It was the little girl's first day of real school. Her mother had been teaching her small magics for years. How to control her temper in public. How to use her vela blood to make sure that strangers never hurt her. What creatures around her great grandmother's home to stay away from. How to keep the pointed ears she inherited from her mother hidden, even when her hair did not cover them. Small things, that wouldn't set off the ministry's sensors. She stepped through the barrier to platform 9 ¾ just as her parents had years before. Her mother stepped through behind her.
"Eileen, I have one more favor to ask you before you get on the train." Her mother whispered, kissing the part on the girl's shoulder-length chestnut red hair.
"Yes mum?" she asked, the excitement in her thin frame making her quiver with anticipation.
"If you don't get picked for Slytherin, it's okay. Just because your father and I were both in there doesn't mean you have to be." Bright green eyes looked up towards their twins twenty six years their senior. "And remember, don't give Professor Snape too much trouble. I want no owls from the headmaster about your behavior." The wicked little face looked up completely innocent belying the fact that she was planning on making trouble. She had overheard her mother's concerned conversations with her great-grandmother about her going to school at Hogwarts. Her mother had been of two minds about her attending school where Severus Snape still taught. Something about the way she talked about this mysterious man made the little girl wonder what had happened between them. Something awful maybe, but her mother sounded sad, like she still cared for him.
"Yes mum, I will try to stay out of trouble, but I can't make any promises." She said honestly. Her mother smiled, seeming sad and happy at the same time. She ruffled her daughter's fine, lank hair.
"You remind me so much of you father sometimes. Be good and don't start any fights. Write me if you need me, and I'll see you at the Christmas Holidays."