Severus Talks - Severus Snape (COMPLETE)

Revelations

Minerva had gone to speak to Lily Evans as promised. She had been right.

"Miss Evans, if I may speak to you for a moment?" She called when she entered her house's common room.

The first year boys shouted insults at the girl until Minerva glared at them, and then they quickly subsided.

"I've heard word that you are friends with Severus Snape, of Slytherin house," Minerva began. Lily nodded. The boys catcalled. "According to Professor Slughorn, Mr Snape is only getting good marks because he's sitting next to you in Potions."

Lily shook her head fervently.

"No, it's the other way round," she replied, a small smile on her face as she talked about her best friend. "Severus is an absolute genius. He was very lonely before starting Hogwarts and so he read. And his family, they didn't have Muggle books so he read his mother's old textbooks. Sometimes we brewed potions in his garden." 

Minerva really needed to speak to the ministry about the Trace extending to potion brewing. 

"Was Mrs Snape around to supervise?" Minerva asked shrewdly. 

She had heard, from Albus, that Eileen Snape's health had rather deteriorated in recent years. Lily innocently missed the cunning in the question. 

"No, she always sat inside, at the kitchen table, doing nothing. But by that stage Sev was already better than his mother at potions so he would effectively be the supervisor. It appeared that he was chucking in random ingredients, and he never followed what the textbook said but he got it right, every time." 

The girl sounded extremely proud of her friend.

"Alright," Minerva responded. "By the way," she added, hoping for a bit of extra information, "do you know why Mr Snape is remaining at school for the holidays?"

Lily looked nervous for the first time. "Usually Severus would look after his mum," she said slowly, "but his father, well, Sev's dad works long hours at the mine and goes to the pub afterwards... It was kind of understood that Severus wouldn't go home for any holidays, apart from summer."

Minerva's eyes widened. If the girl insinuating what she thought she was... She had to speak Albus.

"Thank you, Miss Evans," she said. "You've been very forthcoming."

*

Albus was in the process of speaking to Horace. The Potions Master was one of those people that simply irritated anyone, even Albus, and he considered Horace a good friend. He was stuck in a rut, as the Muggles said, and he would not get out of it. He was convinced that Snape was cheating.

"It's a shame, really, to have that boy in my house," Horace said disapprovingly. "No connections, only Half-Blood, not even any good at his subjects."

"I would have to disagree, Horace," Albus replied. "I have received reports from all his other teachers and half of them want him moved up."

"Ah, cheating," Horace dismissed this with a flap of his hand.

"Wands do not lie," Albus commented, now annoyed by his narrow-minded colleague. "Filius has asked especially that he be moved up as he's already performing OWL year spells in his class. Minerva has come to tell me that you are wrong about Mr Snape in Potions. She was speaking to Miss Evans earlier, and she expressly said that it was Severus, not her, who was the clever one. Mr Snape has been brewing unsupervised since he was five years old."

Horace didn't want to be the one to criticise one of his favourites, Lily Evans, but if she was sticking up for Snape...

"She's Muggleborn, Albus, what do you expect? The boy's no doubt convinced her into thinking otherwise. I'll hear no more of this, Albus. That boy's a nuisance, and that's that."

"You see what you want to see, Horace," Albus replied sadly. "I will do what I see fit." 

And that is to ensure Mr Snape gets justice, he thought to himself.