Not so far from the woods, was a small cottage, where a man with black eyes, black shoulder-length greasy hair, pale face and a heart heavy with none but awful memories of his youth, childhood and career sat near the fireplace, gazing miserably at the dancing flames, remembering his life as it passed infront of his eyes, as a long tragic story, indeed it was..but to understand the pain he felt, we have to go back, to the first chapter of the story of his life, To the beginning, to these years when he was still a child in his parents' house...
Severus Snape was the youngest son of the Snapes, which included his parents, Mr & Mrs Snape, his two brothers, Edward and Harold Snape, and his Sister, Mary Snape.
His father was a man with greasy black hair, a hard man, who was always drunk and angry, never satisfied with any thing his wife does or says but always shouting and yelling at her, he seemed to just enjoy it, definetly Severus was not his favourite son, on the contrary, considering his temper and character, and those of his son, you could never say that that man could ever be his father, completely ignoring the rule, "like father, like son", in this case it's more likely to be "like mother, like son".. Mrs Snape was a sweet woman, kind and always gentle with her family, He, Severus, loved her so much, in his eyes she was an angel, and so she was, an angel on Earth.
However, his two brothers and sister weren't that wonderful, his brother, Edward, used to bully him everyday, throwing mud at him, stealing his things, breaking stuff and always blaming him for it, eating his food, calling him "hook nose" without their father listening (as he inherited it from him), and loads more, in short, he made his life hell. Harold wasn't that great either, he didn't do the "first stages of bullying" as he called what his brother used to do, but he had his own ways, he used to hit Severus alot, every day in the morning, waking him up at 5 am, telling him off every time he wanted to address him, that it was thought that he forgot the name "Severus", replacing it with "Snivillus" ,aka "snivilly"..his sister, Mary, wasn't much help, she was definetly the noisy one, always taking his things and clothes -which became really few by now after Edward's noticeable activities-, and every time he tries taking them back, she cries all night, causing him troubles with his father- who hates it if a bee buzzes around- and his two brothers, who never wasted the chance to hit him as much as they could, while she sits there and giggles happily at the scene, luckily, his mother always comes at the right time, saving him from them, talking to him quietly till he starts laughing again..
Every day, he used to go out with his mother to the forest, where she used to collect some roses, then they went together to the water fall not far from it, under which he enjoyed playing and fishing, always leaving the fish where they were, having some fruit for breakfast, in his eyes,this was heaven on Earth, but when he came back home, that's another story, it's hell on Earth!
After these wonderful hours he spent with his mother in the forest, he had to come back home, where the usual scene meets his eyes, his brothers fighting, his sister giggling at them, his father smoking and drinking, eventually looking at the door where his wife and son stood.."Why don't you come over here and wash the dishes? and this place needs some cleaning up! who do u think will do it all..eh? me?"said he, same rough tune of his,"Do something useful u know, instead of gathering wool,i mean, flowers!"Edward, Harold and Mary burst out laughing, Severus frowned sadly, a tear moving silently down, he hated it when his father shouted at his mum, who just looked at him, noticed, leaned on him and told him in her usual smooth way: "honey, why don't you go up to your room while I wash the dishes and clean the house up? I'll be there in a moment" with a smile on her face, she kindly gave him a kiss on the cheek, he smiled widely at it, then gave her a tight hug and a kiss too, hurried up to his room eagerly, waiting for her to come.. he could hear the outbrust of his father, yelling as usual to his mother "Why are you spoiling him like that, eh?He ran too soft because of your manner in treating him,"said he, now Edward & Harold -who were about to run upstairs to practice their favourite hobby in annoying severus- stood transfixed and listened eagrly to find something to annoy him with when they go up to him, Mary not really interested in any thing they say,"I want him to be a man, a real man, like me! That way he'll be a girl! a girl! How will I be able to stand the shame of having a son pointed at and called a girl where ever he goes?" she looked at him rather lovingly, and said in her calm voice "Honey, Severus is doing well, really, he's just a bit obediant and polite, that's it.." but her defence was cut off by a sudden out brust of Mr.Snape "What.. are.. you.. talking.. about?" he said with gritted teeth, which really amused the kids (they liked it when they were fighting), "POLITE? OBEDIANT? THAT'S IT?" he went on, "he is a girl that's it! what's with that flower business? and the "I don't want to fight or answer back" policy that he follows each time his brother's hit him or tell him off..eh? you taught him that, now he is weak, he is small, and he is stupid! From now on, this kid will be raised up by me!I'll teach him all he needs to know!What a real man needs to know, not -ha- gathering flowers!"..
She stood there, gazing blankly at the sink ahead, with a frightened look on her face, "What do you mean, things all real men need to know?" she turned to face him "Snape, don't turn his life upside down like you did to Edward and Harold! Don't you dare.
With a flash of second, he was frowning and breathing like an injured dog, holding her from her arms tightly, screamed at her "The boy is my son, I'll do whatever I want to him, even if I had to cut him into peices, that's none of your business.. am I clear enough?", "NO!" she cried, "No!you won't make a monster out of him, I tried to make him a human, I don't want him to grow up and become a..."she couldn't complete her word, as he slapped her so hard, blood came streaming down her face, knocking her on the floor and grabbing her from her hair harshly, "Now, now Selene, You should be polite when you talk to your husband, you shouldn't contradict me either, is that clear eno.." just in that second, Severus came down the stair case, "Mum...mum.. let her go! I'll do whatever you want, just let her go,please!" he shouted as he reached his mother, who was on the floor now looking at him and moaning slowly "No, Severus..please don't.." she received a hard kick from her husband she could say no more, Severus just looked at her with watery eyes, dragged her towards the nearest chair, gave her some water to drink while cleaning her face, "Shhh.. it's OK mum, I'll do it", He went to his father who was looking at him with deepest disgust, "follow me!"breathed Mr. Snape, heading out side of the house with Severus at his heels where the first chapter of the long book Severus Snape's life ends, the dark yet brightest chapter of it...