Chapter 4

Learning Things Unknown

Ron opened his eyes slowly as the room came into focus. The sun was shining in through the dark, torn shades, sending odd shadows across the floor. It had to be at least 8 a.m. by the looks of how bright it was and Ron wasn't quite ready to move. The red head rolled over on to his side and pulled the blankets up over his head. After a few moments of laying there with his eyes shut he realized there was no way he was getting back to sleep. With a rather loud sigh he threw the blankets off him and sat up. He gave a great yawn whilst he stretched then hopped on to his feet and headed out the door. It took him a moment to recall where he was and why he was there. 'That's right!' he thought, 'I'm free!' he pulled the door open quickly and was instantly hit by the scent of food cooking. Oh, he was starving in that moment as he took off down the steps in nothing but his pants and socks.

He flung the kitchen door open and nearly fell over when he saw his potions master sitting at the table with food set out in front of him. Ron had forgotten that part of the previous evening, but it quickly returned to him. "Morning, Professor." He mumbled to the dark haired man that sat there sipping tea from an old looking glass.

Snape looked up slowly from whatever his eyes had been focused on in front of him and smiled faintly. "Morning, Mr. Weasley. Sleep well?"

"Yea, I guess." The Gryffindor dropped himself into a seat on the other side of the table from his teacher and simply stared at him for a moment. "Did you?" It wasn't that he really cared but he figured it would be best to show some manners.

The older man set his cup down and motioned to the food on the table. "Feel free to eat. I didn't make all this for myself." Severus picked up his fork and idly wiggled it between his thumb and forefinger. "I slept as well as I would have anywhere else."

"Him, what time is it anyway?" Ron glanced around for a clock but found none in the small room.

"It's just after 8:30. I figured you would have slept longer since this is your vacation and all." Snape looked up at the boy who was starting to fill his plate with random food that had been prepared. "I should be getting back to the castle but it would be unwise to leave you here alone. I think it would be best if I wrote your parents and let them know where you have run off to."

Ron nearly choked on the piece of toast he had been chewing. "No." He coughed for a few seconds then took a drink of milk. "No, please don't tell them I'm here. They'd probably kill me." The boy took another drink and set the glass down. "I'll be fine on my own. I am 16 you know, and quite able to look after myself."

"Why are you here, Ron? The real reason." Snape ran his finger around the rim of his cup and almost seemed bored now.

The red head finished off the remained of his milk and took a deep breath not raising his eyes from the table. "I'm tired of it. The fighting, the yelling, the worry. Just everything that has been happening since 'he' came back." He sighed slightly and looked up. "But most of all, I'm tired of living with so many people, not having my own room or any privacy at all. Do you have any idea what it's like to have 5 brothers, 1 sister, and 2 parents around you all the time?"

The potions master simply starred in silence at his question uncertain if he really wanted to say what he was thinking or not.

"Well, do you?" Ron repeated just to be sure he was heard.

"No, Mr. Weasley, I do not know. I was an only child and my parents hardly noticed my existence unless they were telling me how worthless I was." Snape pushed his chair back from the table a bit and cleared his plate and glass from the place in front of him. "At least your family would care enough to notice you missing."

It was Ron's turn to be silent. He had never expected to hear anything like that come from his teachers mouth. Ron had never bothered to think that Snape might have had a worse life than he let on. "I'm sorry, Professor." The boy looked down again but only for a moment. "So, what did you do when you couldn't stand it anymore, you family I mean?"

"Nothing." Snape simply replied.

"Nothing, sir? How could you just do nothing about being treated that way?"

The dark haired man leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table then rested his chin in his hands. "What was there I could do? Run away? I had nowhere to go that was any better." He sighed quietly as he folded his arms in front of him. "I wasn't fortunate enough to have many friends, Mr. Weasley."

Ron swallowed the bit of egg he had in his mouth then pushed his plate away. "What about Malfoy's father? Weren't you friends with him?"

Snape laughed slightly. "Would you want to go stay with them?"

"No, sir, probably not."

"Nor would I." Severus stood up and ran his hands over the front of his shirt to straighten it as best he could. "Now, if you need anything I will be in the room I slept in last night. It's not that I want to stay but I can't leave you alone here." With a small nod the man exited the kitchen and headed upstairs, leaving Ron behind to think about what he had just learned...