A/N: Please read this note before continuing on to the fic.

There is a lot of Tobias and Eileen in this fic, a few OCs, time-skipping-jumping-whatever, and the normal inaccuracies of an American writing British people.

Warning for: domestic abuse, profanity, violence, character death, psychological trauma, and mentions and abuse of alcohol.

His life began on a cold January morning, the sun yet to rise and warm the air, and nearly ends twice before his first day is over. His survival was treated as a miracle by the doctors and nurses swarming Eileen Snape. Tobias sat and watched, mind still befuddled from lack of sleep and his hangover. Adrenaline can't last forever, even when inspired by his wife's screams and threats, and he could hardly believe his luck. The doctors told Eileen it would be a difficult pregnancy, but she wanted the boy, and now Tobias was a father not six months after he became a husband at the age of twenty-two.

The boy, his son, nearly died before he was even born, and almost took Eileen with him. It was as if the universe was determined to keep him from living, and far be it from Tobias to speak against the universe - especially when the boy dying would make his own life easier. Tobias was not a family man; he had dreams of his own, and while Eileen was pretty, she wasn't worth this family nonsense. If Tobias wasn't raised a gentleman, he would've left her seven months ago when she told him she was pregnant, instead of marrying her like he did. He even had a steady job! It was far away from his dreams of owning his own business (preferably a good old pub, but he wouldn't say no to a little corner store), but the pay was a lot more reliable. This was what was expected of him to do after he knocked his girlfriend up and her folks threw her out, so Tobias figured he was owed strong drink, especially after sitting there in the hospital for hours as his new wife screamed and threatened him.

It took him back to the way his father had been with his own wife. Not Tobias' mother, but the mother of five half-siblings after Tobias and his twin sister. Their own mother died in childbirth, much as it seemed Eileen would. Hannah was a good step-mum, though. The triplets kept her busy while Tobias was finishing up school, but the years before that were only good memories. Still, she wasn't used to a life of poverty, and it took its toll on her. Poor Josiah Snape was run to the ground, trying to provide for his wife and kids. Yes, Hannah was a good woman and a good mum, but she was a screeching bitch of a wife. Tobias and Tracey were witnesses to all three trips to the hospital, and of the chaos and shrieking, especially with the triplets. Tobias didn't know when it started, but soon Hannah was the one in charge, and Josiah was nothing but a shell.

Eileen was quiet and solitary, but she was independent and raised to be an heiress of some kind. Tobias wasn't going to turn into his dad and end up dead of exhaustion with the last years of his life dictated by his own wife. He might marry the girl and he might even play dad to their son, but Tobias had his own life to pursue. He wouldn't let Eileen, or the kid, or anything change that.

And, leaving the hospital and his family behind, Tobias went to he nearest bar and toasted his promise to himself with the strong drink he deserved.

Eileen didn't know where Tobias ran off to, but she was going to hex him into next week for leaving her alone at the hospital. No sooner did the doctor assure them that both Eileen and their son would be healthy than he took off, likely for a pub. She snorted as she smoothed down the flimsy hospital sheets, ignoring the pungent smell of bleach wafting through the air. Cokeworth Hospital was no St. Mungo's, and the discoloration on her pillows was probably blood, but she was just happy that the little hospital provided the quiet she wanted during the birth.

She shuddered. Everyone told her it would be painful, that she could be in labor for hours, but she didn't expect everything to be so horrifying. Her scare last month where both she and her son nearly perished was bad enough. No one said anything about if the infant she just delivered refused to breathe. Fortunately, that soon fixed (though Eileen doubted the Muggle doctors had much to do with it), though the peace did not last. Eileen wasn't sure what happened, just that the machines beeped and the Muggles rushed around for a good half-hour before someone came to tell her that her son would be fine, though she couldn't take him home just then.

Forgotten in the face of her son's peril, Eileen relaxed as much as possible and waited for news. She didn't even name the boy yet, but she already worried over him, hoping he wouldn't die. She left her family for her Halfblood child - she didn't want that child to die.

Tobias was supposed to help her name their child, but Tobias wasn't there. Eileen wracked her head for a name. The babe was a Halfblood, but he was a Prince, and his name would reflect that. Eileen was named after her grandmother, who married into the Prince family, as was the custom for most Prince females. Prince males, especially heirs, which her son would be if she wasn't disowned, had regal names as befit their heritage.

Among the new, upstart families like Prewitt, Crabbe, and Black, the Prince family traditions were doubly important to keep. The Prince line could be traced past the time of Merlin, who was actually descended from the Prince family, as was the Peverell brothers who most of the new Pureblood families were descended from. Her son had to have a name that would stand above those families and mark him as a Prince. However, her son was also half Muggle, and would need a name that would pay tribute to that side of his heritage.

Thinking of Tobias and his absence, Eileen scowled. Her son would be named Severus, and in the Pureblood fashion, he would take his father's name as his middle name. If Tobias wanted any say in the name of his child, then he should have stuck around.

"You named him what?"

"Severus," Eileen repeated, her voice cold. "His name is Severus Tobias Snape."

"What kind of name is Severus?" asked Tobias. Poor kid was going to have a nightmare of a childhood with a name like that. What was Eileen thinking? He got it, he did - she was an heiress and wanted to name her first son after her father or something, which would be just fine if the kid was living his life as a Prince, instead of a Snape. Tobias was a working man, not some bloody aristocrat. Their kid was not going to be rubbing elbows with future bankers and barristers.

"It's the perfect name for someone of the Prince line," said Eileen.

"Damn it, Eileen!" Tobias yelled. "You couldn't have chosen something that wouldn't get him laughed at whenever he introduces himself to someone?"

Eileen jutted out her chin, her dark eyebrows bent in anger. "If you wanted a different name, maybe you should have been around to name him."

Oh, hell no! Tobias wasn't going to let her twist this on him. He may not have been there, but she was the one who cursed their son with the name Severus. He was completely innocent in this matter. Anyone would have the sense not to name their child something so bloody ridiculous! Tobias knew Eileen was young, that she was probably only just out of school, but there was no way she didn't realize that she wasn't living in bloody Prince Palace anymore or wherever it was she came from. People just weren't named things like Severus! This was the real world; couldn't she have chosen a real name?

"You shut up. I'm not the one who named him, you are, and your taking responsibility," growled Tobias, brushing past her.

They had a few more days before they could take Severus home. Until then, Tobias was going to see if he could just drink away the past year.

A/N: Thank you very much for reading! I appreciate all comments and criticisms, so feel free to leave me a review with whatever you want to say. :)