The dark haired young boy made his way towards the dungeons, his robes whipped around his rapidly pumping legs, and there was a hint of a familiar sweep to his gait. The heavy summer air was completely masked by the chilly dungeons, and the stillness that accompanied it would be disconcerting to most people, but it either did nothing to accost the boy or he had simply grown used to it. Hogwarts castle was very quiet with its lack of activity in the summer, and it was usually by the third week of summer that all of the students without homes or families were placed with a family for the summer, and as such everyone had been placed. The young boy, about thirteen years old made his way down the stairs, his gate quickened as he neared his destination. He saw the large portrait he was seeking come into view, and he broke into a sprint.

"Elias Prince," he gasped, and shot through the open portal. Dark eyes met his blue ones, and the dark haired man dropped the potions ingredients he had been holding, and the boy rant to the man. The man grabbed the boy in his arms, and pulled him tightly to his chest. He kissed his son's head, brushing the boy's hair back, a few times to look at his face properly, drinking in his only son's features.

"Alexander."

"Dad… is it true? The rumors at Durmstrang…? And, they're getting so serious with the Dark Arts there. They killed a muggle..." he whispered, looking up at the tired visage of his father.

"Nothing has happened as of yet my boy… but I'm taking you out of Durmstrang. You're coming here. It is safer…"

"So it's bad outside as well?"

"Bad enough." Severus Snape hugged his only son once more, thankful that he had at least one of his children, and his only tangible link to what could have been.

Three Months Later…

"A witch." A small girl said with a quietly skeptical tone. She stared at her reflection in the small mirror in the children's home, trying to decide if the person staring back at her was really all that different after all. Having spent her summer reading all of her first year tattered textbooks, Emily Arden was still trying to wrap her mind around the situation. Of course it explained so much now, looking back on all of the things that had happened growing up in the children's home, from things appearing, objects moving and just bits and bobs of different oddities that ultimately kept Emily from finding a permanent home with a family. She had been an infant when she ended up at the orphanage in Brighton, unceremoniously dropped off without any record of any sort. She simply couldn't remember anything from before that time and because of her "oddities" she never lasted very long with a family, especially when strange things would happen.

She found herself being released into the care of a school official, she wasn't sure what measures had been taken for her to be released from the care of the system, but Emily gathered her courage and followed the young man dressed in a suit in the oddest shade of moss green out the front door.

"Come along, come along, the train leaves in twenty minutes from Kings Cross." He spoke in a busy voice, he never really made eye contact with Emily and she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Sir, the train ride to London is at least an hour from Brighton. " She spoke, following the man around the corner into a fairly quiet alley.

"We are not taking the train, obviously." He said in a drawling tone as he pulled out an old tin can. He held it out to Emily and she stared at the proffered trinket then looked back to the man who had a very expectant look on his face.

"Well go on then, make sure you're touching it!" he pressed, she quickly put her hand up to grasp the tin can and with a horrible yank, she found herself standing on a platform swarming with people, not to mention a tossed about stomach and a reeling shock.

"This way, I don't have all day!" the man snapped as Emily stumbled forward. She barely had time to process what had actually happened as she watched the man stride through the throngs of people.

"Your trunks have already been loaded onto the train, here is your ticket, find a compartment because the train leaves soon. Goodday." And with a massive bang! Emily found herself quite alone on a swarming platform of people, owls trunks and students saying their goodbyes. Emily looked down at her ticket and saw she was indeed on platform 9 ¾ as the ticket instructed, and she observed her surroundings once more, watching parents hug children, tearful goodbyes and words of advice being passed. Emily allowed herself to steal a few moments watching the other children – her classmates- and then she made her way onto the train. She stepped onto the train and she saw that many of the compartments were claimed in some way or another, and she found one that was seemingly empty. She pulled the door aside and her blue eyes met a set of green ones.

"Hello… is there any room… here?" She enquired to the boy who was a bit older than her, she observed a scar on his forehead, and rounded glasses that he pushed up his nose to look at her with.

"Oh, err, well, the others have just stepped out for a moment, but we can make room." He said amicably enough, they held their gaze for a moment before Emily replied.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm sure there's room elsewhere." She said, and quickly she left, moving on to find a place for the long ride.

After having ended up in a compartment with an older girl from a house called "hufflepuff" and a similarly quiet boy from the same house, Emily quietly watched the countryside pass. She looked down at her uniform, and her obviously used and graying robes hung fairly large on her frame. The ministry worker who had taken her shopping for her school things had a very tight budget. Orphans were funded by the ministry with only just enough to get what was needed and no more. Her wand had turned out to be an extremely rare and expensive wood with an exceptionally rare core—phoenix heartstring, which meant the already exceptionally tight budget was cut back that much further. Emily forced herself to ignore such things and she looked out the window to allow time to pass, and wished it to pass even quicker so she might finally see her new home.

xXxXx

Severus Snape stood in the headmaster's office, his arms folded tightly against his torso and he watched as the oversized musty old hat was placed on his son's brushed back hair. He saw the boy's chest catch with a start and the potions master was quite surprised at his own anxiousness at watching his son's sorting. It was a few short moments later that the musty had declared its decision with a thunderous tone much to loud for the small office, but more suiting to the large expanse of the great hall.

"Ravenclaw!" it bellowed and Severus felt a strange mix of pleasure, relief, and the ever so smallest touch of disappointment that his only had was not in his own house.

"Very noble, a house for the strong of intellect" The headmaster spoke as the young boy looked back at him. "We will send your things up to the other fourth year dorms, and you may join the students at the feast this evening, Mr. Snape." He smiled at the young boy, and he could see the young man's blush at being addressed by a more formal title.

"Thank you, Uncle Albus…. Umm headmaster" he said, smiling back at the old man. The dark brooding man in the corner came forward and placed his hand on his boy's shoulder.

"I'm very proud that you are in Ravenclaw, you are going to do so well." He said giving him a gentle squeeze. The rest of the day was a quiet affair, general preparations had been done, and there was a distinctive crackle in the air that signaled that the castle had restored itself and was waiting on it's charges with extra enthusiasm, and it was as the footsteps of hundreds of feet could be heard that Severus made his way to the great hall, watching his son, now dressed in Ravenclaw Blue, head off to the middle table to join his classmates.

Severus took his place up at the head table and watched as the nervous group of first years made the long promenade down the isle to the front of the rooms. This year, he had calculated, she would have been here. He couldn't help but imagine himself in a different time and place. His eyes scanned the group of children and he picked out four girls with truly black hair. He allowed his eyes to wonder over each of them, lingering a bit to long on the last, a particularly small girl, much smaller than the rest. Then Severus Snape forced himself to forget any connection to any emotions, he schooled his face into a sneer of indifference and he listened to see who would be the newest charges of his house.