Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Fayville was first established as a pioneer town in the wild hollers of Tennessee in 1724. The town's founding father was a Squib named Thomas O'Hara from County Cork who smuggled 34 Irish fairies onto the ship in his overcoat. Since then, the town had become locally famous as the home of America's National Fairy Preserve (a title the town bestowed upon itself). Anyone who heard about the town would assume it was merely a cash-grab to drum up tourism, or simply a local legend that the town decided to fully embrace, like Point Pleasant's Mothman. Only the town's residents knew how very real it was.

Eugene Fitzgerald knew this better than most ever since he had been taken by the fairies at the age of eight. He played a game of hide-and-seek with them, and was fed a nice supper before he was sent home only to find out that two weeks had passed in what felt like a span of a few hours. As a Muggle with no knowledge of the Wizarding World, he was unable to recognize the signs of being Fey-touched, and as such, he believed there were no lasting effects of his time spent with the fairies. He would soon be proven very wrong.

Eugene was now a senior in high school and going through a midlife crisis at the tender age of seventeen. He had been accepted into the University of Tennessee, but as he came from a poor mining family he was unable to afford tuition. All signs pointed to a bleak future of back-breaking labor in the mines. Which is why he walked out into the cow pasture at the crack of dawn one morning and stepped up to a ring of white mushrooms that had sprung up after one rainy evening, spread his arms, and said, "Fairies, take me back!" He then rocked forward, falling face-first into the fairy ring.

Eugene expected to smash his face against the wet grass and possibly break his nose. He hoped the fairies would take pity on him and whisk him back to their kingdom where he would eat tiny almond cakes for the rest of his life. What actually happened was that Eugene found himself in a cobblestone alley with the bright afternoon sunshine on his face.

"Alright there, son?" A strange man wearing violet robes and a top hat asked as he came over to help Eugene to his feet. He had, funnily enough, an English accent.

"Thank you, I'm alright," he answered as he pulled himself up. "Didn't quite manage to stick the landing."

The man let out a laugh. "Apparition is a difficult spell to learn, just be careful not to get spliched."

Eugene thanked him again and walked out of the alley to find himself standing on the strangest street he had ever seen. The dimensions of the buildings weren't quite right, and the shops around him sold things like owls and magic wands. Almost everyone around him were wearing long, flowing robes and cloaks in vibrant colors and sumptuous fabrics. Was that velvet? Silk? Eugene was starting to feel very grubby in his stained overalls and old work boots.

He spotted a boy about his age, looking through the window of a bookshop and felt an immediate connection. His black hair was long and lank, and it brushed the tops of his shoulders. He wore an old pair of denim jeans and a sweater that had been patched and darned so many times it might as well not even be the same sweater. Finally, a member of my tribe, Eugene thought and went to approach him.

Severus had been well-trained, so that when a shadow fell over him his entire being tensed as if expecting a blow. He cautiously glanced over to see not the Marauders, but a boy his age wearing old, dirty, Muggle clothing. He didn't recognize him as a student, and it wasn't as if his class was large enough for the boy to go unnoticed. A relative of some Muggleborn's?

"Hey, sorry to scare you," the boy said with a smile. Severus noticed one of his canines was chipped. The boy was tall, with dark brown hair and the beginnings of what might one day be a proper beard. The most noticeable thing about him was his thick accent; it sounded just like those American cowboys from television, and the only thing Severus could think was, Oh my God, they really do talk like that.

"You didn't scare me," Severus snapped.

"Glad to hear it. Hi, I'm Eugene Fitzgerald–" The boy held out his hand, which Severus refused to acknowledge. "I'm a little lost, I was hoping you'd be able to help me out?"

Severus sighed, contemplated snarling at him to get lost, but what else was he going to do? Drool over things he couldn't afford? "Where are you trying to go?"

Eugene thought about it for a moment. "Tennessee."

"Tennessee?"

"Yeah, yeah, Tennessee. Anywhere near there would be fine, honestly."

Severus blinked. "I don't know what a Tennessee is. Is that a shop?"

"Oh, no, it's a U.S. state. Down in the southeast portion of the country. Beautiful mountains."

"Are you crazy or just stupid?" Severus demanded. "You're in London. You do realize you're in London?"

"You know, that would explain all the English accents."

It dawned on Severus that this was just a Muggle not even tangentially related to the Wizarding World who had somehow found his way to Diagon Alley from America of all places. Severus grabbed him by his arm and dragged him down the nearest alley. He could only imagine what his housemates might say (or worse, do) if they saw him.

Eugene let himself be dragged along, seemingly at peace with his situation. The boy was far too passive, Severus was convinced he must be completely daft. Or crazy, that was also still a strong possibility. "How did you end up here?" He hissed.

"I jumped into a fairy ring."

"That's it?"

"Yeah, pretty much, I was hoping to get kidnapped by them." Severus could only wonder at the expression on his face, because Eugene was quick to reassure him. "Oh, don't worry, it's happened before and they're very nice. They make these tiny cakes out of almonds that are just–"

"Fairies are fickle, and prone to chaos and mischief," Severus said. He couldn't believe he was indulging this Muggle. What did he know of fairies and magic? Still, Severus couldn't think of any other explanation as to how he might have arrived here other than through a fairy gate. "And you shouldn't eat their food!"

Severus folded his arms and thought for a moment, "I could take you to the Ministry. They can get you home, of course they'll have to erase your memories–"

"Whoa, no, absolutely not." For the first time, Severus saw something other than blithe acceptance on the boy's face. He scowled deeply, his anger mounting. "My memories don't belong to anyone but me. Nobody's got a right to steal them."

"Your memory will have to be erased. It's part of the Statute of Secrecy. Muggles can't know about the existence of magic."

"And who decided that?" Eugene demanded. "Who gave them the right?"

"It was decided centuries ago by the Minister of Magic."

"Well, I didn't vote for him."

The absurdity of the statement choked out a laugh from Severus. It was just so… Mugglish.

Eugene must have decided he won the argument with that because he looked very smug. "Maybe if you could point me in the direction of the nearest fairy ring, it will take me back."

Severus gestured all around them at the hard cobblestone and brick. "You think you're going to find that here?"

"Fair point."

Severus bit his lip as an idea came to him, turning the thought over in his head. He was curious, too curious for his own good. The Seelie and Unseelie Courts were, even now, shrouded in mystery, and for some reason this boy was a target of their tricks. What Severus wouldn't give to learn more about Fey magic. That it was often considered Dark, and therefore taboo, only added to its allure. How many times had Lily told him, "Curiosity killed the cat?"

And satisfaction brought it back.

"There's a park near where I live. There's usually a fairy ring or two, I could take you there," he offered.

Eugene smiled. "Thanks, I really appreciate it. By the way, what's your name?"

"Severus Snape."

"Severus?" Eugene got a funny look on his face and Severus narrowed his eyes.

"Something wrong with that?" He asked, his voice low.

"Nope, just wondering if I time traveled too. Is the Roman Empire still a thing?"

"Big words for someone named Eugene."

"Excuse you, my name is perfectly normal."

"Keep telling yourself that. Come on."

Eugene clasped his arm in a Roman salute and said, "Hail Caesar!" before following him out of the alley. Severus slipped his wand out of his pocket and flung a jinx behind him; nothing major, he was just a Muggle after all, but for the next several hours Eugene felt as if there were a couple dozen invisible spiders crawling over his flesh.

Eugene slapped his arm when he felt what he was sure was a spider crawling over him, and saw there was nothing there. Huh. He shrugged and continued to follow Severus past rows and rows of shops, ducking between what he had been informed were wizards and witches.

A woman stood at the corner beside what looked to be a bar with a hard, uncomfortable expression on her face. He could tell at once this must be Severus's mother. They had the same eyes. "It's about time you finished up. Got what you need?" She asked. Her voice was just as hard as her face.

Severus nodded and gestured to Eugene. "This is a friend of mine from school. He got separated from his family, but he lives close by to Cokeworth. Could he come with us?"

"Fine," she said. "Keep hold of him then."

Severus grabbed his arm, and his mother grabbed onto her son, and in the next second Eugene felt a lurch in his navel, like he was being sucked through a wind tunnel, stomach first, before landing hard in another alley. This one was much dirtier and the smell was awful.

"Fitzgerald–" Severus said, but Eugene held up a hand as he bent over, trying to suck in enough air to keep from hurling.

He could hear Mrs. Snape tap her foot against the concrete. He watched the scuffed toe go up and down, up and down, from where he stood, half-bent over. "Severus, I need to get back to your father," she said.

"It's fine. I've got him."

Eugene, with great reluctance, finally straightened his back just in time to see Mrs. Snape duck out of the alley. Severus was leaning against a wall, watching him with a smirk on his face. "How'd you like the trip?"

"Oh, I much prefer travel by fairy ring."

Severus pushed off the wall and jerked his head. "Come on, the park is this way."

Eugene followed him to a small patch of green in this dismal town. "You said you were spirited away before?" Severus asked as they trudged along.

"Yeah, when I was eight. I thought I was with them for only a couple of hours. Turns out, I had been missing for two weeks. Got to have my face on a milk carton and everything."

"That's what it's like in the Fey Realm. Time passes differently. Sometimes it's faster, sometimes it's slower. There's no internal logic to it, which the fairies seem to like."

"They did like their games. Hey, uh, are those girls staring at us or is it just me?"

A blonde girl and a redheaded girl were standing across the park and glaring daggers at the pair of them. Eugene lifted his hand to wave at them before Severus quickly pulled his hand down. "Just ignore them," he said as he went on with his search for a fairy ring.

"You know them? That redhead looked like she was going to eat you alive."

"It's none of your business, so drop it," Severus hissed and Eugene lifted his hands in supplication.

"You're right. I'm sorry for being nosy."

Eugene got the feeling that Severus hadn't heard too many apologies in his life, because he got very awkward and mumbled out, "It's fine."

They found a fairy ring by an old stump and the two of them stood along the perimeter, staring at it. "You just… jump in?" Severus asked.

"That's what I did last time."

"You know there's no guarantee it will take you back home? It could take you to the Sahara Desert where you'll die of thirst."

"See, this is the difference between you and me, I am an optimist and you are a Debbie Downer."

Severus smiled. "Oh, I think there's plenty more differences between us."

"Like?"

"Brains, for instance."

Eugene laughed. "Is this how you make friends? You insult them?"

That awkwardness returned and Severus seemed to realize it because he covered it up with anger and bluster. "Who said I wanted to be friends with a Muggle?" He demanded, but Eugene could see his face was red and blotchy.

Eugene grinned. Severus Snape was a weird guy, but he kind of liked that. Reminded him of the half-feral barn cats he kept trying to pet. "Why not? I want to be friends with you."

Somehow his face only got redder.

Eugene held out his hand and Severus looked at it like it was a snake. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"Hold my hand and jump with me?"

"Absolutely not."

"If this doesn't work and nothing happens, it won’t be just me looking like an idiot. This way we'll both look like idiots!"

Eugene could see the hint of a smile on Severus's face and he claimed it as a victory. "And if it does work? What then? I'll be stuck with you."

"You're right. That would be a terrible fate. Wish me luck?”

Eugene stepped forward and, just a second too late, Severus wished him good luck. He was gone in an instant, vanished cleanly.

Come September, Severus wished he had taken his hand and jumped with him. Despite a full year having passed between now and fifth year, the incident at the lake was still fresh in everyone’s mind. What little dignity he had been able to cling to had been ripped away and now he didn’t even have Lily to talk to. There were his housemates, who were happy to draw him into their ranks, for a price. Essays mostly, sometimes potions. Ingredients they couldn’t be bothered to harvest themselves, but at least they afforded him some protection. The Marauders were less likely to target him when he was with them. But he could never really be friends with them; he just didn’t always get their Pureblood references or customs or manners, something that came as naturally as breathing to them, and invariably something a bit too Mugglish would pop out of Severus’s mouth, reminding them of what he was, that he could never be their equal.

It was late one evening, while Severus was hurrying back to the castle after gathering some ingredients from the forest, his eyes constantly scanning his surroundings for Potter or Black lurking in the shadows, when he saw a fairy ring. It immediately brought to mind Eugene and in the second it took to blink, something white was fluttering in the center of the ring of mushrooms. Stepping into a fairy ring was dangerous; there were stories of people losing their eyes for trespassing, but– curiosity.

Severus stepped closer and saw that the white thing was an envelope with his name scrawled across it. Another deep breath, and he had stepped inside. He picked up the envelope, tore it open, and pulled out a letter.

Dear Severus,

I'm not dead! I did, in fact, make it back home alright. I wanted to let you know, in case you were worried. Didn't quite know how to send this letter to you, so I just chucked it into the nearest fairy ring. I think the fairies like me. They seem very accommodating towards me. Maybe it's because I like their cooking.

If you got this letter, try writing one back. Who knows? Maybe the fairies will deliver it.

Eugene

Severus's chest felt warm and full just knowing that there was someone out there thinking about him, that actually wanted to talk to him. But what would he write? What if he said the wrong thing? What if Eugene finally realized what everyone else already knew, that Severus Snape was not worth the effort?

After a week of indecision, Severus finally scribbled down a single line:

Fitzgerald,

I told you to stop eating food from the Fey.

Snape

And threw it into a fairy ring where it disappeared.

Three days ticked past and Severus was convinced that Eugene wouldn't write again. Severus had been too brief, too distant, he was probably insulted that all Severus had written was a single line scolding him for taking food from the Fey. But as he was walking towards the greenhouses for Herbology, there was a letter lying innocently in the center of a fairy ring. The other students all walked past it without even noticing, carefully walking around the ring so as not to cause offense by daring to step inside. Severus glanced around and then darted forward, snatching the letter up and stuffing it into his cloak.

You don't understand, the letter said. It is the food of the gods. You just have to try it yourself.

That's what started a series of notes, and sometimes longer letters, anecdotes, and musings on their different lives. For the first time since fifth year (before, even, Lily had already started to pull away even if Severus didn't want to admit it) he had something that made him happy.

Their letters had an easy back-and-forth teasing that had developed alarmingly quickly. It had never been this easy for Severus and he was left wondering when the other shoe would drop. Instead, Eugene's letters grew… flirtatious.

Stop being ridiculous, he scolded himself. He's not flirting with you. It's just more teasing. Why would anyone want you?

He was nobody. But, if he joined the Dark Lord, he could become somebody. Lucius had promised to get him an audience this summer. It would be so satisfying to get a little of his own back, to punish the Marauders for all the things they had done to him with all the power of the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters behind him. No more 4-on-1, how about an entire army.

Severus's thoughts spiralled darkly. It had been a month since Eugene's last letter. Severus had been occupied with his N.E.W.T.s, and he figured Eugene must be dealing with his own exams. Still, without Eugene to cling to, Severus's mind started to turn down depressing, hate-filled paths. He turned inward, reaching out to grasp any daydream that brought him comfort, whether it was Eugene or the Dark Lord. His thoughts twisted as he closed his trunk for the last time and went out to meet his classmates as they stood waiting for the carriages to carry them away from Hogwarts to the world of adulthood.

Severus stood in the back, away from everyone else, as they folded each other in hugs and made teary goodbyes, making promises to visit soon. No one talked to him, which Severus was grateful for. He couldn't even pretend to feel sorry about leaving. He was ecstatic. It was over, he had survived, and he was never going to look back.

Something in his peripheral caught his attention, and Severus turned his head to see a fairy ring on the mound of grass not far from the gravel drive. He was sure it hadn't been there just a few minutes ago. There was something in its center. A letter?

Severus looked around but no one was paying attention. He gathered his trunk and walked away from the crowd, stepping into the ring. This time it wasn't a letter, but a small cake lying innocently in its center. Severus bent down and picked it up. It fit perfectly in his palm and smelled of almonds and honey and something indefinable that reminded him of summer days spent with Lily.

We must not look at goblin men

We must not buy their fruits

Who knows upon what soil they fed

Their hungry thirsty roots?

Their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor back in third year had given them dire warnings about taking anything given to them by fairies, especially food. You became Fey-touched once you ate their food. You'd belong to them forever.

Severus looked back at the students. No one noticed him, and he realized the ring must be hidden by a glamour. A trick of the Fey.

Eugene did say I should try their food myself before passing judgment, Severus thought and took a bite of the cake.

Chapter Text

Like the first time, the transition from harsh reality to the Fey realm was subtle. Eugene was plunged into darkness as he rode the mine shaft down into the pit for his first day of work. The men that surrounded him were quiet, still half-asleep, and Eugene let himself float as he was guided gently down. He didn’t know when he closed his eyes, or when he stopped hearing the occasional cough or snuffle from his fellow miners, but he felt the lift jerk to a stop. He peeled open his eyes and saw that the miners were gone and he was in the twilight world of the Fey.

Eugene stepped out into a vast complex of carved stone tunnels, studded with gems that glittered in the light of his headlamp. He could hear a voice – a very familiar voice – and Eugene felt his heart kick up a notch. That was Severus. It was hard to mistake the low tones and that accent. There were many qualities Eugene had come to admire in Severus; tact was not one of them. Everyone in Fayville had grown up knowing the rules for dealing with fairies, the first and foremost was be polite.

Severus was in big trouble.

Eugene ran through the tunnels, pulling up short when he found himself in a vast room with a domed ceiling. Fairies of all shapes and sizes, from those barely the size of his thumb to the great fairies who stood almost nine feet tall, were lounging across silk cushions and feeding on fresh fruit and cheese and meats. The tallest of them was called Carabosse; Eugene had met her the first time he was taken. She was dressed in a fanciful red dress, crowned in rubies, her long red hair trailing the ground around her. Severus looked small from where he sat next to her. Eugene cautiously approached and, as he did, Severus turned his face toward him and Eugene’s heart sank. There was a placid smile on his face, his eyes dull; Severus had been bewitched.

Carabosse waved Eugene forward. “Welcome, my young friend,” she said with a smile.

“Thank you for bringing me, my lady.”

Carabosse smiled, pleased by his manners. “You have always been a great favorite of mine. I have enjoyed watching you grow up. You seem to get into a lot of trouble.”

“In my defense, I had help,” Eugene said, pointingly referring to her and her court of fairies and the trick they had played on him the previous summer by sending him to England.

Carabosse laughed and reached out to stroke Severus’s hair. “Oh, yes, I wanted to see what you would do. You did marvelously! And this one– ” She turned his chin so that Severus was looking back at her. “Trouble, trouble. I like that. If only he wasn’t so rude!” Carabosse looked back at Eugene. “You like him.” It wasn’t a question.

Be honest. That was Rule #2. “I do.”

“Then you can have him. I gift him to you.”

With a wave of her hand, Severus stood up and walked up to Eugene. He didn’t stop, but walked until his face was inches from his own, and Eugene, frightened he might kiss him under the bewitchment, took him by the shoulders and halted him. “Thank you for the gift, my lady,” Eugene said, feeling a little lost in those dark eyes. “But, uh, could you maybe release him from the enchantment? I like him rude.”

“Really? And here I thought I had improved him for you,” she said, her voice mockingly offended, but she was smiling. No offense was taken. “But one cannot account for taste, I suppose.”

In an instant, Severus jerked underneath his hands, his eyes blinking rapidly as he took in Eugene’s face and the strange room he was standing in. Shock and surprise were quickly replaced with rage, and he turned around, his face twisting into a scowl. “You–!”

Eugene slapped a hand over Severus’s mouth to keep him from saying something that would get him flayed alive. “Thank you very much!” Eugene called out, and while still keeping one hand over his mouth, he wrapped his other arm around Severus’s chest and began to bodily drag him from the room. The entire room lit up with laughter as they watched the two boys struggle against each other. This is what humans were for: live entertainment.

“I’m very grateful!” Drag.

“It was nice seeing you again!” Drag.

“I’d love to speak more, but I really must get home!” Drag.

“Please accept my apologies!” Drag.

Severus licked the inside of his palm, and Eugene thought, ha, hope you like the taste of coal dust.

Then Severus jabbed him in the ribs with his long, bony fingers, and that was much less funny.

Eugene managed to haul Severus across the threshold, into what he assumed was the carved stone tunnels he had walked down to enter the room, only to see that Severus was now digging his boots into dead leaves and wet earth. Eugene dropped Severus, letting him fall with a shriek, as he glanced around the forest they had found themselves in.

Severus dug his fingers into the cold, wet ground and hoisted himself back to his feet, ready to curse the fairy even if it was the last thing he ever did. He pulled out his wand and stumbled in a circle, realizing that the fairies were gone and he had been deposited back into the mortal realm with Eugene. “Try the food,” he mocked. “It tastes great. Nothing bad will happen. That’s the last time I’m ever listening to you!”

Eugene looked at him and held up his hands sheepishly. “They’ve always been really nice to me. Did you say something to offend them?”

“No!” Severus said automatically, and then, thinking on it for a moment, said, in a much quieter voice, “Maybe.” There was a strong possibility, knowing him.

Eugene laughed. “Can you remember?”

“I only remember arriving there, and the fairy queen asking a few questions about the brewing war. And then… everything becomes foggy.”

“You were bewitched.”

“Did anything happen while I was under?”

“No, I don’t think so. You were already under the spell when I arrived. I think–” Eugene frowned as he looked around. “I think we’re in the woods behind my house.”

"I'm in America?"

Eugene grinned. "We can find a fairy ring for you. Just like how we first met!"

"And what a joy that was for me the first time around," Severus said drily.

"I knew you liked me."

"I was being sarcastic."

"No take backs!" Eugene insisted with a grin that Severus couldn't help but shyly match.

It was a ten minute walk through the forest, and as the trees thinned out Severus saw a small farmhouse in the distance. He followed Eugene up the steps onto the sagging front porch and walked through the screen door into a small, dark living room.

A glass shattered against the floor as a tall woman rushed forward. There were deep groves lining her mouth and eyes, making her look older than her still lustrous brown hair would suggest. Eugene opened his arms and said, "Mama!"

Mrs Fitzgerald did not fold into the hug Eugene was clearly expecting. Instead she grasped the front of his overalls and shook him. "Four months!" She yelled. "You were gone four months!"

"Wait– what? That long?" Eugene folded his hands over his mother's and stilled them. "Were y'all able to get along okay?"

Mrs Fitzgerald snorted and let go of his shirt and cupped his face, gently stroking his cheek. "The fairies left us gifts to keep on. I thought it was payment and they meant to keep you."

"They, uh–" he gestured for Severus to step forward, from where he was half-hidden behind him. "This is my friend Severus I told you about. He got taken too, and they– wanted me to make sure I got him home safely."

"You're Severus?" The woman looked over at him. "You hungry? I can fix you something."

"Mama, the gifts–" 

"Right, come along, and afterward I'll fix y'all up something."

She led them out of the house and toward the back where Severus saw a sprawling pasture dotted with brown cows. She opened the pipe rail gate and gestured them through, and after closing it she started to walk along, keeping her gaze down as she searched the tall grass for something.

"What are we looking for?" Eugene asked.

"Patties."

"Patties?" Severus asked.

"Cow patties."

Severus had never heard the term before, but he could infer its meaning, and started to keep an eye on where he stepped.

"Is there any reason–" Eugene started to say before coming to a sudden halt. Severus almost ran into his back, his eyes being glued to the ground. "Huh."

Severus looked and saw what he assumed was cow manure, except it appeared to be made of solid gold. "Those poor cows," he said.

"It must hurt on its way out," Eugene agreed.

Mrs Fitzgerald hefted it into her hand. "I've been using these to pay for things."

"Is this the only thing the fairies have done?"

"No." Mrs Fitzgerald scowled. "They also planted a bunch of creepy weeds in my garden. I can't even harvest my carrots, one of the damned vines tried to eat me."

Severus perked up as Mrs Fitzgerald continued her rant. The vine she described sounded a lot like Devil's Snare. She took them to the kitchen garden, and there– Devil's Snare. And not just Devil's Snare, but Severus also spotted gillyweed, mandrake, fanged geranium, moondew, and many, many more. The only other garden that could boast this much magical variety were the greenhouses at Hogwarts. It was a potioner's dream.

"I know how to avoid those vines, I can harvest your carrots for you," Severus said, his eyes raking in the plants. Altogether they must be worth thousands of galleons. "I'll even help… weed."

"That's very nice of you," Mrs Fitzgerald said.

"Yes," Eugene agreed with a sly grin. "Very nice."

"But you're our guest. Come along, I'll put supper on. Your sisters will be back from school any minute now. Won't they be shocked!"

Eugene watched as Severus had to be pulled away. He was staring with such longing at the plants. Eugene couldn't help but look on him fondly.

They got him back into the house, just as the sound of his father's truck sputtered up to the front and his two younger sisters clamored down from the bed and into the house, his father shuffling behind. There were screams from his two sisters when they saw him standing with his mother and suddenly two small bodies were wrapped around his torso and his father striding forward to clasp his neck and pull him close, whispering in that soft voice of his, "Welcome back."

Severus hovered in the background as the family snuggled in close. He was half in shadows, his expression carefully hidden. Eugene pulled away from his family and reached out to him, introducing Severus to his father and sisters. Vada, who was thirteen, and Frances, who was nine, immediately surrounded Severus. They pulled him into the light and sat him down at the kitchen table, where they began pestering him with their questions. "Eugene says you can do magic," Vada said.

Severus looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Eugene has a big mouth."

Eugene shrugged and started helping his mother with the cooking while his father eased into a chair, his injured leg stretched out in front of him. "Your Minister of Magic can't come after me. I'm an American."

"There's an American Ministry too, you know."

Oh. Well damn.

"But is it true? Are you a wizard? Do you fly on a broom?"

"I can, but brooms are only used by people who are so bad at magic they can't apparate," Severus answered airly.

"Can you turn me into a spider?" Vada demanded.

"A spider?"

"Yes! A big one, the size of my head!"

"Why would you want to be a spider?" Severus asked, bemused.

"There's this girl at my school, Ovie, and she is so mean to me. She's really scared of spiders." Vada grinned viciously. "I'd like to give her a good scare."

Severus nodded. "A worthy pursuit. I can certainly assist with that–"

"I think that girl has suffered enough what with being called Ovie," his father commented.

"So she's got to make the rest of us suffer too?"

Frances then stated that if Vada was allowed to turn into a spider, it was only fair that she got to be a horse. "I think I could be a pretty good horse," she said to Severus. "I already eat grass. Sometimes, Eugene will play pretend horses with me and–"

"Eat this," Eugene said and all but shoved a piece of cornbread into Frances's mouth. Eugene laughed awkwardly to hide his embarrassment. "Kids come up with some crazy stories, huh?"

He did not like the smug, sneaky look on Severus's face one bit as he said, "of course."

Supper was placed on the table. Severus looked a little lost as each dish was passed around. At first he only took half a spoonful, before his mother admonished him with, "Help yourself! Here, let me get it for you." And she scooped spoonful after spoonful of fried okra onto his plate.

"June, he's not a pig you've got to fatten up," his father said.

"I'm just helping!" His mother insisted. "Now, do you want to call your parents after dinner? They must be worried sick. And don't worry about any charges, we've got enough gold to pay for an international call to Timbuktu."

"It's fine," Severus brushed it off. "They're six hours ahead of us. It's the middle of the night there."

"Are you sure? After four months, I wouldn't have cared what time of day it was if it meant knowing Eugene was alright–"

"Well," Severus sneered. "My parents aren't quite so hysterical as that."

Eugene knew his mother and father had just sent each other those significant, knowing looks that seemed to pack whole sentences in just a glance, but Eugene couldn't look away from Severus, who was staring stonily down at his plate, his hair falling forward so that he was half-hidden behind it. His skin was growing steadily pinker.

"Do you want to go look for fairy rings?" Eugene asked, offering him an escape which Severus quickly accepted, practically leaping up from the table. Severus hesitated only long enough for him to say to his mother, awkward and stilted, "thank you for the meal, it was delicous."

He hurried out the door and Eugene had to be quick if he wanted to keep pace, despite having longer legs than Severus. He led Severus back to the cow pasture where fairy rings were always the most abundant. Eugene stumbled across another golden patty as Severus pointed out a ring of mushrooms near an old chestnut tree. "Something for the road?" Eugene said and offered up the lump of gold for him to take.

Severus took it (not without a slight wrinkle of his nose, knowing just where exactly it had been). "You should come back sometime soon, I'm sure my mother would love help weeding the garden," Eugene said.

Severus's eyes lit up as he remembered the 'weeds.' "I'll take you up on that offer. Well… goodbye." He gave a half-aborted wave and stepped into the fairy ring.

And that is where Severus remained standing, in a cow pasture in Tennessee.

"Oh, fuck me," Severus growled.

"Gladly," Eugene answered.

"Shut up. You're not funny."

Chapter Text

Albus knew this must be a dream. It had to be, despite how real it seemed. Otherwise, he had suddenly found himself sitting at a table, a chessboard in front of him, and across the seat from him was Tom Riddle. Albus ran his finger across the crown of his white bishop and tried to ignore the un-dreamlike intelligence in Tom’s eyes as his gaze flickered from the chessboard to himself. It must be a dream, because if it wasn’t then he and Tom were caught in a web of magic far greater than their own, and the people who were powerful enough to do that were few and far between.

“How boring,” a high, feminine voice sighed. “That’s quite enough of that.”

Albus and Tom looked up to see a beautiful, red-haired woman standing beside them. She was dressed like a queen, her long dress trailing out behind her and from the corner of his eye Albus saw something almost translucent flicker out behind her. Wings. Fairy wings. Somehow or another, he and Tom had been transported into the Fey Realm, a world of twilight and shadow that mirrored their own.

Albus scrutinized the woman, trying to peer behind the glamour she wore. The planes shifted, just slightly, and for a second she appeared monstrously tall. She grinned and her teeth were red and needle-sharp, before brightening into a more human-smile once more. A fairy, and a queen at that. They were technically classified as beasts, the little ones seemingly unable to speak except to laugh. The larger fairies, along with the great fairy queens, had obvious human-intelligence and powerful magic at their disposal. There was still some debate as to whether they should be classified as Being or Spirit, and if they could even be considered the same species as the little ones. There was so much about them that was unknown, they so rarely directly interacted with the mortal realm.

With a grin, the fairy queen reached out with one arm and swiped at the chessboard, sending it and all the pieces crashing to the ground.

Albus knew the names of several fairy queens, though he had never met one himself. Titania. Caelia. Mab. Carabosse. They were centuries old, maybe older, maybe immortal. This one – whoever she was – procured an extra chair that had not been there before and sat at the table with them. She produced from her long sleeves a pack of playing cards and began to shuffle them. “Let’s play something more fun! Go Fish?”

Go Fish. It was a children’s game. Not that Albus would say anything to the contrary and he picked up his cards as the fairy dealt them out. Tom was also keeping rather quiet. Smart boy, but then intelligence had never been his issue.

“I’ll go first!” The fairy said as she fanned her cards. She shifted her gaze to Tom. “Do you have any knaves?”

A ripple of confusion spread across Tom’s face. “Knaves? Do you mean jacks?” He asked.

Bright laughter echoed throughout the featureless room. The fairy queen leaned over to Albus and in a stage-whisper said, “He calls the knaves, jacks, this boy!”

Albus still remembered a time when they had been called knaves, and only the lower-classes used the term ‘jacks,’ though even as a child growing up in the 1880s and 1890s it was quickly falling out of fashion.

That was all before Tom’s time, though he seemed to understand the insult well enough even without the context, because he threw down the Jack of Spades with a dark scowl on his face. With a simpering smile, the fairy queen scooped it up and placed it on the table with her own Jack of Hearts.

Then she fixed her mocking gaze on Albus. “Do you have any aces?” She asked sweetly.

Albus looked at the cards in his hand. There was the Ace of Spades, tucked in-between the Queen of Hearts and the Four of Clubs. Albus looked back at her and said, quite serenely, “Go fish.”

Laughter was still ringing in his ears when Albus awoke in his bed.

Eugene was looking far too calm for the situation, sitting crossed leg in the middle of the pasture while a cow nibbled at his brown hair. Severus paced in front of the fairy ring, feeling a little like a trapped animal. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. Those fucking, meddling fairies– Severus whipped around and faced Eugene. “Did they say anything while I was bewitched!? Any reason or clue as to why they want to keep me here!?”

Eugene held up his hands. “Okay, don’t get angry, I didn’t want to tell you but they said that they were… well, giving you to me–”

Giving. Giving. Like he was an object– Like they had a right– He was one of the strongest wizards in his year, and they thought they could give him away– “I do not belong to you,” Severus said, his voice low and quiet and deadly.

And Eugene nodded, and reached up with one hand to stroke the cow’s brown nose. “I know. Don’t read too much into it. This is probably just their idea of a joke. They like to throw people into wacky situations and see what happens. We’re their television. Oh, uh, television is–”

“I know what television is!” Severus snapped and resumed his pacing.

“They always compensate very well. Clearly, they know me and my juvenile sense of humor–” Eugene gestured to the gold… ‘nugget’ still in Severus’s hands. “And I saw the way you looked at my mother’s garden. You don’t think they planted all those things for my family, did you? It was all for you.”

Severus crossed his arms (wrapped himself in them, to comfort him). “I’ve got to get home.”

“What about that apparate thing you mentioned? Can you do that?”

“Not over an entire ocean. The longer the distance, the more unstable it is.”

“What about a broom?”

“Your mother’s kitchen broomstick isn’t going to work, I need a magical broom and it would take me weeks to cross an ocean on it even if I had one. A Muggle aeroplane would be faster.”

Eugene shrugged. “Alright. Let’s get you a plane ticket then.”

“It’s expensive–”

“I think you can afford it,” Eugene said and pointed to the lump of gold in Severus’s hands.

He looked down at the heavy weight in his hands. He could, couldn’t he? He could afford a lot of things, with this much gold. He could move out of his parents’ house, he could pay for his mastery, he could buy new clothes and all the food he wanted and take hot baths. “How do I get a ticket?”

“Usually you see a travel agent. There’s not really any around here, our town population is less than 500, but there’s one on practically every street corner in Nashville, which is where the airport is located too. It’s about an hour and a half drive.” Eugene shrugged. “I can borrow my Dad’s truck and take you in the morning.”

“Thank you.”

Eugene smiled and stood up, dislodging the cow. “I’m glad to help.”

Part of his hair was wet and sticking nearly straight up from where the cow had mouthed on him. Severus laughed and jerked his arm upward. “Your hair–” he said.

“What?” Eugene asked, bending slightly to let Severus pat it back down to the best of his abilities. He pulled his hand back, slimy with slobber, and wrinkled his nose, before wiping it on Eugene’s shirt. Eugene gave him a look. “I know you have magic to clean stuff, and yet you chose my shirt?”

“Between the other stains on it, is there even a difference?”

The two continued to squabble as they walked from the field back towards the house.

“That’s my sisters’ room, and down there is where my parents’ sleep, and this is my bedroom,” Eugene said as he showed Severus inside. The room was tiny, barely more than a closet, but his sisters had gotten the second-biggest bedroom out of the three by virtue of there being two of them, and only one of Eugene. All that could really fit inside was a bed and a chest of drawers, upon which sat a record player and a milk crate of vinyl records. “There’s just one bed. We’ll have to share,” Eugene said decisively.

Severus shot him a dirty look, which Eugene met with a grin. “Or, I’ll just sleep on the floor. Here–” He went over to his dresser and tugged out an old cotton shirt and a pair of shorts. “You can borrow these to sleep in if you want.”

Severus took them grudgingly and Eugene left the room to give him privacy. He stood in the hallway, waiting, until he heard the creak of the door opening again. He ducked inside and pulled up short at the sight of Severus. He was by no means short, and his thin angles gave him an even greater illusion of height, but Eugene had spent his entire life doing rough manual labor and he looked it. His clothes were hanging off of Severus, making him look positively indecent. And Severus was completely oblivious to it. There was always something just a little disheveled about his appearance (his hair, his clothes) that immediately brought to Eugene's mind fun bedroom games.

"You should take a picture," Severus sneered. Red splotches were beginning to bloom across his cheeks.

Eugene lit up like a Christmas tree. "Can I get one of those magic moving pictures?" What would a moving picture of Severus Snape do? Probably make rude gestures at him, which would frankly be pretty hilarious.

Severus ground his teeth together. "Ha, yes, I get the joke, Snivellus is ugly."

Eugene frowned, confused. "No, actually, that's the opposite." Yeah, okay, he didn't look like a Hollywood actor, but neither did Eugene. Neither did anyone Eugene had met in real life. That kind of uncanny beauty was only achievable with a fleet of stylists and plastic surgeons, and nothing that Eugene was interested in. He liked the sharp planes of Severus's face, the black-on-white unearthly quality of his, his nose, and his mouth, and the large, dark eyes. Wanted to see him dress up all fancy with that accent of his (and Severus had tried to tell him, several times, that his accent wasn't "high class," but then he'd call an elevator a lift or something and whatever point he was trying to make was completely lost on Eugene's blissful American ignorance), and then mess him up again.

Severus rolled his eyes, looking sick to death of this. "You're not actually attracted to me, so just stop it already."

Eugene let out an awkward half-cough, half-laugh. "Yeah, okay, I'll stop with the jokes if you want, but, uh, cards– cards fully on the table here, if you're ever interested in, you know, me, I won't turn you down."

Severus just stared at him for a long moment. "But you're a Muggle."

"That does seem to be an issue for you–"

"No," Severus waved him off. "I mean, being attracted to men– it's illegal for you, isn't it? I've heard stories, my father–" There was another jerking hand movement from Severus. "It's dangerous for Muggles."

"Well, I wouldn't try holding your hand in Nashville, but this town… you think the fairies would allow that sort of violence? They enjoy a good love story with a happy ending, and they've come up with some pretty interesting punishments for mere mortals who try to upset that. There's an old timer who lives down on Old Forest Lane that thought he could get away with beating his wife, and the fairies bestowed sentience on his right hand. Man had to cut it off because when he tried to masturbate the hand attempted to pop his testicles like grapes. Now that severed hand helps teach sign language at the school." Eugene shrugged. "Fayville's a weird place, you don't have anything to worry about from the folks here."

Severus seemed struck silent and Eugene clapped his hands together, swinging them by his sides as if he could physically dispel the awkwardness of the situation. If Severus's face was blotchy, then Eugene could only imagine what his own face must look like. It was probably fire engine red at this point. "So, uh, mind tossing me a pillow and a quilt? We should hit the hay, we'll need to get up bright and early in the morning."

Severus mechanically handed him the items he asked for, still silent. Eugene flopped onto the floor beside the bed, and closed his eyes against the damning quiet. "Goodnight!"

He tried not to think about his ruined friendship with Severus as he listened to the other boy climb onto the bed, near enough to touch.

Severus slept fitfully throughout the night, his thoughts kept circling back to what Eugene had said the night before. It was, frankly, absurd. Was he blind? Shit, it wasn't even as if Severus had a "nice personality" or whatever trite people said to the truly ugly to make them feel better.

Severus flopped onto his stomach and stared down at the other boy as the grey light of dawn peeked through the curtains. He had known classmates who spent galleons upon galleons on beauty potions. There was no way Lucius naturally looked the way he did, the ridiculous peacock, and even Black and Potter spent an allowance worth on magical cure-alls and then had the gall to pretend it was "genetics."

Eugene looked like a normal boy, rough and kind of earthy. Still out of his league, Severus thought.

"You should take a picture," Eugene repeated his words back to him, his eyes still closed, a slight smile on his face. "I'll even pose for you."

Severus clung to the liferaft Eugene threw at him, sliding back into the easy teasing that they had somehow developed, and he tried not to think about the fact that his jokes might not just be jokes. "Good, I need a new target to practice my dueling. Your picture would do just fine."

Eugene grinned and finally opened his eyes, and then they set to work. Severus was given another set of Muggle clothes (he couldn't walk into a busy airport in his Hogwarts uniform) that he had to transfigure to get it to fit properly. They ate a hurried breakfast made by Mrs Fitzgerald, and then they were climbing into the family truck.

"Get ready," Eugene said with a grin as he started up the engine, that Severus did not like the looks of at all. "I'm about to introduce to you America's greatest contribution to history." 

"Which is?" He asked warily.

"Country music!"

The radio came to life and a woman's voice started crooning out the name Jolene, which Eugene sang along to at the top of his lungs.

Severus pointed the top of his wand against his own temple and whispered, "Muffliato."

Chapter Text

The Muggle in front of him was balding and what little ginger-colored hair he had left had been raked over his shiny, pink dome in a desperate attempt to hide it. Severus thought the man looked ridiculous; it would be much better if he just embraced his baldness instead of clinging to this sad illusion. Tobias Snape may have given Severus his awful hooked nose, and his crooked teeth, but if there was one thing Severus was grateful for it was Tobias’s head of still-thick black hair. He would never have to worry about losing his hair, greasy and lank though it may be.

Severus sat in his chair inside the travel agency, content to let Eugene take the lead and navigate them both through this Muggle bureaucracy while he let his mind wander, only half-listening to the conversation at hand. He was only pulled back down into reality when the travel agent frowned apologetically.

“I’m sorry, but it’s just not possible at the moment. All flights to and from the UK and Ireland were grounded just yesterday. Everything’s hush-hush at the moment, but apparently the whole country is under quarantine.”

Severus sat straight in his chair. “What? Quarantine? What are you talking about?”

“I’ve only heard rumors. I expect the CDC will come out and make a statement soon enough, but some people are saying the whole country is infected with African Sleeping Sickness.”

“African Sleeping Sickness,” Severus said with a deadpan voice.

“It’s what I’ve heard.”

“You do realize that it is caused by a parasite? It is not an infectious disease, so even if the tsetse fly did decide to pack its little fly suitcase and move from sub-Saharan Africa to cold, rainy England of all places, there would be no reason to quarantine the country because the infected cannot spread it to others.”

“Look,” the agent said, holding up his hands. “All I know for certain is that no one is being allowed inside."

Eugene, recognizing that Severus was about to launch into an argument, quickly stood up, shook hands with the agent, and thanked him for his time before ushering the wizard out of the building. "We have to go to New York," Severus said the moment they stepped outside into the bright sunshine.

"New York? Why? What's in New York?" Eugene asked.

"That's where the Magical Congress is, your version of the Ministry of Magic."

"Really? In New York?"

"Why is that strange? It's your capital."

Eugene blinked and a funny smile overtook his face. "Our capital is Washington D.C. How is it that you know all about African Sleeping Sickness, but not the capital of the United States?"

Severus huffed as they walked down the streets of Nashville. "Why should I know anything about your stupid country?"

"Well, you are stuck here."

"Ugh, don't remind me."

Eugene flashed him another smile before they fell into silence. Severus could feel Eugene flicking his gaze over at him as they walked aimlessly. He felt the other boy brush against him with his shoulder and was met with a gentle look. "What's got you so worried?" He asked.

"I can't help but think this quarantine has something to do with the Wizarding World." Severus sighed and shook his head. "What with the war–"

"You never really talk much about this war. Have… I don't really know how it works for you guys. Is there a draft?"

A rough laugh escaped the back of his throat. "Something like that. Everyone decided for me what side I was on when I was only eleven."

"You don't want to fight?"

A casual shrug. "My friend Lucius wants to. He has all these grand ideas, and he's the only person in the world who cares about me."

"I care for you."

Severus looked over at Eugene and saw that painfully earnest expression. He had to look away again.

"Maybe it doesn't have anything to do with wizards," Eugene said after a beat, his voice lighter. "Maybe this is just another one of Carabosse's jokes."

Severus froze, standing stock still in the middle of the sidewalk and forcing the Muggles to go around them. "Carabosse?"

"Yeah, the fairy queen that bewitched you. That's her name." Eugene gave him a quizzical look. "You've heard of her before?"

Severus took a deep breath, trying to calm his wild emotions. "Of course," he said, his voice deceptively calm. "She's famous enough that she's even known among Muggles. You know Tchaikovsky?"

"The Nutcracker guy?"

"Yes, he did another ballet, in which Carabosse is a central figure." He gave Eugene a pointed look. "Sleeping Beauty."

"Oh," Eugene said. "Well, shit."

As a single unit, they pivoted around and headed back to the travel agency to purchase two airline tickets to New York.

The first thing Albus noticed that September morning after his dream was the lack of owls swooping into the Great Hall to deliver the morning mail to the breakfasting students. There were only half as many birds as usual, which was an odd enough occurrence that most of the professors picked up on it, if not the students themselves.

He spent his day buried in work, his school and the surrounding village of Hogsmeade was isolated enough from the Muggle World that he hadn't a clue as to what was going on until late that afternoon when the Minister of Magic contacted him.

Albus was frozen in his seat as he listened to the Minister's voice through the Floo. "We'll need access to the Book of Admittance," the Minister continued on. "There are the Muggleborn children that haven't been affected and someone will need to take care of them. I trust Hogwarts will be able to house them until a solution can be found?"

"Yes, of course," Albus heard himself say and then the connection was broken.

Albus canceled classes for the rest of that day, ordered the students to return to their common rooms, and requested an emergency meeting with his staff.

He watched their faces as his teachers entered the staff room. They were pale and pinched, ready for some devastating blow. Voldemort's attacks had been increasing, and there was that question in their eyes: Who was it this time? Were there any survivors?

Albus waved them to their seats and said, "It appears…" Albus paused and hummed, thinking about his words. "It appears a curse has been placed on Muggle Britain. The Muggles never woke up this morning, they were placed in a magical sleep sometime during the night. From what St. Mungo's can tell it does not actually harm them. They require no food or water, and the mediwizards suspect they will never even age so long as the curse remains in place."

"Like the Draught of Living Death then?" Horace asked.

"Very similar."

Minerva nodded and asked, "How many Muggles are affected?"

"All of them."

His staff were rocked into silence. Albus sighed. "Every Muggle in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland have been placed under this curse. The Ministry is currently looking for any Muggleborn children too young to attend Hogwarts. We will have to take them in until a cure can be found."

"Are they close to finding one?" Pomona asked.

"No. The magic used is… strange. No wizard is capable of doing this."

Pomona sucked in a breath. "Headmaster, if we're not sure how long this will last then– we need to start preparing."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, most of our food is grown and harvested by Muggles. Hardly any wizard actually farms, and we cannot conjure food, and enlarging it won't do us any good." That was very true. Conjuring food would only produce something that only looked like food, but lacking in any nutrients. Enlarging food had a similar effect; the amount of calories stayed the same no matter the size. You might as well eat air.

"Headmaster, if this goes on for too long we're going to have a famine on our hands."

Chapter Text

Eugene was gripping his seat hard enough that his hands were beginning to cramp, and the plane hadn't even moved yet. For the most part, Eugene was content with living his life as a 'Muggle' as Severus called him, but he couldn't deny that sometimes he wished he could use magic. This was one of those times. "If the plane catches on fire or something and starts to crash, you'd be able to get us to safety… right?"

Severus looked up from the frankly ridiculous number of brochures he had taken from the travel agency. He was currently thumbing through a brochure on Niagara Falls, which was actually in Buffalo, New York and not New York City, which is where they were heading, but Eugene didn't have the heart to tell him that. "I have to know a place before I can apparate to it, but I suppose I can apparate us straight down onto the ground so long as I can see it, which means we'll need to be in freefall," Severus mused. "Of course, I can only safely side-apparate one person, so as long as you're willing to sacrifice everyone else on this plane – including then children – to save your own skin then I’m game."

"Thank you, Severus, you always know exactly what to say to make me feel better."

Severus turned back to his brochure. "You're welcome."

The plane started to move, and Eugene was afraid he was going to throw up. He managed to wrench his hand free from the seat and held it, palm up, towards Severus. "I'm scared. Hold my hand?"

A small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth, his pale cheeks taking on a pinkish tone. "What's in it for me?" Severus asked, but it lacked his usual bite.

"I graciously allowed you to take the window seat."

"Somehow I think that was more for your own benefit than mine." Well, he wasn’t wrong. He could see just past Severus’s head that they were picking up speed, preparing for take-off, and his stomach rolled at the sight.

Severus slid his fingers toward him. Eugene grasped hold, pulling until they were palm to palm. Severus was so pale that you'd think he would be cold to touch, but his skin was warm. Eugene felt dizzy, but he didn’t know if that was because of the half-shy, half-sly look Severus threw him, or the plane lifting off the ground.

When Lily cracked her eyes open the first thing she saw was white silk. An involuntary smile bloomed across her face as she laid in bed, staring at the wedding dress hanging from her wardrobe. The dress had been handed down for generations, starting with her great-grandmother in 1900. It was terribly out of fashion in the Muggle World with its long sleeves, trailing skirt, and silk flowers around the collar, but it was considered the height of fashion in Wizarding Britain. Lily threw off the bedcovers and hummed a little as she dressed herself for the day. In a little more than five months, she and James would be married. They would get a house of their own, just the two of them, and every morning Lily would apparate to Potter’s Potions and work on her mastery under Fleamont, while James would take off for the Ministry to train as an auror, and in the evening they would get to come home, eat dinner, talk about their day, and make love.

Lily bounded down the stairs and was a little disappointed to see that her mother wasn’t up yet, but she shrugged and started pulling out eggs and pancake mix for breakfast. She absent-mindedly flicked her wand in the direction of the stove, leaving the eggs to crack themselves while she flipped through a bridal magazine. She frowned when she saw that some of the pages had been torn out– Tuney. Probably trying to keep all the good ideas to herself, though it’s not as if Vernon had even proposed yet. Whatever.

The clock on the wall struck the time. Her Dad was going to be late for work if he didn’t get up soon. Had something happened to their alarm? Lily stood up and headed back upstairs while the frying pan flipped that morning’s pancakes with a little too much verve, sending them hurtling towards the ceiling. “Dad?” Lily called out as she knocked on her parents’ bedroom door. “Are you feeling okay? You’re going to be late for work.” She rapped harder against the door when neither of her parents answered. “Mom? Are you alright?” Still nothing, and Lily felt her heart thunder inside her chest as panic settled over her. “I’m coming in!” She threw open the door, stopping short when she saw her parents sleeping peacefully side-by-side. Her mother had stolen all of the blankets and looked like a swaddling babe wrapped up in them. She could see the blanket burrito fall and rise with each breath her mother took. Her father was sprawled out like a starfish, softly snoring.

“Are you two hungover or something?” Lily demanded as she stood there with her hands on her hips. She crossed the bedroom and shook her father’s shoulder, frowning when nothing happened. “Dad? Dad? Dad!” She screamed in his ear, and all the while he slept peacefully onward. Lily scrambled to pull her wand from its holster and started casting diagnostic charms over them. Green runes were traced into their skin, exposing the spells woven onto them. It was magic, definitely magic, something similar to a stasis charm, but… powerful. Ancient. Even with just a cursory glance, Lily knew she didn’t have the power to break it.

She tried to control her breathing, managing to suck in air and release it through her lips, but her lungs still burned. She needed to tell Tuney. Her sister was always funny about magic, if she saw their parents like this she would freak. Tuney– Tuney! Lily bolted from her parents’ bedroom and raced down the hall where Petunia slept, not even bothering to knock this time. Petunia’s bedroom had changed little since they were children; there were still the same frills, the same floral wallpaper, the same white bedspread. Petunia was curled up underneath the covers, her hand beside her face, looking sweet and even pretty without that bitter expression to mar her face. Lily leaned over and brushed back her sister’s blonde hair. Tuney didn’t even stir.

Lily stood up, not wasting any more time. She was going to get answers, she was going to free her family. She sent off her patronus to alert James, saw the silvery doe bound down the stairs in one great leap, right past Boots who remained curled on the sofa, his head tucked into one paw. Not even the cat was spared. Lily shook her head. She didn’t think this was the work of You-Know-Who; the magic involved seemed beyond even his power, but she wasn’t going to rule anything out. She grabbed her coat on the way out of the house, taking note of the quiet, empty streets and shivering in a way that had nothing to do with the autumn wind.

Lily didn’t know if Snape was a Death Eater; James was convinced he was, had been ever since their fourth year at Hogwarts, and Sirius and Remus and even Dumbledore thought he had joined up, though none of them had heard so much as a whisper since graduation. Lily was content to leave it be. She didn’t want to know the truth. This way, he remained Schrödinger's Death Eater and Lily never had to open the box to find out if the poison had infected him or not.

Her shoes echoed against the pavement. There were no cars, no people. The entire town was empty. She crossed over into Spinner’s End, her nose wrinkling automatically at the dirt and trash that layered the old tenements. Despite not having traversed this side of town in years, her feet had never forgotten the path and in no time at all she was standing in front of the Snape residence, knocking on the door.

A tall, thin woman with long, black hair tied back in a greasy braid opened the door. She blinked in surprise and said, “Lily! I haven’t seen you in years! Look at how you’ve grown! Come in, come in, have you had breakfast?”

Lily was swept inside, and she felt unbalanced and unsure. She had come here expecting… she didn’t know what she expected. A fight maybe, with Snape. All of her fears for him revealing themselves to be true. But here was his mother, Eileen, puttering around the kitchen as if there was nothing wrong. “I’m sorry to barge in like this,” Lily said, not quite hearing the words that were coming out of her mouth. “But I’m looking for Sn– Sev.”

She turned to her with a look of surprise on her face. “You would know more than me. He hasn’t been home in over a year, not since the previous summer.”

Her stomach felt heavy. “Has he even written to you?” Lily asked.

“No, not once.” Eileen busied herself with the kettle, her face smooth and unperturbed by this casual confession. A flush of anger coursed through Lily.

“Don’t you care!? He’s your son! For all you know he could be dead in a ditch somewhere!”

Finally, that bland, calf-like expression melted away and was replaced by an ugly scowl. “Hush! Tobias is still sleeping!”

Tobias Snape. Of course, Eileen only ever really cared about Tobias, and to hell with her son. Lily stood up suddenly, her chair crashing to the ground as she made her way towards the door. “Trust me, nothing you or I could do will wake him. Be prepared for a visit from the Ministry.” She turned and walked right back out of that depressing house, her thoughts churning with fear and anxiety. Sev was missing, had been missing– for months! He could be staying with Malfoy or Avery, and if he was then that meant he had gone and done the thing Lily had always feared he would do. He was a Death Eater. And if he wasn’t, if he had found the strength to tell them no… then he was dead.

Albus Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and watched as Peter commanded the attention of every person in the room. He had never thought too much of the boy, and from the looks of it no one else had either. Sirius Black kept glancing around as if to say– him? We’re taking direction from him? But no one could deny that Peter was the only Order member with any experience in agriculture.

There were gardeners and botanists and herbologists all scattered throughout the Wizarding community, but only a rare few took to actual farming and of those most were Muggleborn or half-bloods that had been born into it. The simple fact was that farming required a lot of prime, arable land, and such land was hard to come by for a people that were not recognized by any Muggle government. Places like Hogwarts and Hogsmeade existed because the land was remote and hard to reach. Diagon Alley and Grimmauld Place existed in the in-between that bordered on the Fey Realm; perfectly fine for relatively small areas, but the wards required to keep them in the in-between and not have them slip completely into the hands of the Fey, or push themselves back into harsh reality, would be impossible to maintain for large tracts of fields. It would be difficult for someone like Albus Dumbledore – who had no Muggle documentation to even prove his existence – to walk into a real estate office and buy hundreds of acres of land. At least, not legally.

Then there was the issue that most wizards and witches considered farming beneath them. Such things were fit only for commoners, for Muggles.

Peter had grown up on a farm alongside his Muggleborn father, and as such he had been asked to lead this meeting of the Order of the Phoenix. “We need to organize our people into two groups,” he said as he rubbed his hands nervously, looking as unsure as everyone else in the room. “The first group will put stasis spells on as much produce as they can in as many grocery stores as they can before it all starts to rot. The second group will harvest what we can in the fields. Unfortunately, the harvesting season is almost over, and most of the farmers would have been preparing for winter. Whatever is left is our late autumn crops, like broccoli and radishes, no grains. I think we should also reach out to any Wizarding government willing to help us and ask for them to send supplies.”

“What about just growing our own food?” Sirius asked.

Peter bit his lip. “There’s a problem. A big problem. Whatever is affecting the Muggles, it’s also affecting the animals. Pets, livestock, even wild animals. I went digging for insects, and… they’re also affected. Our entire ecosystem is frozen. That means no pollinators like bees or butterflies, no earthworms to keep the soil healthy. I don’t think there’s a spell that will help with that. Our magic is meant to work in tandem with nature, not supplant it completely.”

James leaned forward, and Albus could tell that the seriousness of the situation was lost on him. Peter might as well have been speaking a foreign language. The rich, spoiled, Pureblood boy had no experience in what it meant to be hungry. “This is all important, I’m sure,” James said, in a way that made it clear just how unimportant he thought it was. “But I think we need to start preparing for an attack. What’s to stop You-Know-Who from waltzing into any house he wants and killing every Muggle he sees? They can’t even run!”

It was a valid question. The Muggles have been left completely defenseless, and yet… “I do not believe Voldemort has even thought of taking such a course of action.”

James snorted. “You’re kidding me?”

“Voldemort hates Muggles, but he loves power more. He’s gained his power by manipulating the fears the Wizarding World has regarding Muggles and their influence. For all intents and purposes, the Muggle threat has been neutralized. There is no longer a common enemy for him to direct his followers against. As brutal and depraved as many of his Death Eaters are, I do not think many of them would be willing to systematically slaughter sleeping innocents day in and day out until all 50 million Muggles in Britain are dead.”

“Then what do you think he’s going to do?”

Albus sighed. “Situations like this always create a power vacuum. He’s going to find a way to fill it, and he might even do it legitimately.”

“Are we any closer to finding out what caused this?” Minerva asked.

“I have my suspicions,” Albus said. He turned to look at James and Sirius. “I want the two of you, plus Lily and Remus when they arrive, to meet me in my office. I have a mission for you.”

Chapter Text

“Where are we going, Headmaster?”

“Not far. Just over the crest of this hill, and please, Remus, you’re not in school anymore. You’re allowed to call me Albus,” the old man said, and there was that same genial smile pasted over his face, though lacking his usual twinkle. Dumbledore took the four of them – Lily, James, Remus, and Sirius – to the top of a small hill not far from the greenhouses, close to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. At the summit, Lily could see nothing of interest but a fairy ring.

“What are we doing here?” James asked, looking around.

Dumbledore nodded to the fairy ring. “We are going to make entreaties to the Fey. I know of no other being capable of this sort of magic.”

As one unit, James and Sirius and Remus all took a step back, their faces betraying what they thought of Dumbledore’s plan. Lily had never been able to get a straight answer from anyone regarding fairies and the Fey; she suspected the Wizarding World just didn’t have the answers. She knew the small fairies were considered Beasts, and that their wings were harvested for potion ingredients (Sev had assured a horrified Lily that they shed their wings with the changing of the seasons; they were vain creatures, and they didn't want spring green wings in the dead winter when white would look better), but she had also heard tales of much larger fairies, and some that were called Fairy Queens. Tales that spoke of a people that were powerful, but also capricious, handing out good fortune with one hand and cruel, unusual punishments with the other. Even Muggles were well aware of their contradictory nature. Sev had told her one thing about them: never enter a fairy ring uninvited. “In fact,” he had said, swinging his legs from where he sat on the branch of a tree. “Never enter a fairy ring even if you are invited. Time works differently in the Fey Realm. You can enter, stay for what you think is only an hour, and come out to find two centuries have passed.”

Lily swallowed, suddenly realizing what it might mean if she followed Dumbledore into that ring. Even if the fairies agreed to listen to them, Lily’s family might have grown old and died by the time they returned. But if the only alternative was for them to remain trapped inside of a curse… Lily stepped forward. “I’ll go with you,” she said. Lily would sacrifice her time with them if it meant saving them.

Dumbledore smiled at her. “Thank you, my dear.”

At once, James was by her side, tugging on her wrist. “Lily, you don’t realize–”

“I do,” she interrupted him. “I understand perfectly. James, isn’t this what you always wanted? We said we were going to stop You-Know-Who no matter what it took. Are you going to tuck tail and run now?”

James tugged at his hair, looking angry and frustrated. He turned to Dumbledore. “Why would you even need us? We’re not your most diplomatic agents.”

Dumbledore laughed. “Yes, that’s true. But the Fey do enjoy mischief and romance,” he looked between Lily and James, and then at Sirius and Remus. “In addition to good manners. You four are likable and charming; I want them to like you. I want them to see the people they are harming with their tricks. This is a dangerous quest, and I won’t force you if you are afraid–” Dumbledore raised his hand at the expected outrage. A Gryffindor, afraid? Never! “There is no shame in being afraid. Fey magic is completely unlike our own. We will be at their mercy. I want you to make an informed decision.”

But Dumbledore had invoked Gryffindor pride and honor, and Lily could see that whatever doubts that had been lingering in her friends’ hearts were ruthlessly crushed. Dumbledore’s blue eyes flitted to each of them, satisfied, and Lily shivered at his easy manipulation. Or maybe, just at how easily manipulated they were.

Lily grabbed James’s hand, and she felt Remus grab her other one. Together, as one, they stepped inside the ring.

Like flipping on a light switch, Lily found herself standing in a field, different from the grassy hill at Hogwarts. Trestle tables were spread out and filled with meats and fruits and cheese. A group of fairies, as tall as Lily herself, were playing a game of croquet. The little ones, of the kind Lily had seen at her time in Hogwarts, numbered in the hundreds and were spread out across the glade, laughing and eating. One in particular was sitting on top of a card table and attempting to throw down a playing card in what looked to be a game of War with the largest fairy Lily had ever seen. She was at least as tall as Hagrid, with long, red hair trailing down to the ground. Not a natural red either, but the red of rubies. She was smiling indulgently down at the little one as the card was placed on the stack.

“Your Highness,” Dumbledore said, and the tall fairy looked up at them. Lily sucked in a breath. Your Highness– was this a fairy queen?

“Go away,” she said, still smiling. “I don’t play with cheaters.” This was apparently very funny to the little one, for it immediately collapsed onto the table and howled with laughter, kicking up its feet. “Quiet you,” the Fairy Queen growled and flicked the little one off the table.

Dumbledore walked forward, a little cautiously, and slowly reached into the sleeve of his robe to drop an Ace of Spades onto the table. The Fairy Queen looked at it and giggled. “It’s the ace up your sleeve! Literally!” And then, apparently very pleased with her joke, her giggles erupted into guffawing, which spurred the little ones on. The Fairy Queen wiped away a tear from her face. “But you needn’t have bothered. I already took him.” At Dumbledore’s confused look, she clarified. “Your ace, and Tommy’s knave.”

“I’ve come to apologize for my behavior,” Dumbledore said. “And to ask that you break the curse you have placed.”

“No,” the Fairy Queen said simply.

“If you don’t, You-Know-Who will seize power!” James erupted and walked forward. Lily had to hurry to keep up with him.

“People will starve! Muggleborn children have been left orphaned!” Remus continued.

At that, Lily felt tears spring to her eyes. She had been doing so well keeping it at bay. “Please, I want my family back,” she begged

The Fairy Queen just smiled at her. “Oh, my dear, you don’t have to worry. No harm will come to them so long as they sleep. Death cannot touch them.”

“But neither are they truly living! I want them back!”

“And you will have them!” she answered easily. “The curse will break in one hundred years' time.”

“Please, Your Highness, be reasonable,” Dumbledore tried again, and the smile finally disappeared from the fairy’s face. She stood up– and up– and up. No longer Hagrid’s size, she now towered over them at ten feet, her mouth pulled wide to reveal a row of sharp teeth. The little fairies that surrounded them continued to laugh, their voices echoing throughout the glade.

“Oh, I assure you, I am quite reasonable. Mellow, even. You should have seen me in my youth. This isn’t the first time I’ve handed down this particular curse, and I did it for pettier reasons than a war.”

“With all due respect, this isn’t your fight,” Sirius said. “It’s between us and the Death Eaters.”

The fairy swiveled her head to look at him. “And with no respect given, it very much is my fight. For centuries, I have had my favorite humans. I have come to them at their christenings, I have blessed them with gifts, I have arrived in their time of need, because they are mine. And most had been what you call ‘Muggles.’ And now your silly little government thinks it can stop me? I do not care about your ‘Statute of Secrecy.’ It means nothing to me. I have no fear exposing my magic to those that have none. In fact, I do wonder how your Ministry will keep this all hushed up for the next century. That African Sleeping Sickness excuse won’t last long, haha!”

As quickly as the changing winds, the rage dissipated, and the Fairy Queen was once again the smiling lady. She sat back down at the table and started shuffling her cards, still laughing to herself.

“Please, Your Highness, perhaps if you broke the curse our peoples can come to an understanding about the Muggles. Should we not try diplomacy first before breaking apart families, before allowing wixen children to grow up without knowing their own parents, before dooming our country to slow starvation?” Dumbledore pleaded his case.

The Fairy Queen looked at him, still smiling. “I won’t break it myself, but I will give you the opportunity to break it.”

Dumbledore nodded. “What must I do?”

“You must come to understand that for all your power, and all your knowledge, you still control nothing. The universe is not limited to your chessboard. It is pure chaos. You cheated at our game because you wanted to get one-up on Tommy. Did you think if you won, I would have rewarded you? That I would give you some sort of trinket to vanquish him, like the Lady of the Lake throwing Excalibur at King Arthur’s head? Go Fish is not about strategy, it is pure random chance. Just like life. These people–” She gestured to Lily, and James, and the others. “Are not pieces on a board. They will make their own decisions, completely independent from you. The rest of the world too can come along and upset your game; people you’ve written off as unimportant, people you’ve never even met, random people who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, can come along and destroy all your finely laid plans. Once you learn this lesson – truly learn it – then the curse will break.” She waved to them. “You have your answer, now go. Fare thee well, until we meet again!”

The trestle tables and games were gone, and along with them the fairies that had surrounded them. Lily blinked and looked around, noting that the scenery had not changed, they were still standing in this strange, unknown field, only now she could see a small herd of brown cows ambling toward them.

“Where’s the Headmaster?” James demanded, turning all around to look for him. Lily jerked her head but saw no sign of his signature white hair and trailing white beard. She did see a Muggle in overalls standing about thirty feet away, leaning against a wheelbarrow. He waved to her as soon as he caught her looking.

The Muggle was tall and broad, his skin rough from the sun making him look older than his age, which Lily would guess to be about mid-twenties. He had soft brown hair, and a neatly trimmed beard, and brown eyes that looked amused by this whole situation. “Any reason why ya’ll are standing in the middle of my cow pasture?” He asked. It took Lily a moment to decipher the words. He had a thick American accent.

“Cow inspection,” Sirius said, and Lily wanted to slap him. Cow inspection? Really? Not even the stupidest Muggle would fall for that. God, and this man was training to be an Auror?

The Muggle laughed a little. “And what about your friend, Discount Merlin? I don’t think he can do much inspecting in that bathrobe he was wearing.”

“Did you see where he went?” James asked.

The Muggle wiggled his fingers. “Disappeared into thin air.”

James scrubbed his face. “Of course. Look, this might be a weird question, but where are we?”

“Tennessee.”

“What the fuck is a Tennessee?” Sirius demanded.

“It’s a U.S. state,” the Muggle explained. “Kind of a long, skinny one. Beautiful mountains.”

“Great, this is just… great.” James rubbed his neck and turned around. “Sirius, take care of him for me, will you?”

“Sure thing,” Sirius said and pulled out his wand. “Don’t worry, you won’t remember a thing–”

The Muggle, however, did not look worried at all, or even curious at the man with a British accent waving a stick in his face. “Before you go casting any spells, you’re gonna want to talk to my husband.”

James snapped his head around so fast, Lily thought he might have broken it. “What?” He demanded.

“He’s a wizard too.” The Muggle stood up straight and waved them along. “Come on, he’s up at the house.”

Albus Dumbledore found himself back where he started, at Hogwarts, only this time he was alone. Fear gripped him when he realized that James and Sirius and Lily and Remus were nowhere to be found. Had the fairies taken them? Was it a punishment? Without pausing to think, Albus stepped back into the ring, but nothing happened. Whatever magic that had transported them to the Fey Realm was gone. He must speak with the Order; he needed their expertise. Perhaps Hagrid would know more about the Fey, living so close to the Forbidden Forest.

He hurried to Hagrid’s hut, frowning as the small cabin came into view. It was overgrown with moss and weeds; the door was hanging off its hinges. Albus slowed his approach and peeked inside. It was abandoned, save for the little puppy Hagrid had recently picked up from somewhere, trapped in his enchanted sleep in front of the cold fireplace, a thick layer of dust covering him. How long had it been for the rest of the world since Albus and the children went into the Fey Realm?

Chapter Text

1978

Severus and Eugene craned their necks to stare up at the skyscraper that jutted toward the sky. Construction workers were crawling all over the site as they worked on restoring the building's old copper windows and crumbling terracotta tiles. There were metal frames attached to the building to provide support and sheets of plastic covering parts of the building. "This is the Magical Congress?" Eugene leaned over to whisper into his ear. "It doesn't look very magical."

Severus huffed out a breath as he scanned the area, trying to find a secret entrance. The Americans must have a hidden space within the building; they were even more strict when it came to Muggle interference than Britain. There was no way they would risk exposing their world to Muggles. Speaking of which… "We'll have to say we're engaged," Severus said, keeping his gaze focused forward. He could feel himself beginning to blush, and he could only imagine the expression on Eugene's face.

"Engaged? Damn, buy me dinner first."

"You don't want to be obliviated, do you? The only Muggles allowed to know about the Wizarding World are spouses, parents, children, and siblings."

"Oh, I'm not complaining. I think it's a good plan. We should practice kissing in order to look more convincing."

Severus refused to let himself smile. "Absolutely not."

"Hey, this is your idea. I'm trying to help you out."

They continued to stand there and bicker for the next few minutes until Severus heard a voice behind him say, "Excuse me." They both whirled around to face the stranger. He was a tall, middle-aged man with an outfit that was very nearly Muggle, excepting a few pieces that were a bit incongruous, either out of date by a few decades or of very clearly magical origin. The man looked over the pair of them, lingering on Severus more than Eugene. "Can I help you with anything?" His voice was flat and low, with a clear hint of a threat.

"I'm just trying to get home," Severus answered, and the stranger's demeanor suddenly changed. He looked shocked, and then excited. He stuck out his wand, and Severus had a presence of mind to grab Eugene's hand before he could be left behind as they brought through on the other side of the Woolworth Building, the Magical side.

The stranger frowned when he saw that Eugene was still with them, and Severus held on tighter. "We're engaged," he said, hoping it would smooth things over, but that only made the man sneer.

"Be that as it may, we don't allow No-Majs inside."

Eugene scoffed. "'No-Majs?'" He turned to Severus. "That's an even stupider name than Muggles. Can't you folks come up with something better?" He shook his head and turned back to the stranger. "Look, your secrets are safe with me. I'm not going to run out of here screaming, 'I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil last night!' I–oof!"

Severus elbowed Eugene in the ribs when he saw the wizard's face grow dark at Eugene's joke. Eugene shot him a confused look and Severus pointed at the Salem Memorial a little ways ahead. Eugene's brows shot upward. "Oooh nooo," he whispered. "I am so sorry. If I'd known this was still a sensitive subject, I would not have made that Salem joke."

But the wizard was already lifting his wand, and Severus rushed to draw his.

1988

Eugene led the wixen out of his pasture and up towards the house. The old farmhouse had been improved upon in the intervening years. The porch had been extended and widened, a sunroom added, along with an entire second storey. The white clapboard gleaned in the afternoon light, the green roof dazzled. Honeysuckle twisted along the railings and up columns, perfuming the grounds.

The front door had been left open, and Eugene opened the screen door and waved the motley group toward the kitchen. "Severus, we got some of your folks here."

"Wizards or Brits?" A voice called out.

"Both!"

Someone gave a gasp, and Eugene was about to turn around when they entered the kitchen and he saw Severus put a jar of eyeballs on a shelf. "No, no, we talked about this. Eyeballs go in the cabinet."

"They need sunlight," he insisted stubbornly, without bothering to turn around.

"They watch me when I eat. I get enough of that from the dog."

The dog in question was stationed at his usual post, under the table, continuously licking at the floor just in case someone had dropped a crumb he had somehow missed. Severus had found him hiding under their house in Florida, and named him Octavius. There had never been a more ill-fitting name for their fat, stubby-legged, empty-headed dog.

Eugene could only see the back of Severus's head, but he could feel the eyeroll emanating from him. He took the jar off of the shelf and turned around to put it in one of the cabinets, when he pulled up short. He dropped the jar in surprise, sending eyeballs rolling in every direction. Severus did nothing to pick them up, just continued to stare at their guests, leaving Eugene to grab Octavius to keep him from lapping up one of the eyes.

"What do you want?" Severus's voice was cold and aloof.

The three men all looked too stunned to say anything, but the red-haired woman took a tremulous step forward, her brow furrowed with confusion. "How– How old are you?"

Severus cocked his head. "Twenty-eight, and you… you all look exactly the same as I saw you last ten years ago." He smirked at the four of them. "Ran afoul of some fairies, did you?"

One of the men stepped forward. He was tall, broad-shouldered, with dark curly hair. Very handsome, if one ignored the crazed look in his eyes. "I don't know what kind of game you're playing, Snape, but I'll send you back to your master in pieces if you don't start talking right now." He pulled out his wand, quickly followed by the man in glasses, and less quickly by the scarred, tawny-haired guy. The woman grabbed Spectacles by the arm and hissed out a name, "James!"

Severus threw back his head and laughed. "Please. I'm not scared of a bunch of teenagers. Besides, your war is long over, and I was never a part of it." He rolled up his sleeves to show them his bare forearms. "I've been living in the States since we graduated from Hogwarts. Now, get out of my house."

1979

Albus walked the trail from Hagrid's hut to the castle, where he could see a flurry of activity outside the main doors. He hoped James and Lily and the others were there. He had not seen them since his return. Worry and guilt plucked at him; what if the Fey had decided to keep them for their own amusement?

As he drew closer, he spotted a group of students – some who had already graduated, some who hadn't, and no one in uniform – crowded around Amelia Bones, a Hufflepuff sixth year. She looked thinner than he remembered, fiercer, and was holding onto a beater's bat as well as her wand. "Those bastards can't be allowed to get away with it!" She said to the waiting crowd, who clapped and cheered her on. "We're going to the Ministry and we're going to take back what's ours!" The applause was thunderous, and the students were beginning to gather their things in preparation of what looked to be a long march when Albus made his presence known.

"And just what is going on here?" He called out as he stepped forward into the crowd. The students parted away from him, their faces a mixture of confusion and hostility. Amelia slung her bat across her shoulder and looked down at him from the low wall she stood on. "Dumbledore," she sneered. "You're back."

"I take it I've been gone a good long while," he agreed mildly. "But I do believe I am still the Headmaster of this school."

"You're not, Dumbledore," she said, once more refusing to use his proper title. "McGonagall is our Headmistress now. You want your old job back, take it up with her."

"I see," he glanced at the students. "And is she aware of what's going on here?"

"Of course not, she's at the Ministry, trying to get our portkey back." Amelia grinned. "And we're going to help her."

"Your… portkey?" Dumbledore asked. Portkeys were hardly the sort of things one went to war over. It wasn't as if new ones couldn't be created.

"I don't know where you've been this past year, but that portkey is one of the few left that are keyed to a location outside of Britain. It's the only way we can get new shipments of food." Amelia raked her eyes over him. "You look like you've been eating well."

This past year? I've been gone an entire year? "What has happened to your portkey?" Albus asked, ignoring the jab. He had apparently last eaten over twelve months ago, or just four hours according to his time.

"The Minister of Magic took it. He's taken all the portkeys and he says he's going to 'redistribute' the food as it comes in so that everyone can receive 'equal' amoints." She let out a harsh laugh. "Guess who's getting the lion's share?"

A young child, too young to be a first year came running up the path, his arms waving. "Shipment! A shipment's arrived!"

At once the students abandoned their plot to storm the Ministry in favor of rushing inside the castle, a look of hunger etched into each one of their faces.

Chapter Text

1988

Severus hardly spared Lily a glance, his eyes never leaving the Marauders, fingers itching for his wand. He wasn't going to let them destroy what he's built here. Not that they could, even if they tried. They were fresh out of Hogwarts. All the magic they knew was what was in their textbooks. Severus had spent the last ten years studying, creating, growing in power.

Seeing Potter and Black and Lupin had plunged his mind into the past; he felt himself sink into old habits long since abandoned. He bared his teeth in an ugly sneer, his brain flipping through its catalogue of hexes and curses, when movement caught the corner of his eye. Eugene. He had forgotten about him, he had forgotten– Severus felt himself torn in two, between Eugene's Severus and the Severus the Marauders had helped create.

"Hey, I'm sensing a bit of hostility," his husband said and casually moved himself until his body was placed between Severus and the wands pointed at him. "Now," he said to the Marauders. "Before you go starting a fight and blasting holes in my house, you need to remember you're in Fairy Country. That means certain rules need to be followed, or you'll find yourself on the receiving end of more tricks. Worse ones than just ending up ten years in the future. Rule #1 is be polite, Rule #2 is be honest, and the third and final rule–" Eugene paused a moment to shoot Severus a significant look. Severus ground his teeth together, but said nothing. Rule Number Fucking Three was going to be the death of him. "Rule #3 is obey the laws of Sacred Hospitality. Now, I invited you in my house. My mistake, won't happen again, but since you are here now, Severus and I do have certain obligations to you as your hosts. You four, as our guests, also have obligations, first and foremost being you do not attack your hosts so put your wands away or God help me–"

Lupin was the first to drop his; Severus thought he was merely waiting for an excuse to do so. Potter and Black reluctantly followed suit, probably less out of fear for any retaliation and more because they didn't want to accidentally hurt the Muggle currently using himself as a human shield. Those two dropped their wands, but didn't put them away. They kept them tucked against their sides.

Now that a truce had been called, Lily tried again to speak. "Sev–"

He couldn't deal with this. Severus turned sharply on his heel and barked out, "Family meeting."

Eugene gave their four "guests" an insincere smile and gestured to the kitchen, "Please help yourselves to something to eat. Word of warning, Severus keeps a lot of his ingredients stashed in the cabinets and doesn't always label them. Good luck."

He heard Eugene follow him down the hall. Severus stepped out onto the porch and the moment the door had closed behind him, Severus rounded on him. "What were you thinking bringing them here?" He growled.

Eugene held up his hands in supplication. "I have no idea who those people are, except that they're ready to fight you and Sev, I'm sorry, I love you, but most people want to fight you after meeting you the first time."

"James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Lily Evans," Severus rattled off their names. "That's who they are."

Eugene pressed his mouth into a thin, hard line. Severus hadn't told him everything that had gone on at Hogwarts – some things he couldn't, even now the vow he had been forced by Dumbledore to take still held true – but Eugene knew enough. "I'll find a way to get them out of here without breaking the rules, I promise, but I need you not to pick any fights. You have to remember you're not just risking yourself."

"Fine, but know that the Marauders never had a problem hexing someone while their back was turned."

"Severus, trust me. I know it's hard for you. I know that a lot of people have let you down, but you don't need to fear for your safety. This house is being watched Carabosse and her entourage. They're waiting to see what happens next, and they won't like it if those wizards try to hurt you. But that doesn't mean you can go breaking the rules."

Severus folded his arms, half-wishing they had never moved back here. "Alright," he said through clenched teeth. "But I'm calling Vada. I'm going to ask her if she can keep Junie a few days. I don't want her in the house while they're here."

"I agree," Eugene said, nodding his head. Then he gave Severus that hopeful, hang-dog expression that reminded too much of Octavius. "You angry with me?"

"No, of course not. I'm thinking of poisoning your dinner with strychnine, but that's a completely unrelated issue."

"Oh good, I'd hate to think my murder was a crime of passion and not a cold-blooded  calculation. Be sure to cremate me and scatter my ashes over the Piggly Wiggly parking lot."

"No, I've already got your funeral planned out."

Eugene cocked a brow. "You have? Should I be actually worried?"

Somehow, despite his better judgment, Severus allowed Eugene to draw him into a bit of playful banter, and he felt some of the tension leave his body because of it. "Imagine it: you in a flat-top coffin, a full bar spread across it, and AC/DC's 'Have a Drink on Me' playing in the background."

Eugene let out a full, throaty laugh. "I love it. We're doing that."

Severus let himself grin, but the phantoms waiting for him in his kitchen tempered his mirth. He gestured for Eugene to follow him back into the kitchen, where he found Lily and the Marauders trying their damned best to look like innocent angels. Eavesdropping, probably even scoured the kitchen looking for Dark artefacts. Ha, this whole town is a dark artefact.

"We have no way of returning you to the past," Severus said, managing to keep his voice more or less calm. "But we can help you get you back to the UK. Travel to there from America is restricted, so you'll need to go through the MACUSA. You can stay here for the night, and we'll leave in the morning. There are guest bedrooms upstairs, dinner will be served at seven. I wouldn't recommend poking your nose where you don't belong. There are far worse things in this town than anything you've experienced in Care for Magical Creatures. Eugene, I'll leave them to you."

He swept from the room and into the hallway where the telephone was mounted on the wall. He picked it up and dialed Vada's number, twisting the cord around his fingers. "Hrmello?" Came a muffled voice.

"Were you still asleep?" Severus demanded, irritated. "No, nevermind. I don't care. Can you pick Junie up from daycare and keep her a few days? Something has come up here."

Eugene looked at the four people standing in his kitchen, three of whom had left long, deep scars in his husband's psyche. Despite the vast amounts of power Severus held in his little pinkie, Eugene had rarely felt inadequate. They were a team. What one lacked, the other made up for. But here, now– knowing how they had hurt Severus and being utterly unable to really do anything about it was a bitter pill to swallow. Eugene wasn't a fighter, and there was no way he'd be able to go against a single wizard, let alone four of them, gifts from the Fey be damned. Eugene swallowed his pride and smiled ingratiatingly. He could do this at least: keep the occupied, keep the distracted, give Severus time to calm down and regain control over his emotions. "Coffee?"

"Yeah, I'll take a cup," Spectacles said, returning the smile, though his was even less sincere. Crazy Eyes snorted.

Ginger was peeking through the kitchen door, trying to figure out where Severus had gone. Giving up, she looked back at Eugene and took the cup of coffee he held out to her. She didn't drink it, only held it between her hands and running a thumb along the rim. "So… you married Sev?"

"About eight years ago, yes."

"Is that when you met?"

"No, we'd known each other for two years before we tied the knot."

"Willingly?" Spectacles asked, before yelping when Ginger's boot suddenly landed on his toes.

Eugene cracked a grin that was half-hidden behind his coffee mug. "Very much so."

"Will you tell me about it?" Ginger asked, and she sounded so sincere that Eugene relented.

"Severus moved to America about ten years ago. We lived in Knoxville for a while when I was studying at UT. I became a history teacher and we moved around a lot before finally coming back here about four years ago after my mother passed." He took a sip of his coffee. "That's the short of it anyway."

Ginger looked hard at him. "Are you two happy?"

"I think we are."

She smiled softly. "I'm glad."

Spectacles and Crazy Eyes shot each other significant looks and Eugene wondered what they were planning.