Chapter 3
TELLING SEVERUS ABOUT DIAGON had the opposite effect of lulling him to sleep: Naturally, he wanted to hear all about the mystical place, and then of course he wanted to see it. Tom promised him that he’d take him there on the weekend, and that thought was enough for the starry eyed boy to finally go to bed.
He spent the next few days sorting through the curriculum Abraxas sent him, preparing lesson plans and so on. He felt confident to teach at a higher level; he’d mastered most of the DA curriculum he learned from by his fourth year, after all. Finally, the weekend came. He apparated to Cokeworth and found Severus ready for him. Tobias didn’t question anything, and if he’d said anything to Eileen, she didn’t tell Tom.
And that was how Tom found himself standing at the brick wall that had been his entrance into the Wizarding World. In a few moments, it would be Severus’s.
“Are you ready?” he asked the boy at his side.
Severus looked up at him through his matted black hair, eyes wide with excitement.
“Ready.”
Tom produced his wand hesitantly, before breathing deep, counting the bricks until he’d found the right one, and tapped it once, twice, thrice, watching as the bricks turned inward and formed an arch.
Severus gaped at his new surroundings in awe. For the first few moments, all they did was stand in the midst of the crowd, watching the Mages go about their day from shop to shop, dressed in all manner of colorful clothes and carrying all manner of extravagant things with them. Tom picked Severus up and carried him on his arm before heading to Gringotts so he didn’t lose track of him, answering all of his many questions while they went. They attracted a number of stares and gawking faces because of their shabby or Muggle-looking clothes, but it was even because Severus made sure to do the same to them.
When they made it to the monumental, columned building, Tom put Severus down and helped him navigate the various cues, entertaining him with any tidbit of information Severus required about Goblins as they waited. “Bring me to the office of Advisor Garlock,” he said when they finally reached the teller desk.
A few moments later, they stood at the door of one of Tom Riddle’s very few friends. Not that Garlock would ever admit that; she was incredibly business minded. Still, whenever Tom found himself in a tight situation, like the one he was in now, she was perfectly willing to help him out of it, provided she got to give him a three-point lecture on how he could’ve avoided it entirely.
“Hello, Mr Riddle,” she said when the door opened to admit them. “And Mr?”
“Erm.” Severus seemed to wilt like a flower under her serious gaze. “Hello; my name’s Severus.”
“Snape,” Tom finished for him.
“Well. Hello to you too Mr Snape,” Garlock said, easing the tension in the boy a bit, and a little in her as well. She steepled her hands on her desk and looked at Tom when they sat down. “He wouldn’t have any relation to the disgraced ‘Eileen Snape’, would he?”
“All in good time, Garlock,” Tom said. “Did you get the letter about my account?”
“Yes, and I made the necessary arrangements. Would that have anything to do with him?”
“Yes,” Tom sighed. Garlock always saw right through him. “Eileen sent me a letter about a month ago, asking me to help her teach him. I found them, and-”
“Silence,” Garlock commanded, stopping Tom before he could start. “What did you do?”
“I took the DA job,” Tom admitted after a pause.
Garlock looked a little irked by that, but she didn’t say anything about it. “You went to Abraxas?”
“Yes?”
“What did he want?”
“For me to teach the Dark Arts, effectively. So far I’ve been the only one willing to.”
“Matches with what I’ve heard,” Garlock said. “How do you intend to get around Dumbledore?”
“I don’t know yet,” Tom admitted, “but I’m thinking about it.”
Garlock gave a sigh. “What do you need me to do?”
“I’m trying to find a place where I can put the boy and his mother. The boy’s father-”
“Doesn’t take well to magic?” Garlock said before Tom could. He nodded, and she didn’t press the matter further. Garlock sat back in her chair and sighed. “And you can’t afford to buy a new piece of magical real estate, especially now that you’ll be taking a Hogwarts salary . . . I’ll see what I can do,” Garlock said after a pause. She leaned forward again and rubbed her temples before looking at Severus. “He seems to be at peace with everything, at least.”
Tom looked to his right to find Severus dozing soundlessly against his seat, a tiny bit of drool escaping his lips. He cleaned off his cheek with a wandless Scourgify before picking the boy up and placing him on his lap, letting him shuffle around until he felt comfortable.
“He looks like you,” Garlock said suddenly. “When you were a boy. You remember when Dumbledore brought you here, didn’t you?”
“How could I forget?”
“Indeed.” She stepped around her desk and, after some noticeable hesitation, reached out with a claw to brush away some of his hair. “I remember how he always seemed to look at you: Uncaring, cold. Like you were a piece of dirt on his shoe.”
“Most people did the same when they found out I spoke Parseltongue.”
Garlock nodded. “I knew immediately that you wouldn't make it through in Hogwarts without help from above, so I stepped up, because I knew you wouldn’t have anyone else. And besides for Abraxas, you didn’t. And he would’ve too,” she added, tapping softly against the boy’s forehead and causing him to stir a bit. “But now, he has you.”
“And?”
Garlock shrugged. “Now he has someone.”
If Tom were more naive, he would’ve asked why she’d restated the obvious, but thirty years of Garlock’s monologues had taught him that sometimes the obvious needed to be pointed out again: Severus had someone. Someone from the Wizarding World, someone willing to show him the ropes and give him a hand with them. Someone who knew him, who could tell him that they knew what that felt like. Someone who cared.
Severus had him.
For the first time in what felt like a long, long time, Tom smiled.
“Now, shall we give the boy a cart ride?” Garlock said, breaking the silence.
“I never thought children would be the way through your golden heart’s granite shell, but I stand corrected.”
Garlock cursed in Gobbledygook.
Tom laughed before shaking Severus awake.
“Sevvy, you might want to be awake for this bit.”
***
After Severus woke up, it was nearly impossible to fall back asleep again: First a cart ride, then new clothes, then looking at the animals, then sweets. He learned how Owls carried magic mail, how Goblins ran the magical bank, saw how magical broom sticks flew, and met an incredibly rude boy named Lucius whose father Uncle Riddle knew. And all of it ended in Fortescues, which, if Severus could say anything on the matter, was no doubt the greatest ice cream shop in the world.
All of that got him thinking: So far everything in Diagon Alley looked brilliant! Flying broomsticks, friendly owls, sweets, ice cream- it looked like a theme park! Severus could’ve stayed here forever. So- why couldn’t he?
“Uncle Riddle?” he asked hesitantly.
“Hm?” Uncle Riddle looked up from his near finished mint-chocolate.
“Can I . . Can I- stay here?”
“Well, where?” Uncle Riddle said, half-jokingly. “Fortescues?”
“No. Just . . here.” Severus said, out of other good words.
Tom looked at the boy longingly. Little did Severus know how much Tom knew what he meant. He’d asked the same question to Dumbledore when they’d finished their school trip: Why did he have to go back to Wool’s Orphanage when he could’ve just stayed there? It didn’t make sense.
Well, none of the Wizarding World made sense, not to the people it trampled: Not to Hagrid, who got expelled and barred from performing magic for being born half-giant, that incident with the acromantula just an excuse, or Eileen, who got tarred, feathered, and disowned for marrying a muggle, or Myrtle, who- Tom didn’t want to think about her right now.
Tom finished his internal rant and found Severus still wanting an answer.
“Severus,” he started, but found himself unable to go much further. “Severus, this world- It’s not too easy to- to get into, if you’re born outside it.”
“But what about Mum? She lived here. Didn’t she?”
“What I mean is-” Tom sighed. Damn it, why couldn’t he be like Dumbledore? He’d spat out a good, cock and bull excuse fairly easily. He cleared his head. “Severus, you can’t live . . here, but-”
“Ok,” Severus said, quietly but dissatisfied, putting his hands in his lap.
“But! I can- I promise, Severus. You can’t live here now. But someday from now, I swear, you will.”
Severus’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
Tom nodded. “Really.”
Through Hell or High Water, Tom would deliver.