Hot, wet breath in his ear before the calloused hands violently grasped his hips,

"Please, please" He begged as he grasped for something, anything. "Please don't pl-lease" but it was no use and he knew it as he heard Tobias laugh above him before he screamed. . .

. . . The room had gone quiet, the violent shaking of the closet door had ceased and the only real sound that he could hear apart from the sound of his own racing heart was the rhythmic groans that came from the body above him. He had his eyes closed, and a rather vice like grip on his lip as he bit down to keep himself from screaming in agony. . .

Severus cringed as the monster above him whispered things in his ear, things he never wanted to hear from his father. Tears rolled down his face as he struggled against the weight atop of him, but it was no use. Tobias was too strong to fight. . .

Severus bolted straight up in an attempt to catch his breath. He violently shaking as he untangled his hands from the grip they had on the white bedsheets. Slowly he brought them up to his face pushing his sweat drenched hair from his face. As he breathing slowed, he brought his knees up to his chest, resting his damp forehead against them. It took a few moment for him to gather his bearings and remember where he was. He was at school, in his dorm with the four other guys he roomed with. The room was silent as he sat there, the air making him shiver as it dried the cold sweat on his body. He moved slowly as he tried to steady his hand and open the hangings around his bed.

Much to his relief, the other boys were still asleep, snoring away as if nothing had happened. With a deep breath, he untangled himself from the mass of bedding that he had managed to get tangled up in before making sure they had not done anything around his bed before getting up. He immediate felt colder as he went to his trunk and rather noiselessly dug out some clothes and his toiletries before heading to the showers.

It was early enough in the morning that no other student was up and moving around with in the Slytherin common room, dorms, and showers, yet it was late enough that he could see the fire burning brightly as he moved down the hall. But as long as no one else was up and not in the showers, then he was alright. Much to his relief the showers were empty and he relaxed a fraction as he moved towards the shower stall and locked the door behind him.

He turned on the water, stripped of his sweat soaked clothes and stepped under the hot stream of water. His body relaxed as the hot water soothed his tense muscles. He leaned against the shower wall, allowing the water to beat across his skin as the thought. Maybe there was an easier way to do this, maybe there was a way he could avoid the inevitable load of harassment he was going to face in class today. He ran his hand through his water soaked hair taking a deep breath, he could do this. He could survive the first day of classes. If he did then he knew he could survive the rest of the year right? He knew it was just wishful thinking, but all of his wishful thinking was pushing him forward. He wanted to prove to himself that he was able to do this, that he wasn't weak, and that just because Tobias was able to do that to him, he was still strong.

By the time he had emerged from the showers, fully dressed and feeling better than he had when he woke up. The common room and dorms were still quiet but he could hear the beginning of movement as his fellow housemates began to stir and get ready for the first day of classes. He headed back to his dorm to grab his book bag as Avery began to stir from his sleep, making him move a little faster. There were a few people he knew in the common room but he didn't speak to them, they were rather busy finishing their summer homework.

On the couch sat his sister, her head was resting against her arm as she watched the fire dance in the hearth. He was mildly surprised to see her up so early, but he didn't say anything as he sat beside her. She yawned and looked to see who had sat beside her, causing her to smile.

"Morning" she greeted as she sat up. "How was your first night back?"

"It was alright" he murmured quietly, she looked at him as her brow knitted together as she looked him over,

"Nightmare?" she questioned quietly as she looked over her shoulder to make sure no one could over hear their conversation.

Severus nodded as he looked into the fire that danced brightly in the hearth. He wanted to talk to her about it, but he was afraid that they would be over heard and he was afraid that by the time the day was over it would be all over the school and he would never be able to show his face again, especially not in this house. They would ever let him live it down. Ever. It would just be another reason to bully him, they wouldn't care that the muggle was bigger than he was. He was still taken by a muggle and that was deeply frowned upon.

"They did leave you alone right?" She asked changing the subject as she noticed how comfortable he was discussing it. Severus nodded, appreciating the change, he would rather talk about them then that monster that plagued his nightmares and sometimes his waking hours. He stared into the fire for what seemed like hours before he felt her hand on his arm making him flinch for the first time in a while.

"Why don't we go and get some breakfast, huh?" Avielle asked softly as she leaned in his direction, "If we head up now there is a chance we won't see those damn Gryffindors." he nodded as he slowly got up, her hand dropping from his arm as he stood and grabbed his bag. She followed suit and they left the common room together.

AS

The Great Hall, like the corridors was silent as Avielle sat across from Severus at the Slytherin table. There were a handful of other students up for an early breakfast for the first day of class, but those people didn't worry her, they were most the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs who kept to themselves most of the time and were mostly the bystanders and not the participants in the only other popular sport at Hogwarts other than quidditch: Severus bullying.

Severus played with his food as much as he did the night before, but the first day of class was open season for the creeps that made his life hell. They wasted no time there fun, because apparently nine to ten months was not nearly enough time to get enough torment in they had to begin the moment they saw him.

Avielle cringed slightly as she heard the boisterous laughter that could have only belonged to the Gryffindor quartet that most of the school loved as much as they hated Severus. She had hoped that they could have been out of the Great hall by the time that they appeared, but McGonagall was taking her time passing out schedules to the other three tables to even make her way over to theirs. As she looked in front of her, she noticed that Severus' eyes had narrowed as he followed them with his gaze. The four boys made no attempt not to be noticed, but she knew they wouldn't they were attention whores who loved having all eyes on them, the other aspect that made them pick on Severus. It drew crowds of people, people who were willing to cheer them on as Severus hung upside down fighting for the last shred of dignity he had.

"Ms. Snape" Professor McGonagall stated crisply as she handed Avielle her Schedule. It was no secret that the new head of Gryffindor had a certain disdain for the house of the snakes, but there was no love lost between them. The majority of Slytherin hated her for her biased against them and her inaction when it came to her house. In her eyes her lions could do no wrong while they could do no right.

"Thank you Professor." She mumbled as she took her paper.

"Mr. Snape" the head of the lions stated as she handed Severus his paper before heading off down the table to the rest of their house. Severus groaned as he looked over his paper before he dropped his head.

"They hate me" he mumbled as he handed his schedule to her. Avielle sighed in annoyance as she looked over his classes. Advanced Potions, Transfiguration, and Defense against the dark arts were all with Gryffindor, and most of them contained double periods. No wonder why he thought that they hated him. They had placed him with the people he was trying to avoid the most.

Avielle handed the paper back to him, the little courage he had found and that had been playing across his face was faltering as he gazed at the paper. He pushed his plate away from him and got up from the table.

"I will see you later." He mumbled as he began to walk away.

"Severus?" She asked making him stop and turn to look at her.

"Yeah?"

"I love you." She stated, gauging his reaction, the fear that was welling up in his eyes disappeared a fraction before replying softly. "I love you too."

ss

Severus groaned as he shoved the paper in his pocket, first he had dreamed of the night, now he had to spend the next several hours stuck in a room with James and his stupid friends. He was trying to figure out what he had done wrong in his short life to deserve this. It wasn't as if he had abandoned his sister, maybe this was karma's way for getting even with him for calling Lily a mud blood. But that had been an accident, why couldn't Karma go after James for what he did to him afterward? He sighed as he leaned against the door that lead to the potions classroom, this was going to be a long day