Author's Notes: I hope you like this fic, I have had the idea on my mind for loooong. It has spoilers from fourth book mainly, beware! And sorry for my English, it's not my primary language. Please BETA-READER required, if you'd do that for me, e-mail me please. If you like it, review and I'll upload more chapters ^^ I dedicate this one to my friends Ginger, Lady Angel, and the rest of them, you rock my world! Now R&R, flames (to roast a tasty chicken) and all sorts of critics will be accepted.

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Chapter 1: A Raven in the Dungeons

In the cold dungeons there was not a feeling of joy or hope. Not for Severus Snape, who was a most bitter, fearsome man. That night he felt specially tired; however, he went to bed late because he wasn't able to sleep very much. He didn't like dreaming, neither. He always dreamed about his miserable past, and it wasn't pleasant at all to remember the many mistakes he had done throughout his life. Perhaps that cold winter night, during his fifteenth year at Hogwarts, he would manage to sleep.

            While the entire school was in a deep slumber, a small dark shadow flew through the fireplace at Snape's private room. A raven alighted on the Potions master's bedside. Its little black eyes stared at the sleeping face with a glint of curiosity and a few seconds later...the raven was gone. It had turned into a pale-skinned lady with extremely long, ebony black hair, and dark robes. The woman blinked several times and stepped back from the bed, her grey orbs glinting in the darkness.

'At last I've come back. I have so many things to tell you, Severus. But what if you are still one of them? I'm scared. Perhaps I should wait just a bit longer, she whispered, and changed herself into a raven again.Then she landed on the back of a chair and waited for the morning to come.

            When Snape woke up, the bird hid herself inside an empty jar. "Um, I must find out if he's just pretending to be in the good side", she thought.

'Double class with Gryffindor. I'm not in the mood for anything today', he muttered as he put on his black cloak and rushed out of the room. The raven followed him through the corridors and entered the Great Hall, where hundreds of dizzy students were having breakfast. She couldn't help feeling nostalgic. Many yearss ago, she had sitten in one of those chairs at Slytherin table.

            She got a panoramic view of the young wizards and witches' heads, but didn't dare  to descend and let someone see her. Nobody kept a raven as a pet there. "Oh, there's the Headmaster! And McGonagall too!", she thought, looking at the teachers' table. "They look definetely older, but strong enough to handle with this crowd of teenagers. That's nice".

            The bird had to do her best not to be seen by any person, owl or cat during the day. She attended Snape's Potions class and felt something between surprise and admiration. He showed a bad temper, she observed, an every student tried not to be his target. Slytherings laughed aloud and didn't look disgusted, but Gryffindors tried to do their best and still were treated in a most unfair manner. Well, that was so typical!

            Her heart jumped when she recognized the boy with a scar on his forehead. "God! He resembles James Potter so much! Is that the famous Boy-who-lived?". Then her eyes moved from Harry to a fair-haired boy with a big sneer on his face. She recognized him...or so she thought, but it was not possible! His son? Could Lucius Malfoy have had a son? Her feathers trembled. "I'll find out later".

            After an exhausting day, she came to a conclusion: Snape wasn't a deatheater, he was a talented, ill-humoured teacher and that was all. So she decided to wait for him in the dungeons. She got enough courage to show up when he entered the cold room. A torch reflected its light on her ebony black feathers, and Snape looked at her.

'A raven?', he groaned. 'There are not ravens at Hogwarts. What the hell are you…?'

            The bird transformed and the beautiful woman dressed in black smiled at him.

'STELLA?!', he cried in astonishment.

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(Notes: To be continued, of course. Do you like the beginning? Review then, please!)