“There once lived a man in the house by the river.”
Isn’t that how good stories start?
But this man is no good. He is no hero. Or even a kind man. He is vicious, petty, and broken.
As ugly on the outside as he is on the inside. Many, far more worthy than him, should have survived the war. Or walked away free to live out their days in relative peace.
But life is rarely fair, isn’t it?
And so, in spite of many who wish he was dead, Severus Snape wakes, sneers into his morning cuppa, does his shopping at Tesco on a Friday night, brushes the chimney soot off his shirtsleeves, and hides old scars.
After all, life carries on, even when you least expect it.
Some nights it seems that, after nearly five decades of surviving, he’s still learning how to live it in peace. Free at last.
It doesn’t come easy.
Still, he makes it work. He raises his collar high over the scar on his neck, even in summer, pulls his sleeves down over his wrists, and never, ever greets the neighbours.
When the post arrives, he Incendios every Howler, a routine since the end of the war.
[The Potter Scandal! Will Ginevra change her surname? How will the children cope. More on page 3]
He still reads the Prophet. The ghastly rag.
He makes porridge or eggs, or sometimes empties a tin of beans on toast. Every week, he brews another dose of Dreamless Sleep in the cellar. Every evening he sweeps the coal dust with his mother’s favourite broom. The unridden, Muggle kind.
The flames in the fireplace have never glowed green. There is no floo powder on the mantle.
He keeps a journal, but never writes about the past. He tries not to dream of it. Even though his Secret is Kept well enough, he meticulously checks the iron locks every night and renews his security spells every other Tuesday.
Until, one day. Everything changes.
The ghost of a stag prances right through his carefully honed defenses into the seclusion of his living room and says in Harry-Bloody-Potter’s voice.
A small thing I’ve made cause today, 9/01, is Severus Snape’s birthday. Setting is still the same as my Snape Lives AU, with Harry as the current Dada Professor
Harry: “Is it bad that I’m a bit weirded out that Snape is dating?”
Hermione: “I think it’s perfectly normal. I mean you went from having an antagonistic rapport with him to the discovery of his true allegiance and love for your mother, which may have made you unconsciously cast him in a sort of idealized somewhat paternal role in your mind, given his feelings for your mother and the fact that he always protected you. To be honest, it could also be that you may feel a bit guilty in regards to all the sacrifices you now know he’s made to keep you safe, and his new relationship sort of gets in the way of the ‘martyr’ figure you created in your mind to deal with your own feelings of guilt in regards to him.”
Harry: “Can you please not psychoanalyze me?”
Hermione: “Then stop acting like Snape’s new relationship is somehow like your mum and dad broke up and you’re adjusting to the fact that your dad has a new girlfriend.”
Harry: “What are you talking about, I don’t see Snape as a father figure.”
Hermione: “No, you just really need his approval, constantly rebel against him and feel ambivalent about the fact that he may have got over his love for your mother.”
