In your skin

When it clicks

"What. The hell. Is this?" Black asked, looking at Severus just like he was responsible for the world hunger. Lupin shook his head. At least he had a bit of sense.

"Is this from James?" Lupin asked, worry filling up his eyes, and Severus gave a quick look at the owl. Yes. The only owl that was still around after his dad had found out about communication in the wizard world.

"It is. And something is fairly wrong" Severus said, and even like that, Black still didn't trust him. The boy gave him a look and then looked at the other two.

"I bet he was the one that did this. He wants us to go with him 'save' James and then he will make a secret potion and transform them back. But that's not going to happen Snivy. We are smarter t-"

"Sirius. Shut up" Lupin said, already annoyed by his friend's distrust. "That's not Snape's handwriting. It's James and he needs us. Snape" he said, now determined, looking straight to his eyes. Severus wasn't so found of the action. "You are going to take us to your house tomorrow. We will tell James' parents that you want to visit Lily and they will take us there. But now, you have to tell us what the hell is going on, because you're looking too calm to not know"

Severus agreed with every part of the plan except... The ending. He didn't want the marauders knowing about his personal life. Potter already knew more than enough. But then again, if it wasn't for that letter, none of them would know and he would have just lived the best days of Christmas of his life in a warm and content house.

He really needed to stop caring about people - his family especially.

"Fine. I will tell you. But only you Lupin" he said firmly, and when Pettigrew and Black opened their mouths to complain, Lupin gave them a mother look that made both shut up and leave the room. With a soft sigh, Severus sat on the floor and was followed by the Gryffindor. "Let's go straight to the point. My father and mother aren't exactly good parents. They use harsh words, punches, kicks and blackmail to make me do what they want. My father is a muggle that hates my mother and I because we are wizards. My mother takes everything out on me and booze. Basically we are a very dysfunctional family. The problem is that Potter is in there and he doesn't know how to deal with it"

He finished quickly and avoided looking at Lupin as much as he could, simply because he didn't want to see the pity in his eyes. He had seen it in many people's eyes already. Especially muggles that had nothing to do with anything.

"Oh... Well then... We need a plan. A good plan"

Severus agreed.

As soon as James saw the owl fly, Tobias kicked the door to the room and entered in it with a wide smirk. He looked even dirtier, gross even, with wet clothes, smelling like alcohol, his eyes dark, angry, and bloody lips and nose. He had been in a fight, but James didn't want to be in one either.

"Get up, your useless piece of garbage! I need to take you somewhere!" he yelled, and James was quickly on his feet. It didn't help however, and Tobias still reached out to grab his collar and pull him like a dog on a leash. "You're behaving so well these two days! I might even give you some bread to eat" he laughed out, darkly, and James swallowed thickly. Bread? Only bread?

Wait. Did he eat at all since he arrived?

Tobias pulled James down the stairs with not gentleness whatsoever, going so fast that he almost fell twice. In the living room, Eileen laid on the couch, unconscious, with a huge bruise on her cheek. He had hit her, the bastard! Out of nowhere, a huge amount of courage filled his veins and he pulled away from the huge man, looking at him angrily.

"Why did you hit her?" he asked, the anger clear in his eyes. He wasn't even afraid anymore. "She didn't do anything to you. She's too weak to fight you!" he yelled, but Tobias didn't seem up for arguments. He picked James up by the collar of the sweater once again and stared deep into his eyes, their noses inches apart.

"You listen to me and you listen to me well, boy. She is your mother, my wife. She needs to do what I tell her to do, and when she refuses, she gets what she deserves. Understood?" he growled, and for the look in his face, that seemed to be a conversation he had had a lot before. James hadn't, however, and was ready to fight for it.

"Bullshit! She's your wife! You're supposed to love her and treat her well! She will do what you want her to do because she loves you and she likes making you feel good! Now if you're an asshole all the time, then she will never... look at your face" he said, something clicking inside him. Lily. He himself was an asshole all the time. Not exactly to her but to her best friend. Said best friend that had a mother that did not care about his existence and a father that constantly hit and abused him for being a wizard, something he didn't even have a choice to be.

Well... Maybe James did deserve all that hatred he received.

He didn't have time to think more about it, because during the seconds his brain had to make all of those connections, Tobias' brain calculated the best way to connect his fist to James' jaw. He felt himself being hit and ended up falling on his back on the ground. The world was dizzy for a second or two before he felt a kick in the stomach and everything came to view again.

Eileen had woken up and was now trying to pull Tobias away from him. The man's foot collided with his stomach once again, but James reached down and held his ankle, tugging on it in the right time just to see the couple falling back, also on the floor. Everything was a mess, but James was still smart enough to stand up and make a run to the door.

That, unfortunately, still had a very confused but still very awake Tobias.

The man grabbed James' ankle with no mercy and tugged him down, making him fall to the ground once again, now face down on the floor. He felt when the nose cracked, he felt when the blood begun to spill out, and he also felt when Tobias jumped over him before he blacked out.

He was a fifteen year old boy. There was no way he last in a fight that long. And he still felt pretty proud of himself, even when the world got black and the weight on his body made it hard to breathe.