Chapter 2 – Uneasy Childhood
Little Severus Snape, six years old, was sitting in a chair by the table. He never said a word, although he could talk, when others were around. Now he was sitting alone in the kitchen, finishing the crossword puzzle in the paper. The one that his father couldn't complete. Tobias Snape came in and saw his son at the table. "What are you doing brat?" he asked. He was drunk, he never got to keep a job for long and his last job was 6 weeks ago.
Severus held up the crossword.
"You are ruining my crossword!" Tobias shouted and snatched the paper out of the hands of his son. He looked at it and his eyes grew big. "How did you... What?"
The entire crossword was filled in, correctly.
"You're a freak! Just like your mother! Go to your room and don't come out! Nooooow! Eileen, get down here right now you filthy whore!"
Severus pulled the worn sheet over his head to muffle the sounds of his screaming and crying mother while Tobias beat her until he got tired. He heard the door slam and knew his father was gone.
Eileen moaned and heard some noises. "Oh no, he's back." She thought and she could open one eye, the right one that wasn't swollen from the beating. "Severus, what are you doing here? Get out." She groaned.
Severus wet a towel and started cleaning his mother up. He helped her in a chair and made some tea, using an other chair to get to the counter so he could grab a mug.
"Why don't you speak Severus?" Eileen asked, she failed as a parent and then she saw the crossword. She knew her son was extraordinary and very intelligent. Instead of praising him she yelled "What the hell, Sev! You know your father can't know about it! When he finds out you're different he..." Eileen stopped herself and looked at her son. Really looked for the first time in months. The boy was skinny, had lank oily and black hair, a nose already to big for his face, his skin pale and his eyes were looking in hers. Tired. The eyes of an old man. And she felt guilt.
"You know what, Severus?" The boy shook his head "We'll make a deal. You hide your gifts from papa and I'll teach you things. You can read my old school books." Severus nodded enthusiastically. So came it that the young Severus was destined to love books and learning. They didn't have money for toys so he had to do with what they had and his mother gave him something priceless. Knowledge. And the little boy yearned for the day when he could go and do magic at Hogwarts. School for Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"Hey! You there! What are you looking at!" some boys of the neighbourhood shouted at Severus. Severus was 8, almost 9, and he was outdoors to get his father for supper. That means he had to go all the way down to the pub.
"It's ugly little Snape! Hey, Snape! Did you know how ugly you are? And your father is a drunk!"
Severus ignored them.
"Ugly! Ugly!" the children chanted. Severus continued ignoring them and went into the pub. Mathilde, the wife of the bartender, saw him coming in and her eyes softened. She was one of the little people that were friendly to him.
"Severus, come here. Behind the bar." She motioned him closer. Severus immediately went to her and hid behind the bar.
"Your father is in the corner, over there, but first. Drink this. Freshly made hot cocoa and look there's even some whipped cream on top of it!" and Mathilde smiled broadly at him.
Severus took the mug and gave a little smile back at her. Expressing his gratitude in his eyes. He tried to drink it quickly but burned his tongue. It was divine. Then he had to go, his mother was waiting with dinner and he still had to get his dad.
The darkhaired boy went to the corner and pulled on the sleeve of his father's old and dirty coat. "Leave me alone." The drunk man mumbled and went on drooling on the table. Severus persisted and got his father up without causing any scenes in the pub. Ofcourse, the drama only started once they got inside their house.
Eileen didn't dare say something and watched her husband slouching in his chair. She just gave him his full plate and then waited for further instructions. The whole room was noiseless safe for the crunching of the baked potatoes in Tobias' mouth.
"Ketchup." He slurred and Eileen jumped up, almost running to the fridge to get him his ketchup. She handed it to him and then...
"Watch out." Severus said At that moment Eileen handed the new and expensive bottle to her husband and Tobias, being drunk, didn't take it very well. The bottle dropped to the ground and it shattered. Red splatters like blood covered the whole kitchen floor. Eileen's mouth was gaping and shutting and gaping, just like a fish. Hoping her husband was to drunk to notice her son had done something special.
"How. Did. You. Know. That the bottle was. Going. To.. Drop..?" Tobias asked, watching his son for any suspicious signs.
Severus gulped and looked at his mother for help, she was still playing goldfish.
"I... Just knew." Severus answered.
Tobias pushed himself away from the table and stood up. Closing in on Severus and placing hands on both sides of the chair.
"You. Just. Knew?" he leaned down and searched the eyes of his son.
The little boy was trembling now and nodded affirmative. Tobias didn't know what to say anymore.
SMACK! He slapped the boy hard across his face. "Clean the floor, you creep!" he just yelled and then went upstairs. They heard a lot of stumbling and cursing. "Eileen! My bed! NOW!"
Severus' mother looked at her son and ran upstairs. Too scared to even consider not obeying. Leaving her 8-year old son to clean up the mess.
Severus hissed, a glass shard got stuck in his hand while cleaning. He bit his lip and pulled it out. He had to clean this up and then he could go outside again. It was already dark, but he liked it that way.
"Lily, don't do it!" shrieked the horsefaced and elder sister.
Severus watched them from his secret place in the bushes. There was a new family in town and when he saw them, when he saw her, he kept coming back to catch glimpses of them. He just felt something was special about the redheaded girl.
"Mummy, told you not to!" Good Gods, that girl was bothersome, Severus thought to himself.
"Mummy said you weren't allowed, Lily!"
"But I'm fine! 'Tuney, look at this. Watch what I can do." And she showed one of her most favourite magic tricks with the flower. Severus gasped silently, he knew it! She was like him!
"Stop it!" the stupid one shrieked.
"It's not hurting you." Lily said, Lily. The name tasted sweet on Severus' lips.
"It's not right." Severus growled softly. Just like his dad. Everything out of the ordinary was 'not right'.
"How do you do it?" she asked.
Severus couldn't contain himself anymore "It's obvious, isn't it?"
The two girls got surprised, but the fieryhaired one calmed quickly.
"What's obvious?" she asked.
After that meeting, they spoke to each other almost daily. They always met at the river, under the big tree. When Petunia spied on them and Severus got angry because she insulted him. He ruined another opportunity with Lily to express what he thought of her. They didn't see each other for a very long time.
And in the meantime, Tobias was getting more worked up. It was difficult to hide his magical nature. Severus had a talent, he could sometimes read someone's mind and his father hated that his son could 'predict' things.
"You're a freak! Just like your mother!" he shouted and then went on beating the crap out of his only child.
"Why do you have a black eye, Sev?" Lily asked.
"Euhm, I fell. Look Lily. I'm sorry about the branch. But you should know some magic you can't control and I really didn't mean it." He waited, fearing to be rejected again after months of being ignored by Lily.
Lily looked at him and then just shrugged. "Alright. Tell me more. Do you think I'll be a good witch? Teach me more! I want to be one of the best. Imagine all the new friends I'll make at Hogwarts." The girl said. Severus just nodded. Not minding that she only thought about herself because she forgave him. Now he could lose himself again in her beautiful green eyes.
An owl swooped in. Tobias wasn't drunk this time, but he didn't like the bird dropping a letter in his soup. Eileen shrieked and covered her mouth immediately with her hand. She was pale already, but now all the colour was absent from her face. Her eyes locked on the letter and her husbands reaction.
Severus sat at the table too, waiting till his father was ready with eating so his mother and he could eat too. His eyes were wide and he too was staring at the letter. Hope burning in them.
Tobias turned the letter and saw it was addressed to his son. He opened it and after reading he crumpled it.
"Tobias, I think we should let him go to that school. They help paying in the education of the less fortunate childr..." Tobias put his hand up and she silenced herself.
"To. Your. Room. Boy. NOW!" Severus didn't wait for other signals and jumped of his chair, ran up and hid under his bed. The worst shouting match ever followed. In all these years, Eileen had given up. But her husband would not take away her son's future. Then the beating began. A moan filled the air and then all was silent.
Suddenly Severus heard his father coming up the stairs, stomping his way to his room and threw open the door. BAM!
"Come here you little freak!" Tobias grabbed under the bed and pulled his son to him. Severus clamped himself to the leg of the bed. After pulling a couple of times very hard, Severus had to let go and when he turned on his back he saw his father. A crazed look in his eyes and a knife in his hands.
"Let's remind you of what you are, shall we?" he panted. The knife flashed and Severus screamed.
The month that followed passed very quietly. No talking, no looking to long at the man of the house and doing what they had to do. Eileen her bruises faded away and she now looked like she always did. Thin and sallow. Severus' wounds healed too. He just didn't look in the mirror anymore when he didn't have his shirt on. The word 'FREAK' carved over his chest. The wounds were closed, but they still itched and were red.
"Severus." He heard his mother whisper. Severus cracked open his sleepfilled eyes. It was very early, the sun was about to rise.
His mother motioned to him to come to her. "Pull on some fresh clothes." Severus did as she asked. She pulled him with her. A big trunk waiting on the doorstep. "Come on, let's go." She whispered. Looking frantically around, afraid of her husband waking up and stopping them.
Severus grabbed his mother's hand and squeezed it softly, looking up at her.
"It's the last I can do. In the trunk are my old books and school uniform. You'll have to wear the pants you're wearing now, but it will have to do. My old wand's in there too."
She gave him instructions during their trip to London, she must have saved as much money as possible to get them here, and adviced him to not make any enemies and keep the Evans girl close. If he wanted to write home, he had to send it with Lily, so his father wouldn't intercept the letters. Severus nodded gratefully and when they stepped out at King's Cross, he felt his dream was finally coming true. They saw Lily in the station and he waved at her. She was crying and Severus thought to himself he would find out why she was crying when they got in the train.
"Mother" he started, but Eileen cut him off.
"I know I'm not a good mother, I can't protect you and I will not interfere with your father. But I only ever wanted to give you the chance for a better future than we have now. Don't ruin it." She leaned down and gave him a soft peck on the forehead. It was the first kiss he remembered, maybe the only kiss he'd ever had from his own mother.
Severus righted himself, squared his shoulders and nodded at his mother. He pulled his trunk in the train and when the train started moving, he looked her in the eyes and hoped she would survive the consequences.
I used some lines from 'Deathly Hallows'. I hope I could portray the situation at home for Severus good, because it was really hard. My English is very bad and I had to check a lot of words and there are still faults in my text. You can always correct me, I can take it
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