Before Harry Met Sevy

Chapter Three: Actions and Reactions

They dozed fitfully that night, neither of them able to relax completely. Not needing to voice their shared concern over what would happen if Silias chose to return, they leaned against each other, waking with a start at the smallest noise. The night seemed to drag on and on, until finally a ray of light pierced their dark prison. Severus looked over at his friend with determination as the basement slowly became flooded with the morning sun.

"Alright, Lily. It's morning, and I've had a bit of time to rest. Climb onto my shoulders and get out of here." He stood, trying not to grimace as every muscle in his back screamed in protest.

"I don't know," she said hesitantly, her green eyes searching his black ones. "You don't look as though you feel any better." Severus felt his irritation rising. He was trying to protect her, to get her to safety, and she was worried about how he felt?

"Do you really want him to find you down here?" he snapped. "Because he wouldn't hesitate to 'discipline' you, too." He regretted his words as he saw the fear spring into her eyes again. "Look, just do it, alright? And don't come back for a few days. He'll most likely come back to see if I've been properly humbled." His eyes bored into hers pleadingly. "I don't want you to have to see that again. Please, Lily." She hesitated for another moment before nodding.

"Fine," she sighed as he knelt down so she could reach his shoulders. As soon as she was situated, he stood, doing his best to ignore the pain shooting through his body. When she'd squirmed through the window, she turned around again. "I'm coming back after I've told Mum and Dad where I was," she promised.

"Lily, no it's too dangerous -" he tried to protest, but she'd already turned and gone. He made his way wearily over to their hidden spot under the stairs, where he proceeded to curl into a ball on the floor. Now that his friend had gone, he could give into the pain without worrying about scaring her. His moans were barely whispers, but to his own mind they sounded as though they were howls of agony. Not long afterwards, he heard a strange thumping coming from above him. His moans ceased, and he stood, wincing at the pain. The thumping continued, and he frowned as he realized that it was someone pounding on the door. All at once he realized who it had to be. Lily had gone home and told her parents what she'd witnessed, and now Albert was pounding on the door, enraged and ready to confront his father. Severus felt a lump of fear rise in his throat. Albert knew nothing of the wizarding world. He had no idea that he would be unfairly matched against Silias. The boy stood stock-still, wanting to warn his friend's father to turn around, to forget that he'd heard anything, but knew it was impossible. Instead, he waited as he heard the pounding stop as the door was open, then sank to the floor as he heard the muffled conversation drifting through the floor.

"Sebastian!" his mother said, sounding startled. Her next words were muffled, and Severus strained his ears to hear the rest of the conversation.

"Never mind formalities, Rebekah. Where is my brother?"

"Silias is at the Ministry. Is there something I can help you with?"

"No. I need to speak with Silias. Good day, Rebekah."

"Good-" his mother never finished her sentence as Severus heard the door slam behind his uncle. He breathed a somewhat shaky sigh of relief as he heard his mother return to the kitchen. Lily hadn't told Albert after all. His pain momentarily forgotten, he began to wonder if his father had gotten into trouble with the family again. The two brothers had never gotten along, and Severus had only met his uncle perhaps five times in his entire life, and that had been at family events. He'd never known his father's older brother to come to the house. Severus had heard Silias ranting in the past about how his family didn't appreciate him because he was the youngest, and how nothing he did would ever be viewed as the proper course in his brother's eyes. But from the few times he'd met his uncle Sebastian, Severus had liked him. He may have had the same stern exterior of his father, but he had never treated Severus with anything but civility. As he pondered his uncle's motives, he heard his name being called from the window.

"I told you not to come back for a while!" he scolded as Lily waved from the opening.

"And I told you I'd come after telling Mum and Dad I was okay," she retorted. Severus crossed his arms over his chest as he stared at her.

"I'm not letting you in," he said steadily.

"Fine," she declared as she made herself comfortable in the open window, "but I'm not leaving. I'll just sit here, then." She propped her chin on her elbows and stared down at him, her eyes burning with the same stubbornness he felt. "Go and get A Tale of Two Cities, and start reading it aloud," she instructed, gesturing towards the stack of books.

"Lily, if he comes home early -"

"Stop worrying so much," she scolded airily. "When has he ever come home early?" He had to admit that she had a point: Silias hardly ever came home earlier than seven o'clock, though Severus knew he didn't stay at the Ministry past four.

"Fine," he mumbled, retrieving the book, and settling himself as comfortably as possible against the wall beneath the window. He began reading where they'd left off, but he couldn't get into the story in the same way he had the day before. Every noise from outside distracted him, until he finally laid it aside with frustration. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "I just can't focus on anything else." He rested his head on his knees, and heard his friend shifting positions above him.

"Don't worry," she said softly. "I understand." Silence settled over the two when he chose not to answer. The two children sat in silence, neither one quite sure how to break it. Finally, Silias' arrival ended it for them. As he heard his father Apparate above him, Severus' gaze flicked to Lily.

"You'd better go," he said quietly. "If he sees you -"

"I know," she interrupted. She seemed reluctant to leave, but after a moment she smiled down at him. "I'll see you tomorrow, Severus." He nodded in reply as he heard his father's booming voice drifting through from the kitchen.

"What did you tell him?" Silias asked, his voice so loud that Severus had no trouble hearing every word.

"I - I told him you were at the ministry," came his mother's confused reply. "Isn't that where you were?"

"It is of no importance where I was," he snapped.

"What did Sebastian wish to speak with you about?" Severus drew a sharp breath. Eight years of living with his father had taught him to never question the man. If he wanted you to know something, he told you. He cringed as he heard his father's answer: the sound of flesh upon flesh, and the dull thud of his mother, no doubt falling to the ground. All of this was followed by the crack of his father Disapparating. Severus' vow from the night before came back to him in the face of his mother's treatment, and he returned to the quilt beneath the stairs, where he began to write down every jinx, hex, and curse he knew.

---

He was still working on his list the following afternoon when Lily returned, and she had to call his name several times before he noticed her presence.

"Oh. Hi, Lily." She frowned as he turned back to his paper.

"What are you doing?" she asked with curiosity.

"Just what I said I was going to," he replied archly. "I'm determining what I already know about the Dark Arts he uses on me." Lily's eyes clouded with uncertainty as he approached the window, a reaction not lost on her young friend. "What's wrong with that?" he demanded, feeling slightly hurt that she hadn't immediately offered her help.

"I don't know about this, Severus," she said after a moment. "How is learning all of that going to help you defend yourself?"

"Trust me," he replied darkly, "it will help." Lily seemed to weigh his words before she smiled. Severus could tell it was forced, but at least she was making an effort to move ahead.

"I've got a surprise for you," she announced. Before he could ask what it was, she had gone, only to return a moment later.

"A ladder?" he asked with amazement as she lowered it through the window. "How did you ever manage to build that?"

"Dad helped me," she replied as she proceeded down it. "But that's not even the best part. Watch this." When she'd reached the bottom, she lifted the ladder as if it were light as a feather, and proceeded to fold it neatly into a small rectangle. Severus watched, enthralled.

"But he's a Muggle," he said dumbly. Lily smiled again, though this time it was genuine.

"It isn't magic, silly. They're hinges." Severus stared at her incredulously.

"That's brilliant!" he announced, running an approving hand over the object in front of him.

"This way, we can stash it under the stairs when we aren't using it. There's no reason he'd ever need to see it." Severus looked up at her, awestruck. The smile she returned gave him hope, as did her next words. "No matter what he does, together we can fix it."

---

"Where has that blasted boy gone to?" Severus' head snapped up at the sound of his father's booming voice directly below him. Reacting instantly, he sprang from his bed and tore up the loose floorboard under the window, stashing the book he'd been studying inside. He just managed to replace the board before his father slammed against the door, sending it smashing into the wall. The boy did his best to steady his nerves, knowing his father would perceive an admission of guilt if he did not remain perfectly calm. "What have you done with it?" Silias snarled, his torrid face inches from his oldest son's.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Severus said coolly.

"The book," he hissed angrily, "which was in my study this morning. The book which you've hidden somewhere." A small voice spoke from behind Silias, the words sending tendrils of fear down Severus's spine.

"Severus didn't take it, Daddy." Silias spun around to glare at the child in front of him, and Severus used the opportunity to signal frantically to his younger brother not to say a word, but the three-year-old ignored him.

"Oh?" Silias sneered. "What do you know about it?"

"I - I took it," Steven answered, his tiny chin thrust out bravely. Silias narrowed his eyes in disbelief.

"You? You expect me to believe that an infant took a very valuable volume of Selbe's Curses?" He laughed humorlessly, his eyes glinting with mockery. Steven's fearful expression faded, replaced by a glare of indignation, and he placed his hands on his hips defiantly as he answered.

"I'm not an infant!" he retorted loudly, "and I did take it, so I could learn how to curse you!" Severus inhaled sharply, speaking without thinking.

"Steven!" Silias's attention was drawn momentarily away from the younger boy, and in his mind, Severus urged his brother to run. "I took it," he said flatly. Silias's eyes gleamed with triumph as he towered over him.

"And where is it?" he questioned, his voice deceptively low. Severus met his glare head-on, his voice retaining its flatness as he spoke.

"I put it through the wood-chipper at Lily's house." His father's face turned scarlet as his triumph faded into anger.

"You don't have it in you, boy," he spat, his voice rising. Severus arched his eyebrow, even though he knew he'd already gone much too far.

"Oh no? If you're so bloody sure, why don't you just find it, then?" He turned and began to walk back to his bed, not at all surprised when he felt Silias's strong arm close around his shoulder. He was spun around to face him, the man's eyes bulging angrily from their sockets.

"When - will - you - learn - some - respect?" he raged, striking the boy between every word. Severus fell to the floor, his eyes burning with hatred. He wiped his bleeding mouth with the back of his hand as he stood, facing his father again.

"You don't deserve my respect," he spat bitterly, bracing himself as he saw his father's wand rise.

"Ico!" Severus was flung backwards against the wall as the curse hit him, and through the instantaneous pain, he heard Steven's startled cry.

"No!"

"Steven," he croaked, "just go, now!" His warning came to late - Silias had already turned to the younger boy, his hand clasped around his small arm like a vise.

"So," he said through clenched teeth, "you're going to be just as difficult, are you? Perhaps you will learn a thing or two from a week alone."

"No!" Severus tried to shout, but his father was already gone, dragging his brother to the dark confines of the basement. Before leaving, Silias cast a charm on the door, essentially imprisoning the older boy. Severus struggled towards the door, but despite his efforts, it would not budge. He sank to the floor in misery, his hatred for his father burning hotly in his eight-year-old body.

---

Severus had trouble sleeping that night, though it was not due to the lasting pain from his father's curse. Every time his eyes closed, he imagined Steven huddled in the corner of the basement, his tiny eyes wide with fear. His gaze traveled to his window, and he sighed when he saw that it was a new moon. The poor boy wouldn't have so much as a ray of light in his prison, and Severus doubted that he would have found the relative safety of the stockpile beneath the stairs. He pounded his fist angrily against his side. This was all his fault. Steven was hardly more than a baby, and it had been Severus' job to protect him. All the punishments he'd taken for his brother had been for nothing. He'd still ended up on the wrong side of Silias' temper, and there was no way Severus could help him now. Unless - he sat up in his bed, his young mind racing with the thought of escape. There had to be some way out of this room. Silias hadn't planned this as a prison, he'd merely acted on his emotions, which meant there had to be something he'd overlooked. The window. Severus strode to the window and began to tug on it, willing it to open. After twenty minutes without success, he sank back onto the bed, panting. He'd never tried to open it before, and it seemed now that Silias had taken measures to ensure that he never would. Disheartened, he glanced around the room again. What now? He stiffened as he heard the wards on his door being taken down, and braced himself for another confrontation with his father. His eyes widened in surprise as Rebekah, and not Silias, walked through the door. Anger at the injustice she allowed both him and Steven to face caused him to turn on his side, his back to his mother. He felt the mattress sink as she sat next to him. She laid a hand on his shoulder, but he jerked it away angrily.

"He's not had an easy life," she said quietly. "Being the youngest, not inheriting anything as his brother did, he's had to work hard for everything. He struggles with himself, you know. He doesn't do these things out of cruelty, just frustration." Severus continued to glare at the wall, not believing what he was hearing. She was trying to justify his behavior! She went on for a few more minutes, making excuses for Silias' actions, and he clenched his hands angrily in front of him as he remained silent. Finally, she stopped speaking and reached for his shoulder again. He wrenched it from her grasp, not turning around until he heard the sound of the door closing behind her. Shaking his head in disgust at what he'd just endured, he stared angrily at the door. It took a few moments before he realized that he'd only heard the closing of the door, and not the replacement of the wards to lock him in. As he walked nervously towards the bedroom door, another thought struck him. His mother's presence meant something far more significant - if she'd taken the risk to come into his room after Silias had imprisoned him, then that meant Silias wasn't in the house. His heart pounding in his chest, he pushed the door open and crept soundlessly down the stairs to the basement door. It was still locked, which meant his mother hadn't bothered to try and comfort Steven. Severus' anger with her returned, and he made his way to his father's study, intent on adding a few more tomes to his collection beneath the floorboards. As he passed the front door, another thought occurred to him, and he detoured toward it. He walked around to the side of the house, where the basement window was located. As he pushed it open, he heard a soft whimpering from below him.

"It's all right, it's me," he whispered into the darkness.

"S-Severus?" stammered Steven.

"Yeah. Are you hurt?" There was no reply, and Severus felt himself growing agitated. "I can't see you, Steven. You have to talk. Did he hurt you?"

"I-I'm alright," he sputtered, the quaver in his voice depressingly clear. "It's dark down here, Severus."

"I know, but see if you can't find your way underneath the stairs, okay?" He heard his brother whimper again. "Trust me, Steven." The sound of the toddler's footsteps faded away, followed soon by an exclamation of delight.

"There's a blanket here!" came his muffled voice.

"Feel that bag in the corner?" Severus called into the darkness.

"Yeah."

"Inside are candles, and matches. They're what Muggles use to start fires." He heard the rustle of the paper bag, then heard the rattle of the box of matches.

"How do they work?" Steven asked curiously.

"You have to rub the tip against the scratched surface," Severus instructed. "But don't try it right now. Stay put a minute, I'll be right back." He stood and ran back into the house, careful to avoid the kitchen, where he could hear his mother bustling around. Grabbing one of the candles from the dining room table, he watched with satisfaction as it lit at his touch. He rushed back out of the house, thrusting the candle through the window. "Can you see the box now?" he called down.

"Yeah," Steven replied, bringing the supplies into the circle of light from Severus' candle. He managed to light the candle after only three tries, then looked up at his brother for further instructions.

"Blow on the match, then set it in that glass dish in the corner." He waited while Steven did as he was told, then spoke again. "Leave the candle somewhere on the floor, but not too close to the blanket," he said. "Otherwise, you might catch it on fire. And make sure you hide it if you hear him coming down. " Steven looked up at him, his black eyes shining gratefully.

"Thanks, Severus."

"I- I'd better get back inside," he whispered, fearing the return of their father. He pulled the window shut, then proceeded to the room he'd originally headed for. As he began selecting books he didn't think his father would miss right away, the thought that he had done all he could for his brother spurred him on. He climbed the stairs quietly, eager to begin reading the volumes. If Silias was going to begin disciplining Steven on a regular basis, Severus was going to make sure that he protected him in any way he could.