Rewrite the past

Chapter 21

First thing in the morning Hermione went to Professor McGonagall. Severus' concern for his mother really had her thinking. She knew how abusive his father was and, in all honesty, she did not want to cross paths with him. She had seen Severus all battered and bruised in this timeline already, and she could really live without having to see that again.

Only seconds after she knocked on her Professor's door, it swung open by itself. Not wasting any time, she went in and walked up to the big wooden desk behind which Minerva was sat.

"Hermione, what brings you here this early? It is not even time for breakfast yet?" exclaimed the strict professor looking up from the papers on her desk she had been going over. With a swift motion she took her glasses off her face and put them down on the tabletop.

The student closed the door and then proceeded to sit down opposite the woman miming her grandmother.

"It's about Severus, or rather his mother. You see, he came to me yesterday, asking to talk me in private. He told me about a letter he had got from his mother that left him concerned for her well-being," said Hermione not wanting to beat around the bush unnecessarily.

The Scottish woman sitting opposite of her then stood up and motioned for Hermione to follow her to an adjacent room. In there they sat around a small coffee table, mugs appearing out of thin air, followed shortly by a teapot with steaming hot tea.

Minerva poured each of them a cup and then leant forward in her big and plush looking armchair.

"What exactly did he say that he was concerned about?"

"Well, he told me that something must be off back at his home. His mother wrote differently than she used to, her handwriting was much shakier, and it looked as if she had to write it in a hurry, not to mention that it was way shorter than her usual letters," replied the brown-haired girl. Seeing her mentor raise her eyebrows in question she elaborated: "Do you remember when I was younger and used to meet up with him on the playground? I told you once that he stopped coming for a while, didn't I?"

Upon seeing the professor nod, she continued: "Once he came back, he had a somewhat fresh bruise around his then broken nose and a few older bruises on his arms. He did tell me that his father was their cause. His father had first beaten up his mother and then him. Severus now fears that his mother might be in another bad situation."

"Of course I do remember that. After all I tried to mend his nose, to not much avail, I might add. I think that in that case we should at least check in on her," answered Professor McGonagall getting up from her armchair.

Hermione followed suit and together they took the floo to their house in Cokeworth.

A split second later they landed in their living room but did not waste time and instead apparated to Spinner's End. Luckily, the old Severus told her exactly where he lived because all the houses looked the same. Shabby, worn-down, not very inviting.

The Snapes' house was the very last one in the long row of houses. Hermione walked up to the front door, Minerva following closely behind her. Tentatively Hermione knocked on the dark wooden door. They received no answer for quite a while, up until the point where they were about to turn around and get back to Hogwarts.

Just then they heard something shatter inside, followed closely by heavy footsteps. The person nearing the door was obviously having trouble not knocking everything over that came into their way as the commotion coming from inside was very loud. 

The both of them looked at each other baffled at what was to come. With their hands in their pockets, they both gripped tightly onto their wands, unsure what would await them when the door opened. 

After what seemed like endless minutes of waiting, the door opened only slightly, making room for a man's eye to appear in the gap. It was blood-shot and glassy looking, not really focusing on one point. 

"Yes?" asked the man in a very gruff voice, a slur clearly evident even in only that one word he spoke. 

"Mister Snape? My name is Minerva McGonagall. I am a teacher at your son's school. To ensure that our students can achieve everything they are capable of, we tend to visit their parents after the first few months to talk about their child's perspectives as of then. Can I come inside maybe?" Minerva was glad she was able to think of something to tell him so that he would let her in. They would make use his drunken state to smuggle Hermione in unbeknownst to the man. 

Severus' father seemed to have massive problems with comprehending what the woman standing on his front porch just said. It took him a few seconds before he staggered back, leaving the door ajar so that Minerva could enter. Luckily, he turned around and swayed in the direction of the living room or what Minerva assumed once was a living room. 

The fire in the hearth had long died down, the dining table lay in the corner, only having two legs left. On her way into the room she stumbled upon the remains of a small coffee-table that once had a glass top. But now that glass was shattered, splattered all over the floor. Mixed into that there were the shards of several empty glass bottles littered across the room.

While Minerva manoeuvred her way to the surprisingly intact couch, Hermione was already on her way trying to find her best friend's mom.

Hermione was almost sure that she'd find her upstairs, and so she went with her instincts and walked up the stairs as quietly as she could. The second to last step, however, creaked obnoxiously loud and being scared to be found after she had already successfully made it inside the house made her want to run up the last step and search for a hiding spot just around the corner of the narrow corridor ahead of her.