Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Writers Notes: thanks to my beta HGranger89 and thanks to RAV3N R1PP3R, lia. a. karas, gisela19wee, leonix2009, Smithback, FlowerChild23, BratGirl1983 , Smootsmokey and FrancineHibiscus for the positive feedback.
A small child was lying in his bedroom playing with a torn-up baseball, an action figure with a missing head and a hodgepodge of toys he swiped from around the neighborhood. Suddenly he heard the door violently slam open with such force picture frames picture fell to the ground and shattered. He quietly got up and peered through the crack of his bedroom door, and saw his father pounding back a beer when his eyes met the man's cold, dark ones. Quietly Severus scrambled to close the door and pushed a chair against it; as he ran to his wardrobe to hide, his da violently banged on the door.
"Boy! You fucking whelp," His word were a loud jumble threatening mess, "I know you're in there!"
Severus curled himself into a ball in the wardrobe, clutching his stuffed toy snake, soaked with tears, with a missing eyeball, to his small frame. The bedroom door flung open and in an instant, the wardrobe door was ripped open, and a powerful grip grabbed the boy and dragged him out.
Severus woke up with a moan a few hours before dawn; a long-suffering insomniac, he rarely rested or slept. The rare night that sleep came, he was plagued with endless nightmares and flashes of painful memories. Memories of his miserable childhood, bullying at the hands of the Marauders, and his time as a Death Eater turned spy under Voldemort. Previously, he self-medicated with strong doses of calming draught and dreamless sleep, he had even become so desperate as to try muggle prescriptions, but they were now ineffective, having been abused by his poor body.
The attacks on Muggle-borns were impacting him far greater than anyone realized. The stress felt worse than even the previous year when Voldemort had possessed Quirrell, in an attempt to steal the Philosopher's Stone. Minerva and Albus were constantly being pulled into meetings with the Board of Governors, and there was serious talk of shutting down the school until the monster could be killed.
There had been another attack last week, Justin Finch-Fletchey, and oddly Sir Nicholas had been petrified. If the monster could petrify a ghost then there a good reason to be concerned. Finally, the other Heads of House were opening their damn eyes and began implementing Severus' restrictions for his Slytherins on their own houses.
Potter was spotted near the scene of the crime by Argus; the old caretaker had been after the brat ever since his cat was attacked. This added fuel to the suspicions that Potter was the attacker, and combined with the snake attempting to attack Finch-Fletchey, at the dueling club, Potter was Undesirable No. 1 amongst his peers. The boy was clearly suffering emotionally from being shunned by the whole school and had virtually gone into hiding when he wasn't in class.
There were some other theories of who could be the Heir of Slytherin floating around. The little twits in first and second year suspected Draco Malfoy, and Severus just scoffed. Sure, his godson was a spoiled little brat, but he had always been a kind boy growing up. Since coming to Hogwarts, the foolish boy thought that acting tough made him cool. Severus remembered the summer fondly when Draco was eight; he had been visiting Spinner's End when he found an injured bird in Severus' garden. The boy nursed it back to health, but he made Severus swear he would never tell a soul; he desperately hoped that little boy still existed in his godson's soul.
Another rumor going around the castle was that Hagrid was behind the attacks. This spread due to the revelation that the half-giant had been expelled fifty years ago for supposedly opening the Chamber. Of course, the Headmaster and the staff knew that this was a false accusation and when no corroborating evidence had been found, Dumbledore had forced Headmaster Dippet to hire Hagrid to support the former groundkeeper Ogg Ogallala.
The fourth rumor spreading around the castle, especially from Gryffindors, claimed that the Heir of Slytherin was obviously the Head of Slytherin. Severus sneered at the ridiculousness of this accusation. If only they knew he was a poor half-blood from the wrong side of the muggle tracks, not that Severus wasted a thought on what the little twits believed. There were whispers that he would taint the Mandrake Draught to kill the petrified victims; if only those ungrateful little brats knew he brewed every potion in the hospital wing.
Pulling himself from his thoughts and his bed, the Potions Master opened his Christmas package from the Malfoys, a bottle of elf-made mead from Lucius and a batch of biscuits from Narcissa, as well as letter inviting him to Christmas Dinner, which was really just a Death Eater reunion, before making his way to the owlery to send a batch of Wolfsbane to Lupin.
Hours later Hermione was in the Great Hall introducing Harry to her study group. The group was comprised of: Seamus Finnigan, who left for the holidays; Dean Thomas; Neville Longbottom; and Luna Lovegood. Ginny had been part of their group earlier in the year, but she'd suddenly stop attending. Hermione was worried someone was bullying her, but whenever she tried talking to her friend, she was ignored by the little red-haired girl. It was hard to be friends with someone one day and then treated like you don't exist the next, so Hermione eventually stopped trying.
Christmas was much better than last year, she had gotten few textbooks from Professor McGonagall, and a signed picture of Lockhart, which Hermione threw in the rubbish bin.
Harry felt terrible; Hogwarts now reminded him of his muggle school where everyone treated Harry like he was a disease. It hurt that people thought he was attacking people, he wouldn't hurt anyone, except maybe Draco if he was provoked.
"How's your holiday?" Dean asked as Harry sat down and served himself a good helping of turkey and mashed potatoes.
"Alright… you?" Harry said sadly.
"I love your sweater," Luna said, gazing at Harry's green wool sweater with a giant red H on it.
"Umm... Thanks," Harry said awkwardly looking down at sweater and back at Luna; the girl just smiled dreamily at him, causing the boy to blush. He tried to enjoy himself and ignore the sound of his name under the breaths of other students.
"I'm betting a galleon Potter attacks the Granger girl next," whispered a group of fourth-year Hufflepuffs until their prefect threatened to remove points if they didn't stop.
"Harry just ignore them," Hermione put on hand on his shoulder supportively.
"Hermione's right," Dean joined in as he happily took a bit out of his cherry pie, "It's probably Malfoy."
"Or Snape," Neville said very quickly as if he was dead scared that git would appear towering behind him. Hermione glared at her friends, they had no proof of anything, and she hated it when people were falsely excused people because of a personal vendetta.
"Thanks," said Harry.
He was happy for the support, but it still hurt to be accused of terrible things. He thought Dean and Neville must be right, Malfoy and Snape had to be behind the attacks, and that explained why Snape wanted to know if Harry heard voices. He was worried Harry was close to figuring things out.
"Harry there you are!"
Harry almost choked on his mashed potatoes as Ron's voice startled him. The redhead made his way over to the table and glared as he saw Hermione.
"What's she doing here?" Ron didn't even look at Hermione as he asked Harry.
"Eating?" Dean asked confused.
"I can leave..." She got up and made to leave; she didn't want to be a problem.
"No, stay," Harry said encouragingly, as he turned to Ron, "Ron just eat with us."
The redheaded boy looked like he was going to cause a stir but reluctantly agree but not without a stink eye glaringly murderously at Hermione throughout the meal.
After filling their bellies, the group decided to go outside to enjoy the beautiful Christmas snow. The grounds of Hogwarts looked like a Christmas card or a beautiful painting this time of year. Ron didn't want Hermione or Luna around, but he kept his complaints to mutterings under his breath.
While the boys built a snowman, Luna and Hermione transfigured their boots into skates and went out onto the frozen Black Lake until Hagrid invited them all into his hut for a hot cup of cocoa.
"Thanks, Hagrid, Merry Christmas," The children called out as they left the hut.
Hermione decided to return to the castle and curl up with a book, while the rest remained outside. As she walked back, the young girl enjoyed the feeling of fresh snowflakes falling on her cheeks.
"Hey, Mudblood!" Draco crowed, running into Hermione with Crabbe and Goyle, "You better watch yourself, or you're next Mudblood." The blonde wizard threatened behind his two brainless muscle-bound bodyguards and Goyle shoved her to the ground.
"…and what is going on here?"
The cold voice behind the Slytherins made them jump. Even before they turned around, they knew it was their Head of House.
"Granger was bothering us, sir…" Draco said as Goyle and Crabbe just starred like drooling idiots.
"Silence..." Severus spoke in a whisper. He was furious with Draco, never before had he heard his godson utter that slur. A word which Severus had said many years ago in anger and was suffering for to this day. He feared with each passing year that he was losing the boy to the same path he once took. It was also physical sickening that he had to pretend not to notice this behaviour, as they most likely squeal to their parents.
"Draco, your mother, floo-called my office, and she wishes to speak to you."
The blonde wizard nodded and made his back to the castle.
Looking at Crabbe and Goyle, the Head of House said, "I recall seeing the Great Hall has some freshly bake pies." The two hairless gorillas nearly toppled each other as they ran back to the castle.
Once they were out of sight, the Potions Master held the crying girl cast a spell to dry her clothes and face.
"Miss Granger, the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant to their magical capabilities. It's what you do with the gift that determines who you are." The Potions Master just left the girl with his words, she wiped away her tears and smiled as he walked away.
Later that evening, Severus arrived at Malfoy Manor for their Christmas feast. He would rather be hidden within his chambers, his large nose in a book, but the Headmaster reminded him of his duty to attend these gatherings in case there were any whispers of an uprising or resurrection of the Dark Lord. These gatherings consisted primarily of the Death Eaters who had avoided Azkaban.
"Merry Christmas," Severus bowed as he approached Narcissa and kissed her hand.
"Thank you for joining us Severus," Lucius smiled shaking his friend's hand.
"For you, as our host this evening," Severus gave Lucius a bottle of wine as he entered the manor.
If the invitation had been for him alone, Severus would never hesitate to spend the evening with his closest friends, but he wasn't a party person, and the company of a dozen Death Eater who hated him wasn't exactly his idea of a fun night. He would end up standing in a corner getting drunk. He never went to Slughorn's frivolous parties as a student, except for in the fifth year when Lily dragged him there, nor did he attend the staff Christmas party.
Over the years, no matter how many meetings Severus attended, he was uncomfortable and pretending to hold the same ideals as these people were sickening to him. Thankfully, he no longer had the Dark Lord torturing him and ripping through his mind, so there were small mercies.
As per usual, Severus didn't talk to anyone at the party and just remained in his corner, keeping his ears open for any interesting conversation to report to Dumbledore. He nursed a tumbler of scotch in one hand and a cigarette in the other, feeding his addictions as a substitute for meaningful human connection.