Severus Snape sat on the bench, leaving himself lost in his own imagination. Crowds of people stumbled past each other, more people than he’d ever been accustomed to. He lived in a small town, and when he got out of the house it was never to socialize.
But it was going to change. He’d recently been offered a job teaching in one of America’s finest universities, as he already had two doctors in mathematics and humanities, and he was now working on another for biology, just for amusement, just to pass the time.
You see, Severus was a highly talented man, but besides that he was completely ordinary. This was all he wished: intelligence and nothing too dangerous or extreme in his lifestyle. He’d even read up on American culture so he wouldn’t be surprised by anything there. In fact, he could probably teach an American more about themselves than they could.
He closed his eyes and relaxed, hiding his eyes behind his hat.
“Sir…”
He jumped slightly. A young woman was looking down at him. “Sir, how do you go to the train from here?”
Severus blinked several times. “Madam, I believe you mean the airplane…”
“No sir, I mean the train.” She cocked her head a little, blushing. “Oh, you must be a muggle…”
“…a what?” He furrowed his brow, frustrated at the word he didn’t understand.
“Never mind. I’ll find the train myself…”
In an instant, he wondered if this woman had some sort of mental illness, or if she had somehow really mistaken an airplane for a train, and if he could have very well found the world “muggle” in a dictionary.
“Ma’am!” She had walked off quite a distance away from him, but now she was looking back, her eyes wide and her cheeks pink. “Ma’am, I’ll escort you to the airplane. Where are you traveling to?”
She smiled. “America.”
His face brightened. “I’m going the exact same way! Maybe you should sit by the park bench, and we’ll wait for the plane to come in… Or, you know what, we even have time for coffee…”
“But I have to use the train… I’m visiting a relative, and… well, you wouldn’t understand…”
Taking the challenge, Severus grinned. “Try me.” Surely he was open minded enough to understand anything.
She bit her lip, and then extended her hand. “Lily Evans.”
He shook it. “Severus Snape.”
“Oh, that’s such a strange name!” She smiled again. He sighed inwardly, remembering the teasing he’d often gotten. But her smile was genuine, and very pretty. She was very attractive, he noted, with deep red hair and bright, cat like green eyes.
“Thank you. My family has somewhat of a history for prestigious names…”
“Oh, I’m Lily Rosetta Evans. My parents only named me after a flower, and my sister, Petunia… but Severus!” She began to speak in a rushed manner, looking down at her watch, “I have to get to the train now! It was very nice to speak with you!” She began to walk away.
Of course, if this woman was sincerely crazy… what would she do? Surely she wouldn’t hurt herself, looking for a train in an airport? Actually, airports were quite dangerous, with all kinds of foreign strangers everywhere you turn, with who knows what’s in their suitcases, and rather or not they’ll steal the contents of yours…
Trying to rationalize his actions with these thoughts, Severus grabbed his own luggage, got up and followed her.
“Lily! Lily Evans!”
He had to push several people out of his way until she finally saw him. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m helping you… find your train…” He blushed a little, hoping she’d take his excuse.
“That’s very kind of you, but I don’t really think you can help me…”
“I’m sure I could. Listen, we’ll walk back and I’ll help you to your train… or maybe we can even call these relatives of yours…”
“Oh, they don’t have a phone…” She said it nonchalantly. Inwardly, Severus shook his head. In what modern society does no one have a phone?
“Any other means of communication?”
“Not that you know of.”
Outwardly he scrunched his face at her last statement, offended. “Ma’am, I have two PHD’s…”
“Oh, I’m so sorry for you!”
Now more befuddled than ever, he watched as she looked very depressed, walking closer up to him, and, very gently, patted his shoulder. “How much longer do you have?”
“What the…?”
“When muggles say things in abbreviations, it’s usually some awful disease… oh, I’m so sorry!!”
“I don’t have a disease!” He stepped back, thinking firmly she was meant for a psychological ward. Trying not to show the awkwardness of his face, he continued, “listen, ma’am, I’m a very… intelligent man and I’m sure I can help you get to America.”
She blushed. He realized he’d embarrassed her somehow. Now he was angry with himself, but she spoke firmly, “Sir, I need the train, and I’m sure you can’t take me there. And I know I don’t know much about muggle things… but you don’t know much about what I know much about, so you’re not really in any place to call yourself intelligent, are you?”
He thought about this as she crossed her arms, giving him an annoyed look. “Well…” He took off his hat, fumbling with it, “Perhaps… you could show me this train?”
They still had plenty of time before his flight took off. Surely, he figured, she’d find that there was no train, and he could lead her to the airplane safely. He’d even buy her a ticket if he’d have to.
She pondered his offer. “…I don’t know… you’re just a muggle… but plenty of muggles board these trains… then again, those are their families… I guess… I guess I can show you, but you have to promise you won’t tell another soul.”
He twisted his hat. “Not until you tell me what a muggle is.”
She put her hands to her hips, but smiled again, “Never. Do we have a deal?”
He snickered, but shook her hand the second time that day. “Deal.”
“Good. Now… I think it’s past one of these walls right here… the trick is, which one…”
For a half hour they wandered through the airport—well, she wandered and he followed closely behind—until she pressed her hand against a wall, and smiled. “This is it.” Then she stepped back. “Hold my hand.”
He did so. “Close your eyes.” He did so. “Now run, straight into the wall, on the count of three.”
“Wait…” He opened his eyes, making his feet heavy. “Wait…!”
“No wait, Severus, before we attract attention!”
“But!”
And before he knew it, they had soared right through the wall, with him feeling very breathless afterward.
“Oh dear… what just… happened?” He spoke in a very anxious voice, as what had just happened defied all logic. He gazed about. The setting was completely different. Instead of concrete, there were old fashioned bricks everywhere… and, smack dab in the middle, was a train… a beautiful, real train…
“Severus, are you alright? You look like you need some water…”
He opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it a second time, but said nothing, pressed his hat tightly against his chest as though it would defend him from an attack, and pointed to the train with a very shaky hand.
She frowned. “Oh, Severus! I knew it wasn’t right to bring a muggle here! But you’re already here, so… it’s too late now… and I don’t really want to bring a memory charm on you…”
He didn’t hear a word. He was figuring it out in his mind: Lily must be some sort of magician. Or, this train was some play part of the airport… or, he’d knocked into the wall and lost consciousness, and she had dragged him to the train station… that last one made the most sense… but not enough…
She suddenly grabbed the finger he was pointing to the train at, and dragged him along that way, as he turned his head back and forth at everything around him.
“Come on, Severus! We’re just in time if we’re going to make it to America!”
“What… what is this…?” Was the first thing he mustered.
She smiled, “The Steaming Kittyclaw…”
It shone on the train in gold letters, Steaming Kittyclaw.
The next thing Severus noticed was that everybody’s clothes were different. They had long, flowing black robes, some in the occasional deep green, or one person in a bright purple.
Severus suddenly felt very nauseous as Lily dragged him into the train. He excused himself to the toilet, where thankfully everything looked as it should, with normal stalls and working sinks…
He splashed his face with cold water, and then came back with a resolution.
Everything was normal. At the very least, he would act like it was. If he didn’t, he might lose his own sanity.
“How long will we be traveling?” Severus asked finally, tossing his hat on the booth Lily was resting at.
“Oh, about a week.”
Severus sighed. “It would only take a few hours by airplane…”
“Yes, but the train is so much nicer. Airplanes are just like muggle Quidditch, but a lot tighter, uncomfortable, and far less exciting… and I’m not a sports fan, anyway…”
“I need a drink.” He interrupted.
She looked a little startled. “I think the bar is in the front. Here, I’ll go with you…”
They walked, side by side, until they got to a much bigger room—actually, the train hadn’t been this big from the outside, Severus felt sure. However, pretending this was all normal; Severus sat at the table, taking a few moments to survey his surroundings. Everyone was wearing robes that looked suitable for Halloween. Maybe Severus had missed some sort of odd fashion trend, but he shook his head, remembering everything was going to be normal.
The bartender himself was in black and white robes, complete with a bow tie. “What will that be for you, sir?”
Severus looked behind the stands. “What kind of wine is that?”
“Oh, I recommend some from the elves.”
There was a short silence, which Severus broke by exhaling heavily through his nose and giving a tight, crazed smile.
“Two butterbeers, please.” Lily spoke for him.
“Yes ma’am.”
“Butterbeer?” Severus snorted, “Sounds fattening…” He pictured a stick of butter pushed into a beer bottle.
Lily gave a gentle smile, and as though she were reading his mind, said, “No, that’s just the name of it…” Actually, he wouldn’t be too surprised if she could read minds…
“Listen, ma’am.” He spoke finally, determined to get a bit of questions answered, “I really don’t know what’s going on here, but I assume you’re some sort of… magician… All I’m asking is, how do you do it?”
She laughed. “Magic.”
He fumbled with his hat, trying to contain his upset. “Yes, I realize you believe it’s magic, but believe me, I know that this is all some sort of mind game, or some trick with physics, or anything else… and I’d be very interested to learn how you put this all together…”
She cocked her head, furrowing her brow. “Severus, believe me. It’s magic.”
All of Severus’s worst fears had been confirmed. The woman across from him was very crazy indeed. He buried his face in his hands, rubbing his temples, when a glass cup thumped the table.
He took it. The dark yellow liquid stared back at him, foaming from the top. He took a sniff, seeing Lily had already drank some of hers and wiping the cream from her lip with her sleeve. Finally, he took a sip.
It was a little too sweet at first, but very warm, coming smoothly down his throat, and he thought maybe it tasted like hot chocolate, except with a touch of class, with just a trace of alcohol and something else he couldn’t place.
He liked it. With the napkin he politely wiped the foam from his upper lip, and looked back at Lily, her eyes glittering in anticipation. “Thank you.” He said finally, and took another gulp.
“Two butterbeers over here, please!”
Severus turned slightly, and saw a young couple laughing together. Actually, Severus had to take a second glance. In a room where strange robes were normal, this couple was dressed like a pair of hipsters. The man had a green and black plaid shirt with bright purple skinny jeans, and Severus noticed a tattoo of a mustache on his finger. The woman had an oversized plain white shirt, bright orange pants and large, thick black glasses, but with no glass.
They looked over at him for a second, catching him staring. He looked back to his butterbeer nonchalantly, when the man said, “Hey!”
Severus looked up again. The man looked mad for a half second, and suddenly smiled, “Dressed like a muggle, eh?”
Severus shrugged, not wanting to give a clear answer because he still had no idea what a muggle was.
“Maybe he is a muggle!” The girl exclaimed.
“Of course!” The man continued, and when Severus made to speak the man only interrupted, “Muggles are hardly allowed on this train unless they’re family, so, by careful observation, he must be… this woman’s husband!” He pointed to Lily, who blushed.
“Oh, no!” She smiled, looking terribly taken aback, “No, just an acquaintance!”
“I see, I see… forbidden love, trying to protect him from the dark lord…” The man nodded his head, looking as though he understood everything going on.
“But Frederick!”
“Yes, Georgia?” The man named Frederick opened his eyes a little wider.
“They don’t have rings on their fingers! They can’t be married!”
Frederick pursed his lips, studying Severus’s and Lily’s hands from afar. Finally he said, “I see. So then, there’s only one other plausible explanation: she kidnapped him.”
“You’re so smart, Frederick!”
“He is not!” Severus exclaimed, jumping from his seat. “I came here by my own… urm… by my own free will…” Severus hesitated, as he wasn’t sure this was the honest answer.
Frederick only wrapped his hand around Severus’s shoulder, grinning wildly. “I understand, mate.”
Severus was completely relieved when the stranger’s hand was off him, and was back in a seat, though right next to him. Georgia sat next to Lily, who only smiled shyly at these strangers.
“Four butterbeers, please!” Frederick declared.
“Aye, let’s enjoy our youth!” Georgia raised her hands in the air.
“Love and live, that’s our motto!”
“We painted it on a sign, right outside our company!”
When the two had calmed down, taking giant gulps of butterbeer at a time, Lily only politely asked, “What kind of company?”
“We clean up after dead people!”
Severus jumped back a little. The happiness in which they spoke was disturbing. Lily raised an eyebrow. “You mean… clean up and sell away their stuff…?”
“Nope.” Suddenly Frederick had a dark demeanor toward him, as he placed his butterbeer down on the table, wiping the beard of foam from his chin. With a deep edge to a notably high voice he said, “We clean up their bodies.”
Joining in on the spookiness, Georgia echoed, “All of their bodies.”
“We scrub away the blood and guts they leave behind.”
“They leave an awful lot behind.”
“Just today we had to scrub underneath a train for a man who killed himself.”
“We had to wipe his brains off the wheels.”
“It would disturb anyone else who saw.”
“We wouldn’t want to be disturbing.”
As Frederick stared keenly back at Severus, and Georgia keenly back at Lily, the odd couple broke into a smile. “We started the business ourselves. We’re entrepreneurs! We got married, and after talking quite a bit, that’s what we decided we wanted to do.” Frederick lifted his chin proudly. “We’re very happy.”
Severus would have made to excuse himself, but Lily only looked very amused. Finally, it occurred to Severus that, however crazy the people surrounding him might be, maybe they could answer a question. “What’s a muggle?”
Frederick opened his eyes wide again, looking down at Severus. “A muggle is a non-magical person.”
There was another long silence, and Severus was pleasantly startled by how straightforward his answer was. Finally, he decided on another, “Well… you said something earlier about the dark lord or something…”
Frederick turned very upset, slamming his butterbeer to the table. Tragically he placed his arm upon his eyes as though he were weeping into his sleeve. “Dear friend… dear friend… sir! You don’t realize!”
“I… I’m sorry!” Severus blinked several times, wondering how he should make up for his words.
“No… no, sir, good friend, you have a right to know…”
Severus once more shook his head, looking to Lily. She was looking down at the table, being no help at all in this awkward situation.
“Uhm.”
“The dark lord is after you!” Frederick pointed to Severus in a large motion, his finger centimeters from Severus’s nose, causing Severus to go cross eyed from trying to look.
“…after me?”
“Yes. He is a zombie! He is an undead, immortal man! He has dark, menacing, snake eyes and a shiny, egg white bald head! And he is after you! The muggles! And the half-bloods! He is going to kill all of you!”
Unsure how to respond to anything Frederick was saying Severus figured it must be true, at least to Lily, as she had buried her face in the table looking grieved.
“…What do I do?” Severus asked, not seeing anybody with the description on the train.
“Hide.” Frederick said, rather unhelpfully, as Severus wasn’t sure if he was already hiding by being on the train, or if he needed to hide further, perhaps by stuffing himself in a supplies closet.
“…alright. Thank you, sir…” Severus decided to play along, extending his hand. Frederick squeezed it, giving the rest of Severus’s body a good shaking along with it.
“You’re very welcome. Here is our business card!” Frederick gave Severus a short piece of paper, with the words “Cleaning the Dead” at the top, and below in small italics, “Love and live.” Severus placed it in his pocket. “Call us anytime!”
“I will, thank you…” Severus was quite ready to make them leave him alone, and was very relieved when they stood up and marched away. He turned to Lily. “Is everything they said… true?”
She nodded. Severus thought it rude to continue talking about it, and if he had really killed so many people, he wondered why they hadn’t locked this strange zombie in a jail cell somewhere far off.
There had to be a zombie. It was normal for there to be such a thing as zombies, at least for the continuation of this train ride.
He heard a loud whistle, and they began to move. Lily stood and walked up to the windows. Severus decidedly followed her, sticking his head out the gap.
There were no train tracks. Looking down he saw only the blue ocean. It couldn’t have been a hallucination or a trick, because it smelled like the ocean, too. A child dropped a penny out the window, and Severus watched it splash and float down in horror, as a fish came by to eat it.
His dull imagination stretched too far, Severus promptly vomited into the deep.
“Severus!”
“Get away from me!” From the men’s bathroom he sounded insane.
“Severus, please!”
“Everything I know is a lie…” She pressed her ear against the door and heard his heavy breathing. He’d been crying slightly, but only out of absolute terror.
He had curled himself into a fetal position in the bathroom, his face behind his jacket, whimpering. Magic was real. He was on a magical train with a magical woman. The great empire of knowledge he’d built diminished before his eyes. Magic defied all logic. Maybe gravity didn’t exist. Maybe there wasn’t a Saturn or a moon. Maybe there were little elves in the laptop he used to work with. Was he being silly? No. Oh, no. There was no logic to this world, so nothing was nonsense. Not even that last sentence. He’d remember to start using double negatives in his language.
“Severus…” Lily called from outside, “I know this is frightening for you but you have to come out…”
Nay, his entire life crumbled. He was a professor, a teacher. That’s why he was going to America in the first place.
Everything was normal, he had pretended. It didn’t need pretending. The supernatural was perfectly natural. It made him nauseous again.
“Severus! I’ll… I’ll come in there with you and drag you out!”
A woman in a man’s bathroom? Why not. Make my day, Severus thought, reaching for a paper bag.
“…Severus, sweetie, please… you’re on the train now so you might as well enjoy yourself…” She hesitated, “I have something for you to see…”
Queasily he stood and opened the door. Lily gasped at him. “Oh… Come on, Severus!” She took his hand and led him into one of the dining booths. She pushed him down, and she sat on the opposite end.
They stared at each other for a while.
Finally he shrugged. “…What is it?”
“Ask me anything, and I’ll show you the answer.”
Severus sat for a moment, feeling very uneasy. “…urm… alright.” He thought a moment, “If I’m a muggle, what are you?”
“…A witch.” He waited. She sighed. “That wasn’t a question I could show you.”
“Sorry. Didn’t know.” He thought again, “Surely you don’t use wands?”
She laughed. “Surely I do.” She unzipped her purse and pulled out a long, thin wooden stick.
He seemed to think some more. “…And you use spells or chants?”
“Spells, yes…”
“…show me one…”
“Urm… alright…” she paused, then beamed, “Leviosar!”
Severus’s eyes widened as the plate before him began to meditate in thin air. His jaw dropped as he wrung his hat, trying to control his excitement.
“So… so everyone else…” He was grinning in a weird way, with his lips too wide to fit his face, but also looking like he’d cry again, this time from pure adrenalin, and with his black eyes glistening with unadulterated curiosity. “Everyone else on this train… their witches too?”
“Well, most everyone…”
“So…” He got a tissue, wiping his eyes, “So… what else?” The plate was still up in the air, and he was now staring back at it, as though he were waiting for it to turn into some kind of mutant puppy.
“Uhm…” She laughed a little, “…let’s see…” The plate came gently back in front of him. “You’ll like this one… Expecto Patronum!”
There was a very misty raccoon in front of him, looking very ghastly but beautiful, too. His lips quivered, and he bit them, his hat hiding his lower face.
“Oh my gosh…” He whispered, looking like he’d simply pass out from joy. Suddenly Lily put her wand back in her purse. “What are you doing?” He asked, upset about her abrupt ending.
“Well…” Lily rolled her eyes, and Severus understood. He tried to quickly regain his composure, but he felt a single tear roll down his cheek. He decided to tidy his hair and put his hat back on.
Then the food came. It popped out of nowhere, making Severus a little afraid to touch it, but as it was long, thin slices of ham, corn on the cob and mashed potatoes, he let his guard down, and ate, half surprised that this magical ham didn’t taste any different than any other ham—in fact, it had more gristle than he would’ve liked.
“…So, what else? What else is there to being a witch?”
Lily seemed to think. “Well, we have to go to a special school… I went to Hogwarts…”
“Hogwarts.” Severus repeated, and it sounded completely nonsensical to his ears. “And what happens there?”
“Well… school.” She shrugged. “It’s sort of boring. We learn how to do spells and everything.”
“Really, now? You can’t just… study out of a book and memorize the spells?”
“Well, no. There are certain ways to flick your wand…”
“Fascinating…” Severus muttered, his mind working hard to figure out everything Lily was telling him.
She smiled. “What do you do, in the muggle world?”
He furrowed his brow, only wanting to ask more questions about her. However, being an unknowingly egoistic man, he smiled slightly, and spoke coolly, “I’m a college teacher. That means I teach adults after they finish school…” Severus thought a moment, “So that they’ll get even better jobs than if they just went to regular school…”
Lily looked slightly confused, then gasped and nodded. “My dad went to one of those!”
“…your dad?”
“Both my parents were muggles.”
Severus blinked, another world of awe setting into him. “Really?”
“Yes. Usually it’s genetic, but you know how sometimes two blondes produce a red head? That’s the way it was with me.”
“So it’s coded into DNA…” Severus muttered, numbers going off into his head.
“I suppose so… and about college…” He looked up, “what classes do you teach?”
“Oh, going to teach. That’s why I’m moving to America. I’ve been offered to teach world history there.”
“Why?”
“What?”
“Why is world history important? I know the history of magic class was never very interesting… and we never used it…”
“Well, sometimes we muggles get jobs…” Knowing the very word felt exciting on his tongue, “say, someone becomes a good leader for a military. Well, firstly, he’d want to learn all the good things the past military leaders did, so he can follow them. Secondly, he wouldn’t want to make the same mistakes the others did. That’s why world history is important.”
She thought about that. Finally he asked, “What kind of history does magic have?”
“Well, if there’s only one thing I got from that class, it’s that Hogwarts had four founders… Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin… those are their last names… and I became a Gryffindor…”
The whole dinner conversation went that way, with Severus and Lily coming into a constant amazement of thought to each other, muggle teaching a witch, witch showing a muggle. Any passerby from either side would’ve thought it crazy.
And as he showered—with normal, non-magical, running water—and slept—In a surprisingly comfortable but totally ordinary bed—the excitement began to wear off, just a little. He listened to the steady rolling of the train on its imaginary tracks, as he felt his eyelids grow heavy, and a thought came, deep within his heart, pulsating through his veins and tingling his skin. Maybe he had been the crazy one all along.
He had six more days to go of this, he knew as he closed his eyes…
Severus awoke so early the next morning only three others were at the breakfast table. He sat down, munching on the slightly burnt waffles, and tried to rethink his theory.
Magic, then, was the ability to transform atoms using concentration from the mind and some unknown force through a wand. With this you could move them however you would want, or perhaps change them into new elements or molecules, or even form new elements unknown to the muggle periodic table. The more complex the atom, the longer it took to perform a spell.
He wondered what Lily would think of him when he told her, when two familiar faces sat across from him.
“Dear friend!” Frederick squealed as two more plates appeared in front of them.
“Urm… hello…” Severus thought it very rude that they sat in front without so much asking for an invitation. He wondered if this was some part of the wizard culture, but quickly disqualified it as such.
“Why are you moving to American, then? Oh, and we never even got your name!”
“…Severus…” He muttered, trying to eat his waffles quicker, as to get an excuse to walk away, “…I’m going to be a professor at a university…”
“Oo, so you’re a very learned man!” Georgia looked delighted, “You’re one of those,” she tapped her fake glasses, “respected, high class nerds, are you?”
Not sure as to whether this was a compliment or insult, Severus nodded.
“Bury yourself in books, write and teach, but don’t forget to love and live! You can’t be anyone if you don’t love and live!” Georgia took on a serious but still very happy facial expression.
“You two are big on that, huh?” Severus mumbled.
“Of course, my man!” Frederick declared. “So, if you don’t mind us asking, who do you love?”
“…whom?” Severus thought a moment. “…I don’t know.”
“No!” Again, Frederick tapped his finger on Severus’s nose, and Severus saw blurs of the mustache tattoo, “Answer the question! Who do you love!”
Severus blinked. Who did he love? Perhaps he could say a character from one of his favorite novels? A great scientist whom books he collected? But… who did he love, really?”
“…Lily.” He spoke, just to have an answer to the question.
Frederick grinned. “You better go and get her, and live with her, before anyone else does?”
“Excuse me?” Severus was quite disgruntled with the live with her part, wondering if they meant to pack his bags and move in with her. It was a very frightening prospect for Severus.
“You heard me!” Frederick laughed, “Take her, stay loyal, and don’t let go!”
“It worked with me!” Georgia placed her head on Frederick’s shoulder.
“And it’ll work with you!”
“Come on, Wilhem…”
The three turned and saw two young men holding hands. However, something looked very awkward. They were about the same age, but one looked more fatherly than anything, as though Wilhem were but a young boy as the other led him to a table. In fact, Wilhem had a very dazed but interested look on his face, taking his time to study everything around him, and even staring at Severus, Frederick and Georgia before the other man took Wilhem to a booth to eat.
“What do you want, Will?”
“Toast, please…” Severus was quite surprised by how deep Wilhem’s voice was, as it didn’t seem to match his childish expression and tone.
“Alright, Will. Mary, Josie, and Robert are still sleeping… I just need you to be very careful now that we’re on this train, alright… and don’t attract too much attention to yourself…”
“Yes, Oliver.”
“Good…”
Severus sighed, finished his waffles—his plate disappeared and cleaned up before him—and stood. “It was nice talking with you,” he told Frederick and Georgia, “but I must take my leave now…”
“Of course, Severed Us!”
“…Severus…”
“Exactly!”
Severus blushed a little, grabbed his hat and walked back to his lounging area. When Lily woke up, he noted, he’d tell her all about his theory.
Lily had nodded slightly, but otherwise seemed disinterested. Severus was very surprised, but said nothing else. Finally, he took out a book and began to read.
“Did you see anymore of Frederick and Georgia?”
Very shocked by her question, Severus looked up. “Yes… at breakfast. Do you know them?”
“No, but they seem really nice. And I’ve been thinking just a little about what they said…” Lily looked very nervous, and here Severus put his book down, wondering what on earth Lily had on her mind, “…about how their married, and how they clean up after the dead…”
“…and?” Severus speculated in terror if she had decided to become one of their employees.
“I’ve been wondering what me and James would do. You know, after we get married…”
Severus’s eyes widened. “You’re engaged?”
“No… well… we’re dating…” Lily now began to dart her eyes across the room, biting her inner cheek and twiddling her thumbs, “…and, actually, he’s asked me a few times to marry him… but I don’t know… what our life would look like.” She looked up at Severus.
This, Severus thought, was something to tell a good friend about, not a man you had met and forced to board a magical train just twenty four hours ago.
Severus pondered her for a moment, but then she laughed, very quietly, “…it’s okay… I’m being silly…”
“…I don’t think you’re silly at all.” She looked up to his stern expression, “I think it’s natural to think about the future… especially when nowadays most married couples don’t give it a thought… so I would suggest you take your time… and talk about it with him… and when you get it figured out… well…” Severus shrugged.
Lily smiled. “That helps a lot, Severus. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“…do you want to see a picture?”
Severus raised an eyebrow. “Alright…” wondering what sort of picture it would be. She handed it to him, and he nearly dropped the photo in surprise.
It was moving. Lily and some other man were sharing a scarf, and she was pushing him playfully, laughing her head off, until he embraced her in a long hug.
Severus flipped the picture over, wondering if there was some sort of mechanic to it, but found nothing. So he only watched the picture.
“That’s James.” Lily grinned, proud of her boyfriend.
“Uhm… that’s good…” James’s hair was too messy, and his glasses too thick, Severus thought, handing the photo back to Lily, who stored it back in her purse.
“…so James is a…”
“He’s a wizard, yes. We went to Hogwarts together. Got into Gryffindor and everything.” She blushed as she spoke.
Severus smiled at her; hoping things would turn out alright for her and him. “Well, come on… it’s almost time for lunch, isn’t it…” She stood, and he followed. Suddenly she asked, “Do you have anyone, Severus?”
He tried not to show his embarrassment. “No.”
“Shame.” She said it genuinely, and it startled him quite a bit. He continued to ponder her word through lunch, always overthinking things.
He had eaten to his heart’s content, and felt fat and satisfied. He relaxed in the bed, pulled out a book, ready to read and learn…
There was a knock. Of course, he’d never get any alone time on this train, he thought as he slid the door open. Lily stood there. “Severus! There’s a party!”
“…a what?” He was sure he hadn’t heard her right.
“Come on, Severus! This is exactly why I took the train! Come on!” With that she grabbed his arm—was she strong or was he too thin?—and pulled him into the lobby area. Before him stood a party.
There were wizards, all in their robes, most of them drunk with red faces, dancing, singing, drinking, and having a good time. Frederick and Georgia may have been the happiest, as they swung their feet out of rhythm and did some sort of animated tango.
“Severed Us! Good friend!” Frederick cried, and Severus grunted. Lily, however, led him toward the duo. “What we need here is some good music! I packed my violin!”
“I play saxophone!” Georgia chimed in.
“But music is already playing…” Lily said politely.
“But it’s not the same! Not the same as the band, being on the stage, telling their story to everyone below! Like…” Georgia paused, then shouted, “Like you can hear the instruments love the audience!”
“Love and live, Georgia!” Frederick declared, and promptly ran out.
At that moment, Georgia extended her hand to Severus. Feeling like this was backwards, he shook his head, but Lily pushed him, and he ended up taking it. They danced, but Severus felt more like he was racing to keep up with her, her energy and joy being too much for his sore feet. After the song had ended, he made to go sit down, but she pushed her fake glasses on his face in a crooked manner, and then ran off to find Frederick.
Lily smiled. Severus thought about taking off the glasses, but thought maybe he’d lose them in the crowd, and surely he’d have to give them back to Georgia at some point. Before he could think about it much longer, a saxophone was pushed into his hands.
Frederick was beaming.
“I can’t play.” Severus tried to smile.
“Sure you can! Play to the rhythm of your heart! That’s all music is!”
Severus made to respond, when Lily nodded her head. She took out her wand and pointed it at Severus. He understood, but didn’t like where it was going, and tried to give it back to Frederick, when Georgia squealed, “Cut off the music! We got a band going to play!”
Now everyone was looking at them. A soft glow came out of Lily’s wand as she relaxed in her seat, giving Severus a reassuring smile. So, without any more options, Severus pressed his lips to the saxophone and blew.
At first, there was no melody, but it was a somewhat nice beat, until Severus decided to play to his heart. He heard it thump with adrenalin and nervousness, so he tried to play to a quicker beat…
What came then was a song.
Frederick joined with his violin.
Severus knew from everyone’s reactions that they heard what he heard. The fear, the denial, and then the awkward but wonderful joy that came when everything turned good; it was all coming out of the saxophone. Frederick played along, understanding all of the emotions, and when the music stopped, everyone cheered.
“That was beautiful!”
“Play it again!”
“I haven’t heard anything like that in a long time.”
It must be the magic, Severus thought, watching Lily applaud him. However, Frederick stole back the saxophone, laughing. “That’s a good trick.” Severus smiled.
“What trick?”
“The magic…”
Frederick cocked his head. “You played from your heartbeat and got a good lesson from Lily. That’s all the magic you need.” Then, his arm wrapped around Georgia’s shoulder, they walked away.
Not really understanding what they’d meant, Severus walked over to Lily, who laughed. “That was awesome, Sev!”
“…thank you.” He chuckled, unaccustomed to the shortening of his name.
There was a short silence. Severus suddenly felt very tired, and he decided to get him and Lily a butterbeer, which they both drank almost in an entire gulp, before heading back to the room.
“Like this, Wilhem…”
Severus stopped suddenly. Lily shook her head. “It isn’t polite to eavesdrop…”
“I know, but…” Severus placed his hand on the door, listening just for a moment longer.
“…I can’t read…” There came Wilhem’s unmistakable voice. He sounded very frustrated, and the bluntness of it caught both Severus and Lily by surprise, so much so Lily said nothing as they continued to spy.
“Just try, Will!” Oliver was saying, sounding very upset himself, but with a fake layer of optimism to cover it.
“…Wilhem!” A girl, whose voice was high pitched and squeaky, whined, “Just try! Just for us!”
“Please!” Said another, quieter girl.
“…okay.” Said Wilhem.
“Good!” Continued Oliver, “Come on, then… maybe you’ll be able to read Robert’s scripts…”
Coming to her senses, Lily beckoned Severus away, as to which he followed her. “Who do you think,” he asked finally, “is in there?”
“I don’t care, Severus. That was rude of us.” She stopped him short, but she was obviously lying. She did care.
Not really in a mood to argue with her, he went to his room. It had already been a full hour, so with that, he took off Georgia’s fake glasses—he find her and give them back in the morning—and went to sleep.
But it was going to change. He’d recently been offered a job teaching in one of America’s finest universities, as he already had two doctors in mathematics and humanities, and he was now working on another for biology, just for amusement, just to pass the time.
You see, Severus was a highly talented man, but besides that he was completely ordinary. This was all he wished: intelligence and nothing too dangerous or extreme in his lifestyle. He’d even read up on American culture so he wouldn’t be surprised by anything there. In fact, he could probably teach an American more about themselves than they could.
He closed his eyes and relaxed, hiding his eyes behind his hat.
“Sir…”
He jumped slightly. A young woman was looking down at him. “Sir, how do you go to the train from here?”
Severus blinked several times. “Madam, I believe you mean the airplane…”
“No sir, I mean the train.” She cocked her head a little, blushing. “Oh, you must be a muggle…”
“…a what?” He furrowed his brow, frustrated at the word he didn’t understand.
“Never mind. I’ll find the train myself…”
In an instant, he wondered if this woman had some sort of mental illness, or if she had somehow really mistaken an airplane for a train, and if he could have very well found the world “muggle” in a dictionary.
“Ma’am!” She had walked off quite a distance away from him, but now she was looking back, her eyes wide and her cheeks pink. “Ma’am, I’ll escort you to the airplane. Where are you traveling to?”
She smiled. “America.”
His face brightened. “I’m going the exact same way! Maybe you should sit by the park bench, and we’ll wait for the plane to come in… Or, you know what, we even have time for coffee…”
“But I have to use the train… I’m visiting a relative, and… well, you wouldn’t understand…”
Taking the challenge, Severus grinned. “Try me.” Surely he was open minded enough to understand anything.
She bit her lip, and then extended her hand. “Lily Evans.”
He shook it. “Severus Snape.”
“Oh, that’s such a strange name!” She smiled again. He sighed inwardly, remembering the teasing he’d often gotten. But her smile was genuine, and very pretty. She was very attractive, he noted, with deep red hair and bright, cat like green eyes.
“Thank you. My family has somewhat of a history for prestigious names…”
“Oh, I’m Lily Rosetta Evans. My parents only named me after a flower, and my sister, Petunia… but Severus!” She began to speak in a rushed manner, looking down at her watch, “I have to get to the train now! It was very nice to speak with you!” She began to walk away.
Of course, if this woman was sincerely crazy… what would she do? Surely she wouldn’t hurt herself, looking for a train in an airport? Actually, airports were quite dangerous, with all kinds of foreign strangers everywhere you turn, with who knows what’s in their suitcases, and rather or not they’ll steal the contents of yours…
Trying to rationalize his actions with these thoughts, Severus grabbed his own luggage, got up and followed her.
“Lily! Lily Evans!”
He had to push several people out of his way until she finally saw him. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m helping you… find your train…” He blushed a little, hoping she’d take his excuse.
“That’s very kind of you, but I don’t really think you can help me…”
“I’m sure I could. Listen, we’ll walk back and I’ll help you to your train… or maybe we can even call these relatives of yours…”
“Oh, they don’t have a phone…” She said it nonchalantly. Inwardly, Severus shook his head. In what modern society does no one have a phone?
“Any other means of communication?”
“Not that you know of.”
Outwardly he scrunched his face at her last statement, offended. “Ma’am, I have two PHD’s…”
“Oh, I’m so sorry for you!”
Now more befuddled than ever, he watched as she looked very depressed, walking closer up to him, and, very gently, patted his shoulder. “How much longer do you have?”
“What the…?”
“When muggles say things in abbreviations, it’s usually some awful disease… oh, I’m so sorry!!”
“I don’t have a disease!” He stepped back, thinking firmly she was meant for a psychological ward. Trying not to show the awkwardness of his face, he continued, “listen, ma’am, I’m a very… intelligent man and I’m sure I can help you get to America.”
She blushed. He realized he’d embarrassed her somehow. Now he was angry with himself, but she spoke firmly, “Sir, I need the train, and I’m sure you can’t take me there. And I know I don’t know much about muggle things… but you don’t know much about what I know much about, so you’re not really in any place to call yourself intelligent, are you?”
He thought about this as she crossed her arms, giving him an annoyed look. “Well…” He took off his hat, fumbling with it, “Perhaps… you could show me this train?”
They still had plenty of time before his flight took off. Surely, he figured, she’d find that there was no train, and he could lead her to the airplane safely. He’d even buy her a ticket if he’d have to.
She pondered his offer. “…I don’t know… you’re just a muggle… but plenty of muggles board these trains… then again, those are their families… I guess… I guess I can show you, but you have to promise you won’t tell another soul.”
He twisted his hat. “Not until you tell me what a muggle is.”
She put her hands to her hips, but smiled again, “Never. Do we have a deal?”
He snickered, but shook her hand the second time that day. “Deal.”
“Good. Now… I think it’s past one of these walls right here… the trick is, which one…”
For a half hour they wandered through the airport—well, she wandered and he followed closely behind—until she pressed her hand against a wall, and smiled. “This is it.” Then she stepped back. “Hold my hand.”
He did so. “Close your eyes.” He did so. “Now run, straight into the wall, on the count of three.”
“Wait…” He opened his eyes, making his feet heavy. “Wait…!”
“No wait, Severus, before we attract attention!”
“But!”
And before he knew it, they had soared right through the wall, with him feeling very breathless afterward.
“Oh dear… what just… happened?” He spoke in a very anxious voice, as what had just happened defied all logic. He gazed about. The setting was completely different. Instead of concrete, there were old fashioned bricks everywhere… and, smack dab in the middle, was a train… a beautiful, real train…
“Severus, are you alright? You look like you need some water…”
He opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it a second time, but said nothing, pressed his hat tightly against his chest as though it would defend him from an attack, and pointed to the train with a very shaky hand.
She frowned. “Oh, Severus! I knew it wasn’t right to bring a muggle here! But you’re already here, so… it’s too late now… and I don’t really want to bring a memory charm on you…”
He didn’t hear a word. He was figuring it out in his mind: Lily must be some sort of magician. Or, this train was some play part of the airport… or, he’d knocked into the wall and lost consciousness, and she had dragged him to the train station… that last one made the most sense… but not enough…
She suddenly grabbed the finger he was pointing to the train at, and dragged him along that way, as he turned his head back and forth at everything around him.
“Come on, Severus! We’re just in time if we’re going to make it to America!”
“What… what is this…?” Was the first thing he mustered.
She smiled, “The Steaming Kittyclaw…”
It shone on the train in gold letters, Steaming Kittyclaw.
The next thing Severus noticed was that everybody’s clothes were different. They had long, flowing black robes, some in the occasional deep green, or one person in a bright purple.
Severus suddenly felt very nauseous as Lily dragged him into the train. He excused himself to the toilet, where thankfully everything looked as it should, with normal stalls and working sinks…
He splashed his face with cold water, and then came back with a resolution.
Everything was normal. At the very least, he would act like it was. If he didn’t, he might lose his own sanity.
“How long will we be traveling?” Severus asked finally, tossing his hat on the booth Lily was resting at.
“Oh, about a week.”
Severus sighed. “It would only take a few hours by airplane…”
“Yes, but the train is so much nicer. Airplanes are just like muggle Quidditch, but a lot tighter, uncomfortable, and far less exciting… and I’m not a sports fan, anyway…”
“I need a drink.” He interrupted.
She looked a little startled. “I think the bar is in the front. Here, I’ll go with you…”
They walked, side by side, until they got to a much bigger room—actually, the train hadn’t been this big from the outside, Severus felt sure. However, pretending this was all normal; Severus sat at the table, taking a few moments to survey his surroundings. Everyone was wearing robes that looked suitable for Halloween. Maybe Severus had missed some sort of odd fashion trend, but he shook his head, remembering everything was going to be normal.
The bartender himself was in black and white robes, complete with a bow tie. “What will that be for you, sir?”
Severus looked behind the stands. “What kind of wine is that?”
“Oh, I recommend some from the elves.”
There was a short silence, which Severus broke by exhaling heavily through his nose and giving a tight, crazed smile.
“Two butterbeers, please.” Lily spoke for him.
“Yes ma’am.”
“Butterbeer?” Severus snorted, “Sounds fattening…” He pictured a stick of butter pushed into a beer bottle.
Lily gave a gentle smile, and as though she were reading his mind, said, “No, that’s just the name of it…” Actually, he wouldn’t be too surprised if she could read minds…
“Listen, ma’am.” He spoke finally, determined to get a bit of questions answered, “I really don’t know what’s going on here, but I assume you’re some sort of… magician… All I’m asking is, how do you do it?”
She laughed. “Magic.”
He fumbled with his hat, trying to contain his upset. “Yes, I realize you believe it’s magic, but believe me, I know that this is all some sort of mind game, or some trick with physics, or anything else… and I’d be very interested to learn how you put this all together…”
She cocked her head, furrowing her brow. “Severus, believe me. It’s magic.”
All of Severus’s worst fears had been confirmed. The woman across from him was very crazy indeed. He buried his face in his hands, rubbing his temples, when a glass cup thumped the table.
He took it. The dark yellow liquid stared back at him, foaming from the top. He took a sniff, seeing Lily had already drank some of hers and wiping the cream from her lip with her sleeve. Finally, he took a sip.
It was a little too sweet at first, but very warm, coming smoothly down his throat, and he thought maybe it tasted like hot chocolate, except with a touch of class, with just a trace of alcohol and something else he couldn’t place.
He liked it. With the napkin he politely wiped the foam from his upper lip, and looked back at Lily, her eyes glittering in anticipation. “Thank you.” He said finally, and took another gulp.
“Two butterbeers over here, please!”
Severus turned slightly, and saw a young couple laughing together. Actually, Severus had to take a second glance. In a room where strange robes were normal, this couple was dressed like a pair of hipsters. The man had a green and black plaid shirt with bright purple skinny jeans, and Severus noticed a tattoo of a mustache on his finger. The woman had an oversized plain white shirt, bright orange pants and large, thick black glasses, but with no glass.
They looked over at him for a second, catching him staring. He looked back to his butterbeer nonchalantly, when the man said, “Hey!”
Severus looked up again. The man looked mad for a half second, and suddenly smiled, “Dressed like a muggle, eh?”
Severus shrugged, not wanting to give a clear answer because he still had no idea what a muggle was.
“Maybe he is a muggle!” The girl exclaimed.
“Of course!” The man continued, and when Severus made to speak the man only interrupted, “Muggles are hardly allowed on this train unless they’re family, so, by careful observation, he must be… this woman’s husband!” He pointed to Lily, who blushed.
“Oh, no!” She smiled, looking terribly taken aback, “No, just an acquaintance!”
“I see, I see… forbidden love, trying to protect him from the dark lord…” The man nodded his head, looking as though he understood everything going on.
“But Frederick!”
“Yes, Georgia?” The man named Frederick opened his eyes a little wider.
“They don’t have rings on their fingers! They can’t be married!”
Frederick pursed his lips, studying Severus’s and Lily’s hands from afar. Finally he said, “I see. So then, there’s only one other plausible explanation: she kidnapped him.”
“You’re so smart, Frederick!”
“He is not!” Severus exclaimed, jumping from his seat. “I came here by my own… urm… by my own free will…” Severus hesitated, as he wasn’t sure this was the honest answer.
Frederick only wrapped his hand around Severus’s shoulder, grinning wildly. “I understand, mate.”
Severus was completely relieved when the stranger’s hand was off him, and was back in a seat, though right next to him. Georgia sat next to Lily, who only smiled shyly at these strangers.
“Four butterbeers, please!” Frederick declared.
“Aye, let’s enjoy our youth!” Georgia raised her hands in the air.
“Love and live, that’s our motto!”
“We painted it on a sign, right outside our company!”
When the two had calmed down, taking giant gulps of butterbeer at a time, Lily only politely asked, “What kind of company?”
“We clean up after dead people!”
Severus jumped back a little. The happiness in which they spoke was disturbing. Lily raised an eyebrow. “You mean… clean up and sell away their stuff…?”
“Nope.” Suddenly Frederick had a dark demeanor toward him, as he placed his butterbeer down on the table, wiping the beard of foam from his chin. With a deep edge to a notably high voice he said, “We clean up their bodies.”
Joining in on the spookiness, Georgia echoed, “All of their bodies.”
“We scrub away the blood and guts they leave behind.”
“They leave an awful lot behind.”
“Just today we had to scrub underneath a train for a man who killed himself.”
“We had to wipe his brains off the wheels.”
“It would disturb anyone else who saw.”
“We wouldn’t want to be disturbing.”
As Frederick stared keenly back at Severus, and Georgia keenly back at Lily, the odd couple broke into a smile. “We started the business ourselves. We’re entrepreneurs! We got married, and after talking quite a bit, that’s what we decided we wanted to do.” Frederick lifted his chin proudly. “We’re very happy.”
Severus would have made to excuse himself, but Lily only looked very amused. Finally, it occurred to Severus that, however crazy the people surrounding him might be, maybe they could answer a question. “What’s a muggle?”
Frederick opened his eyes wide again, looking down at Severus. “A muggle is a non-magical person.”
There was another long silence, and Severus was pleasantly startled by how straightforward his answer was. Finally, he decided on another, “Well… you said something earlier about the dark lord or something…”
Frederick turned very upset, slamming his butterbeer to the table. Tragically he placed his arm upon his eyes as though he were weeping into his sleeve. “Dear friend… dear friend… sir! You don’t realize!”
“I… I’m sorry!” Severus blinked several times, wondering how he should make up for his words.
“No… no, sir, good friend, you have a right to know…”
Severus once more shook his head, looking to Lily. She was looking down at the table, being no help at all in this awkward situation.
“Uhm.”
“The dark lord is after you!” Frederick pointed to Severus in a large motion, his finger centimeters from Severus’s nose, causing Severus to go cross eyed from trying to look.
“…after me?”
“Yes. He is a zombie! He is an undead, immortal man! He has dark, menacing, snake eyes and a shiny, egg white bald head! And he is after you! The muggles! And the half-bloods! He is going to kill all of you!”
Unsure how to respond to anything Frederick was saying Severus figured it must be true, at least to Lily, as she had buried her face in the table looking grieved.
“…What do I do?” Severus asked, not seeing anybody with the description on the train.
“Hide.” Frederick said, rather unhelpfully, as Severus wasn’t sure if he was already hiding by being on the train, or if he needed to hide further, perhaps by stuffing himself in a supplies closet.
“…alright. Thank you, sir…” Severus decided to play along, extending his hand. Frederick squeezed it, giving the rest of Severus’s body a good shaking along with it.
“You’re very welcome. Here is our business card!” Frederick gave Severus a short piece of paper, with the words “Cleaning the Dead” at the top, and below in small italics, “Love and live.” Severus placed it in his pocket. “Call us anytime!”
“I will, thank you…” Severus was quite ready to make them leave him alone, and was very relieved when they stood up and marched away. He turned to Lily. “Is everything they said… true?”
She nodded. Severus thought it rude to continue talking about it, and if he had really killed so many people, he wondered why they hadn’t locked this strange zombie in a jail cell somewhere far off.
There had to be a zombie. It was normal for there to be such a thing as zombies, at least for the continuation of this train ride.
He heard a loud whistle, and they began to move. Lily stood and walked up to the windows. Severus decidedly followed her, sticking his head out the gap.
There were no train tracks. Looking down he saw only the blue ocean. It couldn’t have been a hallucination or a trick, because it smelled like the ocean, too. A child dropped a penny out the window, and Severus watched it splash and float down in horror, as a fish came by to eat it.
His dull imagination stretched too far, Severus promptly vomited into the deep.
“Severus!”
“Get away from me!” From the men’s bathroom he sounded insane.
“Severus, please!”
“Everything I know is a lie…” She pressed her ear against the door and heard his heavy breathing. He’d been crying slightly, but only out of absolute terror.
He had curled himself into a fetal position in the bathroom, his face behind his jacket, whimpering. Magic was real. He was on a magical train with a magical woman. The great empire of knowledge he’d built diminished before his eyes. Magic defied all logic. Maybe gravity didn’t exist. Maybe there wasn’t a Saturn or a moon. Maybe there were little elves in the laptop he used to work with. Was he being silly? No. Oh, no. There was no logic to this world, so nothing was nonsense. Not even that last sentence. He’d remember to start using double negatives in his language.
“Severus…” Lily called from outside, “I know this is frightening for you but you have to come out…”
Nay, his entire life crumbled. He was a professor, a teacher. That’s why he was going to America in the first place.
Everything was normal, he had pretended. It didn’t need pretending. The supernatural was perfectly natural. It made him nauseous again.
“Severus! I’ll… I’ll come in there with you and drag you out!”
A woman in a man’s bathroom? Why not. Make my day, Severus thought, reaching for a paper bag.
“…Severus, sweetie, please… you’re on the train now so you might as well enjoy yourself…” She hesitated, “I have something for you to see…”
Queasily he stood and opened the door. Lily gasped at him. “Oh… Come on, Severus!” She took his hand and led him into one of the dining booths. She pushed him down, and she sat on the opposite end.
They stared at each other for a while.
Finally he shrugged. “…What is it?”
“Ask me anything, and I’ll show you the answer.”
Severus sat for a moment, feeling very uneasy. “…urm… alright.” He thought a moment, “If I’m a muggle, what are you?”
“…A witch.” He waited. She sighed. “That wasn’t a question I could show you.”
“Sorry. Didn’t know.” He thought again, “Surely you don’t use wands?”
She laughed. “Surely I do.” She unzipped her purse and pulled out a long, thin wooden stick.
He seemed to think some more. “…And you use spells or chants?”
“Spells, yes…”
“…show me one…”
“Urm… alright…” she paused, then beamed, “Leviosar!”
Severus’s eyes widened as the plate before him began to meditate in thin air. His jaw dropped as he wrung his hat, trying to control his excitement.
“So… so everyone else…” He was grinning in a weird way, with his lips too wide to fit his face, but also looking like he’d cry again, this time from pure adrenalin, and with his black eyes glistening with unadulterated curiosity. “Everyone else on this train… their witches too?”
“Well, most everyone…”
“So…” He got a tissue, wiping his eyes, “So… what else?” The plate was still up in the air, and he was now staring back at it, as though he were waiting for it to turn into some kind of mutant puppy.
“Uhm…” She laughed a little, “…let’s see…” The plate came gently back in front of him. “You’ll like this one… Expecto Patronum!”
There was a very misty raccoon in front of him, looking very ghastly but beautiful, too. His lips quivered, and he bit them, his hat hiding his lower face.
“Oh my gosh…” He whispered, looking like he’d simply pass out from joy. Suddenly Lily put her wand back in her purse. “What are you doing?” He asked, upset about her abrupt ending.
“Well…” Lily rolled her eyes, and Severus understood. He tried to quickly regain his composure, but he felt a single tear roll down his cheek. He decided to tidy his hair and put his hat back on.
Then the food came. It popped out of nowhere, making Severus a little afraid to touch it, but as it was long, thin slices of ham, corn on the cob and mashed potatoes, he let his guard down, and ate, half surprised that this magical ham didn’t taste any different than any other ham—in fact, it had more gristle than he would’ve liked.
“…So, what else? What else is there to being a witch?”
Lily seemed to think. “Well, we have to go to a special school… I went to Hogwarts…”
“Hogwarts.” Severus repeated, and it sounded completely nonsensical to his ears. “And what happens there?”
“Well… school.” She shrugged. “It’s sort of boring. We learn how to do spells and everything.”
“Really, now? You can’t just… study out of a book and memorize the spells?”
“Well, no. There are certain ways to flick your wand…”
“Fascinating…” Severus muttered, his mind working hard to figure out everything Lily was telling him.
She smiled. “What do you do, in the muggle world?”
He furrowed his brow, only wanting to ask more questions about her. However, being an unknowingly egoistic man, he smiled slightly, and spoke coolly, “I’m a college teacher. That means I teach adults after they finish school…” Severus thought a moment, “So that they’ll get even better jobs than if they just went to regular school…”
Lily looked slightly confused, then gasped and nodded. “My dad went to one of those!”
“…your dad?”
“Both my parents were muggles.”
Severus blinked, another world of awe setting into him. “Really?”
“Yes. Usually it’s genetic, but you know how sometimes two blondes produce a red head? That’s the way it was with me.”
“So it’s coded into DNA…” Severus muttered, numbers going off into his head.
“I suppose so… and about college…” He looked up, “what classes do you teach?”
“Oh, going to teach. That’s why I’m moving to America. I’ve been offered to teach world history there.”
“Why?”
“What?”
“Why is world history important? I know the history of magic class was never very interesting… and we never used it…”
“Well, sometimes we muggles get jobs…” Knowing the very word felt exciting on his tongue, “say, someone becomes a good leader for a military. Well, firstly, he’d want to learn all the good things the past military leaders did, so he can follow them. Secondly, he wouldn’t want to make the same mistakes the others did. That’s why world history is important.”
She thought about that. Finally he asked, “What kind of history does magic have?”
“Well, if there’s only one thing I got from that class, it’s that Hogwarts had four founders… Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin… those are their last names… and I became a Gryffindor…”
The whole dinner conversation went that way, with Severus and Lily coming into a constant amazement of thought to each other, muggle teaching a witch, witch showing a muggle. Any passerby from either side would’ve thought it crazy.
And as he showered—with normal, non-magical, running water—and slept—In a surprisingly comfortable but totally ordinary bed—the excitement began to wear off, just a little. He listened to the steady rolling of the train on its imaginary tracks, as he felt his eyelids grow heavy, and a thought came, deep within his heart, pulsating through his veins and tingling his skin. Maybe he had been the crazy one all along.
He had six more days to go of this, he knew as he closed his eyes…
Severus awoke so early the next morning only three others were at the breakfast table. He sat down, munching on the slightly burnt waffles, and tried to rethink his theory.
Magic, then, was the ability to transform atoms using concentration from the mind and some unknown force through a wand. With this you could move them however you would want, or perhaps change them into new elements or molecules, or even form new elements unknown to the muggle periodic table. The more complex the atom, the longer it took to perform a spell.
He wondered what Lily would think of him when he told her, when two familiar faces sat across from him.
“Dear friend!” Frederick squealed as two more plates appeared in front of them.
“Urm… hello…” Severus thought it very rude that they sat in front without so much asking for an invitation. He wondered if this was some part of the wizard culture, but quickly disqualified it as such.
“Why are you moving to American, then? Oh, and we never even got your name!”
“…Severus…” He muttered, trying to eat his waffles quicker, as to get an excuse to walk away, “…I’m going to be a professor at a university…”
“Oo, so you’re a very learned man!” Georgia looked delighted, “You’re one of those,” she tapped her fake glasses, “respected, high class nerds, are you?”
Not sure as to whether this was a compliment or insult, Severus nodded.
“Bury yourself in books, write and teach, but don’t forget to love and live! You can’t be anyone if you don’t love and live!” Georgia took on a serious but still very happy facial expression.
“You two are big on that, huh?” Severus mumbled.
“Of course, my man!” Frederick declared. “So, if you don’t mind us asking, who do you love?”
“…whom?” Severus thought a moment. “…I don’t know.”
“No!” Again, Frederick tapped his finger on Severus’s nose, and Severus saw blurs of the mustache tattoo, “Answer the question! Who do you love!”
Severus blinked. Who did he love? Perhaps he could say a character from one of his favorite novels? A great scientist whom books he collected? But… who did he love, really?”
“…Lily.” He spoke, just to have an answer to the question.
Frederick grinned. “You better go and get her, and live with her, before anyone else does?”
“Excuse me?” Severus was quite disgruntled with the live with her part, wondering if they meant to pack his bags and move in with her. It was a very frightening prospect for Severus.
“You heard me!” Frederick laughed, “Take her, stay loyal, and don’t let go!”
“It worked with me!” Georgia placed her head on Frederick’s shoulder.
“And it’ll work with you!”
“Come on, Wilhem…”
The three turned and saw two young men holding hands. However, something looked very awkward. They were about the same age, but one looked more fatherly than anything, as though Wilhem were but a young boy as the other led him to a table. In fact, Wilhem had a very dazed but interested look on his face, taking his time to study everything around him, and even staring at Severus, Frederick and Georgia before the other man took Wilhem to a booth to eat.
“What do you want, Will?”
“Toast, please…” Severus was quite surprised by how deep Wilhem’s voice was, as it didn’t seem to match his childish expression and tone.
“Alright, Will. Mary, Josie, and Robert are still sleeping… I just need you to be very careful now that we’re on this train, alright… and don’t attract too much attention to yourself…”
“Yes, Oliver.”
“Good…”
Severus sighed, finished his waffles—his plate disappeared and cleaned up before him—and stood. “It was nice talking with you,” he told Frederick and Georgia, “but I must take my leave now…”
“Of course, Severed Us!”
“…Severus…”
“Exactly!”
Severus blushed a little, grabbed his hat and walked back to his lounging area. When Lily woke up, he noted, he’d tell her all about his theory.
Lily had nodded slightly, but otherwise seemed disinterested. Severus was very surprised, but said nothing else. Finally, he took out a book and began to read.
“Did you see anymore of Frederick and Georgia?”
Very shocked by her question, Severus looked up. “Yes… at breakfast. Do you know them?”
“No, but they seem really nice. And I’ve been thinking just a little about what they said…” Lily looked very nervous, and here Severus put his book down, wondering what on earth Lily had on her mind, “…about how their married, and how they clean up after the dead…”
“…and?” Severus speculated in terror if she had decided to become one of their employees.
“I’ve been wondering what me and James would do. You know, after we get married…”
Severus’s eyes widened. “You’re engaged?”
“No… well… we’re dating…” Lily now began to dart her eyes across the room, biting her inner cheek and twiddling her thumbs, “…and, actually, he’s asked me a few times to marry him… but I don’t know… what our life would look like.” She looked up at Severus.
This, Severus thought, was something to tell a good friend about, not a man you had met and forced to board a magical train just twenty four hours ago.
Severus pondered her for a moment, but then she laughed, very quietly, “…it’s okay… I’m being silly…”
“…I don’t think you’re silly at all.” She looked up to his stern expression, “I think it’s natural to think about the future… especially when nowadays most married couples don’t give it a thought… so I would suggest you take your time… and talk about it with him… and when you get it figured out… well…” Severus shrugged.
Lily smiled. “That helps a lot, Severus. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“…do you want to see a picture?”
Severus raised an eyebrow. “Alright…” wondering what sort of picture it would be. She handed it to him, and he nearly dropped the photo in surprise.
It was moving. Lily and some other man were sharing a scarf, and she was pushing him playfully, laughing her head off, until he embraced her in a long hug.
Severus flipped the picture over, wondering if there was some sort of mechanic to it, but found nothing. So he only watched the picture.
“That’s James.” Lily grinned, proud of her boyfriend.
“Uhm… that’s good…” James’s hair was too messy, and his glasses too thick, Severus thought, handing the photo back to Lily, who stored it back in her purse.
“…so James is a…”
“He’s a wizard, yes. We went to Hogwarts together. Got into Gryffindor and everything.” She blushed as she spoke.
Severus smiled at her; hoping things would turn out alright for her and him. “Well, come on… it’s almost time for lunch, isn’t it…” She stood, and he followed. Suddenly she asked, “Do you have anyone, Severus?”
He tried not to show his embarrassment. “No.”
“Shame.” She said it genuinely, and it startled him quite a bit. He continued to ponder her word through lunch, always overthinking things.
He had eaten to his heart’s content, and felt fat and satisfied. He relaxed in the bed, pulled out a book, ready to read and learn…
There was a knock. Of course, he’d never get any alone time on this train, he thought as he slid the door open. Lily stood there. “Severus! There’s a party!”
“…a what?” He was sure he hadn’t heard her right.
“Come on, Severus! This is exactly why I took the train! Come on!” With that she grabbed his arm—was she strong or was he too thin?—and pulled him into the lobby area. Before him stood a party.
There were wizards, all in their robes, most of them drunk with red faces, dancing, singing, drinking, and having a good time. Frederick and Georgia may have been the happiest, as they swung their feet out of rhythm and did some sort of animated tango.
“Severed Us! Good friend!” Frederick cried, and Severus grunted. Lily, however, led him toward the duo. “What we need here is some good music! I packed my violin!”
“I play saxophone!” Georgia chimed in.
“But music is already playing…” Lily said politely.
“But it’s not the same! Not the same as the band, being on the stage, telling their story to everyone below! Like…” Georgia paused, then shouted, “Like you can hear the instruments love the audience!”
“Love and live, Georgia!” Frederick declared, and promptly ran out.
At that moment, Georgia extended her hand to Severus. Feeling like this was backwards, he shook his head, but Lily pushed him, and he ended up taking it. They danced, but Severus felt more like he was racing to keep up with her, her energy and joy being too much for his sore feet. After the song had ended, he made to go sit down, but she pushed her fake glasses on his face in a crooked manner, and then ran off to find Frederick.
Lily smiled. Severus thought about taking off the glasses, but thought maybe he’d lose them in the crowd, and surely he’d have to give them back to Georgia at some point. Before he could think about it much longer, a saxophone was pushed into his hands.
Frederick was beaming.
“I can’t play.” Severus tried to smile.
“Sure you can! Play to the rhythm of your heart! That’s all music is!”
Severus made to respond, when Lily nodded her head. She took out her wand and pointed it at Severus. He understood, but didn’t like where it was going, and tried to give it back to Frederick, when Georgia squealed, “Cut off the music! We got a band going to play!”
Now everyone was looking at them. A soft glow came out of Lily’s wand as she relaxed in her seat, giving Severus a reassuring smile. So, without any more options, Severus pressed his lips to the saxophone and blew.
At first, there was no melody, but it was a somewhat nice beat, until Severus decided to play to his heart. He heard it thump with adrenalin and nervousness, so he tried to play to a quicker beat…
What came then was a song.
Frederick joined with his violin.
Severus knew from everyone’s reactions that they heard what he heard. The fear, the denial, and then the awkward but wonderful joy that came when everything turned good; it was all coming out of the saxophone. Frederick played along, understanding all of the emotions, and when the music stopped, everyone cheered.
“That was beautiful!”
“Play it again!”
“I haven’t heard anything like that in a long time.”
It must be the magic, Severus thought, watching Lily applaud him. However, Frederick stole back the saxophone, laughing. “That’s a good trick.” Severus smiled.
“What trick?”
“The magic…”
Frederick cocked his head. “You played from your heartbeat and got a good lesson from Lily. That’s all the magic you need.” Then, his arm wrapped around Georgia’s shoulder, they walked away.
Not really understanding what they’d meant, Severus walked over to Lily, who laughed. “That was awesome, Sev!”
“…thank you.” He chuckled, unaccustomed to the shortening of his name.
There was a short silence. Severus suddenly felt very tired, and he decided to get him and Lily a butterbeer, which they both drank almost in an entire gulp, before heading back to the room.
“Like this, Wilhem…”
Severus stopped suddenly. Lily shook her head. “It isn’t polite to eavesdrop…”
“I know, but…” Severus placed his hand on the door, listening just for a moment longer.
“…I can’t read…” There came Wilhem’s unmistakable voice. He sounded very frustrated, and the bluntness of it caught both Severus and Lily by surprise, so much so Lily said nothing as they continued to spy.
“Just try, Will!” Oliver was saying, sounding very upset himself, but with a fake layer of optimism to cover it.
“…Wilhem!” A girl, whose voice was high pitched and squeaky, whined, “Just try! Just for us!”
“Please!” Said another, quieter girl.
“…okay.” Said Wilhem.
“Good!” Continued Oliver, “Come on, then… maybe you’ll be able to read Robert’s scripts…”
Coming to her senses, Lily beckoned Severus away, as to which he followed her. “Who do you think,” he asked finally, “is in there?”
“I don’t care, Severus. That was rude of us.” She stopped him short, but she was obviously lying. She did care.
Not really in a mood to argue with her, he went to his room. It had already been a full hour, so with that, he took off Georgia’s fake glasses—he find her and give them back in the morning—and went to sleep.
