Living in Shadows [Harry Potter Fanfiction]

Chapter One | Spinner's End, 1971

Chapter One

Spinner’s End, 1971

            Severus Snape sat on the bank of the river, stretched out and staring through the willow branches. The sun dappled the world around him, and he sat up when the bushes rustled behind him. A pleasant face peered out at him, nearly black eyes like onyx; glinting and bright.

“Mo let me out early, Sev!” she cried, skipping down the bank and sitting beside him.

Severus watched Hazel, curls cascading down her back and framing her face; eyes so dark they reflect the summer sky black instead of blue. Her face was so open, so happy and shining-Severus had never understood how she hadn’t been adopted as a baby. A long time ago, a few months after they met, Hazel told him no one ever wanted her-the children would tease her, and they along with the nuns would call her ‘devils child’.

“Mo saved me, Sev.” She said cheerily “I would have stayed there until I was eighteen if he didn’t come along-who knows what would have happened to me then.”

Although Hazel said it all the time, Severus didn’t believe Morton Bowen had saved Hazel. He knew he kept her on a tight leash and that the choker around her neck made sure she never strayed too far. Her days were filled with learning, and somehow she already had a wand-specially made just for her, though Hazel said she would much rather play and read than learn with Mo all day. He knew Hazel knew more magic than most seventh years at Hogwarts, but he didn’t know why or how.

“Mo’s preparing me, Sev.” She explained “He says one day I’ll need all these spells and potions if I am to do what I meant for-I have a purpose.”

They never talked about the time Severus peeked through the window of Bowen Manor to see Mo torturing Hazel, shouting crucio over and over until both were exhausted.

“Mo takes care of me, you know-he saved me.” Hazel would say over and over when Severus would portray his dislike of her adoptive father “Sometimes he has to punish me, but he never wants to.”

Lost in his thoughts, Severus was brought back by the sound of Hazel’s voice, trembling and scared.

“I have to go away.” Said Hazel suddenly, dark eyes scanning the willow branches and dizzying blue sky behind it.

“Is Mo letting you go to Hogwarts, then?” asked Severus happily; he’d received his Hogwarts letter a few weeks ago, Hazel a few days later. Mo told Hazel she wasn’t allowed to go, that she would continue her studied at home with him. Severus had been devastated, Lily had been heart broken.

Hazel and Severus had seen Lily several times growing up, mostly in the summer at the park, but it was Severus who first approached her; it was a day when Hazel was inside, learning with Mo. The girls met a few days later, and soon the three were the best of friends, bonding as they dreamed of attending Hogwarts together. Lily promised to write every other day, Severus agreed; Hazel couldn’t stop crying.

“Maybe I’ll just run off!” she sniffed, and Severus smiled.

“I wish Hazel, we’d have such a good time; you, Lily and I could be the best witches and wizard Hogwarts has ever seen!”

Hazel sighed, and Severus was surprised to feel her little hand clasp his “It’s a dream, Sev…but Mo would find me. He found me once, in the orphanage, he can do it again.”

The sun set outside the willow’s protective branches, but Hazel and Severus were lost in a world entirely their own.

            The sky was tinted pink as Hazel walked home, across the bridge and up the hill towards the manor. She could see Mo standing on the porch, watching her; she knew he would be annoyed at her tardiness.