"Are you sure this is the best option, Albus? Don't you remember how well this turned out last time with her father? This course of action seems bloody foolish." The professor remarked to the weary headmaster who was currently slouched over at his desk.
The wizard seemed to ignore Minerva's inquisition to instead stare down at the news articles laying about on his desk. Each paper claimed in big broad headlines the end of the dark lord, Voldemort. It had almost been a month already but it seems the wizarding world was still celebrating the dark wizard's defeat at the hand of the small child now nicknamed, The-Boy-Who-Lived. Who knows for sure though how long his defeat will last?
"It was the only way, Min." Albus Dumbledore confessed after he finished his brief moment of contemplation. "No one in the wizarding world would willingly adopt someone like her; not with her ancestry. Furthermore, I'm sure some of his enemies would be glad to permanently dispose of her here."
Minerva scowled at the reply, "Still we should have done something differently. I can't help but feel we are just repeating history with shoving her off to muggles like this."
"I have to agree with Min on this one, Dumbledore." Severus Snape interrupted as he stepped out from his place in the shadowy covered crevice. "You are just begging the fates to create another one of him with this."
"I think not and regardless it's to late now to change things," Dumbledore disclosed softly, "Sirius has already given her over to them by now."
"That mutt is still loyal as ever to his master I see." Snape sneered out at the mention of his past school bully.
"Sirius is just playing his part in all of this, Severus. Try not to give him such a hard time for his past mistakes." Dumbledore chided after him.
"All he's doing is not biting the hand that keeps him fed and out of prison," Snape countered bitterly. His dark robes billowed out from behind him as he left the discussion at that to instead seek out the peace and quiet of his potion's lab.
Minerva took note of the fiery bite in Snape's ending comment. Perhaps the man is still holding a grudge over his school days as Albus assumed but she thinks this anger at Sirius is a new addition. The two of them disliked each other sure but Snape never seemed to have this level of disapproval for the man. Minerva thought the swirling darkness in his eyes when Albus mentioned Sirius just now was downright loathing.
Minerva sighed after the door clicked shut, "Albus, I can only hope you know what you're doing with this."
Severus Snape stared down at the address and name that had been given to him. Then he looked up at the shabby building in front of him. Afterwords he looked down again at the piece of parchment in his hand that had been so much trouble for the past few minutes.
Hermione Jane Granger
Room 13, Wool's Orphanage
London.
This cannot be the place he thought to himself. The daughter of him shouldn't have that last name or be in this run down scam of a orphanage. Dumbledore had really outdone himself with this one if this was the case. Nobody would think to look for her here; it was the perfect place to hide what was his. As he pushed open the rusted gate and walked up the cobblestone pathway that had a few stones missing he suddenly noticed something. The whole world around the orphanage was dead silent, not a sound could be heard from anywhere. It was starting to become unnerving for him to hear absolutely nothing as he moved closer and closer to his intended location.
Once he reached the door he knocked carefully on the rotting wood and waited for an answer. In record timing a old woman trudged her way to the entrance and opened the door slightly to see who in their right mind decided to knock on her door. Nobody had come to this orphanage in years and she was always contemplating shutting the place down for good to instead go peacefully retire somewhere else.
Snape couldn't help but scowl at the woman who answered the door. She looked like the textbook example of a filthy muggle. She was maybe in her fifties, with her salt-pepper hair pulled back in a lazily put together bun. He also noticed she had a terrible taste in clothing with the very tattered and old gray dress she wore. When he compared his nice silky black suit to her poverty like clothing he felt a smidge of cockiness enter him.
"Can I help you, lad?" The person he assumed was the matron grumbled out.
Snape straightened his posture and prepared to unleash his best friendly attitude. In times like this he really wishes Albus would stop assigning him these types of jobs. He despises having to pretend he's the overly friendly type. "Good morning ma'am, I'm Professor Snape and I'm looking for a young girl."
"Is this your first time adopting a child?" The matron asked, suddenly a little excited at the possibility of pawning off one of the last children currently living here.
Snape quickly covered his annoyance from the question with a smile, "No ma'am, I'm looking for a girl that I was told was currently living here. Is there a way I could talk with her? My school is highly attracted to her."
The older woman nodded regardless of her sight displeasure and led Snape into the building. He noticed with a growing dread that the place was very badly kept and the roof looked like it would fall down on top of you at a moment's notice. The wood flooring was also rotting in various places and he stepped lightly so he wouldn't fall down into any of the what he assumed where termite infested holes.
"Might I ask Professor Snape what kind of school searches for people in places like this?" The matron voiced as they made their way down a hallway with the lights flicking on and off.
Snape actually smirked a bit at that. The woman at least had the common sense to question his creditability for searching out students in orphanages. "The headmaster at our school is very stern about keeping our school a secret, you see. I have orders not to talk about it to anyone besides the girl."
The matron frowned, "That seems very suspicious, Professor."
Snape tried to turn his charming up a notch with a sympathetic smile, "Indeed it does but I'm sworn to secrecy on the subject. I'm very sorry ma'am I hope you can understand all I can say is we deal with very unique individuals."
The matron seemed to take the explanation in stride, "Alright then please tell me who you are looking for exactly?"
Snape once again looked down at the small parchment in his hand and made sure he said her name correctly, "Hermione Jane Granger, please."
The matron suddenly stopped short and turned around to face the Professor. "You must have gotten the wrong information, Professor, there's no way a school would want to take her in." She glared at Snape, "What kind of joke is this?"
Snape couldn't help the small frown that made its way onto the friendly mask he wore on his face, "I assure you ma'am my school is never wrong, and I promise you I am not joking in the slightest sense."
The woman shook her head, a little more than furious. "That girl arrived here about eleven years ago now and is in no state to attend any kind of special school. By lord, she shouldn't even be here! An asylum or something would be better off for her."
Snape raised an eyebrow at the woman's remarks. Of course he expected the brat of him would be a little difficult to handle but he didn't expect this kind of reaction. What could make this woman believe a child should belong locked up somewhere?
Replacing his mask of niceness he kindly asked, "It must have been hard for you to raise her here ma'am but what makes you believe she should be someplace else?"
The matron scoffed loudly, "For starters various people including myself have caught her talking to snakes before and if that wasn't odd enough she has the worst attitude I've ever seen on a child when told the snakes cannot reply to her."
Snape's unease about this whole situation seemed to sky rocket after the woman finished her explanation. The girl had possibly inherited one of his signature traits, this could bode trouble for the future of wizarding society. "I'm sure she's just a lonely child seeking attention by this act, ma'am." Snape tried to convince the woman in front of him and to a slight degree himself.
"She might be but regardless, Professor, after learning this do you still choose to still seek her out? I assure you I wont hold it against you if you choose to turn tail and leave now. This girl is nothing but trouble."
"Thank you for the option ma'am but my school is set on enrolling her." Snape assured the woman with another fake smile.
"If that's what you want, Professor. Don't say I didn't warn you." The matron declared as she continued to lead Snape down the cramped hallway.
As they passed by the bedrooms the children stayed in Snape looked in on them once in a while to find kids in raggedy old clothing moping about. Each child he passed looked like a skeleton with how starved and unkempt they looked. In addition, they even smelled like death itself. This place was a dump, Snape noted to himself. After a few minutes of walking they came upon a closed door with the number thirteen painted onto the front. Reaching down into her sleeve the Matron pulled out a key and unlocked the doorknob so they could go in. Hence, they quickly entered and Snape saw his first glimpse of Hermione Granger. She was seated faced away from him on what he presumed was her small bed. She seemed to be reading a book of some sort as he heard her flip the pages every few seconds or so.
"Granger," The matron snapped out as she grew annoyed at being completely ignored by the girl, "A Professor is here to see you about an opportunity to attend his school."
The girl sighed softly as she put away the book she was previously reading. As she turned his way Snape swore he saw him for a second. Her cheekbones had the same sharp edge to them, her hair was the same shade of pitch blackness, and finally her eyes were the exact same dark color as his. Snape was sure she was a female replica of him. Dumbledore had been kidding himself when he thought he could hide her from the wizarding world. As soon as his followers saw her they'd know for certain who she was.
"What school are you here to talk about, Sir?" Granger politely inquired as she slid off the run-down bed and walked over to stand in front of Snape.
Snape looked down at the girl and noticed she wore nothing but a flimsy muggle t-shirt and shorts. Surely the matron would supply her and the other children something warmer for this weather. It was nearing fall now and it was getting colder by the day. At the same time he remembered though how run down everything and everyone looked here. Even this girl couldn't escape the dirty look everyone had here. She looked just as deprived as any of the other children he passed by. Pulling himself back on track, he reached into his suit pocket and then handed the girl her Hogwarts acceptance letter.
She quickly read it over and started to show a smile that set Snape's nerves on edge once again. She reminded him way to much of her father.
"Is this true?" She looked up from the letter to ask Snape.
Snape nodded down to the girl and quickly whipped out the wand from his sleeve to cast a spell on the matron so she would leave them alone to talk. Once that was done he turned around to see the girl barely hiding her flabbergasted expression at his use of sudden magic.
"Do I need to spell it out for you now or do you understand what's going on?" Snape quipped.
Hermione just nodded and folded back up the letter in her hand. "I do have a different question though, Professor," She remarked after taking a moment, "How am I supposed to get all the items on this list? I don't have any money or a means to get everything."
Snape took a deep breath and prepared himself for the following speech that he really didn't want to give but had to. The girl did deserve some answers. "Here comes the biggest part, Ms. Granger. Before I begin I have to mention I can't tell you everything. Somethings I am bound by magic not to revel. Regardless of that to answer your question; your father was a wizard and he left you a large sum of money in a wizarding bank account. You cannot withdraw anything by yourself though until you come of age. Seeing as I am your godfather though I can do it for you."
Hermione nodded at the explanation and was about to say something else before Snape decided to cut her off before she properly began."To answer the last part of your question I will return a week before September to take you shopping for all the items you need," Snape finished lecturing.
"You know its rude to cut someone off," Hermione pointed out in annoyance at her newly reveled godfather.
"You weren't saying anything to cut off," Snape taunted back at his godchild.
Hermione conceded with a frown, "Touche."
Snape watched the girl as she left him by the doorway to go back and sit on her bed. After she sat back down she pulled out her book from under the pillow and began to read again. Snape noticed this was her way of giving him a quiet dismissal. Seeing that he was done here for now he left the way he came in and once he was sure no one was around he apparated back towards Hogwarts to report in to the headmaster.
"You met with the girl?" Dumbledore inquired the moment Snape set a foot into his office.
Snape was annoyed at the quick questioning but he nodded regardless. It's better to just submit yourself to Dumbledore's inquiry; he nags like the worst old lady ever. "I gave her the acceptance latter, informed her of the money she was left, and told her how I'm her godfather."
Dumbledore nodded along, "What did you think of the child?"
Snape took a moment to ponder over the question. Hermione Granger wasn't what he thought she'd be. He expected she'd be more darker and like her father in attitude. Instead he was subjected to someone who looked like him and was a well mannered young girl who was deprived of some basic necessities. She was overall almost like a mystery to him.
"The orphanage is in terrible living condition. Ms. Granger seems to be deprived of basic necessities like showering and eating regularly. Besides that she seems to be well mannered and curious about our world." Snape stated.
Dumbledore leaned forward from his desk in interest, "That's all?"
"The matron mentioned she had a bad attitude sometimes and that she could talk to snakes," Snape added, "I didn't see either of those things with my own eyes though."
"Good work, Severus. When you see her again in a few weeks keep a close eye on her and report everything back to me when you return. You are dismissed for now." Dumbledore pushed up the spectacles on his nose and waved Snape from his office.
Snape was more then eager to leave when he was told to. He hated being questioned by Dumbledore, the old man had a way of getting under your skin without alerting you. He swore the sorting hat got it wrong when it sorted the headmaster way back then. He was definitely a Slytherin at heart.
A/N: *sigh* I already have another HP fic in the works and various other fics too... This one just jumped on me though and I spent all night/morning writing it. I couldn't control myself and by the time I was finished I felt I had to post this. SO here we are. Another fic to work on. If you are good at guessing plots (and I did leave hints...) you can probably guess a few things that will happen next. I can almost guarantee though you can't guess everything. Well I think I can say that, I can't read minds after all. I just have hope what I have cooking for this story isn't too predictable. If you want to cast your bets though on the plot feel free! I love reading reviews for my work.
Anyway, yes this is going to eventually be Bellamione. I was dragged helplessly into this pairing by all the great fics out there for these two. If you can spare the time go read some of them on this site if you haven't already. I highly recommend the works by N. Blackman. Those stories are a joy to read and reread. Wrapping up here I hope you stick around, leave some constructed criticism if you feel the need, and enjoy the story. I can't think of anything else to say here so toodaloo~
-RoxyRoxas1313
