Harry Potter One Shots

(1) 1 Bitter, 2 Sweet

All rights belong to the author, KellyChambliss

Not until the last day of August can Eileen bring herself to pack her son's meagre belongings into her old school trunk and prepare to send him off to his first year at Hogwarts.

Of course she's known this day was coming - - and is almost glad of it, for Severus's sake - but knowledge isn't the same as acceptance. Tobias is proof of that: twelve years ago her husband found out she was a witch, and he's been angry ever since.

But the world has never waited for Eileen Prince Snape's acceptance, not of her boy's departure or anything else, and so, when she can put off the moment no longer, she Levitates her trunk out of the attic and into Severus's room.

It's plain, this room, partly because there's no money for fripperies, partly because Severus wants it this way. When he got big enough to reach them, he took down the coloured magazine pictures that she had used to brighten the walls. She never has to nag him to tidy up; the boy is so orderly it's almost unnatural.

A small pile of freshly-laundered clothes sits on the bed. She's managed to afford two slightly-used school robes for Severus, one a bit big so he can grow into it. A touch here and there with her wand has made them both look nearly good as new; he won't be shamed by them. His worn socks and vests and pants, though. . .she frowns as she lays them in the trunk. Well, at least no one but the house elves will see those.

The school books go in next. They're hers, from her own Hogwarts years. She's glad she kept them: even used copies at the bookstore turned out to be shockingly dear, beyond her purse, and Severus must have guessed as much. Bookworm though he is, he didn't raise any fuss when she told him that they wouldn't be buying anything at Flourish and Blotts.

But his wand. . .that is Severus's own, brand-new. To pay for it, she and Tobias will be making do with less this winter, but no matter. A good wand is not an extravagance: no wizard has a chance in the wizarding world without one, and Eileen is determined to give her son as much of a chance as she can, even though it won't be enough.

She pauses to remember Severus's face as they stood in Ollivander's shop, green sparks dancing out of the smooth hawthorn wand that the old man had put in the boy's hand. His eyes were alight, shining; he was almost smiling.

Even with cauldron and scales added, the trunk is barely half-full when Eileen puts in the last of Severus's few shirts and pairs of trousers. It's no good wishing she could give him more, though. He has what he has, and that's all there is to it.

Yet she's not quite done. Severus will see that his old mam still has a few tricks up her sleeve. Inside the cauldron, she tucks two more of her prized possessions: a woollen scarf striped in Slytherin green and silver, and her silk house tie. Of course, there's no guarantee that the strange old Sorting Hat will put her boy into Slytherin, though she hopes it will. But it doesn't, well. . .that's a lesson Severus needs to learn, the sooner the better: there are no guarantees in life, and it's best not to count on anything.

Finally, only one task remains to be done. From her bottom bureau drawer Eileen retrieves a ratty shoe box. Inside is an old cookery book, its pages yellowed and stained. This book she magicks down to the very bottom of Severus's trunk.

A whispered charm, a last swish of her wand, and the trunk stands ready.

Tomorrow, Eileen will take it and her boy to King's Cross and send them out of her life.

This book is the property of

Severus Tobias Prince Snape.

A SLYTHERIN.