A magical love affair - Severus Snape x Petunia Evans

Chapter 17 - Comfort causes new sparks to fly!

Severus' Home, Spinner's End, Cokeworth, July 1978

Petunia stepped side by side with Severus in his living room, their hands were tightly intertwined. She tried to stifle the shocked cry that involuntarily escaped her mouth at the sight of this living room. Everything was in utter chaos. The whole run-down wooden floor was covered in dust, dirt, empty liquor bottles and the remains of destroyed furniture. Splinters of wood, shreds of glass and ripped apart cushions covered the floor in a thick crust of destruction. The old-fashioned, ugly moss-green wallpaper drooped in stripes from the damp walls. The small, old windows blocked the sunbeams of the hot summer day thanks to a thick layer of dust and the ceiling lamp lay broken into tiny shreds on the threadbare, broken and cluttered with stains sagging dark brown four-seat sofa most likely from spilled beer or greasy pizza slices. Some newspaper pages lay in the corners of the room that was bare except for the old, sagging sofa, a matching, sagging and slashed open armchair, a broken, little dark brown coffee table, an empty, run-down entertainment cabinet, and a huge, empty dark brown shelf. Severus' living room was a picture of utter destruction.

Mr. Snape must have knocked everything to pieces in his drunken, violent rage before he had murdered Mrs. Snape. Petunia squeezed Severus' hand reassuringly. She studied him from the corners of her icy blue eyes and realized that he seemed like frozen into a solid ice sculpture. He didn't move one muscle in his face that was characterized by his firm scowl and blazing onyx eyes or lift his wand to vanish the debris of his former living room. She could imagine that his mind was displaying cruel memories of Tobias' domestic abuse or fabricating horrible images of his mum's fight for her life. Sure, Mrs. Snape was beaten to death by her sadistic, abusive bastard of a husband in her kitchen. But Petunia had no doubts about her suffering in the living room. Most likely, Tobias had ordered her around to bring him a beer or cook him a stew while lazing about in an alcoholic stupor on the old, sagging sofa watching TV. Mrs. Snape hadn't reacted fast enough or hadn't cooked the meal to his tastes so that he had hit her with his fists, called her unimaginable names and kicked her under the coffee table. Next, he would have destroyed the furniture in his rage, chased his injured wife into the kitchen and beat her to death in front of her stove. Petunia shuddered at the thought of Mrs. Snape's murder. She clutched Severus hand more tightly, hugged herself with her left arm and tried to clear her mind.

If she experienced this inner cinema with horrible, disturbing images, she could only guess what terrible hell Severus went through right now. For he had been subjected to Mr. Snape's abuse every day of his life in Spinner's End and had experienced his unforgivable, violent behavior to Mrs. Snape first-hand. She wanted to take his pain, anger, and despair away, hug him and awake him from his nightmarish daydream. She had been amazed by the changes he could enact with his magic in the entering hall. It was really beautiful, unbelievable and amazing to see what magic was able to do. Petunia felt like being the witness to a true, mindblowing miracle and she didn't want to close her eyes while witnessing spellcasting out of anger or roll them out of envy and fake annoyance for the first time in her life. She felt at peace with herself, and although a tiny little voice inside her head tried to convince her that she was still jealous of Lily for her magical powers and hated her guts, she chased it away by focusing on the wonders she experienced. Thence, Petunia wanted to give Severus something back that would cheer him up and comfort him.

She couldn't do any magic, so a magical trick or prank was out of the question to wake him up from his living nightmare. She could only think about using her body as a means to transfer some comfort to him. Normally, Petunia wouldn't be so straightforward and console anyone with gentle touches and tight hugs. But Severus was a special someone to her. And her heart told her that he needed her hug now and she desperately wanted to throw her arms around him. She couldn't really process why she felt so sad by Severus' paralyzed state or wanted to convey her feelings with a tight hug because she didn't understand her newfound attraction to him either. But she wouldn't rack her brain over this new emotions now. Severus clearly needed her. Therefore, it wasn't a time to overanalyze everything and question her feelings and actions. She would have to trust her instincts and gut feeling. So, Petunia decided to act. She turned her body to her right, moved in front of Severus and enveloped him in a close embrace. At first, he flinched slightly and didn't react to her embrace. It felt like embracing a tree and Petunia's heart started to dive. She felt stupid for acting on her impulses. Severus clearly didn't appreciate her newfound touchy-feely character.