He was trying to slip off the train without being noticed.

Peering around the final corner, he saw no one.

He sighed in relief and started to scoot to freedom.

"There you are, Snivellus."

He froze.

The people he had been trying to avoid had found him.

He turned around and glared up at the group of boys.

"Potter," he snarled.

The lead boy grinned.

"Where are you sneaking off to Snivellus?"

"None of your business, Potter."

James frowned.

"Don't talk to me that way, Snape. I won't stand for it."

Snape was shoved into the wall by one of the boys.

"Black," he said simply. "Of course you'd enforce that git's threat. Lupin is too peaceful and always pretends that he doesn't see this. Pettigrew is too cowardly and only hangs out with you for protection, so that leaves you." He sneered. "And everyone knows that you'd do anything for Potter because you lov-"

SMACK

Snape stared at Black in shock.

He had used his fist to hit him rather than a spell.

Black was furious and he could see the rage in his eyes.

Shape started to feel nervous.

Black saw the fear and it only made him angrier.

He started hitting him over and over again.

The other boys were staring at him in amazement.

Never had he lost his control like this before.

"Padfoot!" James called. "Padfoot, stop it!"

He ran forward and tried to pull Sirius off of Snape.

Snape couldn't move and simply had to take the abuse.

Suddenly Black was gone.

Snape opened his eyes to see a tall man with wavy, blond hair holding the boy up by his shirt collar.

"You will not hurt him! You will leave him alone!"

Snape stood up shakily and stumbled over to the man and grabbed his arm.

"Francis! Francis, stop!"

The man let go of the boy and turned to Snape.

"Are you okay?"

He didn't wait for an answer before scooping him into his arms and climbing off the train.

Most people were already gone, but a handful remained.

Francis pushed his way past them and out of the building.

"Put me down!"

"Non. Not until I know you're okay."

"I'm fine!"

Francis ignored him and kept walking.

He reached his car and deposited Snape on the backseat.

Snape's face was covered in forming bruises and cuts.

Francis ran a hand over the marred face gently with a sympathetic expression on his face.

"What did they do to you, cher?" he whispered sadly.

Snape shrugged.

"Nothing worse than usual. Black just got a little mad and used his hands rather than his wand."

Francis sighed and slid into the front seat.

He started the car.

"Why are you here?"

He looked at the boy in his backseat through his rear-view mirror.

"I came to pick you up," he said in slight surprise. "I thought you wouldn't want to spend your holiday with your parents."

Snape was quiet for a few moments before he said 'thank you'.

"Of course."

They drove in silence for a couple hours until they reached a house.

"Viola," Francis said as he pulled into the driveway.

"Where are we?"

"One of my chateaus. I bought it a few months ago so we wouldn't have to go all the way back to France."

"You bought a house in England?" Snape asked in amazement.

He knew how much Francis hated England.

"Oui. It's for you."

Snape stared at the beautiful building in front of him.

"F-For me?"

"Oui."

"You bought me a house?"

"Bon anniversaire."

Snape sprang forward and hugged Francis tightly.

"Thank you so much," he whispered.

Francis hugged him back.

"You never have to go back to that wretched place again."

"What about my parents?"

"I've already told them and they don't mind."

Snape smiled at him through wet eyes.

"M-Merci. Je t'aime."

"I see you've been practicing your French," Francis noted.

Snape nodded.

"I want to speak to you in your language rather than mine all the time. You made such an effort to learn English so I could make a little effort to learn French."

Francis smiled at him.

"Merci. Shall we go in?"

"O-Oui."

Francis smiled again and picked Snape up again.

"Stop doing this! I can walk perfectly well!"

"I don't want you to get anymore hurt."

Snape blushed slightly.

"I'm fine! Walking won't kill me!"

"I know. But I want to carry you."

Snape stopped complaining and let Francis carry him into the house.

He was carefully set on a couch.

"Wait here."

Francis walked into the bathroom and grabbed a washcloth.

He dampened it before going back to Snape's side.

"I'm going to clean you up and then you can use your magic to heal yourself, d'accord?"

Snape nodded and closed his eyes.

Francis raised the cloth and started wiping the blood away.

When he was done, Snape pulled his wand out and muttered a spell.

Francis watched the boy's face heal and hugged him gently.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Letting you get hurt."

Snape stared at him.

"It's not your fault. They were looking for me and I provoked them."

"Still. I'm supposed to keep you safe. Désolé."

"I don't be sorry. I don't blame you."

"Je t'aime, Severus."

"Je t'aime, Francis."

Francis pulled him close and kissed him.

Snape closed his eyes and kissed back.

They eventually broke apart for air and lay back on the couch.

Francis still held him in his arms and he smiled.

"I wish we were in France though," Snape said suddenly, "I'd feel safer."

"It's going to be fine," Francis whispered back as he closed his eyes. "Don't worry. I'm here."

"D'accord."

Snape closed his eyes again and lay against Francis.

They were both completely unaware of the eyes outside the window.

AN: Here's the FrancisxSnape I promised! I wrote it a couple days ago and finally got around to typing it up.

So Snape is in his final year and he's STILL being bullied. Francis is his lover, platonic relationship of course seeing as Snape is only 17, and he protects Snape. Snape loves him dearly for all the affection and time he takes up instead of his parents.

So again, this is based on events from AnimeFest. I was France on the last day and we had a bunch of other people with us, including a Snape. We made a LOT of weird pairings that day. Iggycest, USUK, FrUk, UKFin, and France and Snape. XD