2. Avada Kedavra

“Don’t you hurt her!”

He fought to position himself between his mother and the vicious, drunken muggle who’d fathered him, but the corner of the kitchen table blocked his path. The older man turned on Severus, landing a stinging backhand that knocked him back into the cabinets. His wand was in his hand before he knew it.

“No! Severus, no!” she screamed.

Tobias snarled, but he had the sense to freeze. “Git up to yer room, boy. This is nuffink to do wi’you.”

“Don’t you hurt her.”

“Severus, please. Do what he says. Please. I’ll be fine. Just go upstairs.”

Furious and shaking, he whirled and took the stairs two at a time, knocking a picture off the wall as he went. Voices rose in the kitchen, and he slammed his door, muffling the sound.

“I’ll kill him,” Severus threw himself on the bed in the dingy room, scrubbing the back of his hand across his eyes. “One of these days, I’ll kill him!”

Lingering, thin daylight filtered by the yellowed curtains gave enough light to make out flies buzzing near the ceiling and he raised his wand.

“Avada Kedavra,” he hissed, and the first one fell.