A tough beginning.
They were arguing again, he hated it when they argued. Up in his room Severus Snape buried his head deeper into book, as if to try and drown out the noise from below by getting lost in its pages. But it was no use. With a gentle sigh he closed the book and placed it upon a shelf, only just managing to squeeze it between many other tightly compacted books.
Severus had many books, all of them he had probably read through at least twice. They were so many books that there wasn't enough room on the overflowing bookcase, so there were a few tall, slanted piles of all sorts of books on the floor next to a small, well-used writing desk. Severus looked down at the largest of the piles and picked up a small book with the title 'Advanced potion-making' by Libatius Borage. The cover was a shade of dark blue with a black cauldron, smoke rising out of it, along with a few odd looking symbols. The book was quite new but it looked as though it had been read thoroughly many times as the spine already looked slightly worn.
Severus simply tossed the book back onto the pile and stood facing his room, shouts still audible from below, with a single tear running his pale, thin cheek. His room was simple, a small, dark, square room but it had no particularly abnormal possessions, nor did it have any pictures, apart from the hundreds of books and a few things on the writing desk. Not really a room you'd expect a normal ten year old boy to live in.
But then again, Severus wasn't a normal child. He didn't go out and play like the other children in his street did, nor did he go to school like the other children his age did. He stayed in his room, and was taught by his mother, Eileen. His father, Tobias, didn't agree with this but he never seemed to agree with anything Eileen said or did these days. Tobias wanted Severus to go outside and play, he wanted Severus to go to school, and most of all he wanted Severus to make friends. However, Tobias wasn't like Severus or Eileen, he wasn't different like them. Severus Snape was a wizard and, like his mother, possessed magical abilities. Tobias was a muggle, a non-wizarding person, and didn't understand about any of this 'magic stuff'. This was usually the cause of the arguments.
It was always the same argument, every evening, sometimes even during the day if Tobias wasn't at work. That's why Severus stayed in his room, reading the same books over and over again, hoping it would all just go away.
But none of that would matter soon. Severus was almost eleven, which meant that in a year's time he would be able to escape his home in Spinner's End and go to Hogwarts. Hogwarts, just the thought of it caused a huge grin to spread across his face. Hogwarts, the place his mother had told him so much about. He kept repeating the word over and over again in his head until he went into a daydream. He imagined himself sitting upon the Hogwart's Express, wandering the corridors, travelling from class to class.
He let out a joyous sigh and slouched onto his bed. Not bothering to change into his nightclothes, he slipped under the covers and, still picturing Hogwarts, closed his eyes. However just as he was drifting off to sleep, he was woken by the sounds of more shouting. It seemed louder than usual and more serious this time. Slightly frightened, once again the tears began to stream down Severus' white cheeks; he pulled a pillow over his ears, closed his eyes and slowly, softly cried himself to sleep.