Severus Snape looked as a child, very much the combination of his parents. His thin frame, black eyes and stringy dark hair resembled his mother's. The hooked nose and his height were both attributes of his father. Growing up in a household where funds were tight and he wasn't considered a great priority meant that his clothes were always too big, mismatched and generally resembled the jumble sale they usually came from.
Severus' eighth birthday found him sat alone by the river that ran near his housing estate, wearing a weathered green coat that was a gift from his mother on his special day. Special day hah! He snorted at the idea that a birthday was anything but a day that ended in arguments and insults and his father using his mother as a punch bag. The wizard had been sitting, staring moodily at the water since 7 that morning. He had spent so much of his short life in that secluded spot, daydreaming of the school that would one day take him away from this place, that Eileen Snape knew exactly where to find her son when she wanted to give him his birthday present. The witch, who was beautiful in a way that muggles in their small town called 'intriguing,' knew that the gift wasn't much, so wasn't overly surprised when her son didn't squeal with delight at his birthday present. Despite herself she couldn't help but being disappointed with the look of indifference on her son's face as he unwrapped the gift. Always polite however, he thanked his mother, and Eileen was grateful that her son at least seemed to enjoy the warmth of the oversized coat against the bitter cold of the January morning. With the gentlest touch of the shoulder she left her son to return to the house. Severus didn't look up as his mother walked away. Instead he resumed his daydream about Hogwarts. His mother had told him all about the school. Bedtime stories had always been tales of her schooldays- secret passages and mid-night feasts, quidditch and duelling, portraits that could talk, owls for post men, potions that could give you good luck, professors who could turn into animals.. Severus particularly liked the idea of the bottled luck. Luck was one of the things he had decided would just always avoid him, luck along with all other children and his own father. His mother had enrolled him at the local primary school when he'd turned five, however, after a few of the other children had teased him for looking like a vampire because of his long black hair, they'd all found that they'd mysteriously sprouted their own vampire like fangs. After that the other children wouldn't go near him and his mother elected to home school him instead. His father decided there and then that there was absolutely no hope for him and he would turn into the exact weirdo his mother was.
His mother spoke with such yearning in her voice when she talked about Hogwarts and the wizzarding world that Severus often wondered why she chose to live like a muggle in a muggle house with a muggle for a husband. If he ever questioned her though her sharp features would ice over and irritated she would dismiss him as an ignorant child who couldn't possibly understand. She'd go quiet, and when Severus learnt that questioning why she'd left it all behind meant the cessation of the tales of Hogwarts and magic, he quickly learnt to stop asking.
His mother hadn't done magic for four years. There was a lot she hadn't done for four years. As he stared out over the water he tried to remember the fiery witch he had vague recollections of. He had dreams sometimes of her beaming face laughing, of her hugging his small form to her chest, of her performing magic just to make him smile. But he concluded there was no truth in these dreams, the pained, nervous woman who was his mother could never be a person so.. happy..
He knew she was intelligent, she'd told him how this thing called the 'sorting hat' had told her so on her first day at Hogwarts. The hat, when placed upon her head had remarked how her sharp mind and tenacity would make her a perfect Ravenclaw. She often observed that with his intelligence he would easily be sorted into Ravenclaw when he went to Hogwarts. Severus however, quietly preferred the idea of Slytherin. The house bred great wizards he knew. It encouraged ambition and supremacy; he imagined that in Slytherin the other students wouldn't dare to cross his path. He'd command a respect for being in the most powerful house. He was adamant he would not end up like his mother. He would not allow himself to be weak at the hands of another person. He shivered a little and hugged the heavy coat more tightly around his shoulders. Three years, that's all he had to wait, three years, then everything would be different.