Bittersweet (Severus Snape)

1: Cheater

I stared in complete and utter shock as Benjamin, the man I'd thought of as a father figure for nine years, since I was eight years old, covered himself and the woman he had been making love to in he and my mother's own bed, in our home, in the place we'd grown to become a family. My mother gasped, and then cried. Tears streamed down her face and her eyes grew red and puffy as the silence went on. We all just stood there, staring at one another, at a loss for words.

Finally, the sadness subsided from my heart, and a horrible anger ripped through me. I lunged at Benjamin, and my mother reacted quickly, grabbing me around the middle and restraining me.

"You fucking bastard!" I screamed. "You sick, worthless, pathetic, good-for-nothing bastard! I hate you! I HATE you!"

"Shhh, sweetie, calm down." My mother rubbed my hair and kissed my head, trying to soothe me. But I heard the depression through her façade, I felt her tears drip onto me, and my anger grew.

"I know you don't hate me, Avabelle, sweetheart. It's not as it seems, you're my daughter, and you're my wife, we can work this out.." Benjamin started, mock pain in his voice.

"I'm NOT your daughter!" I spat. "I hate you, you've betrayed us!"

"I-I.. I'm so sorry.. I didn't know.." the woman spoke for the first time, and there were tears in her blue eyes. Her cropped blonde hair was sticking up at odd angles, her makeup was smeared, her clothes lay strewn on our carpet, and she had the bed sheet wrapped around her petite body.

I glared at the beautiful woman.

My mother spoke, and her voice was filled with anger. "I want you out of my house, now. Get your clothes and leave."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" the woman asked, concerned.

"I think you've done enough, wouldn't you agree?" I spat at her. She nodded sadly, collected her clothing, and walked over to Benjamin. For a moment, I thought she was going to kiss him. But she spat in his face, and stomped down hard on his toes.

"Good day." she muttered angrily at him, and she left, nodding politely at my mother and I.

"No need for you to pack, Benjamin," said my mother in an emotionless voice just as Benjamin opened his mouth to speak. "as Avabelle and I will be gone within the hour."

"Where will you go?" Benjamin asked.

"I'm quite positive that's none of your concern." and she left the room.

Benjamin stood awkwardly for a moment, and then looked at me. He smiled evilly. "It was so worth it. She was great." I knew he was referring to the woman he had cheated with. Anger surged through me, and before I could register my actions, my wand was pressed against his throat.

"What was that?" I said, shocked to hear the psychotic edge to my voice. Nobody messed with my mother. She'd been through enough.

"I said I'm going to regret this for the rest of my life."

"You won't know regret until you bad mouth my mother again." I said, and chuckled, walking away. "You're pathetic, and you'll never find better than my mum."

I got to my bedroom, and I quickly closed the door behind me, making sure to lock it. "Muffliato," I muttered, and then I collapsed onto my bed in a fit of sobs an screams and tears. I cried for my mother, for me, and for fear of what our future would hold. I knew that we had no money of our own, and with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named back, jobs were hard to come by. Where would we go?

After a few minutes, I forced myself to get up and pack. Soon, my mother was knocking on my door. "Belle," she murmured, against the door "let's go."

"Coming." I said. I unlocked the door, and before I could take a step, my mother's arms were around me. I couldn't help it after that, and I cried hysterically.

"Let's go, sweetheart."

I sniffled. "'Kay."

And we left our home.

~

"What are we doing here?" I asked as we approached Gringotts, the Wizarding bank.

"Getting money, of course." my mother said, and with a devious grin, she held up the key to Benjamin's Gringott's vault.

"You are SO awesome, mum!" I exclaimed, and hugged her tightly.

Maybe, I thought to myself, we'll be okay after all.

We went in the bank, and a goblin escorted us to Benjamin's vault. We cleared it. The entire thing. And because of the fact that they hadn't filed the divorce papers yet, it wasn't illegal.

"What's mine is yours."

As we left the bank in high spirits, my mother and I walked down the road, giggling and enjoying one another's company. It took me a moment to realize we were headed for the airport.

"Mum," I said, looking at her and standing still. "Where are we going?"

She smiled at me. "Back to London, sweetheart." she said, and just from the tone of her voice, I knew she had wanted to say those words for a very, very long time. "We're starting fresh. We're going home."