Disclaimer: This story was written by me, and the characters and the Elementals are products of my imagination. I am not JK Rowling - how could I be??? She's so much better than me!
Dear Severus,
I am not pleased to be writing this letter, but I know it is needed. I need to tell you something you never knew. The day I saw the Dark Mark was meant to be a day of celebration, but I withheld my good news because although I hate to admit it, I feared you with the Dark Mark. Many Death Eaters were being forced to kill their families, and I feared for my own life, and that of our baby's. Severus, I was pregnant the day I saw the Mark, and that was the reason for the celebration.
I never told you because I was scared that you would try and claim custody of our daughter, so I did my best to erase any information about her. As you know, I claimed that I had left you because I was guilt-ridden because of a one-night stand with James Potter. I claimed that our daughter was his, and I am sorry for that, but I was worried that if Voldemort knew you had a daughter, he might force her to become a Death Eater, or worse. I am sorry to say that everyone with the sole exception of Carla Lupin think that James is April's(our daughter) father.
I brought up April and trained her at Hall of Phoenix to use a wand well and she attends Beauxbatons. Since the age of five she has had an unusual ability with flowers, vines, boulders etc. I soon came to realize that April is one of the Elemental Four, the Earth element in fact. This has made me remember that the Elemental Four protect Hogwarts, and Hogwarts only. April will soon be attending Hogwarts, if she is an Elemental. So, hence this letter, which I meant to be a warning and not a recap of April's past.
Severus, I cannot be at Hogwarts to keep my eye on April, and when she is at Beauxbatons, Carla's daughter Destiny keeps an eye on her and notifies me if April is troubled. Because of the rumors I spread, and the claims I made, not forgetting that April herself believes them, she has recieved a lot of verbal abuse. Destiny is the Fire Elemental, and because of that she will be attending Hogwarts too, but let's not forget that she will be in a different house to April(I hope you remember what we learned about Elementals) and she is only sixteen.
And now I must ask you something: Will you look after April when she is at Hogwarts? I know for a fact that you are Potions Master at Hogwarts and Head of Slytherin. My first reaction to that was annoyance, you know perfectly well I wanted to be Head of Slytherin! I plan to tell April the truth about her parentage quite soon, and I hope this will help her to co-operate better with you, as she is quite like me when I was at Hogwarts: wild and rebellious. Also, Harry Potter is at Hogwarts: a surefire way of my rumors to amplify.
Although in the past, I would have never dreamed of leaving April in your care, but situations have changed somewhat. April is an Elemental, and Elementals' powers are at their peak when they are at Hogwarts at sixteen. Dumbledore has told me that the other Elementals are at Beauxbatons, so April and Destiny are searching for the other two. Severus, if Harry Potter starts giving April a mouthful of abuse, let me know immediately. He might be James' son, but that's no excuse.
Sev, please stop laughing or I'll put a Bat Bogey Hex on you. I wish I could see your look of shock and alarm when you read that last sentence, it's a sight I'd pay a million Galleons for. Explanation: I know you too well. Severus, it's the truth and you know it. And no, I didn't put a glamour charm on April. I'm not that low-down Sev, I remember when Sirius turned my hair blue and 'forgot' which charm he used. He later confessed to Carla that he was only trying to make me mad, well I got revenge at the most unexpected moment using my cunning. Come on, Severus Snape, I was a Slytherin for a reason!
My apologies for such a long letter, and I'm afraid it goes on longer. But what follows now is not about April, which wasn't intended, but you know me, when I write letters I pour my feelings out, and I've poured them out about April above, but about you... not just yet. Severus, I've never stopped loving you, and it broke my heart to leave you, but I feared for us all, feared that April was in danger, feared that if you killed me, who would look after April? Carla and James would, but you'd never allow that and I didn't trust anyone else enough with my daughter.
I hated spreading those rumors about James, but the night I left I went to his place, and he and Lily helped me out, helped me to redeem myself in my family's eyes, helped me to regain custody of Hall of Phoenix. James himself suggested that idea, and although I refused at first, I started to think about the plus sides of those rumors. I didn't expect Voldemort to barge in five minutes after I left Godric's Hollow to spread those rumors. I've never felt such guilt and remorse when I discovered that James was dead, I'd besmirched his name and he was dead without the chance to defend himself from the Prophet's claims. I doubt I ever will feel guilt and remorse like that again, alive or dead.
As a small consolation, as an apology to James, when April was born I'd planned to call her April Carla Marcia Randall if she was a girl. I changed that plan to April Lily Kitty Randall, Lily for James' wife, and Kitty because James never called me Marcia or Cia, instead he called me Kitten because of my Animagi self, something no-one else did. I know it didn't make up for what I did, but I did it anyway because it was a small consolation, partly to me too.
I regret doing that, but I still feared you. You went to Hogwarts and Dumbledore accepted you for the post of Potions Master. But even though Dumbledore put his trust in you, I was still frightened of what you might do when you found out about your daughter. So I milked the rumor for all it was worth, despite my guilt eating at my heart. I loved you then, and I love you now. I'm deeply sorry for what I did, but all I wanted to do was try and deprive you of the chance to kill me and April, because you were a Death Eater and they killed their families. And I'm sorry to confess this, but you told me of your childhood and I was scared that if you didn't kill us, April would have your childhood.
Please remember I love you with all my heart.
Love Cia
P.S If you are in contact with Remus Lupin and/or Sirius Black, please explain to them the reason I spread those rumors, show them this letter if you wish.
Severus Snape's mind boggled as he read Marcia's letter. He couldn't believe she had kept this a secret from him, of all people. His eyes watered, and he fiercely wiped them away. He knew Marcia was right, about his childhood and about him being a Death Eater. But it still hurt, and he could sense that it hurt Marcia too. He'd been cold as ice to Potter, because he believed that Potter's father stole his fiancée and fathered her baby. But now he could see, clear as day, that James Potter had helped Marcia, had sacrificed his pride and dignity to help her.
Snape put the letter down and picked up another piece of parchment, but changed his mind and put it down. He'd go to Hall of Phoenix, and explain his side of the story. And when he popped into Headquarters, he'd be nice as apple-pie to Potter. He'd also show the letter to Black and Wolf. Snape picked up the letter, placed it in his pocket, turned and walked to the fireplace. He put his hand in a small container, and extracted some green powder. He flung the powder into the fire, and the flames turned green. He stepped into the green flames.
"Hall of Phoenix!" he shouted.
He spun until he felt himself slow down. Then, without warning, he tumbled from the fireplace.
"Severus!" a woman gasped. She had topaz eyes that were very catlike and thick, wavy black hair with a slim figure and pale complexion. "Are you okay?"
She held out her hand to help Snape up.
"I'm fine Cia." he said, taking her hand. He stood up, then the tears began to fall. "Cia, I'll say this quickly. I admit you were right about my childhood and about me being a Death Eater. I'm sorry for choosing that path in the first place. I was icy to Potter, because I believed the rumors about his father, but I'll do my best to be nicer now to Potter, but I can't make promises, Cia. I'm now the Order's spy in the Dark Lord's inner circle. I'd love to be April's father, and Cia..."
"What?" Marcia's head jerked up so her eyes met his.
"I've never stopped loving you." Snape murmured before his lips found hers.
Pure, absolute bliss. It was as if there was no-one else in the world except them.
"What the hell is going on here?!" a voice said.
Marcia and Snape looked up to see a sixteen-year-old standing in the doorway. Her hair was in low bunches and was wild. She had Marcia's catlike eyes, except her eyes were a black onyx, Snape's eye colour. She was slim with an almost-white complexion.
"April, I need to tell you something." Marcia said, detaching herself from Snape and heading out of the room, grabbing her daughter's wrist and pulling her along behind her. They went into the living room.
"Mum, what were you doing? He's a Death Eater, for Merlin's sake! Are you under the Imperius Curse or something?" April barked when the door was closed.
"No, I'm not. April, Severus Snape is your father. When I discovered he was a Death Eater, I left him and went to the Potters. James and Lily helped me a lot, and James told me to spread rumors that he was your father, so no-one would discover the truth. I was relcutant at first, but in the end I agreed. Five minutes after I left Godric's Hollow, Voldemort killed them both. I had no idea, and went ahead with the plan. When I discovered that James was dead, I was full of guilt and remorse, because James had had no chance to defend himself from the Prophet's claims.
"I wrote a letter to Severus this morning, explaining my actions and revealing that you were his daughter. Sev and I still love each other, it was him being a Death Eater that tore us apart. Ape, you are an Elemental, and Elementals protect Hogwarts, which means you will be at Hogwarts sooner or later this school year. Severus has agreed to keep an eye on you while you are at Hogwarts. You cannot tell anyone about this, except Carla, who already knows, and I think it'd be best to tell the other Elementals only and only when they prove they are worthy and can keep this secret." Marcia explained calmly.
"Snape's my father?" April asked in disbelief.
"Correct." Marcia replied, worried about her daughter's reaction.
April clung to the back of the sofa to steady herself. She was speechless. She'd heard a lot about Severus Snape, and not one rumor portrayed him as halfway decent. But she trusted her mother's opinion, listened to her all her life, and realized that her mother had some sort of sixth sense that decided who was good and who wasn't in her book. But her mother had lied to her all her life about her father - if this was true. Could Marcia Randall be under the Imperius Curse? Or forced to do this? But no... April knew her mother never did anything without a cast-iron reason. April knew Death Eaters were sometimes forced to kill their families when they learned too much about them. Then she realized that her mother lied to protect her.
"Mum..." April whispered.
"April?" Marcia asked, worry in her tone. She took a step closer to April.
"Thanks for lying...cos you saved my life by lying...didn't you?" April whispered again. Marcia walked forward and hugged her daughter tightly.
"You're right April, that was the reason. I'm sorry I lied, I just wanted to protect you from Voldemort." Marcia spoke gently. "From Severus because he couldn't be responsible for his actions if he was under the Imperius..."
April clung tightly to her mother, trying to comprehend what she felt for Severus Snape.
Severus Snape was in a bad mood.
The reason? His daughter. She'd interrupted his and Marcia's kiss, and then after Marcia had told her he was her father, April claimed to need some time to let it sink in. Marcia had agreed with her, but when April had left, he'd tried to kiss Marcia but she'd knocked him back, saying that she was too worried about April. He couldn't blame her for it, but it was an annoyance to him. He decided to floo to Number 12, Grimmauld Place.
As he stepped out from the fireplace, he instantly noticed Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley in the kitchen eating a meal.
"Good evening." he said curtly. "Black, Lupin, may I have a word with you? Privately."
"Good evening." Remus murmured. "And may I ask, since when did you call me Lupin? I thought my name to you was Wolf."
"That is one of the side-effects of the letter I wish to show you." Snape replied. He noticed the Potter boy glaring at him. Tough. He wouldn't be finding out the truth from him, that was certain. "If it hurries you up, it concerns Kitten and Potter." He knew Marcia wouldn't be pleased that he called her Kitten, that nickname had been reserved for James Potter only, but he wanted to get back home to Spinner's End and get some dinner, and he didn't want the whole room to know Marcia's business.
"If it's about that foul little..." Sirius began, but was cut off by Remus putting a warming spell on his and Sirius' dinners.
"We can discuss that here." Remus said pleasantly. Snape suppressed a growl. He handed Remus the letter.
"Black had better read it with you, it's quite long and I'm in a hurry." Snape snapped. Both men started reading the letter instantly.
"Prongs would never do that." Sirius muttered under his breath when he finished.
"Actually, he would for Cia. Remember he was the only one of us to see the best in her. He showed us just what she was like, despite her House." Remus spoke up in James' defense.
"What's going, is it something about my dad?" Harry asked.
"If you show him that letter, I will personally hex you until your own twin won't regonize you." Snape threatened, pulling out his wand.
"Oh really, and how would that go down with your - ahem - fiancée? She might have been a Slytherin when she was at Hogwarts, but she was one of us Marauders, and so was my twin sister." Remus retorted calmly with a smile on his face. "And Marauders stick by each other, come hell or high water."
Snape just glared at him, while Sirius tried to come to a conclusion from Marcia's explanation.
"I'll listen to her, in person. Don't want to find out he's jinxed this piece of parchment." Sirius muttered.
"Now this seems sorted, may you leave? You said you were in a hurry." Remus said pleasantly, handing over the letter. Snape scowled and flooed to Spinner's End. Tonks, Harry, Hermione and Ron were watching Remus, open-mouthed.
"You never mentioned you had a twin sister." Harry said finally.
"You never asked." Remus replied, in a good mood. Snape couldn't carry out his threats, because he could easily inform Marcia. And when Marcia was angry... Remus remembered once, when James and Sirius had been on the recieving end of Marcia's temper. It was difficult to get her into a temper, but when you did, you regretted it for life.
Start Flashback
James, Sirius, Remus, Peter Pettigrew, Marcia, Carla, Lily and Snape were in a Potions N.E.W.T. where they had to work together on a very complicated potion. Sirius and James had a trick up their sleeve. They were going to make Snape fail his N.E.W.T by switching his ingredients with rotten ones. They finally switched the last ingredient: valerian roots. Whoever put rotten valerian roots in this potion, and with all the other rotten ingredients, the potion would explode in the person's face.
"Cia, pop those valerian roots in for me please." Snape asked. "I'm trying to get this damn potion to turn dark green."
"Okay." Marcia said. She picked up the valerian roots and dropped them in the potion.
"Kitten, don't - " James began, but it was too late. The whole potion was on Marcia.
"Miss Randall, you have failed your Potions N.E.W.T. because the potion should not have exploded if you had prepared your ingredients carefully. Be grateful that all it will do is pale your skin for life. Please leave the examination room and clean yourself up. I want you back here so I can keep my eye on you." the examinator spoke sternly to Marcia. She nodded and ran out, her eyes brimming with tears. Potions was her best subject, the one she loved.
Marcia soon returned, and after the exam, when they all walked to their History of Magic examination, Snape a little way behind the Marauders and Lily.
"Cia, sorry about that, the blow-up was meant for Snivellus." Sirius apologized. Marcia stared at him in shock and disbelief.
"Do you mean to tell me...you did that to make Severus fail his Potions N.E.W.T.?" she snarled.
"Well, yeah." James looked apologetic. "Sorry you failed instead."
BAM! BAM!
Marcia's fists were bleeding. She had punched James with her left fist, Sirius with her right fist.
"You will regret this, James Potter! And you, Sirius Black!" she snarled before storming off ahead of them. James and Sirius winced at the pain, Marcia had broken their nose and jaw.
"Hospital wing for you two." Remus ordered. "Lily, could you let the examinator know that James and Sirius are injured and I'm taking them to the hospital wing." he asked his fellow Prefect.
"Yes, certainly Remus." Lily replied. "Honestly, you two..." she groaned at James and Sirius.
Later that evening, Marcia cornered Remus.
"Moony, I want Prongs and Padfoot in the empty classroom nearest to Gryffindor Tower at seven tonight. I'm getting revenge, tonight." Marcia hissed.
So Remus had to get James and Sirius into the classroom. Marcia burst in at seven on the dot.
"Petrificus Totalus!" she cried. The pranksters suddenly found themselves in a full Body-Bind.
"What's going on?" Remus asked.
"Silenco! Just to be on the safe side. And, Moonshine, I'm getting revenge." Marcia barked as she cast a Silencing charm on the room. "Tarantagrella!"
"The Jelly-Legs Jinx? Cia, they can't move or shout, they're in a full Body-Bind!" Remus gasped in alarm.
Five minutes later...
"Finite Incanatem. Finite Incanatem. Finite Incanatem." Marcia murmured, pointing twice at the boys and once to the room at large.
She stormed out. James and Sirius sat up, groaning in pain. The force of the spells had been incredibly painful. Remus took them to the hospital wing.
"Hospital wing for a week." the medi-witch ordered. "The force of the spell has caused exhaustion to their leg bones - they must not be used except to go to the lavatory."
Marcia got a month's detention, but she didn't care. She'd gotten revenge.
End Flashback
"James and Sirius should have known perfectly well that cats have claws..." Remus thought aloud.
"Sorry?" Tonks asked.
"Oh, nothing." Remus quickly replied. He didn't want Tonks to discover that Marcia was an unregistered Animagius. Too many people knew already.
"I remember that." Sirius groaned. "Should've used it on Snape..."
"Padfoot!" Remus scolded.
"Still can't believe Prongs did that for her." Sirius mused. "Despite that, he still did it. I guess I'm going to have to trust Cia...for now."
The first chapter of Hell Hath No Fury Like An Elemental Scorned! FINALLY!
Hope you all like it and I'll post the second chapter tomorrow morning, and third and fourth chapters on the 12th May, but that depends on if I get enough reviews to let me know what people think!
IzzyBree
