This is my very first story. Reviews are welcome but please be nice. I'm not sure how often I'll be updating, it depends on how popular it gets.
Harry Potter and its characters do not belong to me. If they did I wouldn't be writing this.
Chapter 1
"This is crazy headmaster. If you let that child into the school and someone finds out what she really is it could ruin you, it could ruin Hogwarts."
"I understand your concerns Severus but she deserves a chance just like everyone else", said an old man with long silver hair, to a much younger looking man with greasy black hair.
Both men were standing just outside a hospital room door; the girl in question is asleep on the bed inside the room.
"But she's not like everyone else Headmaster" said the black haired man "she is different, dangerous."
"I'm not going to send her back to the streets Severus," said the older man." We have the opportunity to make a difference in her life, to teach her and give her a place to belong, a home."
"She'll never belong anywhere" said Severus looking into the room at the sleeping child.
"I agree that she shouldn't be sent back to the streets, Headmaster, but she cannot be allowed into Hogwarts." Looking back to the older man he said "Surely there is somewhere else that she can go. Why not send her back to wherever she was living before?"
Slowly shaking his head the silver haired man said, "She deserves a chance, surely you of all people can appreciate that; a chance to be something more, to learn how to control her magic."
"But she's not like everyone else" the younger man repeated "and if anyone where to find out that you knowingly let His child into the school the consequents could be catastrophic."
"I am aware of the risks, but I believe that this is the right thing to do. She deserves the opportunity to prove that she is more than just His child" said the old man.
Inside the room the young girl was waking.
"I can see that I won't be able to talk you out of this, we'll just have to hope that no one finds out" said the black haired man as he turned to walk away.
"Trust me Severus, everything will work out" said the old man with a twinkle in his eyes.
Without turning back around the younger man said, "I trust you Dumbledore, Merlin knows why but I do trust you; I just hope you know what you're doing."
Smiling slightly the older man turns to go into the hospital room and says softly to himself "so do I"
&&&&&&&
Slowly waking, the young girl opens her eyes and looks around, she quickly realizes that she is in a hospital room, having been in so many in her short live. She turns to the door as it opens revealing an old man with a long silver beard and long silver hair to match. He smiles seeing that she is awake, but his smile is strange, almost wary. She sits up quickly, her eyes never leaving him as he makes his way toward her.
Dumbledore looks at the young girl as he crosses the room, she small so much smaller than she should be at her age. She's thin and pale, her long jet black hair was dull; the only part of her that looked alive was her eyes, clear bright blue that pierced him as if she was looking into his soul. 'She looks so much like her father' he thought.
"Hello" he says as he sits down in the chair next to her bed. Her eyes never once leave him.
"Lo" she says softly with a slight Scottish accent. Her voice was rough as if she didn't use it a lot.
"My name is Albus Dumbledore" he said gently not wanting to startle her. She acted as if she might bolt any second, like a dog that had been kicked too many times.
"May I ask what your name is?" after severely moments of silence.
"They called me the Cullflower girl, after the orphanage." the black haired child said.
"The Cullflower girl? You don't know your real name?" Dumbledore asked.
"No, Sir" she said simply.
Dumbledore sat back in the chair with a sigh "No I guess you wouldn't, you were just a baby when you went missing. You weren't old enough to remember your name."
He looked at her and felt a pang of sadness; this child had gone her whole life without knowing anything about herself, not even her own name.
"Your name is Nequam Riddle" Dumbledore told her giving her a small piece of herself.
"Nequam Riddle" she said her eyes leaving him for the first time since he enter the room, the name rolling off her tongue as if she were testing it. "Nequam. Sounds like Latin" she said almost to herself. She looked back to him. "What's it mean?"
He looked down almost like he was ashamed, clearing his throat he said "Latin is a strange language words can have many meanings."
Her blue eyes pierced into his, making him want to tell the truth, so hesitantly he said "it means unwanted or worthless."
Her eyes left his and looked down to the bed. "Why would…?"
Softly Dumbledore said, "Your mother was not the nicest or sanest woman in the world. She was angry at me and she took it out on you by naming you Nequam."
Then Dumbledore said gently "but just because your name means worthless doesn't mean that you are."
Her eyes rose up to meet his again, they were hard and empty. He leaned toward her smiling kindly and said "you can be whoever you want to be." She didn't smile but her eyes did soften a little bit.
"This is why I'm here, I didn't get you out of that back alleyway and bring you here to this hospital to simple leave you alone again. I am the Headmaster of Hogwarts, it a special school for people who are different and I think that you would do very well there." Dumbledore told Nequam.
She didn't say anything, but she did look at him with interest so he continued "it's May and the new term does not start until September. When you get released from this hospital you can come and live at the school until the term starts, when it does you will be sorted into a house and will become a student of the school."
She looks at him and asks hesitantly "What… what exactly will I… what kinda school is Hogwarts, Mr. Dumbledore? "
"Then you wish to go?" he asks.
"I've nowhere else to go." She told him.
He nods then says "it's a school for people who can use magic. It's a school of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
"What makes ya think…. I'm a witch?" she asks him again hesitantly, as if she weren't use to asking questions.
"Well your parents were a witch and wizard so"
"Ye knew my parents?" she asked interrupting him, then her eyes got wide and he could see the fear and shock in them as she realizing that she had cut him off. She grew very still and quiet weighing to see what he would do because of her mistake.
"Yes I knew your parents, they both went to Hogwarts" he said ignoring her reaction. "I believe that you have inherited their magical abilities and that you should go to Hogwarts so that you may learn how to control them." 'And, he thought so I can keep an eye on you'
"How will I…I don't…'sigh'…I don't even own the clothes I'm wearing. How am I suppose to pay for anything?" Nequam asked fingering the hospital gown she had on.
"You know nothing of your parents correct?" he asked the small child.
"No, sir I don't." she answered.
The silver haired man look as if he wanted to say something but decided against it and said instead "You have plenty of money, enough to pay for clothes, books, and whatever supplies you might need for many years." Dumbledore told her.
Nequam looked back down to her lap seeming slightly overwhelmed. She had many more questions about who she was and who her parents were. Why did they give her up? How did they die? How did she have money? Why would her mother named her 'worthless'?
But she could sense that the old man did not want her asking questions about her parents so instead she asked, "H-how will I know what I need to buy and where will I buy it?"
"An associate of mine will be taking you to Diagon Alley after you are released from the hospital, where you will be able to buy anything you may need. His name is Severus Snape; he is the Potions teacher at Hogwarts." Dumbledore told the blue eyed child. "You are going to be released tomorrow afternoon; he will be here then to take you to get what you need, then he will bring you to Hogwarts."
Dumbledore stood, Nequam's eyes following his movements. "I must be going now; I will speak to you again when you arrive at Hogwarts."
He turned to leave and just as he reached the door he heard a very quite 'thank ye'. He paused slightly then continued out of the room.
&&&&&&&
"You've got to be kidding" said Snape in disbelieve "You want me to go with that child to Diagon Alley and go school shopping?"
"Yes Severus, she needs someone to go with her and I cannot. I could always ask Hagrid" Dumbledore said.
"No" Severus said with a sigh "I'll go; I don't believe that Hagrid should be trusted with something like this."
"I trust Hagrid just as I trust you Severus. But I have something else I need him to do, Nequam Riddle isn't the only high risk child coming to Hogwarts this year" said Dumbledore
Snape's eyes narrowed as he said "that's right Potter's child is coming to Hogwarts."
"Yes Harry is going to be coming to this school. Hagrid is going to be delivering his letter tomorrow so I need you to take Nequam to Diagon Alley today." Dumbledore explained.
"Very well Headmaster" said Severus "but I still object to her being here at all."
'Sigh' "I know Severus but Nequam Riddle is coming to Hogwarts" said the old man "and try to be kind to her, I don't think that she has been treated very well in the past."
"Of course. I will bring her here after we are finished" said the black haired professor.
Dumbledore nodded "when you arrive take her to the med wing and have Poppy take a look at her, there is no telling what the muggle doctors may have missed."
"Yes, Headmaster" said Snape as swept from the room on his way to muggle London to baby-sit a child that could very well be the death of them all.
&&&&&&&
Severus Snape walks down the long, white hall of a muggle hospital in downtown London; he is wearing muggle clothing which he does not enjoy.
He makes his way to the room that the child, as he calls her in his mind, is in. He reaches the hospital door and as he opens it he sees Nequam Riddle properly for the first time.
The first thing that he thinks is, 'Merlin she looks so much like her father, especially those eyes'.
Nequam Riddle is looking at the door as it opens to reveal a tall, thin man with greasy black hair and an irritated expression on his face. 'This must be the man that Mr. Dumbledore told me about, he has the same light'.
Snape stands in the doorway looking at the little girl in the middle of the hospital room.
'She's small' he notes 'a lot smaller than she should be, she must not have gotten a lot to eat living on the street.'
"I am Severus Snape, Dumbledore sent me to take you to Diagon Alley to get you your school supplies and then I am to take you to Hogwarts." Snape told the young girl. After a moment of her not reacting he asked in an irritated voice "well, are you ready?"
"Yes, sir" the young child said quickly.
"Then let's go" says Snape as he turn out of the room. Nequam follows the strange, annoyed man quietly. Snape looks down at the girl walking beside him and sees that she is wearing simple hospital shirt and pants that are too big for her. "Well I guess clothes will be our first stop, you can't walk around wearing that" said Snape.
Nequam touches the shirt she is wears and says quietly, "yes, sir Mr. Snape."
'Well at least she has proper manners' Snape thinks, and then says to Nequam "Professor Snape or sir is fine"
"Yes, sir" says the blue-eyed child as they continue to make their way out of the muggle hospital and into downtown London.