They arrived in some wood, not too far from St Anton School for boys.

'Do you have everything?'

'Yes'

'Your emergency bag, with your cloak, your wand and the books?' The had used the Doubling Charm on all the books that Sebastian managed to copy so they could each have one copy.

'Yes'

'Do you remember our plan for next summer?'

'Yes, I am not stupid, you know' said Sebastian angrily.

Severus said nothing. He wanted nothing more than to teach him a lesson, but he had no idea how to do that. There was no house point or detention system, and he never had to parent a moody teenager before.

The whole summer had been stressful, between Sebastian's change and Wormtail's nearly constant surveillance. But the last week had been the worst.

After Wormtail's departure, Severus had thought that he would be able to share some time with his brother. He had wanted to take the boy sight-seeing for just a few days before having to go to muggle school, but Sebastian's behavior had quickly cancelled that plan. How could he be so happy and helpful one moment, and all brooding and angry the very next? It just didn't make much sense in Severus' opinion. Yes, he was a teenager, but he did not remember himself being so unbearable was he was younger. He also didn't have his life turned upside down in two months.

He was beginning to like the young man and it made him sad that his brother wouldn't talk much to him. So instead of enjoying this last week, they spent it at home. Sebastian was off most of the days and Severus was traveling in every muggle place he could remember to visit their local Tourism Office.

If his suspicions were correct about Drago Malfoy's mission, and if he had to help him, he had to prepare. His home may be searched of put under surveillance and he needed to make sure that both Sebastian and he had a place to live if it was the case. So, he went to Wizarding Supplies in Knockturn Alley and bought two connected mirrors, and two magical tents. One small for Sebastian only, and a slightly larger on that they would use if they were hiding together. He also bought another pouch with an extending charm on it. With the one he already owned; he would be able to make two emergency bags.

During the days that followed, he spent his time in muggle camping shops and Tourism Office. By the day they had to leave their house, he had two bags ready. Each of them contained a magical tent, some camping gear, long conservation food, and a journal where all the camping sites he had found were listed. It was enough to live under the radar for a while. They also put their most precious belongings in the bags. Severus kept the Tales of Beedle the Bard and the Horcrux book, and Sebastian took his cloak and wand. They made sure the streetlamp couldn't be fixed by the muggles working in the town and left their home together.

And now, in those woods, feet stuck in the mud, Severus' heart was aching. The boy that he had Vow to protect since he was an infant, that he had learned to appreciate and care for as his brother, wouldn't talk to him at all. He had done so much for him, and instead of the gratitude that he used to receive from Sebastian, he was now facing wall. He had been wrong to call Harry Potter an ingrateful brat, Sebastian Snape was.

Although Severus was angry with Sebastian's behavior, he couldn't stop caring for the boy, so he took a deep breath and swallowed the acidic comment he wanted to say.

'I just want to make sure that you won't miss anything,' said Severus.

'I will miss something' started Sebastian angrily. Then he turned toward Severus with teary eyes and hugged him. 'You'

His arms full, Severus had the awful filling of dealing with a pregnant woman. What was he supposed to do now? One minute, he had an angry teenager lashing out at him for nothing, and the next, he was all clingy and cuddly. He could pin-point the change of behavior to the moment they discovered about their mother love story. He could understand, of course, but that didn't mean that he was qualified to deal with that!

With a sigh, Severus let Sebastian hug him for a few minutes before they parted.

'You have the Two-Way mirror I gave you. You can talk to me in the evening.'

'Once you are done with your detentions, right?'

'Yes', said Severus with the half-smile only his little brother could pull out of him. He knew him well by now.

There was a short awkward silent.

'You should go. You are going to be late for the welcoming meeting.'

'Yeah… See you on the mirror, Sev', said Sebastian before walking in the school direction.

'Stay safe!' shouted Severus.

'I will try my best!' Sebastian was waving at him and Severus, not being comfortable with endless goodbyes, chose to leave by Apparating to Hogsmead.

SEPTEMBER

Severus was tired. Dumbledore was keeping him up late to show him memories of his father's life. He was missing a big chunk of it but, from what he could see, the man didn't have a happy childhood and had a different scope of emotions than regular people.

With all those nights spent in the headmaster's office, he barely had a chance to speak with Sebastian. Only twice in a month, in fact. But he knew that the boy should be fine, he had no trouble getting friends when he first arrived in Hogwarts so he should have a nice crowd of fellow students around him by now.

Meanwhile, he still didn't have any certainty concerning the mission Draco Malfoy was given by Voldemort. He was still trying to help the young man but had no breakthrough so far.

He was exhausted by all those children around him and missing the quiet of his house dearly. He looked at the mirror before falling asleep. Still empty, but that was to expect considering in was two o'clock in the morning.

Sebastian had a hard time to adjust in his new school. For starters, people were not sorted into houses by a talking hat, they were sorted in community houses depending on their age group. The rest of his daily routine was similar, except that there was no magic. Despite his studying of the summer, he still had difficulties with almost every subject. He felt like he was missing basic key concepts that he just never learned. He also didn't know anything in music and couldn't play an instrument, which was a requirement here. During mealtimes, he couldn't understand some basic muggle trivia and jokes. He had the worst time of his life when the school science teacher made his sexual education class.

That was simply not talked about at all in Hogwarts and, apparently, students here have been having this class every year since they were 12 years old. Fortunately, it was just one afternoon, but most of the guys found that his embarrassment was funny. Why did no one teach him anything about that stuff at Hogwarts?

As a result, the others in his class were mocking him, thinking he had been kicked out of his previous school because he was too stupid. And he couldn't tell a word to defend himself.

After a few weeks, he heard one too many provocations and lashed out. The guy didn't say anything particularly awful, but it was the accumulation of mockeries that Sebastian just couldn't take in anymore. That was the first time he ended up in the school counselor's office. During the whole meeting, he simply refused to talk, letting him scold him for his behavior. A letter would be sent to Severus which, Sebastian knew he wouldn't read until next July, because it was sent to their muggle address in Cokeworth.

Sebastian had found relief in beating up this guy. For a blissful moment, all his anger against himself, the wizarding war, Voldemort, and life in general, all of that finally had a way to get out of him. He only felt started to feel bad about it during the following night. It wasn't like him. Or rather, he didn't want to be that kind of man. A man just like his father. All of them. James was a bully; Tobias was a drunk who beat up his family and Voldemort… No, he didn't want to be like them.

So, he went back to the counselor's office first thing the next morning and did what Severus had taught him to do. He talked. He talked about the jokes the others were making on him, he said he had a difficult family situation and had difficulties to deal with it but also couldn't talk about it. Telling Katy had been a risk, he couldn't afford to be interrogated by the police on his supposedly Nazi father.

'Mr Snape, I understand your need for privacy, but bullying is not permitted, on way or the other', said Mr Maddox, the school's counsellor. 'It only leads the reprisal and more violence.'

'I am sorry, I know I shouldn't have hurt Jeremy,' said Sebastian.

'It's not only that. Why did you think you had to deal with that by yourself? Why didn't you try to talk to me before?'.

Sebastian though about it and concluded that it was because he had always done it that way. Dudley's bullying had never been punished. At school, adults would turn a blind eye, believing the lies of his aunt, and at home, it was like Uncle Vernon encouraged it. And at Hogwarts… The more Sebastian was thinking about it, the more he realized that it was the same. Teachers were biased by the House system, they favored students over others, and no one really tried to stop the inter-house fighting, even when it was much more than healthy rivalry. Severus' story with James, and then his own with Malfoy were a testament of that.

From that day forward, teachers, surveillants and even the super intendant stopped the jokes whenever they heard one. That, plus poor Jeremy's wounds, helped to stop all the mockery. Sebastian went to him and apologized, told him how sorry he was that he lashed out on him so badly. In the end, they would never be friends, but they could live in the same house, and that's what mattered for Sebastian. But he was still terribly lonely, having now the reputation of being a stupid and violent man.

He had tried to call Severus every other night, but his brother was never in front of his mirror. All he could see was an empty bed in a dark bedroom. Maybe Severus didn't want to speak with him after all. Maybe he was happy to have a break from the troublemaker that he was. He had managed to talk to him twice, but never found the courage to tell him what he felt. Instead, he was feeding him lies of imaginary friends.

OCTOBER

Not much had changed for Severus until October 12th. The day Miss Katie Bell had been cursed by a necklace she wanted to deliver to someone. Considering the curse, Severus now knew exactly what Draco Malfoy's mission was. On top on that, the blond kept disappearing to some unknown location. He was preparing something bigger than Dumbledore's assassination. His mission was the combination of the two things Voldemort wanted: Take control of the school and kill Dumbledore. He hated that a child was put in that situation, and even more that he had to take part in it. Damn Unbreakable Vow!

From that day, he tried harder to get the boy to let him help. It was just too big of a mission for an untrained wizard. He was doomed to fail, and Severus suspected that it was exactly Voldemort's plan. Let the boy fail to further humiliate the family. Lucius Malfoy's position in high social circle had been a threat to the Dark Lord when he first came back to life. But after the Malfoy patriarch's trip to Azkaban, it was just spiteful. Unless he wasn't aware of another reason Voldemort could have to seek revenge on the Malfoy family. How the mighty have fallen.

He managed to talk to Sebastian a few more times over the month but something was off in their conversation. He couldn't quite figure out what.

In his school, Sebastian was still very lonely. He had managed to befriend the other outcast of their house. A guy named Bryan. They didn't talk much, except about school, but it was nice to have someone around to do homework and play cards.

Sebastian was still trying to catch up on all the muggle knowledge that he didn't have, and Bryan was a great help for that. He also tried to learn an instrument; he wasn't very good at that. Violin was not an option for him as even the teacher had his ears ringing for hours after he tried to play. The choir was also not a good fit as he couldn't sing the difficult pieces they were working on. The music teacher came to his help by offering piano lessons. The instrument was easy enough that a total beginner could learn basic musical notions with it. He also took him in private session so that he wouldn't feel any pression from his peers. The goal of the lessons was to give him a musical education, not to make him the next Mozart!

But Sebastian still had that rage against the Fates inside of him that he just could handle. Reports of muggles disappearing were also starting to get on the news, as well as mysterious gas explosions. He felt so bad for abandoning these people to their fates, and only to become the son of this monster. His anger was slowly turning to a raging fire, and he started to take it out on people. He was talking back to his teachers, earning detentions every evening, he was punching trees and walls, earning trips to the infirmary to heal his wounded hands.

As the days passed, his wounds became so bad, he started to have difficulties to write, and he had to stop his music lessons.

Voldemort was happy. He had worked for months to achieve this result. He had to re-do his calculations several times, but the ritual was finally ready! Everything was set around him. He had to choose a place that would mean something to him but was not related to his family. If their souls still lingered, they could try to pull him into death during his weakest moment, and he wouldn't take that risk. He had settled for the first time he and his Death Eaters had raided a muggle village. Everyone had been taken by surprise and they had met no resistance from the Ministry or Dumbledore. A perfect victory. So here he was now, in the middle of a nearby field. He had removed three circles of crops, communicating by narrow corridors. Herbs and candles safely arranged in the middle one to from a pentacle, where he stood. Nagini was in the circle in his left, to call and bringing back his past Horcruxes. The circle in his right was covered with a white fabric, symbol of the purity of his new soul. He looked at his beloved snake for her signal. She knew she may not survive to ritual, but she was ready to make the ultimate sacrifice for him. And she was also very tired of not being able to communicate with anyone but Tom. She felt alone.

She gave her the signal.

Voldemort started to light the candles, one by one, while chanting an old pagan prayer to the Earth. May She keep him among the living. He took a bungle of sage and light it, letting the purifying smoke surround him. He sat on the ground and waited until he was calm enough to begin.

When he started chanting a hymn of reunification, a small breeze began to cross the field, slightly moving the rosemary than was scattered around him. The more he sang, the more the breeze became a wind, until he found himself in the eye of a mini cyclone.

As he sang the last note of the hymn, he realized that his couldn't take his breath. It was working. He was now in the hands of Earth and Magic, stuck in a nearly dying state until his soul was complete, however long it would take. And it took a long time.

The first soul piece he felt coming back to him was the one hosted by Nagini, as she was the closest to him. He knew it because he had the vision, a flash of himself, through her eye. He knew it was in the past because he was in his pre-rebirth form. He then had a vision of a small rabbit, just before he/Nagini swallowed it.

The second piece of his soul to come back to him had been stored in a very dusty and messy place. A huge room with all sorts of things. Ravenclaw's tiara? He thought this one had been destroyed by Potter. There wasn't much to see with this one, so the vision of the Room of Requirements simply lasted for a little longer.

The third piece of soul was Hufflepuff's cup. All he could see was gold. Bellatrix must have stage the cup on a higher shelf because he now had a good idea of the Lestrange family's wealth. Voldemort thought, with some relief that the ritual of re-unification would now stop. He knew that his night was far from finished. He would then need to find Wormtail to kill him and create the new Horcruxe. But he was surprised a second time this evening, because he was kept in his near-dying state, waiting for another piece of soul.

The fourth piece of soul was unknown to him. He saw a fat kid eating chocolate and laughing in a first vision and then it just went dark. He could only hear muffled voices. That was something very unexpected. Somehow, one of his Horcruxes made it out of its hiding place. Which one, he didn't know, but considering the point of view, he was ready to bet that it was Slytherin's locket. That sneaky Regulus had stolen the locket to give him to someone. And he had believed that it had been destroyed.

He was waiting to be released from the ritual when the next piece of soul came to him. It shouldn't be possible. He counted again. Himself, Nagini, Ravenclaw's diadem, Hufflepuff's cup, Slytherin's locket, and he knew that both his diary and the Gaunt's ring were destroyed. That made seven. So why was he locking at an elf in a dilapidated living room? And he was sure he felt Potter kill one of his Horcruxes. Did he make nine by accident? Was it even possible to make a Horcrux by accident? How many did he make in total? He didn't think that he would be able to hold much longer in that near-death experience.

But, fortunately for Voldemort, this was the last Horcrux that came back to him. The wind that was still raging around him blew the candles, then suddenly stopped. Voldemort took a few breaths, trying to calm his heart. He had been a fool. He still had five Horcruxes before the ritual and now he had none. Some of them were still secured, but other were lost to him. And more importantly, he had made an extra one at some point in his life.

He turned his attention to Nagini but only saw a pile of ashes. She had given her life for this ritual. In the end, it had been useless as he was safer than he thought. But the visions were very interesting.

Apparently, the Horcruxes that were left in storage, like the cup, didn't change. But the ones that were out have learned and evolved! After that vision of Nagini, he was pretty sure that if he were to change into a snake, he would know how to move the two sets of jaws to make the rabbit go into the digestive system. And that was a skill he was sure he never learned in his life! Somehow, he could learn from his Horcruxes' experiences!

He couldn't wait to see what his little Horcruxes have learned.

NOVEMBER

Ashes. Somehow, the book had been destroyed and all that was left were ashes. Severus knew that no one had entered his office without him. Something must have happened.

Another mystery that would have to wait. Dumbledore had been making him visit the entire Britain with his obsession. Finding Voldemort's Horcruxes was the only thing that the old man was doing. The school was run by Minerva and Severus had no idea who was taking care of the headmaster's other responsibilities.

The worst part in Severus' opinion was that he had been tasked with the research of a cliff based on an old photograph. In essence, he had to walk the entire coast of Britain to find that cliff. He did a little guess based on other memories and started with the southern half of the country, but it was still too long. And cold.

Sebastian was failing his classes and he knew it. Bryan was a great help in History, English literature, and Economic classes, but he was failing the rest. He had to take a foreign language class; he should have chosen something else because French was hard to learn. He had to stop his music classes because of the injuries on his hands. He knew he should stop punching walls, but he really didn't know how to let go of all the emotional built-up he had inside of him. And he was regularly thrown out of his sports class for being too violent in the games, and dangerous for other players.

So, Sebastian knew that he was failing some of his classes. As he was just average in all the others, he was sure that he wouldn't pass his end-of-year exams. But he still tried to do his best and work hard, if only because of Severus. The man had worked hard to give him this chance, he should make the most of it.

Voldemort was crying. He came back to the manor after the ritual, intending to kill Wormtail to make his last Horcrux. But as he walked back to his quarters, he looked behind him, expecting to see the silent form of his faithful Nagini on the floor, following him. But there was nothing behind him. That was the first time it happened. This wave of sadness. This was the reason why I didn't want anyone in his life anymore. The loss, or the betrayal, was too hard to stomach. Nagini's loss reminded him of Eileen's betrayal, leaving him for a low-life muggle.

Exhausted, he went to bed before making his Horcrux as he intended to.

It was a week ago.

He still hadn't done it.

He wanted to but, every time he was about to call the rat, he could feel a ball of guilt in his guts. It took him a few more days to understand that his past Horcruxes didn't only bring knowledge with them. They were changing him.

He was now craving his meat uncooked, from the Horcrux in Nagini. He had an aversion for dust, surely from the one trapped in the dirty living-room. The diadem and the cup could also have brought this aversion.

But the sadness and guilt didn't come from them. It was from the one that gave him visions of children. The child wearing the locket must have had a hard life. From what the visions let him see, there was a lot of chores and bullying. He had only just started to get visions from the child in Hogwarts. Those were much happier. From what he could see, the child was in Gryffindor. It was strange to think that Regulus would have given his locket to a Gryffindor child, and even more that his comrades had let him wear a so obviously Slytherin pendant. Maybe Hogwarts was more tolerant and united now than what it used to be.

Not knowing how to deal with those foreign emotions, Voldemort was crying. A lot. Something he hadn't done in a very long time.

DECEMBER

He had tried again and again to help the teen, but Malfoy still refused to let him help. It was frustrating. This ungrateful brat knew that he was under an Unbreakable Vow to help him but still refused to share his plans.

Severus grabbed his muggle coat and walked out of his apartments. Today was the day family could come and visit the children in St Anton. Severus haven't talked with Sebastian in a while and was glad to be able to visit the teen in his new environment.

He spelled his coat to stay warm when he passed the main doors of the school and headed outside. He took the same road he would if he were going to Hogsmeade, but Apparated to the woods surrounding the school just before reaching the wizarding village.

The building in front of him was beautiful. It had been the home of a religious community before being sold to make a school. Several newer buildings were hosting the children in age groups. Severus went in the oldest building, expecting that the parents would be seeing their children in the community hall. This was where the brothers, and now the students, took their meals.

Surrounded by all those rich and weeping mothers, Severus didn't feel like he belonged. He was looking around him, trying to spot his brother. It had been so long. He still had a hard time to believe that he missed the teenager.

'Mr Snape?'

Severus turned toward the voice and recognized Mr Pike, the principal of the school.

'Mr Maddox, how are you doing?'

'I am doing well, thank you. I was hoping to see you today. Would it be possible to speak with you a moment in my office?'

'Of course.'

Severus followed the short man. They stopped a few times as Mr Pike was talking to different member of the staff. A taller man soon joined them. Both were wearing fitting black suits. While Mr Pike, the principal, had a nice and inviting facial expression, the other one seemed to be much less fun to the student. Something he could relate to, as he himself wasn't the nicest teacher around.

They soon entered in the office where Severus had met with the principal to enroll Sebastian during the summer.

It was empty of any unnecessary décor. The walls were painted in a dark red color and the only furniture were, the desk, chairs and a filing cabinet in a corner.

Severus took a seat and waited. Mr Pike took his seat on the other side of the desk, while the tall man sat on the remining chair.

'Mr Snape, this is Mr Maddox, the school's counsellor.'

'Nice to meet you, Mr Maddox. Is there a problem?'

'Well, we though we should talk with you about young Sebastian's behavior.' Started Mr Pike.

'I don't understand.' Severus didn't like it one second. He wasn't used to be on this side of desk. He usually was the one informing parents of their child misbehaving and scolding them all for that.

'Sebastian is having trouble to adjust to this school. Do you know of anything that could be disturbing him? At home, for example?' Mr Maddox still remembered when Sebastian came in his office in September and shared his difficulties with him. He had been very vocal at that time on the jokes people made on him because he wasn't doing well in his studies, but he had also hinted that something was wrong at home. He didn't say enough to make any sense, but maybe the brother would be able to explain.

'Trouble? At home?' Severus had rarely been this lost in his life.

'Yes, Mr Snape. We have already sent you several letters concerning your brother's behavior. All of them were unanswered, which is why we were hoping to see you today.'

'I… I don't check my mail during the school year. I am a teacher in a boarding school and never go home, expect for the summer.'

'Then why didn't you enroll your brother in the same school?' asked Mr Pike, bothered by the report of "Difficulties at home" that was in the boy's file.

'He… It's a school for gifted children and… Sebastian cannot attend', said Severus.

'Because he has difficulties to learn?', asked Mr Maddox. He hated it when relatives bullied children into thinking they were stupid. He had seen that a handful of time in his carrier and couldn't stand it. He was honestly hoping that this was not the case here.

'No! No, in fact, I don't understand why you are saying that. He has never been a stellar student, but he is more than average when he applies himself to his studies', even Severus had to admit that this was true. Harry Potter had never been a bad student. Maybe they didn't work enough on his muggle studies during the summer?

He heard Mr Maddox sigh in relief.

'I think we should give Mr Snape the full picture, don't you agree?' said Mr Pike, looking at the counsellor, clearly expecting him to do the hard work of telling the bad news.

'Mr Snape, when your brother arrived here in September, the educational team quickly saw that he was far below the required level. The teachers have helped as much as they could, but he is yet to catch up his peers in several subjects. On top of that, Sebastian has violent behaviors. He had sent one of the other students in the infirmary and had been seen punching school properties several times. There was no damage, luckily, but we cannot let him continue. He is hurting himself, Mr Snape, and this is starting to have serious consequences. He also had to repeatedly miss physical education classes because of his violent behavior. He was endangering his classmates.'

'I hope you realize, Mr Snape, that if Sebastian continues on this path, we will have to put him on probation', said Mr Pike, trying to stress the seriousness of the situation to Severus.

'Mr Snape, in September, Sebastian came to see me and seemed to be troubles with something that happened at home. Are you sure there is nothing that could explain this behavior?' asked Mr Maddox.

Severus looked at the tall man. He looked like he really cared about the children.

'Sebastian lost someone he really cared about in June. This is part of the reason why he changed school. He also learned some distressing news during the summer. This was… well, it was life changing, to say the least. He seemed to be fine, but… '

'Loss is sometimes a trigger for teenagers' said Mr Pike. 'We will keep an eye on him, Mr Snape. Please, talk to your brother about his behavior. Maybe Mr Maddox here could offer some private counselling to help him heal?'

'I would be happy to help, sir.'

Severus didn't like that. Counselling? As in, "tell me everything about you"? Maybe Sebastian needed that, but there were so many things that he wouldn't be able to say.

'I will talk to him', said Severus.

The conversation ended after a few pleasantries and Severus was escorted back to the community hall to meet with his brother.

'Sev!'

Severus turned just in time to catch the teenager. The previous conversation was still ringing in his ears. He wanted to scold Sebastian and tell him to pick himself up, but the past summer had proved him that if he wanted any result with him, he had to be more patient than that.

So, he did the next best thing and simply hugged him. Seeing the smile on Sebastian's face when they parted comforted him in his decision. He would lead the boy to where he wanted him in a much more Slytherin way than just yelling at him.

'Sebastian, it is good to see you again. Did you miss me so much that you needed to hug me in public?'

Sebastian's cheeks were tinted in a slightly rosier color.

'Sorry' He was about to step away to put more distance between them when Severus grabbed him and imprisoned him in another hug.

With a sigh of relief, Sebastian looked up to his brother, his smile back on his face.

'We need to talk Sebastian.'

'Did something happen?' Sebastian was following the muggle news but there was no indication that Voldemort did anything major. Yet, he was worried.

'Depends. I just had a conversation with Mr Pike and Mr Maddox. Do you have anything you would like to say?'

Sebastian suddenly found his shoes to be the most interesting thing in the room.

'Let's go outside to talk', said Severus. They would need more privacy for this conversation.

'I thought you wouldn't come', said Sebastian while walking.

'I wouldn't have missed coming to see you. My classes are very dull without your insolent comments.'

'How are the other Gryffindors?'

'They… They are doing well. The beginning of the year was harder. Dumbledore had to alert the Aurors that you were missing. Since Harry Potter didn't show up, he had to report that, and the Department is conducting inquiries. For now, everything is going as planned. Your friends were… worried. But they are closer than ever, and they seem to handle it well. I think they still have the hope that Dumbledore will eventually find Harry potter', Severus looked at Sebastian. 'Are you alright?'

'Yeah. I just miss them a lot. I feel lonely here.'

'I heard that you don't really have the friendliest attitude.'

'No', said Sebastian, ashamed.

They stopped walking and sat in the old cloister.

'Do you want to tell me what is bothering you?' Severus couldn't believe that he had to go through that. If anyone knew how the fearsome Potion Master turned to a Hufflepuff with his brother, that would be the end of his carefully crafted reputation.

'It just… I just need to get it out, but I don't want to be like them. You see?'

'Not at all', Severus was honestly trying his best, but it just wasn't his forte to do the psychology stuff.

'When I punch things, I feel like I am getting my anger out. But I don't want to hurt people anymore, I don't want to be like them. So, I punch trees, and walls, and I throw things'

'Them?' asked Severus.

'My fathers. All of them. James was a bully, Tobias was a violent drunk and… and Tom… even Sirius and Vernon were no angels, I know that. It's like I am cursed.'

'Cursed with disappointing father figure, I can relate to that. I share two of those fathers with you, remember? Why didn't you tell me about that with the mirror?'

'You had it worse than me. I didn't want to stir the knife in the wound', said Sebastian.

'The knife- ? Look, Sebastian, it is not our fault if we ended up with poor men to raise us. And if… if our mother's… lover… is a psychopath. We are our own person, and I know that you can do better than that'.

There was a long silence before Sebastian continue to confide.

'There's also the… I still feel guilty for leaving.'

'We already talked about that. You had to save yourself. When you are older and more experienced, if you want to go fight the Big Bad Dark Lord, you can still do it as Sebastian Snape. But for now, we need to keep you alive.'

'What if he is not so bad?' Sebastian hesitated to ask.

'Seriously?'

'I mean, Eileen, hum, Mom fell in love with him. So, she must have seen something in him.'

'Whatever it was, it is long gone, Sebastian.'