He wandered through the door of his house, and into the kitchen, where his father was staring out the window. "Dad, what if you get caught? What will happen to me?" he asked his father, staring him right in the face.

"Well, you'll live here with Colleen, and she'll take care of you. But Severus, trust me, I will not be caught doing anything," his father told him.



That night was dreadful. Severus was stuck in his house with Colleen and those two filthy little kids, which had been freaking Severus out even more since they had moved in with him. Severus stayed up all night, worried about his father getting caught. He did not want to have to live with Colleen and her two kids for the rest of his miserable life. But his father did not come home that night, as he had feared. The next morning, he rushed downstairs, and awaited the Daily Prophet. There it was on the front page of the Daily Prophet. "Snape and Black Caught in the Ministry!" was the headline. He read through the article, and found the one thing that he did not want to see. "Snape and Black will be held in Azkaban for the rest of their lives." The article read. Severus ran to his room, still clutching the newspaper to his chest.



"Why me? Why do the bad things always happen to me?" he screamed out, jumping onto his bed. "Why?" he asked himself once more, before a knock came at the door.



"What are you screaming about, boy? You're giving me a bloody headache. Shut up, will you." Demanded, rather than asked, Colleen shrieking through Severus's door. Severus rolled his eyes and plopped down onto his bed.



He read the article in the Prophet atleast ten times before everything finally sunk in. His father was in Azkaban, he was never coming home, and Colleen was now able to rule over him totally. She was now his... mother. That thought left a horrible taste in his mouth. As anyone could imagine, this greatly depressed him.



Later that day, Colleen pounded on his door. "Get your lazy arse up and dressed boy, you've got company." She snorted as in disbelief that Severus had any real friends.



"Severus! Oh my goodness, we're so sorry about your father. It must be dreadful." That was the first thing that escaped from Haley as she bustled into Severus's room followed by Jessica who was nodding furiously in agreement.



"It's okay, Haley, but thanks." Was all that Severus mumbled.



"You know, it may have turned out awfully, but it WAS wicked." Jessica grinned mischeviously as she said this.



Severus looked at her with a glint in his eyes and for the first time since he found out the news, he smiled. Once he thought about it, the whole lot of the story made him rather... proud... of his father. Which, this shocked him as well, because he had never thought of attacking the Ministry of Magic as something... good.



Severus, Haley, and Jessica talked for a few hours before the girls had to take their leave. As they left, that feeling of depression seeped back into Severus once again, he was stuck in his house with Colleen and the two tiny freaks.



He frowned and laid down on his bed tucking his hands behind his head and drifted off into a fitful sleep.

December 31st came around, which was his birthday, and he finally turned ten. He would not be having a normal birthday like most kids his age. Neither of his parents were there to celebrate with him. His father in prison, and his mother god-knows-where. Instead, he was stuck in a house with a very mean step-mother, and two whacked-out kids, who kept shooting weird comments about his father at him every time they could.

One thing happened that he did not expect. Three owls arrived at his window, bearing a letter and a package from each. One was from his best friend Haley. She had sent him a letter, wishing him luck with his life, and she sent him a package full of candies and sweets.

The second owl he had never seen before. When he ripped open the letter, he found that it was from Jessica, one of his other friends. She had sent him a very nice letter, wishing him a happy birthday, and commenting on how there was only about nine months left until they would leave for Hogwarts. He could not wait for that day. When he opened the package, he found a book all about the prison of Azkaban. He figured it was probably a nice jesture, and he didn't know much about Azkaban. He thought it might be interesting, so he sat the book aside, and reached for the last letter.

He untied the letter from the owl, which looked vaguely familiar. When he opened the letter, he knew why it was so familiar to him. It was from his mother. She told him that she was with the muggle she had loved before she was forced to marry his father, and she told him that she was not sorry at all about his father going to Azkaban, which made Severus very angry. She also wished him the best of luck in life, wishing him a happy birthday. She sent him a memory book filled with pictures of the two of them together. As he looked through the pictures, he saw there were many scorch marks, no doubt from his mother blasting his father out of the pictures with her wand. He took the memory book and sat it on his desk by his window, not wanting to look at it right then.

Severus re-read all the letters, and nibbled at the sweets from Haley while flipping through the book on Azkaban prison...

...Azkaban Prison is saved for the most ruthless and vile wizards caught by the ministry. Only those guilty of the worse imaginable are sent to this dreadful place...

The first page in the book really shocked Severus. It wasn't very wonderful to be reading that when he knew his father was one of the "most ruthless and vile wizards caught by the ministry." He sat the book aside, not wanting to read anymore that night.

He wasn't tired in the least bit... the sugary snacks had made him hyper. He decided to look at the memory book from his mother. On the first page were him and his mother, and most likely his father, as it had a crisp, burnt side on it. Severus wasn't smiling; he seldom did. Even less so now. His mother was grinning broadly, though. She was looking down at her son with what looked to be pride and utmost love.

A pang of guilt stabbed Severus in the pit of his gut. He remembered the fierce arguement they had had the last time he saw her. He remembered how his temper had rose as he yelled at her and said the most vile things. He remembered her crying and running out of the house. He remembered how her letter had made him feel today.

The guilt was overwhelming. He was surprised at the feeling. He had never felt guilty before; except when his father had yelled at him. Then, it had just been the kind of guilt where you know you've messed up big time. But, this guilt was real, and worse. He belonged in Slytherin after all. From what he had heard, Slytherins seemed to not even have a conscious. He chose to write his mother back. He might not apologize as he didn't really know how to go about it, but he at least wanted to write her. He began his letter.

Dear Mum,

I'm not sure why exactly I'm writing this letter to you. I suppose it's to thank you for the letter and the book. I enjoy it very much. Thank you. I still am not sure totally how you could be happy with a muggle, but if that's your choice, then I guess I shouldn't get so terribly mad about it. That's about all I have to say at the moment.

Love your son,

Severus Snape

He sealed the letter and wrote his mums name on the outside of it. It was then he realized his fathers owl was no longer here. A message it was carrying had been intercepted by the Ministry after his father was caught and the owl hadn't yet returned. Severus fell asleep wondering what to do about his letter. For once, Colleen and the frieky duo were long gone from his memory.

He awoke the next morning, two pairs of eyes staring into his face. "We know what you're thinking," James said. "Dude, get away from me. You're freaking me out," Severus said, sitting straight up. The two kids left the room without saying another word. "What did Colleen do to them that screwed them up so badly?" Severus thought to himself. "Severus! Come down here!" he heard Colleen shout to him. Severus got up out of his bed, threw some of his baggy clothes on, which had been handed down to him from his father, and ran down the steps, into the kitchen, where Colleen was awaiting his arrival.

"Breakfast is ready," Colleen told him sternly. He sat down at the table, and started eating his breakfast which consisted of cold dry cereal. "Not much to be ready," he thought to himself. "I heard that!" Colleen said. "I didn't say anything," Severus said, confused. "Listen up," Colleen said, getting into his face, "I can hear your every thought. There is nothing you can hide." Severus put his spoon down, and walked off to his room. "Great. Just great. Every day, my life gets worse," Severus said.

He saw the letter he had written to his mother still sitting on his desk. Then he got an idea. Didn't Colleen have an owl? He walked out of his room, and into Colleen's bedroom. Sure enough, there was an owl in a cage, in the corner of the room. Severus unlocked the cage, and released the bird. He tied the letter to the leg of the owl. "Take this to my mother," Severus told it. The bird took off, flying out of the window. "Severus! What are you doing in my room?" he heard a voice from behind him say. It was Colleen, and she was looking like the devil himself. Or perhaps, herself.

Severus spun around on his heel extremely fast, and tried to block the empty owl cage. He had very little success with that as he was not able to block the cage completely from view.

"N-nothing, Colleen. I was just... erm... I was just looking for a piece of parchment. I wanted to write my father a letter." He stammered and lied. Colleen stood there in her nightgown from the previous night glaring at him. She didn't believe him for a minute.

"I don't believe you boy. What are you hiding behind your back?" Colleen asked suspiciously.

"Huh? Oh, nothing... I swear! I'm not hiding anything." Severus said, wide-eyed and scared.

"Oh, shut up, boy, and come do the dishes. While you're at it, why don't you cook something for the children and me for lunch," she demanded. She then turned around, her robe twirling behind her, and walked out of the room.

"But, I don't know how to cook," Severus thought to himself before trudging out of Colleen's room and down the stairs to try to cook something easy. He ended up making ham sandwiches, which got a very stern glare from Colleen, but Severus didn't care; he didn't know how to even work the oven much less how to cook something edible.

Later on, he heard a screech from his room and he figured it was Colleen. But, he wasn't sure what all the fuss was about. Turns out, her owl(Nightengale, a brown tawny), hadn't come back in tip top shape. This made Colleen very angry...

"Severus! Get up here!" Colleen shouted down the stairs. Severus ran up the stairs, and into her room. "This came for you!" she said, shoving a letter into his hands. "Now tell me, what happened to my owl?" she asked him, trying to remain calm. "I don't know exactly what happened, but I did sort of...erm...use it to send a letter to...erm...someone," Severus told her, very nervously. "Go to your room right now! Don't ever use my owl without permission ever again!" Colleen yelled.

Severus wandered off to his room, and sat down on his bed, still clutching the letter. He sat on his bed thinking about how much trouble he was in. Then he remembered that he was still holding the letter from his mother in his hands. He ripped it open, and read it to himself.

Severus~

I'm sure you'll enjoy the book. Loving a muggle is not that bad! I love him so much, and I never felt this way with your father. Your father would have never approved of me doing this, and I know that you probably will not either, but to tell you the truth, I don't really care.

~Mercedes Weathersworth

He took the note, and shoved it in a box under his bed, where he had been keeping all of his old notes from previous times. He laid back on his bed that night, thinking about what his mom had said. "She has to be going insane. How could she marry a muggle?" Severus thought. He really had no idea how his mom could feel that way. She had definately changed since when she had still been living with his father.

Severus woke up the next morning on the floor. His back and right arm were hurting something fierce and he guessed he had fell out of bed. He remembered having a rather disturbing dream about Emily and James, but couldn't remember what had happened.

He picked himself up off the floor, dressed, and went downstairs to eat whatever he could find for breakfast. Emily and James were sitting at the table eating bowls of cereal, or at least trying to eat whilst they stared off into space. Severus rolled his eyes and went to poor himself a bowl. He dropped the box of offbrand cereal when he heard a blood-curdling scream from Colleen's room.

"AAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Screamed Colleen over and over again. Severus, curious as to the cause of the uproar, trampled up the stairs with Emily and James close behind.

He turned into the doorway of her room and saw Colleen on the ground clutching a very stiff looking owl.

"What happened Colleen?" Severus asked in a nonchalant voice.

"You killed Nightengale! You killed her!" Colleen screamed standing up and walking brisquely over towards him. She slapped him hard in the face. Severus put up and hand to his bleeding lip and glowered at her. He looked past her, on the bed at Nightengale.

"I didn't kill her. All's I did was send her on an errand. How do you suppose I killed her?" Severus asked defiantly.

Nightengale's right wing was in a bandage as was her neck. The white bandage had turned crimson with the tiny birds blood. Severus assumed that Nightengale had bled to death. At the risk of being slapped again, Severus slowly backed out of the doorway and walked back towards his room, forgetting all about breakfast. Emily and James followed suit. They had a secret about Severus and they wanted to share it.

He entered his bedroom, and sat down at his desk. He was surprised when the two freaks walked into the room. "You killed the bird," Emily said, her bloodshot eyes staring at him.

"What did you say?" Severus asked.

"You killed the bird," James repeated.

"No I didn't," Severus told them, his face contorted in disbelief.

"Yes you did Severus. We saw you," James replied, his voice sounding very weird.

"You couldn't have, because I didn't kill her," Severus persisted.

"Severus, you do things in your sleep," Emily replied.

"No I don't" Severus said, he was now laughing very hard.

"We thought you'd say that, so we came prepared," James said. He did something weird with his hands, and it showed Severus killing the bird, wringing its neck, and cutting its wing.

"But I didn't do that!" exclaimed Severus.

"Try telling that to mother. We already showed her," Emily told him before walking out of the room with James.

"But I didn't," he thought to himself, he was nearly on the verge of crying. "How could I have done this?" he asked himself, "I wasn't even out of my room!" But then a thought occurred to him. He had awoken on the floor, could that have been because he was out that night? How did the two kids make such a video type thing? There was only one explanation. Somebody must have been controlling him using the Imperius Curse. He wouldn't have done that on his own. Maybe it was his mother, trying to get back at his father, by killing Colleen's owl. It was a thought. Or maybe the kids were just trying to make it look like it was Severus, when in reality it was them. He didn't know how he was going to explain these things to Colleen, but he had better think of a plan fast, as she was walking towards his door at that very moment.

Colleen flounced into his room and leaned on the door frame. She had a twisted smile on her face, and Emily and James were right behind her.

"So, my little angels-" Severus snorted at this, "Told me, or rather, showed me, what really happened last night. I thought you said you didn't kill Nightengale. So, now you're a liar and a murderer, is it?" Colleen asked accusingly.

"No! I did no such thing. I was asleep all last night. Besides, how do you know it wasn't those two little freaks of yours that did it, and now are blaming it on me?" Severus was standing right in front of her, with a crazy glint in his eyes. Colleen raised her hand as if to slap him and then thought better of it. Instead she bent down slightly to be eye level with him.

"Severus," she hissed, "If you ever, and I mean ever come around my room, or my children again, so help me, you will know that day as the worst day of your life." And with that, she spun around sharply and left Severus to his thoughts, her children following close behind.

Severus backed away from his door enough to slam it hard, then dropped onto his bed. He was as puzzled as anybody else. He knew something of what the muggles called "Sleepwalking" but was pretty sure that he wasn't doing that. His mother really wouldn' put a curse on him, would she? Especially one of the three unforgiveable curses that were illegal by the ministry. The little brats, even if they did do it, would never be accused of it. Severus didn't know what to do. He stayed in his room all that day trying to sort the whole mess out, and stayed up til late in the night, thinking of possible ways of getting revenge on those two little freaks who were making his life miserable, without getting caught doing so.

One morning, a week later, Severus woke up chuckling at the marvelous idea of getting revenge. It was something childish, in nature, but considering he was battling a six and seven year old, it would do.

He rolled out of bed and pulled on his clothes and strolled downstairs for breakfast. He had snuck into Colleen's room earlier that day and borrowed her wand without permission, of course.

He had read up on some spells out of massive books in his fathers library. One book particularly caught his interest. It was A Jinxing How-To for Young Witches and Wizards Alike, by Marley Mayhem.

He had found several interesting spells that would get Emily and James in a lot of trouble with Colleen, which was all Severus wanted to do, really. Just give them a taste of Colleen's wrath.

He had Colleen's wand tucked in his sleeve and he looked nonchalant as he sat down to eat his bowl of soggy cereal. Emily and James were already seated and staring off into space. "Perfect," Severus thought.

The first spell wasn't that hard; it didn't do much damage at all. It just taught a young, magic-filled mind how to conjure a, what a muggle called, whoopee cushion. Emily stood up first, and Severus didn't waste a moment.

"Fakeium Odormay," he muttered, pointing to Emily's chair. Emily sat down, and anyone can guess what happened. Her face had a look of horror and humiliation on it. She stood up quickly and saw the whoopee cushion. James, being one to play pranks himself, had just been trying to tickle Emily and so his hand being so close to her chair, as it was, made it look conspicuously as if he had placed the whoopee cushion there.

Colleen, who had been standing at the sink, heard the sound and came rushing over. She looked at Emily's red face, then at James's outstretched hand, then she looked at Severus, who had his head down eating his cereal. For once in his young life, Severus found himself not being blamed. She turned away from glowering at his back and looked at James demanding what happened. James was still frozen. Colleen took his silence for an apparent confession of some sort and marched him up to his room where he spent the rest of the day sulking. Little did they know, that Severus was no where near done yet. He still had a long ways to go and a lot of tricks, along with Colleen's wand, up his sleeve. His next trick wouldn't be nearly as innocent as his first.