Round Robin: The Basement **COMPLETE **
Title: The Basement
Premise: Severus and Lily are home for the summer, hanging out in the Evans's basement on a rainy day. Petunia decides to make herself a nuisance – hijinks ensue.
Limitations: This story will take place over the course of a single day.
Allowed Points of View: Severus, Lily, Petunia
Note: Please be sure to read our official Round Robin rules before participating. Thank you!
THE BASEMENT
"Shame it started raining," Lily said as she wedged something in the doorway to the Evans family's basement. She turned to Severus and said, "Make sure this doesn't move. We'll be locked in if it does."
"What dunderhead would design a basement door like that?"
"Blame whoever built the house," Lily said. "Anyway... what do we do now?"
"I assumed you knew what we were doing when you led me down here," Severus said.
"I think we have some board games," Lily said. She was starting to search along the shelves on the side of the room. "Can you help me look?"
"Anything in particular?" Severus asked. He didn't know the names of any Muggle board games other than... was it called Monopoly? Monopoly. "Do you have Monopoly?"
"Tuney loaned it to one of her friends," Lily said. "Oh, actually, we might have a few packs of cards if we can't find anything else."
"Why would they be down here?"
"All of the game stuff is down here."
"Ahem!"
Severus and Lily turned to see Petunia standing at the top of the steps, holding the door open. "Petunia," Severus said dryly. "A pleasure."
"What are you two doing down here?! Do Mummy and Daddy know about this?"
"Of course they do," Lily said brightly. "Do you want to play cards with us?"
Honestly, she couldn't decide which of them looked more appalled by the suggestion. Severus's face twisted into a scowl, while Petunia wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"Play cards? With him?"
"Oh, come on, Tuney, it's just a game. Besides, it's not like you have anything better to do."
"Better? I'd rather scrub the house from top to bottom with a toothbrush than hang out with a couple of…"
"Don't you dare say it," Lily interrupted, glaring at her sister. "Don't you dare call us…"
"Freaks?"
"You're the freak," Severus said, shooting Petunia an icy look. "Freakishly stupid, freakishly jealous, and probably freakishly bad at cards."
"Yeah? Then how come I beat Lily when we played last week?"
"It's obvious, isn't it? Either she let you win or you cheated."
"She didn't… I would never…" Petunia's face turned red, thin lips trembling with outrage.
"Stop it," Lily said. "Please, stop."
Thankfully, they both went quiet, though that didn't make her feel any better. She didn't understand why it had to be like this, why it was so bloody hard for Petunia to be civil when Severus was around. Why was she so rude to him, and why did he always respond with something awful? If they could just be polite…
To her horror, Lily felt her eyes filling with tears. She mumbled something about needing to go to the bathroom, barely noticing the small object she kicked aside as she shut the basement door behind her.
"Lily!" Severus hurried after her just as the door shut in front of him. "Lily, wait!" He attempted to open it, only to find that it was locked.... Ah. Right. "Lily, the door's locked! Lily!"
"What?!" Petunia's voice was as shrill as ever. "You're lying!"
"Yes," Severus said sarcastically, turning back to her. "You've caught me. The door is unlocked." He gestured to the door. "By all means."
Petunia shoved him out of the way, almost knocking him down as she tried to open the door. "Lily!" she shrieked. "Lily! Open the door!"
Severus wished he had been born without ears. "Stop screeching, you bloody harpy!"
"We're locked in!" Petunia shouted, as if to spite him. She turned on him and said viciously, "Mummy and Daddy won't be home for three hours, and we're trapped in here, and it's all your fault!"
"My fault?! You're the one who called her a freak!" Severus looked around the room to see if he could find something to open the door with.
"What are you doing now? Looking for something to steal?"
"I'm looking for something to help us get out of here," he spat back. "Unless, of course, you want to be trapped in here with 'that freaky Snape boy'!"
"Trapped in a room? With you? I'd rather…" Petunia couldn't imagine anything worse than being trapped with Snape, and not just because she disliked him. She was also afraid of him, though she'd rather die than admit it.
"Move!"
"Lily!" she shouted, ignoring his command. "Lily!"
"MOVE!"
Glancing over her shoulder, she gasped as she saw him coming toward her with a crowbar. Before she could react, he'd wedged it into the door frame, throwing himself against it with all the strength his skinny, 13-year-old body could muster. All the while, he kept calling for Lily, grunting and pushing to no avail.
"Right. How's that supposed to work when you don't have any muscles?"
"Will you…" Snape hesitated, panting hard. "Just… shut up!"
"You can't tell me to shut up in my own house!"
"I can do… whatever I want… you stupid…"
"Severus?"
Snape froze at the sound of Lily's voice, his expression suddenly hopeful. He twisted the knob, as if that would do any good, quickly explaining their predicament.
"What?"
"I said, 'we're locked in,'" he repeated, elevating his voice. "Can you let us out?"
"I don't have the key!" Lily shouted back. "There's nothing we can do until Mummy and Daddy get home!"
Petunia looked up at the clock, resisting the urge to curse aloud. Less than 10 minutes, and already, she felt like she'd been trapped with Snape for an eternity. How the hell was she supposed to make it through the next three hours?
"Why don't you…"
"What?" Snape snapped when she trailed off. "Just spit it out."
Under any other circumstance, Petunia wouldn't have even considered what she was about to suggest. This was a desperate situation, however, one from which there was no other escape.
"You've been off at that school learning all sorts of nasty tricks," she said. "Can't you use one of them to open the door?"
"We can't," Severus said. "I don't have my wand, and even if I did, we can't perform underage magic."
"Hmph," Petunia scoffed, crossing her arms. "Typical. The one time you could make yourself useful--"
"Tuney, stop it!" Lily cried from the other side of the door. "Let me see if I can find something, like a crowbar--"
"We've tried that!" Severus called out to her. "The door won't budge!"
As the last word left Severus's lips, there was a booming sound that caught him and Petunia off-guard. The rain must have started to take a turn for the worse if there was thunder involved.
"Do you know how to pick a lock?" Severus called out to Lily.
"No," Lily answered.
"Picking locks in our spare time, are we?" Petunia asked, crossing her arms. "It's a miracle you haven't decided to break in." The lights in the basement flickered, and Petunia let out a quiet gasp.
"I think the storm's getting worse," Lily said. "Let me check!"
"Don't go outside!" Severus called after Lily as the two of them heard her footsteps disappear. The lights flickered once more.
"... you don't think the power will go out, do you?" Petunia asked warily. This was one of the few times where her snark seemed to vanish entirely.
Lily was halfway to the front door when she heard the phone ring, turning on her heel as she headed back to the kitchen. She plucked the receiver off the wall, pressing it to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Lily, it's Mum. Are you girls all right?"
"Yeah, though…"
"Good. Listen, honey, I've got to keep this quick. Just wanted to let you know that we'll be home around seven instead of five. I've got to work late, and Dad wants to get the car serviced before he picks me up."
"Serviced?" Lily repeated dumbly. "Why?"
"That left rear tire is still giving us trouble. He doesn't want to drive on wet roads until it's fixed."
"But…"
"Are you sure everything's all right? You sound a bit odd."
Lily opened her mouth, tempted to tell her the truth. On the other hand, she didn't want to worry her, especially when there was nothing she could do for the next five hours.
"Everything's fine," she said, making an effort to sound cheerful. "See you tonight, Mum."
She hung up the phone, deciding that the storm wasn't important as she headed upstairs. What mattered just now was finding some way to get that door open, though of course, she wasn't about to use magic. Just the thought of being expelled from Hogwarts…
Shaking her head, she went into her parents' room, grabbing a couple of bobby pins from the bedside table. She was just about to go back downstairs when there was a deafening crack, plunging the house into darkness.
Lily carefully made her way down the stairs and hurried in the dark to where she thought the basement door was. "Sev? Tuney?"
"Lily, what happened?!" Petunia asked, panic in her voice. "Is the power out?!"
"I think it was the storm," Lily answered.
"We heard the phone ring," Severus called. "Was it your parents?"
"Mummy said they'll be home in five hours."
"Five hours?!" Petunia exclaimed.
"Tuney, wait!" Lily said quickly. "I found some bobby pins! Maybe I can pick the lock!"
"Do you have a torch?!" Petunia asked.
"Umm... I need to find one." Lily looked around her, seeing nothing but darkness. "Tuney, where does Daddy keep the torches?"
"In the... basement...."
"Wait," Severus said. "Help me find one. We could try to shine it under the door so Lily can have some light."
"Are you an idiot?" Petunia said. "That's not going to work."
"Why not?"
"It only points in one direction, which in this case, would be straight across the floor."
One direction? What kind of light only shone in one direction? A simple Lumos would've shed light in all directions, even with a door in its way. Of course, Muggle lighting had more limitations, but still…
"It wouldn't hurt to try."
"Fine," Petunia said testily. "If you want to look stupid…"
"Don't call him that!"
Ignoring Lily, Petunia stomped down the stairs, followed by a thud and a grunt. She must've tripped, though Severus didn't bother to ask if she was all right. He couldn't have cared less, waiting none too patiently for her to find the lights.
"Damn, this one's dead."
"Dead? As opposed to alive?"
"Oh, shut up. Let me try…"
Severus spotted a feeble beam of light, illuminating her horse like face as she made her way back up the stairs. She sat down on the top step, hunching over to inspect her bloodied knee.
"You're fine," he said, rolling his eyes as she grimaced. "Just shine it under the door, will you?"
She scowled, though to his surprise, she handed him the light. He crouched down, doing his best to angle the beam in the appropriate direction.
"Lily? Can you see anything?"
"Nothing," Lily answered. "It's too close to the floor.... if I had a mirror, I could shine it at the keyhole while I pick it! Let me try to find a hand mirror!"
"Wait--" Severus groaned as he heard Lily run off in the dark. Even if she found one, it would be hard to properly aim the mirror while simultaneously picking the lock. If she somehow grew a third arm, then maybe it would work. He sat down on the steps as Petunia shone the light back on her scraped knee. It wasn't how he wanted to wait, but he'd rather be sitting than pacing in the dark. He looked at the scrape and said to Petunia, "Shining a light on it won't make it heal faster."
"Shut up," Petunia hissed back. She stood up and walked down the steps, shining the light at her feet as she went to one of the shelves and started searching for something. "Where is it?"
"What?"
"Something to cover my knee," Petunia answered.
"Yes, because covering your knee would certainly help unlock the door."
Petunia marched over to where Severus was and shrieked, "Will you shut up, you little--"
The clap of thunder that cut Petunia off was deafening. Severus leapt to his feet in shock, and Petunia let out a scream as she covered her ears and curled in on herself.
