Chapter one: A Doll No More

Year: 1967

It was official now; the fates, Merlin, or whoever the hell was the greater power up there, really hated him.

It had been exactly two months since he was quite rudely –in his opinion anyway –plucked from his old life into what Harry likes to fondly call "the-freaking-bloody-past-that-he-has-no-business-being-in", a mouthful for sure, but it described his…unusual situation perfectly to a T.

The last thing Harry remembers clearly is hating fate for making it impossible for him to die like every other person and after that…his memories get hazy; like a blur, he remembers living quite a few years after that (fifty?) and then comes the memory that frankly baffles and frightens him.

"I want to die."

That's it, his last memory of his old life is telling his friends (and didn't they look old?) that he wanted to die.

Next thing Harry knows is that he lying at the bottom of a staircase, his head twisted awkwardly so that he was able to make out more where exactly he had landed at. He ended up in a mansion; reminisce of Malfoy Manor if Harry was to be honest, what with its stone floor covered in a soft, lush Slytherin green carpet that was designed with intriguing images of magical creatures –unicorns, dragons, centaurs, and even thestrals. The main hall was brightly lit by the sun's rays streaming through the glass windows, antique bookshelves lined the sides of the hall filled with countless books –both old and new – and the ceiling was bewitched just like at Hogwarts, showing the beautiful summer sky in all its glory.

After finally regaining his senses, Harry had wondered deeper into the mansion, discovering that it was far grander than even the Malfoys' home, being five stories in height with more than thirty rooms (he had lost count after thirty-five). Once he stumbled across the main study, Harry had quickly discovered that he was the sole owner of Domi Palace, and that apparently; he was the sole surviving heir of the Ravenclaw line and had in his possession numerous vaults overflowing with gold and priceless objects.

So far that was the only good thing going for Harry, everything else just seem to cause him a great deal of headaches. His mansion was under the Fidelius charm, and ironically enough, it was hidden close by number 4 Privet Drive –within walking distance to be exact.

It seemed that no matter where Harry was (even in the god-forsaken past!), his childhood wouldn't stop haunting him in one way or another.

That particular annoyance was quickly forgotten as the days went by and Harry started hunting for a job; the process was slow going as his status as a magical creature practically guaranteed that most people looked at him as if he were scum. It was quite a change when Harry was used to people going out of their way to please him –magical creature or not – though it wasn't a completely unpleasant change. In the end, he managed to obtain a job as a Curse breaker for Gringotts.

It was while returning from an assignment for the goblins that Harry came face to face with someone he hadn't planned on seeing ever again –and ended up hours later as the unofficial guardian of said person.

Someone up there really did hate him!

Severus Snape

Every day he wondered why he hadn't been born into a loving family; a family that would make sure he was happy and his belly was always filled with food and maybe a few sweets. Where the father wouldn't be a completely useless dunderhead that had too many issues to count –among them being just a little too fond of the bottle and having anger issues that he took out on his wife and only son. Where the mother wasn't too weak to stand against her husband, where she was capable of admitting that yes, she had made a mistake in running off and marrying a muggle of all people and then packing up all her things and leaving with her son. And where the only child of the family wasn't always dressed in rags that were much too big for the skinny form of a seven year old and wasn't picked on by the children who were much better off than he was.

Yes, Severus Snape would always wonder these things; but he also knew that nothing would ever change his lot in life. His father would always be a useless drunk that was only good at beating his wife and son; his mother would always lack the backbone to protect herself and her son; and Severus would always be the dirty little boy that was too poor and ugly to have any friends.

He believed that up to the day when things turned for worse…and then for the better.

His father had just come home after spending the last few days at who-knows-where –not that Severus cared, his father could get himself killed and Severus would be the first one celebrating –but sadly, Tobias Snape returned home only to start the cycle of violence by beating his wife…something about the food not being hot and ready for him as soon as he walked through the door.

Severus just hurried to his room, giving it about half an hour until his father would be content with the broken and bruised form of his wife before once again hitting the bottle.

That's what always happened.

Except this time the beating didn't stop, Tobias' appetite for violence wasn't fulfilled by just his wife, no, this time, his son also needed a good reminder of who exactly was the boss in the house.

One moment Severus was lying on his sagging bed, reading one of the few potion books his mother still had while successfully dulling her screams and pleads for mercy and the next he was hitting the wall, the disgusting smell of alcohol-tingled breath filling his nose. Looking with wide eyes up at his father –it had been a while since Tobias had beaten him –Severus managed to make out the uncontrollable anger clouding his father's face before a fist punched his right cheek harshly, causing his head to hit the wall with worrying force.

Dazed, he could only curl his body inwards, trying to seem as small as possible in hopes of sparing himself the worse of his father's temper.

It didn't work.

For how long he was there, hit by the never-ending punches of his father, Severus would never know. What he did know was that his mother had to have been beaten more than normally since she would usually have already come running to protect him from his father's fist.

He wondered if his father had finally managed to kill his mother.

It was a thought that bared thinking.

Suddenly, a scream broke through the eerie silence that had descended upon Spinner's End; and then Severus saw a hunched over figure crawling towards him, a trail of bright red following right after.

"Tobias! Oh dear Merlin! Please stop! Stop hurting my baby –you're hurting him! Please stop, oh merli –stop!"

His mother.

At the same moment that his mother had yelled out 'stop!'; Severus had felt a whole new level of pain –and only seconds later another bright red trail caught his eyes.

It was coming from his stomach, falling in a grand big burst like the little waterfall he liked to watch from his window.

Blood…it was blood –he was bleeding and so was his mother…

But why? His father's fist couldn't be the reason his mother and him were bleeding so much…could it?

A pained scream –his mother's –echoed loudly in the tiny house and then suddenly the door was thrown opened, the sun's bright rays penetrated the dark interior of Spinner's End and a shadow loomed over the three occupants.

Magic flooded the house, so warm and yet so chilling; which halted his father's hand, causing him to drop something that was splattered with vivid red to the floor.

Wide emerald green eyes filled with worry and shock were the last things Severus saw before the light of the sun disappeared and he thrown into darkness.