending it never happened, we will take care of it. But Tuney, look at me", "I am sorry you cant go to hogwarts, it must feel so bad"
"What!? I dont feel bad you idiot, I dont care.. how many times do I tell you"
I said in a firm but gentle voice, "Yes you do care, and we both know that. Its okay to feel jealous. You dont have to shut those people out of your lives who you feel have something you dont or are better than you. Because they are not. You are just as precious as Lily, you deserve just as much happiness, and you are just as valued in this world as her. She doesnt think any less of you. Forget about Sev, he is a bit of a jerk". Petunia grunted in agreement but still looked rather skeptical.
"Resenting her for the rest of your life is just going to hurt both of you. All you have to do is accept her, but more importantly accept yourself for who you are.. because you matter Tuney, you are worth it"
I was moved to see her watery eyes, but she quickly blinked back the tears and gave a small smile. "Thank you Hermione. Will you be my friend?"
"Ofcourse I will", I said with a grin. I was proud of myself, people often said I was more mature than my age so might as well put it to some use.
When we reached to the frozen body of Snape Sr., Lily and Sev were laughing about something, laying in the grass staring at the sky. Sev looked much happier than I had seen him just a few hours ago. Tuney apologised to her sister for calling her a freak and said that she will try to accept her which made Lily beam. Severus looked a little shocked at this, but didnt say anything.
"So now, about your father.. whats his name again?"
"Tobias Snape"
"Ok, so we have to do something about him. Fortunately I have a plan. We can call your mother and tell her exactly what happened and she can report him to the authorities and they can verify his abuse by taking her memories"
"No no no", Sev began with fright, "She will just take him back. She is fond of him no matter how much he hits her. She has gone crazy, she does exactly as he says and takes care of him despite everything, its so weird"
"Stockholm syndrome", I said contemplatively more to myself than anyone else.
"What?", Lily asked confused
"Nothing. Well no worries I have plan B. We need to hide him somewhere, is there any such place here that no one ever goes to?"
There was a minutes silence as everyone thought. Then slowly Lily suggested, "Well.. we do have a shed near our house. Its really old and dad used to do his carpentary work there but he doesnt use it anymore and mom doesnt like to go there as she is allergic to dust. It might be the perfect place"
Tuneys temper was rising again, "We will do no such thing. We are not having this man in our shed. If mom and dad find out.. this is insane. They will find out about magic!"
"They wont find out. I told you no one goes there. And we have to do this for Sev. I never knew he had to go through this at home", she was saying with tears in her eyes, "I never knew.. or I would have helped.. somehow. But now I have the chance to, and I wont let it go. Imagine how it must be for him Tuney! His own father beating him.. I am really sorry Sev". Severus went and hugged Lily not able to see the tears in her eyes. "Its okay, I am fine", he said in a well-controlled emotionless voice.
I looked at Petunia and told her to do this.. for me. She agreed begrudgingly on the condition that she would not be held responsible lest her parents find out.
"Alright now, Sev you will have to go home and pretend you dont know anything about this. You should be just as surprised as your mother when your dad doesnt turn up by nightfall. It will be a real shock for her but nobody will be the wiser. She might come searching for him but obviously wont find him. She might report to the ministry but thats where I come in. I will be reporting to the ministry too. About what he was about to do, and it can be verified by taking my memory. Now, I will have to travel.. find a wizarding place and borrow an owl to contact the ministry. It will take a few days but I will do it", I said with complete determination even though I didnt feel very confident. "Surely the law enforcement people will not tolerate this and will take away your father Sev"
Severus was speechless, and just nodded curtly.
Heyyy I know its been a while.. but I was having sortof a writers block. I really hope you review if you liked or didnt like this chapter.. they make my day. See you next time. Take care 3