Chapter 3:
Pike wanted to rip the stitches out as Lee led him down the hallway
back to the dormitories, they felt as if they had been tied incredibly
tight. "Come on, you need to get some rest." Lee said, his voice barely
above a whisper. Pike looked towards the professor's rooms, and noticed
the doors open, and he knew that Snape awaited him there.
"No, if I don't go now, he will only come after me later. I have to
go." Pike said softly but clearly.
Lee looked as if he was about to stop him but instead only said, "You
really should tell somebody."
"Why? So my father can win? He wants me to be weak, he'd only enjoy
it if I told. I will not be the weak one. I can take it." he looked at
the window as if he really did want to tell, "I've dealt with it my whole
life, I'm used to it." now his voice was barely a whisper. Lee reached out
to grab him but Pike had already started the journey down the hallway,
cursing every step of the way.
Estelle found Lee staring at the fading figure of Pike as he
continued his walk down the hallway. "Where is he going?" she asked.
"He got into some trouble today and..." Lee couldn't finish, what
pike was going through was almost too much, and he could read every bit of
Pike's soul. All he could see in Pike was pain. "Let's go, supper will be
served soon, hopefully he'll be back by then."
Pike walked through the open doors and quietly said "You wanted to see me." his voice was flat. Snape slowly crept in to face his son, and pointing to the chair he said only one word, "Sit." Pike did as he was told, and he sat in the chair, with his eyes closed, waiting for the first hit. When he realized that he was not going to get a beating he opened his eyes to see his father sitting in another chair in front of him, staring him straight in the eyes. This was going to be a very long talk. "You're an idiot. You didn't come to your morning classes, you left, got high, and to top it off got yourself hurt in the process." Snape hissed as if he were some kind of snake, "Why?" he asked glaring at his son. "I don't want to be here, you know that. You've always known that, why do you keep me here? Why? You don't care, you never have." Pikes voice became cold much to his fathers surprise. "You bring me here, and try to make me stay..." he let out a sigh, "You never even cared about me or even acknowledged that I ever existed until I was old enough to attend Hogwarts. Nothing I ever do makes you happy." now Pike was staring at the floor now. "You never treated me like I was your son, only like I was something that was made to make you look good." his voice was barely audible. Snape was surprised, he had never heard his son speak of their relationship as if he even wanted one. "Pike..." he whispered, "In my own way I do care, you're my own flesh and blood, how could I not care? Our family is a wizard family, it's in our blood. Not even you can escape that Pike." he noted the weariness on his son's face. "You're hurt, and your tired, but even I cant lie, you did well today. I want to know what happened?" Snape was surprisingly reassuring, for the first time in years, they were having a normal conversation and not a boxing match. Pike sighed, he was going to have to tell his father everything. "I didn't want to go to my classes, and I didn't go to breakfast either. Madame Pomfrey came and spoke to me after she returned Blaise to her bed, I guess she wasn't feeling well. I don't know. I decided that I needed to go for a walk and got tired and laid down on the hillside, and I felt like something was pulling me to the forbidden forest." Snape's eyes grew wide at his son's words, but he said nothing and let him continue. "Something was trying to draw me in I think, but I told it no whoever, or whatever it was, and that's when the birds came. I did not mean to put you or myself or anyone else in danger, I know I should have just went to class." "Then why didn't you?" Snape calmly asked. "Because I have no interest in wizardry. I don't like magic." Pike said quietly, and Snape was clearly surprised, he had never known that his son had no interest, he though that Pike just hated him. "Pike, next time you may not be so lucky, you could've died today. Next time I will not be so lenient on you, but you have your wounds as your punishment. Now go rest for awhile, I'll come wake you when supper is ready." As pike walked out of the doors Snape let his hands cradle his face, his son didn't hate him after all. He realized what the problem was; Pike didn't feel loved. Snape didn't hear the door close and spoke quietly, "I do love you my son." when he looked over he realized that there was nobody there. Silently he went over to this bed and looked at the picture frame sitting on his nightstand. It was a picture of him and Pike, Pike was only about four years old in the picture, and they were both happy. That was the last time Snape could remember either of them being happy in the same room with each other, and he let out a sigh as he felt like his heart was going to break, "I do love you."
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~
Pike managed to drag himself into the dormitory common room where he had to sit down for a moment on the couch. Everyone had already heard about the attack and what had happened, and Draco Malfoy was the first to speak "Are you okay?" he said with sympathy and concern flowing through his voice openly, Pike had always been his friend. "I'm fine. I just need to lay down for awhile, that's all." Pike managed to get out, he was absolutely exhausted. "Here, let me help." Draco lifted one of Pike's arms around his shoulder for leverage, and one of Draco's cronies rushed to join in, and slowly but surely, they got Pike to his bed, and as soon as his head touched the pillow, he fell asleep. "He's not going to make it to supper." Draco said to the others, "A few of us need to bring him back something to eat for when he wakes up" nobody argued with him. Nobody dared argue with Draco Malfoy, especially when one of his friends was hurt. Draco stared at the bloody bandages on Pike's back and side, he could only look for a few seconds and then he had to leave. As he walked back into the commons room he looked straight at Lee and Estelle, who looked awfully worried. "He'll be fine in a few days, until then he needs someone to bring him his meals and check on him every now and then. I'm sure Madame Pomfrey will be in daily to change the bandages." Draco looked around to make sure that everyone in the room had heard what he said, and afterward supper was called, and the room emptied, leaving Pike alone. Snape Walked towards the Slytherin dormitories and Draco told him that he would bring him a meal when supper was over, and Snape shook his head and led the house of Slytherin toward the great hall for supper.
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~
The great hall was abuzz that night, it had circulated throughout the entire school that Pike had come back to Hogwarts, and been attacked and much more had happened in the past twenty four hours. Now the topic had turned onto why the attack had occurred in the first place. Estelle and Lee both had noticed all of the strange occurrences: Pansy Parkinson acting oddly, more sinister then her usual self, the forest and the attack by the flock of birds, and Millicent's murder. Voldemort was back, no doubt about it, but one question still needed to be answered. Where was he hiding, and what was he planning? The Slytherin table was disturbingly quiet, one of their own, even if he had been gone for so long, was injured. Mostly all of them knew him in one way or another, and nearly all who knew him had once been or still were fond of him. They all agreed that he had an extreme anger management problem and a severe drug problem, but he was after all, a Slytherin. Estelle noticed the unusual worry on Lee's face, "Are you two good friends?" she had to ask it, she had no choice. He looked over "Yes, we met here on our first day. We did everything together, he was my best friend." his voice was very quiet. "What happened?" Estelle got the feeling that she may have been digging too deep, but she needed to know. "Last year he got into one particularly nasty fight with his father, it didn't end well either. For weeks they didn't speak, and one day he just up and left, he left me a note saying what was really going on and why he left. I burned it so Snape wouldn't find it. I haven't heard from him since, until yesterday." Lee let it all out, and quietly told Estelle of the relationship Pike and Snape had. It wasn't a pretty one and a few of the details made Estelle cringe, "Poor Pike." was all she could manage to get out.
Pike walked through the open doors and quietly said "You wanted to see me." his voice was flat. Snape slowly crept in to face his son, and pointing to the chair he said only one word, "Sit." Pike did as he was told, and he sat in the chair, with his eyes closed, waiting for the first hit. When he realized that he was not going to get a beating he opened his eyes to see his father sitting in another chair in front of him, staring him straight in the eyes. This was going to be a very long talk. "You're an idiot. You didn't come to your morning classes, you left, got high, and to top it off got yourself hurt in the process." Snape hissed as if he were some kind of snake, "Why?" he asked glaring at his son. "I don't want to be here, you know that. You've always known that, why do you keep me here? Why? You don't care, you never have." Pikes voice became cold much to his fathers surprise. "You bring me here, and try to make me stay..." he let out a sigh, "You never even cared about me or even acknowledged that I ever existed until I was old enough to attend Hogwarts. Nothing I ever do makes you happy." now Pike was staring at the floor now. "You never treated me like I was your son, only like I was something that was made to make you look good." his voice was barely audible. Snape was surprised, he had never heard his son speak of their relationship as if he even wanted one. "Pike..." he whispered, "In my own way I do care, you're my own flesh and blood, how could I not care? Our family is a wizard family, it's in our blood. Not even you can escape that Pike." he noted the weariness on his son's face. "You're hurt, and your tired, but even I cant lie, you did well today. I want to know what happened?" Snape was surprisingly reassuring, for the first time in years, they were having a normal conversation and not a boxing match. Pike sighed, he was going to have to tell his father everything. "I didn't want to go to my classes, and I didn't go to breakfast either. Madame Pomfrey came and spoke to me after she returned Blaise to her bed, I guess she wasn't feeling well. I don't know. I decided that I needed to go for a walk and got tired and laid down on the hillside, and I felt like something was pulling me to the forbidden forest." Snape's eyes grew wide at his son's words, but he said nothing and let him continue. "Something was trying to draw me in I think, but I told it no whoever, or whatever it was, and that's when the birds came. I did not mean to put you or myself or anyone else in danger, I know I should have just went to class." "Then why didn't you?" Snape calmly asked. "Because I have no interest in wizardry. I don't like magic." Pike said quietly, and Snape was clearly surprised, he had never known that his son had no interest, he though that Pike just hated him. "Pike, next time you may not be so lucky, you could've died today. Next time I will not be so lenient on you, but you have your wounds as your punishment. Now go rest for awhile, I'll come wake you when supper is ready." As pike walked out of the doors Snape let his hands cradle his face, his son didn't hate him after all. He realized what the problem was; Pike didn't feel loved. Snape didn't hear the door close and spoke quietly, "I do love you my son." when he looked over he realized that there was nobody there. Silently he went over to this bed and looked at the picture frame sitting on his nightstand. It was a picture of him and Pike, Pike was only about four years old in the picture, and they were both happy. That was the last time Snape could remember either of them being happy in the same room with each other, and he let out a sigh as he felt like his heart was going to break, "I do love you."
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~
Pike managed to drag himself into the dormitory common room where he had to sit down for a moment on the couch. Everyone had already heard about the attack and what had happened, and Draco Malfoy was the first to speak "Are you okay?" he said with sympathy and concern flowing through his voice openly, Pike had always been his friend. "I'm fine. I just need to lay down for awhile, that's all." Pike managed to get out, he was absolutely exhausted. "Here, let me help." Draco lifted one of Pike's arms around his shoulder for leverage, and one of Draco's cronies rushed to join in, and slowly but surely, they got Pike to his bed, and as soon as his head touched the pillow, he fell asleep. "He's not going to make it to supper." Draco said to the others, "A few of us need to bring him back something to eat for when he wakes up" nobody argued with him. Nobody dared argue with Draco Malfoy, especially when one of his friends was hurt. Draco stared at the bloody bandages on Pike's back and side, he could only look for a few seconds and then he had to leave. As he walked back into the commons room he looked straight at Lee and Estelle, who looked awfully worried. "He'll be fine in a few days, until then he needs someone to bring him his meals and check on him every now and then. I'm sure Madame Pomfrey will be in daily to change the bandages." Draco looked around to make sure that everyone in the room had heard what he said, and afterward supper was called, and the room emptied, leaving Pike alone. Snape Walked towards the Slytherin dormitories and Draco told him that he would bring him a meal when supper was over, and Snape shook his head and led the house of Slytherin toward the great hall for supper.
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~
The great hall was abuzz that night, it had circulated throughout the entire school that Pike had come back to Hogwarts, and been attacked and much more had happened in the past twenty four hours. Now the topic had turned onto why the attack had occurred in the first place. Estelle and Lee both had noticed all of the strange occurrences: Pansy Parkinson acting oddly, more sinister then her usual self, the forest and the attack by the flock of birds, and Millicent's murder. Voldemort was back, no doubt about it, but one question still needed to be answered. Where was he hiding, and what was he planning? The Slytherin table was disturbingly quiet, one of their own, even if he had been gone for so long, was injured. Mostly all of them knew him in one way or another, and nearly all who knew him had once been or still were fond of him. They all agreed that he had an extreme anger management problem and a severe drug problem, but he was after all, a Slytherin. Estelle noticed the unusual worry on Lee's face, "Are you two good friends?" she had to ask it, she had no choice. He looked over "Yes, we met here on our first day. We did everything together, he was my best friend." his voice was very quiet. "What happened?" Estelle got the feeling that she may have been digging too deep, but she needed to know. "Last year he got into one particularly nasty fight with his father, it didn't end well either. For weeks they didn't speak, and one day he just up and left, he left me a note saying what was really going on and why he left. I burned it so Snape wouldn't find it. I haven't heard from him since, until yesterday." Lee let it all out, and quietly told Estelle of the relationship Pike and Snape had. It wasn't a pretty one and a few of the details made Estelle cringe, "Poor Pike." was all she could manage to get out.
