Chapter 6
Severus Snape felt queasy. He could hear Rose Evans calling his name, see Petunia Evans scowling at him like he had stolen her, 'ten pound state of the art refillable pen!' that she had been yapping about every time they had interacted last summer, and broke it right in front of her. "Oh Severus is that you?" Rose called in an excited voice and Severus knew he had been found out. "Hi, Ms.Evans, Petunia, how are you?" He said in the most pleasant voice he could muster, with Petunia glaring at him as she was. "Oh, back to Ms.Evans now, I told you to call me Rose four years ago!" She replied cheekily. He had called her Rose once, right before the train took off for fifth year and she threatened to withhold his ride back until he said it. He knew she wasn't going to follow through but had seriously contemplated it after the tensity of the car ride the year before but didn't want to risk it. He was about to reply when the Green Line bus pulled up.
"Oop, this is us!" Ms.Evans said cheerfully and ushered Petunia onto the bus. Severus considered waiting for the next bus but knew he had to get clean and finish at the library before it got too dark and he couldn't see his way on the trail. He sighed and stepped onto the bus. He surveyed the free seats and took one at the very front. The Evans' were at the back so he was confident they wouldn't bother him.
Not fifteen minutes into the ride, Severus would know he had nothing better to do than watch the clock, he felt someone sit in the seat next to him and smack his shoulder. He jumped and looked over at the smacker ready to tear them a new one and saw Petunia. Even better. He opened his mouth ready to rip Petunia to shreds when she cut him off. "I know what you did to Lily" she spat at him.
What?
"What?" He asked her confused. "Oh cut the innocent act, I know you've called her horrible names and attacked her friends, and really Snape just because Lily's your only friend doesn't mean you're her-" She rambled, enraged. "Hold on, first of all, yeah I called her a horrible name and I regret it, but did she tell you that I was being hung upside down by my ankles and being stripped while she stood there and tried to 'talk him down' instead of just stopping him. She was a prefect trying to 'talk down' someone who had tried to be 'talked down' multiple times before yet had never actually been talked down. So was I right for calling her that no absolutely not, but was I in a bad spot for her 'please potter stop' Bambi Bullshit? yes, also I don't even know what friends you're talking about because she refuses to introduce her 'Slimy Snake' best friend to her fucking Bestie Brigade, so take your bullshit excuse to shit on me, and put at least half as much of that effort into at least acting like you care about anybody but yourself." He spat the last part right back at Petunia, whose cheeks were flushed in embarrassment not only because of what he had said, but because he was just as loud ripping her to shreds as she was when trying to make him look like a fool.
He heard a whistle and then clapping. Somebody shouted "She doesn't seem like a very good friend, lad" and hollers of agreement passed around the bus. Severus wanted to feel embarrassed but he couldn't, he had been holding how he really felt back knowing nobody would listen to him. He just then remembered Ms.Evans and the embarrassment actually started up, but he pushed down. He was tired of constantly being embarrassed by every little thing people said or thought about him, it was draining physically and mentally and he was over it. He looked at Petunia expectantly and turned back around in his seat when she got up and left.
Fifteen minutes later the bus stopped at Birmingham City Center and Severus stood up and left quickly. He was angry and annoyed and needed a shower. He wandered around the streets clutching at his backpack strings until someone bumped into him and pressed a YMCA card onto his chest. He wanted to feel affronted but decided to just see what it was.
Severus walked out of the City Center and found a three-story building with a big YMCA plastered in big letters on the front of the building. He walked up to the door and pulled it open. The first thing that he saw was a boy, that couldn't be a year older than himself, snoozing behind the secretary's desk. Severus knocked on the desk above the boy's head and pulled back when the boy shot up and grumbled at him through hazy eyes. "Can you repeat that?" Severus says. "Welcome to the Birmingham YMCA, how old are you?", and Severus knows he definitely knows he didn't say all that in his two-second grumble but doesn't push it. "Why do you need to know that?" Severus asks confused and maybe a little bit defensive. "Calm down, Ponochio, there are two different age groups" Severus lets the long nose joke slide off of him and replies back "Im seventeen, Sleeping Beauty" The boy snorts and reaches down to pull out a youths badge card "Im not a youth im seventee-""still going in the youth half, complain in three years and you can get moved." He says sounding annoyed then slides the card over and points at the 'YOUTH' sign on the wall. "The showers are communal, the outdoor pool is open May to September, and the indoor one is open all year just please use the bathrooms to pee, and you have one free month's worth of meal points on there and you can renew it for two pounds." He drones off then plops his head back in his hands. Severus took the obvious hint and made his way to the youth section.
Severus took in the space around him. There were workout machines in the main space with five doors stretching across a hexagonal wall. Severus could see the leftmost one was a door to the outdoor pool, the one next to it the indoor pool, both with a small number of people hanging around and in them. He saw the big 'BOYS LOCKER ROOM' sign above the door. Next to it was a small football field with a mix of boys and girls hooting and hollering while trying to score without a goalie. On the far most right there was "GIRLS LOCKER ROOM' plastered above the door.
He weaved around multiple people to get to the locker rooms, a boy older with curly blonde hair that looked poorly slicked back moving towards the pool, a younger girl following him with a high ponytail pulled halfway to her forehead, a girl with an afro heading towards the girl's locker room, a young boy with long brown hair lifting with an older boy standing behind him arms crossed over his chest, and finally, a boy with a horrendous part in his hair who was running Severus assumed towards the football field.
At last, he reached the locker room door and made his way in. He walked over to the left locker section and looked for a vacant one. He found locker A27 and swiped his card just as he'd seen another boy do. 'PASSWORD' filtered across the mini screen and Severus typed 0109. His birthday didn't mean much after his first year at Hogwarts but it was still the easiest 4 numbers he could remember. He took his clothes, towel, and toiletries out of his bag then put his bag back in his locker and shut it, trying it a couple of times to make sure it was unopenable without his password, before heading towards the showers.
He was walking towards the last shower when he spotted a forgotten gold mine. There was a package of soap, a still packaged washcloth, shampoo, conditioner, and lotion, all strewn across the floor. "Is anybody using this shower?" he called out to the rest of the locker room and waited a couple of seconds for an affirmative. When none came Severus took off his shirt and scooped everything up. He knew this was stealing but he could just say he asked everyone and nobody said anything so it was free. He rushed to the last shower, set his clothes inside his towel, and enjoyed a hot clean shower. Once finished he washed his hair as thoroughly as he could. He finished his shower, dried off, scooped up his items, hung up his towel in his locker, re-stocked his bag with everything but the new products, brushed his teeth, and left the YMCA. It was 10:38 when he left the YMCA, he was planning to go back for lunch at noon so he had time to look for the library.
After 45 minutes of mindless walking, he found the 'Birmingham Library for Muggle and Magical Folk'. If Severus had to guess he'd probably say everything after the for could only be seen by magical people and their families. He walked in and went straight to the reception desk. "How would I get a library card?" He asked the man in front of him. The man looked up "If you are a minor you can get one with your school, if not I need a bill or an Identification of some sort." Severus hesitated, he didn't want to break the statute but he didn't know if he was supposed to say anything to him. The man took him in and suddenly pointed up to a sign labeled 'Magical personnel' stood. Severus thanked the man and walked over. He entered and walked over to reception again. He went through the same process but could get a card once they looked up his registration in Hogwarts. Severus darted over to the magical school's section and picked up a book on Ilvermorny. He picked up 'Ilvermorny a History' and started reading. He read until the clock tower rang noon, checked out the Ilvermorny book and another one, also on Ilvermorny, and checked them out. He walked back over to the YMCA, ate his lunch, went for a swim, washed off, and left the Y once again. He walked to the bus stop luckily this time without the Evans', got on, rode back, walked home, greeted his mum, changed for work, lied to his mum about Lily again, went to work, finished work, walked home, changed, read some more, reflected on the tiring day, and slept.