THE CRYSTAL CAVE

CHAPTER I - PART I

CHAPTER I - THE EVANS FAMILY
FIRST EPISODE

The Evans were a perfectly normal family: Mr. Evans, in his forties, was a man of some renown in the country, he was the head of a tourist agency in Gilwood and was often on business trips.  He had a nice handlebar mustache, he was thin, tall and with a very long neck, and he was unmistakable, with those thick blue-rimmed glasses resting on his nose.  He was always very elegant, and those who saw him every day could certainly say that he had never worn a suit and a short-sleeved shirt, not even in summer.  Mrs. Evans was a small woman, unlike her husband, but she had two large green eyes and a thick lock of fiery red hair.  She was the mother of two girls and was a loving and caring woman.  The two Evans sisters were named Petunia and Lily, and they were said to be the most diverse sisters ever. Petunia, nicknamed Tunia, was the eldest daughter. She was thin, too, and, like her father, she had a very long neck. Tunia had a horse mouth and thick blonde hair, she loved gossip and she enjoyed, with her friends, gossiping about others. Lily, instead, was the pride of the family: she had a thick lock of red hair, like her mother, and bottle green eyes, and she was a shy and studious girl. Despite the differences, the two girls spent most of the time together. They got along very well, but something went wrong in that happy relationship. That something, that someone, to be honest, was a boy, of Lily’s age, named Severus. Severus Snape lived in Spinner’s End, a neighborhood near Gilwood and he had got a family far from normal. His parents quarreled constantly, they didn’t take care of him and treated him badly. Maybe that was the cause of his character shy and reserved. That family was certainly not rich, and not even well-off. Severus was thin and tall like a wall nail and he had long black hair, so smooth and greasy, they looked like long spaghetti in oil. The day when the boy saw Lily for the first time, was sunday. Lily, who went out to the park with her sister Petunia, did not notice a dark figure watching them from behind the tree. The two sisters were playing chasing.
«Don’t catch me, Tunia!» Lily screamed constantly, trying not to get caught by her sister as she was much faster than her. 
«Yes I catch you! You are slower than a turtle!» Petunia yelled back, stifling laughing.
«No, I’m faster than the w… ouch!» Lily had just fallen and tripped over the root of a tree. 
«Do you need a hand?» asked a voice behind her. 
Lily turned. Behind her, leaning with his back against the tree, there was a boy, she didn’t saw him before. Lily suppressed the fear and muttered:«No, thanks...». She had a great desire to ask “What are you?”, but then she got a frightened: «Who are you? I mean...» But the boy broke her. 
«Severus Snape» he said, holding out his hand. Lily looked at him better. He had a pale and olive face, two small cold and black eyes, like coal, equally black hair, so greasy they stuck to his forehead, a long and awry nose, and he wore large and shabby clothes, that Lily thought they belonged to his father. She got up and held out her hand.
«Lily Evans» and she addressed him a large smile. He smiled, too. 
But Lily had forgotten Petunia who was waiting for her.
«Are you hiding, do you? You, little brat… But now I’m coming and...» but the rest died out between her lips. She eyed the sister. Then she looked Severus. Twisted her mouth. 
«And you are…?» 
Severus smiled. «Pleased, I’m Severus Snape».
Tunia twisted her mouth again, grabbed her sister by the arm and shook it violently.
«What are you doing? Are you crazy?!» screamed Tunia.
«I...» replied Lily, who didn’t understand what harm she had done.   
Petunia advanced towards Severus. «Never approach my sister again, do you understand?»
«No, don't worry sis… He didn't approach me, it was me who got here» said Lily to defend Severus.
«Don't interfere, I know how thing are» Petunia interrupted her in a tone that did not allow for replies. She continued: «If I see you talk with my sister, I swear you will end badly». 
«I won't let push me around by a muggle like you!» Severus answered.
«Mu… what?» Petunia hissed contemptuously.
«Nothing… nothing…» replied. Then, seeing Lily walking away dragged by her sister, he added: «Bye Lily, I’ll catch you!» 
Petunia turned. «No, don't you dare get close to her! Never again!» and she left. Lily turned one last time, but saw only Severus with his head down as he walked the other way, and then ran away, through the narrow streets of the town.

«Why can't I get close to him anymore? He didn’t anything wrong… He seemed nice... » 
Lily was sitting on her bed and Petunia had sunk into the small red armchair in the bedroom. The room wasn’t very big, but enough to hold a bunk bed, a desk, the little red armchair and a purple wardrobe. 
«It isn’t the kind of person you need to hang out with!» her sister answered dryly. 
«And what do you know about the people I have to date? I don't even have a male friend, at school there is not even a shadow of it, all girls... and the only male I know is dad... please Tunia... if we meet him again... maybe then you understand that he's nice and...»
«Stop! I don't want to hear about this... what did you say he's called?» Petunia asked.
«Sev...»
«All right, I don’t care» Petunia hastened to say. «Lily, I’m your older sister, and, like the other older sister, it’s my duty to educate you. And my first teaching is: don’t talk with the outsiders, especially with the dodgy looking ones… But did you see how he was dressed? Sometimes I wonder if your eyes work and don't change reality». 
Lily was lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling thoughtfully. Tunia noticed her. 
«Oh, don’t tell me you are so sad… it was just a boy and not that smart either». 
Lily didn’t answer. She thought of the ways that had swallowed him. 
«According to you, he’s poor?».
«Yes, I think so… I'm just thinking about telling mom to take you to an eye doctor tomorrow, you know? Didn't you see in which direction he went when I chased him away?»
«Well ... in a street ... yes, maybe a little dark but...»
«Oh, well, Lily! I have to explain everything to you! In that direction there is Spinner's End, the most infamous neighborhood that has ever existed! You don't understand anything!»
In that moment, someone knocked at the door. 
«Dinner is ready, girls! Quick, wash your hands!»