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It had taken a while for Severus to realize that sometimes his dreams showed actual things that happened- or rather, it took a while for him to mention it to his mother, at which point she’d sat him down and explained that no , not everyone dreamed of things that came true. She’d questioned him thoroughly about his dreams, and then gotten yet more books from the attic, and told him she expected him to finish them within the week, and have at least ten questions ready.
From that, he learned that his dreams could be categorized into things that had definitely happened in the past, or things that might happen in the future. There had also been quite a bit in the books about divination, symbolism, “inner eye” (his mother had rolled her eyes at that, and said a bit snippily that it was utter nonsense), star alignment and more. But mainly what he took from the books were the practical bits about how to “orient” himself in his dreams, to better understand if they were fact or possibility, and ways to better remember them when he woke up. He also learned quite a bit about how he could use occlumency to block them.
He was already doing rather well with his lessons in the mind arts with his mother. After he’d mentioned the dreams, she’d looked almost annoyed with him, and muttered to herself “Of course . Of course you’re a bloody seer. Why not ? You’re already a prodigy in the maths, with potions, with musical theory and chemistry and physics and bloody spell theory. Of course you are a seer as well.” She scowled and ran a hand through her hair. “I don’t know how many more blasted ‘gifts’ I can take.” Severus stared at his mother, perplexed. Seeing the expression, she just sighed. “It’s not your fault. It’s the whole bloody Prince family . You’re one of the last of them, I should have planned for this. I should have known you’d end up with all of this…” She waved her hand vaguely in the air. “Nevermind.”
Severus knew better than to question her when she brought up the Prince family. She despised talking about them, or anything about her life before Spinner’s End. It was strange, that she so carefully avoided such a rather substantial topic, and yet was so diligent in schooling Severus (and Lily, when they’d discovered that she was a witch as well) on basic principles of theory and etiquette in the magical world. Yet, despite doing so, she managed to avoid every question about her own experiences and past.
It was a few weeks after he’d begun to put theory into practice with his dreams that he had his first real “factual” dream, one that he was certain showed an event that had already happened. In it Mr and Mrs. Evans were having a row- nothing like the sort that his own parents got into, there were no angry fists lashing out. They weren’t even raising their voices, just whisper-yelling at each other. Mrs. Evans had discovered she was pregnant and didn’t want to have another child, she was already feeling overworked and overwhelmed. Mr. Evans was flatly refusing to hear a word about abortion, telling his wife that it was murder, and he refused to be a party to it, that he expected better of her than to want to murder their children.
The next day Severus was with Mrs. Evans in her kitchen, helping to peel apples while Lily had gone upstairs to put away her notes from the morning’s lessons with his mother. Their routine had become established by that point, they took morning lessons on the basics of magical academics and etiquette (or sometimes music lessons from Mrs. Bianchi- piano, singing, and some cello, or sometimes just listening to opera), and then in the afternoon they’d have lunch. Mr. Evans had gotten an offer to join a private medical practice, the new job apparently coming with a hefty increase in salary, and the advantage that he could set his own hours, meaning he could come home for lunch. This had been their daily routine for about a year by then.
After they all ate, Mr. Evans would drop Lily off at the local elementary school, where they’d arranged for her to spend her afternoons learning the regular muggle subjects. Apparently, his mother, father, and Mr. Evans had discussed the possibility of Severus attending the school as well- Severus thought he might have enjoyed it, but all of the adults agreed he was far too advanced and that since (according to his mother) he was a “ right little terror when he’s bored ” they decided it best to limit him to homeschooling. So, after lunch, Severus would return home and Mr. Evans would drop Lily at school on his way to work.
That day, Severus continued to help Mrs. Evans in the kitchen as Mr. Evans pressed a quick kiss to her forehead, grabbed an apple off of the table and called for Lily to hurry up. Severus listened as Lily excitedly described the mornings’ lessons to Mr. Evans as they walked out the door, his hands keeping up a steady rhythm peeling the apples. Mrs. Evans had a pinched expression, but unlike his mother, she wasn’t one to get snippy with those around her when she was unhappy or not feeling well. Mrs. Evans was the epitome of kindness, Severus privately doubted she even knew how to yell.
After he heard the motorcar drive away, Severus set the peeler down with a firm hand. Quietly, he had said, “My mother helps women who are pregnant and don’t want to be. And we owe you and Mr. Evans so much- she would be willing to help you, and wouldn’t say a word to anyone.” Mrs. Evans had looked at Severus sharply, but he had started to stack the plates from lunch, and brought them over to the sink to start washing them. He was uncomfortable with long conversations with adults, and didn’t know if he was doing the right thing, but it felt like something he should say. He knew his mother was very secretive about what she did, that she could get in trouble, but he figured it was a calculated risk- his mother was the strongest, most skilled person he knew, if he’d made a mistake telling Mrs. Evans, she would fix it.
Mrs. Evans said nothing for a moment, then began to dry the dishes he had washed. After a minute or two they were done, and she said quietly, “How about I walk you home?” Severus nodded, and when they got to his place, slipped away upstairs to continue reading a muggle book on evolutionary theory.
The next day, Mrs. Evans had shown up during his afternoon occlumency lessons with his mother. Eileen had taken one look at Mrs. Evans, and sent Severus outside. Later in the afternoon, Lily had dashed across the fallen tree that served as a makeshift bridge over the river (more of a stream, with how low the water levels were, and the litter in it mostly remained in one place, the water moving too sluggishly to actually carry anything a great distance). They hunted for Warblewhips, a common magical bird that had very useful eggs and feathers, which they’d learned about that morning. Lily mentioned her mother had been suffering a terrific migraine and had gone to the pharmacy to get some medicine, but Lily was hoping if they found some eggs, they could try making one of the tension-relieving potions they’d studied.
Severus just nodded vaguely, and after they both agreed to give up searching for the day, had cautiously returned home. Seeing that Mrs. Evans was still there, he detoured around to where he could balance on the brick fence in the backyard, and climb up onto the lowest portion of the roof. From there, he was able to comfortably walk up to his bedroom window, and slip inside. Naturally being rather quiet, he carefully opened the door, and left it cracked, listening attentively to the tired voices that drifted up. He heard the tell-tale sounds of tea being made- the kettle whistling, the chime of a spoon stirring sugar and lemon. His mother’s voice was calm, tired, and Mrs. Evans sounded wistful but defiant.
“...I just wish he could experience it. If men felt what we have to go through, if they had their spine shifting alignment, months of terrible sleep, organs crushed, and then the agony of childbirth, the months of recovery… well, it wouldn’t be this way. Instead, we’re supposed to pretend that none of that is a big deal, that we are lucky to be putting our own lives at risk when we give birth. As though the only acceptable reason not to want to have more children is financial.”
“Of course. If I’d known what I know now, if I’m being completely honest, I wouldn’t have had Severus. It sounds terrible, and I do love him. But… I was just so foolish . Well, you remember what a mess I was- I had no idea what was involved with being pregnant, hadn’t ever thought about it. I was impulsive and thought I was in love, and now here I am. I do love Severus, and even Toby, somehow … but, had I known how things would end up, I’d have done things differently.” He felt odd hearing this, as though there was a brick laying on his chest. He went back out the window, and sat on the roof with his back pressed against the side of the house, staring at the smog-filled sky, considering what his mother had said.
Eileen didn’t talk much about what-ifs . It was odd hearing her do so. Normally she would scoff, and whenever he asked about her life before him, or his grandparents, she said they were dead (although they weren’t, and he wished she would just answer his questions, because he had a burning curiosity about them). Severus had been lost in thought for a while, trying to imagine what his mother meant by “a mess”. He didn’t know how long he’d sat there, but he was startled out of his thoughts by his mother climbing out of his bedroom window and sitting next to him holding a pack of cigs, shaking one out. She eyed him intently - as though seeing him fully for the first time.
“I take it you were spying again?” Her voice was dry, and Severus shrugged. Eileen lit the cigarette, and inhaled a long breath of smoke, then nudged Severus with her elbow and offered it to him. Startled, he couldn’t help his delighted smile as he took the cigarette from her, raising it to his lips. He hesitated a second and she gave a small, encouraging nod, and he happily took a breath, only to immediately descend into a coughing fit. His mother laughed softly, and took the cigarette from him, gently rubbing his back. “It always goes like that with the first one. People don’t lie when they say it’s a nasty habit.”
“Why do it?” Severus wheezed.
“I don’t know. I guess after you push through the coughing bit and the stench, it becomes relaxing. Like having tea in its own way- it can be social, but it’s also something that you can do on your own, keep your hands busy while you gather your thoughts.” She took another puff, and then, when he reached out, with a slightly bemused smile handed it to him. “Don’t tell your father.” This time Severus only coughed twice. “You know, even for Spinner’s End, eight is a young age to start smoking. I probably shouldn’t be sharing this with you. Actually, I probably never should have started in the first place, should have quit when I got pregnant, and absolutely should not be letting my eight-year-old prodigal son smoke.” She said all of this in a very strange tone of voice, a faraway look in her eyes.
“Since when do you care about should or shouldn’t ?” Severus asked boldly. That brought her back into the present, and she smirked a bit, looking at him with an expression so open and loving that he almost didn’t think she could really be his mother.
“ Quite . But I do care about you. And don’t you dare go offering cigarettes to muggle children. Our magic protects us from the more deleterious health impacts, but it is rather terrible for their health. And don’t mention anything about this to the Evans’ either. They’d probably stop allowing you to be around Lily, and might even call Child Protective Services on me.” She took the cigarette back and inhaled deeply again.
Severus rather boldly reached over to the pack, and pulled out his own cigarette, and lit it with a snap of his fingers the way he’d seen his mother do. She watched the whole process, then rolled her eyes and muttered “Bloody child prodigy. I can’t do a damn thing around you without you learning it.” He heard the fondness in her voice though, and wasn’t bothered. After a minute or two of both of them smoking together, Eileen said, “You did the right thing. Telling Rose about what I do.” He looked at her, not knowing what to say. Seeing his hesitation, she allowed herself a crooked little smile. “It still needs to be a secret though, and I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you not to ever bring it up. By the way, I wanted to tell you- Rose mentioned that their family will be going on a week-long getaway to the beach, and she wanted to know if you would like to join them.” She cocked her eyebrow at him. “I told her you weren’t interested.” Severus stared at his mother, his cigarette falling out of his mouth into his lap, and he squawked a rather outraged,
“WHAT? Why would you-” And then his mother descended into a fit of laughter and he paused, staring at her. Despite being overcome with laughter that shook her whole body, Eileen managed to cast a quick wandless spell to vanish the cigarette before it could burn through his jeans.
“Merlin your face! At least I can still surprise you sometimes. Of course I told her you’d love to go. They’re leaving tomorrow, and will stop by our house to pick you up early. Just be sure you’re on your best behavior, or I won’t let you out of my sight again until you graduate from Hogwarts, understood?” At that, Severus threw his arms around his mother in a rare physical show of affection, perhaps a bit too hard as she let out an “oof” and fell back a little into the roof. But she didn’t seem to actually mind, and after a moment of hesitation, hugged him back. “Now, go on and pack. You’ll want your toothbrush, at least four clean outfits, and something you can swim in and a towel.” Pulling back, wide-eyed, Severus nodded and dashed into his room to do just that. Eileen chuckled some more, and leisurely finished her cigarette as she listened to her son crash loudly about his room in his hurry to prepare for the trip.
Severus had been so excited, he hadn’t been able to sleep. He was up before the sun, had rushed downstairs with his backpack full of clothes, and decided to busy himself by making coffee for his parents. His Da was the first to emerge, blinking slowly and following the smell of the coffee. Seeing Severus, he smirked. “Excited, eh?” Without waiting for a response, he grabbed a mug, filled it with coffee and a splash of cream, then sat at the kitchen table with his eyes closed, taking deep gulps from the mug. “You’ll behave yourself, yeah?”
“Of course!” Severus was indignant. He knew he sometimes wasn’t the politest or best at following rules, but he always had reasons for it. He would never do anything to offend the Evans’ though. His Da just smiled peaceably, and nodded. His mother emerged a short while later, also helping herself to a mug of coffee, sitting next to his Da. When they heard the Evans’ motorcar pull up, Severus had been nearly bouncing of the walls in excitement. He grabbed his backpack, then ran around and gave both his parents a hug and was out the door before they could react. Mr. Evans grinned at him, and popped the trunk, before walking around and taking the backpack from him and placing it on top of the rest of the luggage, and then with a small struggle shoving the trunk closed. A friendly wave to his parents, and then Mr. Evans was in the driver's seat, telling Severus (who ended up sitting between Tuni and Lils) to buckle up, and they were off.