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The grass around the base of the house was dry and brown in the late summer heat. It hadn’t rained for several weeks, and only with persistent watering had the small garden of herbs stayed living. Severus Snape struggled with two buckets to make certain they got watered. The buckets were full, and he glanced back at the house wondering if anyone would notice if he did use his wand. They were heavy and they were full and he knew his father would be angry if he allowed the water to slosh over the edges. In the end, he decided that it wasn’t worth it. Even if the Ministry didn’t catch him specifically, his father might be home at any moment, and it never took anything to set him off. The sight of his beloved son using his wand, would probably send him over the edge for the rest of the evening.
Severus dipped the water out around the small plants. Most of them were non-magical and mundane, but there were a few that his mother kept planted specifically for use in her potions. He paid special attention to these. His father didn’t know they were there, and probably Tobias wouldn’t have known which ones were magical if he had known they were there. Severus liked keeping these plants alive to spite his father, even if his father didn’t know that Severus was doing so. Plus, it was nice to just keep something alive.
“You’ll over water it,” Eileen Snape’s voice was crisp. She had come up behind her son, and Severus turned his head, quickly dropping the small dipping cup back into the bucket.
“Sorry,” he muttered quickly, patting the dirt around it.
“What do they teach you at Hogwarts these days?” Eileen frowned. “Perhaps I should have found a way to send you to Durmstrang.”
It was not a new complaint, and as much as Severus knew it was a fruitless one – it had been difficult enough to get him to Hogwarts – he couldn’t help but feel slightly warmed by it. The criticism wasn’t of him, it was of the school, and he couldn’t help the school he attended.
“Not enough,” Severus said. He stood quickly beside Eileen, hovering as if waiting for permission for something, the half empty buckets were forgotten.
“That much is clear,” she glanced towards the gate, and Tobias unseen, she pulled out her wand and the dirt around the roots of the plant was dried a bit. She knelt, while Severus still stood, and turned over the leaves of the plant. Her face was pinched, but in the end it relaxed and she sat back on her heels looking up into the face of her son. “I think it will survive,” she stated simply and turned back towards the house. It didn’t seem a strong commendation, but Severus’ smile suggested otherwise as he gathered up the buckets, and followed his Mother back to the house.