Light in the Dark

Severus' Story

"Hello?" The red haired sister called, unsure if they were allowed to come closer.

"Hello." He greeted back, looking up from his book. He was sure he looked sickly and ugly compared to them, his hair was a stringy mess of black his nose too large for his face, his features sharp and awkward, though his mother assures him that he will grow into his features and be quite handsome. He was also painfully thin with an awkward gangly look to him, he often felt like a puppy whose paws were too big for him to move with any kind of grace at times. "Who are you?"

"I'm Lily... this is my sister, Pet--"

"Do not tell him my name!" hissed the other girl. "You shouldn't have told him yours! He's likely to stalk us now!"

"Petunia, that's really uncalled for! He's just reading a book! I'm sorry, my sister can be a bit rude..." Lily apologized, tucking her red hair behind her ears.

"A bit rude?" He sneered at Petunia, who scowled fiercely at him in return. "Well I suppose she's not the rudest person I've ever met..."

Lily giggled at her sister's indignant squawk and moved closer, a bit curious about the strange feel of this part of the park and what the boy was reading.

"Oh, what's that you're reading?" she asked, noting the title was in a language she could not read.

"It's a book on charms... about magic." He said a bit awkwardly. While his mother has warned him about talking about magic to Muggles, he knows one of the wards she placed on this part of the park would repel adult Muggles and gently Obliviate children Muggles who discovered his hiding place or spied him performing magic.

"Really!? You can perform magic?!"

"Lily! Magic does not exist! It is a load of bollocks and you know it!" Petunia scolded her younger sister, hurrying up to her, grabbing her arm and trying to tug her away. "And even if it was real, he's too young to know any of it and I'm sure it'd likely fail if he were to try!"

"Avis..." came the low voice of the boy behind her and she spun to see a small robin fly out the tip of the wooden stick in his hand and it flew to alight on Lily's outstretched hand.

"Oh wow..." Lily breathed, petting the bird. "It is real, Tunie! Lookie!"

"Heaven's no!!" Petunia screeched, yanking her hand away from her sister when she tried to grab it to hand her the bird. "It's not natural!"

"It's just harmless magic, nothing to worry about..." Severus stated, frowning.

"I can do it too, you know... watch!"

"What are you talking--" Petunia demanded, but gasped when her sister closed her hands around the robin almost as if she were praying and then slowly opened them and resting in her cupped hands was a large lily flower, but this one was a bright purple color that when she moved her hands changed to blue and then pink! "Freaks!?! You're both freaks!!"

"Petunia-- Petunia come back!!" Lily cried, she looked at Severus, biting her lip before she ran, dropping the flower, after her sister trying to calm her down.

Severus slowly stood and walked up to the fallen flower and picked it up, wondering if they would come back...

The next day he was sitting under the tree, curled up over his book, his face badly bruised from where he was punched by Tobias, for he was no longer father in the young boy's mind, for daring to hide his bottles. Eileen had quickly ushered him out of the door when she was able to get up from her own beating, handing him a few pounds that she earned from her potions, telling him to return after supper, by then Tobias would be at the pub and wallowing once more in his misery. He fought back tears, promising himself to never cry in front of his abusive father, to not cry before his mother because she needed him to be strong.