“You first Potter,” Severus said, tipping his glass in Harry’s direction before taking a sip of his firewhiskey, “You started this pissing contest.”

Harry scowled into his glass, before sighing and beginning. “I lived in the cupboard under the stairs until I got my Hogwarts letter. Anything I got, it was second-hand and broken from Dudley.”

Severus snorted. “I had my own room, although it was a piss poor shelter at best. The roof leaked and my father would barge in whenever he pleased.”

“I did almost all of the work in the house,” Harry said, taking a sip of his firewhiskey. “I cooked, cleaned, weeded the garden, cut the grass, washed the car, did the laundry…”

“My father started selling me to others in our neighborhood when I was seven years old,” Severus replied, unperturbed. “I would go to whichever house and clean, cook, whatever chore they needed done. Then, they would pay my father, who would spend the money on alcohol. I also had set chores to accomplish at home. What was your punishment for not completing your chores?”

“I’d be sent to my cupboard without food,” Harry replied. “Sometimes they locked me in there for a few days at a time. They made sure I didn’t die of dehydration or starvation, although they came pretty damn close.”

“Mm,” Severus agreed, taking a sip of his drink before sighing. “My punishment was similar to yours. I would get nothing to eat, if there was anything in the first place, although my father wouldn’t send me to my room directly.”

“What did he do instead?”

“Gave me a whipping with his belt,” Severus replied, his tone bland. “I’d take off my shirt, and get so many lashes, depending on what I did, or forgot to do, and how drunk he was. Occasionally, I got a beating simply because I was there and he needed an outlet for his anger.”

Harry shook his head, taking another sip of his drink. “At least the Dursleys never beat me.”

“You were neglected, starved, and taken advantage of,” Severus said darkly, “And you’re still attempting to see the experience in a positive light? Are all Gryffindors this delusional?”

Harry shrugged.

“Better to see the glass as half-full than half-empty.”

Severus rolled his eyes. “I am having difficulty believing that the Hat ever considered placing you in Slytherin.”

“So all Slytherins are pessimists?” Harry asked.

“Realists,” Severus corrected, setting down his glass. “I will acknowledge that my childhood could have been worse, but I also know that it could have been better.”

Harry had nothing to say to that and simply nodded as the man paid and left the bar.