Troublesome

It was the class before the Christmas Holidays were to begin and Evelyn was feeling just as restless as everyone else. She hadn’t intended on going to the Yule Ball as no one had asked her. It’s not like she wanted to go with any one anyway. She was working diligently on repotting some plants that had almost froze but had survived for Herbology when Professor Sprout tapped her on the shoulder and explained that she was needed in the Headmaster’s office. Evelyn smiled apologetically at a rather good looking Ravenclaw boy who was working with her. He shrugged and continued working as Evelyn took off her dusty apron and removed her protective gloves.

As she made her way back to the Castle, she tried to think of all the possible reasons why she would be needed in the Headmaster’s office. The only time she’d ever been called into the Headmaster’s office was when her grandmother had died in her fourth year, but she just nodded and went about her business until her parents had signed the papers to release her for the funeral. She had another grandmother who was expected to die some time soon, so perhaps that was it. No big deal.

She was grateful to get inside the Castle as there was already a foot of snow on the ground and more was starting to fall. Evelyn was not a big fan of the snow and even as she made her way through the unheated hallways, a chill hung over her. The chill only worsened upon entering the Headmaster’s office as she was met with the presence of her parents. They did not look happy at all.

Her mother hopped up and grabbed her by the lapels of her robes and shook her a bit.

“What were you thinking?!” She shouted.

“What?” Evelyn stammered, too shocked and confused to think rationally. Her mother unhanded her. She was white with fury.

“I got a letter from the Ministry telling me one of your Professors is facing an inquiry because of you! I go to find out exactly what was going on and came up with this!” Diondra threw a crumpled piece of paper at Evelyn. Evelyn opened the piece of paper and nearly fainted.

It was a news paper clipping, it was a small section in the announcement section. It read: Severus Snape, 33, was wedded to Evelyn Hewitt, 17, on Saturday December 4th, 1993. The couple were married in a small ceremony in an undisclosed family home.
Evelyn began to tremble and had to sit down.

Who on earth had done this?

She looked up at Professor Snape, pleading with him to explain, but his expression was just as solemn as everyone else. Standing beside Professor Snape was a tall elderly witch that Evelyn did not recognize. She took a moment to introduce herself. She approached Evelyn, smiled weakly and held her hand out for Evelyn to shake. Evelyn did not accept. The witches smile faded.

“I’m Lucille Ziff, head of the Department of Domestic Affairs. I’m heading this investigation and I’m going to need your full cooperation if you want to get this over with as soon as possible.”

“I want to press charges!” Diondra roared before Evelyn could respond. “This man obviously took advantage of my daughter! She’s too young to think for herself!”

“She’s seventeen, a legal adult,” Severus said, calmly. Her mother turned to face him. She pointed a shaking finger at him.

“You do not speak to me like that! You shouldn’t be allowed to be around children at all! And to think, Lucius Malfoy always speaks so well of you! You’re a pedophile!”

“You’re daughter was a legal adult when she approached me!”

“You ought to know that girls her age have hormones that they can’t control! You ought to have just pushed her away when she made these advances! You’re older than her!”

“Have you any idea what your daughter is like? Don’t you think I tried?”

Diondra was about to retort, but Dumbledore stood and demanded quiet. “I think before we jump to any more conclusions, we ought to lend Evelyn our ears. I think it’s only fair that we let her tell her side of the story.”

Every single face turned an angry to Evelyn. Evelyn wanted to shrivel up and die. This wasn’t supposed to happen! If she got her hands on the person that had placed that announcement in the paper she’d rip their intestines out and strangle them with their organs. Evelyn did the only thing she could, she started crying.

“That does it. I want you to come home Evelyn. Your father and I think it’s in your best interest that you come home until they fire that monster. It’s obvious that this place has gone to the dogs. They let a complete nut into the Headmaster’s office and this is what happens!”

“I don’t think that’s a fair assumption, Madam Hewitt,” Dumbledore said quietly. “I do not think that Professor Snape would have married your daughter if he hadn’t a good reason.”

Diondra just sniffed as though she didn’t care and turned back to Evelyn. “Come on Evelyn. We’re leaving.” She turned to back to her son-in-law. “I want an annulment and I want it within the week. Let’s go Evelyn.”

Evelyn didn’t budge. She continued crying.

“I-I-I can’t Mummy!” She wailed. “I-I-don’t want to leave!”

“You don’t have a choice, don’t you understand, little girl?” Her mother had stomped over to her and was whispering furiously in her face. This was the moment of truth. It’s too bad Severus got there before she could.

“She’s pregnant with my child. You can’t just demand and annulment, you impertinent fucking hag.”

Time seemed to have frozen for a moment. No one said a word and the only noise came from the odd crackling log in the fire place. Then everything was set into motion as the information sank in and Diondra’s eyes grew wide with horror. She turned swiftly, her wand pointed directly at Severus’ head.

“That does it! I want justice for what this man has done to my daughter if I have to carry it out myself!”

Everyone seemed to have all moved at once. Evelyn stood between her husband and her mother, not really sure if her mother was above murdering her only daughter to get to Severus. She could see that her mother was furious beyond all comprehension. Dumbledore had his wand in his hand, though he wasn’t pointing it in any particular direction, but the gesture clearly stated that there would be no vigilante justice dispensed in his office.

“Mummy, if you loved me, you’d understand….”

“Love hasn’t got anything to do with this! You can stay here or come with me, Evelyn! The choice is yours but once it’s made its final do you understand me?”

Evelyn wanted nothing more than to go home with her mother. Her mother was a strict woman and not at all rational, but once things had blown over, her mother would help her if Evelyn left with her. But Evelyn also knew that she couldn’t leave Severus behind to take all the heat. She realized this was just as much her fault as it was his. She hated having responsibilities. Oh how she longed for the days when she was a child and her parents did her thinking for her.

“I can’t leave,” she whispered and looked down at her feet. “I’m so sorry, Mummy.”

For the first time Evelyn could remember, her mother looked sad. Her firm mouth melted into a melancholy frown, and her eyes sparkled as though she’d just been slapped. But she soon regained her composure and turned to her husband, who hadn’t said a word, and nod her head. Before she left, she turned back to Evelyn.

“You’re making a horrible mistake, Evelyn. We won’t be here to pull you out this time.”

Evelyn watched the door after it had closed, numb. After what seemed an eternity she turned to face the three other adults. Severus rushed to her side and helped her back into a chair.

“Mummy, Daddy,” she sniffled. It was childish but she wanted to run after them and beg them not to do this to her…beg them not to disown her… that was the last thing she wanted. How could it get worse? A hand placed itself upon her shoulder, reassuring her she wasn’t alone. But she was. She knew it. She’d always been alone.

**

The talk with Ziff had been the worst thing of all. It had been hard to watch his young wife cry and try to be coherent at the same time. He felt for her, he really did, but he could not have foreseen her parents finding out. Her mother, well her mother was an infuriating woman and Severus had been glad to see her go. He’d rather got the feeling that Evelyn did not think too much about her parents in the first place, but after seeing her reaction to their reaction, well he felt guilty for this whole mess.

The only reassurance he got was from Albus who had told them, “I do not wish to fire you, Severus nor do I wish to expel you, Evelyn. You both always have a home here. I do hope that you two will make better choices in the future, however.” Then he paused and smiled serenely. “I think we can all be grateful that Ms. Skeeter is far too busy trying to defame Mr. Potter and his friends, or else she’d be having a field day. I think its best we keep this to ourselves.”

He knew there would be a fight as he led her back to his office where they could discuss things in a more private environment. He knew there would be.

Evelyn did not sit down. Her gaze was strangely unfocused and she seemed to be in a daze. He sat down at his desk heavily and pulled open the bottom drawer of his desk. This is what he always did when he thought of Evelyn as the ring he’d gotten her all those weeks ago was still sitting there, the box lid growing dusty.

“What I want to know, Evelyn, is how that article got into the Prophet?”

The girl shrugged her shoulders insipidly.

“There were only two other people present. There is only one person who would want to…slander…me like this. Two guesses who and the first one don’t count.”

“Remus wouldn’t do that.”

He slammed his fist on the desk, startling Evelyn who turned and looked sharply at him, her eyebrows furrowed.

“You haven’t known Lupin as long as I have, girl, so don’t you tell me what he would and wouldn’t do!”

“You may have known him longer but I know him better! He wouldn’t do that!” Her tone was matched his, and she had a defiant gleam in her eyes. It bothered him that she jumped to his defense. “Forgive the observation, but you’re an extremely hateful person and that’s only biasing your perspective. Remus told me about his days at Hogwarts. He told me about how you went out of your way trying to get him and his friends expelled all the time.”

“That’s beside the damn point! If you know him so bloody well, you’d know that he dislikes me just as much as I dislike him.”

Evelyn got quiet, her expression turned pensive. Finally she said, “No he didn’t. I always got the impression that he admired and respected you.”

This was the worst possible blow and it only made Severus angrier than he already was. Clouds of rage hung over his brain and the only thing he could think about was hurting her.

“I told Lucille about Ulric Parkinson.”

He wasn’t going to tell her, actually.

Her face slackened as though she’d been hit over the head with something heavy. Severus cringed as she began to resemble her mother as she began to grow angry.

“You….what!” She screamed at him and looking as though she were about to vomit. “You slimy bastard! How could you?”

“I feared for his daughter’s safety,” he said, as if it were that simple. And that was his main reasons, but he’d rather gotten the feeling that Ulric had hurt Evelyn more than she let on.

“She wasn’t in danger! Oh my god! Pansy!” She squeaked. “She’s going to be furious!”

“She knows about the affair with her father?”

Evelyn nodded numbly. “She caught us kissing and the pajamas, she recognized the pajamas once. Her father was paying her not to tell anyone.” She looked close to tears once more, but she sucked it up and rounded on him. “You don’t understand, Severus! I didn’t want any one to know because I didn’t want him to get hurt!”

“What he did to you was unacceptable!”

“But I lov-“ She stopped short and just stared at him.

Oh Evelyn dearest, what was that you were about to say?

Some how he knew it all along. This gave him all the more reason to want to hurt him like he hurt her. He wanted to kill Lupin for making that announcement in the paper. It was Lupin’s fault her parents wanted nothing to do with her anymore. If he had only thought out his actions…

“I’m going to go find Pansy,” Evelyn said stiffly. She looked angry beyond words and he was rather relieved to see her go. It would give him time to think and strategize.

He gazed at the spot she had stood in, seconds before and he could almost still smell her scent. Despite everything, he just wanted her to be safe. He glanced down at the desk drawer that was still open and pulled the leather box. He dusted the layer of grime that had collected with his sleeve and popped the box open. The ring shimmered dully in the torch light, and he was instantly taken back to the day when he’d bought it.

He’d gone to Diagon Alley to withdraw five hundred galleons from his vault, which was over half of his savings. He did not have much but then again he did not need much. His mother was resting comfortably in a quaint little cottage in a quaint little muggle town where everything was peaceful and quiet. The cottage was bought with money that was left over after his father and been buried. His mother had insisted on something nice for his deceased father but Severus would have been content with just digging a hole in the ground, throwing the corpse in and burying it. That man did not deserve a “nice” funeral because he was anything but nice. But he let his mother have her way as this was her way of saying good bye to a life of fear and agonizing hardship. He just wanted his mother to live out the rest of her days in peace and worry free and Eileen lived comfortably on a government check that was issued out to war veteran widows.

The goblins had not been so keen on letting Severus take out that amount of money from his vault. They had tried to talk him out of it and he almost didn’t as he’d repaired a bank note that he’d recently torn to shreds. Originally he was going to use it to compensate himself, and then he almost reconsidered giving it back to Evelyn in cash form thinking he’d never tell her the truth, but his pride got in the way.

The bank note was currently stashed in the ring box, folded carefully beneath the velvet lining, yet serving as another reminder. Underneath the bank note was his father’s cheap wedding band. It was the last object his father touched before Severus had uttered those unforgiveable words that made Tobias no more. Tobias had wrenched it off his finger and was about to hurl it at Eileen, who was huddled in a corner, bleeding and whimpering. And before Tobias knew what had hit him, Severus managed to point his wand at him after playing possum and Tobias Snape was no more. It made him sick with pleasure to watch the man that had tormented his mother all those years crumble to the ground, dead. Severus never forgot the surprised look on Tobias’ face when he fell to the floor, his face parallel with Severus. It was a mixture of shock and anger.

Of course, no one could prove that Severus had done it. He had been a Death Eater at that point so no one could really pin it on him as times were hard and people were dropping like flies, muggles and magical folk alike.

Eileen, fearing for Severus, had disposed of his wand promptly by breaking it in half and then in thirds, then in fourths and then hidden the pieces, where though, she wouldn’t ever say. It was second hand anyway. One of his rich cousins had gotten a new one and had handed it down to him. Severus had hated it from the very beginning as it had been a symbol of his poverty. He was much happier with his brand new one that his mother had bought him a few days after Severus had done the deed.

The ring had been found in Knock Turn Alley, at Borgin and Burkes. The shop keeper had told Severus a little old lady had owed him some money and when the time to pay had come, there was no money to be found so he took her wedding ring instead. The shop keeper gave Severus a really good deal on it but it was still expensive even for him.

And there it was, still sitting in the fucking box and not on Evelyn’s finger.

He wouldn’t wear it, either.

***

Evelyn had inquired around the Slytherin house and no one had seen Pansy for a while. She sat up in the common room until almost midnight, waiting for her to come back. Just as she was about to give up, Pansy came trotting in. Evelyn stood up and Pansy froze. The two blondes faced each other for a few moments before Pansy screwed her face up and said, “What do you want?”

“Pansy, I just wanted to explain-“

“Explain?”Pansy hissed. “Explain to me why I was pulled out of class to be questioned about my father! Explain to me why I can’t go home for a few days because the Ministry is conducting an investigation against my father! Explain it, whore!”

Evelyn stuttered, not really sure how she could explain it. She’d only wanted to apologize. If she could make it better, she would.

“My father would never touch me! That’s what he had you for! You weren’t supposed to tell anyone!”

“Pansy, I know-“

“You don’t know a thing!” Angry tears shone on Pansy’s face. “You mark my words, Hewitt, you’ll pay dearly for what you’re doing to my family.”

And with that, Pansy Parkinson stormed off, leaving Evelyn feeling worse than before.