Battle Scars

Fame Isn't Everything

Chapter One

Winter 1965

On January 9th, 1965, Severus Uriah Snape was born. On February 6th Evelyn Fiona Dumbledore joined him in this world. Their parents were neighbors, their mothers best friends, but to Sev and Ev, there were no parents, no people, who were closer than the two of them. They grew up together, napping in the same crib, and had their own language before they began speaking English.

They would usually hide in the attic of her house when things were happening. Severus was so often beaten that he had decided to do whatever he wanted. He would be punished for something anyway; he might as well make it worth it. And he did. His greatest achievement by the age of 5 was the constant theft of his father's broom. He took Evelyn riding whenever he could. She was his best friend, his only friend, and when they grew up they would get married. He knew this because they had kissed once (not counting the kissing of bruises and other wounds, which don't count as real kisses), and they held hands when together. When they got married, there would be no screaming and beating. He loved her with all his heart. She was almost as good as he was at nearly everything, and the only thing she did better than he did was run, but he didn't mind. He liked that about her.

They did anything they wanted and got away with most of it. He taught her how to climb in and out of windows. She taught him how to whistle, like birds, another very useful skill. Neither of them knew that broom riding, window exits and entries, and bird call codes were rare in 4 and 5 year olds. They never played with the other children in the neighborhood, and the parents were too caught up in their own turmoil to notice that the kids were any different. No one knows what might have happened had this pair not been parted, but Evelyn and her mother left the summer the children were 5. Both of them suffered quietly, but recovered, and eventually their memories of each other began to fade. Severus had almost forgotten her in a few years and by the time he was grown, she, like almost all memories of early childhood, had been neatly locked into a corner of his mind. For Evelyn, the memories faded more slowly, and she never completely forgot him, but these memories were distant and vague. It is likely that not remembering, not thinking about it was the only way to keep their hearts and spirits intact.

But fate, destiny, whatever powers that be that put them together in the first place, could not be so easily deterred. Not by an ocean, not by half a lifetime.

September Y7

Dreams were haunting Severus's sleep every night now, since before last Christmas, the same one he had occasionally dreamt throughout his life. As always, he was near the edge of a precipice, the ground was shaking and he would fall at any moment. He felt fear and panic. And always he would be holding the hand of a woman; squeezing her hand tightly. It was a different woman each time, but yet they all were the same woman. He didn't know how or why, he just knew. Suddenly he would fall over the edge, but then she would be kneeling, holding him by the hands, as he hung over the seemingly bottomless chasm. "Don't let go!" he would beg her desperately. "Please don't let me go!" And then she would say to him sincerely and calmly, as if unaware of their peril, "Severus, I promise, I will never let you go." He would feel a fleeting moment of relief and gratitude, and then the ground would shake violently and they would both fall, still hand in hand. He would hear the sound of both of them screaming, falling endlessly, and then he would wake.

It was driving him crazy. As much as he hated to, he must talk to someone about these dreams. Sybil would be no help, most likely, and besides, he wasn't going to tell his dream to that looney tune. It would have to be Albus. Of course, Albus could help him sort this out. He hoped.

Unfortunately Albus could not comment, other than to remark on how tragic but romantic the dream seemed to be. "I can't say for certain what it means. Dreams are usually symbolic, but in my opinion, symbolism is subjective. It could mean any number of things." Albus patted Severus on the shoulder. "Don't worry, son, it will make sense when the time comes."

But Albus felt uneasy, although he did not tell Severus.

November Y7

Severus whisked into the library, and shut the door. Turning swiftly, he scanned the room with the usual frown on his face, seeing that two of the employees, at the sight of him, had suddenly become very busy elsewhere in the place. He smiled inside, as he rarely did on the outside. He strode across the room toward Evelyn, who was dressed as a saloon girl from the old American west, but she wore a serious expression, except for the eyes, which at the moment were adoring him. He stopped at her table and muttered, "Good morning, Miss Dumbledore."

"Yes... A lovely morning, isn't it Professor Snape?" but with her southern accent, it sounded to him like "Yesss...uh loveleh moanin idinit Prahfessah Sssnape?"

She smiled and walked quickly into the office in the back. He followed her and shut the door,and locked it. She rushed into his arms. "Evelyn,"he whispered, and pressed his cheek against hers and held her tighter.

She clung to him desperately. "I've missed you so much!"

"And I have missed you too, love, but please don't cry." He took her chin in his hand and kissed her tears away, although he wanted to cry too, so badly his throat hurt.

"You've been gone too long," she pouted.

And been through too much. Too much he couldn't tell her. He sighed. "I can't bear to see you so unhappy."

Why does it have to be this way? His heart began to ache along with his throat. I love you Evelyn. I LOVE YOU. His soul screamed what he was still sometimes afraid to say, and then he looked into her eyes.

Beautiful, he thought, and stood hypnotized by the sight of those eyes he loved so much. She smiled and stroked his cheek. "Ah, well, your package, Professor Snape," she giggled, and reached back to get his items from the desk behind her.

"Yes my package..." He laughed, crushed her to him, hugging her tightly, until she gasped.

"Stop it, Severus! I can't breathe!"

"You are absolutely delicious, darling," he whispered as he kissed and nibbled repeatedly up and down her neck. "This day will seem like an eternity." She shivered as his warm breath caressed her. "Say my name again."

"Severus... Severus. I adore you," she whispered into his ear, and then she reached up, standing on her toes, and kissed him softly on the lips. "I'll see you tonight?"

"Yes. I'm back for a while. I can be there around 8ish. That is, if that's ok with you?" He searched her eyes for answers but saw only sunflowers in green fields.

"I'll be counting the minutes, pumpkin," she smiled that smile again, this time without the tears.

Although he had promised himself he would not, he kissed her until they were both breathless.

"Oh, I've missed you, I love you, but I have to go now," he whispered. "We've been in here too long already."

"No one suspects a thing, Severus. They all think I'm just not scared of you."

He wondered again if he had enough courage for the future. He wondered how he deserved the attention, and affection, of this wonderful woman. What does she see in me? he wondered. Was it that he was her first love? What evidence did he have that they were really meant to be together? And if she ever found out about his past, the mistakes he had made, would she look at him differently? It did occur to him that she had her own past and mistakes of her own, but he forgave her anything and everything she had ever done or would do in the future.

He did indeed feel unsteady, on the edge, and about to fall any moment, but he couldn't decide whether it was scary or thrilling, or both.

There were a thousand things he wanted to say, but instead he kissed her forehead, nose, and finally her lips, lingering there the fleetest moment. He stroked her cheek, and left.

Snape left the library and headed back to his office. He knew the day actually would seem endless. And he wondered how she would look when he saw her again. He had never seen a woman have so much fun using magic. It seemed she was a Squib; not a Muggle because, being Aberforth Dumbledore's daughter, she was half-blood, but was raised as a Muggle, so the magic was all new to her. She had more magical gadgets, and potions than he thought one might need, but she could not be compared to anyone he had ever known. So he kept buying her more and more. He had never imagined himself giving this much respect and love to a squib. But it had happened. Yes, love really is blind, he thought.

He coughed to hide a smile. He remembered their first meeting fondly, and often. It was near the beginning the term, and he had to go to the library. The place was busy and and he had to wait a few minutes. He noticed a new girl dressed as what seemed to be Cleopatra; the hair, the makeup, the clothing, the jewelry. As he listened to her banter with the others before him, he noticed that she was American, speaking in a leisurely southern drawl that clashed shockingly with her appearance. This was Albus's niece. Suddenly she was there in front of him, she took the list he handed her and then she stared him in the eye for a moment. When she opened her mouth, that's when he lost his heart, most likely. "Love your hair honey," she teased. She then winked, and walked away to fill his order. Severus stood silent, smitten, heart pounding so loudly he was sure she could hear it. His mouth became dry, his palms sweaty. He could scarcely remember the rest of it. He assumed they handled the transaction successfully, despite his inability to think coherently. Two steps away from the library he groaned when he realized that he had completely missed the joke about his hair. As he slowly came to his senses he couldn't really recall what it was about her that made him unable to stop thinking about her. He had seen some beautiful women, but had never been affected like this. She wasn't beautiful, just ordinary, and silly, and she talked entirely too much. But she had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen and the southern accent charmed him to a degree he would not have thought possible.

Smitten though he had been, he had still resisted the inevitable. And so, being undecided, he did not speak to her again for some time, but always noticed her. Here was a woman who left him speechless. Here was a woman that had him aching to be near her. There was something about her that fascinated him, and drew him toward her, though they had never really met. Although, they really had...

Albus had earlier informed him that his American niece was coming to stay for awhile, and later, when Severus suspected that the girl in his dreams was Albus's niece, Severus had casually (he hoped) steered the conversation to Evelyn. He need not have worried. Albus was so thrilled to have this newly-found member of his family, and so impatient to meet her girls also, he may not have noticed Severus's preoccupation with hearing all about her.

According to Albus, she was charming, intelligent, strong, but with a rebel's soul, and a disregard for authority. Which Severus cleverly interpreted as persuasive, relentless, cunning, stubborn, with a possible criminal record. Severus smiled, knowing that description also fit him.

"She reminds me of Aberforth. She has that same...recklessness. Nothing like him of course," Albus admitted. "After all, she raised 2 children alone. That's partly the reason she's here. Her house was nearly always full of her daughters friends. So she has experience with teens. and now...well, she was there alone; her girls are both in universities back in the US, one on each coast. And then last summer her mother passed away. She came here to give the news to Aberforth in person." Albus sighed. "And perhaps to mend broken ties... That's how I came to meet her again.

"Anyway, she was working in a library there, I offered her a position here."Albus explained. "She visited again for a few weeks after Christmas, and decided to give Hogwart's a try. She's very impressed with the magic."

Albus smiled. "You know, Severus, you might remember her. Your mother and her's were very close friends. And neighbors. She was named after your mother, and you were named after hers, Seven Doves." Albus smiled at Severus. "And Evelyn was born a month after you were; the two of you played together daily until they left..." Albus trailed off.

"Thunder and lightnin," Albus chuckled.

Seven Doves had left Aberforth, and returned to the US when Evelyn was 5, but even then, they had already given her the nickname lightning, pronounced in southern, lightnin . Severus, noisy, intense, and always a moment or two behind her, had been thunder.

Severus looked puzzled and curious, but said in a bland tone, "I don't remember much about my childhood."

Albus's smile faltered briefly, and then he leaned forward, and said, "Life has a way of keeping things in balance. You have had some low moments in your life, Severus. That is true. But wait for the highs, my son. They'll come."