((Ooh yeah, I don't own any of this. Except Antigone, she is mine. And that neato wand. And sorry this took so long…my teachers are becoming project-happy, not to mention I was out of town for a while. Enjoy!))
Severus Snape grumbled at his reflection. Today was the first day he was to venture off to Hogwarts, much to his father's disapproval. His attempts to beat the magic out of him at an early age were faulty, and he'd received his own owl. His mother and him had to sneak out to get his supplies, while their father was at work.
He was about to leave when he saw a little girl standing in the doorway. "Do you really have to go?" She asked, and she shuffled her Mary Jane-covered shoes, looking down to the ground. Antigone Snape had grown a lot since that one Christmas night, more mentally than physically. She'd realized that despite the fact that she loved her father, she didn't like him at all. He was a bad person, and he hurt everyone around her.
Severus cracked a tiny smile down at his sister, and he put a hand on her shoulder before he knelt down to her level. He looked direction in the eight-year-old's eyes, pulling her head up by her chin gently. "I have to go," He said with a soft sigh to her. "But you'll be alright without me, I know you will. I'll be back for Christmas, too…promise I'll come back. And hey…follow me." He rose up, and led her to his room.
Surprisingly enough, Severus took the role of big brother very serious. There was no way to save his mother from the hands of his father. But Antigone…he could save and protect her. He almost refused to go to Hogwarts at first, just to keep an eye on her. But he was doubtful that his father was that cowardice to punish an eight-year-old girl the way he did his wife and his son. She was different, after all. She just wasn't strong enough to hold her own.
He went through his trunk, and he pulled out a seemingly normal looking wand. "Watch," Severus said with a smile, and he waved it to where flowers came bursting out of the end. It was just a cheap toy wand, but he was sure it would make her feel better. "It's a different flower each time," He explained to her, and he waved it once more. What once were tulips now were pansies. He did it a couple more times before he finally managed to see a smile across her pink lips. "I got you some candy, too, here…" He continued, and he offered her a little bag of sweets. "But you can't tell dad, remember?"
Antigone thanked him quietly, and then took the wand. "I'm gonna miss you," She admitted when she then heard her mother call Severus down, to go to London. "I'll ask mummy to send off letters from me," She said with a smile to him. Surprisingly enough, no tears fell from their eyes. As they looked at each other, they had a mutual agreement. Crying was a sign of weakness, and besides, it was understood that they both would miss each other greatly.
He rose up, ruffled her raven black hair a bit, and dragged his trunk down the rickety old stairs for the first time, a look of curiosity and dread on his face. Antigone stood to watch him go off with a shaky sigh before she retired to her room, to amuse herself with the wand.
Snow fell once more at the Snape house, and father and daughter sat in the living room, waiting for the door to come open. Tobias seemed more interested in his nail beds than anything else in the room at the time, but Antigone had a look of complete anxiety. She just could not wait to see her brother, and have him tell her all the great things he would have learned.
Finally, the door opened, and mother and son walked in. While Eileen greeted her husband and daughter with a smile and a kiss, Severus ignored everyone and sauntered up the steps. He had a very different look in his eyes than Antigone remember, but she decided that maybe he was just tired. She jumped up from her seat, and ran up to his room, adjusting her skirt. "Severus!" She said with a wide smile, and she entered.
He looked up with a sigh. "Hey…" He managed, and that was it. He was miserable at Hogwarts. Those boys, those horrid, evil boys would not stop torturing him. They laughed whenever he would speak, they'd hex him every time their paths crossed—and what was worse was that they seemed to know what they doing. He couldn't one up them, no matter how much he knew. He had decided on the train ride back to London that this winter holiday would be used for study, for revenge.
Antigone watched him look over a few books in their little library a week later. He was surrounded by books their mother had owned but had tucked away in boxes, but which Severus had found. They were musty, and some were pretty curious, with different designs on them. "What're you reading?" She asked him, and she sat down on the coffee table in front of him.
He looked up at her for but a split second before he let out a gentle, patient sigh. "I'm reading a book about hexes, Antigone," He said with a nod, and he flipped a page, writing something down on a piece of parchment paper right next to him. "And you know mum wouldn't like you sitting on the table like that. Go get a chair or something."
She frowned, but did so. From behind, she pushed an armchair up next to him, and she plopped on it. "Severus," She said to him. "You're going back real soon, and I was wondering if you wanted to go to the lake with me…y'know, like we used to all the time," Antigone asked. Indeed, there was a nice little pond down the road of them about a half of a mile, which, at this time of the year, was covered in ice. "Mum still has your ice skates."
Severus let out another patient sigh. "I don't have time. I have to read through these before I go. Listen, Antigone, why don't you go and play or something? You're brother's busy." He didn't see the look of abandonment on her face as she rose up, sauntering out of the room. All he cared about was learning, getting better than the likes of Potter and Black. He had to, for his survival.