Disclaimer - I own, my hair...I think...What I don't own is Harry Potter and all its characters. The lucky owner is J K Rowling.

A/N : This was written for the Hogwarts Online II Dream Challenge .

A big thanks to Mistical Ninja, Rose and anyone else who helped me with this story. I really appreciated it.

*Note - If you think you've read this before, you probably have, but I decided to split it to three chapters to make it easier to read. : )

*Warning - Child abuse

"Freaks! I don't want to see either of you in this house. From this point onward, you're both dead to me!"

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With a loud gasp, he quickly sat up in bed. He could fell his heart beating wildly within his rib cage. The cold sweat running down his back made his clothes stick to his body, chilling him down to the bone. Onyx eyes swept around the room, trying to adjust to the darkness. All of his concentration was on controlling his breathing. With one last deep breath, he threw himself back onto the bed, an arm across his eyes.

That had been the most vivid dream he had ever had. He could still clearly see the fear and sadness in the small boy's eyes. And the woman – the woman hadn't batted an eye as she forced the child away from the house. She had seemed familiar, but he couldn't place her face with a name. The hatred in her eyes had not been lost though. They had burned into his soul trying to convey how much she hated him.

"Just a dream," he said to himself. "It was just a dream."

Propping himself up on one elbow, he turned to reach for the small lamp he kept near his bed. Turning it on, he looked at his clock and saw it was a quarter to four, he had woken up with enough time to eat breakfast and get ready for work. Perhaps, after a long day at the docks, he would forget about the dream and go on with his life.

Running a tired hand over his eyes, he got up and headed for the kitchen to make himself some eggs, toast and bacon. Turning the lights on, he began to get started on his meal. It was as elaborate as he could manage, but it helped to keep him going until he could get some lunch from the local pub. Not to mention that it was better than what most of his work buddies could do. Half of them couldn't even boil an egg let alone make toasted bread. Yet, they were the ones with the families. They had a wife and children to go home to. While he, only had a empty house to welcome him.

Ever since Myrtle had died, he had never thought about getting married. She had taken his heart with her to the grave. That had been over ten years ago.

Now, at the age of twenty-four, Tobias Snape was simply trying to make it out on his own. His parents had moved to the States five years previously after his father's company had been transferred there. He hadn't wanted to move away, so they left him with their home in Spinner's End to live in.

He supposed life wasn't bad. He no longer had to worry about his mother nagging at him every time he came home drunk silly. Neither did he have his father breathing down his neck to join the Royal Navy since Tobias refused to join him at his company.

Tobias was allowed to do what ever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Had Myrtle still been alive, he suppose he would be happily married to her now. But, he couldn't see himself with anyone; much less be a father to someone. He knew he had a nasty temper, it was an unfortunate Snape trait. He wasn't sure if he would be able to keep it under control with a child pushing his buttons twenty-four hours a day until the day they grew up and left the house.

Again, the boy from his dreams rose to his mind. Even if it had been a dream, he felt guilty that it was because of him that the boy had looked so sad – so afraid.

The smell of something burning slammed him back to Earth as he saw that the bacon was turning into a fossil. 'So much for being able to cook a decent breakfast,' he wearily thought to himself. Salvaging his meal he sat down at the table and began eating. His mind kept drifting back to his dream, no matter how much he tried to think about something else.

He recalled the last words he had said to them – freaks. They certainly looked normal enough. So, why would he be calling them such a thing?

A better question was: Why would he get married and have children, if he was going to hate his family?

Not knowing the answer, he shook his head in order to clear it and focused on finishing his meal before it got cold. Once done, he washed his dishes and made his way upstairs to get ready for work.

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"Watch out!"

Tobias quickly moved aside as one of the cargo boxes hit the side of the port. His mind had been wandering and he missed the signal he had gotten to move out of the docking area. Looking at the splintered wood from where the container had hit, he was more than glad that he had reacted fast enough to move away. A hit like that could have either crippled him or killed him.

"Snape! What the hell do you think you're doing?" his boss yelled, as he quickly made his way towards him to look at the damage that was made.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me," Tobias easily lied. He knew what was wrong with him. It had been that dream again. His mind had brought forth the image of the small boy once again and Tobias had drifted off wondering how much of an evil git he had been to the boy.

"Well, figure it out soon or else!" his boss shouted at him before turning back around and shouting at everyone to get back to work.

Tobias swept the sweat from his brow and pushed his lanky locks away from his face. Looking at his fellow co-workers he simply nodded at them and went back to work.

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"You filthy abomination! Why can't you be like normal boys?"

"Don't call him that, you git!"

"Shut your mouth, woman! I'm the one who works like a dog to give you and this freak a roof over your heads and food to eat!"

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Once again, his dream had woken him up. This time he had physically hurt the woman. As soon as he had exclaimed that he was the one working to take care of them, he had smacked her across the room. Looking at his left hand with disgust, he could almost feel the heat in it, as if he had truly hit the woman in real life.

Bile rose to his mouth, making him quickly dash to the loo. How was it that just the thought of hurting a woman made him spill his stomach; yet in his dream he hadn't even given it a second thought before lashing out?

After making sure that he wasn't about to throw up again, he flushed the toilet and turned the shower on. He felt disgusted at himself for dreaming up such things, the only thing he could think of, was to wash away the filth from his body. Discarding his night clothes, he quickly stepped beneath the hot jets of water and allowed them to run down his body. He didn't bother turning down the water, even though the heat was making his skin turn red, Tobias felt as if he was somehow punishing himself for hurting the woman in his dreams.

Only the reminder that he hadn't actually hurt her kept him from running to the kitchen and cutting off his own hand.

"Just a dream," he repeated the mantra to himself. "It was just a dream."

Leaning his forehead against the wall, he closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind. He had never been one to have a clear head, there was always something there, be it an important meeting or just chores he had to do. But this time, he focused on just the hot water pouring down his body and the sound of it as it hit the floor. After a couple of minutes, he was once again calm. Closing off the water, he towelled himself dry and picked out a clean set of work clothes. He didn't think he would be able to go back to sleep.