New Friend
The Severus Snape you know and love(or hate) is a spiteful, silver-tongued genius in the art of potion brewing.
He is a stubborn fool who fell in love with Lily Evans and died at the fangs of Nagini, the Dark Lord’s last Horcrux.
This Severus Snape, however, is not like that.
He is lenient. He is quiet. He is introverted. He is shy.
But most importantly, he is a doormat for people. He is an S-tier people pleaser with horrific social skills.
His looks are quite similar. He has his signature greasy long hair, he’s short, he’s not as skinny as people think but he’s still skinny.
One thing to note, his nose isn’t broken. In every other universe, Tobias would’ve probably broken his nose with a punch to the face.
But because this Severus is a doormat, his father never had reason to punch him. Just beating him.
Despite his terrible social skills, he got his first friend at the age of nine.
Her name is Lily Evans.
Severus was in the attic, his “room”, reading a book about chemistry when he heard his mother call his name.
He quietly left the dusty room, going down the stairs to see his mother in the kitchen. Eileen Prince was a beauty. Her dark hair made her complexion pop out more than it already did. She was Severus Snape’s mother.
”Yes, mother?..”
Severus loved his mother. He couldn’t say the same for his father. The man had gone for work a couple minutes prior and would only come back in the evening. He was a horrible man.
”Darling, you should go play in the park. Your father won’t be back until noon. You should relax your mind a bit.” Eileen had her back turned to Severus, as she was washing the dishes but he knew she was beaming while talking to her. “Lunch isn’t until a few hours.”
”But mother, let me help-“ Severus wasn’t wealthy. In fact, he wasn’t bordering wealthy. But he made it work for his mother. She deserved to have a break every now and then.
”No, Severus, I insist. Please. Mother wants to be alone for a while.”
Severus pursed his lips but agreed. He knew she would only wrap up her bruises when he left the house. Tobias was drunk last night.
He quietly left the house, going to the nearby park. He would always swing there.
He stopped and froze when he saw a redheaded girl floating on the swings.
Magic. He loved magic. He adored magic, in fact. His mother was a witch and she too loved magic. But Tobias, his father, hated magic. He was a muggle. Severus remembered the feeling of his father’s belt on his back after he had a fit of accidental magic. He shivered.
“Y- you’re a witch!” He didn’t mean to blurt out but it was too late. She turned to him. Maybe he could bolt across to his house before she said anything-
She blinked and then beamed at him. She stopped floating and landed on the pavement before walking to him.
”How did you know? Can you do that too? Does that mean I’m normal? Is it cool?”
Severus took a step back, overwhelmed by the girl’s energetic personality.
”Uh, um, I… Let’s sit down first…”
She nodded.
”I’m Lily! Lily Evans.”
Severus nodded before sitting down on one of the swings.
”I’m… Severus Snape.”
Lily smiled, sitting on the swing next to him.
”So, how did you know?”
Severus pursed his lips for a moment. If she was doing magic, then she would eventually get the letter to Hogwarts anyways. What harm could extra information do?
”My mother is a witch… She does magic… I can sometimes do magic too…”
Lily beamed even more.
”Can you teach me about it?”
Severus froze, unsure how to answer. His father would beat him if he found out. But at the same time, Lily was the only person besides his mother who was nice to him…
”I… I guess I could…”
Lily nodded enthusiastically.
”Let’s be friends!”
Severus stilled. Friends? With him?
He slowly raised his head to look at the girl, his eyes sparkling.
”Really?”
”Of course!”
He smiled, shyly looking at his feet.
Lily stood up and grabbed Severus’ hand, trying to get him to stand up when his sleeve rode up his arm.
Purple bruises littered his arm and Lily gasped, letting go immediately.
”You’re hurt! We have to tell an adult!”
Severus protested that it would heal but Lily had already dragged him to her house. She frantically knocked on the door and a kind-looking woman opened it.
“Oh, Lily, I was just about to call you for lunch-“
”My new friend is hurt!”
Severus looked at Lily with horror in his eyes. Tobias would kill him if he found out someone else knew he was hurt.