The next day when I finally wake up, the light from the afternoon sun streams through my grimy bedroom window. My head aches desperately, and I cover my eyes to block out the sunlight. As I move, my ribs burn and some of the welts on my back reopen and begin to bleed. Shakily, I shove yesterday's t-shirt and sweater back over my head and walk slowly to the bathroom. I try not to look at myself in the mirror. When I am done, I look in my parents' bedroom to see if my mum is home. Finding her to be absent, I go down to the kitchen and grab four saltine crackers from the pantry, and sit on the bottom step of the stairs to ponder my situation. My head hurts fit to burst, and so do my ribs. My jaw and my eye hurt where he punched me, and every time I move, I can feel the welts from his belt oozing blood. I know I ought to go to St. Mungo's, but I was just there a few weeks ago and if I go too often then they'll know, and my mum and dad will fight, and I'll get beaten again, and and and and… But then again, they told me if my head gets hit again they needed to see me. Something about brain damage. I guess I'll just wait for my mum to get home after work tonight. Hopefully she doesn't work overtime today. Not wanting to stay at home any longer, I shove on my shoes, grab my key, lock the door, and set off for the park.
Upon arriving, I hear a familiar voice, "Sev! I was hoping you'd be here! I just got out of school, and all day I've been wanting to ask you… Sev? You look terrible! What happened?" Lily exclaims.
My voice shakes as I mumble, "Nothing."
"That doesn't look like nothing!"
"I said it's nothing."
"What happened?"
I take a deep breath, and respond, "I just fell down the stairs. I'm fine. Everything's fine."
"Whatever you say, Sev. Well, come over to my house. I'm hungry! I didn't eat lunch today 'cause I forgot my lunchbox at home!"
"Just gimme a second. I gotta sit down for a minute," I say. I feel breathless from the wall to the park, my head is pounding, and the cold in my bones won't go away, even though it's a warm afternoon. I sit down on the ground, draw my knees up to my chest, and lean sideways against the slide, wrapping myself in my dad's old sweater. It's far too large for me, but it's warm and comfortable, and makes me remember the days when he wasn't drinking as much. After a couple of minutes, Lily walks over and sits down next to me.
"You didn't just fall down the stairs, did you?" she murmurs, and puts her arm around my shoulder.
I shake my head, then, eyes wet, I rest my forehead on my knees.
"Do you wanna go see my dad's classroom? He said he was getting some grading done while Petunia talks to her teacher about her test, then he's gonna walk me home."
I shake my head. I don't want her dad to see me like this, "No, it's okay. I should go home, anyways."
"But you just got here!" she exclaims, "Come on!"
I shake my head again.
Lily sighs, and asks if I want to play on the swings.
I shrug, and get up.
We sit on the swings for a bit until I see Lily's dad and Petunia come out of the school. I try to get up and say goodbye before they see me, but he waves, and I don't want to be rude, so I wave back.
"Did you have a good day today, Lily?" he asks, then, looking over at me, he exclaims, "Severus! What happened to you?!"
"He said he fell down the stairs," Lily says.
"Those are some big bruises for falling down the stairs," Mr. Evans frowns.
I shrug. As I look down, I catch Petunia's eye. She's looking at me with a disgusted expression, as if I'm a grub she found while gardening.
Mr. Evans is quiet for a second, then sighs, "Why don't you walk with us? I've got a new worksheet for my students that I'm not sure they'll like. Maybe you'd like to test it out for me? And you're welcome to have supper with us as well."
I thank him quietly, and walk behind him, Petunia, and Lily as they go home.
When we get there, Lily's mum asks what happened to me, and Mr. Evans tells her that I said I fell down the stairs. Mrs. Evans raises her eyebrows, and tells me to come to the bathroom with her so she can clean up the cut on my face. Lily and Petunia follow Mr. Evans into the living room to work on their homework, and I follow Mrs. Evans into the bathroom. She has me wash my face, then puts a some ointment and a bandage over the cut, being careful not to touch any of my bruises, then I go into the living room. It's hard for me to do Mr. Evans' worksheet because my head starts hurting when I begin reading, so he tells me I can finish it next time I come over.
After supper, before it gets too dark outside, I say goodbye, and slowly walk home. My dad isn't home yet. When I get inside, I see my mum sitting at the kitchen table with her head in her hands, and I suddenly feel very sorry for her. If I wasn't here, she wouldn't have had to drop out of school and marry my father in a muggle court at 18 years old, already seven months pregnant and disowned by her family. If I wasn't here, she would still be a Prince.
"Mum?" I ask, closing and locking the door.
"What?" she snaps.
"Nothing," I mumble.
"I heard you left the front door unlocked the other night," she says.
"Yes, ma'am."
She shakes her head, and says, "Well, you won't do that again, will you? That was stupid. You knew better than to do that. Your father's told you multiple times to remember to lock the door when you come and go. You had no business forgetting something like that."
Anger flares up inside of me, and I shove it down, saying, "Sorry. My head got hit again. Can you take me to St. Mungo's to get my potion?"
"I'll take you tomorrow morning before work, then you can just come to the tavern with me. I'm too tired to take you tonight. Anyways, where've you been?"
"At Lily's house."
"Did they feed you?"
"Mm hmm," I nod.
"Good, then your father can eat the leftovers I brought home from the tavern when he gets home."
"My head hurts."
"Then take a potion and go to bed," she sighs.
I do as I'm told, and stare up at the ceiling until I fall asleep.
The next morning, after my dad goes to work and I've grabbed my math workbook, my mum checks the pantry, and, finding only the saltine crackers, says, "I guess we can go grocery shopping today after you're done at St. Mungo's before work. I hope you've got something to do. I don't have time to bring you home before going to work. We can probably afford some canned vegetables and pasta. Maybe some crackers and peanut butter, too. What have you been eating?"
I shrug my shoulders, "Four of them crackers every day since Monday. That's when we ran out of noodles. The last couple days I got to eat at Lily's house, though. And I've been eating the blackberries from the woods."
"You've only been eating four crackers per day and some blackberries? You should have told me so I could go buy some more food! I got paid yesterday! I'd been saving my tips for some new clothes, but obviously you need to eat," she sighs in exasperation.
"You weren't home, and I didn't wanna wake you up when you were sleeping 'cause you would've been mad at me!"
"Whatever," she sighs, "leave me a note or something next time, alright? Don't be stupid. At least you'll have supper tonight. I'll bring you some chicken tenders and fries or something while we're at the tavern."
I say, "Yes, ma'am," and we leave without eating anything.
Upon arriving at St. Mungo's, the receptionist greets us warmly, and tells us that Healer Smithwick, the healer who always helps me, is with another patient, but will be with me in about 30 minutes. My mum nods, and we sit down to wait. My mum reads one of the magazines, and I try to work on my math, but my head starts to hurt, so I put it away.
We hear Healer Smithwick before we see her— the sound of robes bustling around her plump body, the click clack of her motherly footsteps, and her loving voice calling out to me, "Severus, lambie! Let me give you a hug, sweetie!" her arms embrace me, and she rocks me back and forth. She gives me a big kiss right on the top of my head, "Now, Severus, what happened now? Or are you just here to say hello?" she asks happily. As I look up and she sees the bruises covering my face, she shakes her head sadly, "Poor thing. Come with me, I'll get you your potion. Mrs. Snape, will you please come with us as well? Healer Molony needs to speak with you about Severus. We just have a few questions we hope you can answer regarding what's been going on lately. He's been here pretty frequently over the last year and a half, and we just want to make sure everything is alright."
"Everything is fine," my mum snaps.
"Nevertheless, Healer Molony needs to speak with you. We appreciate your understanding in this matter," Healer Smithwick says through a smile.
"What's there to talk about? The kid's clumsy and gets into fights!"
I lower my gaze and look at the floor. It makes me feel worthless when my mum lies about what's going on because she always blames me. I'm not that clumsy, and I'm not getting into fights. She always says that I can't tell anybody what's really happening, because it'll embarrass her and my dad, and they'll take me away, and the family they put me with will hit me even worse than my dad, but it still hurts when she lies about me.
"This is not the place for this discussion, ma'am. Healer Molony will speak with you when we get to the examination room," Healer Smithwick turns on her heel and begins to walk. I look at my mum, then follow Healer Smithwick.
When we get to the room, Healer Molony is already waiting for us. He greets us with a kind smile, then takes my mother to the adjoining room.
"Can I have a potion to keep the ticks away, too, like last summer? They've been real bad in the woods this year," I ask.
"Of course!" Healer Smithwick smiles, and gets both of my potions ready.
"Alright, lambie. You know what to do," Healer Smithwick says, pulling the sheets back on the hospital bed. I kick my shoes off, sit down, and pull the blankets up. Healer Smithwick hands me the anti-tick potion first, and I drink it quickly. Afterwards, she hands me the potion for my head, and I take it like my dad takes shots of whiskey.