Savior

Despair

Severus eyed the man named Marvolo in suspicion.

The moment he and the latter stepped out of the fireplace, he looked around and saw the place was an apartment room, looked a bit of rundown and rather gloomy. When he gazed outside however, he frowned upon seeing the few colorful shops a few yards away. Staring down, he noticed the people in dark robes passed by warily, faces hidden under their hoods.

It was then did he realize he was in Knockturn Alley, a shady neighborhood within wizarding Britain.

“Hope this place is to your liking,” Marvolo’s voice brought him out of his thoughts and Severus blinked before nodding jerkily. It felt like he was in Spinner’s End all over again, except slightly better due to the residents being magical people.

But why would the mysterious man be so cordial with him? He couldn’t shake the feeling Marvolo wanted something from him and as much as he wanted to ask, it still didn’t change the fact he had a place to live temporarily at the moment so he shut himself up. He entered the room nearby the bathroom and stayed until the older man called him for dinner.

“’M not hungry,” he muttered upon seeing the plates filled with some bacon strips and eggs, the smell did not entice him at all. To be honest, he barely had any appetite since that terrible humiliation, avoiding the other students in paranoia of being taunted at.

“You are a growing boy, Severus,” Marvolo chided with a raised eyebrow, his own meal halfway finished, “How about some soup or porridge? It can be quite filling. And your lips look dry; go drink some water.”

Severus refrained from rolling his eyes; why was Marvolo so insistent? “I will eat when I feel like it. You’re annoying, you know that?”

The man only smirked in a charming way, “If it’s for your own good.”

Severus narrowed his eyes but inwardly, his heart clenched. It was almost a banter he often had with Lily and now, his mind was troubled. He felt like he missed something whilst being enraged of James Potter, Sirius Black and everyone present when he was assaulted. But what could it be? He had no means to review the memory and so he kept blaming his anger and regretting uttering the degrading word to his childhood friend.

Marvolo must have noticed something amiss because his dark brown eyes softened soon after. “You look troubled. Something happened in school?”

Severus shirked into his seat. He could just ignore the nosy man however the gnawing emptiness inside of him was too much to bear. How could people easily make friends? Why they could be happy with each other while he was left miserable in all aspects of life? A brutish father, a cowardly mother, living in poverty, ostracized by other children due to his magical powers, shunned for being a lowly half-blood without a good name…

Just… why? What did he do to deserve a terrible fate?

“I…” he began, avoiding the man’s gaze. Would Marvolo judge him for his weakness? The man was rather obnoxious alright, but he was also the only one who asked him if he was alright, nearly two weeks since that incident happened.

Severus felt tears start pooling in his eyes and blinked rapidly to hide his sadness. “I- I just want to see a memory. See if I… had overlooked a few stuffs,” he reiterated his words. It wasn’t entirely wrong, really.

He heard Marvolo held out a sigh. “Why don’t we wait until tomorrow, hmm?” the man said before looking down to his full plate with a frown. “You really should eat, boy. A few bites will do.”