What if ?!

Chapter one: An Unexpected Outcome

In the smallest bedroom of a ramshackle house on Spinner's End, a six-year-old boy hastily stuffed his meager belongings into a worn, tattered charity shop suitcase. Dusk had already fallen, and if he delayed any longer, he might be too late.

Sparing an anxious glance out the window, the dark-haired child breathed a sigh of relief when he didn’t see any signs of a familiar silhouette stumbling down the street. He still had a little time left, but his father would likely be home within the hour, hopelessly drunk and eager to blame his discontent on his worthless son.

Hurriedly packing the rest of his belongings, the young wizard sighed as he reluctantly returned his mother’s potions books to their hiding place underneath the loose floorboards. They were too heavy for his small frame to carry, but he wished that he didn’t have to leave behind his only connections to his mum. While it was true that his mother had never protected him from his father’s wrath, she had at least healed his most severe injuries and taught him about magic and potions. Often, it had been late in the evenings, after his father had already passed out, that his mother would take out her potions books and read to him in hushed whispers, promising that one day he would go to a magnificent castle called Hogwarts and learn all about the wonders of magic.

As such, it had been clear to the young boy that his mum was a capable witch, so he had never understood why she’d passively allowed his father to hurt them when she could have easily stopped him with magic. Even while soothing her son’s tears and tending to his bruises, she had still refused to raise her wand against her husband. However, despite his mother’s flaws, she had been the only person who’d cared about him, and it had been difficult to lose her. But while he had grieved for his mum, his father had only seen the extra money that was now available for alcohol.

Consequently, after the first few lickings following his mother's death, the six-year-old had quickly figured out that the best way to avoid the man’s drunken rages was to simply avoid being home at night. So, for the past several months, at the first sound of his father’s stumbling footsteps entering the house, he would climb out of his window and sneak away, walking until he reached the nearby park, where he would curl up under a tree and fall asleep.

Tonight was different, though, because it wasn’t just another night away from home. Tonight, Severus Tobias Snape was officially running away.

Closing his suitcase, Severus walked quickly towards the front door, admittedly a bit scared, but mostly relieved to finally be escaping Spinner’s End. He was a resourceful child, and he knew that if he could make it to a busy city, there would be plenty of opportunities to find leftover scraps of food.

Reaching the door, he jumped in surprise when it abruptly banged open, knocking the suitcase out of his hand. Someone stumbled inside, and Severus froze, terror filling every inch of his body as crazed, bloodshot eyes met his own. His father had returned home early.

“Freak! You made me lose my job at the mill, ya worthless piece of shite!” Tobias roared, backhanding the boy harshly across the face.

Severus cried out in pain, a hand flying to his clearly broken nose as he stumbled backwards. “Sir, please—” He paled drastically as his father’s gaze landed on his suitcase, the man’s fury noticeably increasing. “I-I can explai—”

“And just where the hell did ya think you were goin’ with that suitcase, eh boy?” Tobias bellowed, grabbing the front of Severus’ shirt and yanking the boy towards him.

“I-I was just going to visit a friend, sir,” Severus stuttered, already knowing that he was going to get punished. His father’s breath reeked of alcohol, and he always got punished when his father was drunk.