Chapter 10 Catching the train out of crazy town
Severus Snape was torn by the feeling that maybe it was good to be leaving Hogwarts and going home. His OWL testing was completed, he ducked out of the house-wide celebration last night when the Slytherins won the House Cup as expected at the Leaving Feast and had gotten a good night's sleep, and was now confirming that all his items were in his trunk before he locked, warded and erased all the nasty words from it. Feeling uneasy about leaving it unguarded, Severus shrunk it down and pocketed it. Since his mother was a witch, he could sneak in a little magic around his house to resize it.
He felt himself becoming maudlin over his reflection that school had indeed come to resemble home. He had two more years of both of these locations before he could find a new place for his life. Would that too become as inhospitable and deal him more misery? Some days Severus wondered if all he was born to enjoy was suffering.
Regulus was well-pleased. Once Snape was gone from the Slytherin house party last night, Regulus let it slip that his brother's cruel and unusual treatment of the fifth year was due to Snape spurning Sirius. Simply put, Sirius fancied Snape and couldn't live with Snape's cruel rejection when Sirius made his declaration of admiration. The story reached enough pureblood ears that within a week, his mother would be receiving some disturbing mail regarding her eldest son.
Severus was positive that at no time did he encourage, aid, smile, wink, smirk or even leer at Frank Longbottom or Alice Oakby. However, here he was waylaid and now stowed away in their compartment of the Hogwarts Express with a couple of other recent Hufflepuff graduates. The only reason for his presence in this car was that they desired to torment him in their strange Hufflepuff manner. Even though Longbottom was a Gryffindor, he was of no help because he just sat there like a lump smiling. He even smiled at Severus. Half-wit!
This bunch of nosy parkers wouldn't accept his glares and grunts as answers and were frankly pests to find out the answers to their questions. Luckily, they did so much talking that Severus was able to keep his answers short in order to allow them to go back to their favorite subject, themselves.
Just as he thought the torture was finally about to end as the train arrived at King's Cross, Alice asked as she looked out the train window, "Where are your parents, Severus?"
Swallowing his annoyance at being addressed without permission by his given name, Severus replied, "They trust me to catch a train home on my own."
"By yourself?" She asked like he was just finishing his first year at Hogwarts, which was the first time he had done it on his own, by the way.
Horror-struck that they could try to hold his hand all the way to Cokesworth, Severus blurted out the truth, "Evans and her family take the same train. I'll have company."
"Oh! That's wonderful. Your parents know each other?"
"Sort of," Severus replied while trying to make an escape.
He twitched when Frank put his arm around him. "We'll see you over to them, Severus, since you already have your luggage."
"Could you unhand me, Longbottom?"
Frank did as Severus asked, and took hold of Alice's hand. They kept close. Finally Severus pointed out a prim, tight-lipped young lady standing against the wall. "That's Evans' older sister."
After being trapped with the Hufflepuffs, Petunia was a step up for Severus. She didn't care what he thought about the weather, if he were hot, cold or hungry, and preferred for him to remain silent and as far away from her as possible. He knew that Petunia's parents treated her to a shopping excursion in London every time she came to the train station to meet Lily, but without her mother there, he may not get any acknowledgement out of her that they even knew each other. It was a pretty sad state of things when Severus Snape wanted Petunia Evans to say hello to him.
Severus added, "She's not a witch, and gets kind of uncomfortable around us … so if you don't mind, I think this is farewell."
"Sure, why don't you write us over the summer, Severus?"
Severus grunted and went over to Petunia Evans. Since Frank and Alice were still watching him, he muttered, "Petunia."
"Snape," she replied coldly. Petunia angled her head so she appeared to be looking down her nose at the wretch, and could keep that look on him all day if necessary.
She was still in that position nearly a whole minute later when someone barked, "Oi, giraffe neck!"
Now that he had the attention of both Severus and Petunia, Sirius laughed and continued on his way past with, "Your sister's almost as ugly as you, Snivellus."
Both Severus and Petunia were obviously indignant at such an insulting mistake. Severus had taken out his wand, but Sirius had pushed through the crowd with little care who he jostled. Petunia was smart enough not to go chasing after the mongrel through the crowded platform that was packed full of freaks.
With a sudden thought, Severus turned to Petunia, still holding his ebony wand in plain sight. "Don't you dare," she snapped.
"No," he replied testily. "Did you get hit with a spell?" Severus asked while trying to not look directly at Petunia's bust. "That boy and his friends have been jinxing girls all over the school for months."
"How would I know? And how do I know you're not playing some kind of sick prank and did something to me yourself?"
Severus made a face and then put away his wand.
"That freak didn't do something to my neck, did he?" Petunia asked while feeling with her hands.
"No. It's fine. Maybe he was just jealous 'cause it looks like his mum has no neck at all, unless it's hidden under one of those quadruple chins she has," Severus replied with a jerk of his head towards the distant end of the platform. With a quick glance at Petunia before returning his gaze to the train to search for Lily, Severus added, "I think a better word for your neck would be statuesque. Like those old marbles they t in museums of Aphrodite." He didn't explain that he felt her neck was similar to Lily's, and therefore above reproach.
"You can just say you don't have fare for the train, Snape. You know my mother will get you home."
"I have it. Unless the fare's gone up a whole lot from last time."
Petunia Evans didn't know why Severus Snape would actually say something nice about her, and where she was the only one around the hear it, but she was going to keep an eye on him. Obviously he was up to something.
"Okay, Wormtail, it's all up to you," encouraged James Potter, after Sirius distracted Snivellus. "I'll tell your folks that you're coming while you follow Snape and find out where he's going."
"Of course, James. I'll follow him and get that station name," Peter replied with an ingratiating smile, and then disappeared as he turned into a rat.