Alright, this fic makes absolutely positively no sense what so ever! I just thought you should all know that! Well actually, it has to, or my editor might desert me, and I wouldn't want that… On with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Prologue

James wandered down the hall, wondering why the hell Dumbledore told him to go to Severus Snape's house when he should be going to Hogwarts. He turned a corner and shrank back almost immediately. He heard voices coming from down the hall. It sounded like a crying boy, an angry old man, and… a whip? James's breath caught in his throat. Could that be…Snape that's crying?

He took a deep breath and slowly tiptoed down the hall. James could see a door opened at the end of the hall where the voices and sounds were coming from. As he got closer, James could distinguish the older man's words and could even hear words in between the boy's sobs.

"You have failed me yet again!" Crack.

"Father, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" Crack.

"Shut up, you worthless slime ball!" Crack.

Crack. Crack. Crack.

James gulped and peered into the room. Sure enough, there was Snape, his hands up against the wall, his shirt and robe torn off of him and on the ground in a ball, and the man James guessed to be Snape's father standing over him with a belt raised high, ready to strike.

"You are a worthless." Crack. "Slime." Crack. "BALL!" Crack. Crack. Crack. James reacted.

"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" The man dropped the belt, and his arms and legs were glued together. His eyes were bulging and swirling around the room. James ran over Mr. Snape and grabbed Severus. "Snape, come on, I'm getting you out of here. NOW!" Snape looked up at James once and nodded he grabbed his shirt and robes and ran behind James all the way out the front door, where Professor Dumbledore was waiting.

The thirteen year olds burst from the door and held on to the back of Albus Dumbledore's robes as Snape's father came bursting out of the house. "Give him to me, Albus. Give me the worthless piece of shit!" Snape dug himself further into Dumbledore's robes.

"No. I don't think so, Jonathan. He'll be living at Hogwarts with me from now on, unless, of course, James here has a better idea." James had looked up at Albus and shook his head when Albus said Severus would live at Hogwarts.

"No Professor, he'll come live with me. Isn't that right, Severus?" He looked over at Snape, and gave a weak smile. Severus looked at James in turn and nodded. "See?"

"Very well. Let's go back to school now you too." He gave a flick of his wand and immediately, the three of them stood outside the gates to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, James, for the first, and definitely not the last, time, was holding Severus tightly, daring to have someone make him let go.

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I do hope you all enjoyed the prologue! HEY LOOK, COOKIES!!! (author runs away from the computer to guzzle down milk and extreme chocolate chunk cookies)