My Everything

4

"Thank you." Euphemia said to the muggle that set her cup of tea down in front of her and reached out to pour in some cream and sugar. Slowly stirred and sipped from the cup.

She's in Muggle London today. She can't remember the last time she spent time there, she barely has the time but she enjoyed it on the days when she could. Today however, it isn't a social call exactly. She had a very important errand to run.

For the past few months James has been writing her dozens of letters, each one fawning over a boy that seemed to have caught his interest. A boy named Severus Snape. The same Severus Snape James was constantly getting into trouble over at school. It was a shock. James never really talked about any love interest he had, he never even really mentioned any girls that he liked, though she overheard James and Sirius talking about a girl named Lily Evans every now and then. But he never told his mother about any one he might like. So its needless to say that she was quite shocked to find out about her son's infatuation with the Snape boy. Even more so when she found out that he was a Slytherin since the house rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor has always been fierce, even in her time at Hogwarts. But she'd never been able to refuse James anything he wanted and his letters made it painfully obvious just how badly he wanted Severus.

Euphemia thought it might be nice to have the boy over for the summer. She and Fleamont could meet the object of their son's affections and James would get to spend a few months with said object of his affections nearby.

It took a bit if doing but a contact at the ministry helped her find Severus' home address and the identity of his parents.

Euphemia was surprised to find out that Severus was a half-blood, but what shocked her more than anything else was the fact that his mother was Eileen Prince; the long lost heir to the Prince bloodline.

It was rumoured that she just disappeared sixteen years ago though no one knew why. But knowing her son's age and finding out that she married a muggle she could guess what happened. The Princes were notoriously strict in regards to bloodline purity, a practice both she and Fleamont were sure was the cause for most pureblood couples incapability to conceive. It's something they blamed for their own inability to have children, so they never dissuaded James from marrying outside of the typical pureblood construct. In fact, they encouraged it. James falling for a half-blood boy wasn't a problem. But Euphemia wondered about Eileen Prince, now Eileen Snape.

If she married a muggle and had children then surely their values aligned quite well together. What she couldn't understand is why Eileen seemed to have disappeared from the wizarding world so completely. Her parents may have disowned her but surely she'd want to make sure Severus stayed in touch with his wizarding roots. From what she could tell from James' letters, Severus was incredibly talented in magic so she must've taught the boy some things. But still-

She sent an owl to Eileen Snape to ask if they could meet so they could discuss something concerning her son. It was odd how long it took Eileen to reply, even odder how she sent a turtle dove to deliver her reply instead of an owl. There were just two days left before the summer holidays when she finally got a reply.

That was actually quite puzzling.

"Euphemia Potter?"

Euphemia looked up, blinking in surprise at the sudden visitor only to pause when she saw the woman standing before her.

She wore a long grey dress that dragged on the ground, a faded black sweater that looked like it was at least one size too big and clutching a worn looking leather handbag against her side. She looked thin and frail, pale skin and shallow cheeks, bone straight pitch-black hair tied in a bun at the top of her head with some of the strands falling limply around her face. Thin pale lips, large dark eyes that looked almost dilated. There was the lightest sheen of sweat on her forehead. The woman looked away, coughing into her hand.