We were so in love, though I knew my family would never approve. So, we ran away, far away. Then, the fruit of our love was born and it was then that I realized just what a foolish mistake I had made...

Hermione felt as though the entire world had fallen on its end. A flash of golden light taking away her sight as her body suddenly felt weightless. The air in her lungs held no smell, no pain, and when her feet finally found purchase she cautiously opened her eyes. The world around her seemed unnaturally bright, as though she were looking directly into a television at close range. The sights and sounds that came next had a sort of other-worldly echo, the busy street before her bordered by a white haze.

"Tobias!"

"Eileen!"

Hermione turned to the sound, her eyes widening as she watched two people run towards each other through the square. A deep feeling of love, hope, and desperation filled her heart. She moved closer to the pair as they wrapped each other in a tight embrace, the features growing clearer as she approached.

Eileen smiled brightly as she was set back down on her feet, her deep brown eyes sparkling as she looked into Tobias' face. Her heart soared at the sight of him, his uniform, his hat. She couldn't help but run her fingers gently over his roman nose, "I did it, I finally did it..." She whispered holding herself closer, the small suitcase she'd carried with her falling to the ground as she took hold of the man before her, "We're free, they'll never find us."

Tobias smiled widely, kissing her once more, his fingers running through her silken raven hair, "To hell with them." He grinned, "We'll make our own life right here, right now." He stepped back to take hold of her suitcase, "I've even found us a house all our own."

Eileen beamed in his shadow, everything she believed to have ever wanted standing in the man before her, "Let's go."

Hermione jolted as the world once more shifted, her hands going to her stomach to fruitlessly hold her organs in place. While she wasn't actually moving the sight of the memories swirling in and out was extremely disorienting to her brain.

The world around grew dark, the walls of a home slowly forming from the black void beneath. The sound of an infant crying came next. Its pitiful sound echoed through the entire home. Hermione found herself moving towards the sound instinctively. Her mind taking in the similar walls of the home to which she'd just entered. Her heart pulsed as she rounded the corner to the small living room her eyes instantly turning down to the woman on the floor.

"Please...please...stop crying..." Eileen begged, her aged face tear-stained and gaunt. She rocked back and forth, on her knees beside an old milk-crate-made baby crib. The baby inside no more than a year, its face red from its own tears.

Her hands came down from her temples, her lanky hair mussed from her own clawing. An ache, so deep she hardly breathe filled her soul as she turned her head to look down at the baby. Her own tears fell from her chin as her fingers curled around the wood, "Please...I don't know what you want from me... Please...Severus be still... Be quiet..."

Hermione could hardly breathe in the space from which she stood, hovering over the desperate mother, the sound of Snape's cries hitting something primal inside her soul. She felt as helpless as his mother as she watched on, unable to remove herself from the memory that played before her.

Eileen's head lifted to the sound of the front door opening, her heart going to her throat as she struggled to stand. Hastily she wiped at her tears, swallowing down all the emotion she could while trying to put on a brave face. Though when her husband came around the corner she knew instantly he had been drinking and her stomach grew cold.

The man didn't pause on his way to the kitchen, though the sounds of his son's cries did follow him, there was only a moment of movement before his dark shadow came to the doorway.

"No dinner?"

"You-you forgot...to leave me money...I was going to go..." Eileen gulped down her fear as she tried to move between the man and his son, "I can...I can go now...the shops...something should be open..." Her soft words were nearly drowned out by the sound behind her causing the man to snarl and come forward.

"What's wrong with him?"

"I-I don't know..." Eileen hesitantly moved aside as Tobias came to lean over the crate, "He won't eat...I..."

Tobias scoffed, "What sort of mother are you?"

"I'm trying my best..." Eileen pleaded, "If I could just brew a potion or--"

"No! No magic!" Tobias spun on her, only increasing the child's cry, "You know what will happen! They have spies everywhere!" He took hold of her arm harshly, jolting her frame, his finger pointed directly between her eyes, "Do you want to be taken back? Do you want him?"

Eileen sniffled softly shaking her head, the tears she'd tried her best to conceal rolling over her lashes, "Please...You know I don't...But we must do something...he must be ill...A hospital perhaps...?"

"And when they take his blood? When they realize he's not normal?" Tobias sneered, "You really are daft aren't you? Don't you know what's going on out there?" He pulled her harshly towards the window, looking out through the curtains, "They're everywhere..." He hissed turning back to look at his wife, "No...You will fix this. You will care for him. No one else."

Eileen hiccuped and closed her eyes tight, nodding her head as best she could as he released her wire-like frame. Before she could form the thought to take her son, Tobias had done so. Picking up the crate by its side rocking the poor infant laid inside on thin blankets.

"Wait..." Eileen moved to stop him but a firm push to her chest caused her to stumble back into one of the armchairs, "Please!"

"Be silent woman!" Tobias shouted as he turned towards the back door, His steps falling harsh in the frost that covered the ground. A sharp pull of the old bomb shelter made cellar caused Eileen's heart to pound forcefully in her ears. When her husband and her son disappeared underground a deep anguished noise left her throat.

Hermione couldn't see beyond the back door as her throat closed nearly completely. Her eyes turned towards the mother clinging weakly to the frame of the door. She didn't want to see anymore, she didn't want to know what was going to happen next. However, despite her silent pleas, the memory continued on.

Tobias re-emerged from the bunker, the sound of Severus' cries muffled by the doors as he slammed them closed. His eyes were like fire, burning towards his wife who stood sobbing in the doorway. It was a look that was instantly recognizable and the woman started to shake her head as she took a few steps back. Though there was nowhere to run as he took hold of her arm dragging her towards the stairs, no doubt to perform her 'wifely' duties, though her eyes never left the back door.

Hermione felt severely ill when the world began to change again, not only by what she'd just witnessed but the tilt of the world as it spun in and out of view. With trembling jaw she turned slowly once more, finding herself in a new room of the home, well at least a differently decorated room. If one could call, a dingy mattress on the floor 'decoration.'

Eileen laid on her side over the top of the thin blankets. Her eyes were deeply sunken and dark, though there was just a hint of a smile at the corner of her lips as she watched her son toddle towards her.

"Mama...?" Severus' voice was so meek, so soft, so quiet in the void. His deepening eyes watched with curiosity as his mother rested.

"Yes...?" Eileen's voice was raspy and cracked, as though she were suffering from a sort of chest infection. A soft cough, covered by her hand as she shifted more to see her son.

"You sleepy?" Severus squat down in front of her frame, the long nightgown shifting up his thin legs,

"Just a little...but you can play. I'll be right here..." Eileen gently pushed some of his dark hair from his face, "Just not too loud okay?"

Severus nodded his head as he moved back to a small pile of misshapen blocks that his mother had found for him in a scrapyard. They were someone else's discarded toy but they were something, a gift to a very grateful son.

"Happy Birthday..." Eileen whispered, her eyes never leaving Severus' small frame.

Severus turned slightly, offering a rare smile to his mother, his eyes so soft, so innocent. When he turned back, his little hands raised the blocks before him making a small pyramid, the top block transfiguring into a little white candle, shaped vaguely like the number three. The flame lighting only a moment later, the little toddler took a deep breath blowing out the flame.

Hermione hadn't even realized tears were coming from her eyes until they dripped off of her chin. She looked towards the ceiling for strength as the world began to shift again. The dark and gray parting to beautiful blue skies. A deep breath and sniffle cleared her throat as she turned to find what it was that she was meant to see. Her eyes blinked in the brightness as she stood on the lawn of the not yet dilapidated home.

Tobias sat on the stoop, dressed sharply in a military uniform, meticulously pressed and obsessively maintained. In his hand, he was running a clothe down a Lee-Enfield rifle, polishing the wood to a brilliant shine.

Eileen came around the corner of the home, Severus' small hand in tow as she came to the front walk, "What time will you be back?"

"The guys and I will be leaving soon, probably won't be back until late tonight." He replied gruffly, "I'll eat at the pub." He shifted looking down the sights of his rifle, the barrel pointed towards his five-year-old son who quickly moved behind his mother's legs. Tobias snorted slightly and pulled the bolt revealing nothing in the chamber.

"Is it alright then if we take a bit of a walk? It's such a beautiful day." Eileen lightly caressed the back of Severus' head before letting her hand drop down to her side albeit somewhat nervously.

"Do what you want. As long as you're back by dark." Tobias pulled his rifle back up shoving the bolt back into place, "You don't need money do you?"

"No." Eileen gave him a nervously ticked smile, "Just a walk, I promise."

"Right." Tobias pushed himself up, turning to put his rifle back into a leather case before he slung it over his shoulder. A loud car pulling down the street, "Well. Do you what you want then." He started down the walk towards the car as it came to a stop, "By dark!" He warned as he turned to get into the car, "No excuses!"

Eileen nodded her head as she waved slightly to the men in the car, also sharply dressed. She took a deep breath as the car pulled away. Her chin raised as it grew farther away.

"Come on, Severus..."

The scene shifted and Hermione watched the sun begin to shift in the sky. When she looked back towards the surrounding area she found herself now standing in front of a modest Victorian home. While it was no Malfoy manor it was obviously a magical abode. She'd seen plenty of them in her time as a ward breaker. The lawns were neatly maintained and a large door stood center of the gravel walk. The sound of it crunching turned her head behind.

Eileen took a deep breath as she stood at the end of the walk, adjusting her sundress. She pinched some color into her shallow cheeks before curling her lips against her teeth giving the illusion of lipstick to the thin skin. Slowly, she leaned down to adjust the oversized muggle school uniform on Severus, the nicest of clothes she had available to the growing boy. Both dressed as they had been when Tobias had left it was easy to assume it to be the same day.

"Alright...just...be silent, let me do the talking alright?" She pushed some of his hair from his face as he nodded. His chest puffed up just a bit as she stood before him. His hand raised to take her hand but when his mother flinched away he let it fall back to his side.

Before either one was halfway up the walk the large deep oak doors to the manor began to open. A man, dressed in black, that could have easily been a mockery of the grown boy, standing in the doorway. His brown eyes narrowed against the light as he stayed in shadow, his lithe arms crossed as he leaned against the pillar to the porch. His shoulders were broad, and his skin was exceptionally pale. The lines on his face placing him well into his forties, "Well, well, the mythical daughter returns." His sneer at his own words chilling the air around.

"Brother." Eileen stood herself as tall as she could, though her frame was very slight and obviously weakened, her pale skin shining in the light above, "Where is father?"

The man rolled his eyes slightly, "On his death bed, surely this is why you've returned." He pushed himself up from the pillar as Eileen came to stand in front of him. Though his eyes moved down to the boy partially hidden behind her skirt, he snorted and smirked, "You honestly think bringing that here will help you?"

"He has a right-"

"He lost that right the moment you ran away! With a muggle no-less!" the man snarled getting into her face, the woman to which pushed him forcibly back, taking Severus' oversized jacket as she pushed past him. The boy's eyes watched the man carefully, fearfully as he was pulled into the home.

The halls inside were modestly decorated with all sorts of antiques no doubt acquired over the years in which the home had stood. It was clean and the marble floor polished to a glistening shine. At the top of a curved staircase stood a young girl, no older than seven years, dressed in beautiful robes. Her face was angled and her deep brown hair shined straight down her shoulders. Her golden-brown eyes watched the pair enter the central hall with a haughty look, her sharp nose curled up as she turned to the sound of a much older woman coming from a room just behind her.

Eileen paid the young girl no mind, her eyes instantly going to the woman now gracefully descending the stairs, "Mother..." She offered a weak smile that faulted immediately when her mother's sharp gaze raised to her own. She swallowed nervously as she felt her brother move to close the door behind her, his hard steps moving towards the stairs.

"Elsa, go to your room." The man called flicking his hand towards one of the hallways leading off of the central banister.

"Yes, father." The girl gave one last scathing look towards Severus before she turned and made herself gone.

Eileen's mother turned her head as her son made to pass her, "You as well, Mathias." Her words were soft as though she didn't want to be heard but in the silence of the memory were easily distinguished.

When the entire entrance hall was cleared Eileen's mother slowly came the rest of the way down the stairs. Her dark green robes flowed around her with a small dramatic flourish. Dressed in a beautiful Victorian dress lined with buttons up to her throat, her eyes ran critically over her daughter before sharply turning down to the boy that trembled behind her legs. There was a deep pregnant pause, a weight that seemed to make the entire home feel as though it were weighing down on the pair before the aged woman raised pale spider-like fingers to her daughter's face. Her cold fingers grazed over her features before she pulled them back, seeming to collect herself.

"He is in the parlor." Her voice held the smallest wisp of hope that quickly faded when she looked back down at Severus.

Eileen nodded ever just so, her hand fumbling back to take hold of Severus' shoulder. With a careful turn, mother and son started down the hall, magical portraits looking down from on high as though judging the pair as they made their way.

Severus' head turned only slightly as they moved past the magical pictures in wonder at what was held within though he kept himself silent as his mother had requested. When the large door came before them he watched his mother take a steadying breath before pushing it open.

The air was thick with smoke, the light within refracting over the clouded air. A large hand appeared from over the side of a wing-back chair, the movement accompanied by a deep chest clearing cough. The hand retrieved a crystal glass filled with dark brown liquid before disappearing behind once more.

"So...you have finally decided to return." Deep was an understatement for the voice that spoke beyond the chair. A linger to each word as though speaking were difficult. Still, the words held power.

"Father...I..." Eileen's words were cut off when the hand returned beckoning her closer to the chair, her steps somewhat faulting as she neared its edge but did not dare to come all the way around.

"What is this filth you have brought with you?" The gruff man snarled, his hand returning the bourbon back to the side table, "You dare to bring such a creature into my home?"

"This...this is my son...your grandson..." Eileen tried, her hand growing tighter in Severus' jacket, "Please..won't you at least look upon him?"

"I shall do no such thing." The man in the chair shifted, another chest tearing cough filling the air, "Why have you come here?"

"To-Tobias has lost his job...and I..." Her throat closed, "I was hoping to...to...Send Severus to school this year..."

"So you have come for money." The man in the chair shifted once more, his large hand tapping a silver ring upon the rim of his glass, "I will not grant this request unless you smarten up and return home to your family."

"All of us?" There was just a spark of hope that quickly died out as Eileen cowered back from the man who had suddenly come to his feet; his frame easily towering over the pair of them. His sharp hawk-like eyes looking down his oversized nose.

"Never!" His snarl revealed yellowed and crooked teeth, his nearly black eyes twitching as another deep cough wracked his frame, "I will NEVER let a worthless muggle inside this home! I certainly won't allow a filthy half-blood soil this bloodline either!"

Eileen immediately backed up, pulling Severus along with her as her father advanced. The rage clearly evident on his face as started to skulk upon the pair.

"Get out!" His voice boomed, nearly shaking everything in the memory, "Get. Out!"

Hermione found herself actually scuttling back from the man, though somewhere in her mind she knew he couldn't actually hurt her, the look in his eyes had filled her own soul with dread. It was shortly after the door to the parlor had slammed shut that the memory began to swirl out. Though this time the feeling of falling through the void actually felt real. It wasn't until Hermione could feel a cold rush of air in her lungs did she realize she was actually falling.

Her body landed hard on its back. The air being knocked out of her as her eyes stared wide and unseeing towards the ceiling. It took a few moments for her to finally catch her breath and blink into focus the reality around her. With a soft groan, she rolled herself onto her side and pushed herself up. Her eyes grazed over the darkened room before landing on the book that must have expelled her. The pages having just dimmed from the magic within.