Boy-Snape
When Severus woke up, he had the worst headache he'd experienced since Dad slammed him into the living room wall last year after Severus made a book fly at him when Dad was waving his fists menacingly at Mum during a row. Gingerly, Severus pulled himself to a sitting position and took count of all of his aches and hurts. In addition to his head, his broken arm throbbed now and then, and a twitch of his toes told Severus his feet were sore from all of the walking he'd done the day before. And a hunger gnawed with a keen persistence at his stomach. He sighed. It was all pains that couldn't be helped. Not yet, anyway. Once they were at Hogwarts maybe…
He frowned, troubled. Severus didn't know how far they were from Hogwarts and his supposed rival hadn't seemed too sure himself. Though, he'd suspected they couldn't be too far from civilization and, therefore, Hogwarts. In spite of this conviction the older boy held, they'd evidently spent the nights in the woods. Would they have to again today? He hoped not. Severus was sure if they did his supposed rival would blame him. He was still so very tired and just knew he'd need to be carried again today, and far earlier as well. That'd surely slow them down. He shivered. Severus hoped his supposed rival wouldn't go back on what he said about leaving Severus to the werewolves yesterday.
His thoughts now centered on the older boy's threat from yesterday, Severus began to scour the area around him for the said boy, fearing he'd been abandoned with how quiet it was. Severus was startled hardly a moment later when he found a rather large black dog sharing the robe he'd been sleeping on. Where on earth had that mangy thing come from? Had the older boy brought it here? A quick scan of the rest small clearing he was in showed his supposed rival was nowhere to be found. At the realization he was utterly alone just as he worried he would be, Severus's heart began to beat so fast and hard he was scared it'd explode right out of his chest. Even worse, he was terrified he would never see his mum again or become old again and remember the wonders of Hogwarts.
Controlled by his panic, Severus tried to push himself up on his good arm, but his feet got tangled in the robe he was sitting on and he fell back on his bum before he'd hardly gotten an inch off the ground. That was when he realized the older boy couldn't have abandoned him. The robe Severus had been sleeping on and the dog was, was his supposed rival's. He wouldn't have gone far without it. It was cold— As the small, wispy white clouds leaving his mouth proved. He'd probably gone looking for something to eat. Or drink. Severus went to lick his lips, but it did nothing. He stuck out his tongue and went cross-eyed trying to get a look at it, certain that it had to look like a shriveled worm. Unfortunately, he just couldn't see it past the tip of his nose. Sighing, he wondered if the older boy would be gone much longer. Severus didn't feel too confident about walking yet with the way he was shaking from his latest spike of adrenaline and the lack of food and water from most of yesterday.
Returning his attention to his surroundings, Severus looked around with more care and interest than he had before. Squinting between a small thicket of trees, Severus gasped aloud when he saw something moving toward the ground. Could it be water? Had Severus's supposed rival found them something to drink? Thirst renewed tenfold, Severus gave a long pause of consideration to start calling for the older boy to take him to the water, but one look at the slumbering dog told him not to. He wasn't keen at the thought of getting nipped by the strange beast if he startled it.
So, with his one good arm, he dragged himself toward the water. It was slow going all the way there, but once he was beside the small river, he didn't even care. Without a thought for propriety, Severus dunked his face in the water like an animal would and lapped up water until he felt ready to burst. It was sharp and cold, but he didn't care. It was the best water he'd ever drunk. When he'd quenched his tongue, Severus splashed a little of it on his face and rolled back his sleeve to use the inside part to clean his face. He was sure it was icky looking after his crying and tumble to the ground yesterday. When done, he looked over his shoulder to where he came from and decided he just didn't have the interest or strength to pull himself all the way back over there. So, instead, he gathered up small sticks around him and started to build a small twig house with the help of a bit of mud from the river.
Severus was just about to start on the roof of his little house when the older boy called from behind, "What are you doing?"
He startled so badly that he lost his balanced and would have tipped right into the river if a strong hand hadn't grabbed his injured arm and pull him back. Even though Severus knew his supposed rival was just trying to keep him from falling in, he couldn't stop himself from crying out in pain.
"Sorry, sorry," the older boy whispered as he let go of Severus's hurt arm. "Shit, sorry, kid."
Severus sniffled a little and nodded. "It's okay."
They were both quiet a minute. Then, Sirius asked, "How long have you been awake?"
Severus shrugged. He didn't know how to tell time without a clock. "A little bit," he answered.
"I didn't hear you," the older boy remarked, looking a bit astonished and a little contrite as well.
Severus glanced around. He hadn't heard his supposed rival coming back at all either. Maybe there was something strange about the forest? Or, more likely, the other had wandered farther than planned and Severus had been too absorbed in building his house to notice his return. "How far away did you go?" he asked.
"Go?" the older boy echoed, "I was here the whole time."
He scowled. "No, you weren't! I woke up next to a dog." Severus looked over to where it would have been, but there was no dog and a glance at the older boy showed he was wearing his robe. Severus brought his good hand up to scratch his head in confusion. Had it wandered off while Severus was playing?
"A dog?" the other boy echoed, sounding half-amused, half-unhappy. "Did you hit your head yesterday? Let me take a look at you." He then attempted to grab Severus's face in his dirty hands, but he ducked out of his reach.
"I'm fine!" snapped Severus. "Stop!" Angrily he gestured to where he'd come from. "It was there! It was big and black! Go look for it!"
This time, when the older boy made to grab him, Severus didn't get away. He was forced to meet the older boy's scarily intense stormy gaze by the grip he had on Severus's chin. Severus quaked as the other boy growled, "There. Was. No. Dog."
He found all he could do was nod in response, too frightened by what may happen if he didn't agree.
The older boy let him go then and stood up. "Right," he said, turning his gaze to their surroundings. "Are you hungry? I don't think there are any safe berry bushes nearby. But I read in a book once you can eat beetles and worms in a pinch. There's a big rock that way I could look under."
Severus wrinkled his nose in disgust. "No, thank you," he told the older boy firmly. No matter how many nights he'd been kept up with an empty stomach he'd never been desperate enough to go out to his family's garden to dig around for worms to eat. "I'm not that much hungrier than usual."
The older boy looked down oddly at him for a moment. "Right," he said. "Anyway. If that's the case, let's go."
This time, when Severus pushed himself up, he was able to stand and walk. Though, he was a bit shaky. But he didn't mind. He was just happy his legs were working right again. He smiled slightly. "I'm ready," he told the older boy.
Sirius eyed him warily for a time. "Do you think you can walk on your own?" he asked.
Severus bobbed his head with confidence. "Yes."
He didn't look like he quite believed Severus, but all the same Severus's supposed rival started to walk in the direction the river's stream was flowing, only looking over his shoulder now and again to make sure Severus was following. After a while of trailing behind him, Severus grew bored and it came to his mind now would be a good a time as any to ask the older boy the question that had been bothering him all of yesterday. Picking up his pace until he was trotting alongside the other boy, Severus reached over to give his robe a tug.
The other boy looked at him, eyebrow quirked. "Yeah?"
"Um," Severus started, not entirely sure how to start. "Erm."
"Come on, just spit it out!" his rival spat, seemingly losing what little patience he had with Severus.
Flinching at the tone, he fell back a step, where, now feeling safer, he asked, "What's your name?"
The older boy stopped dead in his tracks. He stared at Severus long enough to make him start squirming where he stood.
Feeling he ought to say something, Severus babbled, "You told me a lot about you, and me! Yesterday. Like, we're supposed to be the same age and we go to Hogwarts together, and we don't like each other very much, but…"
"I forgot to tell you my name."
Severus bit his lip and dipped his chin.
His supposed rival scrubbed a hand across his chin and swore to himself. "Sorry, kid," he said, getting down on a knee. "I'm just buggering things up every step of the way, aren't I?"
"Um," was all Severus felt safe saying.
He snorted. "That's a first," he muttered. "You not going out of your way to point out how much of a fuck-up I am."
Severus looked to the toes of his far too big shoes. They only stayed on because the older boy had stuffed them full of strips of his robes so his feet would be snug inside them. Even so, they were a little floppy when he walked and he'd tripped a bit on them a time or two as well. Severus was made to look up when a hand poked him gently in the shoulder.
He furrowed his brow when he saw his supposed rival was offering him a hand to shake. Severus lifted his gaze from it to the other boy's face. "It's for shaking," he told Severus with a roll of his eyes. "I haven't done right by you much yet, so I figure I might as well start now and do this properly."
With one last suspicious glance, Severus put his hand in the older boy's and let him shake it.
"Sirius Black," the other boy introduced.
Severus pursed his lips a moment before saying, "Severus Snape. I can't say it's been a pleasure meeting you."
For a moment, the older boy looked utterly outraged, but, then, he threw back his head and cackled. It was the nicest sound Severus had heard from Sirius since they woke up in this forest. And, after a moment, he even joined in with a small giggle of his own.
"Understatement of the year, kid," Sirius told him after they finished laughing. Standing up, he ruffled Severus's hair and then left it on top of his head as they continued to follow the river's stream to what would hopefully be a village.
How did you like this chapter from Severus's perspective?
Thank you all a million for reading!