Healing and Clothes
Severus leaned on the interior of his apartment door. He was attacked no less than 5 times on his way home from individuals trying to get his paid for lunch box. It probably would have been more if more people knew what it did. Especially down knockturn where most people did not have much if any money. If he didn't bring his mother's wand or have years experience constantly on alert he would never have survived their attacks. Sliding down the door he sat breathing heavily. Running definitely did not help with the bruising. This level of physical pain may no longer register as debilitating for him but it certainly made fighting harder. He needed to brew that bruise paste. For that he needed potions ingredients. His mom's trunk had a cauldron and the stove worked as a controlled source of flame. But first he needed to lay down his whole body hurt.
He may now have a safe space but it did not have a bed. Enlarging both trunks he put them on one wall. Eileen's trunk mostly contained potions supplies and books but it also had a dress. Severus was no drag queen so he had no need for a dress. But as a transfiguration material it was perfect. The closer an object was to the desired feel or shape of what you were trying to make the easier it was to transfigure. Feeling the flow of his magic with his own wand he transfigured the dress into a bed. It wouldn't be permanent since he wasn't using an actual spell or placing one to keep the bed in its current state but it should last long enough for a nap. Collapsing into the makeshift mattress Severus mutted "a little rest, I deserve it" not that anyone heard him as his eyes closed.
****
"Bang"
Severus opened his eyes alert springing to his feet wand out. Where was he? The room was small, roughly 5 by 6 meters with one wall housing a old kitchenette with a stove, one a window, one a door to the hallway, and one a door to the bathroom. He was in the flat he had just rented over 2 decades in the past. The sound had come from his window. Lowering his wand Severus walked to the recently washed window watching a robes man pick up his dropped cauldron.
While that was one way to be woken up. "Tempus" It was 4:06 PM. He slept a little over two hours. The cauldron reminded him why he found his lodging in the first place he was looking for a store for potions ingredients. Reaching down for his pouch his hand bumped the food box. How was dinner tonight supposed to work? Opening the box revealed a note congratulating him on his purchase. A second note explaining how it functioned and a third asking if he wanted dinner tonight listing two meal options. Selecting randomly he took out the first two notes leaving the one with his selection and choice of 6PM. Closed it and put the box in his own trunk. Casting a quick sticking charm on the instructions so the paper would be at eye level when he looked towards the kitchen. Severus picked up his money pouch mentally checking off the Dinner prep from his to do list.
The clumsy man outside had reminded him of the need to brew that bruise paste and get robes that fit.
So far things were going his way. The first place he went to buy potions ingredients may not exist yet but he now had a roof over his head and his meals paid for. The meals were even prepaid so he didn't have to put in galleons every day along with his order. That was not how it worked in the future but he was not complaining this made budgeting so much easier.
Herb Herder was where he thought it would be he went there regularly to buy his Flobberworm mucus before realizing buying a few flobberworms students could collect mucus from was economical and served as an excellent detention. Dumbledore had constantly cut his potion ingredient budget or being fair to Dumbledore never seeded to his request to increase the budget despite inflation and later the war. One of his first acts as headmaster was to fix the mess of a budget the old coot left him. He had spent years as Hogwarts potions master collecting needed ingredients from the forbidden forest and other places he could apparate to since the budget could not supply all the necessary ingredients his students needed. Many sleepless nights were sacrificed due to budget constraints. Oh how he hated those words. He would not have been able to pay his bills on his Hogwarts salary without the Prince estate.
Opening the store's door Severus' eyes couldn't help but light up at the sight of Re'em blood, a dark ingredient used to increase strength or in a potion to increase spell power. Very pricey and never sold in Slug and Jiggers. Partially because it was dark and partially because it was rare. Oh how he wanted to buy some. Contain yourself Severus you are on a budget. Getting a basket he focused on buying what he needed: fairy wings, wormwood, dittany, fluxweed not picked at the full moon, hm what else. Most people thought Snape hated all gryffindors. He didn't, they tested his patience, were less prepared for class, and exploded multiple times more cauldrons than other houses but he didn't hate all of them. They were just the most convenient house to balance out the other teachers' lackluster giving of points to his house. No, if a student appreciated potions and put them all into his subject while also actually being good at it, not just reading and regurgitating the textbook he could grow to like and respect them. Even pranksters like the Weasley twins. Most of Hogwarts didn't know how much of a soft spot he had for the twins or how much he helped them with their inventions.
Most people just assumed that he disliked them but what started out as begrudging respect for their ingenuity turned into a kind of mentorship. If Severus appreciated their pranks for potions ingenuity starting in second year he would take on or assign them detentions where he would take them on field trips gathering ingredients or teach them about ingredient properties he discovered as they helped him prep said ingredient sometimes for class, sometimes for Poppy's potion storage, and sometimes for the experiments that brought him joy in his stressful life. It was in 3rd year when he caught them brewing an experimental dangerous potion that he permitted them permanent access to the sum of the private practice brewing rooms with safety wards in the basement. He didn't want to see them hurt. The twins saw him as a potions mentor figure going to his office hours when stuck on a potion. Their relationship became a bit strained with the introduction of Potter and totally broke after Dumbledore's death but he always had a soft spot for those menaces. This potion well more accurately paste he was grabbing ingredients for was one of their inventions that he looked over their work for. It was an ingenious healing potion that they later patented and sold in their shop. Grabbing the final ingredient for bruise removal paste and some boomerang skin honestly that never went old and was pretty useful. Severus went to checkout. The man behind the counter was quick only giving his appearance to the side until he paid. Maybe he thought he couldn't. Putting the ingredients in his pouch Severus left the shop picking up a discarded daily profit off the street. It was yesterday's paper. He started to read because while he knew what was happening in his own life for the next week he had no recollection of what was happening in the Wizarding world.
Making it back laden with paper and ingredients Severus hummed he was still in pain from his bruises but he hadn't felt this free in years. The cauldron was set with ease, a simple augmenti filling it with base amounts of water, the stove working and ventilation spells set up. Severus was happy doing what he loved to counter-clockwise turns a bit of powdered Lionfish Spine. Now waiting an hour setting a timer on his wand digging into dinner he started to peruse the newspaper. An article about the new ministers position on centaur negotiations for potion gatherers entering their forest on page two. He had a hell of a time negotiating with bane to gather potions in the forbidden forest. Ugh if he went back to Hogwarts he would have to do that all again. If he wants back? Where else could he go? He didn’t have his NEWTS yet. A headline on a bill he couldn't care less about that was scheduled to be voted on in three days. Two days now since this was yesterday's paper. Voting on that meant the wizengamot would be in session in two days! His grandfather would be in Britain. After discovering his lordship he also got his grandfather's voting record that man never missed a vote in his entire life. He publicly despised death eaters though Severus wondered if his grandfather survived the first war if he would have have been given the lordship. With his grandfather being in town he could send an owl asking to meet at Gringotts. Quickly he wrote that down to send the letter in his notebook.
If he was going to live for himself he needed some goals and rules to live by.