Chapter Text
THE BASEMENT
"Shame it started raining," Lily said as she wedged something in the doorway to the Evans family's basement. She turned to Severus and said, "Make sure this doesn't move. We'll be locked in if it does."
"What dunderhead would design a basement door like that?"
"Blame whoever built the house," Lily said. "Anyway... what do we do now?"
"I assumed you knew what we were doing when you led me down here," Severus said.
"I think we have some board games," Lily said. She was starting to search along the shelves on the side of the room. "Can you help me look?"
"Anything in particular?" Severus asked. He didn't know the names of any Muggle board games other than... was it called Monopoly? Monopoly. "Do you have Monopoly?"
"Tuney loaned it to one of her friends," Lily said. "Oh, actually, we might have a few packs of cards if we can't find anything else."
"Why would they be down here?"
"All of the game stuff is down here."
"Ahem!"
Severus and Lily turned to see Petunia standing at the top of the steps, holding the door open. "Petunia," Severus said dryly. "A pleasure."
"What are you two doing down here?! Do Mummy and Daddy know about this?"
"Of course they do," Lily said brightly. "Do you want to play cards with us?"
Honestly, she couldn't decide which of them looked more appalled by the suggestion. Severus's face twisted into a scowl, while Petunia wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"Play cards? With him?"
"Oh, come on, Tuney, it's just a game. Besides, it's not like you have anything better to do."
"Better? I'd rather scrub the house from top to bottom with a toothbrush than hang out with a couple of…"
"Don't you dare say it," Lily interrupted, glaring at her sister. "Don't you dare call us…"
"Freaks?"
"You're the freak," Severus said, shooting Petunia an icy look. "Freakishly stupid, freakishly jealous, and probably freakishly bad at cards."
"Yeah? Then how come I beat Lily when we played last week?"
"It's obvious, isn't it? Either she let you win or you cheated."
"She didn't… I would never…" Petunia's face turned red, thin lips trembling with outrage.
"Stop it," Lily said. "Please, stop."
Thankfully, they both went quiet, though that didn't make her feel any better. She didn't understand why it had to be like this, why it was so bloody hard for Petunia to be civil when Severus was around. Why was she so rude to him, and why did he always respond with something awful? If they could just be polite…
To her horror, Lily felt her eyes filling with tears. She mumbled something about needing to go to the bathroom, barely noticing the small object she kicked aside as she shut the basement door behind her.
"Lily!" Severus hurried after her just as the door shut in front of him. "Lily, wait!" He attempted to open it, only to find that it was locked.... Ah. Right. "Lily, the door's locked! Lily!"
"What?!" Petunia's voice was as shrill as ever. "You're lying!"
"Yes," Severus said sarcastically, turning back to her. "You've caught me. The door is unlocked." He gestured to the door. "By all means."
Petunia shoved him out of the way, almost knocking him down as she tried to open the door. "Lily!" she shrieked. "Lily! Open the door!"
Severus wished he had been born without ears. "Stop screeching, you bloody harpy!"
"We're locked in!" Petunia shouted, as if to spite him. She turned on him and said viciously, "Mummy and Daddy won't be home for three hours, and we're trapped in here, and it's all your fault!"
"My fault?! You're the one who called her a freak!" Severus looked around the room to see if he could find something to open the door with.
"What are you doing now? Looking for something to steal?"
"I'm looking for something to help us get out of here," he spat back. "Unless, of course, you want to be trapped in here with 'that freaky Snape boy'!"
"Trapped in a room? With you? I'd rather…" Petunia couldn't imagine anything worse than being trapped with Snape, and not just because she disliked him. She was also afraid of him, though she'd rather die than admit it.
"Move!"
"Lily!" she shouted, ignoring his command. "Lily!"
"MOVE!"
Glancing over her shoulder, she gasped as she saw him coming toward her with a crowbar. Before she could react, he'd wedged it into the door frame, throwing himself against it with all the strength his skinny, 13-year-old body could muster. All the while, he kept calling for Lily, grunting and pushing to no avail.
"Right. How's that supposed to work when you don't have any muscles?"
"Will you…" Snape hesitated, panting hard. "Just… shut up!"
"You can't tell me to shut up in my own house!"
"I can do… whatever I want… you stupid…"
"Severus?"
Snape froze at the sound of Lily's voice, his expression suddenly hopeful. He twisted the knob, as if that would do any good, quickly explaining their predicament.
"What?"
"I said, 'we're locked in,'" he repeated, elevating his voice. "Can you let us out?"
"I don't have the key!" Lily shouted back. "There's nothing we can do until Mummy and Daddy get home!"
Petunia looked up at the clock, resisting the urge to curse aloud. Less than 10 minutes, and already, she felt like she'd been trapped with Snape for an eternity. How the hell was she supposed to make it through the next three hours?
"Why don't you…"
"What?" Snape snapped when she trailed off. "Just spit it out."
Under any other circumstance, Petunia wouldn't have even considered what she was about to suggest. This was a desperate situation, however, one from which there was no other escape.
"You've been off at that school learning all sorts of nasty tricks," she said. "Can't you use one of them to open the door?"