Hell or High Water.

𝖎. the christmas spirit's grave

HELL OR HIGH WATER.
I.

While Christmas was supposed to be a holiday centered around family, traditions were never very important to the Snapes.

The houses at Spinner's End were all equally depressing, almost as much as their own. There were barely any holiday decorations, unless one counted thin and unhealthy-looking Christmas trees or the occasional stocking hanging from the door. Archie's house was completely bare that year; last year's tree had accidentally caught fire and they couldn't afford a new one.

Archie would often walk to the other neighborhoods, wanting to see how the slightly less poor families decorated their houses. The Christmas lights around the roof, the little figurines of Santa positioned in a way that showed him climbing towards the chimney. Sometimes when she would be taking a walk, she'd find one of the houses having an open door and the smell of cookies would make her stomach hurt and her eyes water. Sometimes she would catch herself staring at the parents that played with their kids out in the show with curiosity, as if they were the strange ones. She couldn't remember the last time her father paid any attention to her and her brother, much less actually played with them.

This year the finances seemed to be even worse than last year's. If Archie had to guess, she would say it had something to do with their father's tendency to leave the house with a full wallet and return empty handed. However, no one seemed to actually voice that out loud. They all played dumb, especially their mother. Eileen Snape neé Prince was many things, but comfortable with confrontation was not one of them. And even when she was all alone in the kitchen, preparing a dinner of gravy and rice with walnuts for the rest of the family while her husband was nowhere to be seen, she didn't complain.

Tobias Snape, their father, was prone to disappearing for days without giving any explanation. Archie had gotten used to it, even preferred it to the alternative. While he was gone, the house seemed quieter. More peaceful. She and Severus didn't have to play chess while talking out loud to drown out the voices of their father yelling like a maniac. Sometimes Archie would even catch her mother in a good mood—and when she did, she always took advantage of it. She would ask her to help her with homework she fully knew how to do on her own just to spend some time with her, or she would help her with the household chores while talking about her day. The woman rarely listened, but even the occasional nod of acknowledgement was enough to keep Archie satisfied for the next few weeks.

As she was setting the table for their dinner, she could catch her brother looking through the window like he was searching for something, or someone. His hair had somehow gotten much longer over the break and now he had to tie it back with one of her hair bands. Even though his acne had just started disappearing, hers was just beginning to make its appearance all over her face. Sometimes she would stare at Severus and wonder if they looked alike—they were twins, after all. But even though their hair was the same black color they got from their father, her eyes were blue instead of black. She truly was her father's daughter, at least appearance-wise. The only thing she took from her mother was her slightly chubbier frame and a few freckles on her nose.

"He's not coming," she tells Severus quietly, hoping their mother wouldn't hear her. She would always reprimand them for talking about their father behind his back, as if it was some sort of betrayal. She never followed that rule herself, though—sometimes, in her drunken state, Archie would have to comfort her crying mother as she raved about how much Tobias Snape had ruined her life.

When she was sober, she would pretend she never said anything like that.

Severus turned to face her with a slight scowl. "I know. I'm not looking for him, I'm not stupid," he says, an obvious bitter tone in his voice. "I was just wondering when the mail would arrive. It should have arrived by now."