Eileen took care of the little boy who was clinging to her leg, terrified of what had happened. She picked him up and calmed him down until the tears had stopped. She gave him some water to drink and then talked about sharing and not starting fights, but she knew it was useless. The child was too young to understand that.

After she was sure Severus was doing well — he had resumed playing with his crayons — she went upstairs to check on Tobias.

She opened the door to their bedroom only slightly, to find a snoring Tobias. Quickly, before she accidentally woke him, she closed the door and went back downstairs.

She was very happy about her husband sleeping, because it meant that she didn't have to worry about him for now, and maybe he would even just forget what had happened. If he had been drunk enough...

She returned to where Severus was playing, and smiled to herself as she watched him play, using magic along the way that he wasn't even aware of.

Severus spent the rest of the day by playing with his crayons and by running around the house to get rid of some of that excess energy he had, while Eileen cleaned up after him. 18 month olds made a lot of mess, and she couldn't wait for him to grow up and be old enough to clean up after himself. She was rather tired of having a toddler in the house.

As evening came, she decided to cook a large meal for Tobias, to get on his good side. After this morning, that was best. She hoped Tobias would be calmed down enough to enjoy the meal.

She was certain he couldn't have forgotten about this morning. Yes, she hoped he had, but she doubted it. It was always best to stay realistic rather than hopeful.

As it got time to eat, she helped Severus to the table, and then went upstairs. She gently woke her husband, who seemed to have forgotten all about that morning. Or was it just an act? Whatever it was, he was actually somewhat nice ish to her as she woke him, and actually thanked her for the food when they got downstairs and he saw what she had made.

Severus didn't seem too pleased, however. The toddler wasn't a big eater, and quite picky at that. It wasn't a good moment for him to throw a fit over what they were eating, so she nervously eyed Severus the entire time.

He was picking at his food, and had maybe taken three or four bites when his father finally had enough of it and yanked his plate away from him.

Eileen instinctively moved closer to Severus, in the hope she could help him one way or the other.

"You ungrateful little brat," Tobias said, slamming the plate on the table, nearly breaking it.

"Have you any idea how hard I've been workingto get you that food on that table, to get the clothes on your body?!"

"Tobias," his mother tried to interrupt him. This was supposed to be a nice dinner to calm him down, not a dinner meant to make things worse.

"Quiet, woman! I'm trying to get some sense into this kid!" He stood up anc towered over Severus, who was cowering in his seat. He should've just eaten his food.

Eileen opened her mouth to say something, but then decided against it and hoped the situation would resolve itself.

"You deaf or something?! Answer me, boy!" he shouted and Severus started to cry. Eileen knew that was the end of peace. Tobias hated crying.

Before either of them knew it, Tobias' hand had forcefully connected with Severus' cheek, which only made him cry out louder.

"That's enough, Tobias!" She stood up, too, and grabbed his arm to get him away from Severus.

Tobias wasn't phased, pushed her against the wall, yelling at her to stay out of it before turning back to Severus, picking him from his chair and taking him upstairs.

"If you don't like the food, you're not getting any!"

His father opened the door to Severus' room and threw him in. Severus hid away in the corner of the room as his father approached him, still mad. Where was his mother?

"No son of mine's a cry-baby, understood?"

Severus didn't answer.

His father was angry about him crying but he couldn't stop, the tears just kept coming. He didn't understand what he had done wrong to make his father so mad at him all the time. He closed his eyes as his father came closer, knowing he couldn't do anything to stop it.

But the impact wasn't what he had expected. He felt the sting, but then heard a loud bang and a crash, and cries from his father.

Severus had no idea what was going on and was terrified at what happened: the second his father's hand hit his jaw, his father was sent flying back, crashing into the wall.

Severus still sat in the corner of his bedroom, scared and confused of what had just happened as he heard his father groaning in pain.

But he knew one thing: He had made that happen. He was sure of that. He had wanted it to happen. He had wanted his father to go away, to not hurt him. He hadn't wished exactly for this to happen, but he was still sure it was his doing.

He watched as his father slowly got to his feet, looked at him, and then stomped out of his room.

Severus heard him going downstairs. He heard him yelling at his mother about keeping him in check, about what had happened, about something called magic.

He heard his mother protest that he was only a boy, that he couldn't control it yet and neither could she, that it wasn't his fault. That if his father hadn't scared him, it never would have happened.

There were cries of pain from his mother, next.

He didn't want to listen anymore. He still sat there, in the corner of his bedroom. He couldn't block out the noise, it was too much, too loud. He couldn't help but cry.

But then the sounds ended with the front door slamming shut.

Someone was coming up the stairs. He heard the footsteps. They were gentle. It was his mother.

His door opened and he saw his mother standing there, confirming his thoughts of who was coming up.

The left side of her face was starting to swell, but she had still come to see him. She couldn't just let him up here alone. And Tobias had left for the pub, so now was as good a time as any.

Eileen had to explain this to him, or Severus would never know what had happened. She hadn't expected it to happen at such a young age, and she had planned to have this conversation when he was a lot older, but he deserved to know. And maybe magic was something that could help Severus get through this life.

"Hey," she said, coming into the room. "Do you know what happened?"

Severus shook his head.

She sat down next to him. "You used magic. Do you know what magic is?"

Again, Severus shook his head but this time, he looked up at his mother. He wanted to know what this so-called 'magic' was she was talking about. He had heard them yell about it downstairs, so it must be important.

"There is a whole, entire world out there, hidden from people like your Dad," she said, thinking carefully about what words she'd pick to explain this to him. He was only a toddler, after all.

"Your Dad can't enter that world. It's ours entirely. You see, your Dad's what we call a 'Muggle'. Muggles are people who can't do magic. Most of the people can't. Especially in this town. But we can. I'm a witch, and you're a wizard. And when you turn eleven, you'll get away from here. You'll go to this magical school called Hogwarts, and you'll learn magic. You'll learn how to use it. Like you did when you pushed back your Dad. You do want that, don't you?" she hoped she had explained it well.

She knew he was wise beyond his years, and she wondered if it would cause him trouble later.

Severus was beaming at her. If this 'Magic' had kept his dad away this time, it could surely keep him away other times. And for that, Severus would love to learn it.

"That's what I thought." His mother smiled at his reaction. She couldn't imagine him not wanting to learn how to do what he just did.

"Now, why don't we take a look at that bruise?" she turned his head in her hands and examined his bruised face and cut lip. It looked painful, and it broke her heart to see it. She wished more than anything that she could just magic it away, but she knew she couldn't.

She couldn't do any more magic. Magic would just make it worse, not better.

"You'll be OK," she said. "Let me just get some ice for you and then let's get you ready for bed, eh?"

She went downstairs to get some ice, and then returned to find Severus had fallen asleep.

She took him in her arms and put him in his bed. She put the ice compression on his face, and hoped it wouldn't wake him up. His small body and his brilliant mind had had to endure so much in their short lives...

She stayed with him until she heard the front door again. It was already morning when he returned. But the footsteps up the stairs never came, so Eileen assumed he had passed out on the couch.

It was only when it was time to prepare breakfast that she left her son's side. He would be alright. It was only ten more years he had to go through, and she would do anything in her power to protect him from harm during, and after, these ten hard years of life.