Right now, I was waiting at King's Cross station, the magical side of the station, accompanied by the terribly nervous Petunia.
Today was the day Lily and Snape were returning for Christmas. If it had been before, Severus might have wanted to stay at Hogwarts and escape his family situation and only come back for Lily, but things would be different... very different.
"Relax, stop shaking," I whispered to Petunia as I secretly took her hand.
"I can't," she responded.
"Is it because of the cold?" (Red)
"No, it's not because of the cold..." (Petunia)
*Sigh* "Petunia... I know that keeping a secret is difficult, but I trust you. You'll do well, relax, act like we used to before they left." (Red)
"I'll try." (Petunia)
I patted Petunia on the shoulder and we continued to wait. Mr. and Mrs. Evans were also here, not far away. That was why I couldn't show my affection to Petunia as I normally would when we're alone. We didn't have sex or engage in any indecent groping, but we did resort to frequent kisses and some other minor displays of affection.
I didn't come alone, I came with Andra, my 'aunt' and guardian. The fact that I always have so much freedom and zero supervision wasn't a good image to present to my 'in-laws.'
Andra spoke cordially with the Evans, at least enough to seem nice. She's a businesswoman, single, and in charge of a very strange child who is very close to her daughters.
According to the story we invented, I lived with Elise in Scotland. Elise was like a sister to me, since I grew up with her, but then we met Andra and she took care of me, which is why I can now come to the Evans' house so often, because I now live with her in England.
We hid her true job and only said she owns a business, enough to fool my in-laws.
I didn't tell the truth to Petunia, so she was incredibly nervous in front of my 'aunt', which I enjoyed and thought about doing something with it in the future.
Andra wasn't very close to us at this moment, she was next to the other person who stood out in this group, Eileen Prince. There was an initial greeting, but then she kept some distance, although I don't know if it was because of the Evans or because of me.
She came with Andra to look for Sev... among other things. They have been living together for months and although there were some inconveniences, things are relatively good.
We waited for a while and soon the train sounded approaching, exciting us all in different ways. Trying to be cautious, I had agreed with Andra to try to stay out of sight of certain people, just to avoid things getting complicated. I must keep things stable until I can also ensure Lily's safety.
The train stopped and several families waited for the children to get off. It was a big commotion but bearable, we waited in a group, looking around to see where they were until we saw them, although it was they who saw us first.
It seemed that both Sev and Lily were equally or more excited to see us. They ran towards us and we towards them, making us meet quickly.
Lily jumped on me in a tight hug, shouting "Red!" I don't know what she had experienced or if she really missed me a lot, but I could feel her arms wanting to squeeze me to death.
"I missed you too, Lily," I said while stroking her back. During that brief moment, I felt Petunia's impatience behind me.
I stepped away from Lily when she saw her sister and went to hug her. I approached Sev and put my hand on his shoulder, giving him a small punch in the chest.
"Snape, you dog," I said.
"Your mother's a dog, strawberry," he responded angrily.
"Sev!" scolded Lily.
"Calm down, Lily, that's how we greet each other, right?" I nudged Sev.
"Whatever," he grumbled, not wanting to continue the fight in front of Lily. "Hello, Muggle," he greeted Petunia.
"Big-nose," she responded in the same insulting way.
"How is it that everyone can keep fighting after so long without seeing each other?" Lily complained.
It was a strange but familiar reunion for everyone, as if we had never been apart... Although things had changed: Lily seemed to want to talk about Hogwarts all the time, Petunia looked tense having to hide our relationship, and Sev also seemed to have changed, perhaps more reserved, I couldn't say for sure.
Our meeting was brief before the girls' parents made themselves noticed. Lily also got excited to see them and went to give them a hug, dragging Petunia with her. Sev and I just walked and waited for their family reunion to end without saying much.
There was a brief chat until the Evans couple approached us to invite us to dinner at their house for the return of the kids, but I stopped them and told them that we should wait a while before that.
"Sev, your mom wants to talk to you," I said seriously.
"My mom? Is she here?" he asked, as he hadn't seen her yet and thought she hadn't arrived yet or something.
I pointed in a direction and we could all see that Eileen was in a secluded spot, waving her hand to be seen and also signaling Sev to come to her.
"Goodbye," Snape said, not wanting to say anything else.
"Is that Sev's mom?" Petunia asked in surprise.
In a way, it was surprising. The Evans couple had also been surprised when they saw her earlier. When they first met her, she seemed like a worn-out and grumpy woman, wearing dark and worn-out clothes, but now she had changed a lot. She had a much livelier mood, although she still maintained that nobility and delicacy in her attitude. She wore light makeup and dressed in slightly more colorful and new clothing.
Since she had paired up with Andra, her life had changed a lot. She had much less stress, and her partner made her smile. She had money to spend again, making her return a bit to her time when she still belonged to a noble house.
"Are you coming, Red? I have a lot to tell you," Lily said.
"Let's wait and see if Sev can come. I think it will only take a moment" (Red)
"What are we waiting for?" Petunia asked.
"Sev's mom has to tell him something very important that she couldn't say in letters," (Red)
"What is it?" Lily asked, worried that it was something serious, in addition to being gossip about Snape.
"His parents separated," I replied, trying to remain calm.
"What?!" exclaimed the girls in surprise. They didn't expect this to happen with Snape's parents. The Evans couple also listened closely to what Red was saying, wanting to know what it was about, especially if it was something related to their daughters.
"Shh... don't say anything, it's not our business and I'm not supposed to tell you. I should have waited for Sev to tell you if he wanted to," I said, trying to calm the girls.
"But... why?" Lily insisted.
"Lily, you shouldn't ask that," her mother reprimanded her.
"But I want to know, I can't believe his parents are separating, he never said anything... he never tells us anything about his family," Lily continued.
"There must be a reason for that, leave him alone," Mr. Evans said, trying to support me.
"Can't you tell us something?" Petunia asked.
"I'm not supposed to say anything, it's not my place," I tried to resist falsely, but finally gave in to Lily's pleading look. "Well, I'll tell you something, but you can't mention it or say that I told you."
Both girls nodded in sync with clenched fists, while the parents also paid attention to my words.
"The mother of Sev was a member of the Prince family, from the high class of wizards, but she married a... non-magical person. He was a bad man, not a good one. He was an alcoholic, aggressive, and unpleasant, he would hit her and Sev. I think now you will understand why Sev always wore old clothes. Eileen was expelled from her family and Sev's father was not a good provider..." (Red)
"It can't be..."
Both the girls and the parents were surprised, well, the girls more so. The Evans couple had already lived a life and were not as innocent, so they were not as shocked as their daughters.
"In addition to that, Sev's father... well..." (Red)
"..." (Girls)
"..." (Red)
"What about Sev's father?" (Petunia)
"Well, I can't say..." (Red)
"Why not?" (Lily)
"It's not appropriate..." (Red)
"Say it." (Petunia)
"I don't want to say it in front of your parents, I don't want them to look at me badly if I use vulgar language." (Red)
"Don't worry, we know how you are and we won't judge you for some bad language," clarified the girls' mother, who was also curious to know what was going on.
"Well... he ran off with a whore, literally." (Red)
"WHAT?!"
They were stunned for a while, and I left them like that before continuing.
"That's what I overheard my aunt talking to Sev's mom about... and the reason why I know so much. My aunt was helping Eileen with her situation and now she's living with us until they can sort out some issues." That's how I dropped the last bomb.
...
"Severus," Eileen paused before continuing, "do you remember what I mentioned in the letters I wrote to you?"
"Yes...?" he asked, somewhat confused.
"I left your father," Eileen said.
(°0°)
Snape was stunned for a brief moment as he processed the information but then regained his usual composure. "Well, it's for the best. Anyway, he was garbage."
"Sev..." Eileen paused, unsure if she was happy or not with her son's reaction.
After living with Andra for a while, Eileen had time to reflect. She saw a lot about a life she did not know or believe was possible, as well as other people like the prostitutes Andra worked with. In addition, she had a much more satisfying life without so many arguments and violence... or perhaps she had so many continuous orgasms thanks to Andra's techniques that her brain was fried.
"We no longer live in our old house, we moved to another city... and I'm... we're living with someone very special to me. I won't lie to you, she helped me a lot and I care for her... quite a bit. I don't want you to cause problems with her, if you can't handle it, you can go live with your father. I don't plan on letting anything ruin my new life, just keep that in mind," Eileen said.
The seriousness between them turned cold. The way they expressed themselves was not the most appropriate, but they understood each other to a great extent.
After a brief moment of conversation, Sev saw his red-haired friend approaching. "Sev, we've been invited to eat. Are you coming?" Red asked.
"I..." Sev said.
"Go with them, I have things to do. I'll come get you later, or you can come back with him," Eileen said, walking away.
"Come back with him? Wait, you still haven't told me where or with whom..." Sev said.
"The person she is talking about is my aunt," I told him.
"Your aunt?!" he exclaimed, surprised.
"Yes, that one over there," I smiled, pointing to Eileen, who arrived with Andra.
"...No..." The expression on his face was priceless. The fact that he recognized the woman with whom his mother was having a more than friendly hug, like the pimp he met at the brothel, seemed to make his brain explode.
"Now we're like brothers... huh? Bitch Snape?" I laughed, hitting him with my elbow.
"..." (Sev)
"Bitch Snape?"(Red)
"Tell me you didn't just take me to a brothel with her because she was your aunt and you lied when you said you didn't know her," Sev questioned, not removing his gaze or his stunned expression.
"No... well, sort of. It's complicated, but you can think that if you want," I said.
"And that your aunt helped my mother with my father is because you introduced them...?" Sev asked.
"More or less... but things took a peculiar turn. When I found out your father was seeing a hooker, I was worried about what could happen to you... you're a bitch Snape, but my bitch Snape friend... so I asked for her help and they ended up meeting, and one thing led to another. Even though your mother doesn't want to admit it, they're not just good friends. Trust me, they sometimes forget about soundproofing spells... that's why I mostly live with Elise. So you probably won't see me at the house," I lied with total ease as planned. "But anyway, the important thing now is to go celebrate your arrival with the girls. Let's go, little brother!" I said, my arm draped over his neck, still with that amusing expression on his face.