The young boy crept down the stairs, long, limp black hair swinging. He had no wish to disrupt anyone sleeping, least of all his father.
His breathing had grown heavy as he grew more and more terrified of the darkness, and every little sound. Through a partially open window in the hallway, the wind snuck in, calling out to him in a low whisper. A chill struck his neck, causing him to huddle tighter into his thick, woollen coat.
As he lowered one foot onto the bottom step, it creaked loudly. His heart was beating so fast, that he feared it was audible in the silence.
Thud.
A noise above him set off a new bout of panic. Just as he was preparing to dismiss it, and continue downward, and out of the house, a voice sounded.
"Going somewhere Severus?"
A shiver ran down his spine that had nothing to do with the frequent gusts of winds coming from outside.
Severus Snape gazed upwards at the man who stood there. His father leant against the banister of the staircase, watching him with a penetrating stare.
"N-no, father. I thought I heard a noise downstairs." The lie came too late, and his father seemed to realise this, yet he did not directly accuse him so.
The yellowy-whitish grin of Tobias Snape's teeth were horrifying visible, even with the low level of light. Severus shuddered. This man may have been his father by birth, but his son preferred not to think of him in this way. He also chose to deny any resemblance to him, despite the fact that it was clearly there. The same greasy black hair, and hooked nose were duplicated upon the boy.
"Yes, I'm sure you did," he drawled. "Let me come and check with you."
Had any person who were not a member of the Snape family been watching, this sentence would have seemed perfectly okay. It may also have appeared that Tobias cared for his son.
Snape knew better than this, and the thought spread through him, shattering any happiness that may still have lingered from only moments before.
The man strode down the stairs, finally pausing on the step above where Severus stood. "So where did the sound come from?"
Severus turned his head slightly, racking his brains to add depth to the lie. "I think it was in th-"
Slam! A great force slammed into his face, knocking him backwards. He may only have been on the third step from the floor, but the strike had been so strong that it felt as if he had fallen from the very top.
From his view, lying on the dirty carpet, his father looked even more intimidating. Tobias Snape was a tall man, one trait which Severus had not inherited, meaning that he towered high above Severus, his hand still raised from the blow that he had just dealt. The dim light from the window upstairs shone upon his back, casting his face, and the entirety of the front of his body into darkness. All that remained to be seen was his silhouette, and this was terrifying enough.
This visibility still enabled him to see that his father had begun to approach him. The boy shuffled backwards in horror, his body unable to move him fast enough.
Tobias was now just a matter of inches away, and Severus lay helpless before him. He shielded himself with his arms, a gesture which still just left him vulnerable. His knew this, and turned his head, cringing with the pain that was yet to come. The abuse came so often, yet Severus was still not used to it, and did not suppose that he ever would be.
The rage was powering through him now, but the attack which he had expected did not appear. Instead, an unusual sound filled his ears. Squinting through his barely open eyelids, he saw a red light pulsing from his hands, and this had just struck his father, sending him flying.
Severus sat up, breathing out in a sigh of relief. However, he knew it would not last, his father was not dead. Soon he would wake once more, and no doubt be angrier than ever. His father did not care for much, least of all his magic. That had been one gene that he had inherited from his mother's side.
Springing up onto his feet, Severus quickly checked his father's condition; he was stirring; and ran out of the door. There was no lock, because only two days before, it had been broken by a teenage group of muggles who hated his family.
As Severus Snape ran up the driveway, and away from his house, thoughts of seeing Lily Evans pushed all others from his head.