Like Mother Like Son
Do you like her? – She asked slowly
Who? – Her son’s face shows his confusion.
The redhead you always stick to – She said amused.
Ew, mom, I would never see Lily like that – a grimace in his lips.
But she is such a pretty girl, why wouldn´t you like her? – she squinted her eyes a little.
Mom – he was rubbing his hand, eyes down – I don´t really like girls, I’ve never found them, you know, attractive… not like I do boys- he said in a small voice.
She couldn´t stand her boy insecurity, she went quickly to wrap him in a hug.
Hear me now, Severus. We are not muggles, it is okay for you to like boys, sometimes fate works like that. Maybe you like boys for a reason – she started petting his hair.
Do you really think so, Mom? – he said eyes shiny with hope.
Of course, dear, I know so – she smiled encouragingly – let me ask you something, it is really important you answer honestly – she steeled her voice to imbue it with seriousness.
If you could choose, what would you prefer… going outside to provide for your loved one, like your father, or staying at home, like I do, to care for the family? – she saw how her son was deliberating in his mind.
I would like to stay at home like mama – he said blushing.
I knew my darling son took after me! – she started laughing and Severus relaxed. His mother was okay with him being different.
Severus was only twelve years old when he decided what he preferred but the years didn´t change his opinion. As his mother, Eileen could only try to prepare Severus for a better life. She rescued every piece of knowledge she could from her own upbringing. After living the consequences of her own choices against the polite pureblood society she wanted everything to go differently for her son.
She had been eighteen going around the muggle world, avoiding her parents talking about new prospects she was not satisfied with. She met him in a bar, a bar in a nice neighborhood where she later knew he was just passing by. She fell so in love with him that she eloped. Eloped to the very same rundown house she was in now.
She had let him take her to bed, so she knew for sure that she wanted to stay with him. Oh, boy, he was good. They were not so bad back them. When he knew she was a witch, he got this aversion against her that he almost couldn´t bear to touch her. Almost.
Two years after their marriage she gave birth to Severus. Her husband still looked at her with some hate, but he loved Severus. They mostly lived in a cold war. But he loved her in a betrayed way, and she loved him in a guilty way.
They couldn´t leave each other but couldn´t really love each other freely. Severus grew in that cold environment but being loved by both his parents. Sadly, Tobias grew his liking of beer, and he was rather violent and foulmouthed when inebriated. Severus was disgusted by how his loving parent turn into a monster after the fourth beer bottle.
Amidst everything, he still felt save enough with her to confess he liked boys. She started watching how Severus grew to see if his stance changed, but it didn´t.
He was not deterred when he knew he would need to let go of his privilege as a man, no little dalliances around and no exploring his body as other boys his age. He had to remain pure and untouchable by others, so he couldn´t even be exposed in front of his roommates.
He still felt that being at home, learning how to clean, how to cook and how to attend people was okay. He enjoyed his time with her mother and used his skills to please his father. If Tobias thought that what Severus was doing was too feminine, he never voiced it out. He indulged Severus in his endeavors and complimented his food.
Then, when Severus grew to be fourteen, Eileen noticed a few things. Tobias was a tall and burly man. She was attracted to that, it blinded her how manly he was. A 1.9 meters tall man, thick and bulgy muscles, and a square jaw where definitely a bonus when she met him. Now, although he had lost lots of muscle, he could still be called a burly man.
Severus on the other hand didn´t seem to take after his father. She was not that much tall, only 1.65 meters and her Severus seem to be shorter than her. She knew that he would get a growth spurt but probably he would only grow around the 1.7 m.
He was slim and his narrow waist frightened her every time she let him go around that ugly neighborhood with men of no-good precedence. Then, his hips started to widen, and his jaw remained like hers. A heart-shaped face. Big rounded eyes. The plush thin lips.
Maybe, he was a male-bearer. It was a fleeting thought. It was not possible, only the offspring of two magical people could produced a male-bearer, you need so much magic so you can make a man’s body be able to carry life.
She was sured that Tobias was the only man in her life but who knows, maybe Mother Magic wanted Severus to be a male-bearer.
She put much more effort into training Severus as a good bride. She even went as far as teach him to start drinking Jasmine tea as every other bride in her family have done before her.
Afterall, there was no harm in accelerating the process, if he was a male-bearer and he got married, the best he could do was bearing an heir quickly for his husband. She couldn´t be sure as she couldn´t take him to a healer, but she saw all the signs and Severus own disposition.
She wouldn’t tell him that he might be a male-bearer. She didn´t want to give him hope and then shatter it. But if he was then he would be a perfect bride, no need to take risky potions to re-arrange his anatomy to give birth to at most a child or two.
If he was indeed a male-bearer, then the Jasmine tea would boost his fertility. If he was not one, then it would also be okay for his health to drink it, it would boost his immune system.
Sadly, she could get the signals from her body, she wouldn´t get to live enough so she could see that moment. She could only pray that her Severus would have a long healthy life, grow well into his beauty, get himself a nice husband and have a family that would love and protect him.