Saving Harry
Chapter 14 –
Time moved slowly in the Snape household as Felix rolled over early on Monday morning. As soon as he rolled over he regretted it, just a sharp reminder from his father who was boss. Felix lay on his back sharply inhaling as he tried to get comfortable, all of a sudden it hit him; he was going back to Hogwarts tonight!
Felix smiled slightly, he was looking forward to seeing his brother. Felix looked over at the alarm clock beside his bed, it was 6.30 am; the time his father had told him to be up and making breakfast by. Felix gingerly rose out of bed and painfully put on his clothes. He now knew that it wasn't a good idea to mention Severus in his father's presence, boy was he feeling the consequences this morning.
As soon as Felix reached the kitchen, he set about making a full English breakfast for his father who usually entered the kitchen just past 7 in the morning. Felix wondered if his father had a job of sorts, after all the man wasn't dreadfully old and was by no means weak or feeble, Felix had learnt that from the beatings.
As soon as Felix had placed his father's breakfast down on the table, Tobias Snape waltzed in through the door and sat down at the table without even looking at his son. Tobias tucked into his breakfast whilst Felix poured him some coffee and then sat down himself.
As Felix lowered himself into his chair he winced as a pain shot up through him, his father merely grunted. "Have you learnt your lesson boy?"
"Yes sir." Felix replied painfully, it was painful to breathe let alone move or speak.
Felix was no stranger to pain but he was feeling crushed, his brother had promised him that he would never allow anyone to abuse him again but here he was being abused by his own father. Felix sighed, he clearly had 'abuse' written all over his head and he predicted there would be trouble back at Hogwarts too but for now, Felix couldn't wait to get away from his father.
"I'm going out for a couple of hours." Tobias said suddenly causing Felix to jump. "I've got a job to do in town and whilst I am gone, you're to clean this house from top to bottom until it is spotless." Tobias ordered and Felix felt as if he was back at the Dursley's again.
"Yes sir." Felix nodded as his father got up and left the room. Felix waited until he heard his father go upstairs and he quickly cleared away his father's plate, Felix hadn't made himself breakfast as he knew he wouldn't be able to eat it all and that would displease his father. Felix's appetite was not what it used to be and was declining to be just one small meal a day.
Felix soon heard the door slam shut as he set about cleaning the kitchen, he gritted his teeth through the pain as he continued to scrub down all the surfaces and clean the floor. Felix was just about to move onto the rest of the house when he spotted an owl tapping at the window. He opened the window and recognised the letter to be from Severus.
Felix,
How are you?
I shall be collecting you this evening at 5 pm so that you can be back in time for dinner at Hogwarts.
See you shortly,
Severus.
Felix found a biro lying discarded on the table and quickly scribbled back.
That's fine, see you then.
With the reply sent off Felix smiled, only 9 more hours in this house and then he would be back at Hogwarts. This made Felix move through the house cleaning at a lightening rate and before he knew it, his father was walking through the door at four o'clock.
"Have you heard from your brother?" Tobias grunted as he sat down in the living room and took the cup of tea Felix had made for him.
"Yes sir, he will pick me up at 5 pm." Felix said desperately trying to hide his happiness.
"Good, then you should go upstairs and pack whilst I inspect the house." Tobias said getting up and moving around the room inspecting every inch of the room.
"Yes sir, thank you sir." Felix said quickly and exited the room.
He rushed up to his room and made sure that his rucksack was packed, Felix had kept his belongings together so there wasn't a great deal of packing to be done. As he looked up from his packing, Felix caught his reflection in the misty window that overlooked the back courtyard. Felix gasped, he didn't realise he looked so bad; his eyes were dark and there was a large hand print on his cheek as well as a split lip which was severely swollen. All of a sudden Felix was very concerned about what Severus would say, he'd label Felix a trouble maker and discard him for the freak he was.
"FELIX!" Felix cringed as he heard his father's sharp yell.
"Coming sir," Felix replied and hurried towards his father's voice.
Felix came scurrying into the kitchen only to collide with his father's outstretched fist. Felix fell instantly to the ground and clutched his cheek. Felix winced as he felt his father kick him in the stomach. Felix tried to stagger to his feet on his own but he felt someone drag him to his feet.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" The voice was unmistakable and Felix let out the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. His brother was here.
"Severus, nice of you to drop in. Fabulous timing as always." Tobias' lip curled as he looked at his middle son.
"Felix and I are leaving." Severus snarled, "Felix go and get your stuff." Felix reluctantly left the room to get his backpack and hurried as fast as his beaten body would allow. As Felix reached down for his rucksack he grasped his side in pain and let out a soft whimper.
Suddenly he saw Severus come forward and pick up the rucksack before making sure his brother was alright. "Let's get you back to Hogwarts." He whispered and with that he grabbed hold of Felix's arm and apparated to Hogsmede.
"Are you ok to walk?" Severus asked as they landed and he had made sure Felix was on his feet.
"Yes sir." Felix said shakily.
"You're not." Severus muttered as he pulled something out of his pocket. "Here, hold onto this with me." He said showing his brother the knut. With both of them holding the knut he spoke the activation word and within seconds they felt the familiar pull of a portkey and landed in Severus' quarters.
"Severus? Felix?"