In the span of a week, Snuffles had become the closest companion she’d had since her time at Hogwarts. He, and she’d confirmed this bit of information with a quick gender-detecter spell, was always very excited to see her. Snuffles listened to her whenever she complained, which was admittedly a lot. Eileen hadn’t expected to get nearly as attached to Snuffles as she had. Now, she wouldn’t let anyone take him away, not even her son.
Speaking of the boy, Nigel had popped in earlier today to tell her- in a terribly foul mood- to tell her that Severus wold be coming back home tonight. Which was why she’d decided it high time to get around to looking presentable as she hated looking inferior to her own child. She’d even washed the dog, though Eileen wasn’t sure how much he’d actually enjoyed it. At least he looked nicer.
While waiting for his arrival she’d taken to knitting, despite it being an muggle skill, it soothed her and took her mind off of Severus and his associates from “work”. Eileen couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy about them. She had read all about the things they had done to the wizarding world before the ministries fall.
Just as she was thinking these things, she heard the tell tale click of the front door opening and the ensuing sound of a clothes rustling as Severus took off his jacket. For a moment she waited tensely whilst she tried to discern if he’d come alone. However, as she could only hear one pair of feet walking about the entry way she figured it was just her stupid son.
Sure enough, a few moments later her son strode in the room looking just as yellow skinned and hollow cheeked as the last time she saw him. Though the dark patches under his eyes made him look, if it were possible, even worse than before. His dark eyes swept over the room and quickly spotted Snuffles sleeping at her side. The rest of his face remained stoic as his brows shot up in a rare show of surprise.
When he spoke his voice was cold, though she had known him long enough to detect the annoyance in hidden in his tone, “I was unaware you possessed a fondness for animals, Mother.”