Severus Talks - Severus Snape (COMPLETE)

Man of Honour

Severus began his story hesitantly. He had waited until Professor Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey were completely out of earshot, then cast complicated charms to ensure they didn't attempt anything. Minerva was astonished. She doubted Filius would have recognised the charms he used. She certainly hadn't.

"What you must understand," he started reluctantly, "is that my mother is not to blame for any of this." Minerva nodded, though doubtful. "Why they married, I do not know. I believe they met in a Muggle bar. They were both drunk, of course, and my mother had just come from an argument with her father about who she was to marry. No doubt realising that my father was an apt representation of the worst possible marriage, a Muggle, no less, she flirted with him. Her memories were uncertain, however she realised later that she had had a one-night stand with a Muggle. Later she found out she was pregnant."

He paused, thinking about his next words.

"Mother wondered what to do. If she told her parents, they could keep her safe, hide the true parentage of her unborn child. But she could also defy them: marry a Muggle and raise a Half-blood child. She took the latter option. My mother tracked down Tobias Snape at his parents' house. There she told him her news. He was furious, with her and himself. But he would not leave his child without a father. He was a man of honour... once." 

His words were bitter.

"Tobias bought them a house out of several loans from different friends and relatives. Mother had been disinherited; she had nothing. She pretended to be a simple country girl, but her manners betrayed her. Eventually he asked who she was. She revealed her magic." Severus swallowed; this was clearly a sensitive topic. "He was mad. He hit her repeatedly. But the worst thing was, he wouldn't hurt me. He would not kill a baby, never mind how much he hated the mother. He was man of morals then."

Minerva shifted slightly in her chair, feeling that the worst was yet to come.

"I came along and now Mother was really set upon. He still wouldn't hurt a baby. But as babies do, I grew up. I became a child. And children must be punished. I received my first punishment at four years old. I remember why. I knocked over my glass. It smashed, on the floor. I knew all too well what happened to Mother when she did something wrong. I looked up, frightened. In his hand was his bottle of beer. I don't remember what came next. He'd hit me over the head with it. Long ago, he was man of justice. He served in the army; he was a soldier. And like he'd killed those Germans, he would attempt to kill me."

Severus paused to catch his breath. 

"I think, over the years, I have been beaten on fifty-four separate occasions. Three beer bottles have been wasted on my head. Four whips have been broken on my back. All the swear words ever created have been used in my presence. He was once a man of dignity, when he wore his medals of war at veteran parades. No more, I think. No more."

Minerva reached forwards, and to her surprise, and his, she thought, he allowed her to hold his hand.

"That Hogwarts letter was the best thing that ever happened to me," he said slowly. "That was my escape. And then I found that bullies infested even the best of wizarding schools. Your bloody Gryffindors have enjoyed their time here, it must be said, and more often than not when they are in the vicinity of me, four wands against one. Also, the Slytherins. They stick together, to defend their own, don't they? But I'm not their own. Potter and Black call me a snivelling Hufflepuff. Slytherin call me a Ravenclaw bookworm. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws are too afraid to speak up. Our headmaster ignores the goings-on underneath his great long beard. Tell him to speak to Slughorn. Veritaserum would get him to spill all, I'm sure."

"All this bitterness," Minerva spoke, at long last. "It's been bottled up for too long, hasn't it?"

"Wouldn't it, if you were the bottle and fear was the stopper?" Snape asked.

"I would unleash it, when everyone was out of sight," Minerva replied. "And I can help you."

Severus looked in her eyes for the first time that night.

"Prove it."

*****

A.N. The first real conversation between Minerva and Severus. Comment if you liked it. :)