A/N: Warning, physical and mental abuse ahead. Not for the faint hearted. Trust me.

Meet the Snape 'Family':

1977...

Severus appeared with a crack in the depths of the small copse of trees that graced the desolate park only a few blocks from his home. (Although, that term was a bit of a stretch considering he rarely lived there. Perhaps it was more accurate to say his parents' home.)

An excited sounding, "Wh-whooo," was his only warning before a massive owl swept down from a treetop and skimmed past his head with enough momentum to flutter the shoulder length strands of his night dark hair.

The depressing memory of what was occurring on the train was pushed to the back of his mind as a delighted laugh escaped the young man, and he spun around on the spot, keeping the owl in his sight as she swept around in a circle. He raised his right arm invitingly as she swooped towards him again. "Elehootay! Come, My Beautiful."

At the last moment, Elehootay spread her wings wide to slow her momentum and then she landed on his forearm with elegant grace. He fed her a bit of the bun he'd had on the train that he'd saved for her, which she gobbled up eagerly. Smiling, he stroked the soft feathers of her neck with a curled finger, rubbing the top of her head with his cheek. "Who's my pretty girl? Are you my pretty girl?" he cooed, eyes closing in contentment.

A soft who-whoooo as she leaned into his touch was all the answer he needed.

After a few moments he pulled back enough to look into her intelligent golden eyes. "Is everything okay at home? Mother's all right?" (It was a legitimate concern, considering his father had a terrible temper and massive fists that left a lot of damage, as he knew firsthand.)

The owl blinked slowly. "Whooooo."

Severus exhaled in relief. "Good. That's good."

He looked around him at the landscape where he had such fond memories of his better years spent with Lily and shook his head in resignation. "Those days are forever gone, aren't they, Elehootay?"

"Whooo."

"I should move on, I suppose. Pining after a girl who has chosen to gift her affections elsewhere is just stupid isn't it?"

"Whooo."

Severus turned bleak eyes back to his owl and stroked her head fondly. "And we both know the one thing I refuse to be is stupid."

"Whoooo."

He chuckled. "You always were the best conversationalist."

"Whoooooooo."

Severus chucked her under the beak gently. "Silly girl. Come, let's go home. It's early enough that Father should still be passed out and you can come into the house for a bit. It will be nice to spend some quiet time with Mum." He lifted his arm and she took flight with an easy flap of her wings.

Now feeling the cold once again, Severus turned up the collar of his coat and hunched into it before tucking his hands in his pockets. At least it's warmer than Scotland.

Warm.

Merlin.

Perhaps I am stupid.

Rolling his eyes at himself, he palmed his wand and touched it to the front panel of his plain black muggle overcoat and mouthed a warming charm that would last as long as he was wearing it.

Instantly feeling warmer, but tucking his hand back in his pocket anyway, he started walking, dead leaves crunching and crackling underfoot, leaving the small gathering of mixed pines and oaks behind; the former still green and vibrant, the latter barren and doing a fine job of mirroring how he felt about his life.

He made the trek home in near blissful silence. Being a cold Saturday morning, most of the residents of Cokeworth were all still huddled in their houses. The stores and markets wouldn't open until after lunch time, unlike London where the shops seemed to be open all day, every day. Only one car passed him as he trudged down the edge of the cracked and pitted paved road, and a few dogs barked as he passed, stuck behind the fences of the tiny front garden that came with each row house.

Elehootay stayed high above, leisurely circling on the currents, but staying within sight. He glanced up on occasion just to see her reassuring silhouette against the moody grey sky.

Soon enough he was opening the squeaky gate into the pathetic front garden of the row house belonging to the last of the Snapes still living in Great Britain. (He had an uncle and cousins from his father's side living in Canada, but Severus had never met them and didn't think he wanted to, if they were anything like his father.)

Taking a deep breath, he squared his shoulders and walked up the dirt path that led to the front door. (No fancy cobblestone path for them, that's for sure.) The weather-beaten and in desperate need of a fresh coat of paint front door was locked, as usual. Severus didn't bother searching for the spare key that was occasionally actually left in the hiding spot above the doorframe. He simply mouthed Alohomora and the door clicked open on its own.

He stepped into the house that was nearly quiet except for the muffled snores from upstairs, the gentle hum of the refrigerator, and the ticking of a couple of clocks. He toed off his boots and tucked them into the shoe rack. His coat was left on because the temperature in the house was only a few degrees warmer than outside. Home sweet home. He scoffed. Not. Severus merely glanced over the drab and overused furnishings in the sitting room off to the left, reassured to not see his father's form on the sofa in front of the TV, before walking on down the narrow hallway that ran beside the staircases up to the second floor and down to the basement.

Past the sitting room was the only bathroom in the house, and past that was the kitchen and dining room. He walked as quietly as possible without using magic (not hard to do in his stocking feet), not wanting to wake his father if he could help it.

He found his mother seated at the small table in the kitchen, head bent over a book and looking completely entranced by it. (He'd inherited her love of reading, of course. It certainly hadn't come from his father, who considered the comics in the paper to be more than adequate reading material.)

Severus leaned a shoulder against the doorframe, a small smile quirking up his lips. "Hi, Mum."

Her head whipped up and her black eyes widened comically. He studied her in her moment of surprise. Her black hair was greyer than it should be, and there were more wrinkles around her eyes than normal for a witch of her age, but she was still beautiful to him. She still looked like a stiff breeze could blow her away, but she wasn't alarmingly underweight like she had been before he'd gone to Hogwarts and started sending food home for her. (All Princes were lean, according to her.) She was wrapped up in a thick wool cloak over an older but still serviceable grey dress that he could just see the skirt of under the table. The fading bruising around her right eye made him frown in anger, but there was nothing he could do about it other than despise his father even more than he already did, and he wasn't sure that was even possible. He couldn't even heal it for her, or his father would beat her twice as hard in retaliation for the use of 'the devil's magic' in his house.

"Severus!" She beamed and jumped up from her chair, rushing to hug him.

He met her halfway, enfolding her shorter form in his arms and resting his cheek on top of her soft hair. She still smelled wonderful, like roses and fresh bread; a scent he would always associate with 'Mum'.

"You're home earlier than I expected," she said into his chest, hugging him even tighter.

"Hmmmmm. I may have Apparated off the train."

She looked up, taking a step back and putting her hands on her hips, frowning at him in that displeased mother way that he knew she didn't really mean, but she had to make the face anyway. "You didn't."

He smirked. "I did. It was bloody fabulous."

"Severus." Her lips pursed as she shook her head at him. What am I going to do with you? her thought jumped into his mind from the eye contact, which she knew it would.

He raised a snarky eyebrow. "Nothing, Mum."

She huffed, blowing a wisp of hair off her forehead. "You're incorrigible."

"Indubitably."

She laughed as she moved to sit again. "You are such a Prince. You would have fit right in, if a fraction or two taller than anyone else."

He grinned. "Thank you. Father did pass down one decent gene, at least."

She wrinkled her nose at him as she put a bookmark in her forgotten book and slid it off to the side. "I'm serious, though. I swear you've grown another inch since I saw you last."

Severus shrugged and then kissed her on top of her head as he walked past to the back door that led to an equally desolate back garden to match the one out front that sported one pathetic willow tree and some scrawny rose bushes. "It's possible." He opened the door and whistled. Only seconds later, Elehootay flew into the kitchen and took up a perch on the back of one of the wooden chairs. Severus closed the door and sat in the chair with his owl.

He pulled the container of food out of the magically expanded pocket in his coat and put it in front of his mother. "Breakfast, courtesy of the Hogwarts Express."

She smiled softly, eyes crinkling and sparkling just so, letting him see her love for him, making his chest swell with pride. "Thank you, Severus. I couldn't have asked for a better son."

Blushing, he jumped up and grabbed a fork from the silverware drawer, putting it down beside the container. "It's nothing. Now eat, before Father wakes up."

She rolled her eyes as she opened the container, gleaming with anticipation at the selection. "Not to worry." She snatched up a strip of perfectly cooked bacon and delicately bit the end off of it with eye closing pleasure. "Merlin, that's good," she said after swallowing. Waving the bacon around as a pointer, she continued. "He came in late last night, completely tossed." Another quick bite. "He won't stagger out of bed until noon, at least."

A thunderous crash from upstairs immediately contradicted her words.

They both looked up at the ceiling. "Fudge," she muttered before inhaling the last of the bacon grasped between her fingers.

"He rolled off the bed again," Severus sneered. Which meant that his father would be up for the day now. Just bloody great. So much for having a nice visit with Mum.

"Who-oo-oo." It sounded like Elehootay was laughing even as Severus heard his father muttering curses and climbing back onto his feet… Well, foot and wooden peg. (There were more advanced prosthetics available to war vets, but Tobias Snape had somehow managed to lose his fake leg in a game of poker with his war buddies and the new owner thought it was hilarious to make his ex commanding officer win it back in the same way he'd lost it. That was a year ago. Severus thought it was fantastic. His father did not.)

Shit! Severus' eyes widened and he popped off his chair again. "Come on, back outside with you. You can find me at Malfoy Manor tomorrow," he whispered to his owl, dashing for the door and gesturing for Elehootay to make a break for it.

She fortunately obliged, flying off towards the woods just visible in the distance.

Severus closed the door very carefully and then returned to his chair as the distinctive sound of step, thump, step, thump, made its way across the floor upstairs.

Eileen vanished her forbidden book into a pocket of her cloak and Severus made the container of food disappear back into his pocket. She opened up yesterday's paper to a random page and then stood, turning on the stove to start making breakfast for her husband, a fleeting look of resignation crossing her features just before she turned her back to Severus. She took the unused fork with her.

The step, thump, step, thumps were coming down the stairs.

Eileen filled a pot with water and rolled oats, her posture tensing under her clothes.

The step, thump, step, thumps were walking down the hallway.

They paused at the bathroom door, but continued on.

That's not good. Mother and son glanced at each other with matching looks of alarm.

The massive figure of Tobias Snape filled the kitchen doorway a moment later, broad shoulders and barrel chest filling the space, and head ducked to avoid hitting the frame. (Severus had to duck now too, but not as much.) He was wearing yesterday's wrinkled trousers and a greying undershirt under a rough terrycloth housecoat. He looked into the kitchen from under heavy brows, his piercing blue eyes taking in the scene from above his unshaven and frowning jaw.

"Why do I smell bacon?" he demanded accusingly.

Fuck!

Unfortunately, Severus inherited his sensitive nose from his father's side.

Severus tried to play it cool despite the sudden trembling in his limbs. "I had bacon for breakfast before leaving school this morning. You must be smelling that."

Tobias stalked further into the room, sniffing exaggeratedly. "I don't believe you, boy. There was bacon in THIS kitchen recently." He snatched Severus up out of the chair by the front of his coat like he weighed nothing and snarled right in his face, "You're a dirty lying devil's spawn. Where's the bacon?" He better tell me, or I'll beat the ever loving shit out of him once and for all. Why did I get stuck with such a pathetic, ugly, hell cursed, excuse for a son?

In less than a second, Severus was clutching the tip of his wand in his hand, shaking in his father's hold, so desperately wanting to curse the man who'd sired him, but not quite able to bring himself to do so. Bloody fucking bastard. Why didn't I cleanse the air when he woke up?

"Tobias…"

The snarling head swung around and pinned Eileen back against the oven with just a look. "Shut it, witch." He focused on Severus again and shook him hard enough to rattle his teeth. "Answer me, boy."

Severus clenched his teeth to keep them from clacking. And to hold in his anger. "There isn't any bacon here."

His father growled at him and flung him across the room. Severus hit the wall with a crash and a muffled grunt. Tobias stalked over to Eileen and grabbed her chin roughly, forcing her mouth open. He sniffed only once before letting her go only to backhand her across the cheek, snapping her head sideways. "That's what I thought. You've had bacon," he growled. "Hell's sluts don't deserve bacon." Another backhand and Severus was dragging himself off the floor with his own angry growl.

"Leave Mum alone!" he shouted, wand pointed in warning in a shaking hand.

Tobias swung back around, eyes narrowing in rage at the sight of the wand. "What did I tell you about magic in this house, boy!?" He was stomping back towards Severus in an instant with more speed than one would think possible for such a large man. It was at times like this that Severus was reminded that his father used to be a highly trained muggle soldier.

Ingrained fear of the man was the only thing that kept him from shouting out a curse that would have stopped his father from wrenching the deep brown walnut wood wand right out of his hand.

Severus' eyes widened even further in alarmed premonition as his father shook the beautifully carved piece of wood in his face. "I've told you a thousand times that there will be no magic in this house, and to try and use it against me?! You're just asking for it now!" A second hand was brought up and grasped the wand at the other end, and with an easy snap, the wand was broken and thrown to the floor.

A whimper escaped Severus against his will as he literally felt the wand he'd been using since he was a small boy die.

By the stove, Eileen sagged, tears running down her face. "My wand," she whispered, sounding utterly gutted as she stared at the pieces of wood, one of which had a single shining strand of unicorn hair hanging out of it.

Tobias smirked in satisfaction. "Serves you right, witch, for teaching that boy about magic. You don't need a 'wand' here anyway." He focused on Severus again. "I don't know how I haven't managed to beat the Devil out of you yet, boy, but it's obvious I haven't succeeded yet. Take off your coat and shirt."

No fucking way. Severus drew himself up as tall as he could, rage coursing through his veins. He could practically feel his magic crackling on his fingertips and coursing through his veins. "No. I'm an adult now. I won't let you punish me like a child anymore."

Tobias laughed mockingly. "You think you're a man now? Not according to the law, and not according to me." Smirking, he bent the fingers of one hand in a 'bring it' motion. "But if you think you can take me on and win, go for it."

Fuck, they should teach us how to fight like Muggles at school. Severus clenched his hands into fists, copying his father.

That was as far as he got before a massive fist came flying at his head. He managed to dodge it at the last millisecond, but he only moved right into the other one.

CRACK!

A huge fist slammed into his jaw and cheek and the side of his nose, breaking the latter.

Severus' vision went black and the momentum sent him to the floor, where his temple hit the edge of a chair on the way by.

He didn't quite lose consciousness, because he could hear his father bellowing out laughter and his mother crying.

"So pathetic." Severus was yanked back up onto his feet by the back of his jacket. He staggered, trying to get his bearings as he felt blood gushing down over his chin and running into his ear. His coat was ripped off of him, buttons flying everywhere, and then his white dress shirt as well, sending more buttons flying. He was shoved facedown on the little table and he could just make out the sound of a belt being whisked from its loops through the ringing in his mind. Merlin, not again. Please not again.

"You get ten for lying. Ten for giving your mother bacon and not myself. Twenty for however you got home so quickly since you apparently ate breakfast in Scotland not too long ago and there's no way you should already be here by any normal mode of travel. And finally, thirty for pointing a 'weapon' at me."

CRACK! the belt sang as it landed across Severus' already very scarred back. "One."

Severus didn't even flinch, too out of it to move. The pain hardly registered as the belt landed again and again and again, one crack every five to ten seconds or so and accompanied by a gleeful count. (His father liked to draw it out.) Eventually, as his head settled down, he felt the whipping more, but he was so used to it, he still didn't flinch. Not that it didn't hurt, because it did like fiendfyre across his skin, but he'd trained himself to not respond to pain long ago if he could help it. He did notice when the blood ran down into his trousers, but he couldn't be bothered to care at the small discomfort.

Through it all, his mother sobbed quietly.

Severus didn't move when the whipping stopped some seven minutes later, hands gripping the table as he waited for the pain to fade to bearable. I hate it here. I hate him. Hate him. HATE.

His father step, thumped away. Severus breathed in relief through his gasping mouth, eyes still closed shut as tight as he could make them.

"Look what you've done, you stupid bitch! You let the porridge burn!"

CRASH! The sound of a pot hitting the wall had his eyes flying open and made Severus flinch in sympathy for his mother, which made his back scream from the sudden movement. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

"Clean that up, you ugly cow! And make me more. I'm hungry! And since the two of you have already had breakfast and wasted a whole meal's worth of good porridge, neither of you need to eat for the rest of the day!" Severus was hauled up by his hair and turned to face angry blue eyes. "And you! Get your scrawny arse downstairs and put some coal in the furnace, it's fucking freezing in here!"

I hate you. I wish you'd die. "Ye…Yes, Sir." (The heat was only allowed to be on when it was convenient for his father.)

Severus was dropped back to the table and he bit back a groan, refusing to give his father the satisfaction of hearing him in pain.

Step, thud, step, thud, as Tobias stormed out of the kitchen and back down the hallway to the bathroom. The door was slammed with extra enthusiasm, making the walls shake.

As soon as she heard the noisy water pipes creak to life, signifying the turning on of the shower, Eileen was at Severus' side, gentle hands helping him up and running over the unharmed parts of his face. "Oh, my baby, I'm so sorry. So very, very sorry."

He made an aborted attempt at smiling, quickly cut off as his jaw protested, bringing up a bare arm to swipe at some of the blood dripping off his chin. "It's okay, Mum. It's not your fault. Stop blaming yourself. I shouldn't have lost my temper. All of this was my fault. I should have said an air cleansing spell as soon as I heard him wake up. I was stupid."

Eileen turned around to get a towel and was quickly back, dabbing at his face. "Oh, Severus, you could never be that. You're so smart. Smarter than anyone."

He sort of smiled and grimaced at the same time as she started on the cut on his temple. "Thanks, Mum." Gently shrugging out of her reach, he waved a hand in front of his face, mouthing a cleansing charm to vanish the blood. More started seeping out immediately, much to his annoyance.

"You're wandless magic is getting even stronger," his mother said, smiling in approval.

"I've been practicing," he said, basking in her praise. "Top of the class, in fact."

"Of course you are," she said, beaming as he looked around for his coat, finding it by the back door.

"Accio coat," he said softly, holding out a hand for it to fly into. (He didn't particularly feel up to walking at the moment.) Digging into one of the vast and undetectable pockets he'd charmed into the coat to carry anything he thought he might need during the Christmas break, he called forth a tiny vial of essence of dittany. Putting a drop on his tongue, he immediately felt the skin on his back and temple start to knit back together. A quick breath in and an Episkey later, his nose was healed, if throbbing at the sudden shock.

"Why do I get the feeling that you've spent a lot of time healing yourself?"

Severus looked at his mother with woeful eyes. "Because I have."

"Is it those Marauding Gryffindors you told me about? The one's led by the boy who stole Lily?" she asked as she started another pot of porridge cooking on the stove.

"Yeah," Severus grunted, now using a Reparo on his shirt and coat to return them to rights, buttons flying back on from all over the kitchen to their proper places. "They like to practice their anti-Death Eater skills on me whenever the opportunity can be found or manipulated."

"Lovely."

"I thought so too."

"And you can't retaliate, can you?"

"Of course not. Even one little booboo and they go crying to McGonagall or Dumbledore and I'm the one in detention for a week. Merlin, I hate them." Severus shrugged back into his shirt and started doing up buttons with a sigh.

"I don't know how Lily could have chosen one of those bullies over you; you're such a sweet boy. I thought she was a smart girl."

Severus laughed ruefully. "Oh, she's smart all right. She's landed herself a rich pure-blood. They're engaged now and everything." He did a final silent cleansing charm to rid him and his clothes of any more blood before sliding his arms into his coat.

"Ohhhh, Severus. I'm sorry." Her eyes flicked to him as she studiously stirred the porridge to keep it from sticking to the pot.

He barked out a derisive laugh. "I think I'm officially over her. There's only so much rejection a boy can take, you know?"

"I understand."

The water pipes in the walls went silent, meaning their time to talk freely was over.

Sighing, Severus leaned down and kissed his mother very gently on her already bruising cheek. "I'll go fill up the furnace with more coal and then I'm Apparating to the Manor. I was going to stay till tomorrow, but I hope you understand if I don't."

"Of course, baby. Go. You can't let him see you healed anyway."

"I know." That's why I did it. I can't stay here any longer or I'll kill him, wand or no wand. He glanced at the mess of blackened porridge on the wall that adjoined with the bathroom. "I wish I could clean that up for you."

She patted his cheek softly. "It's okay. He has to see me cleaning it up to be satisfied, you know that."

"I know." He walked over to the broken pieces of the wand and picked them up with regret sitting heavily in his heart, and then brought them back to her. "I'm sorry about your wand, Mum. I wish these were as easy to repair as some buttons."

She took the broken wood and pressed it to her heart, tears shimmering in her eyes again. "It's okay. I haven't had the use of it for a long time anyway. It's more sentimental now, than anything."

"I'm still sorry." He extracted the container of food out of his pocket again and put it on the counter for her and cast a disillusionment spell over it so she could hide it safely in a cupboard or something. "Here. For when you can."

"Thank you, Severus."

"I had some galleons saved up for you as well, but I guess I need them now to buy a new wand."

"That's okay, baby. You keep them. It's hard for me to exchange them to muggle money, anyway."

Knowing from experience his father would be finished shaving any second now, he kissed his mother on the cheek one more time. "I better go. I'll be back Christmas Eve after the wedding, okay?"

She gave him a quick one armed hug. "Kay. Have fun with Lucius. Tell him congratulations for me. And give Elena my regards."

"I will." One last quick smile of farewell, and Severus was striding out of the kitchen. He made it to the door to the basement at the same time that the bathroom door creaked open. Severus all but flew down the stairs, slamming the door behind him with a wave of his hand.

He shoveled the coal into the old stove system the muggle way, thinking that more physical activity couldn't be a bad thing if he ever wanted to look like more than a scrawny stick of a human. Maybe I should take up fencing or something as well, he thought as he shoveled. Lucius would get a kick out of that. And it's still considered a respectable pastime even for Wizards. And I might even look up a boxing or martial arts instructor once I'm finished with school. It sure would be nice to hold my own against Father.

One thing's for absolutely damn sure; I am never going to be whipped again, no matter what I have to do.

Coal stove now filled and merrily burning away, finally sending much needed heat through the ductwork in the walls, Severus gathered up the magic within him and thought very clearly about his next destination.

With a twirl and a subtle crack, his form disappeared just as the door to the basement creaked open again.

A/N: Anyone else want to sic the Hulk or Thor or someone like that on Tobias Snape right now? Cause I do.

For anyone wondering why Eileen doesn't just up and leave her abusive husband, you have to remember that she's a disinherited witch who has no welcoming family to go back to. And perhaps, somewhere in there, she still loves the handsome soldier she thought she married so long ago. And this is 1977 in an a.u. Wizarding world that was living centuries behind the muggle world in terms of practically everything; women were still expected to stay with their spouses no matter what back then.

A certain piece of this chapter was hard to write, but it wanted out because it is the beginning of a rather important turning point in Severus' life. This kind of thing is what I meant by writing a whole story about Severus' childhood would be bloody depressing. I could do it, but I'd be a wreck by the end of it. And just to warn you, we have more dark times ahead, so prepare yourself. You're not the only ones who's waiting eagerly for Hermione to arrive and shine some light on Severus' life. We just have to get there the hard way.

Edit: I'm extremely grateful for all the support and comments on this very cringey chapter. To those who were confused as to why Severus didn't defend himself against his father with magic, it's because he's been conditioned since he was a toddler not to. I'm sorry if I didn't make that clear enough in the chapter. To put it bluntly, his father beat him anytime he used magic and probably his mother too because Tobias would see it as her fault that his son was 'possessed'. This kind of conditioning is something Severus would have a very hard time overcoming.

And just in case you were wondering, because I haven't made this clear enough either for at least one person, Severus is NOT a Death Eater… yet. :P