Spinner's End

1964-

Donald Dursley looked at the smaller man standing in front of him. He had an odd sort of regal air to him, standing there in plain black clothes with a thick mane of platinum blonde hair pushed back from his face. Glasses rested on the middle of his long nose, as if they weren't really there for any corrective purpose. The child standing beside him looked more lavish, dressed in a red cloak and matching beret, the long platinum hair held back by a black velvet ribbon. "Good sir- I assure you, I don't think this is the car for you and your daughter."

Lucius scowled. "I'm a boy! Stupid muggles."

Donald blinked in surprise. "Stupid.. what?"

"Lucius! Hold you tongue. We have business here." Abraxas gestured to the rolls royce vutour, a relic from twenty some odd years ago that was perched proudly in the middle of the lot. "I require that car. I want that car. I have £15,000 in cash. I believe that's more than enough to buy it."

Lucius grumbled something else, not wanting to make his father angry, but he didn't see the point in owning a loud machine like a car when they had plenty of ways to travel in their world. He also hated the odd way the muggle man with the oddly pink face was looking at his father, nor did he like getting called a girl by any means. "Father, I want to go home!" He whined and tugged on Abraxas's hand.

"£15,000..." He stammered watching as the smaller man pulled out a stack of bills held neatly together by a money clip. "Cash?"

"Cash." Abraxas said firmly. He counted the money in front of the car salesman. "It's all there."

"Well! I suppose I can unload that car on you. Yes, I can do that." He nodded quickly. "Give it here then. Here's the keys and the paper work..."

Lucius made a face as he was forced to keep himself occupied as the pink man went over the car with his father. Finally, keys in Abraxas's hand, they made their way back to the car. "I don't like it, father. It looks mean."

"Nonsense." Abraxas opened Lucius's door for him. "Get in, and hold on to that ridiculous hat your grandparents sent you." He went around to the driver's side, starting up the car. Officially, he had no license, but he learned how to drive a long time ago in an ill-fated adventure back in his school days. He drove off the lot, and for the umpteenth time that day, Lucius looked dismayed.

"This isn't the way home!"

"How astute of you, Lucius. This isn't the way home. We're making a short stop so I can visit an old school mate." Silence passed between them both as they drove into an increasingly poor section- driving into Cokeworth.

Lucius covered his face with his hat. "It smells bad, father! What is that!"

"Industry." He said simply and turned down Spinner's End. He remembered Eileen, he saw the announcement of her marriage to a muggle man. That same man, Tobias Snape, was recently in the Daily Prophet for an act of violence against someone in the cotton mill. Purebloods who married muggles were never totally out of the news, no matter how far they moved from good wizarding society. The article, though small, worried him. He thought of the small, pale girl when he was in school. She was quiet, but he had an inkling she held a great talent inside of her.

Apparently, she married a violent man. He found himself wondering if her husband took out any violence on her. The thought made him sick. What lessons he learned from his father that he could remember was having the up most respect for women. He had to see her, to see if she was alright. To see what her home life was like- if it was worth leaving their world. As he drove down the dirty streets, garbage and grime covering the brick buildings, he doubted it highly. He put the car in park, muttering a protective charm on it, so that no harm would come to the vehicle while they were inside.

"We're getting out?" Lucius asked horrified.

"Yes. Put your hat on your head. Keep your face neutral. No complaining. No scowling. No little remarks. If all you say is 'Hello, my name is Lucius Malfoy, I'm pleased to meet you' I will be pleased." Abraxas got out and helped his son out of the car. He took his son's hand, leading him up the steps to the house listed in the article as the residence of Tobias and Eileen Snape. He knocked on the door, waiting to see if anyone would answer.

Eileen pinched the bridge of her nose, and hoisted the little boy back into her arms. It was well past time for his nap and he refused it. Usually Severus would be sleepy by now and willing to comply with his mother but today he was particularly stubborn and in a bad mood. The previous night had been horrible. Eileen had tried to keep Severus occupied throughout the evening but he kept returning to his father and pleading for his attention. Tobias was home from a hard days work, with a bottle of whiskey and a girly mag. He did not want to be bothered as he slouched in his chair partaking in both vices, his heavy work boots kicked off, legs stretched out, one large and hairy toe poking from a hole in his patched and dirty socks.

Eileen had left the room only for moments to check the supper she was making. It wouldn't do for it to be burned, not at all. She wasn't in the mood for fights tonight, and Tobias did not like his supper to be prepared carelessly. She had instructed Severus to stay put until she returned, but his large dark eyes wandered to the back of his fathers chair, the mans greasy hair the only part of him visible from that vantage point. After a few moments of hesitation, Severus went to his father to try again to make his existence known.

His continuous whimpering, whining, and tugging upon Tobias' pant legs did nothing. Severus was exasperated. He stared up at his father whose eyes had not once left the magazine to look down at his son or acknowledge him. The bottle returned to his chapped lips which were twisted into an annoyed grimace, and when he drank the amber liquid dripped from one corner of his mouth and slid down his chin disappearing into the stubble on his squarish jaw. Tears filled Severus' dark eyes, and he glared up at the figure, intent on gaining its attention if only for a moment.

Severus attempted to climb into Tobias' lap, trying to crawl up under the girly mag, but his head kept being shoved down with each attempt, curses spat at him in an increasingly angry tone. Severus however had no plans to give up, and the last climb found him shoved sideways and over the arm of the chair, his head hitting the small table at the side of the chair where Tobias had momentarily sat his bottle of whiskey in order to spit foul names at his son and get the wiggling boy off of his person. The unsteady table and the bottle upon it both toppled over when Severus made contact, and the bottle landed on top of him before Tobias could grab it and save it. What was left of the whiskey emptied out onto Severus' shirt and the strong smell burned his nose. Tobias quickly swiped up the bottle but there was nothing left in it.

When Eileen returned to the room, she found Severus huddled in a corner of the room, wet and reeking of whiskey, his thin and pale legs pulled up to his chest as he sobbed quietly into his knees. When she tilted his head up, blood trickled from the corner of his bruised and swollen lips.

She was furious.

Then the real fighting began. She and Tobias had fought until late into the night, the dispute descending into screaming, cursing, and more violence. It was no wonder Severus was in an ill mood today. He was always upset for days after one of their big fights. The constant tension in the household didn't do anyone any good, but it was the way things were and Eileen did not know what to do about it other than to try her best to please Tobias and keep Severus out of harms way.

"Right, if you won't sleep, then it'll be bath time." Eileen carried a grumpy Severus into the tiny bathroom and the knob gave an awful, painful, squeak as she turned it on. A loud rumbling shuddered through the pipes, and rust colored sludge spewed into the bathtub, and then nothing.

"Damn." Eileen muttered, turning the knobs and banging on the spout.

"Don't wanna bath." Severus frowned.

Eileen continued to fight with the bathtub until something else caught her attention--someone was knocking at the door.

Eileen swiped hair out of her face, smearing rust over her brow as she did so. She gathered Severus' onto one thin hip and hurried to the door, suspecting it was their landlord come to harass her about the over due rent. She pulled the door opened, ready to beg for more time to have the rent money in, but her mouth snapped shut in surprise.

"Oh! Abraxas...Abraxas Malfoy." Her cheeks went hot and red, embarrassed at her old school crush seeing her here in Spinners End, wearing patched and threadbare clothing, her son wearing nothing but a large stained t-shirt that touched the top of his dirty little feet, and looking as if she had forgotten to wash him in quite some time. Severus was not one for company as most people seemed to look at him funny and irritate him, and other children were even worse. They laughed and said mean things to him, most of which he was too little to really understand, but he could understand that they were mean. He turned his face into his Mother's chest instead, deeming the visitors would be hidden from and ignored.

Abraxas startled a little when he saw Eileen. He wasn't expecting good things, but he also wasn't expecting this either. "Eileen Prince?" He asked hollowly. He wanted to ask a bunch of questions as they came rushing to him. Instead, he uttered a simple "Hello." There were few times in his life that he was utterly shocked- normally choosing to keep his words simple because he hated conversing. Never did the words simply not come to him. "I... was in the neighborhood-" He was about to say what he purchased, just for the sake of explaining why he was in Cokeworth, but mentioning that he bought an expensive vehicle seemed utterly crass. "I remembered hearing that you lived here now. I wanted to drop by, see how you were doing."

The threadbare, dingy clothing- the hovel atmosphere- and the little boy with the small cut on his head- it didn't make sense. What in Merlin's name was she doing here? He saw the rust stain on her forehead and pulled out a cloth. "Here, you have something on your forehead." He offered her the piece of fine fabric to clean it off with. He clenched his hand around Lucius's unintentionally as he felt his anger brewing under the surface. He thought of the article again, of the mention of violence at the mill, wondering more and more if that violence was turned on his wife and son.

"Father! Ow! Father!" Lucius twisted and tugged on his hand in Abraxas's grasp.

Abraxas snapped out of it, instantly letting his son's hand go. He muttered a quick healing spell for him, running a hand apologetically over his son's prized hair. "This is my son, Lucius."

Lucius nodded to her, politely. "Good afternoon, madam." He looked up to the small boy on Eileen's hip, wondering why he looked so dirty. He was praying his father wouldn't make him go inside.

"Oh Abraxas, that isn't necessary, but thank you." Eileen rubbed at her forehead, not wanting to accept the handkerchief as even that looked expensive. "We're...fine. This is my son, Severus. He doesn't really like strangers, and he's also a bit grumpy as he didn't want to take his nap today. Would you...would you and Lucius like to come in?"

She was hoping they wouldn't. She tried to keep their home as clean as possible everything was old, worn, dingy, and falling apart. There was no affording to replace things or to fix up the small house, and their land lord did not care to properly maintain it--especially when the Snape's were often months behind on their rent or would constantly come up short due to Tobias' heavy drinking habit that depleted their sparse income.

Lucius looked up to his father with wide, pleading eyes- determining right then and there that he loved that muggle car and would like nothing more than to go back inside of it and drive far away. Abraxas however, was not looking down at him and missed his desperate looks.

He took back the cloth with a frown, watching her rub at her forehead."Of course- if you wouldn't mind some company. It's rather difficult to converse on the porch- especially given the nature of our conversations. I don't think it would be proper for muggles to hear it." He glanced in past Eileen at their home- it still stunned him. How could a witch live like this? Especially one from a pureblood family? "Lucius and I are enjoying a duty free afternoon together before I'm due to leave for the ministry again. I'm trying to spend more time with him, as he's starting school next year." It was difficult being a single parent, but his own problems were absolutely nothing compared to this.

Lucius kept his expression as neutral as he could, but he was mentally horrified at going on. He wondered if his father's friend was being kept prisoner here- it was the only explanation he could think of.

Eileen moved aside, and into the house showing Abraxas and Lucius inside. She wished she had something better to show them, but this was it. This was her home. There were days when that fact made her feel truly dismal, but she pushed through them.

"Off to Hogwarts next year? How time flies. You must be very proud."

Severus turned his head just slightly away from his mother's just, just enough to glance at Lucius. His lips were still swollen and purplish from last night. Tobias didn't like the crying that had followed Severus' topple to the floor, and had slapped him across the mouth to make him stop. He had tried to, but in the end all he could do was cry harder. Severus blinked at the blond child in elaborate clothing. Did that man say that was his son? It looked like a girl to Severus.

"Severus still has a few years before he'll be off." At this she looked down at her son who had burrowed his face back into her chest with sadness. The years until Severus could leave this place could not come quickly enough--Eileen did not want to see her son go, but at least at Hogwarts, she would know that he was safe.

Abraxas kept his face neutral, like he was always harping on his son to do. It was hard though, looking at the state of Eileen's home. The paint was peeling, and from what he could tell, there was no amount of cleaning that could be done to make it look better- the bones of the home were too far gone. "Yes, I am. I did what I could to raise him. I'm not exactly father material though."

Lucius looked up at Severus, blinking up at him with his gray eyes. He saw his swollen lips, wondering how that could happen- and considered his condition to be fairly painful. He tugged on his father's hand, looking up to him. He doubted his father saw that as he was too busy glancing around at the state of the house. "Father! Que l'embouchure du boy est meurtri!"

The sudden use of French caught Abraxas off guard. Lucius only spoke it when he was uncertain about asking a question in public. His mouth was bruised? A brief scowl crossed over his features before he forced it back down. "Oh, I am certain he'll do you proud. You have amazing talent as a witch, I bet he will possess that talent as well. ...Ms. Snape- Eileen. Your husband... It is none of my business, nor place of mine to ask but... I can not leave here without asking it. Is he alright with you and your son?" He assumed the answer was an obvious no, but assumption always caused more problems than it did solve them.

Eileen rested her chin atop Severus' head, closing her eyes for a moment before she spoke, very quietly. She didn't like to discuss such things, as she was ashamed that she had gotten herself and her son into such a life, but now did not seem like the time for pride.

"Abraxas, I've nowhere else to go. My family has disowned me. I protect my son as best I can. Once he's eleven, he'll be able to leave this place."

"Then come home with me." Abraxas said firmly and placed a hand on her shoulder. "There's plenty of room at the manor for you and your son. I'll protect you. You can't live here, not like this. You.... you don't deserve this life. This... this hovel of a home isn't fit for anyone. I can't in good faith, leave knowing you and your son are here."

Lucius stared at his father in wide eyed shock. "Father-"

"Lucius, be quiet." He muttered and looked down to him. "I never remarried after Elenore, I have no parents to disown me- there's no one to object, and if there was I wouldn't care anyway." Abraxas lowered his voice then, to keep the next part quiet as he did not want to give Lucius more fuel to ask questions. "No man who subjects his wife and child to such a life can call himself a man."

Eileen looked stunned at Abraxas' offer. Had he really said it? For four years she had felt trapped here, each night dreading the morning to come, each morning forcing herself through the day by focusing on Severus and locking her own pain away beneath a cold exterior. Her eyes moistened with emotion that bubbled near the surface, but with a small sniff they were tucked neatly back into place.

Severus looked up at her, thinking she was crying, and when his eyes met hers, there was no more need to waste time. Perhaps her father was correct having told her she deserved to live with the mess she had made of her life with that worthless, filthy, Muggle rot, but Severus did not deserve to be exposed to such things. He deserved to be a happy child, not the thin and dismal wraith he was becoming.

"I'm forever grateful to you...I could never thank you enough for your kindness. I would be foolish say no. Severus deserves better than this."

Eileen's pale fingertips brushed the sensitive, painful lips of her son, usually thin like her own but now puffy. She muttered a charm, and Severus gasped in surprise when the pain subsided. She nudged his mouth open, revealing tiny crooked teeth. The two front ones were broken, one jagged and the other snapped at the gum line and no more but a stump. She muttered the charm once more, and those were healed too. The broken one was mended and the other was replaced, the new tooth crowding into the small gap and overlapping the other one a bit. Severus kept touching his mouth in surprise, and staring at his mother wordlessly with wide eyes.

Saying nothing, Eileen crossed the room and gathered something that was laying on the mantle of the fireplace. She brought it back with her and sat down, opening her hands to reveal the two pieces of her wand.

"He broke it. He wouldn't allow any magic. He kept this on the mantle where he could always see it and...taunt me with it. There is some magic I can do without it, but I couldn't have healed Severus' injury. Tobias would have noticed and made it worse for both of us, but now that we'll be leaving, it won't matter." She rolled the pieces in her hands, and Severus looked at them curiously, and then up at his mother.

"Mum, we goin' away?"

"Yes Sev, we're going away."

Severus ran to the door, and stood there impatiently rocking on his heels and fidgeting with the bottom of his large shirt. Eileen smiled.

"It looks like Severus is ready to go. I suppose I am too, there's not much of value in this house that I would want to take with us. Just my wand, and an old book from school. Accio Potions book." From the small bookcase across the room, a book slid free and sailed towards Eileen, coming to rest in her lap. "That should be everything."

"Eileen- Ms. Prince- there is no way I could sleep at night, seeing what I've seen- knowing that you and your son were here in... in this dung heap." He looked down at the broken pieces of her wand with a frown. "It's too dangerous to attempt a spell to fix it. We can take it to Ollivander- maybe he can repair it. If not, we'll have to get a new one."

Lucius stared up at his father in surprise. He had never known Abraxas to do anything genuinely nice for anyone-- except for maybe himself and their old gardener. He took a moment to look around the house, noting all the things wrong with it and after hearing what his father's friend had said- it was only going to get worse if they stayed. Apparently, this was a situation that necessitated kindness.

"If that is all you're taking- then come on. I don't want to spend another second here."

Lucius ran to the door too, looking out at his father's impressive car. Some people were gathered around it, murmuring and pointing. He remembered the dealer saying that the car his father loved was worth more than the average house-- times four. Lucius 'hmmed' in thought- these houses couldn't be worth as much as an average house- that would make his father's home worth more than a whole row of houses on Spinner's End. He developed a rather smug look on his face.

"Should I ever run in to your husband, I will give him what's coming to him. And I won't bother to use magic." He had a dark look on his face, one that he forced off his face. He walked over to the door, holding it open for them to leave.

Eileen got into the car, complimenting Abraxas on how beautiful it was--and it really was. She was almost afraid to touch it. Severus sat on her lap, entertaining himself with the book Eileen had brought along. For awhile he was content to read it, and though he could read Eileen was sure he was too little to really understand anything in an advanced potions book. The look of deep concentration on his four-year-old face was amusing.

His attention span was impressive, but he at last grew bored reading the book and stared down at the pages, imagining that they could move and turn without him touching them. He had done this once before, but his mother had gotten on him for doing so, telling him very sternly that he could not do that again or else he would be in trouble with his father. However, father was not here, and they were going away from him. A small, defiant sort of smile curled the corners of Severus' lips as the pages in the book began to flip on their own.

"Very good." Eileen said, watching her son proudly. Severus continued amusing them both with the flipping pages until he grew bored of it, closed the book, and with a large yawn and heavy-lidded eyes, he snuggled into Eileen and finally fell victim to the nap she had tried to impose upon him earlier.

Eileen watched the scenery of Cokeworth disappear, and felt the weight of it all lifting. So many times she had considered leaving, but had no way, and now here it was and they were really gone.

Lucius sat beside his father in the middle as the car only had one row of seating available. Clearly it was never meant to be a family car. He watched the scenery go whipping by as Abraxas tore down the streets. They went by a speed limit sign, the number listed did not match the speed on the speedometer. "Father- I think you're going too fast. Isn't there a speed limit?"

"...Speed limit?" Abraxas blinked. Muggles- why would they ever want to limit speed? "Nonsense."

Lucius shrugged and went back to watching as Cokeworth turned into more rustic, rolling hills. Muggle travel took forever, despite his father's lead foot. He looked up again, watching his father's thick blonde hair fly behind him. He wondered why he wasn't worried about tangles- as Lucius was and was holding desperately to his own hair. He glanced to Eileen and her son, wondering what was so interesting in the book he had. It looked like an old school book as far as he could tell. He watched Severus flip the pages around until he fell asleep. He would have slept too, but his father's ridiculous driving kept him awake. "Father-" He whined. "I'm hungry. We didn't eat lunch yet."

"Mm. Fine. Next place I see, we'll stop to eat." Though, he figured that would be slightly difficult given the nature of how deserted this area of Brittan was. After a bit more of driving, Abraxas pulled up in front of an old stone built pub. "Ms. Prince- I feel bad for waking your son, but mine is hungry and I'm following suit. Have you both eaten yet? Get whatever you wish here. Though I can't promise quality..."

"Sev's probably hungry too."

Eileen woke Severus and took his hand, following Abraxas and Lucius into the pub. Severus wobbled a little and rubbed at his eyes, trying to shake off the sleepy feeling. As soon as they entered the pub the smell of food did the trick, and he was wide awake.

They seated themselves in a booth and a waitress approached them, snapping her gum. She pulled a pencil from behind her ear and grinned at Lucius.

"Aw, wot an adorable lil girl you are."

She took their orders and returned a bit later with their food, and a free cookie for the 'adorable little girl'. Severus sat up on his knees in the booth, scowling jealously across the table at Lucius' cookie.

"I'm sure you have one of those for my son too, don't you." It was not a question, and Eileen regarded the waitress with a severe look. The woman blinked and looked at Severus as if she had just noticed him.

"Oh! Er, of course! I'm so sorry." She looked as if she was trying to hide a grimace at Severus' appearance.

She hurried away and returned with a cookie for Severus. He didn't remove his glare from her, even as she left their table. The stumpy heel on her shoe gave a crack and broke off before she made it very far, and with a little shriek of surprise she landed on her backside. Severus gave a satisfied nod and started in on his food eagerly.

"Severus...that was not a very nice thing to do." Eileen said lowly.

"I know." Sev replied, enjoying his food and looking proud of himself. "That's how come I made 'er fall down."

Lucius was about to scowl but when he had a cookie, he was smiling. "Thank you!" He chirped and started in on it. If being mistaken for a little girl got him a cookie, he didn't mind one bit.

Abraxas on the other hand, shook his head. "My god. My son is easily bought with favors." He groaned thinking about Lucius's eventual teenage years. He looked sick for a moment before sighing. "The outfit is from Lucius's grandparents on his mother's side. The LaPadites are under the impression that my son is a little girl. They wanted a granddaughter." He shook his head, watching the waitress fall and made an impressed noise. "Young man, that was impressive. You'll make a fine wizard one day." He nodded at Severus.

Lucius then ate his dinner, wanting his favorite thing first, and since his father was complaining about grandparents he got away with eating dessert first. The muggle food was decent enough, especially since he was hungry. When he finished, he wanted another cookie. If being cute got him a cookie before, he wondered if he could get more. He looked up at his father who seemed distracted with his food- then took the time to slip away toward the kitchen.

The cook blinked at the little girl with the red beret and the bow in her hair. "Awww. Donchya look adorable? You remind me of my little grand'aughter. Well! What can I do for you? Do you want a treat?"

Lucius nodded and held up a two fingers.

"Two treats? Do ya got a sibling out there?"

He nodded again.

"Well, can't have im' gettin' jealous." He gave Lucius two cookies and shooed him out the door.

Lucius returned to the table with his cookies. He looked at Severus, and put the other cookie he got on his plate in a peace offering.

Severus looked suspiciously at the cookie on his plate for several moments until his mother nudged him, urging him to eat the cookie. He raised an eyebrow at her, but took the cookie and nibbled at it. He gave Lucius a small nod, indicating that things were okay.

Eileen thanked Abraxas for the meal, and gave Severus' shoulder a squeeze. He thanked Abraxas too.

Once back in the car Severus curled back up in Eileens lap, drinking in her attention. His small hands rested on his full belly, which almost ached from all the good food in it. Severus decided it was a very good feeling, and the extra cookie was worth it. He was soon asleep again, dreaming about what the Malfoy's house might look like--certainly it would be nothing like Spinners End.

They still had a ways to go before they had reached Wiltshire, but even in the distance, Abraxas's ancestral home was looming over the landscape. The car passed easily through the iron gates of the manor, being charmed to recognize the master when he returned home. He pulled up in front of the steps, getting out of the car. He reached over the door to pull a sleepy Lucius out from the middle. His son wasn't ready to let go of his father yet, and clung to him.

With his free hand, he helped Eileen out of the car and escorted her up the stairs. Inside the massive foyer, made of different colored gleaming marble was silent. Only two people lived here, along with a sparse crew of house elves. "There's much to see, maybe we should wait for your son to wake up. I wouldn't want to wake up in a strange place and not know what's going on."

Abraxas lead them into his living room, a vast, long room with many narrow windows adorned with stained glass designs toward the top. The fireplace instantly started a roaring fire the moment Abraxas sat in his large wingback chair. "Please sit- this is your home now too."

Eileen took in the regal surroundings of the Malfoy home. She followed Abraxas wordlessly, and sat down across from him on an elaborate settee. She laid Severus down onto the fine fabric, his body limp and unmoving in his deep and undisturbed sleep. He looked so small curled up and swimming in his large, dingy, t-shirt. His bare feet poked out, the bottoms dirty and the tops a pale milky white. One arm curled beneath his head, the other one sprawled over his chest, just a bit of his forearm and hand visible from the floppy sleeves of the shirt, a few fading bruises and a couple of darker ones dappling the skin.

"Your home is beautiful, Abraxas. I thank you again for allowing us to come back with you." Eileen stroked pieces of his oily hair away from his face, wishing she could have bathed him earlier in the day.

"Our plumbing's been broken, and our landlord wouldn't repair it. We...were behind on rent." She said, feeling as though the explanation was needed. She tried to care for Severus as best as she could, that was just often hard to do with what little they had back in Spinners End.

Abraxas just shook his head. "That is wrong. He should have fixed your plumbing regardless. You need to be able to have access to hygiene. That's unfair to both you and your son." He murmured. Lucius was now napping against his father, his face buried up by Abraxas's hair.

His gray eyes flitted over to Severus looking at him, the bruises on his pale flesh. He understood that kids got banged up during play, but those were far too many for too young of a child. "I won't ever understand hurting a child. They're just kids. Kids are supposed to be able to rely on their parents to do something to keep them safe- they shouldn't fear violence coming from someone who is supposed to be protecting them."

Abraxas shifted the sleeping boy on him. "When he wakes up, I'll show you to one of the bathrooms where you can give him a good bath. I'm certain I have some clothes left from when Lucius was Severus's age for him to wear until we get him new things to wear."

"Tobias has always had a quick temper, but I never thought he'd be violent. We weren't together very long before we were married...I was pregnant with Severus, and my family disowned me for turning away from my pureblood heritage. Tobias didn't want to marry me. We didn't love each other. I needed a place to raise my son and I thought we could make things work. I tried my best to be a good wife, but Tobias just became angrier, more bitter, more hateful, he drank constantly and took his frustrations out on whatever was nearest to lash out at.

Shortly after Severus was born, I went to my father and mother and begged their forgiveness. My nose was broken, I was exhausted, in pain, afraid that Toby might hurt Severus one day instead of me. My mother looked at me with utter disgust and my father decided that I deserved what was happening to me. I even begged them to take Severus, I would have given him up to be raised in a safe home, but they wouldn't take him. They wouldn't even look at him."

Eileen's eyes were watery, but she didn't cry. She stroked Severus' hair and his pale cheek.

"It wasn't his fault that I made poor choices, but he's had to bear the consequences just the same." She sniffed, and straightened up, forcing her tears away. She had spent enough nights crying silently in the darkness. Her first night away from that life was not going to see her shed tears.

"I haven't seen him sleeping this peacefully for a very long time. I don't want to wake him. The bath can wait, he doesn't particularly like them anyway. It should be nice to see him in proper clothes however, and not this ragged old shirt anymore."

"We all make bad choices, but I don't believe would should bare the punishments for years upon years after the original mistake." He said quietly. "I'm sorry he was cruel to you and your son. I'm sorry your parents wouldn't help- And I'm sorry I didn't bother until I saw that article about him in the paper the other day. I wasn't sure what I would find when I came to see you."

He levitated Lucius on to the chaise as he wanted to get up. He walked over to Eileen, and knelt down to take her hands gently. "You and your son will be safe here, I promise you. He will sleep well every night." He gave them a slight squeeze before standing up again.

"I don't care what our pureblood circles say. I don't care for many people on this earth, two of which I considered marrying I could not- so I went to French society for a bride. If they make a fuss about you being here, I will simply shun them as well. What would I be missing out on? Going to balls I don't bother going to? Throwing balls I refuse to throw anyway? Nonsense activities I avoid for the sheer idiocy of it all. Shunning is a two way street, Ms. Prince."

It was nice to hear Abraxas promise safety for her son, and the way his gentle hands held hers was so very refreshing. She listened to him go on about pureblood circles, and balls, and shunning.

One corner of Eileen's thin lips twitch upwards.

"I like the way you think, Abraxas."

Hours later, Severus awoke and felt more rested than he had for ages. He was startled when he first opened his eyes to his new surroundings, but that was quickly replaced by an amazement at how big and lavish the place was.

"Good morning, my Prince. Did you have a nice nap?"

Severus nodded.

"That's good. Now that you're awake, we have something that needs tending to. A bit of soap and water should do the trick." She brushed his clumpy, dirty hair back from his greasy forehead. "Abraxas...did you say Lucius may have something old that Sev could wear? I didn't bring any extra clothing for him, as most of those things are too small for him now anyway."

"Of course, sensibility in our pureblood circles is so rare, isn't it?" He gave her an amused look- busying himself with a book while they waited for Severus to wake up. Once he did, he nodded. "Of course, hang on." Abraxas nodded and gently shook his son's shoulder. "Lucius, Lucius my son-- wake up."

Lucius moaned and shook his head. "Mmph." He frowned. "Why...?"

"Because our young guest needs something proper to wear, don't you think?"

Lucius looked at Severus in his old, dirty shirt and slowly nodded. No one should wear such a terrible looking garment when staying in the manor.

"Can you go fetch him some of your old things from the attic?"

Lucius's eyes went wide. He reached up and tugged his father down a bit so he could speak to him more privately. "But... crackerjack is up there. He said he'd eat me if I came up there again!"

Abraxas looked pained and shook his head. "Lucius- he isn't real."

"Yes he is!" Lucius stamped his foot. "He's real and scary! P-please don't make me go up there."

Abraxas sighed heavily. "Fine. I'll go get them. But you show Ms. Prince and her son to one of the bathrooms and start up the water while I'm gone. And... be polite."

Lucius nodded. "Yes sir!" He saluted and walked over to Eileen and Severus. "This way, Ms. Prince." He bowed at the waist respectfully, walking toward a door by the end of the living room. He opened it up to reveal a good sized bathroom with black tiled floors and a gleaming silver colored bath tub. The walls were painted with pleasing murals of landscapes that were done several centuries ago- the original purpose of the room may have been for something else in that previous time. Lucius leaned over the tub, fiddling with the knobs until the tub filled with water and bubble bath. "This is my favorite bathroom because the water is mixed with the soap already. The towels are over here." He gestured to an ornate shelf with big fluffy towels on it. "Excess soap is in this basket..." He pointed to a woven basket with a bunch of different soaps and lotions in it. "I'll wait outside, if you need anything."

"Thank you so much, Lucius." Eileen nodded to the blond boy, and as soon as he left she pulled Severus shirt off over his head.

"Mum, smells like flowers." Severus wrinkled his nose.

"And you'll smell like them too, soon enough. Now, in you go." Eileen lifted the squirming boy into the bath of soapy bubbles.

"But Muuum...I don't want--"

Eileen began to soap up the stringy mess of her sons hair.

"But it feels gross, an' slimy, an' too many bubbles." Severus frowned and his expression was so serious that it made Eileen laugh. The sound took Severus off guard, as he was certainly not used to hearing it, and neither did he understand what was funny about this bath. The scents were making his nose itchy and he disliked the way the soap felt on his skin and in his hair. He squeezed his black eyes tightly closed to keep the bubbles from sliding into them as his mother continued to wash every bit of him for what seemed like an awful amount of time.

"Severus, stop making such hideous faces or else you'll be stuck that way!" She couldn't help laughing at him and when she started it was hard to stop because she hardly laughed, and right now it just felt so good and free to do so. Severus was pouting sourly at her with mounds of bubbles atop his black hair which stuck wetly to his face, and gave a pronounced look to his rounded ears.

"Mum please..." Severus pleaded. "I don' wanna be washed no more...ever."

"Never?" Eileen questioned, rinsing the soap off of him and hoisting him out of the tub. She sat him on his feet and wrapped him up in one of the fluffy towels.

"Never." Severus said firmly, still frowning.

"I suppose you are very clean now." Eileen used another towel to dry Severus' hair. "Perhaps it'll do until...tomorrow."

Severus looked horrified.

Eileen wrapped the second towel around Severus too, after she had finished drying his hair with it. He was cocooned in them in such a way that his toes and his nose were the only things to be seen sticking out of the bundle that now stood well away from the horrible horrible bath tub. Eileen poked her head out from the door.

"Lucius, has your father returned with clothing yet? We're finished with the bath."

"Not yet, Ms. Prince." Lucius said quietly. He rocked back and forth on his heels, waiting patiently for his father to return. And there he was- heading back into the room with his quick usual stride. "Father, Ms. Prince says her son is done with the bath." He eyed the bundle in his father's arms.

Abraxas nodded. "Excellent timing. Here you are, Ms. Prince. I hope they fit." He murmured and passed her the clothing. It was a variety of different articles of clothing, pants, shirts- all made with fine materials, all imported from France as they were gifts from Lucius's grandparents. "...Admittedly, they're a little...."He took in a deep breath, slowly letting out the frustration. "Grand... for children's clothes. But Elenore's parents insisted on buying all of Lucius's clothing up until he was a certain age-"

"I like grand-père and grandmère's taste!"

"Well, I don't. I'm your father. I can buy you appropriate clothes for a boy that aren't made of finery." Abraxas sighed. "Tomorrow, we'll go buy Severus some clothes of his own."