His Body is a Crime Scene
(Title courtesy of Holmes's heartbreaking response to hearing about Severus's scars)
TW for child abuse.
Severus has so many small scars he couldn't possibly remember where they all came from. If asked under theffects of Veritaserum about most, his answer would be 'My father, probably', or, when he's older, 'the war, probably', because at this point he does not keep track. He hasn't since he was nine or so. In reality, by the time he is an adult, Severus bears scars from his father, the Marauders, the Dark Lord and his followers, and several duels. Many of them, particularly those from childhood, he could get rid of using dittany, however he doesn’t see the point- figuring he is repulsive anyway, so why bother trying to clean up? Who is he aiming to impress?
There are two scars that are most noticeable, though only because they are clearly from trauma, rather than a regular injury.
The first is more a smattering of scars on his left shoulder blade, and it looks almost like he's had shrapnel lodged in his skin. This is from an incident during which Tobias threw a bottle that Severus couldn't dodge, and the bottle shattered against his back. Eileen managed to pull herself together long enough to pick the shards out of Severus's skin and bathe the area in antiseptic, and place a bandage over it. In reality, Severus is incredibly lucky his magic had manifested by this point, because it managed to burn away the infection that continued to try and creep in, as he couldn't care for it properly on his own. He was nine when the injury happened, and had turned ten by the time it was fully healed.
The second is a long, jagged line from his hip to his ribs on the right side of his stomach, that appears to have been stitched together by someone with little sewing experience at all- of skin or otherwise. When Severus was thirteen, he made the mistake of being in the room when his father decided that the dishes had not been cleaned properly. Tobias waved a knife around in the air, and unintentionally slashed Severus. The man spooked, thinking he'd killed his son(as Severus fell to the floor whimpering in pain and did not move) and bolted to the bar to drink away his fear. Severus managed to haul himself to the living room, where he found the sewing kit that had been a gift to his mother on her wedding day, and used it to crudely sew his injuries back up. Severus barely survived this injury, and it later served as the inspiration for Sectumsempra when he fell into a much darker state of mind.
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