Disclaimer: J.K Rowling owns the Harry Potter universe! I'm simply borrowing it!

I know this is late! I got caught up on watching Orange Is The New Black on Netflix last night (I managed to get through the first five episodes without stopping before I had to sleep) and I got my hair cut and coloured (PURPLE!) yesterday during the day so my schedule has been pretty booked up ;) Plus on Monday I slept for fifteen hours straight so I really didn't have time to get onto my laptop and write this! I apologise for the delay!

I would like to thank the Guest for leaving a review! And also all the people that Favourited and Followed the story! You guys are the best! :)


If today's the day I die

Lay me down under the lights

Let me fall in love

Let me save a life

And let me lose my voice

Singing all my favorite songs

Let me stare up at the stars

'Cause it's where we all belong

My heart like a firework in my chest

My only regret is having regrets

Travelled the world

I loved every step

And all I know is

No one, no one lives forever

We will be remembered

For what we do right now

The Cab - Living Louder


The late evening sun cast shadows across the room as Severus Snape paced the corridor, a phone glued to his ear despite the protests of the staff. Every few seconds his eyes would dart back to the bed his two children were lying in, making sure they were still alright. Receiving only the voicemail once again, he angrily slammed his thumb against the end call button, not even bothering to leave a message this time. Was it that hard to check your phone in Hawaii? Those people shouldn't be parents at all if they didn't even care enough to check up on their own child.

This time six months ago he would have been marking first year essays, perhaps grumbling at a classic error that they had all made. It would have been tedious, and many house points would have been lost. But at least it was certain. At least it was safe. His entire world was now one uncertainty to another. Nothing made sense. Was there a real reason he was beating himself up at not being able to reach his girl's parents? That child had intruded on his life with no warning, with no permission, and now he couldn't think of a world without her. Severus Snape, a man that incite fear into most adults, felt an overwhelming sense of pain at the mere thought of losing his princess, of losing one of the only things that mattered to him anymore.

Reentering the room, he forced a smile, glancing at the calender tacked up on the wall, wasn't there a funfair in town this weekend? Glancing back down the corridor, he shrugged on his jacket, grabbing Harry's wheelchair from the corner of the room. "Come on guys, we're busting out."

.

(*RON ALERT*)

When things didn't go his way, Ron's usual response was to try a little more forcibly, a little more loudly. Growing up with five older brothers taught him that you had to raise your voice to be heard, that you had to do something drastic for them to listen. From breaking his own wrist dropping from a tree when he was six, to snapping both ankles jumping from his bedroom window when he was nine, his cries of attention had been blatently obvious to himself, but practically invisible to his own family. 'There he goes again, always causing trouble' would be their words, classic old Ronald, always ruining everything.

So he adapted, became a shadow at the back. Only really spoke to his family when they instigated the conversation, stayed out of their way as much as he possibly could. Running away had proven one thing, his mother only cared when others were around, she was probably only at the hospital the day he was found because Harry had disappeared as well.

They didn't love him, that much was obvious. Nobody did. All he did was make things worse for everyone around him. He'd almost killed Harry, his mother's favourite son, who wouldn't hate him? He certainly hated himself. He was fat, and ugly, and incapable of being loved, or liked, or anything good for that matter. If he wasn't around then his family would be able to affored better things, like new books, and brand new clothes for Ginny. They wouldn't need to struggle to make ends meet. Sighing softly, he reajusted his position, glaring at the mixture running through his veins. They would be sending him home in a few days, and then he'd make everyone's dreams come true. They wouldn't have to deal with him for much longer. What a relief it must be for them.

.

They were out! Harry couldn't believe it. Snape, his Snape, had blatantly ignored the rules and simply walked out of the hospital with him and Annessa, and nobody had even noticed. It was brilliant. Annessa rode on his lap, that beautiful smile on her face that Harry loved so much, when was the last time he had seen that? The cold air bit at his cheeks, but he was much too happy to complain, he hadn't seen the world in far too long, and he knew it was even longer for Annessa. Snape whooped as they ran down the street, a thing Harry had never dreamed of witnessing. Was he dreaming? Would he wake up back in bed? He certainly hoped not, this was the most fun he'd had in the longest time.

"What do you think? The merry-go-round first?"

All Harry could do was stare in awe at the flashing lights and loud music that made his head throb, so this was what a funfair looked like? It was even better than he imagined. Finding himself strapped onto a horse with Annessa holding to his waist, he tilted his head back, watching the world pass by, Snape waving from his place in the crowd of parents. This was what normal families did. This was how they acted. Finally he could belong, he could be part of what he had witnessed growing up. Finally he could live.

.

The cell the man now called his home was small, much smaller than even the box bedroom he had at home, the one he kept just in case his little girl ever got better. The family lawyer had said there was a chance she would have been allowed to live with him, that he could fight for custody, fight to get her back. That was all a farfetched dream now. There was no way he would get her back, not even when, no if, he got released. Twenty years minimum for attempted murder, his girl would be an adult by then, well she would have been if he hadn't messed up. That was something he would have to live with for the rest of his life. Covering his face with scarred hands, he let out a string of curse words, unwilling to break down and show weakness. He had to get out of there without a scratch, he had to find a way to save his girl.

Maybe this was punishment for not being there when she was younger? Now he would have to live with the knowledge that he could have saved her if only he had done a better job, if only he had made something of himself. But he couldn't change it now, couldn't go back no matter how much he wished it was possible. How had his life gone so wrong? It wasn't that long ago he was training to be a mechanic with the hopes of opening his own shop, perhaps saving up enough money to buy a holiday home, somewhere he could take his daughter.

None of that was even remotely possible now, and he hated that he only had himself to blame. That little girl was his whole life. From the first time he laid eyes on her he knew that his only purpose in life was to protect her, which he soon found out was easier said than done, especially with her mother defying him at every turn. There was no way her mother and that boyfriend of her's would pay for the treatment his girl needed so badly. They barely even bought food for her, not that social services would pay any attention to his pleas now. He'd be labelled a meddling convict for sure. There had to be a way for him to help her. For him to make it all better. His little girl deserved that much.

.

There is a certain calming sensation to watching the world go by in a blur of colour and gusts of wind that chilled even the healthiest of people to the bone. Annessa hadn't been on a rollercoaster since before she got sick, at least five years ago. That was the last time she'd heard her parents say they loved her, the last time her sister had been left unsupervised. From the day of the diagnosis she was basically treated as an outcast, a trouble maker, an attention seeker. Those that didn't just stared at her with those sympathetic eyes, throwing gifts her way in the hopes of appearing to care without getting emotionally invested. That was until Harry and Severus came along. They treated her like a normal human being, and not a germ-riddled child that everybody needed to stay away from. Something even her own parents couldn't do.

Was it bad that she preferred the company of a man she had met only a short time ago to that of her flesh and blood? People say you can't pick your family, but in a way she had. Even if her parents showed up out of the blue and offered to take her to Hawaii for the remainder of her days, to spend some quality time with her, she would refuse. There was only one relative she ever wanted to see, and that was Cayda. There had been times in her life that Annessa hated the kid, especially when she took things without asking, or invaded her privacy and followed her around like a lost sheep. But there wasn't a day that went by in the hospital that she didn't think of the little fairy princess that on the day of the diagnosis had come to her with that plastic wand she used to carry everywhere, claiming it would make Annessa all better. How she wished that was true.

The naivety of childhood was something she wished she still had. The kid would be turning ten soon, and was moving into the last year of primary school after the summer. The little four year old that had promised fairy magic would solve all of her problems had disappeared along with her parents happiness, along with the glue that had stuck the family together. It was kind of like the tacky stuff you get on Get Well Cards. When you first receive the cardboard token, everything is as it should be. Perfectly stuck down, with glitter borders and ribbon bows. But pretty soon the decorations begin to fall, and the glitter coats the window sill. Pretty soon all that is left is a bunch of gloop that sticks to everything but the card. Pretty soon you have nothing left but the memory of what it once looked like. Pretty soon everything you took for granted is gone. And then all you can do is mourn the loss and pretend that it didn't mean much to you anyway. All you can do is retreat. All you can do is die.


A/N: This chapter turned out differently than I had originally anticipated but I hope you liked it all the same. Leave a review before you go on with the rest of your life! I'd love to hear from each and every one of you guys! :)

I couldn't just put Harry's attacker out of my mind and forget I'd ever created him so that is why he makes a sudden appearance in this chapter in case you were wondering.

I may be going out tomorrow during the day, and then I have cadets at night so I'm unsure whether I'll get round to writing another chapter but it will be up before the end of the week!

Seeya soon, nicholosaur :)