AC/DC

iAuthor's Note: For the sake of the story line T.N.T was released a year earlier than in reality. I cannot remember anymore where I read about Toby and Eileen and „Stagger Lee", but as the timeframe and the mood fit perfectly, I used it./i

Christmas in his fifth year was a life-changing experience for Severus Snape. It was the year in which his friend Lily Evans giftet him with a record by a new band. Tobias old record player and the old house at Spinner's End fairly shook with AC/DC's T.N.T. Mr and Mrs Snape experienced a rare moment of remebrance of their own courtship – starting in a pub with „Stagger Lee" as soundtrack - while witnessing their only son, a solem, bookish lad, feeling for the first time the power of music. The magic of a song. Although his jumps and headbangs reminded Severus' parents of a winterborn colt in spring they smiled at each other seeing him so carefree.

Going back to Hogwarts without the record was hard for young Severus, but he made making a muggle record player work in the magically charged environment of the castle his OWL charms project. The young Slytherin succeeded eventually, but in the summer after the OWLs things had changed. His friendship with Lily had ended and sometime during spring Tobias had wrecked the record player in an alcohol induced rage.

Only when Severus was living on his own and slaving for a Potions Master to get his own mastery did he save up for a new record player and started listening to his records again during the few hours of spare time he had. He took player and records with him when he started teaching at Hogwarts, TNT still one of the best songs for stress relief. Mind you, after numerous soundproofing spells.

Severus Snape was a highly complex person. He was frightingly intelligent and in possession of a biting wit. His academic record was astounding for someone so young and potions manufacturers and St. Mungo's alike had began to realise the superior qualitiy of his NEWTs students. His every move, his billowing robes, every raised eyebrow had been carefully calculated to assert his authority over students only four years younger than himself.

The older, more experienced Heads of Houses were astounded by the changes their young colleague wrought on Slytherin house. While the snake den had always been a tightly knit community from the outside young Snape had found some common ground for all the students – house unity, pride in ones accomplishments and ambitions and the importance of deportment. Disturbing was the amount of abused children Snape's new rule of start of the year medical exams brought to light. Even more disturbing was the thought that with the previous Slytherin Heads of House those students had suffered undetected. The other Heads took note but did not subject their students to similar exams.

There was no doubt about the fact that, while Snape was awfully young for being a Head of House, he was a very good one. One area remained a little grey. When the elder teachers would talk about future students and the name Harry Potter was dropped, the young Slytherin always tensed, always tried to look unaffected and often made some derogatory remark about the spoilt Potter prince. Sins of the father and all that, having witnessed how much Snape had suffered through the elder Potter's pranks, they still felt uneasy about how their young colleague would treat James' and Lily's son when he came to Hogwarts.

June 2nd, 1987

During the summer of his sixth year in Hogwarts Severus Snape realised that he could no longer put off renovations in his parent's house. After his father's death due to liver failure Eileen had left Cokeworth to live in a coven on the Hebrides run by a distant cousin who was similarly shunned by the Prince family, leaving the house the sole responsibilty of her son. Mother and son wrote letters, telling each other of insignificant details of their retrospective lives but never touched on scarier topics. For the moment it was enough.

Magical building and plumbing was a specialized, highly sought after, art. Only the best Transfiguration students could do it and therefore they got paid a king's ransom for their work. While Severus Snape was able to put aside a good portion of his teacher's pay that pay in itself was very low. If he wished to avoid the old lean-to toilet in the back garden he had to make do the Muggle way. Which is why – after using the first week of his summer holidays for reading a lot of DIY books from Cokeworth's library – Severus Snape found himself (and a long list of supplys) in a building center in Greater Whinging.

The shopping trip went as well as such trips usually do. He pushed his cart into a tent with gardening furniture in front of the building center, hoping to find it empty and thus enabling him to shrink his purchases. He even thought of looking for CCTV and finding none, put his small parcels into his jacket pockets.

The fast food joint next to the building center did not look too promising but Severus Snape was mindful of his culinary skills and of the state of his pantry. He went over and took his place in the queue. To his left a big boy of about nine years was throwing a tantrum about a toy that had come with his meal. His mother was trying to calm him down while the father, also very big, shot malicious looks at everyone who dared looking into their direction. The woman's voice, at the same time grating and sickeningly sweet, seemed vaguely familiar.

After receiving his meal Severus looked for a place to eat and got a good look at the family. She had changed, of course, but the mother of the spoilt little terror was none other than Petunia Dursley, née Evans. Was the baby whale throwing a tantrum Harry Potter? Severus seemed to remember that James Potter had been a slim child, and Lily as well. If this was Petunia's son, where was her nephew? The one Dumbledore always reassured Minerva and Pomfrey was doted on by his aunt? Was the boy ill? If so, would the whole family leave him alone at home when they went eating out? Petunia queued again for desert, therefore Severus sat down to eat his own meal and to watch the little family a little longer. As both father and son had voices that carried he didn't even need an Eavesdropping Spell, which would have been illegal anyway in the presence of Muggles.

Mrs Dursley was second in queue when an employee dragged a small child in ill-fitting clothes towards the main area of the restaurant. Noticing the reaction of the boy when seeing Petunia the employee adressed her, „Ma'am, I found him walking from the toilets towards the parking space. Is he yours?"

Petunia froze.

„He's my nephew. He was supposed to wait in the car." With that sentence she sent a glare towards the cowering child.

„I'm sorry, Aunt Petunia, I just had to pee."

The aunt gave a jerky nod and ordered a huge bowl of icecream and a small portion of french fries. The little boy shuffled towards the table where his uncle and cousin sat. He stood in front of the table, making no move to sit down. Mr Dursley picked up his wife's handbag from a chair and snapped at his nephew, „What are you waiting for, sit down!"

„Da-ad! Why's the freak at our table?"

Dursley looked around furtively, then barked at his son, „Harry is sitting with us, as always!" Young Dursley looked confused while his cousin had his head down, peering through his fringe. Snape felt a pang of understanding. He had been in such situations often enough. Situation, where you had to be hyperaware of your surroundings, where you had to be absolutely on your toes – or else. Such behaviour had to be learned the hard way.

He took one look at the kid and felt his heart stop, a familiar guitar riff playing in his head. The boy's scar looked exactly like the lighning bolt on his favourite ACDC album. Chewing slowly he kept looking at the family. Snape's internal riff changed to „Back in Black", the slightly frustrated DIY-novice inwardly converted to the terrifying bat of the dungeon, with sweeping black robes and a mission. Outwardly no sign was visible but Severus re-affirmed his vow of keeping Lily's son safe. He quelled his first impulse to contact Dumbledore, as he could not be sure that the headmaster did not know already about little Harry's situation. The bathroom could wait, some subtle reconnaisance work was needed. When passing the Dursleys' table he used magic to put a penny with a tracking spell into the boys pocket.

June 3rd, 1987

After checking that primary schools in Surrey should still be in session Severus Snape Disillusioned himself and Apparated to Little Whinging. The tracking spell drew him to a depressingly suburban lane called Privet Drive. A discreet spell showed the house on number 4 as empty. With a quick Alohomora Snape was inside. The house was very well kept. The pictures in the living room, which was dominated by big tv-screen, lacked the supposed fourth inhabitant. Upstairs were a master bedroom, a child's bedroom, a room full of discarded or broken toys and a very frilly guestroom. Did the two boys sleep in the same room? The closet there only housed clothes that fit the baby whale. The Potions master used the tracking spell again and followed it downstairs. The cupboard under the stairs had a lock on the outside. That might be a precaution, cleaning supplies were better kept away from curious children. Nevertheless he looked into it and found his worst suspicions confirmed: a small matress, a baby blanket, some crayons and two broken toy soldiers were there amongst buckets, brooms and cleaning supplies. Snape had to forcibly reign in his magic which tried to lash out in anger. Therefore he did not hear the key turning in the door. Petunia Dursley entered with two shopping bags. She put them into the kitchen and went upstairs. This gave Severus enough time to look at the fridge where an invitation to Little Whinging's primary school fete was penned. He left the house quickly, still Disillusioned. Behind some bushes in the nearby park he dropped the spell and sat down to think. Lily's son could not stay a day longer with his aunt and uncle. Dumbledore could have set a ward that told him if somebody with the Dark Mark was nearby, but the Headmaster was supposed to be at a conference in New Zealand. Even if Minerva McGonagall as deputy was alerted, this bought Snape a little bit of time. He could take the boy during lunch hour, but where to put him? The coven on the Hebrides might be a temporary solution. As a mother with two toddlers was already looking at him with suspicion he left the park and walked towards the school. If the headmaster alerted the Aurors when little Harry went missing, and that was a big if, Severus would have a day and a half to cover his tracks. If he could do it wholly in the Muggle way they would not have a chance to find them. To his knowledge there was no Muggleborn or even Half-blood Auror in the current force.

Lunch bell was just ringing when Severus reached the school. Hordes of children were pooring into the courtyard. On his way there he had picked up a newspaper with which he settled on one of the benches there for waiting parents.

With the shock of unruly black hair it was easy to identify Lily's son, even more so as the child kept to himself and was already quite good at being invisible. The courtyard fences of the school were being equipped with CCTV and any bushes near were kept cropped. As he did not want to use magic the Potions master would have to wait for the last bell to approach Harry. He decided to use the time to visit his mother, for the first time in some years.

Eileen Snape, or rather Prince, as she was known here, was happy to see her son. Said son was equally happy to see her looking so well and content. While he had known the vicinity of the coven there had been rather severe wards preventing any adult male to come there directly. He had to wait for someone to come and let him through the wards. There was not a lot of time left to ask his mother if she could take Harry in. Eileen would have to put the question before the plenum which would occur in two days. Severus was pleased with the coven, a lot of children of all ages were running about, looking happy and carefree. His mother was looking healthier and happier than he ever had seen her. He thanked her and Apparated back to Cokeworth. If the child would come with him he would take him somewhere to the seaside for two days to wait for the coven's decision, which Eileen had assured him would be in the boy's favour but had to be discussed first.

From a box of childhood things Severus retrieved some old Muggle pictures of Lily, Petunia and himself because, even if Harry was treated badly at the Dursleys, one could not expect him to follow a complete stranger on the stranger's say-so.