Begin Again (Severus Snape/OC Love Story)

Chapter Twelve: Secrets

        Going home for the holiday didn't actually feel much like going home this year. I was returning to a house that I'd only lived in for three days. I wouldn't be able to fall into a familiar bed in a familiar-smelling room. I wouldn't be surrounded by Thunderbird banners and Fitchburg Finches posters, but by unpacked cardboard boxes and bare white walls.

The most important part of going "home," though, was still there waiting for me at Kings Cross Station the day after Slughorn's party: my mom and dad. As I shot down the platform, undetectably extended maroon purse slung over my shoulder, and saw their faces in the crowd, a twitter of joy swelled in my chest.

Rushing up to them with a huge smile, I threw open my arms ready for dad's embrace. To my astonishment, it was mom who instantly wrapped her arms around me in a very uncharacteristic show of affection, squeezing so tightly that I nearly lost my balance.

"Oh honey, we've missed you so much!" she said in my ear, rocking back and forth.

"I missed you too, mom," I said with a small surprised laugh, and inhaled the sweet vanilla scent of her hair. Dad patted me on the back in between her arms; she didn't let go for almost a full minute, and even after she released me, she took my hand in hers in a manner which reminded me of walking to the park with her when I was a little girl.

Mom and I stayed hand-in-hand all the way out of the station and up to the same muggle vehicle dad had dropped me off in. The air outside was thick with a murky gray mist that canvassed the world in an ominous veil. As we drove, the windshield had to be repeatedly cleared of the foggy dew that built up within seconds of being wiped away.

Along the drive home, my parents barraged me with nonstop questions about Hogwarts: Had I made friends? What were my teachers like? Was I finding my way around the castle? Were the classes harder than at Ilvermorny? Was I getting all my homework done?

"Haven't I already told you everything in my letters!" I said.

"Yes, yes but we want to hear all about it in person, I'm sure you didn't write down all the particulars," my mom said eagerly.

Relenting, I caught them up on almost every detail of the past few months of my life, glossing over nothing.

Well, almost nothing.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts is one of my favorite subjects. The teacher, Professor Snape, is kinda tough, but so brilliant and experienced. And he's really..." I stopped myself from blurting out 'really incredible,' both because some part of me didn't want to divulge my level of admiration for the dark-eyed professor to my parents, and because of the slight drop of unease my stomach experienced when I recalled the secrets I'd overheard. "... well he's just really intelligent."

The conversation (or, rather, interrogation it seemed) carried on as we rounded into the long driveway in front of the yellow cape cod, hauled out of the car, and made our way inside to gather around the kitchen table. By the time I'd filled them in completely, the sun was setting outside our window, casting pale orange beams through the haze. The droplets of moisture in the air captured the sunlight in such a way that it was almost as though the sky was ablaze. Mom collected the dinner dishes and carried them over to the sink, then turned on the faucet to wash them, curiously, without magic.

"So, dad, how's your new job been? Much different than back home?" I asked.

"More intense, that's for sure," he said seriously. "I'm not used to this matter of coworkers disappearing left and right. Turning up days or weeks later, imperiussed, confunded, or worse. Why, just last week Rufus (Scrimgeour, Minister of Magic, I'm sure you know of him?) found one of our best Obliviators, Allura Blue, spinning in circles outside his office, shouting in Portuguese – Allura never knew Portuguese before, of course – with no idea how she got there! When they finally managed to cease the twirling and got a translator, they discovered she was shouting that the fish are drowning and the ducks have gone missing! Naturally she's been sent to St. Mungo's, but so far no one can say if they can fix her. Such a shame, poor girl."