Chapter Text
When Severus Snape is nine years old his nose is broken for the first time by his father, Tobias Snape. He doesn’t cry. He just sits in a corner, huddled in on himself with dark listless eyes while he waits for his mother to get home from the diner she works at. Thus, this is how Eileen Snape née Prince finds her son. When Severus glances up at Eileen his eyes are so much like the black pools of Tobias’ that she’d been swept away by. But unlike her husband’s gaze, which is so often blazing in fury, Severus’ dark eyes are cool and detached, yet wary in the way of some caged animal that isn’t exactly sure if the hand reaching out would pet it or hurt it. It causes Eileen’s heart to clench in sorrow, although it’s the sight of his swollen nose—crooked now—with dried blood all over his face that has her heart feeling as though it’s being ripped right out of her chest.
“I want to go to the park,” says the nine-year-old Severus as he rises to his feet on shaky legs, his face upturned towards his mother so that she can wave her wand around to make him presentable. Severus absolutely hates the hours he has to spend at home, and thus usually is out until the first street lights turn on. Unfortunately, when he’d returned home from school to put his backpack away, he’d ran straight into the path of an infuriated Tobias Snape. That isn’t entirely uncommon, but instead of getting slapped around a bit which usually resulted in Severus being tossed into a wall or something, Tobias had actually swung a fist at his malnourished son and subsequently broke the poor boy’s nose.
Severus has learned from an early age how to hide his bumps and bruises but he knows that going outside with his face all bloody and swollen as it is will lead to nothing but another, much worse, beating. So he’d waited, and now that his mother is finally home he isn’t going to wait another second to be rid of the foul presence of this house. Which is why he’s confused by the fact that his mother hasn’t whipped out her wand yet. Severus stares up at her, his dark brows furrowing a bit in confusion, but it’s when he sees tears suddenly falling from his mother’s eyes that Severus takes a step back.
“What...what’s wrong?” he asks, voice tight with nervousness because this is new. This isn’t part of the routine. If Severus finds himself injured enough that he has to seek out his mother her usual response is tight-lipped fury while she saw to his bruises. Severus usually tries to avoid having the witch heal him because it undoubtedly always leads to his mother finding herself in a much worse position as she’d angrily go and confront her husband. Sometimes the confrontations could last for hours, but no matter the length of time, it always ends with Eileen sporting a busted lip or a black eye, two injuries that are actually preferred over the other punishments up Tobias’ sleeve.
Severus doesn’t see his mother use magic much as his father absolutely abhors it, but the spell she seems most adept with is glamours. Makeup costs money. So to cover up the damage that Tobias’ angry tirades cause his muggle father would allow that one spell. In some sort of sick way, Severus thinks his father actually likes seeing him and his mother all shiny and new courtesy of the glamour, while knowing that secreted away beneath the veil of magic the imprints of his touch are ever constant. Sometimes, Tobias would even like to see if he could add bruises on top of the glamour but, mercifully, he’d given up that interest when it became clear that anything he inflicted after the glamours were applied would be hidden as well. That is probably the only mercy Severus has ever gotten from his father.
“Did father snap your wand?” Severus finally asks, finding his mother’s tears disconcerting as she’s never cried in front of him before. She doesn’t even cry in front of his father and it angered Severus sometimes, as he is sure that if his mother actually did cry then Tobias would leave her alone faster; that he would stop at the tears and not at her huddled figure all black and blue from his fists. But other times, Severus feels a bit of pride at his mother for weathering the storm that is his father’s rage with such tenacity, and with so much strength that his father can do nothing but try to beat at it, to break it. But he never does. He never had, at least. Until now.
Eileen’s tears turn into heartwrenching sobs now as she takes Severus into her arms, the woman pressing her face into his silky hair while crying for all the years of pain and abuse that she’d not been able to shield her once bright and exuberant child from. She loves Severus, and she never blames him for the abuse even though she knows he sometimes blames himself. Before Severus had started doing accidental magic their lives with Tobias, while not a fairytale, hadn’t been a nightmare either. But once Severus’ magic had manifested Eileen had been forced to spill the truth to her husband. The results had been catastrophic and had led up to this very moment now, of her sobbing for the last five years of horror they’d lived in with Eileen trying to protect her son in the only way she could.
Neither Severus nor Eileen are aware of how long the embrace lasts, but a wince from Severus finally has Eileen drawing back with a start, the woman remembering that the boy’s nose is still swollen, broken, and in pain. Eileen pulls out her wand, and with a quick flick of her wrist, the dried blood is gone. There’s nothing Eileen can do for the pain or the swelling, not with magic at least as she’s no medi-wizard. Instead, Eileen gets some Tylenol from the cabinet for Severus to take and a bag of frozen peas for him to hold to his face.
“Stay right here,” Eileen tells Severus, and the boy just gives his mother a nod as the witch heads upstairs to, unbeknownst to Severus, pack up all their belongings with a few more quick flicks of her wrist.
Yes, Severus Snape is just nine years old when his nose is broken for the first, and last, time.
It is a day ripe with fate for the young boy, with Severus Snape’s destiny teetering on the edge. In the end, it’s the love of his mother that decides the future of the malnourished wizard. Because if Severus Snape had gone to the park that day as he’d planned, he would have met one Lily Evans, and we all know where that tale will lead him. But this isn’t that tale, not anymore.
As Severus continues to press the frozen peas to his throbbing nose his mother returns downstairs with a small bag. “Come on,” says Eileen, reaching out a hand to take hold of one of Severus’ own while maintaining possession of the small bag that had their whole lives shrunken and packed into it. She can see Severus giving her a cautious and confused look out of the corner of his eyes and it causes Eileen to give her son a wan smile. “It’s ok. You’re ok. We’re going to be just fine,” she breathes in reassurance before she pauses her steps at the beat down curb of their house. Eileen’s hold tightens on Severus’ hand, the witch taking in a deep fortifying breath as she holds out her wand arm. In the blink of an eye, a triple-decker bus appears in front of the pair. Severus’ hand tightens in hers as the boy gasps in shock, his gaze wide as he turns to look at his mother before the sound of the doors opening on the purple bus has his dark-eyed gaze staring transfixed at the driver.
“All aboard the Knight Bus!” the driver calls out before leaning over in his seat a bit to get a closer look at the pair. “Just two?” he asks, giving the younger of the two a curious look due to the frozen peas the boy is holding against his face. “That’ll be twenty-two sickles.”
Eileen ushers her son onto the Knight Bus before paying the driver the appropriate amount. When she gives the address the driver turns his curious look to the woman now but he doesn’t comment. Instead, he closes the door behind the two before speeding off. Rides aboard the Knight Bus are always a bit bumpy but Eileen keeps an arm around Severus to make sure he doesn’t get jarred around too much, and before long, the bus comes to a stop in front of one of the homes of Godric’s Hollow.
Severus is still deeply confused by what exactly is going on but he’s learned from a young age not to ask questions as that usually results in a slap upside the head from an angry Tobias. So Severus keeps his mouth shut, his gaze roving around as he takes in the grounds of a home that is much nicer than where they live. The house, while quant looking from the outside, is two stories with many large windows taking in the sunlight. There’s a small wooden gate but the fence is an ancient one built of stone. When Eileen and Severus cross onto the property, even though just a small boy of nine, Severus can feel the shimmer of magic washing over him. The feeling is a startling one as Severus has never felt anything like it as their own home does not have any wards. It causes his feet to stumble but Eileen just strengthens her hold on him before she leads Severus up to the stoop.
Eileen doesn’t knock once they reach the front door—she knows the wards would have announced her arrival already—and indeed the Snapes only have to wait for about half a minute before the door is opened and she’s met with the surprised face of Euphemia Potter. “Eileen! Whatever are you doing here?” Euphemia’s hazel eyes dart from one dark head to the next before she hurriedly steps to the side. “Do come in,” she says.
“Thank you, Effie. This is my boy, Severus. Severus, say hello.”
“Hello,” Severus says politely, and as his mother leads him into the Potter home Severus’ dark eyes widen in shock. The cottage is homey, yes, but even to the untrained eye of one Severus Snape, the young wizard easily takes note of all the expensive paintings and china and heirlooms around the hall. When they’re led into the sitting room Euphemia offers them a seat before asking if Eileen would like a some tea.
“That would be lovely, Effie. However,” at this point Eileen waves her wand towards Severus, undoing the glamour she’d cast earlier. It causes Euphemia to gasp in horror as she takes in Severus’ swollen face. Poor as the Snapes are Eileen had not had the proper poultices and such to treat the injury outside of the muggle medicine she’s already used. However, even if she’d had the coin, Eileen would have not brought the magical objects into their home due to Tobias’ explosive temper “If you can perhaps have one of the house-elves see to Severus’ injuries while we talk?”
“Yes, of course,” says Euphemia before calling for one of the house-elves to do just that. Severus gives his mother a wary look over his shoulder but despite all of the strangeness of the day Severus bites his tongue, stays quiet, and follows the odd-looking creature to another room. It’s when Severus is gone that Euphemia turns her gaze back to Eileen before asking in a hard voice, “Who broke his nose?”
“My husband, Tobias,” says Eileen, not bothering to make excuses as she sips at her tea that had materialized on the nearby coffee table, presumably sent by one of the house-elves. “Severus is a beautiful child and he...he doesn’t deserve that.”
“From the look of him, I wouldn’t guess it’s the first time. Why now? Why here?”
Eileen just sighs heavily, her shoulders sagging as she stares into her cup of tea before glancing back up at Euphemia. “You know why I left the wizarding world: I had no choice.”
Euphemia winces slightly because that choice was directly tied to her and Fleamont, or more specifically, to their son. “Had you but waited another decade or two then I would have been out of my childbearing years and you could have—”
Eileen just scoffs, the woman placing her tea down with enough force that the liquid nearly spills over. “If I had waited until deemed appropriate by Pureblood customs then I would have been nearly past my own childbearing years and at that point, the Prince line would have surely died out.”
“Eileen, but was that really worth condemning your son to practically being ostracized from wizarding society? Even if Severus’ home life was a happy one, the burden you’ve placed him under within the wizarding world is a heavy one and a weight that he’ll have to deal with for the rest of his life.”
“Look, Effie. I didn’t come here for you to judge me, or my son, for the decisions that I made—”
“You know that’s not what I’m doing—”
“—besides, you’ll be quite happy to know that all of those morbid predictions you have in mind for my son are nonexistent.” Euphemia just stares at Eileen blankly. “You are an honorable woman, yes?”
“Well, of course,” says Euphemia. “Tis why I’ve seen to the boy’s medical treatment despite your own transgressions.”
Eileen’s lips purse at that but she just continues. “Nothing is by chance. The tapestry of life is forever intertwined, and everything that happens is precisely what is meant to be.”
“I didn’t know you kept up with divination,” Euphemia says dryly. “But despite the arcane teachings you wish to quote, that certainly isn’t enough to alleviate Severus of the guilt that you’ve heaped upon him. I felt his magic, and for one so young, it’s strong. Yet, even so, I doubt that he’ll be receiving a Hogwarts letter in a few years or a letter from any magical school in Europe. Eileen, I have always seen you as family, you know this. But even if the contract was to the Potters there is nothing within our power to undo the deeds that you’ve done.”
“Severus will receive his Hogwarts letter.”
“You sound sure of this.”
“I am sure because I know there is something that you can do to give Severus the place in this world that he was born to take.” Euphemia just arches a brow. At the woman’s look, Eileen tells herself that this is why she’s here. That after everything that’s happened, it is time for her to finally do what she should have done years ago. She takes in a deep breath, and another, knowing that once she speaks there’ll be no way to undo this. “Severus is a male bearer.”
“Well,” says Euphemia, the older woman sounding both winded and excited at the same time. “Now that, that...changes everything.”
Eileen gives Euphemia a curt nod before taking up her tea again for a huge gulp because her throat suddenly feels as dry as sandpaper. When she finishes, Severus has returned with his nose once more restored to its aquiline beauty. “Ah, perfect timing. Come here, Severus.” Severus glances from one woman to the next before walking across the room so that he can stand in front of his mother. Eileen lowers her cup of tea yet again so that she can take both of Severus’ hands with her own. “Severus, you want to go to Hogwarts, don’t you?”
“Yes, of course,” says the young boy, sounding truly excited for the first time in a long time. He’s heard so much about Hogwarts and magic and the wizarding world from his mother but after seeing and experiencing more magic than just a glamour charm, it’s the first time that Severus actually feels some of the wonder that magic brings to the world instead of the pain that it causes Tobias to give to him and his mother.
Eileen smiles at his words, her hands squeezing his in that way of reassurance before she asks her next question. “Do you want to see your father again?”
Severus tries to draw back, completely appalled by the question, but Eileen’s hold on his hands is firm and her soft brown eyes are imploring as she stares into Severus’ dark gaze. “I…”
“Shh, Severus, it’s ok. I know...I know I should have done a better job of protecting you long ago. I’m sorry, and I won’t let Tobias ever hurt you again but for me to protect you we can’t go back. Do you understand?” Severus just gives a nod, not really understanding but hoping…hoping that her words are true. “No, baby. I need you to speak. Do you understand?”
“...yes. I understand.” Severus sucks in a deep breath, squaring his shoulders before speaking again. “I don’t want to see father again.”
“Good, good,” says Eileen, giving his hands one final squeeze before she drops them. Now, she raises her hands to Severus’ shoulders so that she can turn the boy to face Euphemia. “Do you see Effie here? She’s going to be your mother-in-law, and she’s going to help me protect you until her son takes up that duty.”
Severus’ brows furrow in confusion but out of everything that’s been said the thing most confusing is, “Her son?” he asks.
Eileen nods. “Yes, her son. When you two get married then he will look after you, and protect you, so that bad people like Tobias will never be able to hurt you again.”
“Eileen,” Euphemia says sharply, but her words cause Severus to flinch at the tone. Quickly, Euphemia softens her gaze, the woman climbing from her seat so that she can kneel in front of Severus. When she speaks, her voice is soothing. “What Eileen said isn’t a lie.”
“But, but...I’m a boy. How can a boy marry another boy?”
Euphemia shoots Eileen a look before she returns her gaze back to Severus. “Severus, you’re a very special little boy, and in the wizarding world, when people like you are born then two boys can get married. But it’s your choice,” at this she shoots Eileen a hard look around Severus before softening her gaze on the boy again. “I don’t know what Eileen told you about why she left the wizarding world but for your mother, she didn’t have a choice of betrothal—that is decided by the parents—as is the case with you. But, despite being a male bearer, you are a boy and in this, unlike your mother, you do have a choice. You can can say no, you can refuse my son because you can marry a boy or a girl.”
Severus falls silent, the boy pondering the words the woman had spoken to him. The silence in the room is finally broken as he speaks. “But if I marry a girl, you won’t be my mother-in-law, will you?”
Euphemia gives him a sad little smile. “That’s right, Severus.” Euphemia sucks in a deep breath, that sad smile still upon her lips while the woman silently curses Eileen for putting her in this position but she knows what the Slytherin is doing. Knowing, however, isn’t enough to stop it. “If you decide to marry another that is not my son, James, then I’m afraid you won’t be able to go to Hogwarts and...other things.” Euphemia didn’t want to mention Severus’ father and the abuse that Severus has suffered, but based on Eileen’s behavior earlier with the boy, it isn’t hard to imagine that the two would probably wind up in Tobias’ clutches again if for no other reason than financial. At that moment, Euphemia wants to cry for him in a way she’s never been able to cry for Eileen because, of everyone, Severus is the most innocent yet he is the one who’ll suffer the most. But...she can help him. She can help fix this. And just that fast, the quick well of anger she’d felt at Eileen’s earlier manipulations is gone. Euphemia is an honorable woman, yes, and this is the honorable thing to do. “Severus, I want to protect you as much as your mother does but, due to the rigid structures of the wizarding world I won’t be able to unless…”
“Yes,” says Severus. Euphemia blinks up at him and Severus repeats himself. “Yes. I’ll marry your son. I don’t...I don’t want to go back to that. I like it here.”
“...alright,” says Euphemia, the woman rising to her feet carefully as she’s getting up there in age. Euphemia feels a bit bad for falling into Eileen’s trap and manipulating the boy as she had but how can Euphemia send him back to that abusive environment with a good conscience? How can she, when she and Fleamont will finally be able to right a wrong that has sat in the back of their minds for nearly the last decade?
Eileen smiles at her in a way that’s almost reminiscent of a Cheshire smile, and in that moment Euphemia almost wants to slap the woman. Not for the manipulation, because Euphemia would have given the offer anyway, but for Eileen having waited nine years before coming here. For poor Severus having to get his nose broken before his mother saw fit to put to rights everything that she’s wronged. Yet, who is Euphemia to judge? All she can do is help—now that she actually can—and honor her forefathers and the generations of Pureblood traditions before them as though the last thirty years had never happened.
It wouldn’t be easy but it’s doable, and Euphemia has exactly two years to do it so that little Severus can receive his Hogwarts letter with all the other eleven-year-old witches and wizards. But first, she needs to talk to Fleamont and James.