A/n: This was written for Snape Appreciation Month Day Six: Snape's Parents.
Surviving it Out
Severus's first memory that he can recall was of his parents fighting. He was a toddler, too young at the time to understand what was going on. He remembered cowering in the stairwell of their home, watching them argue from about five feet away. He was too young to know what it was they were arguing about, and later, he realized that it wouldn't matter anyway. Besides, that became a relatively normal occurrence in the house growing up. Tobias and Eileen Snape were always fighting. His father seemed to hate everything, he and his mother most especially, while his mother seemed to care but was too busy fighting and fending off his father to be around much.
That was far from the worst of it, though. No, Severus Snape's relationship with both of his parents would be tumultuous at best.
~*o*x*o*x*o*x*o*x~
December 1964
Severus sat shivering on his bed, his arms wrapped around his legs. A bruise was quickly forming on his arm where his father had hit him. He hadn't meant to make the cup float a little bit. It had just happened.Then, before he knew it, his father had reached over across the table and smacked him so hard it had sent the young boy out of the chair. His mother had quickly sent him upstairs, before rounding on his father. That had been the end of dinner.
The yelling downstairs died off momentarily, and he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Was is it father coming to hit him again? No, when his father walked up the stairs, he stopped. These footsteps were quicker, lighter. A few moments later, his mother appeared in the doorway before rushing over to him. "How is your arm?" She asked, her voice soft as sat down with him on the bed. Severus was silent as his mother reached out and touched his arm. "You're okay." She handed him a bag of ice. "Here, keep this on for a bit."
Severus took the bag. "I didn't mean to do it."
"I know."
"Why did he hit me?"
"He doesn't understand," his mother said simply. "He's ordinary, not like us. We're special." Severus looked up at her. "We have magic, that's why your cup floated. Remember we talked about this before." He nodded, holding the ice to his bruised arm. "When you're eleven, you'll go to Hogwarts and learn all about magic. You'll love it."
I'm special, he thought to himself as his mother ran out of the room, hearing his father yelling downstairs.
~*o*x*o*x*o*x*o*x~
April 1967
A large mug crashed on the wall behind him, sending Severus ducking down to avoid it. He wasn't sure his father even realized he was there. He was drunk at the moment, and the man could barely walk, let alone see straight. He wasn't sure the man even knew who he was at the moment, not that it would matter anyway. Tobias's words were slurring so much that Sev could barely understand what he was saying. He caught snippets of the words "bitch," and "bloody bastard" and a whole slew of other swear words that he was sure meant him and his mother, and probably everything else around them, too.
Tobias came at him, and Severus tried ducking out of the way, but Tobias caught his arm and slammed him against the wall. He could tell that his father was angry at him, but then again, the man was always angry. "Are you listening to me?" he said, and it was first clear sentence that he had said since he had stumbled into the room.
Severus nodded. He knew it was easier to agree than to disagree with his father because disagreement meant that you usually got it worse. It was easier just to agree and let him get whatever it was out of his system, or until something distracted him and got his attention elsewhere. At that moment, the door opened and shut. Tobias looked at him for a second before deciding that his mother needed to be yelled at and went off. Severus quickly used the opportunity to move towards the front door. His parents were heard arguing in the kitchen. He slipped out the front door. He couldn't wait until he was at Hogwarts, at least he'd be away from this mess - and away from his father and mother.
~*o*x*o*x*o*x*o*x~
"Remember what I told you," his mother told him as arrived at King's Cross Station.
"I know, I know," he said. "Just get good grades, and don't have any letters sent home," Severus said. They had been over this before. Besides, he doubted even if a letter was sent home about him that his father would even remember by the time he arrived home in the summer. The man drank too much, and he barely seemed to remember what was going on at all.
Eileen steered him towards the barrier between platforms nine and ten. She had told him all about this, and in a few moments, they were both three. "Now, get on and go find a seat. I'll see you at the end of the school year," she said, giving him a tired smile.
Severus gave her a small smile back as she gave him a hug. He quickly made his way onto the platform, finding Lily. He appreciated that she at least tried, but he was glad to be away from all of the fighting, even though it wasn't forever.
~*o*x*o*x*o*x*o*x~
Unfortunately, Hogwarts ended and eventually he had to come home. He had to do his homework at night after his father passed out, because the first time he had one of his non-Potions textbooks open, his father got furious and threw it across the room before yelling at him about the rubbish he was doing, how maybe he should have stayed. His mother always seemed to have more bruises on her when he came back from school, always looking more worn and withdrawn as the years went on.
Therefore, Severus was not surprised in the fall of his seventh year when he got called into the Headmaster's office, to see Professor Slughorn there. His mother had died. The official diagnosis was an accident, as it seemed she had fallen down the stairs. Personally, Severus wouldn't have been surprised if the old bastard killed her, though she had looked rather worse for the wear when she had dropped him off at school for his final year. Maybe she had gotten tired of it all; he wouldn't have blamed her.
That spring, he was called in again. This time, it was his father, who had been found drunk out near one of the bars. He didn't need to be told why. The man drank alcohol like it was water, and had for as long as he could remember. It had only been a matter of time. He wasn't concerned. All in all, he was glad that he could go back there when school ended and not have to worry about it. He wouldn't have gotten back there again, anyway, not that he had anywhere else to go.
It was over.