(WARNING: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE)

Regicide

Sinister Spiders

ONE

Through your burning hot tears you can still see the terrible scene before you. No matter how hard you press your hands against your ears and how loud you hum your favourite lullaby, the shouting is still louder.

Her pale face is already bleeding. The look of fear etched into her features matches the terror gripping your heart in its steely fist.

He is still yelling. Furious.

Hadn't he told her not to use magic in his house?

Hadn't he warned her what would happen if he ever saw her wand again?

You finally manage to pull yourself out of the inertia of your despair and cover your eyes. You want to run over and throw yourself in front of her. You want to jump on his back and pull him off her. But you won't do it. You can't. You know better than that. Getting involved only makes it last longer. Only makes him angrier… Only turns his attention to you.

After all- how can you possibly protect your mother if she can't protect herself?

The sound of his clumsy drunken fists making contact with her already tender skin echoes through the kitchen. The muffled sound of flesh meeting flesh is something that always finds its way into your nightmares. You try to make yourself smaller in your corner. You try to disappear into the dilapidated kitchen doors behind you. You wish beyond all possibilities that you cease to exist. Every trace of you needs to be removed from this world that your were thrust into. Born to a man who seldom loves and a woman who was seldom loved- what hope is there for a child such as yourself?

It is at that moment that your magic decides to enter your body. Every vein in your body, every inch of your skin, tingles with an intensity so great you want to cry out in shock. Suddenly it is over as quickly as it began. Your hands disappear from in front of your eyes. Your entire body becomes transparent and nobody notices. He is still yelling. She is still crying. You are still crying in the corner, but now you are invisible, as you were always meant to be.

Now you don't even have the shield of your hands to hide behind.

Such is the gift of magic.

A/N:This is going to be a series of drabbles which follow Severus Snape as he grows up. It is an experiment on two accounts; I don't normally write drabbles, nor have I ever written anything in second person. Please feel free to leave your feedback and constructive criticism. I will upload new chapters as they occur to me.