(A/N: Yes I am doing Harry Potter fanfiction. I know that I shouldn't lead with an OC but I am. I will endeavor to keep her from being a Mary Sue and should she go that route, I will correct her as best I can as long as you tell me so in a civil tone. Shrieking at me like banshees will probably turn the story into a Sue-fest. I don't own Harry Potter, if I did, my beloved Severus and the wonderful Remus would be alive, as would our friend Hedwig and all around trouble-maker Fred. Anyway, this story contains mentions of abuse and Snape being a sweetheart in his own way. Also Good!Tobias and Loving!Eileen and loads more. On with the show!)

Chapter 1—The Letter in Green Writing

Her thoughts were restless, chaotic at the worst of times and uncomfortable at best. A letter had arrived for her earlier that day, coming right in through the vents above the attic window under which she slept. She had promptly hidden it inside of her pillow case, hoping that it would not be discovered when her mother got home. Mostly she was frightened of what the heavy parchment envelope might contain.

It claimed to be from a place called Hogwarts. And that Hogwarts was a school for witches and wizards, like her, apparently. Though what worried her the most was that the envelope stated, in brilliantly shining green ink, that the 'Crate Under the Attic Window' was her address. At least it didn't mention that it was a dog crate. If her mother thought that she had been telling people about her living conditions, or that she had somehow been seen…she scrubbed harder at the kitchen tiles to chase the thought from her mind.

"Anne," the soft voice of her older brother managed to break through the panicked haze that surrounded her mind. It took her a moment, sitting frozen in fear that her mother was home before he lifted her head. Dull yet glassy brown eyes stared up at their near exact match and she ran a wet soapy hand through her roughly shorn brown hair. Were he not 5 years older than her, they would look similar enough to pass for twins, especially with her mother refusing to allow her to have 'normal girl' hair.

"She isn't coming home today, or tomorrow," he said after a moment, hoping to sort out his sister's confusion. When it sank in, a visible change came over the girl. A sigh of relief passed her lips and her small frame sagged as the tension flooded out of it. She dropped her scrubbing sponge back into the bucket that had come from the supply closet in the hallway. While Eric was nearly 16 years of age, he dearly wished to skip straight past his birthday so that he could begin the emancipation process and hopefully gain custody of the battered girl called Anne.

He bent slightly at his knees and scooped the tiny 10 year old into his arms. She was so light and so short that she barely passed for a 7 year old and he secretly wondered if she would ever recover from the neglect that had made her that way. He had barely managed to have his most recent growth spurt and was still mistaken for a 12 year old himself. Always mindful of her latest batch of bruises, he guided her down from his arms and into their mother's seat at the kitchen table, the one with the cushioned back and seat. He fought back tears at the feeling of her skeletal frame and did his best to make sure that she didn't notice the distress it caused him. It could set her off in a fit of tears to know that he had to treat her like she was so fragile that he might break her at any moment.

"Breakfast?" he asked and she nodded quickly, her eyes shining with hope. He wished that she could speak to him properly, but the ultrasensitive dog collar that was strapped around her neck would shock her if she so much as coughed. It was secured in the back with a padlock that he didn't have the key to.

But she had always found a way and by time he was placing their breakfast on the table she had found a pad of paper and a pencil. Clutched in the tiny fingers of her left hand she used the pencil to write in small, neat words 'can you keep a secret?' in the upper corner of the paper.

He met her gaze as he passed her a fork and gave her a firm nod. He had always kept her secrets. If there was something that she needed him to know and not their mother, then that would be the way of it. She savored a few bites of her rare treat before penning the question that had been eating at her since she'd opened her eyes that morning.

'Is your boarding school called Hogwarts?' His reaction was instant, his back going stiff and his eyes widening as he clutched more tightly at his fork. Monstrous hope and fear entered his heart as he stared at his little sister.

"How do you know about it? I mean, yes it is, but you aren't supposed to…" he stopped himself from stammering as he watched her produce a response.

'I got a letter this morning. From a school for witches and wizards. So that means I'm a witch and you are a wizard. But how did they know about my crate?' She wrote and he could feel her confusion. But the only thing that ran through his mind was relief, like a pack of wild boars it charged through him and left him devoid of all other feelings.

"Oh, thank God," he whispered and hugged her softly, not interrupting her eating. If he didn't make sure to feed her as often as he could (which he had to admit wasn't often enough) he wouldn't have given her bacon and eggs for breakfast for fear that it would make her ill.

"I want to go," she spoke in the tiniest whisper imaginable, but it was enough to make him weep. He kissed her cheek and her forehead and nodded furiously.

"Finish your breakfast. I'm calling Uncle Severus," Eric said and snatched the phone from its cradle on the kitchen wall, punching numbers in as quickly as he could. Anne sat at the table and continued to eat her breakfast, finishing it all in record time before starting on the remains of Eric's with nearly as much gusto. As he waited to be connected Eric motioned for her to go and get her letter, so that was exactly what she did.

(A/N: And that's the first chapter. I think you've guessed maybe that this is a Severus as a guardian fic. I shan't give too much away, but he is a pretty big softie at some points. I will warn you, my Severus never lost Lilly, never became a Death Eater, and was on fair terms with the Marauders. Don't like that? Ok, you can stop with this chapter. Thanks for reading!)