"A bit," Severus answered quietly. This wasn't his home, this wasn't his world. He wanted to diassociate himself from everything, because the only thing worth remembering had been the one thing he'd never have.
She'd been his escape. Maybe he'd never loved her at all, maybe he was lonely. Maybe he was obsessed. He didn't even know what he'd do if he won Lily over. She'd just been the girl with the blazing red hair who peeked over the fence at him and then one day it was him, gangly and stupid looking in old clothing much too large for him, peeking back at her, and he wasn't sure when it'd happened.
Lily had been right. Things had changed.
"Do you think anyone lives here? It's so quiet," he said. He didn't hear the shouting of his father or his mother sobbing. He didn't hear dogs barking or windchimes or people chatting on their porches. It was such an empty place.