Mam and Pa never really did mind where I went, as long as I wasn't underfoot. When I was little, about four or so I used to hang around the street, sometimes playing with the other kids, but more often than not legging it from the bigger ones who mocked me for mam being posh and tried to push me around to show how hard they were. I remember once I was trying not to cry after getting a split lip from one of the other lads after I got into a fight over him saying mam was all fur coat and no knickers. I didn't know what it meant but I knew it wasn't nice. I told Pa and he just said the other lad was right about mam. But then he ruffled my hair and gave me a few pence. I was confused by that until I got older.
That's how I found the park. I was running away from some of the older kids. I didn't know where I was going until I catapulted into a bush and hid until they got bored of looking. The park was in the posher end of town, about a mile or so away from where I lived. Instead of mocking me Mam the kids in the park mocked me for being poor and wearing hand-me-downs. So I ended up wondering further and further away from home- going down all the jitties and back roads, up the overgrown paths and on the towpath by the canal. As long as I was home by three Mam didn't mind and Pa never knew.
One day doing this I found an old battered bike by the towpath. It was an adult one and I was only eight, got a few thorns in my hand trying to free it from the brambles, and I almost fell into the canal when I pulled it away. Got myself trapped under it and a bloke from a nearby barge had to lift it off me. I couldn't ride it by the canal so I pushed it the two miles back. I got laughed at a bit, which made me feel embarrassed and angry, but I kept going and a few of the people who had been laughing helped me… that confused me too… the kids in the park and the street had laughed at me but never helped me. I had a bit of an epiphany then. Got belted when I got home and Pa saw the bike until I convinced him I hadn't nicked it. He even went to the canal to confirm what I said, my arm nearly dislocated with the speed he dragged me. Mam wanted to bin "that muggle contraption"… I think that was why he let me keep it… Said I had to get it working again and then he would teach me to ride it.
I was surprised he kept his word, but then Pa detested liars. He even brought a bike so we could go one rides together. It was the start of a new era in the Snape household… Pa stopped going to the pub and I made a few friends with other local lads who had bikes. Because Pa stopped going to the pub and spending his wage we were able to afford nicer clothes and better food so people didn't judge us as much. I became less runty and the extra food and exersize gave me a stockier look. Mam… well she just withdrew… tried telling me more about Hogwarts and the magical world but I wasn't fascinated by it as I had been before… I didn't need an escape now.
I met a girl called Lily by the park one day. Saw her do a bit of magic and went to talk to her. She had a fiery temper on her. Went off in a huff the first time I told her she was a witch. She was always like that to be honest, too quick to take offence and go on the attack without understanding all the facts. It was her way or no way even then.
