Spinner's End (1)

For no apparent reason, Snape felt a chill.

The weather in England had grown warm in June, but there was no sign of summer here. Almost as soon as he entered the town, he could see tall smokestacks shooting up toward the sky. They were a forest of steel in the city, cutting abruptly into the skyline and plainly obstructing his view, as though weighing on his heart. Billowing smoke had darkened the entire sky.

Sometimes, he thought they looked like pipes. They drew the life from this land and sent it elsewhere in an endless stream. Meanwhile, the town slowly decayed and withered away.

This was an industrial city, full of factories. Perhaps that was why he could smell that cold scent even in the air. The wind blew in from afar, driving all those smells into his nose at once, and for some reason, his stomach began to churn.

"Severus?"

Lily's concerned voice sounded beside him.

The wind suddenly stopped.

"...I'm fine." Snape shook his head, though his expression had grown strained. "We're almost at your house."

Cokeworth wasn't a large town, but there was still some distance between where they lived. Although he didn't much want to go back, he really had nowhere else to go but that home.

"Don't push yourself." Lily took his hand, and only then did he realize he had started trembling at some point. "I'll go back with you."

He wanted to say she didn't need to worry about him, that he could manage on his own and it was no big deal. But when he opened his mouth, he couldn't bring himself to refuse. He didn't want to go back. There was no great reason; he simply hated the place. He had always wanted to seem dependable in front of Lily, but unfortunately, she had seen him at his most embarrassing again and again.

"...Thank you."

"We're friends!" Lily said with a smile. "Best friends."

"I thought Merlin was your best friend now," he muttered.

"If we're putting it that way, Lin is my best friend too." Lily looked thoughtful.

"..."

He grew sullen.

"Hahaha, all right. Are you feeling a little better now?" Lily asked with a laugh, shaking his arm.

He had to admit, he felt much better after that.

"If you really don't want to go back that badly, you could always listen to Lin and go to Diagon Alley."

Lily said this suddenly as they were about to reach Spinner's End. He froze, and when he looked at her, he saw her wink at him. "I heard it all."

Didn't that mean she had also heard what Merlin had said about what designs he had on Lily...? He felt his face start to heat up, but Lily didn't seem to notice and continued on the previous topic. "I know you two don't get along, and you usually pretend to be friendly in front of me. But she was serious about this. She told me before that it would be best if you didn't go home. Maybe..."

"It's fine." He shook his head and forced a smile for Lily. "It's not a problem."

His smile was clearly not as happy as it appeared, and Lily frowned.

Their footsteps stopped.

That home was close at hand.

The little house was quiet today, with no sign of activity. It looked like the two of them hadn't quarreled today, though of course, one of them might not have been home. He breathed a sigh of relief, and this time his smile became much more genuine.

"I'll walk you home."

"I can get back on my own." Lily picked up her things. "I walked you back, and now you want to walk me home and come back again. Anyone watching us go back and forth would think we were taking a stroll!"

With that, she picked up her things, waved to him, and ran home.

★

"Petunia! Long time no see!"

I got out of the car with my suitcase and immediately saw Petunia and Lily waiting for me outside. I went up and hugged them happily. "How have you been? Do you have any plans for summer vacation?"

"My classmates have asked me out," Petunia said with a smile. "But I'll definitely spend the next few days with you two."

"Our Little Petunia is so popular. Is there a boy you like?" I asked with the practiced ease of a visiting relative, pinching Petunia's cheek as I did. She nearly jumped.

"You're younger than me! Don't pinch my cheek! And don't call me Little Petunia!"

We chatted all the way to Lily's house, where Mr. and Mrs. Evans gave me a warm welcome. After sitting down, I opened my suitcase and pulled out one thing after another, piling them into a small mountain on the floor.

"That suitcase looks so small, yet it can hold so much!" Mr. Evans was astonished. "Amazing!"

I stole a glance at Petunia. She still looked longing, but showed no other emotion.

"This thing is very expensive, and you can't just use it whenever you like." I explained its price, and the envy in Petunia's eyes turned to shock. She shook her head repeatedly and remarked that it wasn't worth it at all.

Since I had brought a lot of Chinese food, Mr. Evans rolled up his sleeves and declared that he would show off his skills today. Mrs. Evans went into the kitchen to help too. There were some things they hadn't seen before, and I was afraid they would make a mistake, so I prepared to go into the kitchen with them and take a look. But as I stood up, I noticed that Lily had barely spoken the whole time and seemed distracted.

"Is something wrong?" I asked. "You seem absent-minded."

"...I made an arrangement with Severus before. He would come see me once a day and tell me about what happened the day before," Lily said worriedly. "But it's almost noon today, and he still hasn't shown up."

"What time do you usually meet?"

"Around ten in the morning."

I checked the time. It was already past eleven.

"I want to go see him." Lily stood up and glanced toward the kitchen a couple of times. "I'll just take a look and come right back. It shouldn't take long."

"Why do you have to bother with that horrible guy?" The moment Petunia heard that Lily was going to see Snape, her hair practically stood on end. "There's no need to care whether he lives or dies."

Lily stopped what she was doing and looked a little angry. I really didn't want to see the sisters argue over Snape again, so I hurried to smooth things over.

"How about this? Lily, go check on him first. If anything's wrong, hurry back and find us." Then I put an arm around Petunia. "Leave Petunia to me!"

"Hey! What are you doing?" Petunia clearly didn't like such an intimate gesture, and her face turned red. But I paid it no mind. After Lily left, I pulled her aside and gave her a rough explanation of Snape's family situation.

"Look, even the occasional argument with Lily gets on your nerves, but his parents argue almost every day and say all kinds of nasty things." I gestured as I spoke. "Living in that kind of environment, he simply doesn't know how to treat people kindly, because he's never been treated that way himself. He has quite a few mental problems." Then I made a joke. "Little Petunia, be a little more understanding of someone with mental problems."

"..."

Petunia had probably never learned about Snape's family situation before. After listening to me, she fell silent for a while before reluctantly speaking. "All right. Lily's liked looking after freaks since she was little, but that guy really is awful. I'm afraid he might do something to Lily..." At the end, she suddenly caught herself. "I told you not to call me Little Petunia!"

We spent a long time busy in the kitchen. Petunia even tried a dumpling there, then insisted on dipping it in cream, but I stopped her with all my might.

Once we had brought the heap of food to the table, Mr. Evans untied his apron and looked around, a little puzzled. "Where's Lily?"

I glanced at the clock. It was already twelve.

"She just went out to find that freak..." Upon realizing this, Petunia suddenly grew anxious and stood up from her seat. "Could something have happened?"

"I'll go take a look." I opened the door and rushed outside, only to hear Petunia shouting behind me.

"Don't run off so fast! Tell us the address first!!"

─────

[Author's note]

★Hint★

Different choices lead to different outcomes. Every attempt and change will send later events down a different path;

Of course, not all developments will be good.

★Side story reminder★

*Congratulations on unlocking Snape's main story-[Spinner's End · 1]