Chapter Text
Eileen woke up late. The sun shined through the window. Getting up, she realised nor her husband or her son were here. The empty house looked haunted, with all her abandoned dreams. She decided to take a bath, she could relax a bit.
In the bathroom, Eileen started to turn on the water. Suddenly, mud fell in the bath. The room was quickly flooded with dirty water. The piping was probably broken. The young woman could only sigh at the sight. She had no energy to cry or scream. The house was too old to be up...
Tobias would be furious: he would beat her again. She shivered, her thin body was already black and blue. She couldn't live like this... She knew that if this situation didn't end, only death would save her...
Eileen knew being afraid or her own husband was abnormal. In Pure-blood families, you had to be respectful, submissive and silent, but not by force and violence. That was your role, you had no choice. She learnt all that bullshit and was always disgusted by this injustice: never enough, always lesser. However, in the end, she still fell in love with a toxic man...
It makes her angry that Tobias never suffered from any consequences for his actions.
Completely tired and done with this terrible life that was hers, she started walking back toward her room when she slipped. The room was still filled with mud... Eileen needed to stop taking refuge in her head. Hiding wouldn’t make it go away. She had to act to make her life better.
Impulsively, Eileen took a decision: she started to run in Severus’s room. She couldn’t stand the idea of being beaten again... The young lady had to fix her mistake.
She remembered hiding her wand no long after Tobias discovered the truth. Severus was only three months old. The old floor of his room was broken. Putting the magical wood in a crevasse was very difficult, but imagining losing her dear husband was worse. Being a muggle, renounce oneself seemed better than to disappoint him. At this time, she hoped he would forgive her, or at least act like nothing happened. Abandoning everything that made her a witch seemed like the best solution. But it didn’t change anything. It was too late. Tobias showed her his true intention, and she stayed. Eileen put up with the disrespect, the beating, the cheating, for his love. She was never enough for anyone.
She loathed him even more right now.
Grabbing the little bed, she lifted it and placed it away. It was heavy so it took several minutes. Then she searched for a hole in the wood. She felt her magic pulsing, her wand was nearby. The brunette couldn't wait to touch it again.
After what felt like hours, Eileen had enough. She couldn’t find any way to lift the wooden blades. She quickly grabbed a fireplace poker in the living room, trying to avoid the numerous bottles on the ground. She would fix the ground later. Dismantle the parquet seemed easy, the promises that it contained helped her break the old wood. The young woman= hoped her husband wouldn’t come eat lunch at home today. If he found the house in this state, she would suffer under his hands and die. She should probably hurry.
Finally, she grabbed her wand tightly. Eileen felt her magic wake up in her body. She felt alive. She hasn't felt like this in a long time: finding herself again was a liberation. If she had time, she would have probably cried: her wand recognised her and accepted her again.
With a flick of her hand, orange glitter sparked from her wand. With a second flick, the floor was fixed and as beautiful as new. She quickly ran into the bathroom to clean up everything. The room looked majestic: it was clean, and the tiles were repaired. The house was still old but, at least, it was clean.
The young lady couldn’t stop, adrenaline run though her veins. She missed magic, she missed her wand, she missed her world. Passionate, she fixed every broken object in her home.
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Eileen laughed maniacally while repairing the oven. She was interrupted by a loud gasp followed by a scream.
“Mom! What are you doing?! Severus lets out, panicked. He started looking around the house, running in every room, searching for something. His hands trembled while he opened one more closet.
-Severus, he isn’t here. Habibi? My love? Eileen assured.
-Mama! Where did you find it? People could have seen you! Is HE aware?
-Calm down Severus. Nobody with survival instincts would go around this street, especially this house. HE doesn’t know of course. And we will keep it that way, understood?
He nodded.
I need a verbal answer young man. She needed to be sure HE wouldn’t know.
-Yes mama, I won’t tell anything... But you already knew, he added.
-I did, she took his face in her hands, I hid my wand when he discovered the truth. I simply took it back.
-What will you do mama? He asked hope in his eyes. She smiled; Severus was definitely the most beautiful little boy in the world.
-I will make lunch of course. Let's eat my love, she simply answered.
The young boy started to pout, disappointment filling the room. Finally, after several minutes, he came around:
-Mom, there is an official paper to sign for school. We need to register because there was a lot of “invisible” babies who did really bad things in Cokeworth. That’s what the teacher told us. We need to go to the Town Hall today’s afternoon or tomorrow.
-Alright we will, even if I know you already are. Your father went to the Town hall after you were born. Habibi : the most beautiful boy in the world, you looked just like me.”
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Looking at her baby eating soup, his first meal of the day, Eileen began thinking about the house, she was tempted. It was in the countryside, next to a forest and a big lake. People lived by selling their sheep's wool, fishing or culturing apples. Life would be great. On an impulse, she asked:
“Severus, I’m going to visit the house this afternoon, we can go register tomorrow? Would you like to go with me?
-Really!? Yes, I want to go please.
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Now that she was waiting outside the Leaky Cauldron, with her son, Eileen realised how much she fucked up:
-She couldn’t hide
-She gave hope to a desperate Severus
-She didn’t know why she was here, or was still in denial
But it was too late. It wasn’t like she could live that easily; Tobias has parental rights. They couldn’t flee without consequences...
All the brunette could do was gather her courage, take her baby’s hand and walk. Her large hat hid her face, and her muggle clothes disgusted every wizard she saw. Severus was practically dragged but he didn’t say anything. Honestly,nobody cared enough to stop her, and that was for the better.
Only when they arrived in the private office of the goblin responsible of her money, Gorum, she accepted to stop.
She shouldn’t have.
“Why is your nose like that? Severus wondered, looking at an offended goblin. Is it dwarfism? Or an illness? Because you’re very green.
-God helps me. Severus that’s impolite. Would you like random people going to you and asking why you look “weird”? No. I understand that’s the first time you’re going to the magical world but please, restrain yourself. You wouldn't do that with a stranger on the street.
-I did it with our neighbour Judith, she squints.
-And that's why she hates us... You will go and excuse yourself for your behaviour. I did not educate you to be an impolite little boy.
She had lot of things to learn to her son... This kind of mistakes weren’t easily forgiven for the magical bankers or the weird neighbours.
-Excuse me, miss. Who is this tiny man? Is that ... your son? interrupted the banker.
-Yes, he is. Severus Snape, a too curious seven years old. For your personal knowledge, Severus, this man is a goblin, that’s why he seems different. I want you to be respectious toward him. He takes care of our finances.
-Oh, thank you. Whispered Gorum, choked by the polite lady.
-Never mind. Miss Prince, young mister, please take my hand. “
Before Severus could ask why, they apparated.
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“Here is the house. We made sure no spells, jinks or maledictions were put on the property. There are two gardens, a front one and a large one in the back, a kitchen, a living room, a private library, a little cave, a bedroom, a bathroom and an attic. Some modifications can be made on the structure. The lake is five minutes away, the city is ten minutes away and the forest is right there, at the end of the road. May I start the visit?
-Yes, let’s start Gorum. Eileen decided.
Like stars, Severus’s onyx eyes shined with wonder. He tried, and failed, to hide his curiosity.
The old cottage sat gracefully on a small hill, flowers blossoming all around.
This home was perfect.