The Marauders: Year One | #Wattys2016

The Savior of the Family

The Savior of the Family


Severus watched Lily chatting with Remus Lupin from across the Great Hall. He stabbed at the sausages on his breakfast platter, eyes narrowed, as she moved her hands about as she talked quite animatedly. She seemed to be getting on much better with the boys from Gryffindor these days than she once had, and it was concerning to Severus – what were they saying to Lily about him, he wondered? Every time he saw her laugh at something one of them said, he thought of the shouting match they'd had outside of Slughorn's party. He was tempted, so many times, to practice his legilimency and listen to her mind, but he refrained only because of how much she hated it.

He was still practicing, learning to tune into minds like radio stations, to allow himself to be immersed in the images and words that would flood him when he properly connected to another person's thoughts. Everyone had different ways of thinking, he learned, and he began to pick up on subtle differences in the way things felt or looked when he tapped into people's minds, learning to tell the difference between a day dream and a memory, for example, was a matter of whether the thoughts felt fuzzy 'round the edges or not. He was by no means an expert, but the more he read the books, the better he got, and the more prepared he felt for the moment when the Dark Lord would summon Severus to show him how to go about it.

There was a rush overhead as the owls swarmed into the Great Hall and began delivering mail to the students. Severus took a sip of his breakfast tea and began work on his next sausage link as he watched them swoop and dart to their recipients. Then, much to his very great surprise, a tawny screech landed in front of him and held out it's leg with a scroll attached. Severus put down his fork and untied the scroll from the owl's leg carefully. As soon as it's mail had been delivered, the owl flew off, back out the window.

Severus's hands shook as he pulled open the scroll. It was in his mother's handwriting. Severus looked about, then got up and slipped away from the table, bringing with him a couple pieces of toast, eager to read the letter in privacy. He went across the entrance hall and down into the corridor in the dungeons and had himself a seat in the stairwell that led up to the little potions storeroom. Sitting on the third step up, he put the toast down on a napkin beside himself and carefully unrolled the scroll all of the way. It was quite long and hung right to his feet. He blinked in surprise – his mum had never been a terribly articulate person, this was quite unlike her to have so much to say all at once. He took a bite of toast, and then began to read.

Dearest Severus, began the letter,

I've heard from most reliable family sources that you've been doing rather well at Hogwarts. I do wish I'd gotten an owl from you! It's been most quite here in Spinner's End without you at home, but I want for better things for you, my son, than what I have gotten for myself in this life. Which is the very reason for which I am writing to you. Severus, it has come to my attention that you are involved in a group at school dedicated to assisting the purifying of the bloodlines under Lord Voldemort's rule in the near future. I am most proud of you. Your efforts in working with the Dark Lord will lead to the most hopeful opportunities that you could ever ask for. The Dark Lord's plans for this world will stop unfortunate situations such as mine, in which magical union has been wasted in being bound to a filthy muggle like your father. If I had only known then, what I know now, I never would have fallen in love with a muggle, Severus. But you, with the Dark Lord, will restore honor and purity to the bloodline of Prince, and, in turn, to the entire Wizarding World. Do whatever He bids of you, Severus dear, and you shall be the Savior of our family. You shall redeem not only yourself, but me as well, and your children one day. I can only wish that I had had the superior opportunities that you have been presented, with as excellent a role model as Lucius Malfoy to guide you. We shall know power once again, my son. I look forward to seeing you at Summer. Love, Mum.

Severus rolled the parchment back up.

So even his mother had heard about the lessons he was to give the Dark Lord! He rubbed his forehead and shoved the parchment into his book bag and ate the last of his toast, feeling simultaneously important and overwhelmed.





In his careful efforts to keep Lily out of his involvement with the Dark Lord, Severus found himself quite lonely at times, and took to following Lucius Malfoy about. Despite his initial reservations with the Head Boy of Slytherin, Severus found that they now got along rather well. Lucius, too, seemed to be warming up to him as well in so much as he'd quit reminding Severus that he was a half-blood at every opportunity he got, and his glaring had become far less intense.

Perhaps, Severus told himself, they could even be considered friends, and, perhaps, this would lead to the Malfoys accepting Eileen Prince and her son enough to invite them to family functions. This, unfortunately, he realized, would lead to seeing Sirius and that awful Andromeda girl, both cousins of his and Malfoy's, neither a Slytherin member. But facing that bully and that filthy muggle-lover Hufflepuff would be a small price to pay for acceptance. After all, if they were accepted, then perhaps one of the extended families would take them in and they could leave that hovel where they lived with Tobias Snape forever.

Severus wished for nothing harder.

Except for Lily.

When they worked in double potions, paired together at the same table, Severus relished the moments when they both reached for the boomslang or the pickled toad's eyes and their fingers would brush. Her bright, bottle-green eyes would finally look at him, directly at him, during these classes and he would feel his heart kind of beat all funny in his chest. They talked, but mostly small talk, things about the weather or she might tell him about something Alice had read about in Teen Witch or something, but they always steered away from any topics that might bring up the boys, who sat in the tables behind them, snickering and whispering comments while Slughorn droned on and on about the potions.

Severus and Lily were always the best two in the class, and Severus was quite proud of them both for their accomplishments. When Professor Slughorn would sing their praises and marvel at the efficiency and beauty of their potions, then he felt his chest swell up with joy. It wasn't often that Severus was known as the best at something – and so he thoroughly appreciated Slughorn's compliments and enthusiastic praises.

"Pssst... Evans."

Lily stayed staring straight ahead, toward the front of the classroom, but Severus looked back and saw James and Sirius were both looking their direction, smirks on their faces. James was scribbling furiously on a bit of parchment on the table in front of him.

"Evans!" he hissed again, still ignored by Lily.

Severus frowned and Sirius mimicked the look of disapproval in an exaggerated way, then laughed when Severus rolled his eyes and turned back forward again.

"Lily Evans," sing-songed James softly, too quiet to be overheard by Slughorn, who was across the room and busy teaching Antonin Dolohov how to slice his boomslang properly. "You can't ignore me forever," James laughed.

She turned around quickly, her chair squeaking on the flagstone, and Severus glowered at his hands, upset that Lily would pay him any attention at all. "Potter," she hissed, "You do your work, we'll have plenty of time to talk later in the common room." Lily rolled her eyes and turned forward again, muttering to herself "What a toerag."

An airplane made of parchment swirled through the air in great fancy loops and stuck nose-first onto Severus's shoulder nearest Lily.

He looked at it quite surprised and glanced back.

"Sticking charm," mouthed Sirius, grinning.

Severus ripped it off his arm and balled it up without opening it and let it drop to the floor.

"Oi now, it's illegal to tamper with mail, it is," said Potter, a smirk playing his face. "That wasn't for you. Oh Evvvvans... don't worry, I can send you another." He started work on another airplane.

Lily was biting her tongue, concentrating on stirring her cauldron six times clockwise then once counter-clockwise, before resuming her clockwise stirring. "The recipe says only clockwise," Severus whispered, looking up at the chalkboard.

She nodded, "But my mum says when you're stirring the idea is getting air into the mixture and some bits are stubborn about it, so if you go counter-clockwise now and then you get a smoother mix." She smiled.

The idea made sense to Severus and Lily's potion was turning pink already, where as his was still green and so he gave it a try and the shade began to switch almost immediately. Impressed, Severus scribbled a note on his book so he'd remember the tip for next time.

Suddenly another plane came flying forward and this one stuck itself to Lily's cauldron, a bit more crumpled from landing than the last had been. She laughed, "They're quite clever with this sticking charm, you have to give them credit there," she said.

Severus didn't think so.

Lily opened the little airplane and her eyes flitted over James Potter's messy script and she turned around and glared at him, then crumbled the paper and turned back to her mixture with a clearing of her throat. "What'd it say?" Severus asked her. Lily shook her head. "What couldn't wait until after class?"

"Nothing, Sev, he's just being a git, ignore him." She reached into her supplies kit and pulled out the next few ingredients to begin cutting them up, her eyes turned carefully on her little silver knife as it flashed in the low torch light.

When class was over and their potions had been collected by Slughorn, Lily said a quick goodbye and rushed out of the classroom, slinging her bag over her shoulder as she departed. "Bye, Snivellus," called Sirius, waving as he and James scrambled after Lily, Remus, and Peter. Severus shoved the last of his ingredients into his potions kit, dropping the cork for the lid of the salamander saliva jar and bent down to pick it up. He spotted the balled up airplane Lily had discarded and grabbed that, too, curious.

I'm rotter at this potion. Help me later? Assuming you can unstick yourself from Snivelly's greasy hair?

Severus frowned and threw it back down, standing up quickly, red-faced, and started for the door.

"Mr. Snape," called Slughorn suddenly from behind him, "May I speak with you a moment?"

Severus sighed and turned back, walking up to Slughorn's desk with heavy feet. "Yes, professor?" he asked.

"Dolohov seems to be having some trouble with keeping up," Slughorn explained, "I know he's in your house and you're doing very well. I thought you might help him in getting on better at the class perhaps?"

Snape shrugged. "Sure," he replied.

Slughorn smiled and said, "I appreciate it, my boy, as well Dolohov, I am sure." He reached forward and picked up a little brass tin and opened it joyfully, revealing little bits of candied pineapple. "Have a sweet, my boy, these are my favorite, you know. You'll rather enjoy the taste! Given to me by Theodore Duchamp; I helped him get a position at the Ministry of Magic last summer, and this box was his appreciation!" Slughorn chuckled proudly as Severus took a slice of the sweet.