Precise Ambition

By: Romney Lyre

DISCLAIMER: I, Romney C. Lyre, do not own Harry Potter. I am not making any type of profit from this fanfiction and this is only for entertainment purposes only.

Chapter One: As the River Says

A young boy, no more than ten years of age, was stalking around the polluted lake. The sun was trying to peak through the clouds and smoke, but failing to shine light on the tainted town. It was a late June morning and no one was active yet. The boy, Severus, seized his chance at isolation and left his house to walk around.

He sat down and stared at his reflection in the putrid river. He had inherited his mother's long face and sullen eyes, while his father provided his large, hooked nose and black, greasy hair. Severus, though, didn't care for outer appearances. The only thing he thought was any worth was his magic.

It was at the age of five that Severus's magical talent was discovered. His mother, Eileen, and father, Tobias, were arguing for the first time in front of Severus. He knew that they fought; he could always hear it through the weak walls of their poor house. During dinner, his father was asked his mother about when Severus would be able to perform magic like she could. She protested that it normally children do not show signs of magic until they're around seven years of age. His father flared and yelled that his son needed to learn magic as soon as possible. He threw down his plate and picked up Severus by the collar and shouted at him to fix the plate immediately. When Severus began to cry, he threw him painfully down and shouted at Eileen for giving him such a worthless son.

As Severus watched his father storm out of the kitchen, he stared at the shattered plate with tear stained eyes and he chanted in his mind, "Please just be fixed. Get fixed so father will leave me alone." His mother, who remained in the kitchen with her son, let out a gasp as the plate levitated and mended itself until there were no cracks. Severus felt a cold lump in his throat. He felt like crying again, but he was feeling disheartened yet ecstatic. He knew what that meant, that meant he was a wizard and had a magic like his mother. Yet, that meant his father would take advantage of his magic and just use him like he used his mother.

Severus threw a rock into the river in anger. He was tired of his father. His father was the reason why his mother was stuck in this dreadful hovel. Once his mother grudgingly informed his father about his magic, Severus had never seen him look so greedy and elated. Immediately, his father demanded that Eileen teach him all she knew about magic. She frowned and said that Severus would be able to go to a school for magic once he was eleven, but Tobias slapped and shouted that his son needed to learn now. He bent over his wife and explained that there was no harm in teaching him early and since she had no argument, Eileen agreed.

Even though he detested his father, Severus was glad that he was able to learn magic at an early age. His mother taught him the differences between muggles, like his father, and magic people, like himself and his mother. She talked reminiscently about the wizarding world. Severus learned that there was a ministry and a bank and schools and shops just for wizards. The most fascinating and horrible thing Severus's mother told him was Azkaban, the wizard prison. Dementors were the guards and they were the most terrifying thing according to his mother.

Once he had turned eight, she decided to introduce Severus to his future subjects. She said he couldn't perform some of it himself yet, like Transfiguration or Charms, but he could learn the theory. For two years, Severus read the many books his mother had procured for him and was enthralled by each and every book. His favorites by far were potions and the dark arts. Potions were his favorites because it did not depend on using magic most of the time and he was able to do it at home. Dark arts, on the other hand, were just so vast and changing and it interested him very much.

Severus stood up and decided to walk away from the river. He should get home before his father found out that he left. His father was very strict about him leaving, he didn't want to risk anyone else finding out that he was magic and trying to steal him. Eileen always gave an aggravated sigh whenever Tobias brought that up. She tried to convince him that if magic was performed in front of a bunch of muggles, the ministry would have to intervene and modify their memory and forget the magic they witnessed. The only reason his father could have magic performed in front of him was due to being married to a witch.

Severus observed his house as he dragged his feet up to it. It was one of the poorer houses in the neighborhood. His father was against making his home look better; he thought it would raise suspicion that a poor factory worker all of a sudden had a nice, clean home. There was a park a little ways up the road, but it was normally abandoned. There weren't a lot of kids in the area. The only other children besides Severus were a sickly boy and two sisters. He had only seen the small, sickly boy once and was probably dead since that one time he caught a glimpse of him was when he was being transported to the hospital.

The sisters, on the other hand, were inseparable. The older girl was always scolding the younger sister and led the way to the park each time. The younger girl had out of place red hair and always followed the older one. Severus had seen them on a few occasions when he was wandering around, escaping his parents arguments. He didn't know their names though. Part of Severus wanted to talk to them since they were the only kids his age, but he always decided against the thought. They were simply muggles and he was a wizard. He had no use for muggles.

Silently, Severus opened the door and crept in. He settled himself on the couch and picked up the book he was currently reading, Basic Hexes for the Busy and Vexed. As he began a chapter on short hexes, Severus heard his father's less than graceful feet stomp through the kitchen. He heard the clatter of cups as he poured himself coffee. Severus's father then proceeded to stomp into the living room where Severus was and threw on his coat.

He glanced over to his son and asked, "You studying?"

Severus fought back the temptation to make some smart comment and said lowly, "Yes, sir."

"Good," his father muttered. He left the house without saying good bye to his son.

Even though he knew his glares at the door were pointless, he continued to silently fume. It was like that every day, always asking if he was practicing and studying. Severus knew he was some kind of insurance in Tobias's eyes.

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As the year went by, Severus noticed that the sisters were fighting more and more. He would be sitting in a tree reading and he would hear shouting. The older sister's shrill voice would yell at the younger girl to stop doing something. Each time he heard the younger girl let out a tinkle of a laugh, saying that nothing was being hurt. Finally, Severus decided to spy on what they were doing when the older sister yelled "UNATURAL!"

He remembered something his mother had told him as Severus walked up to the park. His mother had told him that there were people with magic born into muggle families. She didn't know why it happened, but she called witches and wizards of muggle parentage muggle borns and mudbloods.

When the park was in view, he hid himself in the bushes. Severus wasn't too keen on the idea of talking to kids, he wasn't very social. What was there to talk about anyways? How poor his clothes were because his father was so dead set on keeping up the poor image so no one would suspect anything? It was his first time seeing the sister so close up. Severus couldn't tell who the older sister was until she heard her shrill voice yell, "Lily!"

The other girl, Lily, just smiled and began to swing higher and higher while her sister jumped off her own swing and began to shout at Lily. The difference between the two was very distinct. Lily had soft, red hair that went back and forth as she swung. Her bright, wide green eyes were very noticeable, even from where Severus was hiding. The older sister had beady eyes that were currently narrowed and scared. Her face was more narrow and skinny than Lily's round heart shaped face.

Lily kept going on higher and higher on her swing until she jumped and Severus silently gasped. He thought for sure she was going to fall and break her leg, but instead she floated loftily to the ground.

"See, Tuney? Everything's fine," soothed Lily. The older sister just gave her a fearful look and whispered something that sounded like, "Strange"

Severus's black eyes glittered with excitement; he couldn't believe that there was a witch his own age that he could talk to! He bit his lip, he was tempted to burst out of the bushes and reveal that Lily was a witch, but didn't. He needed to bide his time.

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Even though their meeting wasn't as good as he had hoped, Severus quickly bonded with Lily. She was a very eager learner and ate up each book Severus brought her. Each day after playing with her sister, whose full name was Petunia, Lily would skip off and meet Severus in one of the trees. Severus deeply enjoyed their discussions about the wizarding world and their subjects.

Once he had convinced his mother, Severus brought along two fairly small cauldrons and decided to apply what Lily had been reading in the potions books. They had to hide in a thick bunch of trees since Lily had found out that Petunia was spying. Severus discovered that Lily had a hard time actually making the potions than reading the theory behind it. For weeks he helped her improve her potion making skills until they were very well.

Severus found that Lily was a good listener and always listened to Severus's gripes about his home life. Soon they considered each other best friends.

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A/N: So, this was basically an introduction chapter. Hardly any dialogue, sorry. Review please?