Silvanna Snape {Marauders}

Chapter Forty-Eight

Crashed my car again yesterday whoop whoop! :)

If Silvanna didn't have her new job, she thought she might've gone insane. Severus was terrible company to keep at the best of times, but he came home from work with their dad looking tired and miserable, and he snapped at Silvanna whenever she tried to speak to him.

She worked in Crowpot Village Shop every weekday from twelve until four, except on Wednesday when she went in at ten to sort through all the new stock. It really wasn't that bad work, although it was definitely a trousers job, and Silvanna found it a welcome break from being at home. The kids from the school would stream in, filling the floor between three and four each day, and Silvanna learned how to work the spare till very quickly. Jim would always arrive home from Cokeworth Comprehensive School at three-thirty, and would walk Silvanna home when she finished her shift. That was the only problem.

She liked Jim, and he seemed like he liked her too, but she didn't like going home as early as she did. On weekends she wouldn't get home until six, so twenty-past-four was a little too early for her liking. And he asked a lot of questions.

On Monday, it was, "So, are you dead clever then?" which Silvanna profusely denied until he pointed out she had to be, else she wouldn't have got the scholarship.

On Tuesday, it was questions all about Hogwarts. "Do you have to wear some fancy uniform? Oh God, do you have to wear a tie?" Silvanna had kicked a stone his way for that, but her aim was pretty poor.

Wednesday brought conversation about her hobbies and her favourite subjects, which she managed to steer away to him. She found out he played for a rugby team nearby on Saturday mornings and Thursday evenings, and he also played for the school team.

On Thursday, it was all about her family. "What do your parents do? You've got a brother? Cool! I don't have any siblings myself..."

And on Friday it was, "So I'll see you next week?"

On Saturday morning, Silvanna was up bright and early to have another day of evading her dad. She packed her satchel full of the books she fancied reading that day, before heading downstairs to grab an apple or a bread roll. Stuffing it all into her bag, she went to leave the house, to find a letter addressed to her on the doormat. She stuffed it into her bag.

Once she'd reached her usual tree in the field, and had poked her legs into the rising sun, she tore open the cream envelope.

To Silvanna,

Hope your holidays are at least going okay. I know it's crap being stuck with Snivellus all the time, but it's only two months, right? You'll be back at Hogwarts in no time.

Mum says you're welcome to stay whenever you'd like, and she means whenever. Her words, not mine. That sounded rude, obviously I really want to see you.

The full moon was this week, so that's out the way. Next week we're going to Plymouth for some beach carnival that my mum used to go to when she was little. But next weekend should be all clear, just let us know.

Hope you're keeping well. No one's heard from Sirius yet, but that's expected to be honest. James and Pete are hounding me with owls, it's driving my parents nuts.

With love,

Remus

Silvanna felt a small tear drop down onto the parchment, but hastily shook herself back to normal. She couldn't cry over this. There was nothing she could do about it. She didn't think the Lupins actually understood how much they'd helped her last summer, and now there wasn't anything they could do. She couldn't even reply to the damn letter.

Although she received no post, Sunday dragged as much as Saturday, until finally it was Monday once more. She worked as usual, stocking shelves while Marianne saw to customers, until the usual three o'clock rush when she jumped on the till.

After her shift, Jim was getting ready to walk her home, when she received a welcome surprise. Marianne handed her a white envelope. Silvanna peered inside and saw four crisp twenty pound notes inside. "Your first lot of pay," Marianne said before heading back to the till. "God knows you've earned it." Silvanna beamed at the compliment, before stuffing it into her pocket and heading out with Jim. They chatted all the way home about his school, and what it was like there. It sounded very dull to Silvanna, not being able to do magic.

She received another letter from Remus during the week, asking for her reply about that weekend, or maybe next week, and telling her all about Plymouth. It just upset Silvanna again, and she stuffed it inside A Standard Book of Spells: Grade One where she'd taken to keeping all her letters. Maybe she should invest in a little box for them. Or stop being so sentimental and chuck them out.

That weekend, Silvanna didn't take her books to her tree as usual. Instead, she packed her bag and grabbed a cardigan, jumping on a bus and into Cokeworth. She'd been once or twice before with her mum, but never by herself. Nonetheless, it was easy enough to navigate, if you stayed alert.

She found a large charity shop on a high street, and stepped inside. It smelled musty, and was almost empty. She perused the shelves for ages, just looking at all the things she could buy. She didn't want to spend all her money, of course not; she needed it for Hogsmeade. But it would be nice to have something for herself now.

She needed some new trousers to wear for work, she knew that. She found some plain black ones that look like they'd fit well enough. And all these books! She flicked through one or two, looking at their yellowed pages and reading the synopsises. There were only two that really interested her, and she had so much money now, so she decided she'd buy them both. Her blouses were getting small too, and she found a nice cream one that looked like it would layer well in the winter. She found a skirt too, because her non-school ones were getting far too short for her liking, and she'd definitely put weight on this last year at Hogwarts.

All in all, it came to fifteen pounds, and nicely fit in her satchel. Reluctantly, she went home, her bag weighing heavy on her shoulder, but still feeling quite pleased with herself.