A Very Black Christmas

"I wasn't aware you were fraternizing with the enemy," Regulus said jokingly as he and Severus sat down before the fireplace in Slytherin's common room.

"Her name's Lily and we used to be neighbours. We hung out a lot when we were kids."

"Do you fancy her?" At this question, Severus gave Regulus a strange and riddling look - either it meant that such a thought had never even crossed his mind and that Regulus was a fool to even imagine it; or it meant that the fact hadn't only crossed his mind several times, but was indeed very true and it bothered him that it appeared to be so obvious for others to see.

"Come on. Is it impossible for a guy to be just friends with a girl? he said in a rather dull but convincing voice.

"No, I just... Never mind. Anyway, I think I've seen her with Potter. You know, with him."

"News flash, Reg. They've been dating for a while. Although, I don't understand what she could possibly see in such a smug jerk."

It was almost noon and the two teenagers sat in two armchairs opposite each other. The common room was silent, except for the soft crackling of the fire. Regulus looked at Severus, studying his face, but didn't say anything. He couldn't help but to see him as a wounded soul, someone who needed to be taken care of. He didn't really know why, though. Perhaps it was because he was mostly by himself, reading or writing, and never really spoke to anyone. Still, Regulus couldn't help looking up to him. He had something grown up and wise about him.

It wasn't until recently he'd found the courage to address him and at first, Severus seemed very reluctant to his company, but as a few weeks passed, he grew more and more used to it. And now, a couple of months ahead, Regulus finally found it fair to consider him a friend. They spent much of their free time together, talking and discussing various subjects. Severus often gave him advice, but never seemed to need any in return. In fact, he never really talked about himself. It occurred to Regulus, as he thought about Severus' reaction to his gift, that he didn't know anything about his family or where he came from.

"Sev," he said and Severus looked at him, "tell me about you father."

Severus' eyes and nostrils widened slightly and for a second Regulus thought he was going to yell at him. He didn't, instead he asked, "Why?"

Regulus hesitated. "Well, I - It just occurred to me that I hardly know anything about you or your family. I've told you everything there is to say about mine, so..." Severus didn't reply. "You said you used to play chess with your father?"

Severus stared into the fire, thinking, remembering.

"Yeah, we did."

"What's his name?"

"Tobias."

"And your mother?"

"...Eileen."

"Tell me about them."

A few moments of silence flew by, during which Severus continued to stare into the fire, deep in thoughts.

"Well, I grew up in Spinner's End. My father is a Muggle and my mother a witch, but he was rather quick in embracing the magical world. Sometimes I suspected he was envious of the abilities my mother and I had," he said, pausing for a moment, "and... Well, as I said before, he taught me to play chess very early and for many years we played each and every day. I always lost to him, but still persisted we continue playing."

"What was your mother like?"

Severus hesitated before answering. "She was... unhappy, mostly. For a very long time I told myself everything was okay, or that she'd just been working hard lately, but now I know that the true reason for her exhausted features was that she was so terribly unhappy with her life."

"Oh," said Regulus.

"Yeah. Eventually I found out that my birth was never planned, that I am what you would call 'a mistake'. And it's obvious my mother never loved my father. They both turned out bitter and resentful towards everything and my father began taking his discontent about things out on her. At first, it meant fighting on a regular basis, then it turned into mental abuse and eventually even physical. He was such a cruel man."

"Oh. Merlin, Sev. I had no idea..."

"He hit her a lot, and me as well at times, but only when he thought I 'deserved it'."

Severus' face was expressionless, but Regulus could read the sadness in his eyes. He didn't look at him. The fire was reflected in his dark iris, his lips were slightly separated and his hands lay in his lap, palms directed upwards. Regulus was leaning forward, trying to catch every word and expression coming from Severus. He didn't know of anything appropriate to say. He never could've imagined something like this, but when he thought about it, it all made more sense now. It was obvious why Severus had never spoken about his family and that aura of misery he'd been showing all these years suddenly didn't seem so uncalled for.

"When I had just turned eleven, my mother and I escaped. We lived in a shelter for a while, and a couple of months later I went to Hogwarts... That was the last time I saw her. When Christmas came and it was time to come home, she wrote and said that she wasn't in shape to take care of me yet. And that summer, I got another letter that said that she'd signed me into an orphanage."

Regulus mouth had opened and he stared in chock at Severus. Severus' eyes had started to fill up with tears.

"I refused to live in an orphanage. I told her I'd rather live in the Forbidden Forrest than go to some place with a bunch of random, abandoned kids. I didn't want to think of myself as one of them... When Dumbledore found out about my situation, he decided to take me in, and he let me stay here, at Hogwarts, over the summer holidays."

"Hold on. You mean you've been living here since you were eleven?"

For the first time in a while, Severus looked up at him, his eyes shiny and glasslike. As if just realizing this, he took the sleeve of his shirt and rubbed his eyes and face with it.

"Yeah. But this summer, I'll have to go somewhere else."

"Where will you go?"

"I have no idea", Severus sighed.