A/N Hey everyone! this story is gonna be a bit different from what i usually write, and if anyone finds any problems with it just send me a message! oh, and this is an au, i may include some things that have been spoken of in cannon, but there is also a lot that i am making up. so, anything you recognise doesnt belong to me...

Enjoy!

Prologue

Spinner's End was a small, industrial group of near-identical rows of dull, derelict brick houses. A river ran by the edge of the town, the reek of the waste and rubbish-strewn water able to be smelt several streets away. The cobbled streets ran in harsh, straight lines between the houses, never broken by the green of grass of beauty of plants.

This was Severus Snape's home. And oh how he hated it. He hated the ordered rows of houses, how there was no end to monogamy of the rows of stinking, boarded up, abandoned houses that stood between the few that were actually occupied. He hated the shifty looks he got when walking passed the huddled groups of teens exchanging money for drugs. He hated the disgusting, rotten stench of the river. But most of all he hated the man in the house before him. His father.

Severus' lip curled. He had been back in Spinner's End for almost a month and a half now, after completing his OWLS at Hogwarts. No one had been waiting for him at the Platform after disembarking the train, but then he hadn't been expecting it either. His family didn't own a car, and even if they had his father would never waste money coming to collect his only son. So he had had to take a tram home, lugging his heavy trunk the whole way. However, when arriving at Spinner's End, he had been greeted with a voice squealing "Sev!" and been almost knocked over by the flying form of his five year old sister Erin.

Erin was definitely the only thing that kept Severus sane during his life at home. Of course, he loved his mother Eileen, but she had a tendency to allow her attention to drift and her speech to become rather slurred. Severus wasn't sure why, but for the past few years his mother had seemed to become sicker and more waif like, no matter what he did. He didn't want to accept it, but deep down inside, he knew his mother was dying.

Eileen had been beautiful, in her youth, but life in Spinner's End wasn't easy, and the raising of two children even less so. Her black, lustrous hair had grown lank, and her delicate features and complexion waned. She rarely smiled, but when she did, nearly ten years melted off her face.

Erin was the carbon copy of her mother, inheriting only her grey eyes from her father. She had thick, wavy black hair, delicate features, a slim build, and an infectious smile with a smattering of freckles over her nose. Severus adored his sister. She was the only one capable of making her brother laugh and actually act his age.

The door of the house swung open and revealed Erin, a cheeky smile on her face. "Hi Sev!" she said brightly, dashing forward to give him a hug. Severus came out of his musing in time to lift the paper bag out of the way of his little sister's arms. He gave a small smile and a squeeze with his free arm. "Come inside!" she said, latching onto his arm and tugging.

Rolling his eyes, Severus allowed his sister to pull him into the house. They entered the small living room and he placed the bag on the table. A giggle pulled his attention from the groceries. He turned and found Erin looking at him, hands behind her back and a mischievous look in her eyes.

"What?" Severus asked finally, raising an eyebrow.

Erin giggled again, her blue dress swaying as she bounced on the soles of her feet and continued to stare at him.

Severus smirked, then lunged at her. Erin let out a squeal, dodging out of the way and dashing to the other side of the room, Severus in hot pursuit. Grinning, Severus gradually herded the unwary girl into a corner, arms spread wide to stop her escaping. Letting out a mock growl, Severus dashed forward and scooped the squealing girl up in his arms, twirling her around before settling her on his hip.

Erin giggled and threw her arms around his neck, giving him a squeeze. Severus chuckled and gave her a squeeze back. "So," he said, settling her comfortably on his hip and heading back to groceries. "What did you do while I was gone?" He sat her on the table top and started unloading the shopping.

Erin chattered on about how she had helped their mother chop up potions ingredients until her mother had said she felt ill and had gone for a lie down. Then she had sat at the window and waited for him to come home. Severus smiled at this, and gave him a happy grin.

Erin glanced at the clock on the wall, bit her lip nervously, and glanced back at her brother. "Father will be home soon," she said in a small voice, looking anxiously at his face. Severus froze, and then mechanically continued to put away the shopping. Erin gnawed her lip worriedly. "Do you think he'll yell tonight?" she all but whispered, looking down.

Severus paused. He knew that by 'yell' Erin actually meant 'hurt you', meaning him. He and his father loathed each other, his father just showed it by using a more... hands on approach.

Erin felt her brother step up in front of her. She felt him touch her shoulder, but didn't look up. "Erin," he said softly, "Erin, look at me." She let her eyes flicker up and his gaze caught hers, the identical eyes locking onto each other. "You know I can't promise anything, Erin," he said softly, his gaze soft as he looked at her. "But I will try not to get him mad. Now," he said, abruptly changing the subject, "Do you want to take Mother up some tea?"

Erin's eyes lit up and she nodded eagerly. She held her arms out expectantly, and Severus mock scowled at her but picked her up anyway. She giggled; her brother was so funny. He pretended to be grumpy and surly around everyone, even her, but all she had to do was smile and give him a hug and it would all melt away to show her loving, wonderful, protective big brother. She sighed happily and leant her head on his shoulder as he made tea one handed. No one had a better brother than her.

"You're going to have to walk now, Erin," he told her; she made a face at him but dutifully hopped down to walk next to him as he carried the tea. They made their way up the narrow stairs to the second floor, where their parent's bedroom and Eileen's potion's lab was kept. The two children shared the bedroom downstairs.

Severus nodded to Erin and she gave him a quick smile before knocking gently on the door and pushing it open. However, as soon as they entered the room Severus knew something was wrong. His mother hadn't called out to them in greeting, as she always did. A chill ran up his spine as he watched his sister skip over and start talking to their mother.

"Mother! Guess what? Sev's back! And he brought you up some tea!" as she was talking, Erin had started shaking her mother. A small frown touched her face when she didn't respond. "Mother?" she called. "Mother? Wake up! Your tea will go cold! Mother!" she was getting frantic, shaking the unresponsive woman's arm.

"Mother!" Severus cried, dropping the tea and dashing over to the bed. His mother's face was slack and pale, dark veins standing out in stark relief against the white skin. She didn't look like she was breathing. Severus reached out a trembling hand, ignoring his sister's incoherent babbling and laid two fingers against her neck. His heart dropped to his shoes. There was no pulse.

"Stay here!" he managed to say to Erin, then bolted from the bedroom and into the potions lab. He threw the door open, heedless of the crash, and dashed over to the cabinet, searching feverishly for a potion that just might make her heart beat. There! A Stimulant potion... it wasn't made to make a heartbeat, but it made adrenalin course through the body, and maybe that was what she needed...

He grabbed the potion, ignoring the clatter and subsequent crash of the potion vials he knocked over onto the floor, and sped back to the bedroom. Erin was still trying to make their mother wake, begging and pleading and promising to be good if only she would wake up. Severus gently pushed his sister to the side and pulled his mother's mouth open, pouring the potion in. He then waited with baited breath, hoping against hope that it would work. He felt Erin press against his side, tears coursing down her face.

Nothing happened. Severus felt his shields crumble and tears start to leak down his face. "No..." he whispered, his hands clenching aimlessly. "No... Mother, no..."

Hearing the utter hopeless misery in her brother's voice, Erin began to sob, reaching for her mother. But Severus stopped her before she could touch her again. He collapsed on the side of the bed and drew her against him, pressing her face against his shoulder as he began to sob in earnest. He clung to his sister and she to him.

Eileen Snape nee Prince was dead.

Severus wasn't sure how long he and Erin were in the room until their father came home.

"Eileen!" his father yelled, moving around downstairs. "Eileen! Where are you?" heavy foot falls made their way up the stairs, pausing outside the door and taking in the scene.

Tobias Snape took in the scene before him. His wife of seventeen laying drawn and pale, motionless in the bed, a spilled potion bottle next to her, and his freak of a son holding his daughter as they both wept shamelessly. His gaze fell back to his wife, noting the lack of breathing and the deathly pallor of her skin. Then they once again fell on the potion bottle. He saw red.

Severus wasn't expecting the sudden enraged bellow to erupt from his father. It managed to shock him from his mourning.

"You killed her, you good for nothing freak!" his father bellowed, his face red and eyes wild in anger. "You poisoned her with you freakish potions!" he roared, taking a step into the room.

Severus' eyes burned and his sorrow turned to anger. Anger at his mother for dying, anger at his life for being so horrible, but mostly anger at his father for blaming him for something that was not his fault. He quickly lifted Erin off of his lap and pushed her behind him before leaping to his feet. Just in time to receive a fist to the face from his father. He staggered back and slapped a hand to his cheekbone. He glanced back up in time to see his father coming back for a second shot, the ring on his finger glistening with malice. He couldn't dodge it in time and felt his feet leave the ground. Crashing to the wooden floor, he felt all the strength leave him and he just lay there moaning in pain.

Tobias panted, clenching his fists and staring down at his son. A whimper reached his ears and he looked up and found his daughter staring at him in fear. An angry sob escaped him and he returned his gaze to Severus. "I am going to destroy all of those poisons you created," he snarled softly, turning and leaving the room.

Someone was shaking him, he realised. Shaking him and sobbing. It was... a girl? Yes, that was it... a girl... the only little girl he knew that would dare touch him would be... Erin.

Severus groaned as he opened his eyes and took in the profile of his sobbing baby sister shaking him to wakefulness. "Erin..." he whispered.

"Oh, Sev..." she sobbed, and threw herself at him, burrowing into his chest. He wrapped one arm around her and reached another up to touch his temple. His head was pounding, and his fingers were red with blood when he pulled them away.

A terrible crash roused him, and the terrible stench of mingled potions reached his nose. His eyes widened in horror as he realised what his father was doing. Destroying that many potions... there was no telling what the outcome would be... except that it couldn't be good.

"Erin," he said urgently, grabbing her shoulders and lifting her up so he could look her in the eye. "Erin, I want you to go downstairs, okay?" he said earnestly.

Erin sniffed and started shaking her head. "I mean it!" he hissed. "Downstairs, now!" he pushed her towards the door and levered himself painfully to his feet. He looked up and found her hesitating in the doorway. "GO!" he yelled. She shot him one last glance then bolted down the stairs.

Severus left the room, his steps faltering as he made his way to his mother's potions lab. He stopped in the door, eyes wide in horror as he saw the destruction his father had wreaked. Potions and shattered glass littered the floor, the mingled fragments of hundreds of concoctions running like spilled blood over the wooden floor.

His father turned and saw him standing in the doorway, his sneer pure hatred. He took a step towards him, but his boot slipped in the potions and he let out a shout of surprise and his flailing hand knocked over a lamp sitting on a small table. Tobias landed in the potions, and they soaked into his clothes, eating away the material and beginning on the flesh underneath. Tobias began to scream.

Severus could only watch in muted horror as the flame from the lamp caught the rug, gradually inching closer and closer to the doomed Muggle. The flame just touched the potions when Severus was thrown back into the far wall by a powerful explosion.

"Sev!" someone screamed, as Severus felt his consciousness waver. He felt small hands touch his face, and managed to focus his bleary eyesight on a sooty face. "Thought... I tol... told you... to... go dow... downstairs..." he groaned, the flickering and dancing flames burning his retinas.

"I couldn't leave you," she sobbed. "Get up! Please, Sev!"

Severus groaned, his attention waning. "Sev, please! I'm scared," she whimpered.

"Help... help me up..." he moaned, and felt her push his hip against the wall. Between the two of them they managed to lever his jerking body up and somehow manage to make it down the stairs before another explosion boomed. Severus threw Erin bodily out the door, but was unable to dodge a piece of flying debris that left a slice along his face. He let out a yell of pain and pressed his hand to the wound. He staggered out of the house and grabbed Erin, pushing her down and lying over her to protect her from the explosions.

He heard screams, but they seemed so far away... the only thing he could here perfectly was the sobbing of Erin, and his own pounding heartbeat... he gave in to the encroaching darkness, the pain in his face and back fading into the back of his mind...

hey! so what did you think? i hope you liked it... tell me what you thought in a review!