Let the Show Begin
The Following June
“Where is he?” Lily peered around the quad, seething with students.
“I don’t see—there!” James waved an arm and strode off across the pavement, dodging two students carrying a large piece of some kind of theatrical equipment. Lily ran after him, dodging the crowd.
The thin figure sitting on the cement bench looked up from the stack of papers in his lap and smiled. Setting aside his papers, he stood and waved. “Lily! James!”
“Severus!” James reached the bench at last. “Blimey, is it always this busy?”
“No, not usually.” Severus shook his head. “Everyone’s getting ready for the play tonight.”
“We’re looking forward to seeing that!” Lily laughed. “You’re looking good, Sev!”
Severus was looking good, James thought. Gone was that sullen scowl, the resentful hunched shoulders. Severus Snape was never going to be a smiley ray of sunshine, but he stood straighter now, his whole demeanor more relaxed. His new uniform suited him: no more flapping robes to make him look like a bat, but long black slacks matched with a short-sleeved blue shirt and tailored black jacket, embroidered with the crest of his new school, Wellston Academy. The jacket was zipped up; even in June, the weather in San Francisco was cool, almost chilly. Severus’s hair was cut shorter now, neatly combed, and he just generally seemed stronger and healthier.
“Thanks, Lily,” said Severus. “You are too.” He gave a swift smile. “Thanks for coming. Both of you.”
“Hey, we couldn’t miss your very first Shakespeare performance,” grinned James. “What character are you playing again?”
“Friar Laurence and the Apothecary,” said Severus with pride. “Also the Chorus.”
“All three at once?” Lily raised an eyebrow. “Including the evil Apothecary? Won’t that make Friar Laurence a bit sinister?” One of the things James had discovered over the last nine months was that Lily was well-versed in Shakespeare and was intensely familiar with all the major characters. Well, of course she was: she was Severus’s friend.
Severus smiled a little. “We’re going for a sinister Friar Laurence in this production. Sort of hinting that everything is his fault.” He hefted the wodge of papers. “I was just going over my lines.”
“You’ll do great,” James assured him. “I’m sure that copy of The Norton Shakespeare I got you helped!”
“Right, James,” Severus rolled his eyes while James laughed. “Though I am grateful you got it for me, James, really.”
“Least I could do. And I do know how to buy a Muggle book, ha ha!” It had been a matter of immense satisfaction when Severus’s new copy had arrived from Flourish and Blotts, two owls working together to carry the heavy tome. James was so glad he’d been able to give Severus his new book before Severus had to leave. “How’s everything else about your new school?”
“I like it here,” Severus said simply. “The classes are very interesting and no one’s bullying me.”
James felt a pinch of guilt at that. “I still don’t think it’s right,” he said quietly. “That you have to move to a foreign country, change your name and attend a Muggle school when you’re the hero who saved us from the Dark Lord.”
Severus surprised him by laughing, brief and quiet but genuine. “I see what you mean, James, but honestly: I don’t feel that way. I was never happy at Hogwarts. It was never a good place for me. Here at Wellston I can learn about more than just magic. Math, science, drama…I’ve had to do a lot of work catching up, but it’s been worth it.”
“But what do you do about magic?” Lily asked.
“It’s actually rather clever.” Severus turned, leading the other two into the main building of the school. “There are several other magical students here, and we’re all enrolled in the ‘Special Electives’ course. We have tutors who teach us magic as our elective, without the rest of the school being any the wiser.”
James shook his head. “Crazy way of doing it.”
“Apparently, it’s common here in America,” Severus shrugged. “Wizards are more integrated with Muggles here. Parents want their children to be able to operate in the Muggle world.”
“Hey, Stephen!”
A tall Black kid came loping up, and Severus introduced him as Robert, his roommate and fellow wizard. James felt a mild shock at hearing Severus called ‘Stephen’, but of course Severus had been forced to assume a new identity when he went into hiding. There were still plenty of Death Eaters on the loose, though the Ministry was having great success in tracking them down.
Robert, who seemed very friendly, grinned at James and Lily. “Glad some of Stephen’s friends could make it! Did you Portkey here?”
“Yep,” said Lily. “We can’t stay long. We’ll have to head back after the play.”
“That’ll mess up your time zones!” Robert turned to Severus, going a bit more serious. “Is your mom coming?”
Severus grimaced a little. “She said she would.”
James and Lily both kept quiet. Eileen Snape had been forced to move when her son did, as his actions put a target on her back as well. James gathered that Eileen had not been pleased. Severus’s father had been even less so, but a few well-said threats from Dumbledore about going to the police with charges of assault and battery had been enough to cow Tobias Snape. James wasn’t sure where Tobias had gone, but it hadn’t been to San Francisco with his wife and son. His ex-wife, rather: Eileen had apparently initiated divorce proceedings. Eileen now lived here in San Francisco under an assumed name, close to Severus’s school, but Severus did not live with her, residing instead in student housing. James wasn’t sure what Severus’s relationship with his mother was like anymore. And it wasn’t his place to ask.
Robert moved past the awkwardness by asking James and Lily how their year had been at Hogwarts, and the four of them discussed the horrors of an OWL year all the way to the dining hall. Wellston Academy, James reflected, was about as different from Hogwarts School as you could get. Everything was very clean, very modern, with Muggle technology everywhere, not to mention Muggles. Everyone ran around, alarmingly energetic and self-assertive, excitement a live current through the student body, everyone anticipating tonight’s performance and the summer vacation to come. James found he could understand why Severus liked this place.
The dining hall was a wide, open space with glass doors overlooking an outdoor patio. Robert immediately whisked Lily off to the food line, assuring her the food here at Wellston was far superior to regular school fare. James watched them disappear into the crowd, Lily’s lovely red hair dancing, then turned to catch a knowing gleam in Severus’s eyes.
“Don’t worry,” Severus said. “Robert’s not into girls.”
James felt his face turn bright red. “Is it that obvious?” he blurted out.
“Well, I figured that since you two came here together…” Severus shrugged. “And you keep making moon eyes at each other when you think I’m not looking.”
James flushed even further. “We’ve been dating for a couple of months now,” he admitted. Then: “Do you…mind? I—I know how you feel about Lily…”
Severus was silent a moment, staring down at the tiled floor. He seemed to be marshaling his thoughts. “A few months ago,” he said at last, “I would have minded. I would have minded very much. But since then…I’ve talked to my therapist. About Lily.”
“What did they say?” Severus had mentioned that he was in therapy in the one letter he’d been able to smuggle out to James, but hadn’t specified what issues he was working through with them.
“She said I had to stop trying to fix Lily into being someone she wasn’t,” Severus said. “That it was Lily’s choice whether she loved me that way or not, and it wasn’t fair of me to try and force her into an emotion she didn’t feel.” Severus took a deep breath. “Lily’s never going to feel that way about me. She’ll always see me as a brother, not a boyfriend. And I—I think I can accept that now. There’s…I don’t know how to describe it. I mean, I still care about her. A lot. But there’s—there’s so much more going on now. In my life.” He shot James a sulky, defensive look, as though expecting James to accuse him of being shallow or heartless.
But James did not. “I understand,” he said. And he did, probably better than Severus himself did. Before his defeat of Voldemort, Lily had been the one bright spot in Severus’s life, his one positive relationship. No wonder he had clung to her so tightly, tightly enough to strangle them both. But now there was so much more joy in Severus’s life: a new city, interesting classes, good relationships, activities he enjoyed. He didn’t need to cling to Lily anymore, didn’t need to try and keep her selfishly to himself
Lily herself had said something similar, a few weeks after she and James started going out. “I miss Sev,” she’d said, crumbling a tea cake in Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop, “but I’m glad he’s away from Hogwarts. I feel like he’s doing so much better now.” She let out a long, heartfelt sigh. “And it’s very good that he’s made more friends.”
Now James said, “I understand. And I’m glad, Severus. Glad I’m not hurting you…anymore.”
Severus blinked a little. “You’re not,” he said slowly, as though just realizing this himself. “You’re really not.”
At that moment, Lily and Robert returned with bowls of ice cream, and the four of them found an unclaimed table to sit and eat. Robert leaned in, eyes bright. “So, how’s it going with the Dark Lord back in Britain?” He might have no idea who Severus truly was, but he was still a wizard; and no wizard in the world was unaware of Voldemort’s spectacular downfall.
“It’s going really well,” Lily said with great satisfaction. “They’ve arrested almost all the Death Eaters.”
“Except the one who got eaten by the acromantula,” James murmured. He and Severus exchanged a quick look: the centaurs had indeed proved less-than-diligent guardians of the unconscious Death Eaters in the Forest. James suspected they had quite happily looked the other way when that acromantula stopped by for a quick snack. Not that he blamed them.
“An act of God,” Lily said serenely. “No one’s fault. But—get this—they interrogated the Dark Lord under Veritaserum and it turns out he had several Horcruxes!”
“Horcruxes? You mean he broke up his soul and stored the pieces away?” Robert’s nose wrinkled.
“Yeah. Creepy, huh? Anyway, they’re working to hunt them all down and destroy them.”
“Ugh.” Robert shuddered and ate more ice cream. “Is there anything about that guy that isn’t completely horrible?”
“Not really,” said James and Severus at the same moment, then looked at one another.
Robert snickered. “Wow, you sound like you know him!”
“Of course we don’t,” said James, heart pounding a little. “What, do we look like Death Eaters to you? But he really was a scourge on magical Britain. Thank God he’s been defeated.”
“Yeah, we should all thank this Severus Snape,” said Robert solemnly. “Wherever he is.”
“Indeed.” Severus checked his watch and stood. “I’d better go. We have to set up and put on our costumes before the show starts.”
“Break a leg!” Robert called after Severus as he left the dining hall. “Stephen’s pretty cool,” he confided to Lily and James. “I’m glad he’s got such good friends back in England.”
James’s hand slipped into Lily’s under the table. “Yeah,” he said. “Me too.”
Later, James and Lily sat in comfortable cushioned chairs in a dimly lit auditorium, surrounded by a shifting, chattering mass of students and their parents. The curtains were still drawn, the play not yet begun, but the anticipation was palpable.
“This should be good!” Lily said to James. “Severus always wanted to perform in a Shakespeare play.”
“Yeah, he likes Romeo and Juliet, doesn’t he?” said James, his arm around her shoulders. “I’m glad we got to come see him.” He paused. “I just wish Sirius, Remus and Peter could’ve come too.”
“Probably better that they don’t,” said Lily, ever practical. “At least not yet. Especially not Sirius.”
James sighed, unable to deny this. “He’s a lot better than he used to be,” he said a bit defensively.
“You’re a lot better than you used to be.” Lily nestled her head into his shoulder. “I certainly wouldn’t have started dating you if you weren’t.”
“I guess I grew up,” James said quietly. This was true: the Forest had changed something inside him. The James Potter who had left the Forest was not the same James Potter who had entered it. And that was a good thing.
“I should hope so, young Potter,” Lily said with mock severity. “Or your parents will kill you!”
James winced, remembering Fleamont and Euphemia’s reaction to discovering the full extent of James’s bad behavior at school. “Can we talk about something else, please?”
Lily giggled, then stiffened. “Hey—there’s Mrs. Snape!”
James scanned the crowd and spotted a dark-haired, sallow-looking woman sitting at the edge. Eileen Snape looked enough like her son that James knew her immediately. Stringy and scowling, she did not look the part of the proud mother coming to watch her son’s performance. But she was here, with apparently every intention of watching the show. Perhaps there was hope for her and Severus after all.
Then the lights dimmed, the crowd hushed and the curtains drew back. For a moment, all lay in dark, quiet expectancy.
Then the spotlight shone, stark and bright, illuminating Severus Snape. He wore a dark cloak, was bent over as though old and frail, and James hardly recognized him, so charged was he with that same joy that had filled him when he’d recited Shakespeare in the Forest. For this was a vital part of Severus Snape, the true joy of his heart, and at last he could express it. At last, he had the freedom and the courage to express it.
“Two households, both alike in dignity,” Severus began in an eerie, ominous voice that sent shivers through the crowd, “In fair Verona, where we lay our scene…”
He’ll be all right, James thought, a deep certainty settling over him. The knowledge sent waves of peace and relief through him. Severus will be all right. He’s free now.
And with that knowledge, James sat back with Lily to enjoy the play.