Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; if I did, Severus would never have died.

Chapter One

Serena Potter, a young girl ten years of age, sat inside her dark, damp cupboard under the stairs of number four, Privet Drive glad to be left alone for a while. While she hated the cramped space in which she lived, it was also her sanctuary, the one place in this house where she found peace and where she could tend to her wounds. You see, she was very different from her only living relatives; while Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley Dursley were very ordinary, and proud of it, Serena was far from it. Weird things tended to happen when she was upset or scared; things would disappear or appear out of nowhere, and even she herself would disappear from one place and appear in another. Her emerald green eyes would glow eerily when she was angry, and her injuries would magically heal if she wished it.

Ever since Serena had been placed on the Dursleys' doorstep, they had treated her with disgust and distain. They treated her like a slave, forcing her to cook, clean and garden since she could walk. She was only allowed to eat table scraps, if she was allowed to eat at all. Ever since the first weird accident she had caused, her uncle had started to beat her, to "beat out the freakishness." Dudley, however, was treated like a prince. He ate as much as he liked, which made him about as big as a baby whale. He got an overabundance of gifts for his birthday and Christmas, while Serena got beatings or nothing if she was lucky. He got whatever he wanted, or threw a very violent tantrum until he did. Serena was his favorite punching bag. Whenever he got too big for his clothes, they were given to Serena, the only clothes she would receive. Unfortunately, they were three sizes too big, so they gave her a piece of rope to hold up her trousers, and safety pins to keep the shirts from showing off her chest.

There was one big rule in the Dursley house that she was never to break; she was never to ask about her dead parents or the lightning bolt scar on her forehead. She had asked once, just to see what they would do and say. They told her that her father was a drunk and her mother was no better. They said her father had been driving drunk and crashed, killing her parents and giving her the scar. Then her uncle proceeded to beat her bloody.

What they didn't know, however, was that Serena had an eidetic and photographic memory, allowing her to remember every event of her life. She knew her parents could do strange things like she could, and had called it magic. She also knew her parents had been killed by another man who could use magic, and that the same man had tried to kill her too. But somehow he'd failed to do so, and destroyed his own body in the process. She would never forget his face. She also remembered a man all in black, who had cradled and cried over her mother's body. She remembered him picking her up when she cried, rocking her and comforting her. She remembered how safe he'd made her feel…

She closed her eyes and sighed. Sometimes she wished he'd just taken her with him, so she wouldn't have ended up here, but she believed that things happened for a reason. She then concentrated on her magic, feeling it swirl around her as her injuries healed, some scaring over. She had long learned how to control her magic, after the fourth accident and beating. She had learned to hide her emotions behind mental walls so no more accidents happened; she'd read a book on meditating, which had helped tremendously. She only used her magic to heal herself when her injuries were severe, like now. But since the accidents had stopped, Vernon found other ways to beat her; not completing a list of chores impossible to complete in one day, not having dinner ready on time, etc. The main thing she got beaten for nowadays was because she had better grades than Dudley, which wasn't hard. The spoiled brat was dumber than a rock and had the grades to show for it. Serena on the other hand had an IQ of one hundred eighty-eight and could read twenty thousand words a minute. Add on her eidetic and photographic memory, and she had the highest grades in her year. In other words, she was a genius. She'd even taught herself how to read and write by sneaking old books, pencil nubs, and scrap paper into her cupboard.

More than once it had been recommended that Serena move up a year or two, but her aunt and uncle refused. They had wanted her to get worse grades than Dudley on purpose, but she refused; she'd rather get beaten than degrade herself like that. Her genius status also helped her to control her magic quickly, even without training.

Once her injuries had healed, she pulled out a wrinkled, worn letter from under her ratty pillow. She'd received it about a week ago, and was smart enough to slip it into hr cupboard before taking the rest of the mail to Vernon. It was a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, telling her she would be attending said school on September first. Since her relatives were muggles, which she assumed to be a term for people with no magic, a professor from Hogwarts would be arriving on July thirty-first, her birthday, to take her to a place called Diagon Alley to get the school supplies on the list that had been included with the letter. July thirsty-first was tomorrow.

She caressed the letter lovingly, unfolding it to read it once more though she'd memorized it the first time she read it. Besides the shopping trip tomorrow, this was the best birthday present she'd ever received. This was her ticket out. She smirked. She knew Vernon would give her annual birthday beating as soon as he woke up, and it was going to be worse because she'd healed herself. She knew that once the professor arrived, they would see her fresh injuries, old and new scars, her malnourishment, and her overly baggy hand-me-downs. She hoped it would be enough for them to remove her from the Dursleys permanently. She carefully re-folded the letter and placed it back in the envelope, returning it to its place under her pillow. She then curled up on her broken down mattress under her thin, ratty blanket, and fell asleep with a smile on her face.

The morning of July thirty-first dawned early for Serena; she had learned early on to be awake before the others and be ready when they let her out, or she'd be beaten for "laziness." She couldn't help but smile as she dressed, sliding her letter and supply list into the pocket of her trousers. Then she sat cross-legged on her mattress, closing her eyes and taking a deep, calming breath. Meditating helped her to bring up her mental walls and to put every emotion, every thought, safely behind them. She also put her acknowledgement of pain behind her mental walls; she knew how bad it would be today, and she would need the careful, blissful blankness in her mind she was creating.

Loud thudding on the stairs alerted her of her uncle's approach. She opened her eyes and waited as she heard the lock slide open. The door slammed open.

"Out, now," she heard Vernon growl. She climbed out of her cupboard for what she hoped was the last time, and turned to face the monster with the face of a man. She watched as he froze, looking over her and seeing all injuries from the day before healed. His face twisted in anger and disgust, turning an ugly shade of purple, before he plunged his fist into her abdomen. She doubled over, the wind having been knocked out of her, and fell to the floor. Then he proceeded to kick her harshly anywhere he could, breaking her nose and a couple of ribs. He purposely stepped on her ankle with all his weight, breaking it with a sickening crack. He paused for a moment as he removed his belt, before he proceeded to beat her over the back with the buckle, leaving bloody welts under the fabric of her shirt.

Once he'd grown bored of this, he put his belt back on and jerked her up off the floor by her right arm, breaking her wrist under his grip and dislocating her shoulder. He then punched her in the mouth, knocking out a couple teeth. He wrapped a hand around her throat and slammed her into the wall. Blood ran steadily down her face from her nose, split lip, and mouth.

"Now listen here, you little freak," Vernon snarled. "You are going to clean up this mess," he gestured to the blood and teeth on the floor, "and you're going to make us breakfast. You will sit on the floor and watch us eat while you have nothing. I may be generous and let you have a bit of water if you behave and do all of your chores today. And if you do anything freaky to heal yourself again, your next punishment will be ten times worse. Do you understand me?"

Serena nodded slowly.

"Good," Vernon hissed, throwing her to the floor. Serena coughed and gasped for breath as Vernon went into the living room. Once she could breathe again, she kept her breaths shallow as to not aggravate her broken ribs. She also had to breathe through her mouth because of her broken nose. She briefly touched the pocket that contained her letter, drawing strength from it, before pushing herself up off the floor and limping into the kitchen. She rinsed her mouth with warm salt water to staunch the bleeding, pinching her nose to stop the bleeding there. Once she had stopped bleeding, she washed the blood off her face and neck, before going over to the cleaning supplied. She grabbed a trash bag, paper towels, and a bucket. She poured a bit of bleach into the bucket and filled it the rest of the way with water.

Picking up the bucket and her other supplies, she went back into the hallway, kneeling on the floor. She picked up the teeth that had been knocked out and pocketed them so she could use her magic to put them back later. Then she wiped up the blood on the floor as best she could before carefully spreading the bleach solution onto the area her blood had occupied. She put the bloody paper towels into the trash bag, setting it and the roll of paper towels aside so she could clean up the bleach solution later. She then took the bucket back into the kitchen and dumped the rest of the solution down the sink, rinsing out the bucket and putting it back in its place. Then she proceeded to gather the ingredients for a full English breakfast.

She placed the griddle on the stove and turned on the two burners it rested on, turning once on lower than the other and lightly brushed it with extra virgin olive oil. Once the griddle was heated, she placed the sausages on. She turned the oven on the lowest setting, placing a plate on the middle rack. She quickly flipped the sausages before pulling on gloves and cleaning up the bleach solution in the hallway. She took the trash bag out to the trash can and came back in time to flip the sausages again. She added the bacon to the griddle, cooking it four minutes on each side before placing it on the plate in the oven. She prepared the mushrooms and put them on the griddle, cooking them for the appropriate time on each side, flipping the sausages again. She then placed the mushrooms on each plate, adding the sausages to the plate in the oven. Then she cut up and cooked the black pudding, placing it on each plate.

She then turned off the burners heating the griddle and pulled out a separate pan, oiling it and frying three pieces of bread. She then cut each piece in half and placed the halves on each plate. She fried an egg each and plated them, adding the sausages and the bacon. She cut a tomato into slices, sneaking one into her mouth and chewing quickly, before she seasoned them and plated them. She set each plate on the table with ketchup and brown sauce. She set out the orange juice and milk on the table and glasses with the plates, and put Vernon's coffee beside his plate. She was tempted to spit in it, but didn't. She retrieved his newspaper and placed it next to his plate before going into the living room. Aunt Petunia and Dudley had joined Vernon at some point.

"Breakfast is ready," she told them emotionlessly, before going and sitting in a corner of the kitchen so she could watch them eat. She internally sneered in disgust as she watched the three of them eat, Vernon reading the paper; the only things appetizing to her were the tomatoes and mushrooms – she liked eggs, but not sunny-side up. Halfway through breakfast, the doorbell rang, and Serena inwardly smirked. This was it.

"Get the door, Freak," Vernon snapped. Serena pushed herself off the floor and exited the kitchen. She slowly allowed herself to feel some of the pain she was in, gasping almost silently as she limped on her broken ankle. She allowed some of the pain to reflect in her eyes; she knew there was no way whomever was on the other side of this door would let her stay here when they saw the state she was in, and the pain she felt in her eyes. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, wincing, before opening the door. There, standing before her, was the man in flowing black robes with shoulder length black hair and piercing black eyes from her memory.

"It's you," she whispered.

The man before her stared at her with a frown on his face; she knew what he was seeing. Two black eyes forming, a broken nose, a split lip, old and new scars on her visible skin, her bruised broken wrist, her shallow mouth breathing, missing teeth, the blood on her shirt, and how she was favoring one leg over the other. Not to mention the three sizes too big boys' clothes she wore.

"You know me?" the man asked in a deep, velvety voice.

"I don't know your name," Serena murmured. "But I remember you. You were there the night my parents died. You cried over my mother's body and you comforted me when I cried."

The man froze in shock. "How do you remember that night?"

"I have an eidetic and photographic memory," Serena explained quietly. "I remember every event to have happened in my life."

"Extraordinary," the man murmured. "I am Severus Snape; I am a professor at Hogwarts."

"I'm sure you know who I am," Serena said, amusement flashing in her eyes. The corners of Severus's mouth twitched as he nodded.

"The more important question," Severus said, "is who did that to you." He gestured to her injuries. Serena sneered.

"The man that calls himself my uncle," Serena growled. "He's beaten me since I was three, when I had my first bout of accidental magic, and for stupid reasons."

Severus's lips curled into a snarl. "Such as?"

"Such as having better grades than their spoiled whale of a son," Serena told him. "That's not particularly hard; a rock is smarter than he is. But I have an IQ of one hundred eighty-eight and I can read twenty thousand words a minute. It's been requested more than once that I skip a year or two."

"Freak!" they heard Vernon call. "Get back in here! Now!"

"I think it's time someone showed this man that it is not okay to abuse a child," Severus growled.

Serena smirked. "Please do. Just a second."

She pulled her missing teeth out of her pocket and held them up to her open mouth. Then she closed her eyes and concentrated her magic on her injuries. She felt it swirl around her as her ankle, wrist, and rib bones healed. Her nose snapped back into place, the black eyes disappearing. Her teeth flew back into their respective places, the cut on her lip healed, her shoulder popped back into place, and the welts on her back scarred over. She stretched and rolled her neck and shoulders, breathing in deeply. She turned to look at Severus.

"I learned to control my magic very quickly," she informed his surprised form. "It was the reason I was beaten at first."

"To beat a child because they're different is revolting," Severus muttered. "I have to say, that is the first time I've actually seen a person's magic. Usually it isn't visible, or as colorful."

"Another way I'm unique then," Serena said, turning to lead Severus into the kitchen where her "family" still sat eating.

The first thing Vernon noticed when they entered the room was that Serena had healed herself again, walking into the room with her head held high, her expression defiant. His face contorted in rage.

"What did I tell you about freaky ways to heal yourself, Freak?!" he snarled, standing and going to punch her in the face. Serena just stood there and stared at him, one eyebrow raised. Even in her baggy clothes she had an elegant air to her. Suddenly, Vernon was blasted back into the wall, causing the house to shake.

"You will never harm this girl again," Severus snarled. Serena noticed that he had a long, elegant piece of wood in his hand; she believed she remembered her parents calling it a wand. It was pointed at her uncle. Her aunt gasped when she saw him while Dudley had run to cower in a corner; well, as well as his overlarge body would let him anyway.

"You!" she shrieked.

"Hello, Tuney," Severus sneered. "Did you miss me?"

"What are you doing here?" she hissed.

"I'm a professor at Hogwarts now," he told her, causing her to whiten. "I came here to take Serena shopping for her school supplies, but it seems I'll be removing her from your residence permanently."

"Take her," Petunia snapped. "Good riddance."

"You know, I could easily have you arrested for child abuse," Serena said casually, examining her nails lazily. "And believe me; I have gathered enough evidence over the years to have you two locked up for years." She tapped her head with a finger. "I'm sure there's a way for magic to take the information out of my head and put it on paper somewhere. Poor little Diddikins would end up in foster care. But because this is the best birthday I've had since I was one year old, and I don't want to ruin it with police statements and an investigation, I'm going to let it go…for now. But keep an ear out; I might just get an itch to report you at any time. Good day."

With that she turned and walked out of the room, stealing a mushroom from Vernon's plate as she went. Severus followed her out of the house and shut the door behind him. He watched silently as she quickly, yet daintily, consumed the mushroom in her hand. Even as she ate it, her stomach growled.

"When was the last time you ate?" Severus asked her.

"Before the mushroom I just ate and the tomato slice I snuck this morning?" Serena asked. "Tuesday last, I think. I haven't had a proper meal since I lived with my parents."

Severus clicked his tongue, shooting a deadly glare back at the house. "Perhaps we should get some real food into you before we walk around Diagon Alley. I don't need you fainting on me."

"That's fine," Serena agreed readily. "But I must warn you, though I've been starved most of my life, I'm a pretty picky eater. I do not like bread or anything sweet, except for some dark chocolate I'd gotten my hands on when I was younger; Dudley didn't like it because it wasn't sweet enough. I also do not like sausages, black pudding, or meat products that use parts of the animal no one else eats otherwise. I'm not fond of white potatoes, but I'll eat them. I don't really care for greasy foods either. I prefer fresh meats, dairy products such as cheese and yogurt, fruits, and vegetables. And I only drink water; I can't stomach anything else."

"Perhaps it's because you were abused that caused you to be so picky," Severus suggested. "You can't stomach those things you listed off."

Serena snorted. "That and I've seen what it does to Dudley. I may be severely underweight now, but I never want to end up the size he is."

"I can see that logic," Severus muttered, shuttering as he thought of how big that boy was. "Well, since you have such a limited pallet, I shall take you my home so you can eat there." Severus held his arm out to her. "Take my arm."

"Why?" Serena asked warily.

"I'm going to apparate us," Severus told her patiently. "It's like teleportation; I focus on our destination, and we pop out of existence here and reappear there."

"Does it hurt?" she asked.

"It feels like you're being squeezed through a tiny tube," Severus admitted. "Most people fall over or vomit their first time in side-along; or both. All I ask is that you don't vomit on me."

Serena laughed and took his arm. "I will try, but I make no promises."

Severus huffed in amusement as he shook his head. "You do have your letter and supply list correct?"

"In my pocket," Serena said. "Not that I need them. I memorized them the moment I read them; the perks of having an eidetic and photographic memory."

"Very well," Severus said. "Hold on tight."

With that, they disappeared with a quiet pop.

This is my first chapter guys! I will try to put up the second chapter soon.