First things first.
I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER!
ALL RIGHTS BELONGS TO JK ROWLING!

My first attempt in writing a Severitus fic myself, so please don't be too hard on me :)
I think the idea is nothing new and kind of a classic, but I still like it.
After all my story needs a start ;).

Warnings: Mention of child abuse in the beginning!

I hope you like it and I am so sorry for grammer/spelling mistakes; english isn't my first language.
I had to translate this from german into english and I hope it isn't too bad.

Updates will take some time, for I am pretty busy in real life and translating this is anything but easy for me and costs a lot of time.
Please be patient, should you like this story and if you want to read more.

And I would appreciate feedback in the form of a comment very much.
Not only is feedback very motivating, but it also shows me that my story gets read and is not ignored.
If I get the feeling my story gets ignored, I won't update it, for I see no reason to do so then.
So please don't be shy and share your thoughts with me. I won't bite you.

In the dark corridors of Hogwarts

As the hot water from his shower hit his battered skin, a low sigh came from his throat, which was drowned out by the sound of the rushing water. His eyes closed and he put his face in the water jet and let it run over his face.

He tried to relax his tense muscles and calm his still beating heart, but he couldn't do one thing or the other. He was still too upset after waking up from a terrible nightmare no less than ten minutes ago. Bathed in sweat and with a heart pounding wildly against his ribs, he had sat bolt upright in his bed and looked around in panic, afraid the monster from his nightmare would still be there and kill him.

The monster, that stole the love of his life so many years ago.

And it was his fault and his alone!

If only he hadn't overheard this stupid prophecy and immediately passed what he heard on to the Dark Lord, then all of this might never have happened. Lily would still be alive and she would be happy with her little family and maybe, just maybe, she would have forgiven him for insulting her and one day they would have become friends again.

But she was dead and would never come back and it was his fault!

She had called him a murderer in his dream, shortly before the cruel laughter broke the silence and a flash of green light sealed her fate forever. And he just had to stand there and watch helplessly as she died in front of him, before the monster with the red eyes had turned to him.

"It was only thanks to your help that I was able to do this. You have my deepest gratitude, Severus. As a reward, I will grant you a quick death, my little, traitorous spy..."

Then there was the snake, which opened its terrible mouth wide and slithered towards him in one quick motion and in the background the monster, the Dark Lord himself, laughed his terrible, dark laughter as he slowly choked on his own blood...

And then he had woken up, screaming, before the snake could finish its cruel work.

It had taken a long time to realize that he wasn't in Godric's Hollow and not in the ruined Potter house, but was sitting in the dark dungeons of Hogwarts and in his bed. There were no red sparkling eyes staring at him from the darkness and there was no hissing snake that wanted to attack and kill him.

No. There was only the sound of his own, wild beating heart.

But he hadn't been able to calm himself down and even with Occlumency he had barely managed to get rid of the cruel images of his nightmare. And when he couldn't bear it to just sit there and surrender to his self-pity, he had gotten up, had taken off his nightgown and underwear and, naked as nature had made him, shuffled into his bathroom.

And here he was now under his shower. His hands were pressed against the cold stone wall and he leaned against it with his forehead. The warm water ran incessantly over his back. His wet, dark hair hung lank in his face and covered it halfway and maybe this was better that way, because no one would see the tears that had stolen into his eyes and which now threatened to run down his cheeks. But he held them back with all his might, straightened up and put his face under the water again before he began to wash the sweat from his hair and skin.

He wouldn't cry. Not today and not in the future, for he had vowed never to shed a single tear since that cruel night ever again.

But night after night he was put to a test when he woke up from one of his nightmares. In a few nights he woke up with wet eyes and only managed with great difficulty to prevent worse.

Most of the time he would get up, put on his usual dark robes and wander through the dark hallways of Hogwarts at night.

And that's exactly what he wanted to do again tonight...

After he got out of the shower and got dressed, he dried his black hair with a spell before his feet carried him out of his bedchamber and into his office, then into the adjoining classroom in which he taught potions during the day and then out into the dark corridors of the dungeon.

He walked slowly up the winding stairs and only the light of scattered candles that were attached to the wall next to him gave him light. He had already walked this path so often that he no longer needed any light to illuminate his path.

He went his usual round, always looking for students who had sneaked out of bed and were now wandering through the dark castle themselves. But he met nobody on his way. Neither students nor teachers were out at such a late hour. With the exception of Filch, who apparently was patrolling elsewhere that night. He was also surprised that this Potter brat didn't roam the hallways at night, since he only caused trouble in the short time he was at Hogwarts!

Snape had looked upon the day with disgust when the son of his hated rival would come to Hogwarts and that year it had happened. Fortunately, the boy had ended up in Gryffindor and not in Slytherin.

Unthinkable if a Potter were in his house!

But there might have been something good about it, because if Potter had ended up in his house he could have discipline the boy as he saw fit.

McGonagall was way too soft on him!

But what exactly would he have done with the boy if he had broken the school rules?

He would never physically punish a child. He couldn't do this and didn't want to do this. In the end, he would have done the same thing as Minerva: Taking house points and give the boy detention. And if he was honest, his temper calmed down quickly as soon as he looked into the boy's bright green eyes, which reminded him so much of Lily...

He shook his head and tried to get these thoughts out of his head.

The boy looked more like his father than he would like; he couldn't forget that. And the boy was just as bold and arrogant as his father had been when he was in school. But this time, Severus vowed, he would turn the tables! He would never again be the victim of scorn and ridicule.

But Potter would!

A small, mean grin crept onto his features as he only thought back to his first potions lesson with the boy, which was not that long ago, considering that the Christmas holidays started tomorrow. This boy knew absolutely nothing about their world. Hadn't thought it necessary to pick up a book at home and read it before coming to Hogwarts. And how should this have been possible if the little prince was pampered like a spoiled brat at home?

Like father, like son…

Severus was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't even notice that he was taking a completely different direction today than he usually did and a few moments later, he noticed that he was already standing in a dark corridor near the library. Hmm, strange. He hadn't been here for what felt like an eternity and he was about to turn around and go back again when his eyes spotted an open door that was lit by some candles in the wall. The door was only ajar, but Severus couldn't deny that his curiosity had awakened.

Slowly he approached the open door and peered inside.

The room was sparsely lit by a few candles and was as good as empty. With the exception of the large mirror that stood in the middle of the room and in front of which a little boy lay and didn't move.

And when he finally recognized who was lying there, his eyes darkened...