Into the Light

A pleasant surprise

Severus sat in his arm-chair with the Daily Prophet in his hands, but he could not read. His mind was elsewhere. He wrinkled his nose and wondered what Julie was cooking. It smelled so.. different. He stole a glance at Julie, who occasionally came to the living room. This has been going on for over an hour now. She cooked, and in the meantime tidied up the house. The vertical crease between Severus' eyebrows became more prominent the deeper he thought about her motivation. Why didn't Julie use magic? It would be much easier and would also save a lot of time. What was the motivation behind her rather unusual.. well, should he call it behavior? Did it give her a deeper satisfaction?

He had never met a witch who enjoyed cleaning as much as Julie did. Well, Julie's mother was at least as enthusiastic as her daughter. But apart from these two, no. Severus did not know anyone else. But then, with how many witches had Severus become acquainted with? Very few. His thoughts wandered to his mother. In the end of her life, she had been an epitome of laziness. Impassive and slow. She had not always been like that, Severus thought, looking at the imprint in the doorframe from afar. Why did he have to think about his mother now? Severus frowned.

Severus' mind was carried away by his thoughts. At first his mother had tried to keep order in the house. But at some point she had apparently seen no meaning in it. Severus was not sure if he should be angry with her, or whether he should have any understanding for the decision she had made. Nor had he really thought about why she had done what she had done. However, because of her, he had grown up in circumstances, that had been.. Severus' head began to ache and he rubbed his temples with the index fingers, hoping to find relief. He could not find a suitable word to describe the way he grew up. Maybe.. maybe he did not want to find a word for it. Perhaps it would be better if this chapter of his life were to remain unnamed.

There had been a huge disorder. There were many different types of disorder and thanks to his mother, Severus knew some of them. Of course it had always been messy in the house. At first less, later more. From a certain point onwards the words of his mother had been in disarray. After that, it was not long before even her deeds had appeared more senseless with every passing day.

It had been difficult to grow up like that. Severus thought of his father and his expression became emotionless. After a while, the imprint in the doorframe became meaningless, and Severus took a deep breath, straightened his back, and leaned his head back as he closed his eyes.

No, he did not know any other witch who was so enthusiastic about doing something practical. After a few seconds, a small smile appeared on his lips. It was good that Julie was the way she was. After all, he loved her for it. Her need to clean up constantly also had a great advantage. He kept hearing her. The constant noises when she cut vegetables, stirred in pots, swept the floor, or simply that soft humming which left her lips when she felt pleasure in her deeds, every little sound was perfect.

The seemingly everlasting silence in the house, which had sometimes driven Severus almost mad, had been interrupted by Julie. In the beginning the fact that the usual silence was suddenly filled with innumerable noises had been irritating. Some of the sounds had been known to Severus and had aroused in him anger and despair. But after he had told his mind over and over again that the causer of these noises was someone else than his mother, the sounds had begun to cause in him exactly the opposite. Instead of disturbing him, Severus calmed when he heard Julie. He had been lying awake for a whole night beside Julie, wondering why it calmed him. At dawn, Severus had successfully fought his way through the confusion of the labyrinth of thoughts, and he knew the answer. Listening to Julie gave him certainty not to be alone anymore. He would never be alone again, for Julie would stay with him. Always. Always?

Severus opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling, which had numerous water stains in different shades. "Of course, always," he grumbled softly, turning his attention to the Daily Prophet. Deeply bored and, frankly, absolutely disinterested to know what was happening in the world of wizardry, he folded the newspaper and placed it on the low table beside his arm-chair. Julie was in the kitchen. He smelled the rusty smell of the stove in which Julie baked and something else that was still strange to him.