Drabble: Stammer

[magnetic_pole]

Stammer
Severus, Lily, Mum, Mrs Evans
G, 100 words



The summer before he left for school, Severus Snape began to stammer. He tripped over consonants; he bumped up against words that wouldn’t leave his throat. He wondered, briefly, if Dark magic was to blame, and he searched his textbooks for a counter-curse Mum could cast.

"You’re quiet lately, Severus," Lily said, but Severus just lifted a single eyebrow, mysteriously.

Sometimes he had to speak, though, and the adults looked at him too kindly. “Lily’s nervous about leaving, too,” Mrs Evans murmured when she thought he couldn't hear.

"Repello Muggletum," he thought crossly. In his head, it always sounded perfect.

ETA: Aha! Stammer, not stutter, in the UK.

Comments

[semielliptical]

I love the last line! A lovely look at Severus' anxiety and that all-too-frequent conflict between how we think of ourselves and how we appear.

[magnetic_pole]

Snape has always struck me as someone whose inside is profoundly out-of-joint with his outside. Thanks, S! M.