Characters belong to JK Rowling. It's kind of her to let us play with them from time to time.
"Who was that girl today, Severus? The redheaded one?" His mum asked curiously. She was washing the dishes from supper. He stood beside her dutifully, drying the plates she handed him one at a time. Of all the chores he did around the house, this was perhaps his favorite. This was their time together, every night. A routine. She always asked about his day, even though she usually already knew the answers.
"Lilly Evans." Severus answered, he tried to sound nonchalant about it. It was just a girl. A girl who he had held hands with. It had seemed like the right thing to do at the time. She was crying something awful over her sister's cruel words. Taking her hand was the better decision then hexing the sister. Or at least, he had figured that out, after seeing her surprised smile. She had spent the rest of the day with him. It was in fact, one of the best days Severus thought he had ever had.
"We should invite her over to play gobstones." His mum offered cheerfully.
"We'd have to let her win the first time." Severus laughed.
"Of course. We wouldn't want to frighten the girl away from the best sport the wizarding world has to offer, would we?"
"Well it is becoming a rather elite sport." Severus offered. Outdated, really. It was still their favorite, but then again his mum had always been the Team Captain of the sport back at Hogwarts. So they always spoke of the sport as if it were revered, and everyone else was just dying to play with them. They were selective though. That was why there were so few players.
His mum laughed with him. It was all ridiculous. They of course, would not be inviting Lily Evans over to play gobstones. They would never invite anyone over. As their laughter died down, she turned to look at him thoughtfully, "We could play tonight. If you wanted."
Severus nearly dropped the plate he was holding. Excitement began to mount in his chest. He wanted to play. He loved when they played. "Really?" He asked, hope stirring. His eyes flickered to the shut door across the house, nervously.
"He's done for the evening." His mum answered, assuaging his fears.
Tobias was in fact, not done for the evening. They had found out the hard way of course. It was always the hard way. It had been his turn, and he had been so focused on his shot, that it wasn't until the hair of his head was being yanked, did he realize that there was screaming in the house. He had gotten rather used to tuning it out.
The argument that ensued was so common place, that Severus thought with humor that he could narrate it. Much like the documentaries Tobias watched on the muggle channels. It had been less funny when he did it and took a good beating to the ribs for it. His mum had hexed Tobias in response. A rather drastic move. She never used magic in the house. Tobias hated it. She had screamed for him to go to his room, and he had barely gotten away when Tobias' full wrath was unleashed.
He had laid in his bed for hours before the phone rang. No one would answer it-but it was like a siren. The neighbors called once, as a courtesy. If they didn't quiet down the police showed up. They had shown up enough times for Severus to have a rather strong opinion. Useless. Bloody muggle law enforcement.
Like she did most nights, his mum slinked into the room, and collapsed onto his bed. She didn't cry. She only did that when she thought he was sleeping-and he was too angry to pretend to sleep. She hugged him gently, conscious of the fact that he was probably already quite bruised.
Severus slowly relaxed, holding her hands. His eyes flickered down to see them in the darkness-only the moon highlighting a few features. He hated to see her hands. Calloused, and cracked from housework. A muggle's life. They should have been soft. Like Lilly's. Gobstone Champions deserved beautiful hands.
"What are you, Severus?" She whispered.
Severus didn't answer immediately, his tongue tied in hatred. He swallowed once, "A Prince."
"That's right. What else?"
"A half blood."
"And which half of that blood, matters. Which half are you?"
"The magical half. The better half."
"Always the magic, Severus. Always the magic." She said quietly. This was usually how the night ended, and they would sleep now. Instead, she shifted slightly, and when her arm came back to wrap around him she offered him a letter. "You're going to Hogwarts, Severus."
Severus touched the parchment hesitantly. Freedom, and condemnation combined. He wanted it. He wanted to go to Hogwarts like she had. Study magic-not just the hexes she always taught him as a last resort for defense. He was going to leave, and be a wizard-and when he graduated he never had to go back to the muggle life again. But if he did…
As if she read his mind, she held him a bit more firmly. "What are you, Severus?" She asked again, gently.
There was a lump in his throat, and he bit the inside of his cheek to keep from crying, "I'm a wizard."