I know someone who doesn't like Snape and thinks that there is no excuse for his behavior. I happen to love him and find him a victim of all that's happened to him. I wanted to write the story of how he came to be, to show how his horrible life lead to his mean personality in adulthood so that maybe they would understand where I was coming from. So here's the first chapter... I own nothing!
"Flithy piece of trash!" he spat. "Garbage!"
The burly man grabbed hold of his wife's arm roughly, surely leaving bruises on her pale skin. He threw her to the ground and she crumpled there, whimpering.
"He'll be just like you, of course!" the man yelled. "Disgusting, a freak!"
He came at the woman, kicked her in the stomach and across her battered body. His face was red, spittle flew from his mouth. To the boy hiding in the corner, he seemed like a giant in a book his mother once read to him.
When he was done beating on his wife, he rounded on the boy, his eyes seaching the room for the small form he knew would be there. It wasn't long until he spotted the heap of old clothes draped over the skinny boy's bony body. He pointed to the boy and began to stomp toward him.
"You!" he bellowed. "You'll be just like her! Already, you're a coward. You hide in the corners and watch while your mother is beaten. What kind of a man are you?"
He reached the boy and grabbed his shoulders, pulling him up until they were eye-level. Two dark pairs of eyes met and the man shook his son roughly.
"I asked you a question, boy!" he shouted.
The boy did not answer.
Angrily, his father threw him to the ground, against the wall where his bones creaked and protested upon imact.
"I'm going out," he announced.
Without any more violence, the man left the house. All that was left was the destruction of the tornado. At least the beast was gone.
For a moment, the boy lay against the wall breathing heavily, but then he stood and made his way over to his mother. She was still in a crumpled heap where her husband left her. She might've been dead except for the fact that every few seconds her body quivered with a heavy breath.
The boy turned her over and her eyes set upon his face in anguish. She reached up to cup his face in her hands.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry."
He nodded to her, "I know, Mum."
He didn't tell her it was okay because it wasn't. She was sorry, but she would never leave. The boy knew this. His mother, though battered and beaten nearly every day, would never leave her abusive husband. Somehow, she loved him and she couldn't leave even to save her son.
"Let's go outside," she said, almost fully recovered from the attack. "I want to finish some gardening."
The day still had some sun left to it and so the boy and his mother went to the front yard to finish working on the flowers. They worked mostly in silence, but occassionally the woman would talk to him.
"You'll love Hogwarts when you're old enough to go," she said. "It's beautiful and the people are wonderful."
This was the very thing they weren't supposed to be talking about, the very reason his father hated them. Still, here she was telling him of how he'd love it. He wasn't sure he'd ever make it there, though. His father would never pay for something like that and he wouldn't want his son to go learn more about the hideous creature he was.
"The food is wonderful," she told him.
The boy stood up, "I'm going to the park."
His mother did not seem surprised by the sudden statement. She just nodded and continued her gardening without looking up to see him walk off.
It wasn't a very long walk to the small park their town held and so the boy was there in moments. The first thing he saw upon his arrival were the two girls sitting on the swings. He ducked behind a bush before they could see him.
He'd had a fascination with these girls since he first laid eyes on them, but neither one ever stayed around long if he was present. The only way he could be around them was to hide behind a bush and watch. He wondered what it would be like to have a sibling, but then pushed that thought aside because he would never want another person to live with his father.
One girl, the older one, jumped off the swing and landed with a thump in the grass a few feet away. The younger girl, the one the boy was truly infatuated with, copied her sister's action. Only, she didn't end up with knees full of dirt like the girl before her. Instead, she floated smoothly to the ground and landed lightly on her feet.
Her older sister's face was scrunched up by the time the boy looked back to her.
"You're a freak," she spat.
"No, Tunie! I don't know how I did it!" the younger girl cried.
Her older sister sneered, "I'm telling Mummy."
"I don't know what happened!"
"Freak!"
The boy behind the bushes could take it no longer and stood up, marching over to where the girls were fighting.
"She's not a freak!" he yelled.
Both sisters looked at him, surprised by his outburst and sudden appearance. The older, Tunie, sneered once more and stomped off back toward their home on the other side of town.
The boy turned to look at the younger girl. Her long hair was firey red and her eyes a kind, pretty green. She started to follow her sister without speaking a word. The boy's heart began to race. Had he done the wrong thing?
"Wait!" he called.
The girl stopped and looked back at him.
He did the only thing he could think to do. Picking up a fallen leaf from the ground, he sent it over to her without any physical aid. Her eyes widened in surprise and she slowly walked back toward him.
"My name's Lily," she said. "Lily Evans."
"I'm Severus Snape," he replied.