Why have you forsaken me
In your eyes forsaken me
In your thoughts forsaken me
In your heart forsaken me
~*~*~*
Chop Suey! Is © System of a Down
Album: Toxicity
*~*~*~
Two days later, Severus found himself in one of the dungeons yet again. He found it relieving that he couldn't hear the happy voices of the other students eating dinner in the Great Hall. He loved being alone with his thoughts. But right now, he felt in roiling turmoil. He expected a visit from his father any day now…
Needing to read a book, Severus turned and stalked down the hallway to the entrance to the Slytherin commons. Rounding the corner, he suddenly stopped dead… for standing with his back to the wall and hands clasped behind him was Lionis Snape.
Lionis smiled thinly when he saw his son. His black eyes, mirroring the cold depths of Severus's, glittered cruelly.
"Hello, Severus," Lionis said. Severus felt his father's voice sliding through him like ice. "Come. We must talk." The elder Snape held out a hand. Severus moved forward, almost automatically, and felt his father's arm drape about his shoulders. He shuddered, and Lionis smiled more broadly.
Lionis steered Severus up the stairs, past the Great Hall, and outside onto the grounds. The sun was beginning to set in shades of yellow-gold, red and orange, but Severus saw only where he was going. They stopped around the side of Greenhouse Two.
Snape pushed his son's back against the greenhouse wall. Severus knew what was coming, and merely prayed to whatever god might be listening that it would be over quickly. Staring into his father's cold dark eyes, he kept his face completely blank.
"So you think you're too good for Slytherin, eh, boy?" Lionis hissed. He put his hands on the sixth-year's shoulders, pinning him to the glass. "So good, in fact, that now you won't even act appropriately. What do you have to say?"
Severus forced himself to remain calm. He suddenly became aware that he was thin, so thin, and his father so strong.
"ANSWER ME!!" Lionis roared. The palm of his hand connected with the side of his son's face, jerking it sideways. "Why won't you answer me?"
"I don't think I'm too good," Severus spat. "You expect…"
"Don't tell me what I expect, boy!" The older man struck forcefully just under Severus's ribs, making the boy reel and cough. Letting go of his son's shoulders, Lionis sent his fist into the side of his face, sending him crashing to the ground.
He could easily break any bone in my body… Severus's head pounded, and he felt his left eye swelling shut. He forced himself to stare at the ground instead of Lionis's face. He suspected it was turning a sick purple-red, as it usually did when he was angry.
Lionis gripped a handful of Severus's hair, jerking the boy's head upward. Breathing hard, Severus stared into that lean Snape face… and suddenly saw himself reflected there, in darkness that echoed his own. The elder Snape lashed out then, throwing his knee twice into Severus's chest. The boy heard a sickening crack. Burning pain shot through hid body, and if his father had let him go, he surely would have collapsed. Barely able to breathe, now Severus had to fight to hold back tears.
"Get a haircut," his father growled, and let go of Severus's hair. A final kick was delivered to his upper arm, and Lionis Snape swept off across the grounds, leaving behind a weakened shell of a boy who felt nothing but pain, and hatred for his failed father.