A/N: Do you like the story so far? Do you think I'm going through the years too fast? Or too slow? Please let me know.
The year passed by and every time his mother was gone for work, he would be locked up. But that was about to change. Because today he would start school. Today he was a very big boy.
And so, the five-year-old Severus was busy readying himself for school for the very first time. His father had already left for work a few hours before, and he wouldn't be missed.
His mother hadn't left yet, for she wanted to take him there for his first day. His parents had bought him his school uniform several sizes too big so he could grow in it and they wouldn't have to buy him anything for a couple of years, but Severus was over the moon with his first set of clothes that was his, truly his, and not his parents'. Up until this point he had been wearing old baby clothes from his mother, and far too big adult clothes of his father's.
He proceeded down the stairs and into the dining part of their living room. His mother was eating breakfast.
"Son," she said when she saw him walk in. "Are you ready for school?"
"No," he replied honestly. He was very nervous and wishes he didn't have to go. He wished he could just go back to being locked inside his room while his mother was away, not off to school during those hours.
"Why not? What's wrong?"
"I've never left the house, Mummy. I'm scared. What if I do something wrong? What if I do magic?" his mother had told him over and over again, in preparation for school, that doing so would be breaking the law. If he did make something happen he'd be a criminal. He didn't want to be a criminal!
"Severus... If you do make something happen, if you do use magic, then it'll be okay. It's an accident. Don't worry about that. Everything'll be all right."
"You promise?"
"I promise." She took the last bite of her breakfast and got up. "Get your coat, it's cold out."
She got her own coat as well. She then opened the front door and he saw a road. A cobblestoned road. It was dark – something was casting a shadow over them. He turned to see where it came from and saw a huge chimney towering over the house. He noticed their house was the very last house of the rows. There were rows of brick houses in front of him everywhere.
"That's where your Dad works," his mother said, pointing at the chimney as she saw him look.
"In the steam?" he asked. He couldn't believe his Dad worked in there.
"No, not in the smoke, silly. In the Mill," his mother explained.
That did make more sense.
"Now, come with me. And when you go tomorrow, be careful not to get lost, OK?" Easier said than done, Severus thought as they were walking through a maze of brick houses.
They finally found an end to all the houses and only then Severus felt like he could somehow breathe again. They came by a river, a black and dirty river.
"Just follow the river, son, it'll take you to school. But be wary of the crooks and sideways it has, or you'll end up on the other side of town. And we're not supposed to come on that side of town," she explained.
Severus wanted to ask why not, but stayed silent.
They went through the gates to the school and entered the school ground. Children were skipping and playing and just generally being happy. It was a noisy placs and he felt a little frightened.
"I'm just going to leave you right here, OK?" His mother said, patting his shoulder and walking away, not even waiting for his response. Not that he had expected her to stay, but he hoped she would have at least told him what was expected of him.
So he just stood there, in the middle of the paved school ground. There were children scattered everywhere, yelling and laughing and talking. He didn't know what to do, so he just stood there. More and more children were coming through the gates and crowded with other children.
Then a bell rang. Severus jumped at the sudden silence that followed and saw everyone lined up for the front doors. Severus decided to join them so he wouldn't be the only one standing in the middle of the grounds anymore.
Grownups entered the schoolyard and stood in front of the lined up children. A bald man with a large brown beard, wearing a suit and tie, stepped up. Severus stood near the end of the lines, so he could barely see the people, but he could certainly hear them.
"This schoolyear hasn't even begun yet but still some of you managed to get detention. Smite and Jonson, I'm talking to you. Report to my office after school. For the rest of you, don't repeat their actions. Proceed to your classes."
That was it? That was the announcement? That two people got detention? He didn't know where he was supposed to go but he wasn't the only one, he hoped. This would be the first day for other children as well.
They were the only children left standing. He had been right.
"You must be the new children," a short, thin, young woman said. "My name's Miss Brown and I am your teacher. Come on, follow me." She walked in to the school through the double doors and they followed. They immediately went right and walked through a short hallway and reached a grim looking classroom.
The teacher opened the door and the inside was even worse. Severus didn't like it at all, but there was little he could do about it. At least there was a heater in the classroom. The children hurried to find 'good' seats. Severus wasn't quick enough so he was stuck in the front row.
Miss Brown explained a couple things about school, and what was expected of them, before they got started.
The first thing they were going to do was recite the alphabet. Severus was unprepared for any of this. Most others had already done things like these with their parents, but he hadn't. So when everyone was racing through a maze of letters, he just stood there, uncertain of where to start.
His parents barely interacted with him, and when they did it was because they needed something from him, his father was angry, or his mother had gotten lonely and needed someone to talk to.
"Snape?" Miss Brown spoke, standing right by his table. "Why are you not participating?" The class stopped talking abruptly, and instead giggles erupted from the mouths that had before just recited the alphabet.
"I don't know it…"
"You don't know what?"
"The aphabat?"
"Alphabet. And it's Miss Brown for you." She walked back to her desk. "Again. Slowly this time, so Snape can learn something of this."
"A. B. C. D. E. F. G…" the class started reciting, and Severus tried to follow along with the letters.
After the alphabet they did some maths, and luckily he wasn't the only one struggling with this subject, like he had been with the Alphabet. After that, a bell rang and they all jumped to their feet, scurrying to the classroom door and almost running to the double doors to the school grounds.
Once they had finally escaped the walls of the school for a good half hour, chaos erupted. Children grouped up and went to play pretend or go skipping. But not Severus. Severus was interested in play, but he had never really done any of it before in his life. So he was just standing there, in the middle of the grounds, and was just watching everyone play and have fun.
"You're that kid who doesn't know the Alphabet, aren't you?" A boy then asked. Severus jumped, he had been unaware that someone had approached him. Normally he was quite good at this, but this new environment was too noisy to properly concentrate.
"Er… Yeah, yeah, er, I was. Am. I am. Er, my names Severus." He stuck out his hand but the boy didn't take it.
"That's a funny name!" the boy laughed.
"My name's not funny!"
"Yes, it is! Severus! I've never met anyone called Severusbefore," he continued to laugh.
"Stop laughing at me!" Severus pushed the boy away and he fell on the ground.
"You pushed me!" the boy said, seeming almost shocked.
"You were laughing at me!"
The boy stood up again and pushed Severus. Severus managed to keep on his feet.
The two boys had gathered a crowd of students by now. Two six-year-olds having an argument was apparently a very interesting thing to see for the rest of the class.
That was, though, the exact moment the bell sounded that ended their playtime. They exchanged a couple of glares but then they followed the other children back to their class, and they found their own seats again.
"Have you seen his nose?" he heard the boy behind him whisper. Severus tried to ignore him. Surely they were talking about someone else. They weren't talking about him. His nose wasn't even that big. His Dad's was far larger, more crooked and scary. Like a witch's nose…
No, not like a witch's nose. His mother was a witch and her nose was fine… wasn't it?
"What? Snape's?" another one asked and his heart sank.
Severus wished he could turn invisible. What use were these magical abilities if he couldn't use them to get out of this conversation that was clearly about him?
"Yeah! It's huge!" the first boy chuckled. He felt heat rise to his cheeks as people started to stare at him. He couldn't let people think he was weak, he thought. He could be strong.
"I know! But have you seen his mum?! It's a miracle he's only half as ugly as her!" a girl on the second row giggled.
Why did they have to bring his mum into this? His mum was better than all of them – she was a witch! She could turn them all into frogs or something and they still dared to insult her?
"If we could all be silent," Miss Brown said, eyeing the class as the chatter died down. Severus had never been more grateful for the teacher he had only known a few hours as he was right then, and he paid extra good attention that lesson.