(A/N:
Thanks for all the reviews! I don't quite know how far I'll go with this story,
but it's getting very sad. I hope that I dig myself out of this "can't stop the
abusive dad" thing. I want them to catch that guy so damned bad!!!! Poor Sev, I
only wish I could help him somehow! Sniff Believe it or not, I do not
control how my stories turn. That comes from somewhere far back into the depths
of my mind. Anyways, I luv ya all! **Gods, I hope this story doesn't go through
his entire schooling. This is exasperating my other stories! But I'm on a trip
now, I'm into the swing of this. My other stories will have to wait, I
suppose!**)
I know they don't use phones in the wizarding world, but let's just pretend they do, because there's a part where they talk on the phone, and I don't know how else they would communicate without it. I'm just stupid like that, I guess.
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"Albus! You can't be serious!" Minerva gasped.
"We have no choice."
"You want to call his father?!"
"I have to tell him we found Severus! I don't have a choice! We have to let him know Severus is alright!"
"But Severus ISN'T alright, Albus, and you know it!"
Dumbledore sighed. "I know he's not alright. But this isn't a choice. We are required to tell Cevro that Severus is alive. We are required to offer him a chance to check up on his son."
"But it's wrong, Albus. Severus isn't ready for this yet."
"We'll hold off for a week. But that's all I can offer, Minerva."
And so they did.
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Ring… Ring… Ring…
Ka-click.
"Hello?"
"Is this Mr. Snape?"
"Yes it is. May I help you?"
"We found your son."
"Oh, did you? That's good. I've just been SO worried!"
"He's going to be alright. Looked like he was mauled by something, though."
"But he's okay now?"
"Not yet, but he will be."
"Okay."
"We are required to provide you an opportunity to visit Severus."
"Really? Oh, when can I come?"
"Whenever you find suitable before October 24th."
"But today is the fourteenth!"
"The twenty-fourth is when he will be resuming classes."
"I see."
"Mr. Snape, do you know anyone who might be trying to hurt your son?"
"I really don't. Sounds like a psycho, though."
"Yes, he does."
"Listen, how about I come to visit on the… nineteenth?"
"That would be fine."
"Is that all?"
"There might be a nurse there. They are most of the time. You might not have a lot of privacy with your son."
"I see."
"Do you have any more questions?"
"Can you describe his condition to me?"
"I suppose. There's a four inch gash across his left eye, from the top of his cheekbone to just below his hairline. He can't open his eye, yet, but after the gash heals he should be able to.
"He has several gashes on his arms and legs. There are also several head wounds. There are bruises over his face. He broke a rib and his arm was broken in three places before we healed it. The rest is going to have to heal on it's own, they are afraid to use too much magic on him, he's so small."
"Is he in much pain?"
"Yes. It will be a very painful recovery."
"Alright, then. I'll see you on the nineteenth."
"Goodbye, Mr. Snape."
"Goodbye!"
Click.
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She was upset. Why wasn't the Child Welfare department helping out? This was the worst case she had ever imagined. There had been a few cases in the past, many Slytherins had 'strict' home lives, and some had bad ones, but none so terrible as blood on white carpets.
She had the feeling Cevro had some "friends" in the Child Welfare Department.
She walked into the Hospital wing. When she walked in Severus woke up, startled at her sudden presence.
"Professor! You scared me!" he said, smiling.
"I was sent to tell you that on the nineteenth your father will be visiting."
His eyebrows flew up. "What? Why?"
"We were obligated to. School regulations."
"I don't want to see him."
"I know. We'll have a nurse about so he can't hurt you."
"He doesn't hurt me!" Severus snapped angrily.
"Oh Severus, why do you say that?!"
"Because it's true! He doesn't hurt me! He couldn't hurt me! I'm not that weak!"
"Severus, we know he hurts you! And we're working on getting him convicted!"
"Convicted?!"
"Yes!"
"I don't care! I don't need help! And he DOESN'T hurt me!"
"Severus, look at yourself! Think of how much better your life could be without any of this!"
"No, professor." He said sadly. "My life could be no better."
"I know how you feel, Severus, but you have to overcome it!"
"You don't know how I feel! Everyone thinks I am this unwanted, frail, abused child! But I'm not! Trust me! He hasn't touched a hair on my head!"
"Severus, I think I should show you something."
And so he found out about The Room.
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He was too angry to listen to Dumbledore's consolations. He would have gotten up and paced if he had had the energy.
"Wha- WHY did you do that?!" he asked, baffled.
"We were concerned."
"Didn't you have any respect for ME? For MY feelings? How could you DO that?!"
"We had to know."
"You had to know? WHY?! That's my life! You have NO RIGHT WHATSOEVER! Whatever happened to PRIVACY? Those are my thoughts, my feelings! What do you think you are doing?! You're poking your noses where they don't belong! People are questioning him! Why do you think THIS happened?" he shouted, pointing to the gash over his eye.
Minerva grimaced. Why was he taking this so badly?
Finally he pointed to the door.
"Go away!" he shouted. "Leave me alone! Never come near me again! I quit! I quit, I'll find some nice muggle school somewhere!"
They knew he would never really leave Hogwarts, but they left so he would have time to calm down.
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Minerva paced the office.
"I don't see why he's so upset!" she said finally, throwing her arms into the air. "I mean, we were HELPING him!"
"That doesn't matter to him." Dumbledore told her.
"Why not?!"
"How would you feel if someone could see everything that happened to you? Everything you did, said, or thought? Wouldn't you feel violated in the least?"
Minerva hadn't thought about that.
"We've watched him in his weakest moments, seen memories, felt his tears on our faces." Dumbledore whispered. "He thinks he's a coward. He thinks he's weak for being unable to stand up to his father. He doesn't want people to know what he thinks. We do, and it scares the life from him."
Minerva suddenly felt that what they had done was very, very wrong. But how else could they have gotten that information?
It was too late now. They had watched nearly half of the tapes between them. They couldn't change what they had done.
All they could do now was wait, and hope for the best.
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Severus woke up at 7 am. His father wasn't here yet, thank god.
He went to the bathroom and took a shower. The hot water and soap stung badly, but he always made an effort to keep himself clean, it made them heal faster.
He got dressed and tended to the gash over his eye. They had put something called 'stitches' in, and they felt awkward. They eyelid itself was left alone, but the cut had nearly gone through it. He couldn't manage to think of what would have happened to his eye if he hadn't been attempting to pull his father's hand away from his face. The glass had cut very close anyways.
He couldn't open his eye yet, the wounds hurt to much when he did. His body had sort of shut down his eye for the time being, to keep him from moving it while it healed.
He towel dried his hair and walked into his room.
He was clean, tidy, and ready for one of the roughest days of his life.
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His father arrived around 1:30, looking cheery and excited. He kneeled down when he finally was taken to his son. He reached up and touched on of the stitches on his eye lightly.
Severus winced, unsure of what his father was doing.
"It's okay, son." He growled softly.
Severus smiled weakly.
"Can you show me to your classes? I would like to see them."
Severus nodded, and stepped into the empty hallway.
They saw Dumbledore quite a few times, he seemed to be lurking. After a while, he stopped popping up. Maybe walking through the dungeons was too much for an old man.
The teachers of the classrooms eyed Cevro carefully as they passed, Severus showing his father his different classrooms.
"Why do they keep looking at me that way?" he whispered to his son.
"They think you caused my injuries."
Cevro stroked Severus's face with a chilling silkiness.
"Now, son… you know I would never do that…" he whispered soothingly.
Severus almost believed him. Instead, he took a step away from his father, cutting off the hypnotic touch on his face.
"Please don't." he said shortly. He would never have dared say such a thing in his own home. But there were teachers about here, his father would never hurt him in public.
His father's rage exposed itself in the twitch of an eye, but his father put on a smug smile and continued to stroll down the hallway.
The bell rang loudly nearby. Kids walked out of their classes, eyeing Severus with sympathy and Cevro with anger.
One child, a first year, who was continually late to classes, bumped into Cevro while rushing to his class.
Cevro grabbed the boy's arm. The child looked up at him, surprised.
"Watch where you're going!" he growled. The boy nodded and pulled away from Severus's father.
Children paused in the hallway to look at the man.
He seemed like a snake. A dark, venomous snake, who would kill you at any moment. At the same time he seemed a rose, a feathery, silky being whose purpose was to bring mystery to the world. Red velvet wrapped one when they looked at him. Soft yet deadly.
The children in the hall stopped moving. They stared at him with a sense of wonder. Who was this tall, dark stranger who scared them to their bones while alluring them?
Only three people saw him as the cobra without the rose or velvet. Severus, Albus, and Minerva. Those who had felt his bite.
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Classes were over, but Severus's father was still there. They sat on a bench in t he hallway. Children were peeking their faces from empty classrooms to look at the man.
Why did he catch them in such an enrapturing awe? Even though they knew he was a beast, they could not help but to be lost in his scarlet touch.
Severus stood up silently. A far away look was on his face.
"What are you doing, boy?" His father asked angrily, his face distorted.
"Why do you do the things you do, father?" he finally said. Hogwarts had given him courage.
"What on earth are you talking about, you silly beast?" He tried to be the 'kind father' in the eyes of the people nearby.
"I am not your whipping boy…" Severus whispered.
His father smiled, his dark hair falling in front of his face as he looked down at him.
"Don't be a fool, Severus. Of course you are." He whispered. It was disturbing the way he could say something almost lovingly, and yet it would be so vindictive as that.
"No I'm not!" Severus said.
Cevro placed a hand on Severus's shoulder. His fingers dug into his bone painfully, but one could not tell by looking that the boy was hurting.
"Don't contradict me…" his voice said.
Severus pulled away. He looked up at his father defiantly for the first time in his life. He was in no danger at Hogwarts. And if his father hurt him, he would be convicted. He smiled, his eyes glinting in supremacy. He felt fear trying to claw it's way out from him, but he roped it down. This moment was too good to waste. He couldn't live his life this way. He was stronger, right? No, he was weak. But at least he could have just once, one tiny moment of glory and rebellion. Just once…
"You're nothing, father. You will never be anything. All you are is a weak, cowardly man who can't even treat people like humans. And I am not just an object to take out your emotions on. I am strong, and you are a coward." He said.
Time seemed to slow as the impact of his words hit his father. Severus had never felt so cut in half in his life. Half of him was shrinking, cowering, hiding from the wrath of fury that would be unleashed. The other half was shining in the glory of living out his dream.
Anger twisted in his father's face. A flame grew in his eyes that always did when something truly awful was said to him.
His hand quivered, twitched. He held it, suspended in the air, as if ready to strike. He couldn't control himself.
With a roar, he brought his hand down on his son's face, knocking the boy's head sharply to one side.
The children and teachers nearby turned in horror. Did he just do what the think he did?!
Severus left his head hanging for a moment before lolling it back to stare at his father. Blood smeared from his nose to his chin.
"Now you've done it, father." He whispered. "Never again will I be your whipping boy."
His father slapped him again, oblivious to the people around him. All he could see and feel was white-hot anger, burning into his brain and skull, reducing him to nothing but rage, and the only thing in sight was his son, only one thing he could take his fury out on.
Severus brought his hand to his stinging cheek. Pain was being sent also from his eye, which had been jerked twice now. When he took it away, the thin blood pouring from his mouth and nose was on his hand.
His father was staring at him. He reached out and snatched his father's hand, which was also smeared with his son's blood. He turned it palm up.
"Father. This is their evidence. You will be locked away, far from me, forever away. And this is your conviction. My blood."
His father stared at him in horror. What on earth was Severus talking about?!
Severus didn't really know. All he knew was that he was free. A bird whose clipped feathers had grown back.
Teachers ran up and grabbed Cevro by the arms. They dragged him away, while he stared at his son in shock. What on earth?
Severus turned to the hallway. People had left. It was empty. They were all following his father as he was carried away.
He did not. He walked to his dormitory, to clean up.
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(A/N: Wow. I don't know what this is all about. Could those words really have come from a twelve-year-old boy? I don't know. I hope I'm not finished. I will try to continue it, but this makes a good ending, ya think? However, I really don't want it to end, so lets hope some inspiration sparks!
Be good to your family.)