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Why He Hates Muggles	By : OddDoll Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female Views: 2848 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
Why He Hates Muggles

Chapter 12

By Odd Doll
Saturday, June 19, 1976
Charity arrived at the Snape�s back door at eight a.m., with apologies and a
paper sack full of food. She wore the most modern, casual clothes they had yet
seen � a pink, long-sleeved t-shirt over a wraparound, denim skirt.

�Good morning, Mrs. Snape,� she said as Severus� mother rose to let her in.
�I�m sorry, I just couldn�t wait any longer. They�ve been gone for hours,� she
said as she slipped in through the screen door to the kitchen. She nodded, a bit
shyly, at Mr. Snape. �Good morning.�

�Morning,� he grunted. He was reading The Daily Prophet, and did not look up.
Severus� parents had been lingering over their morning coffee amongst the
remains of breakfast.

�I�m sorry about the mess. We are just finishing breakfast,� she said.

�Don�t worry about it,� Charity said. �Can I help you?�

�No, you do more than enough chores for a girl your age. Why don�t you sit
down for a minute and have some coffee. Or do you drink tea?�

�Either. Whatever you have already made.�

Mrs. Snape set a cup and saucer in front of Charity and poured her a cup of
coffee. �I haven�t seen Severus yet this morning. I�ll go upstairs and have a
look.�

�Please don�t wake him,� Charity said. She looked up at Mrs. Snape with
pleading eyes. �I forget that a lot of people don�t get up as early as I
do.�

�He needs to get his hide out of bed,� growled Mr. Snape.

Mrs. Snape gave Charity a nervous smile and said, �I�ll be right back.�

Charity sipped her coffee and found it to be strong and scalding. While she
poured cream and sugar into her cup, shed Med Mr. Snape. He looked a lot like
Severus, with the same beaky nose and dark eyes, but he had a heavier, more
athletic build. He could play football, she thought. From the one time she had
seen them together, she knew that Severus was already the taller of the two. His
scowl must have been habitual, because there were lines etched into his face to
either side of his mouth.

�Mr. Snape?� Her voice had a tentative quality, as if she were not sure if
she wanted his attention or not. The paper rustled as he turned the page without
so much as a glance in her direction. �Mr. Snape?� she said louder.

�What?� he demanded without looking up. It was a rude, but effective means of
intimidation.

�Severus said you might know what kind of magical object is inside the wand
he let me use.� Charity cradled her cup in both hands and took a sip. Her hands
trembled, making brown concentric rings in the muddy liquid. When she tore her
eyes away from them she saw Mr. Snape looking at her with disdain.

�He didn�t let you take it home, did he?� He pounced on the idea with
anticipation, as if eager to find a reason to disapprove.

�Oh, no,� she said quickly. �He said I must never do any magic outside the
cellar and that everything must stay in there.�

�Hmmph,� was all he said. He lifted his paper, but also said, �Which one are
you using?�

�Severus said it belongedhis his great-grandfather.� She felt the heat rise
in her cheeks as she added, �The one who burned down the old house.�

Gaius Snape snickered. �Well, that�s fitting.� He lifted his coffee cup and
took a drink. As he set the cup down, he watched it wearing a haughty expression
that was so like Severus� that Charity found herself smiling.

He looked up and, seeing her smile, pursed his lips in confusion, evidently
expecting her to be frightened of him. �Unicorn tail hair,� he said.

Charity thought this over before asking, �Do they cut them or pull them
out?�

Mr. Snape snorted and muttered, �Ignorant mudblood,� before saying to her, �A
unicorn would never let a human cut or pull its tail hairs. They are gathered
from the ground after they fall naturally.�

�Oh,� Charity said, feeling both chastised and stupid.

�Not surprised, really, that you ended up with that. Old Grandpa Stanton
wasn�t exactly from the Snape mold. The sorting hat wanted to put him in
Gryffindor, of all things.�

Charity thought about what Severus had told her the day before and said, a
bit slyly, �So, was he brave or just foolishly reckless?�

Mr. Snape snorted with laughter. �A bit of both,� he admitted. �He was
playing around with making his own fireworks when he burned down the house.� He
put his paper down, and his expression warmed toward her. �But the unicorn tail
in the wand chose him because he had a good heart, and that�s a very un-Snapely
trait.�

�It is?� She wanted to ask more questions, but Mrs. Snape walked in with a
yawning, bleary-eyed Severus behind her. He was barefoot and his hair was more
unkempt than usual.

�I�m sorry, Severus,� Charity whispered as he sat next to her.

His mood was not a generous one, and he emitted a string of incoherent
grumbles as he reached for the coffee pot and poured it into the cup his mother
set before him.

Between Messrs. Snape elder and younger, Charity was feeling as welcome as a
flu virus. �Maybe I should go and come back later in the day,� she
suggested.

�Sit up straight, young man, and show the young lady some manners, or I�ll
teach you some,� Mr. Snape barked.

Charity�s head snapped toward Mr. Snape. Her mouth dropped open in shock,
both at the hypocrisy and the threat he implied towards Severus. Charity�s
parents never chastised her in public, or before outsiders, and she wondered how
humiliated he must feel. She sensed Severus shifting in his chair and turned to
look at him. He sat up stiff and straight, and stared straight ahead, his
expression haughty and cold. Charity wanted to be anywhere else at that
moment.

�Do you want me to go?� she whispered to Severus.

He did not move, but said, �Stay. Please.�

Mr. Snape stared at them both, as still as a viper about to strike.

�How do you want your eggs this morning?� Mrs. Snape said in a soft
voice.

Severus relaxed and took his cue. He looked up at his mother, who was
hovering by the stove like a startled bird. �I�m still too sleepy to be hungry.
I�ll take Charity downstairs and drink my coffewn twn there. There are a lot of
things I want to teach her this morning.�

Mrs. Snape, standing out of her husband�s line of sight, gave Severus a nod.
Charity had the impression that the exchange said more than what was seen and
heard.

Severus rose and said, �Come on Charity.�

Charity thanked Mrs. Snape for the coffee and followed Severus out the door.
To her surprise, instead of turning left, toward the library, he turned right.
She followed him up the back stairs, an ordinary set of carpeted wood, unlike
the marble creation in the front hall. The upstairs rooms were arranged around
hallways in the shape of a capital letter �I�, and Severus� room was in the
corner end of one of the arms. She followed him down a worn runner that had been
laid down over the hardwood floors decades ago, and paused in his doorway.

�You can come in,� Severus said as he went to a mahogany dresser topped with
a large oval mirror.

The room was large, but the contents were sparse and tidy in the habit that
some teenage boys have. Four pieces of heavy mahogany furniture, a canopied bed,
the dresser, a wardrobe and a large bookcase, anchored each wall. A nightstand
and a leather reading chair rounded out the room�s contents. The pieces glowed
with the recent application of a coat of wax, and seemed old but well cared for.
Aside from a reading lamp and the books, every flat surface was bare. The walls
held no paintings or photographs. Only a green pennant with �Slytherin� written
in silver, fancy script interrupted the faded pattern of yellow daisies and pink
roses on the wallpaper.

�This must have been a girl�s room once,� Charity observed. She stood close
to the door, arms crossed over her chest, a little nervous at being in a boy�s
room.

�Aunt Lavinia�s,� Severus said as he opened a dresser drawer and took out a
pair of black socks. He crossed to his unmade bed and sat down. Leaning down
between his knees, he pulled a pair of shoes out from beneath the bed.

�I�m sorry about getting you out of bed and making your dad mad at you,� she
said, wondering if she had any hope of finding the right words.

�Don�t be. My father is a prat sometimes.� He tugged on a sock with a jerk.
�Most of the time.�

�I�m sorry,� she said.

�Stop apologizing,� he said with a growl. He put on his shoes and tied them
with sharp, vicious pulls on the laces, almost as if he wanted them to break. In
the face of his temper, Charity unconsciously did what she had learned to do at
home; she let her mind slip into another space. While Severus made his bed,
tucking a faded plaid nightshirt under a pillow, and crossed to the dresser to
drag a comb through his hair, Charity stared out the window at the back garden,
nearly oblivious.

�Charity?� She dragged her attention back to the room and started. Severus
was standing right next to her. She stared at his face as if seeing it for the
first time. It dawned on her that she had grown used to his appearance and he no
longer seemed ugly. He just looked like � him.

�Charity?�

�Are you sure you want me to stay?� she asked in a voice that was almost a
whisper.

�Yeah. It�s better if there is someone around when he gets like this. He
stays calmer.�

�You mean, he can be even meaner?� she asked and then wanted to kick herself
for how tactless she sounded. But Severus laughed.

�Don�t ever apologize for anything he says and does to me? All right? He
would have been like that this morning whether you were here or not.� He saw her
bite her lip, and the tense way she held herself. �I want you to be here. I like
your company. How many times do I have to keep telling you that?� He smiled for
the first time that morning. �And it gives me something to think about besides
how angry I am at my old man.�

�I know how that is,� she said with a smile.

Charity suddenly saw with clarity how much she had in common Severus. His
magic isolated him from the world, just as it much as her parents had isolated
her with their intolerance. His home life seemed pleasant on the surface, just
like her own, but here, too, dark secrets hovered beneath the surface. She
wondered how far his father went when teaching him a lesson.

For Severus it was the realization that she could still want his company,
even after seeing an example of what his life was really like. He, too, realized
they had much in common. From that moment, Charity ceased to be just the girl
who came to visit � they accepted each other as friends.

Minutes afteey sey started working in the cellar, Mrs. Snape had come down
with Severus� breakfast. She brought a snack for Charity as well.

�You must have eaten early,� Mrs. Snape had said. �And I know teenagers are
always hungry.�

Severus spent the morning teaching ity ity simple charms. She pestered him
with questions, and by noon they were both tired, he from talking and she from
casting charms.

�Why don�t we knock off for a while?� he asked her. His stomach growled loud
enough for both of them to hear.

Charity laughed. �I guess your mother was right.�

�Did you bring a picnic lunch?� he asked as he straightened his
worktable.

�Yes, I did. It�s loaded with good things, too. I wasn�t sure what you
liked.� She held up the charms textbook. �Can I take this with me?�

�Sure. It�s an old one that I don�t use anymore.� He extinguished the lamps,
plunging them into near darkness. While they headed for a dim square of light at
the top of the stairs, Severus reflected that if Charity had been one of his
school mates, he would never pass up this opportunity to cast a hex or jinx,
even if only a benign one. One thing he knew about girls, they did not
appreciate that kind of humor. Being in the dark with Charity made him think of
other things, too, which he put out of his mind because there was no way on
earth she would appreciate that from him.

The rain earlier in the week left the woods fresh, and the foliage glowed in
soft jewel tones. Their footsteps crushed grass and moss on the overgrown path,
bringing up sharp, clean herbal scents.

�Are those violets?� Charity asked. She stepped off the path and knelt down
in a small hollow. �We don�t get these were I live. May I pick some?�

�Sure,� Severus said as he bit into a peach he had taken from Charity�s bag.
�I�ll just stand here and hold this big, heavy bag.�

�It�s getting lighter every minute,� she said, smiling into a handful of
violets which she held to her nose. �It wasn�t that heavy when I carried it all
the way down the road so that you could have a nice picnic lunch.�

�Right. Thanks.�

She rose bearing handfuls of violets. �I don�t remember putting peaches in
the bag.�

�My mother did it, I�m sure. She also put cooling spells on some of the cold
food.�

�Good. I was worried about that.� They walked a few yards before she asked,
�Does the food stay cold in your stomach?�

Severus smiled. �It does if you don�t use the correct cooling spell. It�s
really uncomfortable, too. There are ones made just for food that wear off when
it is eaten.�

�You sound like you�ve had that happen to you.�

�I have,� he said with disgust. �Just a little reminder of how much my
classmates like me.�

She hesitated, walking on a few paces before saying, �Your mother told me
that they tease you a lot.�

Severus felt the cold stillness come over his insides. He was not sure he
wanted to ruin what was turning out to be a perfect day by talking about it.
Still, Charity always seemed to just accept his revelations, most of them, and
not judge him for them.

�It isn�t really teasing so much as attacks.�

�Attacks?�

He looked down at her. Her eyes were so blue, he thought, and they registered
alarm.

�Hexes, curses, jinxes. Attempts to trick me into getting into trouble.
Nothing that can�t be undone, but usually something inconvenient, like tripping
me when I�m carrying my potioork ork up to the professor to be graded. Or
covering me with porcupine quills, or an itchy rash or boils. If I don�t know
the counter-curse, I lose class time by going to the infirmary. Then there was
that clever Severus Snape crossword puzzle that was reproduced about a hundred
times and left in all the common rooms. Three down, which is larger � Snape�s
nose or his...well, you can guess.� He could hear the bitterness in his voice,
but did nothing to stop it.

Her expression was horrified now. �Does everybody do things like that?�

�No. Most kids don�t, but I have a few in my year that really hate me.�

�Why?�

Severus sighed. �Because I�m a Slytherin, because I�m pureblood but poor and
wear worn-out robes and have used schoolbooks, because I�m ugly � just because.�
He could feel his anger rising. Even here, so far from Hogwarts, Potter and his
gang could ruin his life.

Her pace slowed as she thought about this, while his sped up with the force
of his emotions. He made himself slow down so that she could keep up.

�What do you do about it? Don�t you go to your teachers?�

He snorted. �Now that would make me really popular, wouldn�t it?� They had
arrived at the pool, and Severus sat the bag down on a rock. �Would you
have?�

She looked thoughtful, frowning as she bent down to slip off her sandals. �I
would if I thought I could be seriously hurt, f itf it was so bad that I was
miserable all the time. What do you do about it?�

Severus was digging in the bag, and used it as an excuse not to answer right
away. He�d told her about the Dark Magic and worked his way around it... �I give
as good as I get,� he finally said.

Charity set her shoes, the charms textbook and the violets on the rock next
to the bag. She did not appear happy with his answer. �Do you provoke them, or
just respond?�

�It�s been going on so long now, there is no keeping track of it.�

�How did it start?�

�On the train, my first year, before we even arrived atool,ool, Sirius
Black called me a rag picker and asked me if my big nose helped me tell the good
stuff from the trash.� He opened a plastic container of potato salad and gave it
a sniff, trying very hard not to look like he was fishing for sympathy.

She gasped. �That�s awful. And they hadn�t even met you yet?�

�Well, that�s the thing. The old pureblood families are all related to each
other in some way, and even though they didn�t know me, they knew whwas.was. The
Blacks are a lot like my family. They were all Slytherins, did Dark Magic and
all that, going way back. Sirius, though, ended up in Gryffindor, and he just
hates Slytherin and anybody who has anything to do with it. His parents must be
so proud. And his buddy, Potter, comes from a family that was always Gryffindor,
filthy rich, and our families have never got along.�

Charity was quiet again, as she laid out a tablecloth his mother had
provided. She knelt down with the bag of food. Severus lowered himself to sit
cross-legged across from her.

�Your father said something just before you came in this morning.�

Severus groaned. �I can only imagine.�

She smiled, but it quickly faded. �We were talking about the wand. It has
unicorn tail hair in it. He said that it chose your great-grandfather because he
had a good heart and that was an �un-Snapely� trait.�

He realized that something was bothering her, but he could not help but
laugh. �You can�t believe that.�

She had been setting out their lunch, but stopped and looked up at him. �All
my life I�ve been taught that witchcraft is evil, and the people who do it
worship the devil. When the letter came saying that I was a witch, I was
terrified. I thought I was going to hell.�

�What changed your mind?�

�I�m not sure I have.�

�Charity, how can you believe that nonsense?� he asked in exasperation. That
did it. She froze with a plate of brownies in her hand. It hovered over the
tablecloth for a long moment before she set it down.

�That was very rude,� she said. Her voice was cold and flat.

Severus dropped his head and stared at his knees. He wanted so much to defend
himself, to justify his opinions. Nothing seemed to be easy with this girl. She
would not let him get away with anything, but she always seemed to forgive. That
realization enabled him to say, �It was. I�m sorry.�

Charity nodded a little, and offered him a sandwich. He sighed in relief and
took it, taking a bite without even looking at it.

�What would happen if you just stop fighting with those boys?�

�I�d feel like a bloody coward. It�s just not me. I�m not the �turn the other
cheek� type and I never will be. I want them to pay for what they�ve gotten away
with for the last five years.� There. He had come right out with it.

�Well, I�m not one to judge.�

�What do you mean?� he asked after he finished chewing.

Charity lifted her sandwich and took the tiniest, daintiest bite imaginable.
She must take hours to finish a meal, he thought.

�I�m just not the nicest person. I do some pretty awful things.�

�You�re joking. You�re the nicest person I know.�

She shrugged and, at last, changed the subject.

�It�s not really that warm,� Charity said, eyeing the stream.

�It�s supposed to get to about seventy five today.�

She chuckled, little more than a quiet shaking of her shoulders. �Where I
come from, hot is over eighty five. Is the water cold?�

�Arctic, but I intend to swim, no matter what. Did you bring a suit?�

�I have shorts oner mer my skirt.� She got up, still holding her sandwich in
one hand, and walked over to the stream. She dipped a toe in, and then waded up
to her ankles.

�It�s not so bad,� she said as she settled back down on the tablecloth.

�Won�t your parents notice how much food you took?� Severus asked.

�No. I�m the one who cooked it all, and they don�t know how much I really
made.�

Severus finished before Charity. He did not want to go into the pool without
her, knowing that they would not be able to tolerate the icy water for long.
Opening the charms textbook, he quizzed Charity while she ate.

�You�re a slave driver,� she groaned.

�You�re the one who brought the book.�

�That�s because I won�t be able to take it home and study it there.�

�All the more reason for me to help you now.�

She laughed and lifted the plate of brownies toward him. �Here. Have another
brownie. It�ll keep your mouth too busy to talk.�

He sneered at her and stabbed the book with his long index finger. �Giggle
Charm.�

�You do that very well, you know. You should be a teacher some day.�

�Never!� Severus exclaimed. �I the the kids at school as it is. Why would I
want to spend the rest of my life with them? Giggle Charm,� he said firmly.

She ate and answered his questions, but after a time she said, �Severus, what
is a mudblood?�

He looked up from the book with a start. �Where did you hear that?�

�This morning, when I was asking your father about the wand, he said
something like �ignorant mudblood.� What does that mean?�

Severus groaned inwardly. Gaius Snape strikes again. �It means muggle-born,
but it is not a nice term. In fact, it�s really bad. Like calling someone a...�
He tried to think of a comparable insult. �It�s like calling a dark-skinned
person a nigger.�

�Oh,� she said. �Why would he do that? To may face, even.�

Severus looked at Charity, wondering how to break it to her that she was a
second-class citizen in the wizarding world. �You�ve got to understand that over
the cents ths the muggle world hasn�t treated witches and wizards really well.
There are a lot of us, particularly from the pureblood families, who really hate
muggles. We keep ourselves separate, and so someone who comes from the muggle
world is an intruder. They are seen as a threat to the world we have. They are
kind of like immigrants who aren�t really understood and are looked at with
suspicion.�

She puller knr knees to her chest, wrapped her arms around them, and came out
with the question he most dreaded. �So, are you like your father?�

He considered lying to her, but up to now he had been truthful about
everything. The revelation about her cross-shaped scar had set the tone for
their friendship. No secret, no matter how ugly, would be kept between them.

�I was,� he said slowly, �but...�

She waited with a sad expression as he thought about what to say.

�There�s this witch,� he told her. �She�s a muggle-born, like you, and at
first I didn�t like her just because of that. But she was always nice to me
anyway, and she�s really smart, and really talented in witchcraft.�

�Is she pretty?� Charity asked with a little smile.

�Yes.�

Severus blushed and smiled back without exactly meeting her eyes. He looked
up at her though, to decide if she were prettier than Lily. Lily was taller and
more robust, and her colors were stronger with the red in her hair. There was
confidence in her manner at all times � she was always the same girl. Charity
swung from the skittishness of a faun to the watchful intelligence of an owl.
There was no comparison. It was like comparing a red rose to Dresden china.

�What�s her name?�

�Lily.�

�And you like her a lot. Right?� He blushed enough to make his ears burn.
�Does she like you?�

�No. Especially after...� He stopped himself. This was getting really
embarrassing.

�What?�

�Well, on the last day of school, Potter hung me upside down out on the lawn
and wouldn�t let me down. I didn�t know the counter-curse and I couldn�t get
myself down. She came along and told him off until he let me go.�

�What�s so bad about that?�

�I was really embarrassed that a girl had to rescue me, and I got mad at her
and called her a mudblood.�

�Oh.�

�It doesn�t matter anyway. She�se toe to everybody, and it didn�t mean
anything that she helped me.�

�It meant something when you called her a mudblood.�

His back stiffened. �It just came out. It�s not like I really believed it,�
he said, raising his voice.

�Did you apologize?�

�No, but I will.�

�Okay.�

He looked at her, puzzled. She was smiling a little. �That�s it? You�re
letting me off the hook?�

�We all do and say stupid things we don�t mean. Especially when someone we
really like is around.�

He cocked his head and gave her a skeptical look.

�Neither of us are perfect,� she told him. �Like I said, I�m not one to
judge.�

He set aside the charms book, saying, �Let�s go in the water now.�

�Okay,� she said with reluctance.

�Severus,� she said in a lighter tone, �what do wizard and witch kids do
after they finish school? You know, what do they do when they �grow up�?�

�There are a lotinduindustries just for the wizarding world. And there are
all kinds of jobs. Just about anything you would want to be in the muggle world
has a similar job in the wizarding world.�

�What do you want to do?�

�I�m not sure, but whatever it is, I�m going to make a lot of money.� He
unlaced his right shoe. �What do you want to do?� Severus asked.

�I�m not sure, either, but I�ve thought about forestry.� Charity began to put
the ins ins of their lunch in the bag.

�Forestry?�

�Yes. Work for the National Park Service, as a ranger.�

Severus placed each sock, rolled into a neat ball, in the corresponding shoe.
He knew his mother was trying to get her into school, but he was not sure if it
was time to share that secret.

�Charity, do you know that when you are seventeen you can join the wizarding
world?�

�I hadn�t really thought about it.� She stood and removed her skirt revealing
a pair of jogging shorts underneath. Just below the edge of the shorts was a red
line that looked like a scab.

�What�s that?� Severus asked.

Charity tugged down the shorts to cover it, but not before Severus saw two
other thin, white lines on her thigh. The white ones were scars, while the red
one was fresh.

�Are those cuts?�

�Don�t worry. They�re nothing.� She turned and clambered down the pile of
boulders that led to the lower pool. �You coming?�

Charity never let him get away with anything, and he was not about to treat
her any differently.

�Charity!� he called out after her.

Severus jumped to his feet and dropped his pants, revealing the bathing suit
he wore underneath. He scrambled after her, but the rocks were mossy and damp.
He slipped and tumbled in an ungainly sprawl into the pool. When he surfaced,
choking and gasping, she was laughing at him.
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Why He Hates Muggles