Chapter 6
IT WAS CHRISTMAS DAY, and Tom was finally tutoring Severus. He was a smart boy, understanding the subjects he was taught as much as he was fascinated by them. It almost made Tom a little jealous, seeing Sevvy take such genuine interest in magic, while when he was the boy’s age, he merely saw it as a route to power; nothing to be entertained by. Perhaps it was because he’d already weaponized it by then.
The subject he excelled at best was (unsurprisingly, considering his heritage) potions, and they’d spent Christmas Eve brewing a calming-draught. All Tom had to do was stand to the side and make sure Severus didn’t blow himself up, which the latter was already doing anyway. He found it a good way to catch up.
“Did I ever tell you about quidditch?” he’d asked.
“Yeah. Why?”
“Did I ever tell you I used to play?”
All of a sudden, preparing ingredients had become second in Sevvy’s priorities. “Really?!”
“Yep. Back in my school days, I played seeker.”
“You mean the one who catches the snitch?”
“That’s right! Think I still have a practice one around here somewhere.”
That was how Tom promised Severus a practice snitch for Christmas, and waiting expectantly for him to come through the fireplace next morning. When he did, Tom just made it up from the sofa before Sevvy barreled over and clutched him around the leg.
“Woah, hold on, I don’t have it on me yet!” Usually, he only did that with Eileen.
Then he noticed him shaking.
“Oh shit,” Tom said before he could stop himself, kneeling down to Severus’s level. “Are you alright? Where’s your mother?”
“She-she’s at home!” Severus sputtered, holding back sobs. “Da-dad! He-he found out about . . . about-!”
When his eyes made contact with the little golden box on the table behind them, he sobbed all the more.
Tom put the pieces together. Without thinking, he made for the cauldron leftover from yesterday and brought back a dose of calming draught. “Here; drink up, it’ll make you feel better. I’m going to take you somewhere, somewhere safe,” he continued, throwing a pinch of floo powder into the fireplace and scooping up the trembling boy in his arms. “Hold on tight.”
In a flash, they were in Riddle Manor, the lights turning on at the wave of Tom’s hand. “I’m going to find your mother,” he told Severus, placing him down on a chair. “I’m going to bring her back here, alright?”
Severus stopped shaking so bad, enraptured in his new, much more welcoming surroundings. Slowly, tear stains visible on his cheeks, the boy nodded. Tom couldn’t help but wonder whether or not he truly felt at home before.
No. He had to stay focused.
As he stepped out into the snows of Little Hangleton, that same determination filled him, stronger now than ever before.
He will not be alone.
He will not be alone.
He will not be alone.
***
It was just as snowy in Cokeworth as it was in Little Hangleton: icicles hung off the gutters of the Snape Residence, and Eileen’s vegetable garden was just another patch of white on the lawn. If not for the context of Tom’s visit and the clear poverty of the occupants, it would’ve felt the least bit like Christmas.
It was hard to tell who was controlling the argument, but it was certainly the first time Tom heard Eileen shout before.
“He’s my son!”
“He’s a fucking kid, Toby! Don’t you have any, goddamn decency?!”
“He’s my son, Eileen, and I’m not gonna let him turn into a-!”
The last word froze in Tobias’s mouth, fear visible in his eyes, when they noticed Tom standing in the doorway to the living room. He stepped through the maze of scattered and thrown objects, wand drawn and pointed at the other man’s throat.
“Eileen,” Tom said, dangerously calmly. “Severus is at a place of mine. Little Hangleton, big house on the hill.”
The moment he heard a protest from Tobias, he threw him against the fireplace like a puppet. Before he could react, Tom bound his arms to the mantle with ropes, as if he were about to be crucified. He turned back to Eileen.“Go. I’ll grab your things.”
Eileen stared at him with a mixture of concern, most likely for Severus, confusion, and rage, before one emotion seemed to triumph over the others, and she slowly made her way out. Tom heard the shuffling of a coat, the thud of the door behind him, and, just above the wind outside, the crack of apparition.
Tom turned his attention to Tobias: He looked confused, of all things, gaze firmly fixed on the door where Eileen had just left, presumably for good. Tom supposed people like Tobias never could comprehend what they did to cause their family to abandon them. His thoughts turned toward Severus and Eileen’s belongings, and he headed up stairs to the former’s room.
If it had been a normal day, Tom would not have found anything out of place: The bookshelf was still neatly filled with the numerous fairy tales, and the closet still contained the Wizarding clothes Tom had bought the boy in Diagon. Really, the only thing out of place was the room being in such a house. Without thinking, Tom conjured a pouch, put a number of expansion charms on it, and begin neatly stacking Severus’s belongings. He went downstairs and did the same for Eileen’s, finding a potions lab while he was at it: The receipts by showed that Tobias hardly payed his own bills. No wonder Severus was so good at potions.
After that, he made for the door.
“You! Let me down! Fight me like a man, you freak!”
Tom froze at Tobias’s insult. A feeling of righteous consternation filled him, one he hadn’t felt since he confronted his Uncle Morphin. Perhaps, if he didn’t have to worry about Severus and Eileen, and if he were more hot-tempered, he would’ve killed the bastard. Instead, he remembered a particular bully back at Wool’s Orphanage, the first one to call him - that. Tom had made a hex just for him. He wondered if it still worked . . .
He turned back, wand drawn towards the living room. Tobias stopped shouting, a mixture of fear and anticipation on his face.
“Uo yot eno dis eno deva hu oyt ahw,” Tom incanted, focusing on the images of Eileen and Severus in his memories.
A few moments passed until Tobias contorted uncomfortably in his binds, his toes cramping just visible in his shoes, as five red and blue marks imprinted themselves on his forearm, like an invisible hand had reached out and grabbed him. Then, suddenly, the whole mantelpiece shook, as if someone had taken him by the shoulders, before a sound Tom recognized as a belt resounded through the room, and Tobias grimaced in pain.
Tom smiled grimly. Just recompense, if he’d ever seen it. “That’ll end in a few hours,” Tom said, turning back towards the door as another belt crack was heard. “In the meantime, forget you ever had a family; you never deserved one. And don’t come looking for us,” he finished. “You won’t find them.”
Tom would make sure no one like him could.
***
When he arrived back at Riddle Manor, he found Eileen in the dining room. Her back was to him, gazing across the neat fittings Tom had found to decorate the place.
“I’ve got your things,” he told her, ignoring the subject of her husband. “Where’s Severus?” he asked when she gave no reaction.
“Outside,” she near whispered after a minute. “He wanted to go; I gave him some warming charms, so he should be alright. You know, I thought everything would look like this when I’d left,” she continued, and Tom needed no explanation to know what she was talking about. “A nice, big house in the countryside, where we’d play football in the summer. And sit by the table at Christmas time.”
At that, Eileen made her way to the side table Tom had set up for him and Severus, the silverware still nearly placed there for when they’d take a break in whatever Severus wanted to do for the day at lunchtime. Just about now, Tom realized.
“Are you alright, Eileen?” Tom asked, and it was only after he said it that he realized how stupid that sounded.
“No, no I’m not alright,” she started. “My husband just attacked my son after the only adult who can properly care for him tried to give him something nice, and now we’ve left our house for good. He betrayed me, that’s what he did,” she realized, “he betrayed me. He fucking betrayed me!”
She swept her arms across the table, sweeping everything to the floor next to it. Tom didn’t blame her: Betrayal was a feeling he knew well.
“I loved him!” she cried, grabbing onto the table for support, her knuckles white. “I loved him, and this is how he repays me!” Eileen choked up before she could say anything else, sitting down against the wall and covering her face. Tom walked over and sat down next to her, trying to think of something to say. Eventually, he gave up; Eileen just needed a shoulder to cry on.
They sat there unmoving for hours, until Eileen steadied herself and everything went quiet, and the only question left was What now?
The answer came soon enough. When they heard the door open, they steadied themselves and started cleaning up the room, both knowing that Severus would need a stable presence now.
“Mum?” they heard him say hesitantly. “There’s . . . a friend here.”
“Who is it?” Eileen asked, just as confused as Tom was; as of yet, there hadn’t been any neighbors brave enough to meet the Manor’s new owner.
“Her name’s Lily,” he said, stepping into view. “She lives here. Can she come in?”
Eileen paused for a moment. “Of course,” she answered finally, putting on the best smile she could considering the circumstances.
Tom watched from the back of Riddle Manor’s main hall as a girl about Severus’s age, with a contrast of red hair and green eyes, walked in at Severus’s side, at awe with her surroundings.
“You didn’t tell me you lived here!” she said suddenly.
“Well,” Severus stuttered, “we- we just got here.”
“Oh, so you moved?”
“Erm. Yeah.”
“Well, it’s a nice house! Could you show me around? Oh, and you must be Sev's parents!” The girl raised her hand to Eileen, addressing her as ‘Mrs Snape’.
“Mrs Prince,” she corrected, trying not to sound stern. “And you are Mrs-?”
“Evans. Lily Evans,” the girl introduced herself. “Are you Mr Prince?”
“No,” Tom corrected. “Mr Riddle. I’m Severus’s uncle.”
Lily Evans seemed to find everyone’s variety of names strange, but didn’t comment, even when Tom presented a golden, winged ball to her new friend as a Christmas Present. She looked upon the trio with wonder, the complete opposite of Tobias Snape. Soon, her and Severus started exploring the house as Tom and Eileen followed behind. It was late in the day when Lily left.
“Can you show me more magic when I come back?” she asked Severus at the door.
“Well, I don’t know. Uncle Riddle’s usually the one who does that. Can you, Uncle Riddle?”
“I suppose,” Tom offered. “As long as she doesn’t tell her parents.”
“Why not?” Lily protested suddenly, looking somewhat pouty. She was quite headstrong.
“Well, I’d have to meet them first. To make sure they understand,” Tom alluded.
“Well, we’re having a New Year’s party soon. Do you think you could come?”
“We’ll see,” Eileen said, holding her son by the shoulders protectively.
“Ok then. Happy Christmas!”
“Yes. Happy Christmas.”
“Bye, Sev!” the red haired girl called from partway down the hill. “See you soon!”
The next day, they found a letter asking them to dinner on New Year’s.
***
The Trio looked quite different compared to the former inhabitants of Riddle Manor, but they soon fit in: Eileen and Tom made good friends with Lily's parents, though none of them broke through the ice between them and the Evan’s eldest daughter, Petunia. They were good neighbors, and Tom had a hunch for a while that Lily was magical. He’d never been able to act on it though, as he had to work at Hogwarts during the school year.
Nevertheless, they kept connected: Despite her abuse, Eileen recovered through taking care of her son and the house, and soon started writing Tom letters to keep him updated. He heard about Eileen’s new garden and Severus’s education, and he got to see it all come Christmas time. It took him back to his first days out of Hogwarts.
And then, there were the summers, the glorious summers, where Tom didn’t have to rely solely on Eileen’s words to see her boy - their boy - growing up.
It was the one after his first year at Hogwarts that Tom realized how well everything seemed to turn out: Tom had a job, one he liked for a change; Eileen had her son, and he was safe; they all had a home to live in, with good neighbors to share it with.
And Severus wasn’t alone.
For six short years, that was enough.