This is an anti-Mary-Sue challenge fic, so I started with horrible clichés at the beginning. This begins during book five.

Chapter 1 - The task

Severus looked at the small figure that sat against the wall. Her hair was the darkest kind of black, impossibly long, and hung like some kind of cloak around her. Her skin was so pale that it looked almost translucent. Her long, thick eyelashes rested like a shadow against her white cheeks.

He found himself frozen to the spot, and was unable to do or say anything for a good five seconds.

Nothing, absolutely nothing, had prepared him for the sight that was before him.

One week ago

Severus was seated in the Headmaster's office. He grew impatient as Albus wanted to ask him for help with something, but he kept skipping around the issue for a good fifteen minutes. He talked about the advantages in the war, about the Order, about aiding Potter with his prophesied task.

"Did you know," continued Albus, "that Voldemort-" Severus cringed at the sound of this name. "-had a daughter?"

Severus' eyes narrowed. No, for all those years, Albus wasn't so kind to inform him about this little fact. As well as the fact that the Dark Lord himself had never said a word.

"I had no idea," replied Severus; he wondered what Albus was about to do this time.

"She may be the advantage that I mentioned earlier. We just need to have her on our side."

Oh, so he was going to play a third side now? Just great. It was becoming more and more interesting.

"What happened with her?" asked Severus with a bored tone of voice. As a matter of fact, he was very curious, but he was also afraid that the Headmaster would start his games again. He just wanted to hear the straight answer and then to go to sleep.

"After Voldemort's fall, she was given to a wizarding family. These people wanted to rise her as their own despite her heritage, but just before she turned eleven, she killed them."

Severus raised an elegant eyebrow. "A child of eleven murdered her guardians? I find it hard to believe."

"It must have been an accident. The girl is very powerful, and this amount of magic power was obviously beyond her control. Nevertheless, the precautions needed to be taken and she was taken under Ministry of Magic care. Surely you can understand that she was too young for Azkaban. Besides, we wanted to keep her existence a secret."

Severus just nodded, and wondered about Dumbledore's tired voice. It sounded almost like if he felt guilty about something that concerned the girl. But how could he? It wasn't the headmaster's fault that the child was so dangerous. It was something par for the course to keep her locked up.

"I know it's not an easy task," resumed Dumbledore, "but you need to see the girl and convince her to fight for our side."

Severus frowned. "I'm sure that the Aurors, or whoever takes care of her, taught her what's right and wrong until now. She must be around Potter's age by now."

Albus sighed and entwined his fingers together. "Voldemort will try to retrieve her sooner, rather than later. We need to be sure that she's with us. You, my boy, were the one who told me that he's in a rush. And killing her would have severe consequences to your position among the Death Eaters."

Severus stood up, preparing to leave. "I will see what I can do."

A/N: This is my Christmas gift for all my readers. The fic won't be updated as frequently as Severus Snape of my Soul and it is not related to any of my other stories. It contains some nasty themes but I would prefer to not go into detail and I would also not write anything that would make fic change into mature content. It's enough to give a hint of what may have happened and leave the rest to your imagination. It's ugly enough this way, I assure you.

I don't expect you to like the OC as she's not a likeable character. It's my attept to write a believable story about the very popular subject that is Voldemort's spawn.

If you have any ideas concerning fancy names that Bellatrix or Voldemort would give her - write them please. I will need them later. Nothing is too stupid or too pompous and I will pick the most entertaining one.

I would like to give my thanks to Artemis J. Halk for beta reading the story and for assuring me that it is worth writing anyways.