"Time decides who you meet in your life. Your heart decides who you want in your life. And your behaviour decides who will stay in your life."

Unknown

"Does it make a difference, being Muggleborn?" Lily broke the silence, her voice coming out timid and causing Severus to hesitate.

He knew from some of the knowledge his mother had imparted – knowledge that he made certain to never reveal to his father – that Hogwarts, as well as the entire wizarding world in general, had a rather odd perception when it came to Muggleborns. Yet, as he raised his head to meet Lily's green eyes, Severus found that she was staring at him with such an innocent, hopeful expression; waiting for an answer - and his lip twitched upwards.

"No," he lied, "It doesn't make a difference."

"Good," Lily breathed, the tension in her form draining away at his assertion.

"Good," Severus repeated with a nod of his head, feeling his own shoulders relax at knowing he'd said the right thing. His friend had clearly been worried about being a Muggleborn, and the wizard made a promise to himself then and there that he would make certain that Lily would never have to deal with the bigotry she may encounter because of her blood status.

"Besides," the boy continued, "You've got loads of magic. I saw that. All the time I was watching you..." Though he trailed off when he realised that Lily was no longer listening to him, the redhead instead having begun stretching herself out on the leafy ground, her eyes turning upwards and towards the tree's canopy instead. Severus tilted his head to the side as he watched, his raven hair falling to obscure his face as he observed the shadows cast by the tree's branches play across her face.

He caught himself in the act and frowned, looking away with his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

How much like Persephone she is, he mused, his thoughts once again drifting to the mythological tale. Innocent, powerful, and unassuming. Lily had no idea of the magical world she was about to enter, much like Persephone hadn't known the depths of Hades' realm when she first encountered him.

"How are things at your house?" Lily spoke up after a few moments of silence, turning her head to look at Severus.

It had been such an innocent question, a friend enquiring to another about their personal life, wanting to know more behind the face they did reveal to the world. Yet the atmosphere suddenly grew heavy with tension as it hung in the air like a fragile promise, Severus shifting uncomfortably under the scrutiny of Lily's naïve green eyes; avoiding them as if they were the very fires of damnation themselves as he dug his fingers into the grass, tearing at it as though it could relieve the turmoil now churning in both his stomach and mind.

Talking about his family was always a precarious dance on the edge of a precipice, and Severus was terrified he'd reveal or say something he shouldn't.

"Fine," he finally muttered, the word almost a hiss as it escaped his lips. And as curt of a response it was, it was one that the eleven-year-old hoped would convey his reluctance to delve into the topic of his family. He'd already run from the place he'd been forced to call home, leaving behind the misery and chaos that had once defined his life; the abusive father and a passive mother that had dared to call themselves parents. The memories of his father's beatings, the bruises that had once peppered his body, and his mother's inability to protect him were etched into his mind like scars.

"And your father...?"

Lily's gentle probing, her innocent curiosity, threatened to unravel the tightly wounded threads of Severus' emotions. She couldn't possibly understand the horrors he had endured. He knew that for her, his home, whilst rarely spoken of, might have appeared to be unwelcoming of magic, much like her sister's disdain for it, and he couldn't bring himself to reveal the truth - the truth that was too painful, too shameful to share.

How was he supposed to tell her that he'd been helpless - weak in the face of his father's wrath, in the face of his mother's submissive fragility; how, when he'd wanted more than anything in the world for his father to just disappear and leave them alone, his magic had failed him and he, he had fled like a coward?

"Tobias... is Tobais," the eleven-year-old grumbled, his voice laced with bitterness as he thought about the man who was supposed to be his father, a man who invoked nothing but bitterness and resentment. "But it won't be long," he continued, his tone shifting as he looked away, his gaze fixed on some distant point. "And I'll be gone."

"Doesn't your father like magic?" Lily questioned, a small frown playing upon her lips as she struggled to comprehend how a parent could dislike their child for being magical. And it didn't help that she knew that Severus' mother was a witch, something of which the boy seemed both proud and annoyed about and completely threw the redhead for a loop.

How could someone who'd married a witch dislike their son for being a wizard?

It really didn't make much sense to the girl. Her own parents weren't magical, yet they never forbade Lily from showing them what she could do.

Severus' couldn't stop the way his nose wrinkled in disgust as his memories 'helpfully' showed him just what his father's thoughts were towards magic. Two years may have past since he'd run away, yet it seemed that the scars, even if they weren't visible to the naked eye, lingered, no matter how much he wanted them to fade.

"He doesn't like anything, much," the young wizard finally replied, his lip curling in distaste.

The silence that followed his words was pregnant with unspoken words and emotions. Severus knew that his father was a complex figure in his life, a man who not only inspired fear and pain from the boy, but one who also brought forth Severus' anger, his rage. He couldn't, no matter how hard or often his thoughts mulled over the topic, figure out how his mother had ended up with such a man. Why had she given up her magic for a Muggle who hated her - hated him?

Just what had he done in a past life that now had him living through the hell of growing up on the streets, the people who should have been caring and protecting him instead deciding to beat him and fear him rather than show one ounce of compassion or love?

Was it truly too much to ask for a family like Lily's - even with the annoying sibling?

How long had he dreamt, had he yearned for the mother he had glimpsed in the fleeting moments, of the woman who had once been his pillar of strength amid the fears of his childhood vulnerabilities before magic had come into the mix? How long had he tried to envision a father who didn't call him a 'freak' or 'bastard', who actually used his name and called him-

"Severus?"

Severus blinked, gaze darting back to Lily before a small smile was twisting his lips.

YES!

How long had he envisioned someone just saying his name, his whole name?!

"Yeah?" he replied, his attention returning to the present and not his past. His father, his mother, they could live in the hell they'd created if it meant he had more time to spend with the people who wanted to be around him, who chose his company willingly instead of it seemingly being forced upon them like his father always grumbled.

"Tell me about the Dementors again," the redhead requested, her hands now behind her head as she closed her eyes, her body relaxing as she lay in the dappled sunlight.

Severus' face contorted, a mixture of confusion and an emotion he couldn't name jolting through him as he eyed his friend. The way her cerise hair was fanned out, her sun-kissed skin seemingly glowing under the light of the day - was a stark contrast to the question that had just escaped her lips and Severus felt his brain stall for a moment.

"Why do you want to know about them for?" the eleven-year-old questioned when his mind begun to turn over once again, feeling far more than a little perplexed as to why she'd want to learn about such dark creatures.

"If I use magic outside of school-"

"They wouldn't give you the Dementors for that!" Severus exclaimed, his spine snapping straight as he cut Lily off. The mere idea of her being taken-

"Dementors are for people who do really bad stuff," he continued, his knuckles turning white atop his jacket as his thoughts ran wild. "They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban. You're not going to end up in Azkaban, you're too-" Severus' voice caught in his throat, the words 'good' and 'innocent' lodging themselves before they could possibly escape. He couldn't bear to tell Lily that she was too pure for such a fate, even if that was what he felt deep down. She was a like a beacon of light in his life, and the mere thought of her being tainted by the horrors of Azkaban was too dreadful to contemplate.

Before he could correct himself, or find another word to use that wouldn't reveal his thoughts, a sudden rustling in the nearby bushes interrupted their conversation and Severus' head snapped up, his dark eyes narrowing as he saw Petunia half-hidden behind another tree. Fury ignited within the boy, the idea that she'd been spying on them, attempting to eavesdrop on their conversation sparking an anger inside Severus that he couldn't ignore. It was a sense of invasion that he couldn't accept.

"Tuney!" Lily called out to her sister, her tone a blend of welcoming surprise as she pushed herself up and away from the ground; something of which only caused Severus' anger towards Petunia to grow.

The eleven-year-old was on his feet in an instant, his expression now one of outrage, jacket all but forgotten as it fell to the ground. "Who's spying now?!" he shouted at the older girl, his cheeks flushed with anger as his dark eyes remained fixated upon the one who he saw as an invader into his territory. "What d'you want?" he snarled at Petunia, who's attempts at hiding her presence had failed miserably; something of which the eleven-year-old was internally satisfied to see.

Petunia, breathless and alarmed and terrified at having been caught, was surely a sight he'd remember - always.

"What is that you're wearing?" the girl retorted, pointing to Severus' shirt that was hanging over his jeans far more than it should have been. And there was a spark of victory in her eyes when she noticed the boy tense, a knowing smirk beginning to pull at her once-terrified lips. "You're mum's nightie?" she continued mockingly.

Much to her startled horror, however, and possibly realising that she'd gone just a little too far, Petunia watched with a regrowing terror as Severus' already dark eyes seemed to swallow in the light; the blackest of blacks taking over the usually dark-brown as his anger reached a breaking point.

Perhaps if she'd known as to why he couldn't tolerate the taunts towards his looks, his clothes, the older girl's words, her taunts and condescending attitude may have been different. If she, like her sister, had perhaps taken the time to actually get to know Severus, she would have realised that the world of magic was not only a part of his life, but a sanctuary; a realm where he could escape the torments of his past.

Yet Petunia Evans had not, and in doing so, she had not realised that Severus, a boy of just eleven and of whom had nothing but his magic, wouldn't let anyone belittle or tarnish that world. Not even Lily's sister.

A loud CREE-CRACK! resonated above the trio, and a branch that had been hanging above Petunia suddenly fell, striking her on the shoulder. Lily let out a startled shout as she watched her sister stagger backwards with features contorting in pain and shock before the older girl then exploded into tears as she clutched at her shoulder.

"Tuney!" the redhead called, her voice laced with concern as her sister quickly dashed off, but the girl showed no interest in stopping. Lily then rounded on her wide-eyed friend. "Did you make that happen?" she demanded, her voice trembling with frustration and accusation.

Her accusation stung like a slap to Severus's face, her words carrying the weight of their friendship's betrayal.

"No," he replied - a little too quickly as he shook his head vehemently. He wanted to explain, to make her see that he hadn't meant to hurt her sister, that it had been an unintended consequence of their quarrel. But the words caught in his throat, choked by a mixture of guilt and anger. A part of him was defiant, felt proud even with the fact that he'd managed to put the older girl in her place, even if another part of him was scared - scared that such an event had taken place in the first place.

But that Muggle always made him so... angry!

Lily, of course, wasn't convinced by his quick denial, and she back away from Severus with her green eyes sparkling with suspicion and disappointment. "You did!" she accused, her voice trembling with a mix of anger and betrayal. "You did! You hurt her!"

"N-no, I didn't!" Severus protested, his heart and mind feeling torn in that moment. He desperately wanted Lily to see that he hadn't meant to hurt her sister, but he also couldn't deny the fact that Petunia had deserved what she'd gotten. The Muggle girl was vindictive, rude, spoilt, and absolutely despised Severus' guts, and he was not going to be like his mother and just turn the other cheek.

But as Severus watched Lily's retreating figure, her fiery hair dancing in the fading sunlight, he felt a crushing sense of misery and loneliness settle over him. He stood beneath the tree, his world suddenly reduced to solitude. The echoes of their shattered friendship reverberated in his ears like a haunting melody, a reminder of the pain and confusion that now clouded his heart.

In that moment, much like the mythical Hades, he stood alone in his underworld, longing for Persephone's return, yet forever powerless to prevent her from leaving. He could feel the tangled threads of emotions, both the anger and sorrow, threatening to overwhelm him, the echoes of a friendship fractured ringing in his ears like a haunting melody and leaving him to grapple with the harsh reality of his actions, along with the consequences they had wrought.