Mornings of Gold

Unknown to most, Severus Snape could be a very nice guy if you just got to know him. Lily Evans knew that. So does Rolanda Hooch. Pre-HP, post-marauders. Switches POV from Rolanda to Severus.

Chapter 1: If I Had to Choose…

Rolanda Hooch stepped off the Hogwarts Express for the last time feeling wonderful.

She had been hired to be the new chaser for the Holyhead Harpies a couple months before graduating.

She glanced around at those she considered her classmates. Lily Evans and the Hogwarts "Marauders" had exited from one compartment. Severus Snape, she noticed, was left alone.

Though she didn't know the full details (being in the library instead of outside on that hot day during their OWLs), she had heard that his friendship with Evans had dwindled and died quickly after he had called her a Mudblood.

Well, Gryffendors were hard to win forgiveness from…

And Rolanda had tried to befriend Severus several times, but he just seemed to ignore her or he was pissed off due to the Marauders. It was never at the right time.

Well, now they were heading their separate ways. What Severus was going to do now, she wasn't sure. But she had a professional Quidditch career ahead of her and nothing, she believed, could be more exciting!

She exited the platform, entering into the Muggle World. Nothing, as it ever seems, had changed since the last time she was at King's Cross Station.

"See ya, Hooch!" Sirius Black shouted. Rolanda glowered at him as he and his friends walked away.

"Pitiful, isn't he?" an icy voice asked her. Rolanda turned around to look at Severus.

"Yeah," she answered once she overcame her surprise.

"Well, good luck," Severus muttered, sweeping away. Rolanda wanted to ask if he often wore Muggle attire. Let alone where he bought them. He played the part of a teenage Muggle—maybe an American Muggle…she wasn't sure since she was raised pureblood—quite well. The leather jacket was quite… interesting.

She liked Severus, but whether she "crushed" on him was a complete lie. Or at least, that was what she tried to convince her friends of.

Besides…

He loved Lily Evans for as long as she could remember.

It wasn't that hard to see when one looked closely at them.

Rolanda went to the ladies room and apparated once she was certain that no one would notice. The Holyhead Harpies were ready to begin training her.

Gwenog Jones, the team Captain, greeted Rolanda at the entrance of the training grounds. "Glad you could make it on such short notice, Hooch," she said with a toothy grin. Gwenog Jones had medium length brown hair which she French braided. Her heart shaped face gave a warm feeling and greeted anyone on sight. She was short, but sturdy—no surprise, since she was the Harpies' current Seeker—and, from what Rolanda had heard, tough.

"I'm just glad I even made the team," Rolanda answered, following the shorter, older woman into the training hall. "I wouldn't miss this for my life!"

"Well, you'll definitely make a good addition with that attitude and your talent," Gwenog stated. They entered the inner field where they met with the other five members.

The two other chasers were Sarah Grins and Gwenivere Holster. Sarah had dark hair and skin. Her beetle eyes glinted and her hair curled in tight ringlets. She had it tied back in a tight pony tail to keep it from flaying about in the wind. Gwenivere was Sarah's opposite. Light skinned and blonde, Gwenivere had ice blue eyes and strait, highlighted hair. Like Sarah, however, Gwenivere also tied her hair back in a pony tail.

The beaters were Louisa Anderson and Hedwig Gonners. Both looked almost identical, if not for their different eye color. Both had mousy brown hair and a similar strong, tough girl build. Hedwig, like Rolanda, had hawk yellow eyes and Louisa almost looked like she might be Athena with her owl grey eyes.

Last was the Keeper, Demeter Hiones. She was the tallest of the women that made up the team with cherry red hair and starlight eyes. Her skin was freckled and she was overall thin. Not anorexic thin, but…thin enough to make Rolanda feel slightly self conscious.

"Ladies," Gwenog shouted. "I'd like to present our newest team member, Rolanda Hooch."

"So this chit's the youngest to play on our team, huh?" Demeter asked.

"Yup," Gwenog answered. "She's got talent; that you can count on for sure."

"If she made it onto the team, than I don't doubt that she is talented," Sarah said. "Welcome to the team, Rolanda."

The rest of the team welcomed Rolanda in turn and training began.

It was definitely NOT what it was like at school. Sure, they did basic exercises and warm ups, but it was harder than Rolanda thought it would be.

By the end of the practice, Rolanda had a hard time walking, let alone the strength to stand.

"It's usually tough the first couple of times," Hedwig said, helping her to the locker room. "But after a week or two, you'll almost forget the pain."

"And unlike what it was at Hogwarts," Gwenivere stated, "it's practice every day. And Gwenog might be tougher on you for a little while since we have a preliminary game coming up against the Tutshill Tornadoes."

"Our goal is to put the Falmouth Falcons in their place at the Cup this season," Sarah stated. "If we want to beat them, than we have to win every game just to fight them."

"If we do well, the preliminary match against them has to be as close to a tie as possible."

Rolanda frowned. The Falcons weren't known for playing nice and they would do anything they could to win.

If the Harpies' goal was to "put the Falcons in their place," than Rolanda could tell that she was going to be in a lot of hurt for a few months just to get her in shape for the many matches she would have to participate in.

"Well," Gwenog said, approaching them. "It's getting late, so I guess we'll call it a day."

Gwenog, however, didn't appear to look as though she was ready to "call it a day." The frown on her face was apparent and her brow furrowed.

"Come on, Ducky," Demeter said, clapping Rolanda on the back (who winced). "The girls and I will take you out on the night. Sort of a welcoming dinner for just us witches."

Rolanda nodded, though all she really wanted to do was go home and strait to bed. They dragged her off to the Leaky Cauldron and ordered a round of Butterbeers.

"You just graduated from Hogwarts, right?" Louisa asked.

"Yes," Rolanda said, unable to stifle a yawn. She covered her mouth out of courtesy, "Today. Gwenog asked me to come as soon as I was able, so I came as soon as I got off the train. I left my things for my parents to take back home."

The table went silent.

"Traveling to London from school, then apparating to the training grounds? Ducky, you really should have come tomorrow morning instead."

"But I didn't want to keep anyone waiting long."

Hedwig finally spoke up, deciding to change the subject to save Rolanda a lecture from the other women. "How about you tell us what you're school life was like. You were a Ravenclaw, right?"

"Yes."

"Did you date? Anyone you liked in particular?" Demeter inquired.

Severus Snape flashed into Rolanda's mind.

"Dem!"

"What? I can't be curious?"

"No," Rolanda said, trying to convince herself as much as anyone else at the table. "There was no one. I preferred to be single. Besides, the boys were rather immature."

Demeter's face fell.

"Well," Gwenog laughed. "It doesn't change much even now. Some wizards are still male-chauvinists and old fashioned."

"That's why we're hoping to beat the Falcons," Gwenivere said. "They rarely let women on their team, but it isn't so bad. Just learn to ignore them and concentrate and you'll do superb!"

The night went on discussing plans and getting to know the other players. Gwenivere, Sarah, Demeter, and Gwenog were all happily married.

"But unless we get wounded enough to retire, we don't plan on having children soon. Playing Quidditch can cause a miscarriage if you're not careful," Sarah explained.

Rolanda returned to her home soon after that and went strait to bed.

Dismal.

That was the only word he could think of that could summarize his life at Hogwarts for the last few years.

Dismal.

Yep. That was the only word he could come up with.

Well…maybe not completely dismal. Being able to keep up with studies and Quidditch both, Severus had made it to the top of his class, beating his former (his heart sank at the thought. Well, I had it coming after saying that) best friend by just a few points.

He glared at the bastard that stole Lily from him from across the station. Potter caught his eye and smirked.

Bastard, no, son of a bitch—that fit Potter better. It also fit Black, Lupin, and the cowardly bastard was Pettigrew. Severus smirked at the thought.

"See ya, Hooch!" Black shouted at Rolanda Hooch once they were back in the Muggle world.

Severus snarled. "Pitiful," he muttered. "Isn't he?" he asked the Ravenclaw. He didn't understand why he decided to try to start a conversation with her now of all times when they had just graduated.

She had, he knew, tried to befriend him even after the "incident" that cost him his closest friend. Severus was never really popular even when he went to a Muggle school and the situation didn't change on attending Hogwarts.

"Yeah," she answered somewhat breathlessly.

What the hell am I doing? Severus asked himself. Screw this. "Well, good luck," he said, walking away, hands in his coat pockets.

It helped to blend better in the Muggle world in Muggle attire. And he had plenty of that.

He wasn't, as people thought at school, a geek.

He sported jeans, a muscle shirt, a leather jacket, and army boots exiting the station. If he wasn't a wizard, this, he knew, would be his usual attire. Not robes that had a habbit of billowing behind him, making him appear to be Batman.

Oscar Raymond Snape was waiting for him—Severus flat out REFUSED to call him "father" or anything associated with the word—outside the station.

"So you people do wear normal clothes," he growled. Severus loathed admitting it, but he looked almost exactly like his father—excuse me, Oscar.

"Depends on the kind of person we are," he answered, not looking at Oscar as he spoke. "How's Mum?"

"You know how that whore is," he said with a smirk. Severus clenched his fists and his jaw hardened. His hand itched to grab his wand and kill Oscar as soon as they were in the car. Instead, he sat in the back and waited for them to arrive at the house—it wasn't home for Severus. He never really had a real "home."

Save for the Evans' house, but that was the past. He wasn't welcome there anymore.

As far as Severus was concerned, he wouldn't be home unless he was far away from the UK. He'd even move to Asia or Africa if he had to. Hell, why not Australia or the Americas!

Anywhere but here could be "home."

Entering the house, Severus wondered where his mother was. Entering the kitchen, he noticed two letters on the table. One addressed to him, the other to Oscar. He tucked the letter in his pocket and grabbed an apple before running to his room upstairs. Once in his room (thanking Merlin that he could finally use magic without risk of getting expelled), he cast a locking charm on the door. Nothing short of a wrecking ball could now get in.

Dear Severus,

The letter began.

I put in some money at Gringotts for you to move out of this house. Get out of here as fast as you can, and there should be enough to get you a place of your own. I enclosed some places you should look into and I hope you'll be able to do what I could never do.

Severus, if I'm not at home when you get out of school, then I am most likely somewhere far away. Oscar will be furious when he gets the divorce files.

Severus swallowed. He never pegged his mother for having such guts. Maybe he discredited her.

See what you can do and maybe—just maybe—we'll see each other again.

Severus looked at the available places before selecting the best one he could find at a low price (it was still his mother's money. She's probably been saving it up for a while now…).

Oscar banged on the door.

"SEVERUS SNAPE, YOU SON OF A BITCH, GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Severus snorted, grabbed his belongings, took the advertisements, and apparated to Diagon Alley, all the while ignoring Oscar's rant outside the door. He'd stay in the Leaky Cauldron tonight.

Once getting a room, he ran apparated to Gringotts and asked about the account his mother left for him.

"Right," the Goblin said. "She was in a nasty hurry this morning. Said to leave the key just for you; this way, Mr. Snape."

Severus followed him down into the catacombs of the bank, getting a severe headache there and back.

Severus dished out what he could to pay for at least a week at the Cauldron and, thanking the Goblin, returned to the inn.

Dusk fell and he went to sleep, wondering what he would do for a job. Sooner or later, he reasoned, that account would dry out if he wasn't careful.