Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"You!" Seamus breathed, meaning for it to come out in a growl but instead it sounded more like a gasp- a frightened intake of breath. "What... the hell... are you doing here?"

"Your momma is still my wife, and you're still my son, Seamus," Sean said, his eyes reflecting sadness and a glint of irritation, like he couldn't believe that Shay, the child he had abused and left for dead, was accusing him.

"I have never been your son, and you have never been my father! You abused both of us and left me for dead!" Seamus screamed, angrily.

"Watch your tongue, boy," his mother growled. "Your father has changed and he wants us to give him a second chance. We are going to do that, aren't we?" She put emphasis on the last two words, showing that he really had no choice in the matter.

"I've given him dozens of chances," Seamus said, his voice deadly quiet. "Every time he chose to beat me and insult me, I chose to give him another chance and he blew it. I never told anyone; doesn't that show you that I have given him tons of chances that he all wasted?"

"Shay, I beg you to just give me one more chance and I promise you I won't blow it this time. I will get down on my knees and beg for forgiveness if I have to," Sean pleaded, but his eyes, invisible to everyone except Seamus, held a hint of satisfaction at his son's vulnerability and the tears in his brown eyes.

Seamus didn't say anything, nor did he gesture for his father to do the deed he had promised because begging would not make up for all the pain he caused. Turning on his heel, he stormed up to his room and shut the door, wishing to slam it but restraining himself. Showing his anger and emotions to his father would only give the man satisfaction. Shay wasn't about to give it to him.

As soon as he shut the door, Shay leaned against the wood and sank to the carpet in shock.

This couldn't be happening. Hadn't his social worker been smart enough to issue a restraining order or utilizing a law of some sort to keep this... monster away from the people he had victimized?

Tears pooled in his eyes, but they seemed to be incapable of escaping and Shay stared at the phone with watery eyes, contemplating whether he should call Dean.

No, he'd caused enough trouble for his friend by telling him about his dad in the first place, and he didn't want to be a bother. Just because his summer vacation was ruined didn't mean that Dean's had to be due to the fact that he would constantly worry about his best mate.

So Seamus opted to just deal with it, and hope it didn't get as worse as it did last time. Because it couldn't be worse than that... right?

For the first three weeks, things changed for the Finnigan family, and from an outsider's point of view, the changes might seem good, but Seamus knew otherwise.

His mom stopped sleeping around because she knew that that would anger Sean, and that was the last thing she wanted. She continued to do drugs and drink, but Sean didn't really care about that stuff and that showed how little he'd changed since Shay was three.

Riley got up to cook breakfast and brought home lunch for Sean, often forgetting about feeding her only son but that wasn't any different from before his father had returned. The good news was that Riley actually kept food in the house, but remembering the times when he had raided the pantry as a starving toddler and getting beaten for 'not earning the right to eat,' Shay only snuck food when he could and that wasn't often enough.

Shay tried to stay out of the house as much as he could. He'd finally found a job that would hire a thirteen year old and pay well enough, so he was hitting two birds with one stone: getting out of the house and saving up for school books since it was unlikely his parents would purchase them.

But the thing that had changed the most, or so it seemed at least, was Sean, but Shay knew he was lying. He remembered those times when his Daddy would act all nice and sweet for a day or two and then beat his son worse than the daily hits he delivered. Seamus wasn't gonna fall for it, like his Mom was.

And then came July 14, the day his father finally dropped the nice facade.

Sean came home drunk and his Mom was out, probably talking with Larry about her drug supply being low or out buying liquor. Seamus sat in his room, appreciating the silence of house as he worked on his Transfiguration homework, wondering how people could be so good at the subject and why he was so terrible at it.

"BOY!" A drunken voice roared from downstairs and after all those rages his father took out on him when Shay was only a toddler, the next action was like a second nature to him.

Not thinking about what he was doing or why, Shay dove underneath the bed, blending in with the dark and clutter underneath the mattress and praying that his father was too drunk to remember to check under the bed.

"W-Where aaaare you, y-you little- little freak?!" His father stammered as he staggered into the bedroom. Seamus watched as his boots stomped across the hardwood and he didn't dare move or even breathe.

"I-I know you're hiding from me, you weirdo," Sean growled and he reached down, feeling around underneath the bed while Shay tried to wiggle away from him without making any noice.

'Please, please, please,' he prayed but the inevitable occurred. Sean's hand clamped down on his ankle and yanked Shay from underneath the bed, dragging him into the open.

Before Seamus could even register what was going on, he was being beaten with fists, feet, a belt, and words. Blood was dripping down him is skin and bruises were blossoming all over him. His mind was growing foggy and cloudy- like it was stuffed with cotton.

"You- You bastard!" His father screamed. "G-Going to that- that school for freaks! T-Trying to convince Riley that I'm a b-bad person. Well, guess what? If you tell her about this, she won't b-belieeve you! No one wiiilll," Sean taunted. "Keep your trap shut if you know what's good for you." And then he stormed out.

Seamus lay there, motionless, for several minutes, feeling warm blood trickle down his skin and experiencing horrible pain every time he moved- every time he breathed. It got to the point where he simply held his breath because every time he inhaled or exhaled, pain would flaring up in his chest and ribs.

But what hit the most were the words his father had called him: freak, bastard, pyromaniac, weird, stupid, worthless, you deserve to be dead.

A tear trickled down his face and Seamus attempted and failed to the convince himself that it was just a droplet of blood. He wasn't crying; he didn't believe anything his father had said, but deep down, he knew that wasn't true. Every kid wants their dad to love them, and if their dads don't, many blame themselves for that instead of their fathers, who are the real demons. But for Shay, he'd always believe that if he was better, maybe his daddy would love him, even if he knows that Sean Finnigan is not capable for love or care and never will be.

Bring! Bring! Bring! The phone rang a few feet from where Seamus lay and afraid that it would annoy his father enough for the man to beat him again, he stumbled to his feet and picked up the phone.

"Hello," he choked out, his body erupting in pain as he moved. "Seamus Finnigan speaking."

"Hey, Shay. Are you, um, okay? You sound like you're in pain."

Shay's heart stopped dead in his chest. Dean. He wanted so badly to tell him everything, but he still remembered what happened to Adam when he'd tried to help Seamus all those years ago. He was found by a lady walking her dog, unconscious in an alleyway and littered with injuries ranging from bruises to broken bones. To this day, Adam hasn't told anyone what happened, but Shay knows it was his dad because Adam never came over again; he never tried to help Seamus after that. He couldn't let that happen to Dean, too.

"Oh, no, I'm fine. I got the flu."

"Ooh, sucks to be you, mate. Well, other than the illness, how's your summer going? Sorry, I haven't called. My mom and I just got back from our vacation to Fiji."

"It's cool. My summer's been good, rather boring actually."

"YOU LITTLE FREAK, GET DOWN HERE!" Sean bellowed from downstairs, sounding less drunk but not completely sober.

"Shay, what was that?" Dean sounded alarmed.

"Um, nothing. My mom's just calling me downstairs."

"Shay, that was a man."

"Uh, uh, no, it wasn't, you must have misheard. I have to go; bye, Dean, call you later."

"Shay-"

Before Dean could utter another word of protest, Shay slammed the phone down, and ignoring the pain shooting through his body, ran downstairs to meet his father.

"Yes... um, Father?" Seamus said as he slowed to a halt before a stone faced Sean Finnigan.

A bucket full of soap and water and a rag was shoved unto his arms.

"You will clean his house top to bottom by nine o'clock tonight or another punishment is in order, understood?" Sean growled, a little unsteady on his feet but otherwise, scarily sober.

Seamus was shocked. "But, this house is huge!" After Riley's parents had died, being their only child, she'd inherited their large mansion and while many may consider Shay lucky to be rich, he'd rather live in a dingy apartment full of love and affection than in a mansion filled with hatred and abuse.

Slap! A hand connected with Shay's face, and he resisted the urge to hold his stinging cheek.

"I don't care. Do it or you'll get get a worse beating than before." With that, Sean stomped our, probably to go to the bar.

Shay began in the entrance hall, scrubbing the floors and dusting any surfaces that needed it before moving towards the top floor of the house, one room at a time.

By the time Seamus was done, he was exhausted and dizzy from all of the cleaning chemicals. Dean had called twice, but Shay had ignored the calls in fear of questioning or not getting the house clean in time.

Luckily he did because he finished less than five minutes before his father began to inspect the house.

Finally, he stood before his nervous son.

"Good," Sean said, gruffly. "You will do it all tomorrow, plus the laundry and dishes. If there is a speck of dirt anywhere, punishment. Now, go to your room and I don't want to see your ugly face for the rest of the night."

Shay rushed upstairs and into his bedroom, where he promptly crashed into bed, falling asleep immediately.

And he'd have to do this all again tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that until he returned to Hogwarts- his safe haven.