Title: Blue October, Volume One – Chapter Three.

Author: Woodland Goddess.

Rated: M

Author's Notes: I cried writing the last chapter... Thanks for the reviews, those who left them! ^_^

Chapter Three: A Taste of Good Fortune

The following morning found Severus in a surly mood. His left arm was swollen horribly and throbbed painfully at the slightest touch or movement. A large stretch of his skin was mottled black and blue and deep purple. He knew quite well something was not right beneath the surface of his flesh, but he also knew it would take some persuading for Tobias to get it seen to. He glared up at the ceiling of his bedroom, knowing his chances of doing so were incredibly slim. He had enough spite in him to contemplate not getting it seen to and having it develop a serious infection, forcing the necessity of calling an ambulance...but he put a stop to that thought immediately.

Severus needed both of his hands to be fully functioning. He would need his hands in the future, not only for casting spells during class...but for his future career. Though he was only seven years old, he knew where he wanted to go in life. He wanted to study the subtle science and art that was Potions. He had heard his mother speak so favourably about that subject that he would pursue that goal with all of his strength and intellect, just to bring a smile to her face. Eileen never smiled and that, in itself, was enough to compel him up out of bed.

Severus struggled to find some clothes that were not too horribly threadbare and then got dressed. He dressed slowly, trying not to hurt his arm too much, but it was futile. Clenching his jaw tightly shut and ignoring the blurring of his vision, he dressed as best as he could. As soon as he was finished, he brushed his hair with his comb – which was missing three or four teeth – and left his bedroom, sniffling and rubbing his face with his right arm. He was getting rid of the evidence of his weakness.

When Severus entered the kitchen he noticed that both of his parents remained, still. Tobias was hidden behind the previous day's newspaper – Severus assumed the man had filched it from one of the nicer homes he did chores for. Eileen was at the cooker, stirring a pot of porridge. The previous day's porridge. He had to fight the urge to curl his lip, knowing that, if he turned his nose up at it, he would be unable to have anything else. Normally, he would have greeted his mother with a hug...but normally Tobias was gone from the house by this time.

In silence, Severus seated himself at the kitchen table, as far from Tobias as it was possible to be. He rested his arm, as carefully as he could, upon the table, wincing as a twinge of pain shot up to his brain, but it provided relief too – an unusable arm was a heavy weight to carry around. They did not notice his presence until Eileen turned from the cooker and startled at the sight of him, almost dropping Tobias' bowl of porridge. Luckily, for both of their sakes, she did not drop it. "Severus, I didn't hear you come in," she said breathlessly, one hand resting against her throat.

"I was taught to make no noise and pretend I don't exist, so I don't know what you want me to say," Severus answered mulishly, scowling down at the vibrantly coloured bruises on his arm. Eileen's lips thinned at his answer, but she said nothing in response. She laid the bowl of porridge and a tarnished spoon down on the table, in front of Tobias. Eileen dished up two more bowls of porridge and sat at the table, between Severus and his father, almost like a mediator. Only then did the hung-over man lower his newspaper.

Severus decidedly avoided looking at his father as he picked up his spoon, but even without doing so, he could feel the power of the man's scowl. "Why does the boy get more than me?" Tobias growled, the voice sending a paroxysm of fear through Severus. "All he does is it around the house all day, while I'm out there working to put food on this table." Severus shrank in his chair, trying to disappear as he started eating his breakfast. For some time, there was silence and Severus wondered if the man's question would go unanswered, but eventually Eileen bit out a response.

"I gave him more because he's a growing boy," she said, sharp enough to challenge, but soft enough to not attract his ire too horribly. "He needs all the nutrition he can get and since the ingredients needed for a Nutrition Potion are unavailable to us, you'll have to make do with what I give you or you'll get nothing tomorrow." Eileen kept her eyes to the table as she scooped some porridge with her spoon. A half-growl – little more than a warning – escaped Tobias' throat, but the foul man said nothing more.

Breakfast passed in silence, save for the sound of spoons clinking against the ceramic of bowls. Eileen disappeared upstairs to get started on the laundry and Tobias ordered Severus to get a start on the dishes. Quite resentfully Severus obeyed the order, struggling to carry all the bowls and spoons over to the sink one-handed. He was half-way there when he had the misfortune of tripping over something. With a crash as the ceramic shattered, Severus landed hard on the floor, his injured arm trapped beneath him.

A scream of agony was ripped from him and tears welled in his eyes, despite his best efforts to fight them. He did not have to look to know that his father had tripped him on purpose. Tobias Snape was a foul man, Severus had come to learn. "Those bowls were bought with hard-earned money, so you'd want to watch where you're going, boy," Tobias said, a sneer curling his upper lip. "If it happens again, I'll...be forced to tan your worthless hide. Am I understood?" Without looking at him, Severus nodded, sniffling quietly.

Despite his tears, despite the absolute agony pulsating through his left arm, despite his desire to just disappear, Severus forced himself up from the floor. He stood in front of his father, head tilted downwards, gaze fixated on his worn shoes. He's lank hair fell off his shoulders to frame his face, casting his features in shadow, for which he was inherently grateful. He did not want Tobias to see his tears. "I'm sorry, sir," he whispered, knowing it had not been his fault the dishes broke. "It won't happen again."

"Good," Tobias growled, lurching up from his seat. Instinctively, Severus stepped back away from him, shoulders quivering. A dark, cruel laugh bubbled up from within the man and he cuffed Severus across the head. "What did I do to deserve such a nancy for a son?" Severus' jaw clenched tightly and his right hand curled into a fist at his side when he heard the word. He had no idea what it meant, but he knew it was meant to be an insult. A Muggle insult. Just knowing its origins made him want to kick the man before him, the man who acted no more like a father than a drunken stranger would.

To distract himself, Severus began picking up the broken shards of ceramic, carrying them over to the wastebasket. It was a slow process, as he was only able to pick-up a certain amount, but he remained focused. He ignored the fact that Tobias was watching him like a hawk, waiting for him to make the slightest mistake. When he finished the task, his father looked at him as if he were a thrice-blasted dog he had broken into doing his bidding. Severus' lip curled at the knowledge of how his own father saw him, but he hid it to the best of his ability.

Tobias made to leave, but Severus' hesitant voice caused him to pause in the doorway. "Sir...I...Mama said that I need to have the pharmacist take a look at this..." Severus did not want to beg, but he knew he needed to get his arm looked at. His voice cracked slightly as he utter the word, "Please."

A nasty smile spread itself across Tobias' cruel mouth. "You're in for a long walk, then. Your scrawny arse will keel over before you get there, no doubt. Come along, boy," he snapped, his patience waning as he strode for the door. Obediently, Severus followed after him, head bowed, eyes downcast. Tobias' words were only too truthful; they had to cross the entire length of the town, to get to the only Pharmacy in the area. It was a long walk and Tobias kept a quick pace, forcing Severus to run in order to keep up with him.

It played havoc with the muscles in Severus' legs. His legs were burning by the time they reached the Pharmacy and there was an ache between his shoulder blades every time he inhaled. When they reached the Pharmacy, Severus had to grab onto the wall with his right hand, to prevent himself from falling over as he struggled to catch his breath after so much exertion. But Tobias gave him no chance to do so, gripping his hair tightly and virtually hauling him inside the premises.

Severus did not fight his father's grip too much, knowing it would only hurt more if he did so. It did not stop him from giving Tobias a look of contempt when he was released, however. Fortunately for Severus, they were the only customers in the Pharmacy that morning – the rest were staff. There was a man behind the counter, leaning against it with his hip as he read the newspaper. Severus' heart clenched his chest and his breathing stopped as his eyes took in the man before him. In spite of the rather long white shirt the man had to wear for work and the wire-rimmed glasses that now rested lightly against the bridge of his nose, Severus would recognise that man anywhere.

It was the kind man from the playground, Harold Evans. Other than the glasses and the change of apparel, the man looked just as healthy and handsome as ever. Looking at him, Severus found himself wistfully wondering what it would be like to get three square meals a day and have the chance to wash more than once every few days. Mr Evans must have heard them enter the Pharmacy because he lifted and turned his head slightly, bringing those vibrant green eyes into the light.

Severus stared into those big green eyes, a silent plea in his own dark gaze. He thought his prayer went unanswered when Mr Evans flicked his gaze towards Tobias as he straightened. Folding the newspaper, Mr Evans set it aside and reached up one-handed for his spectacles. The glasses were folded and slipped into his breast pocket in a matter of seconds. "Good morning, Sir. How can I help you?" he asked politely, giving him the typical smile of a man who had to deal with the public on a daily basis.

"Your cheapest brand of painkillers...how strong of a dosage do they come in?" Tobias asked, quite reluctantly, as he stood rigidly in front of the Pharmacist. It was clear that, despite his state of hang over, Tobias recognised the man before just as much as Severus had. It was also obvious that knowledge did not sit well with him.

"Well," Mr Evans began, giving Tobias a shrewd look, "that depends on the case at hand. Who needs it and what ailment is it meant to be treating?"

"Boy," Tobias growled over his shoulder. Severus obeyed the implied command and stepped forward immediately, coming right up close to the desk. Keeping his head down to avoid any possible pitying looks from Mr Evans, he indicated his injured arm.

Mr Evans inhaled sharply and there came the sound of footsteps as he emerged from behind the desk. The man crouched quite close to Severus and the boy could not help but lift his head a little and look at him. Giving him the most genuine smile Severus had ever seen, Mr Evans asked quietly, "May I have a look at your arm, please?" Without any hesitation, Severus nodded. Though he knew nothing about Mr Evans, other than that he had family and worked in the Pharmacy, he trusted this man. It was a testament to how far one act of kindness could go with a boy like Severus.

With large hands that were more gentle than they seemed, Mr Evans delicately lifted Severus' darkly bruised left arm. But no matter how gentle the man was, it did not prevent him from feeling the pain at his touch. A whimper escaped him and Severus' right hand curled into a fist. He had never liked showing his weaknesses. "How did this happen?" he asked, frowning down at the damaged limb.

"I...I...I fell down the stairs," Severus stammered. It was not the truth, but judging by the way Mr Evan's shoulders stiffened, the man knew quite well it was not. Mr Evans lifted his emerald gaze from Severus' injured arm and the boy felt he was drowning in their depths as they came to rest upon his face. There was a smile in those eyes, even if it did not cross his mouth. In that moment Severus came to the realization that Mr Evans remembered him. He remembered that day in the playground.

Severus had no idea whether he wanted to laugh or cry at the realization. Someone remembered him. The very idea that he could have made such an impression as to stick in someone's mind...he could hardly comprehend it. "Can you move your fingers for me, son?" Looking at the green-eyed man in surprise at being addressed thusly, Severus tried to make his fingers move. They just about twitched and pain exploded through his arm, earning another whimper. Mr Evans' briefly rested his hand on Severus' shoulder, before releasing his arm and straightening, towering over him as he stood to his full height. Mr Evans gave Tobias another shrewd look. "I'm afraid this boy needs to go to the Hospital; his arm is broken."

Tobias' bloodshot eyes landed on Severus. The look his father gave him was not a pleasant one, not by far. Swallowing thickly, Severus dropped his gaze and stared at the floor, knowing he was in for it. He knew there was no way his parents could afford to have his arm seen to. "And what would you know, Mr Evans? You're only a pharmacist. You're not a bloody doctor."

"Maybe not," Mr Evans replied, bristling, "but having broken a number of bones in my youth, I think I can tell when someone needs to seek medical attention. Your son needs to be seen to as soon as possible or it will set incorrectly and he will be in agony for the rest of his life." Tobias' lip curled as Mr Evans continued speaking, ignoring the look of offense tarnishing the dark-haired man's face. The green-eyed man gave Tobias an even look. "If it's a matter of expenses, Sir, I'm willing to handle it. In return, your son can work off the debt here in my Pharmacy. We need a sweep and someone with small hands that can reach under the cabinets in the back room."

For several long moments, Tobias Snape and Mr Evans held a staring contest, their jaws clenching with their determination. Finally, Severus' father caved and agreed to Mr Evans' terms. The blonde man smiled down at Severus and then opened the door to the backroom, poking his head around the jamb. "Christopher! I need you to man the desk for a few hours. I have a personal matter to attend to." A few moments later a balding man emerged from the backroom. According to his badge, his name was Christopher Young but his name was quite the opposite of his appearance. "Do you wish to accompany us?" Mr Evans asked of Severus' father, giving him a polite smile.

Tobias snorted. "I've more important things to do than run here and there with the boy." With that, Tobias Snape marched out of the Pharmacy, leaving Severus feeling more secure the further away he went.

"Thank Christ," Mr Evans murmured, shaking his head as he settled his hand lightly on Severus' shoulder. Severus had only barely heard him, but thought nothing of it as the man continued in a louder voice. "Come on, son. Let's get that arm of yours taken care of." Without hesitation, Severus accompanied the green-eyed man out to his car. Seeing the boy's confusion with the seatbelt, Mr Evans helped him strap in before climbing into the driver's seat. The journey passed with rather one-sided conversation as Mr Evans nattered away about random things.

The journey to the Accident and Emergency entrance to the hospital was quick, but the wait to see a Doctor was exceptionally long. Severus was sure it was because of his appearance. Tobias had often said all types of society looked down upon those who were virtually gutter rats. Eventually, Mr Evans' patience snapped and he strode over to a member of staff. Severus remained seated, but he could tell the green-eyed man was having a rather heated argument with them. But it seemed even the hospital staff was no match for Mr Evans' will power.

Severus was then seen to with much grumblings from the hospital staff. They poked and prodded his arm, watching his reactions. Severus thought they were getting a perverse pleasure from his pain. After some time, they used an X-ray Generator on his arm. Mr Evans was kind enough to explain to him what this meant as it was carried, so as not to panic the boy. It was not very long at all until Severus could see the evidence of his broken limb before him, highlighted by the radiation...

To Be Continued.