Part 3

'Severus, Eileen...where are you...'Tobias screamed. He saw the large fire from the distance and raced towards the zoo as soon as he could.

He reached the spot where the fire was magically put out and a large crowd had gathered in its place. In the centre of the circle, he saw his son sitting with his wife's head on his lap. He was stroking her head and crying.

Witnessing his approach Severus quickly wiped his tears and tried to wake her up.

'Dad... A wizard hurt her. I couldn't stop him. I am sorry' Severus said tearfully.

'What!!!' He yelled. He hated magic and didn't want his son to be anything like his mother.

A large hand reached Severus's cheek. He whimpered with pain.

'Didn't I say you both to stay away from magic...Can't you understand such a simple thing...'. He cursed loudly.

Hearing his voice Eileen woke up... 'What ....I was stunned by him..... that dirty criminal...' She said dizzily.

Noticing that she was awake he rushed towards her and held her by her collar. 'What? Who? he asked angrily.

There was a wizard who was illegally smuggling magical creature in the muggle world.

Tobias was confused and looked at her angrily. 'What creature are you talking about? '

The cage was wide open and all the birds were missing.

'That is not possible... It was right over there. I saw it.' A large slap landed on her cheek.

Eileen winced and looked in Tobias's eyes. She was shocked by what she saw. His eyes were red and his breath smelled sour due to alcohol.

'Don' t you ever do these silly things when I am away and with my friends'

'But I thought you went to work.' She asked being utterly confused.

'What work? Today was a holiday, woman. I went to the pub...' He said amused by her words.

Everything became clear to her. He missed his son birthday for drinking. She stared at her angrily. 'Muggle' she muttered under her breath.

'What....? Never mind. I have to go again. My friends are expecting me.'

He took out some money from his purse and threw it at her. ' Get a ride home when you are feeling well... I won't be home for supper.'

Tobias walked away and the crowd dispersed as quickly as it came. No one offered to help. It was entertainment for them.

Severus watched all this with hatred. He hated him, he hated those muggles, he hated himself for being so weak, he hated his own name... He walked towards his mother and lifted her up. His father couldn't even do that. He held her hand while his father walked towards his car staggering by the effect of alcohol.

' That was the moment he decided to be better than him, that was the moment he decided to not be a muggle but something more. That was the day he became the Half-blood Prince.'