Chapter Text
Minerva continued on her way hastily before turning into a cat, she trudged up the hill leading to her students residence, Severus Snape, she huffed in annoyance.
Horace Slughorn, the boys Head of House was meant to be in charge of checking up on the boy, but requested last minute that she be the one to do it. She did not mind, the boy was her student after all, and maybe that's why Slughorn pleaded with her instead of the any other professor. The only issue she had was that he interrupted her much needed nap.
It was the beginning of the summer holidays was it not? She wanted to get a nice nap without worry of dealing with any students causing trouble. She let out a sigh, before freezing as she glanced up at the house meant to be the boys address, it could not be it!
Horace must have given her the wrong address. The place looked vile, the yard covered in weed and dirt, the walls looked sickly grey, the widows were shattered, the door scratched up and almost completely off its hinges, and that was only the exterior! She did not want to see the inside of the house at all but duty called.
She hid behind a tree while waiting for the officers that appeared to be conversing with the student to leave the house. She'd rather they didn't catch her in wizard robes, she forgot that she would be travelling into the muggle world. After ensuring that the coast was clear, she made her way to the house and lightly knocked. Severus Snape answered appearing perplexed.
"Professor?" He asked, looking at her with puffy eyes and a red face.
"Hello Mr. Snape," she said, stiffly, "I was sent to come see how you're handling the... situation," she muttered. The boy cocked his head to the side before releasing a sigh and gesturing for her to come in.
"I'm as happy as a person who has lost both they're parents and has a high chance of being sent to a terrible orphanage," he said bitterly.
Minerva pursed her lips, she glanced around her, the house was worse on the inside than the outside. The paint on the walls was peeling off, water was dripping from the ceiling, there was a large watermark formed on the ceiling, there were smashed bottles of what appeared to be alcohol and an alarming amount of food wrappers.
There was hardly any furniture in the house, save for a torn and dirty couch along with a rickety discoloured chair. She noticed rats running around the kitchen, cobwebs covering most of the corners in the house as well as the counters in the kitchen.
"The police said they think he was dead for over a week," the boy said, as if trying to provide an explanation for the state of the house.
She knew that he was referencing to his deceased father.
He sighed, "Why are you here professor?"
"Ah, yes, your Head Of House requested that I be here on his behalf." He narrowed his eyes at that but said nothing.
He then went about busying himself with placing his belongings in his bedroom, he didn't seem to unpack anything for he quickly returned to the room.
"Mr. Snape," she said, when it became apparent to her that he did not seem to want to breach conversation with her.
"I know your fathers death has come to you as a shock, but that's why I'm here, I'm here to help you to ease the pain."
He glanced at her and let out a sigh, she took that as a sign of resignation, then he took a seat on the rickety chair opposite to where she sat on the couch.
"I'm glad he's dead, he was a terrible husband and an even worse father, hit my mother, insulted her basically every hour in his wake, when I'd be home for the holidays I was made honourary punching bag and whatever he felt like making me be." He muttered.
Minerva gasped lowly, she didn't quite believe that any one of her students would be facing abuse of any kind, it left a bitter taste in her mouth as she recalled the signs that Severus was living a less than ideal life, the baggy and tattered clothes, his thinness, his fidgety behaviour, flinching when he hears a sound that seemed too loud for his liking.
She then felt her horror slowly melt into guilt, this poor student was abandoned by his professors, including herself, there being multiple instances in which she let the Gryffindors bullying him off too easily.
The Gryffindors that added to his misery, that made him the laughing stock of the school, and as much as she couldn't say he was entirely innocent, a reason could be that it was because he's had nobody to teach him, nobody to really guide him. What perplexed her further was why he did not report the abuse.
"Why did you not report any of these to the school?"
The boy scoffed," I did, it's just that Slughorn's a poor excuse of the Slytherin Head of House, just because I'm poor and don't have any connections to rich or powerful families he brushed it off on countless occasions. I also think it's some of his self loathing; he's so against his own House that he finds it hard to believe that we could be victims, that we could be wronged." He then shook his head as if to stop himself from rambling.
Her breath hitched in her throat, she wanted to believe her colleague would never do such a thing! Unfortunately, the student beside her was correct, Horace had shown to favour the rich and influential, and definitely rejected those of his own House, often siding with the Gryffindors that held a strong dislike for said House.
She did not expect to find out this much about Severus, she expected him to at least put up a fight, prevent her from getting a word out, but the boy opened up quickly, with very little convincing needed.
She could only chalk that up to his loneliness, he did in fact lose his closest friend that year. Lily Evans. The muggleborn that he insulted by calling her a Mudblood, a slur used for muggleborns. This caused him to be more of an outcast than he already was, of course the circumstances surrounding that incident were not unknown by Minerva.
She was also aware of another jarring incident that he went through--- almost being chomped down by a werewolf is not something that one can just forget, the boys fifth year at Hogwarts was definitely unpleasant, and she believes that's just the small fragment about his life that she knew.
"You could have told me," she finally said.
"My Head of House didn't care, so why would you?" He replied.
"I'm a professor, of course I'm concerned for the wellbeing of my students!"
"Well not enough to properly punish the students that make my life hell every chance they get! So what would make this any different?" He said.
She opened and shut her mouth like a fish, the boy was right, how could she rebuke that when she allowed his bullies off the hook, she was generally a strict teacher, but when it came to those boys--- the four boys that bullied him relentlessly, she had be lenient in regards to their punishment, she did not really have much of a reason as to why she did such, but maybe it was because Albus often let them be, how he often encouraged their behaviour, their terrible behaviour, and Merlin, she may have been biased.
The boys were from her House--- Gryffindor, their names being; James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. She understood Severus' reasoning-- why he couldn't approach her. She sighed, this was more draining than she anticipated.
"Will any of your relatives be here, will you be staying with them?" She asked.
He shook his head, "I don't have any relatives."
"What about the police officers, will they not have you under their care? Or look for a place for you to stay?"
He shook his head again,"The officers in our town police department hardly give a damn about the residents here, they said that I'm almost eighteen so I can take care of myself."
She breathed out, "Oh,Merlin." This boy just became an orphan and yet they care not about his well being? Not to mention he had just turned sixteen!
She was pulled out of her reverie by the large clock of a nearby church, chiming-- the clock had struck twelve. She stood up up to take her leave,"I'll see you soon Mr. Snape, get some rest."
He just nodded and let her leave, not even bothering to bid her farewell. She glanced at the boy one final time before she apparated away, feeling torn by guilt and pity.
Authors note: How is the first chapter? I'd really appreciate your thoughts, I'll be posting the second chapter soon, don't forget to stay safe, vote and comment. Till next time...