Descent Into Darkness

Not quite two weeks after the funeral of Eileen Prince Snape marked the first time her only child made it through the day without having a crying jag. To be sure, he was despondent throughout the day and crumpled into sniffles on more than one occasion, but in the end managed to make it through without a full-blown meltdown. Tobias, for his part, felt like this was cause for an informal celebration of sorts.

He'd only managed to get three days off from the mill. Thankfully the Prince family had managed to push through that transportation thing Kenelm had told him about. Not long after, the Snapes got a rather nasty missive from the Ministry decrying the use of magic at Spinner's End. As a result, the Prince family had felt obliged to go to the Ministry to explain that the cleaning charms were being performed by Kenelm's wife while Tobias was at work. In any case, they argued, Tobias was well aware of the Wizarding world, so the Statute of Secrecy should hardly apply. However, Severus had spent most of the last week with his mother's family. They'd all originally planned to have Severus stay at home, as he had with Eileen, but the Prince family had a respectable if not extravagant home with property, and it was a much better environment for a six-year-old boy to spend his time in than in a filthy mill town. They also had an extensive collection of books that bordered on extravagant...a whole room...the largest in the house, in fact...dedicated as a library, and every room in the house, save the bathrooms, had at least one shelf buckling under the weight of books on every topic imaginable and frequently more than one shelf. By all accounts, Severus had spent the last several days reading, although Eileen's cousin Broderick had promised to teach him to play chess.

In any case, tomorrow was Monday, and Tobias had to go back to work the next morning, but as his son had begun defeating his demons, Tobias wished to reward him. Kenelm had told him after the Ministry letter fiasco that underage witches and wizards weren't allowed to practice magic, which is what had precipitated the letter. However, Tobias had also found out that the wizarding community was not allowed to practice many of the things he'd seen and heard in the past couple of weeks, not the least of which was torture, killing and conjuring snakes into the sky. He didn't believe for a moment that any witch or wizard capable of so doing would adhere to something as foolish as this underage law, either. He sighed and walked down the stairs. Reaching the door that separated the kitchen from the sitting room, Tobias knocked on the jamb and, after giving his son a few seconds, opened the door.

Not yet having reached the age where modesty and embarrassment were an issue in front of his father, Severus, who sat in a few inches of rapidly cooling water, looked dully up at his father.

"I'll scrub yer back, an' did yer wash yer 'air?"

The boy shook his head and obligingly turned in the tub so that his back faced his father. Tobias fished the flannel and bar of lye soap out of the water and rubbed them soothingly over his son's back and soaped up his head.

Bath finished, Tobias wrapped a towel around his son and dried him off as the boy sat passively, staring at an indistinct spot on the wall, staggering as his father toweled him off and barely staying upright.

"Come on then, lad, let's go an' get a book," Tobias coaxed, and Severus was only marginally taken aback by this slight change of topic and dutifully padded after his father, following him back into the house and into the sitting room.

"Severus?" Tobias asked gently, and his son turned nearly unseeing eyes on him. "What's on t'bookshelf, son?"

Severus's expression flickered slightly into a frown of confusion, but he turned and looked at the bookcase. "Books," he replied after a minute, then scrunched his face up. "Her books..."

"Hey, 's'all righ' now, which books?"

Severus sniffled and rubbed his eyes harshly, desperate not to break down entirely. "Al-all of them," he stuttered.

"What's they called, Severus?" Tobias prodded, and that was so not what the boy expected that he looked back at his father in bewilderment before turning to them to examine them. He dutifully recited off the names.

"Numerology and Gramatica. The Monster Book o'Monsters. Hogwarts: A History. T'Standard Book of Spells . . . grades 1-7 . . ." and here he was interrupted.

"Tha' one," insisted Tobias. Severus turned and blinked at his father, and Tobias clarified. "T'first one."

"Numerology and Gramatica?" Severus asked, after looking back at the books.

"No, t'first level one."

Severus turned back to the shelf, trying to figure out what his father was talking about. "Oh. Standard Book of Spells, Grade One?"

"Aye. Get tha' one."

"It's on t'top shelf, and I haven't a wand," the boy mumbled forlornly.

"Yer've done magic before wi'out a wand Severus...I seen yer do it," Tobias chided gently.

"Tha' was before," Severus muttered.

Rather than push the point, Tobias changed the subject. "S'all right, I'm still strong enough to pick yer up!" Tobias said with false cheerfulness and scooped his son up and carried him over to the bookcase, from which Severus plucked the desired book and moved to hand it to his father. "No, that's yours now. Come on, up ter bed wi' yer," Tobias said, setting his son down and stifling a cough with some effort.

Severus climbed up the stairs after his father and settled into bed. He was surprised, however, when his father gave him the directive to read and looked at him blankly.

"Read t'first chapter in t'book. Or mebbe not t'whole chapter, but . . . just read."

Severus shrugged and began. "The ability to levitate an object is one of the most basic of wizarding skills, and it is one of the first ones taught to young witches and wizards, due to its practical use and its ease of casting. Until control is established, however, it is recommended that new students practice on relatively harmless objects, such as cotton wool or feathers. The wand movement required for a levitation spell is a distinct swish-and-flick, as demonstrated in figure A. Like many Latin-based spells, the verb in its appropriate conjugation follows the object; for example, when levitating a feather, the incantation is 'Wingardium Leviosa'," Severus concluded, and looked at his father.

"All right, so tomorrow I'll bring 'ome a feather. Does t'next spell ask fo' anything special?"

Severus glanced through the writing and shook his head.

"Yer can stay up for ten minutes practicin' t'movement but after that you sleep. And tomorrow when I bring 'ome t'feather yer can actually try, al'right?"

"I don't 'ave a wand," Severus repeated desolately and turned away as angry tears welled up in his eyes again.

Tobias pulled a nine inch polished hawthorn twig from under the bed, where he'd hidden it earlier. "Will this one work?"

Severus turned and, recognising his mother's wand, stared at his father, wide-eyed. "But . . . how?"

"It was out back. They must 'ave... left it. I suppose we're lucky they didn't take it," Tobias said. "Or break it," he concluded under his breath.

Severus nodded but took the wand and held it wonderingly in his hands for a few moments before smiling slightly at his father.

It was the first time the boy had smiled since the day his mother had been murdered.

And so it was. During the week, Severus would take the Portkey to his maternal grandparents in the morning and return in the evening. In an odd twist, his wizarding grandparents were ostensibly supposed to be teaching him all the things a six-year-old boy would learn in a primary school while his Muggle father was surreptitiously, informally and indirectly teaching him magic. But Severus was academically very advanced for his age, and apart from maths, he preferred to study the material himself and then be tested on it later. Much to his delight, the Prince family library was well-stocked, although not organised in any discernible fashion. He burned through his requisite schoolbooks in a very short time, and while his grandparents would have preferred that he go out to play more often, they were in England, and it rained quite a lot after all.

So Severus spent quite a lot of time absorbing all the information he could from all the books he could get his hands on. But he was young, and even for a voracious reader such as himself, there was enough reading material to keep him occupied for decades. As it turned out, it was something his father said...or rather, recommended he do...that led him to pointed research.

Nearly two years had gone by since the death of Eileen, and as children his age are wont to do, Severus had unconsciously blocked out most of his memory of her death. He still had occasional nightmares of educated men with mocking voices in unnatural lighting and a screaming woman, which he never remembered when he woke up, although such dreams invariably left him in a state of great emotional distress for several days.

Severus still spent days with his grandparents and nights with his father. Every other weekend, he'd sleep at his father's parents' and spend time with his cousins. Tobias, mindful of the Ministry restrictions, had forbidden Severus to take Eileen's wand with him, explaining that he didn't want to see the wand confiscated by bumbling government officials with an over-inflated opinion of their own self-importance. The first trip after getting the wand Severus did leave it at home, but he was so terrified without it that thereafter he made a point to hide it in his hold-all and slept with it under his pillow no matter where he was.

On a Thursday evening before such a trip, as was their custom, he read the next spell on the page to Father. "'Incendio' creates a waterproof, smokeless fire that can be contained in an air-tight environment and which requires no fuel. If it encounters fuel, however, it will burn like any fire. It is also used for communication and travel, as with the Floo. Once Incendio has been cast, the fire cannot be extinguished by other than magical means." Severus looked at his father, who had a strange, tight look on his face.

"So 'ow d'yer put it out?" Tobias ground out through clenched teeth.

"I dunno...it doesn't say. I mean, it says it must be magical means, but it doesn't say which spell or whatever."

"Yer find tha' out first," he said, pausing to cough before continuing. "And when yer do, we'll go an' practice down by t'river."

* * *

The next morning, Severus abandoned his "normal" reading and scoured the library for every mention he could find of water-based and smothering spells...anything he could think of that would put a fire out. He didn't find it that day, which was just as well, as he wasn't sure he could have constrained himself from experimentation otherwise. Nor did he find it the following Monday, Tuesday, or even Wednesday, despite his intense searching.

In fact, it wasn't until the middle of the afternoon on Thursday that he encountered the spell in a sixth-year spellbook. Severus looked around, frowning, to ensure that he was not being closely watched by his grandparents. He tucked his wand in his the leg of his trousers, grabbed a book he hadn't yet read, and ran off to find his grandfather, saying he wanted to enjoy the weather and go out to read. Grandfather genially waved him off, and he dashed behind the garden shed where he was sure nobody could see him. Convinced he was safely hidden from prying eyes, he practiced the flick-and-jab motion required for the Aguamenti and was shortly rewarded by a trickle of cold, clear water spouting from his wand.

Now came the moment of truth. Thankful that he was small, he cast about again to ensure nobody was watching and then eyed the flat bluish grey stone upon which the gardening shed sat. He had only a moment of guilt...were he to set fire to the shed surely his grandparents would be devastated...therefore he'd just have to not do it, and should that happen, he'd have to not get caught. Taking one last practice at the Aguamenti, he steeled himself and called forth a smokeless, fuel-less blue ball of flame which burned right where he'd wanted it. He grinned victoriously to himself and then cast the Aguamenti again to put it out. It worked, and victorious, he flopped down behind the shed with a new book, entitled The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection.

* * *

That night, he climbed into bed and waited for father to join him for his daily reading and informal magic lesson. "Aguamenti" he announced, when Father took his seat, and Father looked at him in confusion.

"Wha'?"

"Aguamenti."

"What's tha' mean?"

"Aguamenti is a grade six spell, and it is the magical counterpart to Incendio. It will extinguish a magical fire."

Tobias sat back and regarded his son with a shrewd look and calculating look on his face. "They teach yer ter start a fire in't third year but don't teach yer 'ow ter put it out 'til sixth?" he asked quietly.

Severus' eyes narrowed slightly, worried that father was displeased. "Apparently," he said softly.

"Not very smart, tha'. Yer could do a lot o'damage in three years, startin' fires you can't put out..."

Severus nodded solemnly.

Tobias looked down at his hands, which were clenched tightly in his lap, inhaled slowly, and looked at his son. "So yer found this spell in t'sixth level book...did yer learn all t'spells in between?" he asked in an oddly tight voice.

Severus shook his head. "No...I just looked for the spell," he mumbled, abashed.

Tobias visibly relaxed and in an inexplicably cheerful voice said, "Ah...well, that's all right. We'll practice tomorrow when yer come 'ome, but what's t'next one?"

The next morning, Tobias was putting the breakfast dishes away, and Severus was scampering about, getting ready to go to his grandparents' house when Tobias called him back into the kitchen.

"Tell yer uncle, or yer grandfather, or someone that I'd speak with them when they get a chance," he wheezed.

"What's wrong, Da'?"

"It's nowt, son. Don't worry yerself 'bout it."

"All right."

After he saw his son off with well-concealed fear in the pit of his stomach and a shake of his head...Tobias didn't ever think he'd get used to the idea that grabbing a ceramic figurine would somehow transport a human being anywhere...Tobias headed off with a determined look on his face.

All day, he kept an eagle eye out for the foreman, which was complicated by the fact that the jenny jammed. He was actually half-inside the stupid thing and swearing viciously around billowing blue smoke when the foreman walked up to see what had caused such a protracted halt in production. Tobias extricated himself from the machine and paused to recover his breath before turning to his supervisor. "You can fix those?" the man asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Good to know, Snape."

"Sir, is there...tha' is, if it's convenient to yer...is there anyway I can pick up some extra shifts, mebbe on t'weekends? Yer know, for a while?"

The foreman frowned. "We've only got openings on second and third shifts," he said.

"Tha'll be fine, sir, wha'ever yer can work out."

The foreman frowned deeper. "Night work isn't for the likes of you, Tobias."

"I know sir, but...it's Christmas soon, an' my wife died, so I'd like ter get something nice fo' my son."

The foreman narrowed his eyes for a moment. "You want Friday, Saturday and Sunday?"

Tobias pursed his lips. "I'll 'ave to arrange for someone to sit wi' 'im. Can I let yer know tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Just until Christmas, right? Or two weeks before...he'll be out of school, right?"

"He's, uh...oh, right!" Tobias said nervously. "But 'is grandparents will take 'im during the day so I can work," he said quickly to cover up that he'd almost said his son wasn't in school.

"All right, Snape. I'll need to know soon though because we need to fill the shifts."

"Yes, sir, o'course. I'll try to let yer know tomorrow. Monday at t'latest."

* * *

Fortunately for Tobias, the Princes were happy to take Severus on alternate weekends, and Severus himself took agreeably enough to the change in schedule, especially as it gave him additional time with the books in the library. His father's reaction to the Incendio Spell had awakened a memory of his mother in him, and his nearly unfettered access to the impressive library provided him an opportunity to pursue an increasingly dark interest in the offensive and defensive spells in some of the books. The more he read about the Dark Arts, the more he realised that a truly adept witch or wizard could be at a significant advantage in a duel, which was apparently still a well-respected way of settling grievances in the wizarding world. It was during these long weekends, where he'd arrive on Friday morning and not leave until Monday night, that he discovered that it was possible to cast spells on inanimate objects. He threw himself into the study of such things with abandon.

Unfortunately for Tobias, working a full week at the mill, plus double shifts on the weekends, he got very little rest and found himself consuming what would surely be considered unhealthy amounts of coffee by anyone in the know had they dared ask. On several occasions, Severus caught Tobias snoring outright in the middle of their nightly reading sessions. After the third consecutive night that Tobias had jerked himself violently awake mid-snore, Severus began surreptitiously testing the Mobilius Spells at his grandparents' house, and managed to levitate the slightly wheezing Tobias into bed one night without waking him, an accomplishment he was quite proud of.

Whatever else he was, Severus was not a foolish boy, and he seized his chance. With his father safely sleeping, the boy tiptoed down the stairs, avoiding the creaky spots. Standing in the sliver of of pale light cast by a waning crescent moon that filtered through the small and dirty window in the sitting room, he took a deep breath and raised his mother's wand. Flinching at the sound of a neighbor's car door slamming, he closed his eyes and waved the wand in a full circle, then raised it as high as he could and jerked it down toward the floor while mumbling a Latin incantation. He saw a flare of metallic purple light settle around the walls before disappearing into them. He performed a similar process for several other spells, and after about half an hour, utterly exhausted, he crept back up the stairs and collapsed into bed, asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Severus was smugly proud of himself the next morning when he got to his grandparents' and made for the library to immerse himself in the books some more, but was intercepted by his grandmother. A pale and fragile looking woman with completely white hair, she beckoned him into the kitchen which was emitting tantalising smells.

"It's almost Christmas, now, Severus, and what're you gonna get for your Da', hm?" Dorian Prince asked him.

Wide-eyed, he blinked at her. "I dunno," he said, not having spared a single thought to it.

"Leave the books for now. Come learn something practical," she urged, waving him to the steaming stove.

Severus, who knew very little about cooking and food preparation, learned a great deal, and helped with the preparation of breads, biscuits, puddings, and many of the main courses the family consumed over the next couple of weeks. However, his grandmother would not let him leave the kitchen almost the entire time, and he grew restless and bored. The only reading material that was available in the kitchen was the newspaper left there by his grandfather, so Severus took to reading it during idle times in the cooking process, which typically occurred while his grandmother was cleaning up.

On December 23rd, Severus bade goodbye to his grandparents and cousins, and Dorian handed him a satchel full of treats and some delicious, fresh-baked bread for Severus to give to Tobias with their love, covered by a Stasis Charm set to expire in intervals and a Concealment Charm set to expire on Christmas morning.

Christmas morning dawned clear and cold in Huddersfield, and Tobias' nose, which wasn't entirely destroyed despite many years worth of exposure to the caustic mill chemicals, twitched as the scents of mince pies and gingerbread filled the house. Concerned that Severus was cooking without supervision, Tobias raced down the stairs without his slippers, and his feet protested when they struck the cold floor.

He found the kitchen empty, the stove off and his son in the sitting room, rather predictably on the couch with his nose in a book and his presents untouched. So engrossed in his reading material was he that he hadn't even heard his father come down the stairs. Tobias shook his head and chuckled, then went upstairs to put his slippers on his now aching feet. He returned downstairs with a happy smile...he'd managed, only just...to get the one gift he really wanted to get for Severus late yesterday, and he was sure the boy would like it.

"'appy Christmas, son," Tobias said, slightly startling his son, who looked up and beamed at him.

"Happy Christmas, Da'," the boy returned and handed him a biscuit that had all the appearance of just having come out of the oven.

"Where'd yer get that, hm?"

"Gran and I made 'em!" he said happily. "For you, for Christmas. There's bread, too...for your sandwiches, for work," he said, pulling out a loaf as if to prove it.

"Ohhhh," Tobias said, groaning appreciatively. "Now I 'aven't 'ad bread like that since yer mam died. Thank you! And tell yer grandmother thank you too. Now let's see wha' Father Christmas has brung fo' yer, eh?"

Severus cast his father a sidelong glance, but grinned.

"Hey, wha's tha' now? Yer don't believe in Father Christmas, and yer can do magic? Did yer make these biscuits wi' magic?"

"No, but they'll stay fresh wi' magic!" the boy replied cheekily.

"C'mon now, get to yer presents. We're due to yer Nanny's house for Christmas dinner."

Severus opened his gifts, deliberately saving the largest parcel for last. When he opened it, he turned to his father with a slightly confused look on his face. The console radio was an extravagance Severus knew they could ill-afford.

Tobias looked at his son seriously and spoke in a frank tone. "I know yer don't get to spend much time wi' me, 'cause I'm at work so much, but now tha' it's Chrstimas I'll be 'ome more. But yer off to school soon, son, and yer sound like me when yer talk. I don't gather tha' most of t'people like yer mam talk like me...those men didn't...an' you don't need to neither. Yer listen to the news, son, an' learn to talk like they talk, or yer might 'ave problems when yer start school."

Severus nodded, gave his father a grateful hug, and went to get dressed.

Author's Notes:

A million thanks to Whitehound who spent countless hours educating me on Huddersfield in particular, Yorkshire in general, working conditions in mills, industrial towns in England and the British healthcare system, discussing the intricate details of the architecture of mill house, bathing and toilet habits of mill workers, and explaining to me about Christmas foods. This chapter is a bazillion times better for your input.

Another million thanks to Jean, who took my chapter of hate and frustration, and whipped it into shape for me, and managed to do so without harming my fragile ego! Mad-Hatter plotting FTW!

Lacey, who beta'd this for me without even having read chapter 1 yet, and was able to point things out.

Ellie and Dee (the latter who I don't even KNOW!) for fixing Tobias' speech for me. ♥ ♥ ♥

Azazello wrote "The Shipping Forecast" (as well as posting some theories about Severus' ludicrously formal enunciation which had the benefit of edjumicating me on Received Pronunciation) from which I had Tobias give Severus the radio. The story is currently available on Occlumency.

Amsev spent an inordinate amount of time trying to educate me on compound sentences and commas, a lesson I just can't seem to make stick. :S

And if I forgot anyone, smack me in the head. It wasn't intentional.

References:

http://www.hp-lexicon.org (of COURSE!)

http://www.fingerlakes-yarns.com/makingyarn.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

http://www.behindthename.com/php/view.php?name=doireann Eileen is described in the newsprint Hermione finds as sullen and cross. ;)