Unhappy Father's Day

Chapter Nine

Evelyn drifted through the door to the Room of Requirement. It was Father's Day. She entered what appeared to be the Hogshead Inn. She sat at the empty bar and sighed. Her mind circled one thought,one that deprived her of complete happiness. Although how one could be dead and happy at the same time could be said to be a mystery. Not to Evelyn, though. Not really. And she was quite fond of the Grateful Dead, too.

Evelyn knew her greatest vice had always been her words. Thoughts snapped into her head and came right out of her mouth without a second thought, or maybe with a second thought, but too late. She had said so many things to Severus, but he was so very forgiving. It was almost scary. Especially with his reputation as a snotty smartass. But Severus loved her, and had married her, imperfect though she was. Evelyn shuddered as she imagined how things would have turned out if she had not found Severus.

The thought that plagued her, though, were the words she had said to her father. She had lived the first 5 years of her life with her mother and father, next door to Severus and his parents. One night, her mother packed up and fled while her father was out. She didn't even get to say goodbye to Sev. She was distraught, because he was the only friend she had and they had planned to get married when they grew up. Luckily, although she and her mother went to the US and lived on the reservation, or what used to be the reservation, she had eventually made her way back to England, and Severus. But first she had come to see her father.

Her father was cold, distant, uncaring. Evelyn exploded. Before crashing through the front door, nearly knocking over a startled student laden with books, she had screamed at Aberforth, "I hate you!"

He had told her he didn't care.

She didn't see him again until she was much older, and her children grown and in universities. Her mother had died and she came because it was her duty, to tell him. She had walked through the door and as she approached the bar he had looked up and said "Seven Doves?"

"No," she replied. "Evelyn. Your daughter. You do remember you have a daughter?"

He stared at her silently.

"You don't have a wife anymore, though. She's dead. In case that matters to you." She was losing control of her temper, she knew. But she didn't know how to stop it.

Suddenly a familiar looking man swept her away and out of the bar. It was her Uncle Albus, whom she vaguely remembered. He had talked to her all that day, while she cried and cried. She found herself wishing that he was her father. He was so kind, and wise.

She ended up living and working at Hogwarts, and there she once again encountered Severus Snape. Although that had not been smooth sailing at first, they were happy together now.

But she could not forget that her father had gone to his grave thinking that she hated him. She had wanted to go back to him and apologize and tell him that she loved him, but she never had. There was always the chance that the conversation would end in screaming at each other and then it would be worse than before. So she waited, undecided, and in the meantime, he had died.

Evelyn sighed again, knowing that he would not be here. She could never take it back. And she was almost late for the Father's Day celebration in the Main Hall. It would be a celebration in honor of Albus, who was like a father to her and Sev, and for Sev, as her daughters' step-father, and for George, who would become a father in a few weeks, making her and Sev grandparents. As the planning developed, it had become a sort of Father's Day for all fathers, even the ones whose children were not there, such as Sir Nicholas. Eventually Evelyn had invited everyone at the castle, and everyone they knew, so it would be a big party. All the Weasleys would be there, including Bill. He was gorgeous, he reminded her of Eric Stoltz, and she would have to avoid him or run the risk of Severus seeing something in her mind. Not that she would ever cheat on Severus. Or that she even could. Bill was alive and she was dead. But she didn't even want Sev to know that she thought Bill was attractive. It would hurt him, she knew.

And Evelyn had vowed never to hurt anyone ever again. By thinking ahead, most pain can be avoided. But the important thing now was to find a way to take back those words she had flung at her father. Why had she blown up like that? Why couldn't she have spoken reasonably to him, and calmly? She couldn't change it, but there must be a way to let him know...

Evelyn sighed once more and, with a final look around the Room of Requirement/Hogshead Inn, she departed, and drifted downstairs toward the party.

"I love you, Daddy," she whispered in the empty hallway. "I love you."