Chapter 5 - Confrontation Ⅱ

It hadn't even been five minutes when Rowan glances up at hearing the squeaky front door open. Soft footsteps reveal that Severus is holding a pair of shining scissors, no doubt flinched from somewhere nearby. Severus awkwardly stares at Rowan and says, "I need a haircut."

Rowan's lips twitch into a rueful grin at Severus's unique way of apologizing. "Yup, but first take a shower and a fresh change of clothes, you stink," Rowan firmly instructed.

Severus rolls his eyes but grudgingly does as he is told. Severus stomps upstairs and not long after running water can be heard as Severus lets out a yelp at the cold water. But given that the old water heater was broken, there was nothing else to be done.

While Severus bathes Rowan taps her fingers in deep thought. Of the seven Horcrux's to be created there are already five in existence as the last two have yet to come into existence, H**rry P**ter himself and Nagini, the serpent. And that was only if the world followed the previous timeline. Following that train of thought, nothing is absolutely certain about the last two Horcrux's. The only consolation is that Voldemort preferred to wait to find suitable vessels to place his souls inside. But still, that didn't exclude the possibility that he'd use two different vessels for the two remaining Horcrux's.

Ignoring that depressing train of thought Rowan turns her thoughts towards the known Horcrux's. Of the five Horcrux's already in existence, their present whereabouts can't be certain except for one. For the first Horcrux, Tom Riddle's Diary will be given to Lucius Malfoy at some point, which later will be given to Ginny Weasley. The second Horcrux, Gaunt's ring should or will shortly be placed at the Gaunt home. As for the third Horcrux, the Hufflepuff Cup, will at some point be given to Bellatrix and be placed in the Gringotts vault. With the fourth Horcrux, the Slytherin's Locket to be placed on an island in the sea in 1979. And the fifth Horcrux, the only confirmed and accessible Horcrux for the time being, the Ravenclaw's Diadem in the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts.

And though Rowan is sincerely tempted to destroy the Diadem, the moment she arrived at Hogwarts, it would be a rather pointless endeavor as it required items which did not possess nor be able to acquire with her present strength. Nor did she possess the sufficient power to execute the high-level spell required to destroy a Horcrux. In the end, she'd merely have to be patient, she had no other choice.

Rowan suddenly stiffens as she feels an icy like presence pass through as if in search of something, before swiftly continuing forward unable to find that which is sought. "How could I forget?!" Rowan grumbled in embarrassment as she warily rubs her arm covered in goosebumps. The more you said his name, there was always the distinct possibility of his being able to sense his name being used. In that case, she would have to remember to refer to him only as Tom or Riddle.

With some relief, Rowan sees Severus stomping down the stairs as he dries his straggly dark hair. She gestures at the space in front of her knees as Severus sniffs at the damp chill of his hair against his neck. He takes a seat on the worn old carpet rug as she takes the scissors from Severus. "Don't move or else I might mess this up," Rowan warningly said.

Severus doesn't even dare to breathe as he remains so very still. Carefully using her fingers, Rowan combs Severus's hair and begins to cut. Dark locks fall to the ground and over their clothes as she carefully snips. With a satisfied smile, she brushes the snipped hair off of their limbs. "If I do say so myself, you look quite handsome," Rowan said in satisfaction.

Severus warily moves his neck as he feels his hair feel that much lighter and reach the edge of his mouth at the longest length. With some disbelief in his eyes, he heads upstairs to gaze into the now clean bathroom mirror. Severus blinks in surprise to find that though his hair is still long it has been properly cut to frame his face. Not only does his hair now look sleek and shiny, but the haircut highlights his somber eyes like bright opals that gleam in the sunlight.

Severus preens himself in the mirror with delight and even winks at reflection causing himself to blush in embarrassment. With red splotchy cheeks, Severus stomps downstairs and grudgingly says, "Not bad."

Rowan looks up from her sweeping and says, "Yeah, not bad indeed." She swiftly sweeps up the last of the hair as their stomachs begin to rumble. She throws away the swept-up hair in the trash bin and puts away the broom. "Do we wait for mother to return or should we head down for a bun with the remaining change of yesterday?" Rowan asked.

Severus fidgets and says, "Mum forgot her lunch." Severus paused as he glances away, "Mm, let's wait for a bit." Rowan shrugs as she takes a seat on a broken down faded bluish loveseat, while Severus claimed the only other seat in the tiny living room, the velvet old lime green armchair.

The two quietly wait as a small dusty clock in the corner ticks away. Ten minutes later, Rowan is about to suggest they leave when the door opens and in enters Eileen. Eileen holds a small brown paper bag in hand and holds out the bag to them. Severus instantly bolts forward to find four buns inside, two for each of them. Severus's eyes widen in delight as he says, "Thanks mum," before heading over to Rowan to hand her share.

Eileen is rather quiet as she headed upstairs and shut the door to her and Tobias's bedroom. "That was weird," Rowan mumbled with a mouthful of food.

"What is?" Severus mumbled back.

"She actually got us more than one bun for each of us," Rowan rather muffled replied.

"Mm," Severus grunted as the two hungrily finished the four buns.

Licking the crumbs off their face and fingers, Rowan says, "So, what do you want to do today?"

"Let's go out and play in the fields," Severus excitedly said in hopes that Lily would be there.

Rowan shrugs and says, "Sounds fine by me," as she wiped her hands clean on her ragged jeans.

The two of them quickly head out to play, but not before Severus shouts to Eileen. "Mum, we're heading out to play!" There is no response and the two of them close the door as they head out onto the street.

They passed down the road filled with rows of dilapidated brick houses that stand side by side, while the house windows are dull and dusty from the outside. Despite the ugly streets of this faded old industrial area, the twins still found joy in playing in the fields with drying grass, weeds and dead blackened trees.

Strangely enough, Rowan sadly enjoyed her time in playing tag with Severus. And the reason, she was quite unamused was the heartbreaking fact that she would have to pass through puberty again. And no one in their right minds would ever want to do that ever again!