Chapter 107: His Father's Son
{A/N: Here's Another Update...a series of confrontations for now...}
My Thanks To All My Readers And Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S
{"I swear I didn't want to...And I swear I didn't know...That things like this could happen...To a seventeen year old...And I've bundled up all these fears inside...And I've bottled up all of this pain...And no one or nothing can take this away...But I won't let it happen again...Never again..."}Father's Son, 3 Doors Down
Spinner's End 1975, Cokeworth, England, Muggle World...
The sudden rush of someone bursting into his bedroom caused Severus to jolt out of his sleep. Lucius would often joke that his "little brother" reminded him of a cat, always ready to pounce at a moment's notice and reacting to every manner of stimuli about to strike. What the amused Malfoy didn't know was that it had been a survival skill ingrained due to living most of his life with Tobias Snape. This particular afternoon had been what put them to the test when the formerly sleeping teenage wizard noted his enraged drunken brute father had entered his room. Severus had been dragged from his bed by his ill-fitting shirt and pulled out into the narrow hall. The fifteen year old wizard had known it was futile to try and fight Tobias when he forced these "bonding" moments, it only served to make it last longer than necessary followed by a beating. Scrambling to his feet, ironically much like a cat tossed about by some bad neighborhood kid, Severus stood at his full height which had been about to his father's shoulder.
"W-what do you want?" he asked his voice nearly achieving that familiar depth of current but without the resounding sorrow that made it so rich and appealing.
"You and I are going out boy." said Tobias in a gruff tone. "It's time you learned how to be a man."
Severus was instantly filled with fear, but quickly pushed it back down. One could say this is where he learned to disguise his inner emotions in a bid to protect himself from the one person who could use them to destroy him indefinitely. Eileen could only watch helplessly from the safely of her bedroom window as Tobias drunkenly shoved Severus into the rusted old pick-up that he acquired in a game of cards. His own vehicle had been long gone, sold just to keep food or whatever lack there of on the table.
The old pick-up had been more than an eye sore with it's frame rusted to the max an off brownish pink color with a squeaky truck-bed with a wood frame used at one point for labor purposes but now merely a grave yard for his father's numerous discarded empty beer cans. The drunken brute had started the engine which was rumbling louder than the roar of a feral dragon and giving off just as much smoke.
The drive consisted of Tobias accusing Severus of never being interested in women. A topic which caused the teenage wizard to roll his eyes. He would have been happy to rub his relationship with Lily Evans in the smug drunken bastard's face but he had not wanted the brute's interest to shift to her, he had been rather protective of the red haired young Gryffindor, especially from the likes of his father. That and, he had not been quite sure what his relationship with Lily was at that point. Though he had enjoyed her company, they spent less and less time together as of late with her visiting her other friends from Hogwarts most summers, but they were both fifteen, it was an understandable desire to venture out and see the world.
Instead Severus just listened as Tobias rattled on and on about not wanting a son that had been a poof as well as a freak. One disappointment had been enough to deal with given he wouldn't be having any more children any time soon. It had been almost funny given the amount of muggle women and witches that Severus Snape would become involved with only a year later.
Broady's Bar, Cokeworth, England...
Tobias pulled Severus into the bar. Immediately the smoke that filled the room like a thick haze of fog burned the teenage wizard's eyes. It slipped passed his nostrils and caused him to choke on the fumes. He waved the smoke out of his face, for whatever good it did him as his father pushed him toward the bar with his heavy hand upon his shoulder. It was the first time Severus had been touched by his father and it didn't involve pain immediately following after. It made him uneasy, almost as if Tobias had been saving it for later.
The old barkeep, a thin man with pale blue eyes and short white hair and a short white goatee looked up from behind the counter with a concerned yet timid expression on his aged face.
"This your boy Toby?" he asked in a gruff tone more due to age than actually gruffness.
"Unfortunately he is." replied Tobias with bitterness behind his tone that caused something in Severus to fight to concern his crestfallen expression. "He ain't much to look at but I guess it's because the woman he came from doesn't look much better."
Severus bristled at the insult to his mother but kept himself calm unsure of what Tobias wanted from him.
"Say...is Ginger in by any chance?" asked Tobias seeing perfectly capable of holding a form of conversation that did not involve violence. "I need to ask a favor of her."
"She's in the back." replied the barkeep still eyeing Severus rather suspiciously.
The raven haired teenage wizard was pulled into the back faster than he could let out a breath. His father pushed him into the enclosed make-shift room of this Ginger woman. It was to be the first time Severus would come in contact with a witch outside of the wizarding world not bound for Hogwarts or on it's staff.
Her hair had been red, and her eyes an oceanic blue color he would never forget. She had been an average looking woman, with no real stand-out physical attributes to cry home about, but in her rugged appearance she was quite beautiful. Till this day Severus did not know if he found her beautiful because of her obvious suffering or because of her endurance.
"Toby what is this boy doing here." she said plainly. "He's still barely a whelp with milk on his breath."
Tobias Snape rolled his eyes and pushed the awkward teen toward the woman.
"He needs to be fixed." he said in a gruff tone. "I know he's a freak...much like his mother but can't you do something about him being a poof."
Severus narrowed his eyes at Tobias clearly enraged. He wanted to say something but the strange witch seemed to note his fury and cut him off before he caused a fight to breakout.
"I'm sure he's just shy." she said evenly. "In any case I'll see what I can do."
Tobias gave his son one last glare before he made his way passed the red door that sealed off this room to the bar. Leaving a fifteen year old Severus with Ginger.
"He doesn't know you very well does he?" the raven haired teen asked the red head woman. "If he did then he'd know that you were a witch."
Ginger seemed taken aback by his statement.
"I beg your pardon?" she said.
Severus rolled his eyes and waved his hand causing a small amount of magic to swirl from his finger tips.
Ginger looked at him astonished by this feat.
"Wow." she said truly shocked. "I never figured someone like Tobias to be capable of magical lineage."
"He's not." replied Severus bitterly. "It's my mother's side that's magical."
Ginger nodded.
"So I see." she replied. "So tell me kid what brings you to my humble abode?"
"A drunken brute of a man too insecure with his own life to ever let me breathe." replied Severus bitterly as he folded his arms over his chest.
Ginger seemed amused by his sense of dry humor.
"You're father really thinks you abnormal." she said pouring herself a glass of Ogren's finest Firewhiskey.
"Shows what he knows." muttered Severus annoyed.
Ginger smiled as she finished pouring her glass of firewhiskey.
Severus had been curious about the drink. He had never seen anything like it before given all the bottles of muggle drink his father consumed.
"Got some lucky chit in mind huh?" asked Ginger with a knowing smile.
Severus had been caught off guard by her question.
"H-How did...?" he began.
Ginger simply smirked and poured a second glass of firewhiskey. Once she was done she offered it to him. Nervously, he took it looking into the swirling golden brown liquid with a kind of fascination.
"Go on." she said with a smile. "It'll put some hair on your chest...mind the burn though it doesn't get any easier on the way down."
Severus nodded grateful at least for the gesture and drank down some of the contents of the glass only to grimace at the bitter taste and strong after burn. The teenage wizard choked causing the ginger head witch to chuckle softly as she noted he had lasted longer than most given the choice of beverage. Especially during his first time consummating it.
"I'm impressed kid." she said with a smile. "Very few people have managed to hold out as long as you."
Severus narrowed his eyes at the witch annoyed that this seemed to be all part of some trial.
"I can only imagine why." he said dryly.
This grew another laugh from Ginger as she poured herself another glass after finishing off the first. Despite the initial burning sensation and bitter taste, Severus was determined not to be out done by this witch. He held out his glass as she refilled and through sheer determination, he managed to down it all in one go.
"There's nothing wrong with your boy Toby." said Ginger grinning at Severus when his father returned to collect him. "As far as I can tell, he's a regular chip off the old block."
Tobias Snape had not been in agreement as he looked over at the seemingly unimpressive teenage wizard.
"We shall see." he said bitterly.
The Snape Residence, Muggle London, England...
Hermione had been quite upset when there had not been any sign of her husband since his trip to Hogwarts. She had been managing to deal with Shiloh and Sidney on her own a feat that was quite the undertaking to say the least. The knowledge that her husband had been ill only proved to make matters worse. She had sent word to Lucius that she had not seen her husband for nearly three days and he had done his best to assure her that he would find Severus. She grilled him on what happened at the school with Phaeron and The elder Malfoy was truthful about the incident between Phaeron and Severus, but less than forthcoming about Bellatrix LeStrange's involvement. Hermione had been furious about her son's recent behavior but noted that being home for Sidney and Shiloh took precedence over yelling at her disrespectful son. So she settled for sending the little urchin a howler at lunch time.
Severus being gone had still been an issue and she wasn't sure what old wounds the confrontation had opened up pertaining to the Potions Master's checkered past. It had taken a lot for him to talk about those early days in Voldemort's thrall even to her, granted she had not wanted to discuss them since it had been his way of pushing her way.
Ginny had stopped by to have a chat with Hermione and ask her advice on how to deal with Harry. She had not yet made up her mind on wither or not she wanted to divorce the lying prat or work things out for the sake of the children. When the red haired witch arrived she had not expected to find a slightly overwhelmed Hermione in a desperate search for her husband.
"Hermione?" said Ginny walking into the sitting room with concern etched across her face.
Shiloh had been crying for three nights strait and hardly offered any rest for the tired witch.
"I-I'm here Ginny." said Hermione at last putting the baby down for a nap after such a long wait.
The bushy haired witch came from the bedroom and sat down on the sofa. Sidney had been at school and she had been at her wit's end in terms of trying to research and manage the house with Severus gone.
"W-Where's Severus?" asked Ginny looking around.
She had expected the dour wizard to show up at any time in an effort to comfort the seemingly drained Hermione.
After a moment of silence, Hermione Granger-Snape simply collapsed onto the sofa. Tears streaming down her pale cheeks as she tried to come up with an answer that wouldn't sound as hopeless as she felt.
"I-I don't know." she said finally. "I haven't seen him in three days..."
The answer had shocked Ginny as she looked over her friend.
"Did you two have a row?" she asked trying to make sense of the Professor's absence.
"No." replied Hermione. "I said he was going to check on Phaeron at Hogwarts...he left early three days ago and never returned...Lucius said that he had gotten into a row with Phaeron in the Slytherin common room but not what it was about."
"Have you spoken to Phaeron?" asked Ginny unsure why this was all happening.
"No." replied Hermione showing a hint of rage. "But I sent him a howler."
Ginny shook her head. The howler had been one of her mother's most infamous tools for keeping her children in line when they were at Hogwarts. Merlin knew how many each of the Weasley children racked up while attending the school.
"I'm sure he'll make his way back here." said Ginny trying to reassure her friend. "You know how crazy he is about you...and he loves the children."
Hermione looked her friend in the eyes terrified of what might have become of her husband but reluctant to say anything about his illness lest it make it more real. She simply nodded and hoped against hope that Severus would be alright and that the insensitive git bastard would make it home.
Cokeworth Cemetary, Cokeworth, England...
The insensitive git bastard in question stumbled rather clumsily through the rows of head stones and hand picked plots until he came to those with the name of Snape. There had only been two buried side by side with moss growing on the headstones. He collapsed having had his fill of Ogren's Finest Firewhiskey and lack of sleep. He leaned against the head stone that had been over the grave of his deceased drunken brute father, Tobias Snape. A weary smile filed across his sallow pale face as he thought back to all the times he had fought with the now dead muggle man of impoverish circumstance.
"It...seems... you and I...were... both.. w-wrong." he said slurring just so. "I-I...am...m-my... f-father's... s-son."
Of course it took his own son pointing out his many flaws that lead to this most unsettling discovery when the Potions Master thought back to all the things about Tobias Snape that made hate stir in his heart. Snape had never wanted his children to feel anything of the sort about him. It had been why he never really wanted them to begin with. But then Hermione's first pregnancy changed his mind. She had wanted his child even if he didn't and was determined to have it. So much so that she was willing to give up the chance to be free of him to do so.
Thinking about the beautiful young witch waiting at home for him made him feel all the more like the worthless bastard he always knew he was.
She had loved him for no good reason.
"That's not true!" shouted a drunken Snape replying to his thoughts aloud. "She loves me because of my cock...if I had not been her first her devotion would not have been so blind."
Then how would you explain Lily?
Snape contemplated this for some time it seemed. He had been her first as he had Hermione and yet she rejected him.
"Lily was a smart girl." he said almost bitterly. "She knew who I was before I did and took the path less traveled in terms of intellect."
Perhaps.
And Perhaps not.
Snape's eyes narrowed at the thought that entered his mind. He had really been carrying on a conversation with his inner voice it had not been unusual given his state of mind but the choice of words had sounded a lot like...
"Albus!" said Snape annoyed beyond reason. "This is a private party...Slytherins only."
The ever pleasant figure of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore made himself known. His light blue half moon robes standing out amid the sea of endless tome stones and darkness.
"What are you doing here old man?" asked Snape gripping the bottle of firewhiskey tightly.
"Isn't it obvious?" asked Dumbledore looking around. "I've come for you...word has it that you've not been home in three days...that's rather unlike you...wouldn't you agree?"
Snape had been in no mood to deal with this at this point. His drunkenness giving way to rage.
"I do not need your coddling." he spat bitterly. "Save it for your precious Gryffindors...perhaps Potter is interested in your manner of consolation...However am not."
Dumbledore sighed.
"Severus what has happened to you?" he asked. "I remember a strong young man with a will unlike any before him."
Snape smirked bitterly.
"I do not seem to recall such a young man." he replied rather harsh in his criticism of his younger self. "A sniveling child more the like."
"Severus...you are not anything like Tobias Snape." said Dumbledore in a father-like tone. "He was a weak drunken brute given to cowardice whom took out his misfortunes on his long suffering wife and an innocent child...you as I recall were never such a coward."
"Two out of three isn't bad I suppose." replied Snape turning up the bottle.
Dumbledore waved his hand taking the bottle from his grasp via magic and shattered it against a nearby tree. Snape didn't seem the least bit phased. He simply pulled out another bottle and drank down some of it's contents.
"There were so many of them." he said almost absently.
Dumbledore arched an eyebrow at this.
"So many of whom Severus?" he asked slightly curious.
"So many woman...all so different...some with children and families that loved them..." continued the drunken Potions Master. "They all carried the same far off expression once the others were done with them...it was like they were begging me to save them...like I single-handedly had the power to stop the others and get them to safety."
Dumbledore sighed not even coming close to imagining the gruesome scene the younger wizard was describing.
"It must have been a very trying experience for you." he said in a bid to sound supportive.
Snape simply continued sipping his drink.
"No." he replied with a hint of malice behind his tone. "It wasn't...not in the least...I enjoyed their pain...right up until they took their last breath...often I would beg the dark lord to allow me to end...them."
Dumbledore couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Severus..." he began.
Snape scrambled to his feet as he stood over Tobias Snape's grave still with the firewhiskey bottle in his grasp.
"I am every bit the twisted drunken bastard my father was." he said with an eerie smile on his sallow pale face. "It's why you chose me...me...to be your eyes and ear within the dark lord's ranks...I have no loyalties...no ties of any kind...I am the single most representation of everything you hate old man...a wizard born of muggle blood due to my father...a Slytherin...right hand to the dark lord..."
Dumbledore sighed wishing he could deny everything the younger wizard was saying.
"My death would have been nothing short of a relief to you." spat Snape bitterly. "It's why you've done everything in your power to destroy me...going so far as to use your own death to do it."
Dumbledore still listened patiently not once defending his past actions.
"I knew very well how you've felt about me from the moment I entered Hogwarts at the age of eleven...you didn't even both with watching me get sorted...because you already knew where I'd go...and my friendship with Lily plagued you to no end...even as she and I grew closer you became more interested in showing her just how much of a wrong choice I would be for her." said Snape. "It didn't matter to you that I loved her...or that it nearly killed me to lose her to your precious Potter, all that mattered to you was that I fall into your fucking trap...that I become a death eater."
The unsettling twinkle behind the older wizard's eyes only served to enrage Snape all the more.
"Severus you became a death eater of your own volition." said Dumbledore.
"Like hell I did!" shouted Snape this time shattering the firewhiskey bottle himself. "I was alone surrounded by muggle blood hating Purebloods in the lower dungeons you never even bothered to enter until I became Potions Master...those that were of muggle blood were either killed or torment to the amusement of their Pureblood betters, my only reprieve was that I hated my muggle father enough to garner a small measure of sympathy for those cruel bastards...I was given the option to either take the mark or they would make my mother part of their revels."
Dumbledore had not known that. He had just assumed that Severus had joined them due to ambition or a grab at power. He had given very little thought to what might have been going on below the dungeons when he cared not to look.
"As you can see old man...I am very well aware that my pain means nothing to you." said Snape still bitter. "You are only here to make it seem you offered me your assistance...but as I said before I do not need it...nor do I want it...that ship has been sunk for a great many years."
"I am sorry you feel that way Severus." said Dumbledore.
"Like hell you do." replied Snape finding amusement in the old man's delusions. "Do not misunderstand me...I care nothing of past decisions on your part...but if you think for one second that I will allow them on behalf of my children you have another thing coming."
Dumbledore noted that Snape seemed to have sobered up some.
"Severus whatever mistakes I have made in the past concerning you, I assure you that I do not intend to repeat them." he said in a weary tone.
"Do. Not. Lie. To. Me." said Snape angry. "What you did to Phaeron is evidence enough of your same less than casual interest in the affairs of your Slytherin students."
"Phaeron was a danger to himself as well as others on the field." said Dumbledore in his own defense.
"As was Potter yet he gets to strut about the castle without a care in the world." replied Snape bitterly. "Just like his father and grandfather before him."
"Severus say what you will but your motives within the halls were far from pure...and I am sad to say that your son is of the same mind." said Dumbledore.
"No...he is under the influence of Bellatrix LeStrange." said Snape with a coldness in his tone that did not match the fury behind his obsidian eyes. "Whom is masquerading as Ursula Black."
Dumbledore seemed genuinely surprised by this new information.
"Bellatrix in my school?" he said almost outraged.
"This is what happens when you take little interest in your Slytherin students." said Snape bitterly.
"Point taken." said Dumbledore now showing more concern. "I will send word immediately to reinforce the wards."
"At least you're doing something." muttered the Potions Master. "Despite it being an apparent late investment."
"There is certainly no winning with you Severus." said the older wizard.
"Can't imagine why." replied Snape.
"In any case, you should go home." said Dumbledore. "Word is Hermione is worried sick about you."
"I will handle my own affairs thank you." replied Snape.
Dumbledore shook his head.
"Of course you can." he said sadly. "But not always in the best of ways."
Snape scoffed and sat back down beside his father's headstone.
"Miserable old sod." he muttered in annoyance.
Dumbledore had wished Severus would make take what he had said under advisement. He had really wanted the younger wizard to hold on to the measure of happiness he had managed to find with the beautiful young Gryffindor witch he married. The Headmaster took his leave feeling there wasn't much he could do for the Potions Master as he sat by his deceased father's grave.