The Lily That Poisons The Snake
Chapter 13
Warnings: See chapter 1
Disclaimer: Yeah, I own Harry Potter. That's why I'm posting on here and begging for reviews. *note sarcasm*
When Severus woke a couple of hours later, it was to the feeling of someone brushing his hair. Blinking his onyx eyes open sleepily, he saw his mother standing over him with a hairbrush in hand.
"Mum?" he said, yawning and sitting up, "What are you doing here? And why were you brushing my hair like I'm a child."
"Because your hair's a mess. When is the last time you washed it? When is the last time you slept? You look exhausted. And why didn't you call me and let me know what that monster did to my grandson, who isn't even my real grandson? Why did I have to find out about what's been going on from Lucius and not you? Are you trying to give me a heart attack? I haven't heard from you in weeks, Sev, and then all of a sudden I get a call from Lucius telling me to come to the hospital…"
"Minnie," Albus said, getting up from where he was sitting with Lucius and baby Harry, "take a breath and give Sev a chance to speak." Severus looked at his mother, who was crying in his father's arms. Hesitantly, he reached out and grabbed the hem of her sweater like a small child.
"I'm sorry, mum," he said softly, "I just…I just wanted to make my marriage work. And when she got pregnant by Potter, I thought…I thought things would get better if we raised the baby together. But she never helped or paid any attention to the baby, and I've been so exhausted. I've been trying so hard to take care of everything and make our marriage work. And then I had a meeting and I begged her to watch him. I should've known better, but I've just been so stupid. I almost got my son killed. She almost killed him, mum. And the paramedics think I did it, and everything's just so messed up. I didn't want to worry you guys. That's why I didn't call. I didn't want to worry you, but I've just ruined everything. I lost two of my best friends, my wife, and they're probably going to try to take Harry away. I don't care if I'm not his real father. He's my son, and I love him, and I'm so so sorry."
By the end of Severus's explanation, he was sobbing in his mother's arms with his father stroking his hair. They didn't offer him any false platitudes, like "it's okay" because they weren't entirely sure that things would be okay. There probably would be an investigation into what happened to Harry, and no one knew where Lily was, so someone might try to blame Severus. But they're going to have to go through me if they want to take that baby from my son, Minerva thought fiercely, My son has been through enough.
"Sev," Albus said, after several minutes, "where is Lily now?"
"I don't know," Severus said softly, "…She might be somewhere with Potter."
"I can't believe the nerve of that…"
"Minnie," Albus said, cutting his wife off.
"…woman," Minerva finished, rolling her eyes at her husband, "Cheating on my Severus with that arrogant little…"
"Min."
"Arse," she said, scowling, "Albus Dumbledore, why aren't you more upset about this?"
"Min, you know that I am just as upset as you are, but ranting and calling people names won't help Severus. More than likely, they're going to bring in social services. They're not going to want to believe that a mother did this to her own child, especially a mother that is nowhere to be found."
"So we need to find Lily and prove that she's abusive," Lucius said, speaking for the first time as he walked over to the bed, baby Harry snuggled in his arms, "If we can prove that she's been abusing Sev all this time, it'll be easier to prove that she did this to Harry."
"No," Severus exclaimed, shaking his head frantically, "We can't…people can't know about that…No one needs to know. I can't tell anyone that she…They'd never believe…They'd think I'm…"
"Shush and calm down, Sev," Albus said, gently, running his fingers through his son's hair, "I know you don't want people finding out about what Lily did to you, but you have nothing embarrassed about. Lily was in the wrong, and we can't let her get away with what she's done to you or to Harry. If we can prove that Lily is abusive, then we have a better chance of proving that she hurt Harry, not you. If we can't prove that, you could lose Harry."
"I don't want to lose Harry. I can't lose Harry…" the dark haired man softly.
"Then help us prove that Lily is abusive."
"Okay," Severus whispered, holding his arms out to take Harry from Lucius and cradle him against his chest.
"So how are we going to prove that that poor excuse for a woman abused my son and my grandson?" Minerva demanded. Before any of the males could answer, the doctor entered the room, followed by a stern-looking brunette woman in a suit with sharp brown eyes.
"Mr. Snape, this is Ms. Cochran, and she is here to speak with you about the condition in which you brought your son in," the doctor said, "If you'll just hand Harry over to me…"
"No…please, don't take him," Severus pleaded.
"I'm not taking him away. I'm just going to check him over while you speak with Ms. Cochran," the doctor assured the dark-haired man, holding her hands out for Harry. She felt bad for the man. She could see that he sincerely loved his son and would never hurt him, but she knew most people, including the social worker, wouldn't believe him.
"Okay," he said, reluctantly handing his son to the doctor and turning to face Ms. Cochran, "You're from social services, aren't you?"
"Yes, I am, Mr. Snape," the stern-looking woman said, taking out a tape recorder and taking a seat on the chair beside the bed, "You brought in a one month old baby with some very questionable injuries, and I am here to find out how he sustained those injuries."
"I didn't do that to him. I would never hurt a child," Severus instantly, "My birth father was abusive so I know what that's like."
"So you have a history of abuse? Do you think growing up with an abusive father has affected you?"
"Not in the way you think. I'm not abusive. I could never be abusive."
"Then who gave your son those injuries?"
"M-my wife, Lily Snape," he said softly.
"You wife did this to her own child?" the brunette said in obvious disbelief, "I'm sorry, Mr. Snape, but I find it hard to believe that a mother would do this to her own son."
"It wouldn't be so hard to believe if you knew Lily. She…she's abusive. I should have realized she wouldn't be any different with him after what she did to me but…"
"What do you mean 'what she did to you'?"
"She…she abused me. She's been abusing me for the last four years," he whispered, lowering his head in shame. Despite what his father said, he felt ashamed admitting that his wife abused him.
"I'm sorry, but how exactly does a man get abused by his wife?" she asked, obviously not taking him serious, which angered the others in the room.
"The same way a woman gets abused by her husband," Lucius said, taking a seat on the bed beside Severus, "When she gets angry, she takes it out on him."
"Takes it out on him how exactly?"
"How do you think?" Minerva said angrily, "She beats him and insults him and treats him like he's worthless." Severus ducked his head and flushed at his mother's description of what Lily did to him. And the social worker's next question made him feel even worse.
"And you just allowed this to happen, Mr. Snape?" she asked, her feelings about him very clear on her face.
"I…I didn't know how to stop it. I thought…I thought that if I tried to make her happy, then everything would be okay. I just wanted my wife back, but nothing made her happy."
"And when you realized that you could not make her happy, why didn't you leave or at least stand up to her?"
"I…I loved her, and I thought she loved me too," he said helplessly.
"Mr. Snape, I have never heard of situation like this before, and I have to tell you, I don't believe a word you've said."
"W-what? B-but I'm telling the truth, I swear," Severus said as tears filled his eyes.
"Well, I spoke to Lily Snape this morning and she informed me that after making the terrible mistake of cheating on you with a man named James Potter and becoming pregnant, you began beating her and when the baby was born, you took your anger out on him as well." As Ms. Cochran was explaining this, a police officer stepped into the room, and Severus, Lucius, Minerva, and Albus could only stare in shock.
AN: Bit of a cliffhanger, I guess. Lily's still making trouble. Will Severus be taken to jail or will someone believe the truth? I know it's supposed to be getting better for Sev and it will with the return of a certain couple we haven't seen in a few chapters! Sorry it's taken me a while me a while to post. I've been stuck on this chapter for a bit. And also I've been working on two one-shots. One of them is set in the "Beautiful" universe for those of you who really enjoyed that Drarry two-shot. And the other is a Twilight one-shot about Edward's response to Carlisle changing Esme. Hope you guys like them and this chapter. And sorry if this chapter is short. I don't know if it is and I won't know until I post it. The chapters always look longer as I'm typing them but then I post them and they shrink. So sorry if this shrinks. But still review! Thanks
ES