This story of Severus Snape begins with an intense, isolated teenager.  The half-blood kid from the industrial north of England with a genius for dark magic.  It is the mid 1970s, a time of crisis and shattered love.    You've heard this story . . . but perhaps not quite from this perspective. 

Life is a problem for young Tobias Snape. He hates his job, money is a constant problem, and he can't seem to find an old-fashioned sort of girl who'll let him be the master in his own home. Until he meets a mysterious woman named Eileen. Note: Very sensitive topics here. Please take the M rating seriously. Thank you.

This continues the story of Snape's parents.  They have just married and Eileen, although disowned by her father, seems happy to be expecting her first child.  Tobias has been able to purchase a house.  Life should be good, but something is not right.  And Tobias comes to a disturbing realization.   Please: take the M rating seriously. Thank you.

Eileen terrorizes the maternity staff at St. Mungo's.   Severus works on his coping skills.  Eileen's culinary skills leave something to be desired.  Home can be a scary place. 

Severus is rescued from his last predicament.  Eileen believes in home-schooling.  An unexpected letter sends Eileen and Severus to the old Prince manorhouse, Severus meets his first goblin, and they return with some unusual heirlooms.

 It has been a year since she visited her old home, and Eileen is not doing well.  She cannot stop reliving her past days as a child in the Manor, as a student at Hogwarts, and as a young woman on her own.    

Orchid is a solo by the great metal guitarist, Tony Iommi, the man shown in ginnyfan4life's wonderful graphic.   It's a musical interlude.  And this chapter is a narrative interlude.

A librarian helps a very bright, but very neglected, little boy who presents himself with an odd request:  he wants to learn Latin.  

The title and  cited lyrics (set out in bolded italics) are from "Children of the Grave" by Black Sabbath (Osbourne, Iommi, Butler and Ward), first recorded as part of the album Master of Reality, 1971.

Severus secretly pursues his studies, as the librarian continues to worry about his welfare and eventually seeks advice from a family member. In the library one day, Severus has an experience that will change his life.

Severus dreams of meeting the magical little girl who lives in his neighborhood, and Tobias surprises his bartender with a family secret.

The meeting.

Lily contemplates the Wizarding World with Severus, until, at last, they are both off to Hogwarts, where Severus encounters one shock after another. The Sorting does not go the way he expected. Not Lily's, and not his own.

The First Years have their first night in the depths of Slytherin House, and  Severus Snape wakes up to his first day in Hogwarts.  He finds himself having breakfast with  Lucy Miller, Slytherin's only other half-blood  First Year.  Finally, he manages to meet up with Lily and  have a short conversation with her. .