The Long and Winding Road

Author's Note: The song Mrs. Robinson is property of Simon and Garfunkel

Heavy rain fell all across London that morning. It was the wettest summer that Severus Snape could remember. He sat quietly in the passenger seat, watching the droplets of water glide gracefully down the window of the car. Some flew across the glass with surprising speed, others destined to join a flowing bead of rain and become one. Still, some seemed to avoid the other raindrops and slowly make their own path down the glass.

Severus was silently watching a "race" between a couple of raindrops and rooting for the droplet on the right when both of the drops were vanquished by a sharp blow of wind. He looked away from the window and instead gazed at the seemingly endless red backlights of the cars in front of him. Their red glares reflected off the front glass of the Snape family car; in the rain, they seemed even brighter. Severus glanced at his father who was singing along to a song on the radio.

And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson
Jesus loves you more than you will know

Wo, wo, wo
God bless you please, Mrs. Robinson
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
Hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey

Stupid Muggle, thought Severus. Stupid waste of space of a Muggle. First time I've seen him sober all summer. Severus' home life was not a happy one and he was even looking forward to returning to Hogwarts. His summers at the Snape home usually included his mother sobbing in the loo - sometimes summoning Severus in to give him hugs and kisses. She constantly told him how much she loved him and how he would become such a gifted Wizard. Just like she used to be, he mused. After praising him she would shoo him away so she could either sob some more or get up and drive over to one of her girlfriends' houses. Probably to go cry to them, also, he thought.

He felt an involuntary shiver of pity travel along his spine as he thought of his mother. Not only was she manic-depressive, but she also had to suffer from his father's abuse--verbal, and from time to time even physical. Severus tried to expel any more thoughts about his mother and after a few seconds succeeded.

He suddenly felt his cold cheeks burn with anger while thinking of his father. If he wasn't coming home at ungodly hours completely smashed, he was yelling up a storm because he had nothing better to do.

He remembered the occasion when his mother first told his father that she was a witch. He was about seven years old at the time. It was a warm spring night at the Snape home in Yorkshire; Severus and his mother were sitting in the living room playing a card game. Severus won, and laughed at his mother for being so horrible at "Go Fish". She put on a fake pout and then attacked him with her famous tickles. He laughed for what seemed like hours and his mother had huge smile on her face when she saw him giggle. The front door opened and his father walked inside the living room, loosening his tie...

"Daddy!" shouted young Severus. He hugged his father around the legs and started to jump up and down. "Mummy lost again when we were playing Go Fish! Maybe she didn't play the game when she was younger like you and me, Dad. Mum also got me some ice cream with loads of chocolate syrup and--"

"Whoa, slow down, son. I think you ate a bit too much chocolate today," said Tobias Snape. Severus then ran back to his mother, who was sitting tensely in an armchair. Her face seemed a bit paler as she looked at Tobias. Severus thought she looked like she was doing a hard maths problem.

"Tobias," she started. "Please...sit down. There is something that you need to know and this seems like an appropriate time... You too, Sev, sit down on Mummy's lap."

Tobias sat down and looked at his wife questioningly as Severus obediently sat in his mother's lap. He looked up at her and asked, "What's wrong, Mummy?"

Eileen looked at Tobias with fear etched across her face. Her eyebrows were furrowed and she nervously stroked Severus' hair. "Darling, I remember that you used to say that there was something...different about me, and--"

"Eileen, I meant that in a loving way, not as an insult!" Tobias laughed. "And that was ages ago when I first met you. There was something different about you, and that's what I love about you."

Severus made a face and said, "I hope this doesn't get mushy, Mum. And if it is, why am I still down here?"

"Quiet, Sev. Tob, you were correct. There was and still is something different about me." She breathed in deeply. "Tobias...I...I'm...that is to say that--"

"Spit it out, Eileen!" barked Tobias. It was obvious that he was nervous now. Did she cheat on him? Was Severus not their son? Nevertheless, why would that make her use the word "different" to describe herself?

"Tobias, I'm...I'm a witch."

There was a long pause until Tobias started to laugh and Severus did as well. A witch? Sure.

"Mummy, I sometimes think that I can fly but I can't really fly," said Severus with a smirk. His father was still laughing, sputtering out the words witch, cheating, not our son, and broomstick. Eileen, however, was not laughing. "Why aren't you laughing, Mummy? Did you really think that we would fall for that?"

"I'm not laughing, Sev, because I'm not joking," Eileen said, her face flushed with pent-up anger. With that, she told Severus to get up and she put her hand in her pocket and pulled out a stick. "Tobias, are you sure you don't believe that I'm a witch?"

Tobias Snape was crying from laughter and said in gasps, "No, no, dear! Of course you are a witch! And I'm Heidi and Sev is John Lennon and that plant over there is the Queen of Engl--"

"Silencio!" shouted Eileen and Tobias' voice was gone. As soon as Tobias realized he didn't hear the last part of "England" he knew something was wrong. He tried to talk normally again and when that was unsuccessful tried to scream, which was again unsuccessful. His face went from flushed with laughter to pale with worry. Severus looked at him mum with fear plastered across his young face.

"Believe me now, Tobias?" she said with a smirk. She lifted the charm, yet you could barely tell because it seemed Tobias could no longer even open his mouth.

"How did...the stick...and...WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON HERE!" Tobias shouted.

"I told you that I am a witch, and since you didn't believe me, I had to show you," said Eileen calmly.

"But, all this time...and you never told me! How long have you been a bloody witch! Am I a witch too? What the hell--" Tobias muttered.

"Tobias Lloyd Snape, I will tell you everything if you just shut up!" Eileen yelled. She took a deep breath, and told Tobias and Severus about how she grew up in a pureblood wizard family and went to a prestigious wizarding school called the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She described what she did at school, talking about her various friends and how she was excellent at a game called Gobstones. She finished her story off with how she fell in love with Tobias and decided to live among Muggles and then gave birth to Severus. Tobias was in shock and Severus' fear was replaced with awe and excitement.

"So...you are a witch? You played with wands all day, rode on broomsticks, and played stupid, weird, games with...gobstones for most of your life? I married a bloody WITCH!"

"Tobias, don't you see. I was afraid that if I told you, you wouldn't want to marry me. I was scared, Tob!" Eileen cried. "I knew I'd have to tell you eventually but I didn't want to tell you yet. And this brings up something else, Tobias. Remember that time when you wanted Severus--"

"Now you are bringing my son into this rubbish?" Tobias stood up.

"What the hell do you mean 'my son'? He's just as much mine as he is yours, Tobias! Who do you think you are? Just because I'm a witch, it doesn't mean he's my son? Let me remind you that I was the one to actually give birth to him!" Eileen shouted and the lamp by the wall shook. Severus had never seen his mother so angry before. She took a deep breath, got a hold of herself, and trying to be as calm as possible, she continued. "You remember the time when you wanted to teach Severus how to swim and when he kept on refusing to go jump in the pool and you said that if he didn't go into the pool that he wouldn't get any dessert? Remember how you found it odd that right after you said that all the water in the pool was gone?"

"Are you saying that Severus did that somehow? That's impossible, Eileen!" Tobias said angrily.

"Remember the time," continued Eileen loudly. "When I was baking biscuits for our new neighbour and told Sev that he couldn't have any? Didn't you find it strange that after only thirty seconds in the oven the biscuits started to smoke and burn and were essentially ruined?"

"That was just a mistake on your part, Eile--" Tobias interrupted.

"AND, the time when we got a complaint from the primary school that time when a boy was bullying Sev and dumped a bucket of mud on his head? Why did the school call in the first place, Tobias? Oh right, because the boy's hair began to slowly turn green. [Author ID1: at Sat Mar 25 00:54:00 2006 ]. They thought [Author ID1: at Sat Mar 25 00:57:00 2006 ]knew Severus had something to do with it, and they were technically right[Author ID1: at Sat Mar 25 00:58:00 2006 ]immediately assumed Severus somehow got green ink in his hair. Of course they had no idea what really happened, but I put two and two together, Tobias: for years, Severus has shown all the signs of being a wizard!" Eileen Snape's hands were in fists and her knuckles were white, but her face was as red as a lollypop.

"You're saying...that my son is a freaky little wizard? Not a, as you lot call it, 'Muggle' like myself? Are you mad, you bloody little--" Tobias started. The veins in his neck were popping out, but Severus had important things to ask.

"Mummy, are you serious? I'm a wizard! That is so cool! When can I get that stick thing of yours? Will I be able to really make potions and meet unicorns? Will I be able to ride on a flying broom?" asked Severus, hopping up and down with excitement.

"Of course you will, darling!" said Eileen with a warm smile at her son. "But not until you turn eleven and get your letter from Profess--"

"MY SON WILL NOT BE GOING TO SOME FREAKY WIZARDING SCHOOL, EILEEN! I SWEAR THAT IF HE DOES--" Tobias roared, startling Severus. Eileen removed Severus from her lap and stood up with a look of defiance.

"WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO, TOBIAS? LOCK HIM UP SO THAT HE CAN'T DO WHAT HE HAS BEEN DESTINED TO DO? PREVENT HIM FROM BECOMING SOMETHING GREAT? STOP HIM FROM HAVING THE SAME EDUCATION AS HIS MOTHER?" Eileen shrieked. "HOW DARE YOU EVEN SUGGEST THAT SEV WON'T BE GOING TO HOGWARTS? HE WILL GET AN EXCELLENT EDUCATION FOR SEVEN YEARS AND WILL MAKE US BOTH PROUD! HOW THE BLOODY SODDING HELL COULD YOU NOT--"

At that point, Tobias Snape slapped Eileen across the face so hard that she fell into the armchair and fell over backwards.

"MUM!" Severus yelped as he scrambled to help his mother off the floor.

"Out of the way, Severus!" yelled his father as he pushed Severus out of the way and grabbed Eileen around the collar of her shirt. Eileen's eyes were filled with tears and fear. Tobias then pushed Eileen into the corner of the room where she stumbled and hit her head on the wall.

"MUMMY! Stop it, Dad! You're going to hurt her! Mummy!" screamed Severus as he ran to his mother's aid and with his weak little arms, tried to help his mother up, his little throat sore from yelling. His father however, again pushed Severus out of the way and began to yell obscenities at Eileen, most that Severus had never heard before. Eileen whimpered reached for her wand, but she had left it on the table minutes earlier. Severus began to cry loudly as he saw his mother being yelled at by his horrible father. Tobias then yelled at him and told him to go up to his room - which he wouldn't leave for over a day. Only his mother soft voice was able to lure him out.

From then on his father his was verbally abusive whenever he got the chance. His mother began to go to a wizard therapist in the outskirts of Hogsmeade until Severus' first year at Hogwarts when she just stayed at home and took Muggle medicine, cried, and constantly visited her Muggle friends' houses, occasionally visiting a non-Muggle friend from school, just to get away from Tobias for as long as humanly possible.

Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?
A nation turns its lonely eyes to you

Ooo, ooo, ooo.
What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson?
"Joltin' Joe has left and gone away"
Hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey.

Severus loathed his father. He hated the way he sung, talked, ate, slept, and most especially the way he treated Severus' mother and Severus. You aren't going to think about your mother, Severus, he told himself. Think about something else. Think of ways to get back at Potter and the rest of his terrible cronies. Think about how you can use that new hex you found in a book on the train ride home after fifth year. Think about how you'll be at the top of Slughorn's N.E.W.T.-level Potions class, as usual. You definitely know more than that excuse for an Advanced Potions book. Snape snorted and his father suddenly stopped his horrid singing.

"What the hell are you smirking about, boy? You best get ready, by the way, we are almost at the bloody train station," drawled Tobias.

He was actually right, though: they were only a few of traffic lights away from the train station. As they got closer and closer to the train station Severus felt butterflies in his stomach, but wasn't sure why. He knew that this year would be different - but for better or for worse, Severus had no idea.

They soon arrived at the train station and his father gave him a nod before he drove away. Probably going to the pub again. As Severus made his way across the train station he finally reached the wall he was supposed to walk casually through. He saw a Muggle-born second year Ravenclaw hug his loving parents goodbye a few feet away from the wall. Severus' head turned to the right to see someone he knew to be a fifth year Gryffindor argue with his mother about whether or not he had packed all of his underwear. He couldn't help but feel a surge of jealousy for the students who had parents kissing and hugging them just before the barrier. He scowled and was about to walk through the barrier to Platform 9¾ when he was stopped by a woman's voice. He turned around to see a tall blonde Muggle woman standing next to a short brunet Muggle in a business suit. In between them was a small girl with jet-black hair, pigtails, and a large, horrible smile. winced.

"Excuse me, young man, my husband and I noticed that you have a trunk just like my daughter's, and you happen to have a black robe on top of your trunk as well, so we are going to assume that you know where...what's it called, dear?" said the blonde woman.

"Platform 9¾! Do you know where Platform 9¾ is?" asked the little girl in a squeaky little voice.

Severus winced. "Right through this wall right in front of me. Just walk through it and you'll get to Platform 9¾," said Severus shortly and with that turned to walk through the barrier, but not before hearing the family's crying and kisses that he secretly always wanted before he departed every year.

xxx

"Lily Marigold Evans! Hurry up and eat a spot of breakfast or else you won't get to the train station on time!" yelled Matilda Evans, Lily's mother.

"Coming mum! Don't have a hippogriff!" Lily shouted from her room upstairs.

"A what?" shouted Matilda sounding quite scandalized.

"Never mind!" groaned Lily. It wasn't her fault Petunia took forever in the shower. Petunia staying home during the summer was, yet again, an utter disaster just as it had been the past few summers. It was always sibling rivalry at its best: No longer were the arguments over silly, trivial matters. It was all out war, initiated by Petunia. The great falling out showed signs years ago, ever since Lily got her letter of acceptance into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. At first, Petunia was happy with the fact that Lily was a witch...well, maybe not happy, but she dealt with it. However, as the years grew, the friction and tense nature surrounding the girls grew. Petunia's love for all things ordinary intensified with age and with that she developed a new word for her sister. Lily was now the "freak" of the Evans family. She was the great tragedy that tainted their name and normalcy. To make matters worse, Petunia had no support from her parents Matilda and Edward Evans. They were proud of their daughter; proud of her success in such a different world. Petunia didn't seem to understand her parents love for her sister's skill and grew even colder towards the younger Evans daughter; distant. During vacations she treated Lily as though she had a deadly illness. Petunia went so far with her taunting that one particularly colourful row between the two of them led Lily to storm out of the front door on a warm summer night. When Matilda and Edward Evans got word of the fight that led to their sixteen-year-old daughter walking around London so late, they scolded Petunia and all got into the family car to search for her. When they caught up with her not too far from the house, Lily had to enjoy the soothing sounds of Petunia arguing with her father while Matilda massaged her aching temples.

"Lily this, Lily that! Why the hell couldn't you just let her go on a walk! What's the worst that could happen to the brat!" yelled Petunia, sending glares towards the red haired girl seated next to her.

"Quiet, and don't talk about your sister like that. She's a sixteen-year-old girl, Petunia! What if she passed by that dodgy pub off Brookshire Road? Who knows what kind of characters are around there at night? If you were in Lily's situation we would be looking for you as well, Petunia," argued her father. "Lily, never do that again. Who knows what kind of men--?"

"I get it, alright! Lord! It's not as though I'm nine years old!" snapped Lily, who was fifteen at the time.

Petunia harrumphed and didn't bother to look at Lily for the rest of the night, but that was okay because Lily didn't look at Petunia either.

Lily's mind came back to the present and she shook her head slightly. I can't help it if I'm a witch! It just happened and if she thinks her insults are going to make me regret being one then she has another thing coming. Lily sighed.

With that, Lily tossed a few extra pairs of knickers and some schoolbooks into her trunk and decided to get dressed. She wore a few necklaces (one was a locket from her late grandmother, who had moved to California for some sun; another was a rainbow-beaded one that she had bought at a flea market; and another a necklace that she and her best friends Alice, Emmeline, and Marlene had made in their second year). Looking at herself in the mirror, she decided to wear her hair down and put on some light makeup. Feeling satisfied she ran down the stairs for a quick bite to eat, but before she reached the bottom of the stairs she heard Petunia shriek. I'll bet anything it's Artemis, thought Lily, and when she walked into the kitchen she discovered that she was correct. Artemis, Lily's light brown and white spotted owl, was perched on a chair next to the kitchen table. Petunia was whimpering in the corner of the kitchen while Artemis, if possible, had an amused look in her eyes.

"Hey, girl," cooed Lily as Artemis hopped onto Lily's arm. To her dismay a rat's tail was hanging from her mouth. "Yuck. Petunia, for the billionth time, it's all right! The last thing on Artemis's mind is attacking you!"

"How do you know? She could be planning something right now!" shrieked Petunia. "You and your stupid animals. They're filthy and don't belong in the kitchen!

Lily decided to play along with this idea and held Artemis up to her ear. "Uh-huh. You don't say! Really? No, too bloody. That could work...but where would we hide the body?" Lily then turned to Petunia whose eyes looked as big as Artemis's were. "Erm, Petunia, do you mind? Artemis and I are trying to decide the best way to hide your body after Artemis feasts on your lovely body tonight."

"Mum! Dad! Lily is talking to birds now! MUM!" yelled Petunia as she ran up the stairs.

Lily stifled a giggle and with that, Lily began to help herself to some eggs, sausage, and toast with raspberry jelly and eagerly imagined her return to Hogwarts for her sixth year.