The Grey Area

Chapter 2

11 Years Old

I hissed at the contact my arm made with the wall. I slid down to the ground and bit back the cries that wanted to spill out from my mouth. My body was shivering and I stared at the ground waiting for father's footsteps to leave.

From the corner of my eye I can see Severus collapse to the ground as well after a loud "boom" sounded. Father shook his hand from the punch and walked away, finally allowing myself to breathe. That was the first time Severus ever got hit and I felt bad. It was always me.

"Fucking creeps," Father groaned before letting the door slam behind him.

Severus scrambled to his feet and I can see them make their way towards me. His hand came in front of my face and with a shaky hand I placed mine into his. He pulled me to stand and my entire body was shaking. I never really had the urge to cry growing up but my magic sometimes made me feel overwhelmed. Especially in moments like this. My magic practically always begged to fight back.

"Stop. Just stop. Don't do that," Severus demanded and I blinked back the tears in my eyes.

He released a sigh and pulled me closer to him. He joined his forehead with mine and rubbed the sides of my arms attempting to stop my violent shakes. That was the most comfort Severus would ever offer. We never cuddled. Or hugged. We barely even smiled. But when I was close to a breakdown he would rub my arms. Which became our thing I guess because it definitely did work in his favor.

"When do we leave?" I managed to ask.

He looked around the floor and saw the letters crumbled up on the ground. He picked them up and smoothed them out as much as possible. He handed mine to me and I took it sniffing slightly.

"We can leave tomorrow. We'll stay in Diagon Alley. I'll.. figure out the money. But we need to get out of here," he mumbled, shoving his letter in his pocket.

He began making his way up the stairs and I quickly said, "Be careful. Don't get caught."

He nodded and continued going up the stairs. I wiped my face and tied my hair up in a messy ponytail. I walked over to the living room to see mother sitting in her chair with a glass of alcohol. She stared at the tv with a blank expression and I sighed. The world can be crashing down around her and she won't budge.

There was a soft knock on the door and I jumped at the sound. I walked over to the front door just on time for Severus to get back downstairs. I opened it to reveal an excited Lily waving her letter in the air back and forth.

"I got mine! Did you get yours?" She asked excitedly but her smile wiped off her face seeing our faces. "What happened?"

"Our father wasn't thrilled to see our letters. We're leaving to Diagon Alley until the start of term," Severus replied as calmly as possible.

"What?- You're children- are you even allowed-"

"Yes Evans. When young witches and wizards need help, they offer it. And right now we definitely need it," Severus said a bit more agitated. Lily frowned at his tone and he sighed. "I'm sorry Lily."

She studied his face and her eyes landed on the now appearing bruise on his cheek. She bit down on her jaw and gave him a firm nod.