From Eden - Regulus Black (Complete)

Chapter One Hundred and Eighteen -

SPINNER'S END

Severus Snape had taken a great hit on his pride when he allowed himself to share his address to the people that he had been forced to live with for the time being. It wasn't just the house or the fact that they might guess a thing or two about his childhood as they walked through the neighbourhood in general, but that house had been his safe place ever since he ran his father off – nobody but Lily Evans and her Muggle family and Narcissa and Regulus knew where he lived at and nobody but Narcissa and Regulus would dare bother him in that place. Now, however, the people he had hated most of his life were standing in front of the wards of his house, watching the almost abandoned neighbourhood with some shock and he knew that as he sat in his bed at the Potter Manor in anxiety.

In Spinner's End, Remus looked around is a stance a lot more relaxed than his boyfriend's. He had never been very rich and most of the money his family had made as he grew up had been thrown towards his monthly medical necessities. So, a neighbourhood almost forgotten by Britain would've been an amazing place for him to live at growing up – if his father had known of this place, they would've certainly moved there.

However, Sirius Black had been raised in monetary privilege since he had been born. His family were arseholes, certainly, but they had been rich arseholes and the only moments he went hungry were as punishment or by choice, not because there was nothing but mint leaves on his cupboards. These neighbourhoods had been the ones his parents had said Muggles lived at, but that he knew to be a lie as he grew... or at least, he had thought so. As he walked, mud squashed under his shoes, and he was almost sure the water in the dirt had not been because of rain by the strong smell.

"This is disgusting," Sirius complained. "It's freezing."

"It's an old, industrial and abandoned neighbourhood in the poor part of town, Sirius," Remus dismissed as he crossed his arms. "I grew up in very similar places, so I feel somewhat at home. You can be sure there are squatters in some of these houses, some druggies as well."

"Do you think Lily and Anne are alright in there?" Sirius asked, worried, as he looked at the empty space near the riverbank at the back of the property that he couldn't see. "They've been gone for almost half-an-hour and it's cold. I hope they don't take too much more."

"They're probably looking for his journals," Remus answered. "They would've come outside if needed. The floo has been locked according to the paperwork Monty filled. He's... deceased to the world, officially."

Sirius sighed, still worried, but holding himself back from screaming for them.

Inside the house, Lily and Anne were quite alright and a lot more comfortable than the couple outside.

While the neighbourhood had been abandoned, the house was lived in and certainly a lot cosier than the winter cold outside. The spell at the fireplace made sure it was always safely burning once the temperature dropped under 10 degrees and the smoke was not invading the house. It wasn't the first time Anne was inside the house, so she had ignored the small burn-marks on the wallpapers and some of the furniture around the house as she looked for the thick, leather covered journals scattered around the house, but Lily just couldn't help herself.

"I have never been inside his house," Lily admitted. "Dad always said it would've been improper, especially after Fourth Year, and his father was always so angry that I just couldn't bring myself to be too curious. I was too afraid of Mister Snape."

"Tobias Snape was always scary," Anne agreed.

"You met him?" Lily asked, surprised.

"No. He was already dead when I met Severus. I just know of him, and I'm scared of him enough this way," Anne answered. "He was a terrible person, but a worse husband and the worst of fathers. Severus is lucky he got out alive."