Kristina Magi: A Plea for Help

Chapter One

It was Kristina Magi's third year at Hogwarts. Or, at least it was going to be. For her, she thought it would be an exciting year since her cousin from the North American school, Ilvermorny, was going to be trying to finish out her magical years at Hogwarts. There was hope that perhaps she would change enough to become a full-fledged wizard. However, Severus Snape was not putting any money on that hope. He knew that this plan would backfire on his friend. Not that he wished for that, but he could not shake that feeling.

Desari Whitney was not the best of wizards, or teens for that matter. Her father was a squib, and her mother was a half-blood. Both parents were divorced, and her mother was not quite the best of mothers but she was not the worst one. Although, she certainly was a bad influence on Desari. Those who knew her mother could easily get a general idea on how Desari was herself.

When he first laid eyes upon Desari, Professor Snape had a gut feeling that perhaps this may not end well. This was after Desari had already moved her crap into Kristina's room. To avoid meeting her sooner, Snape had hidden in his room and worked on his plans for that school year. Kristina knocked on his door and Snape glanced up.

"Yes?"

Kristina opened the door, "Uncle Severus, Daddy wants you to come out and meet Desari."

"Dear me," Snape sighed. "I suppose I can't put it off for very long, now can I?"

"Nope," Kristina smiled and ran inside to grab him by his arm.

Snape yanked his arm away, "Give me a moment to finish this, my dear."

Kristina pouted but waited until he finished what he had been writing. Once he set his pen down, he pushed his chair back and stood up.

"Alright, fine. Take me out there to see your cousin," he grumbled.

Kristina smiled and led him out to the living room, where Desari and Kthalas Magi were waiting. When Kristina brought Snape over, he inclined his head uneasily at Desari.

"Desari, this is your potions master, Professor Snape," Kthalas introduced. "Severus, this is...my niece, Desari Whitney."

"Unfortunate to make your aquaintence," Snape muttered to Desari.

The look of offense on Desari's face resulted in an awkward chuckle from her uncle Kthalas.

"Uncle Kthalas?" Desari looked at him.

"He's like that, young'un," Kthalas told her. "Anyhow, I just want to inform you that he lives with us when school is out, but you will still call him Professor. We communicate often during the school year, so if I find out that you have been screwing around I will personally beat you over the head with a two by four."

"Oh..." Desari distantly nodded.

"I have also given him full permission to make you drink whatever potion you screw up on, especially if you were goofing off," Kthalas added.

"Oh...okay..." Desari looked to Kristina, who was throwing her arms around Snape.

Professor Snape gave an awkward chuckle when Kristina hugged him. She smiled as she hugged him and eventually, he returned the hug. He even went so far as to pick her up off of the ground.

"What do you want, you silly child?" he asked. "Have you finished your homework for your favorite professor?"

"Mhm," Kristina smiled. "I told you, I finished it last month."

"How about your other schoolwork?"

"Finished those too!"

"Gods," Snape muttered.

Desari watched their interaction, curious, and then looked at her Uncle Kthalas.

"He likes...her?" For whatever reason, it made no sense to the witch.

"Well, he's known her all of her life for the most part," Kthalas told her. "He's her uncle and...well, he loves her a lot which is why he puts up with her silliness."

Professor Snape squeezed Kristina and set her back down, "Now stop clinging to me."

"But it's so fun," Kristina smiled at him. "And you're really warm..."

"Oh you are the strangest thing..." Snape muttered.

"Tea?" came the voice of Kristina's mother, Angelina Magi.

"Sure," Snape nodded. "Tower of London, please."

"You bet," Angelina smiled. "Kristina?"

"Yeah," Kristina nodded.

"Desari?"

"I guess whatever works," Desari smiled.

Snape noticed the smile, though. It seemed...forced. Although, considering her past it perhaps would be hard to smile often. However, the forced smile struck a chord with the professor. Something told him that there would be future problems with the girls, and that he would have to keep a very close eye on his dearest niece.

This much was evident the following weeks before school started. It was obvious that this sudden change was distressing Kristina. So much so, in fact, that he noticed her becoming moody and distant. What surprised him the most, however, was the first time she had snapped at Desari. He'd been in his room, still working on his plans for that coming year, when all of a sudden he heard Kristina shouting. At first, it did not register that something was wrong, but once it registered he sprung up and rushed out to calm down the situation.

He saw Kristina's hands swatting angrily at her cousin.

"Get! Off! Of! Me!" Kristina snapped. "Go clean our room! None of the shit that's on the floor is mine so you go clean it!"

"Why don't you help me?" Desari asked.

"Because it's not my shit! And wait, are those my socks? Take them off this instant!"

"You're such a stingy brat!"

"Those are my socks!" Kristina cried.

"What is going on in here?" Professor Snape tried to break up the shouting.

"Uncle Severus! How you seen my room? It's an absolute wreck and she won't clean up after herself!" Kristina cried. "It's my room and my rules! And she's even wearing my socks!"

"Miss Whitney, is this true?" Not that Professor Snape had a doubt in his mind but he had to at least offer some sort of benefit of the doubt.

"I-I mean...yes...but..."

"Since we do not know what house you will be in, and since it is still summer..." Snape crossed his arms behind his back. "Miss Whitney, you shall clean Kristina's room from top to bottom, and I expect it to shine. Dust, make the beds, and vacuum her carpet. Make sure your things are where they belong rather than the floor, because no, that is not where your things belong. In addition, I recommend you wash her socks and then give them back."

"But Professor..."

"Don't 'but Professor' me!" Snape sneered. "Do as I say or there shall be severe consequences."

"Yeah? What're you gonna do about it, Professor?" Desari asked.

"I'm sure your uncle Kthalas would have something excellent in mind..." Snape sneered.

Throwing her hands up in frustration, Desari left and walked back into her and Kristina's room to go clean up. Professor Snape glanced at Kristina and offered her a gentle look.

"If you have any more problems with your cousin, do feel free to tell me," he told her.

"Mhm," Kristina nodded.

He planted a kiss on her head and then turned back around to go into his room.

—

Later that night, when Professor Snape had just gotten ready for bed, he heard a knock on his door. He turned his head as a tiny voice began speaking.

"Uncle Severus?"

Nervous, he walked towards the door and opened it. Standing before him was Kristina, wearing her blue kittens pyjamas and hugging her favorite plushie close to her chest.

"Can I sleep with you tonight?" Kristina asked.

"Why ever would you want to sleep with me?" Snape asked.

In a hushed voice, Kristina said, "Desari."

"Oh...well, in that case..." Snape did not even bother asking what was going on. She did not look like she wanted to talk about it. Uneasily, he rested an arm around her shoulders and led her into his room and closed his door.

"You're not going to try and kick me off of my bed, correct?" Snape asked.

"No," Kristina giggled. "I'm not 3 anymore. I know how to sleep properly."

Snape lifted his head and eyed her dubiously, but then gestured towards the opposite side of his bed, "You shall sleep on that side."

"Okay," Kristina crawled up onto his bed and got under the covers of his bed. Snape joined her and kept himself as close to the edge of the bed as he comfortably could. He felt embarrassed that he was allowing Kristina to sleep in his bed, but he did not want to let her suffer with her cousin. For the love of the gods...

"Love you, Uncle Severus," Kristina turned away from him.

"Love you too...my child..." he muttered in response.

Much to his surprise, Kristina had been right. She may have tossed around a few times, but she fell asleep and did not stretch out in the bed. Sleeping comfortably was possible with her for once.

—

The next morning was tense. After Kristina and Snape had exited the room, Kristina headed for her room only to find the door unlocked. Being uneasy about using magic at home, she asked her favorite uncle to unlock her door.

"Why is your door locked?" he wondered, suspicion crossing his mind.

"Dunno," Kristina shrugged. "I just want my clothes so I can shower..."

"I'll unlock the door, my dear," Professor Snape pulled out his wand and pointed it at her doorknob. "Alohomora."

They heard the lock unclick and Professor Snape opened the door. He held Kristina back until he was sure it was safe to go inside. Scrutinizing her room, the only thing he found was Desari fast asleep in the top bunk. No, he took that back. When he stepped inside, he bumped straight into a magical shield that nearly burned him.

"What the fuck!" he cursed angrily, covering his face with his hands. "Ouch!"

"Uncle Severus?" Kristina worried.

He aimed his wand and made the shield go away.

"What the hell do you think you're doing with Kristina's room, Miss Whitney?" Snape exclaimed.

Desari sat up in her bed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, then realized Snape was in the room.

"I uhm..."

"This is not your room!" he growled. "You have absolutely no right to lock Kristina out and put up a burning shield around the room!"

"I figured she no longer wanted her room," Desari shrugged.

Kristina growled but Snape placed a hand in front of her.

"Let me handle this, my dear," he told her gently. Then, he returned his attention to Desari. "You only managed to get Kristina out for one night. You really believe that she'd given up completely?"

"Well..."

"Just one night does not mean she gave up her room," Snape growled. "And you do know that she can't sleep in my bed until you're gone, right?"

"Right..." Desari grumbled.

Snape huffed and gestured for Kristina to get her clothing, "Go get your clothes and go shower."

Kristina uneasily rushed into her room, grabbed her clothing, and left quickly so she could finally shower. Professor Snape sneered at Desari and left the room before he decided to cause some trouble. The sound of the shower being turned on and running calmed him for a few moments until he heard Desari cursing under her breath. Sighing, he ignored her and stalked back into his room to dress properly.

Suddenly, he heard Kthalas walking past and just as he was buttoning his jacket, he reached through his door at his friend and grabbed his arm.

"Alas!"

Kthalas turned his head to the side, "Severus?"

"I am deeply concerned for Kristina," Snape started as he let go to finish buttoning his jacket. "Miss Whitney managed to kick Kris out of her own room and she came to sleep with me last night. This morning, she tried to get back into her room but 1) the door was locked and 2) Miss Whitney decided to put up a shield inside the room. Nearly burned me. The nerve of that child!"

"I'd noticed something was wrong this morning..." Kthalas admitted. "Just...I'm not sure how to go about it, other than giving Desari a heavy scolding..."

"I'd just as well put her back out on the streets," Severus muttered.

"That's you, Severus...Besides, unfortunately she's family, and..."

"You know better than anyone that blood can hurt you more than anyone else," Severus reminded. "You two may share blood but you saw how well that stopped your half-brother."

Kthalas's half-brother, Matthias Magi, was perhaps not the best of wizards, nor people in general. When he lived at the Magi residence when Kristina was only six, that did not last very long. He ignored Kristina when she wanted to hang out with him, which that resulted in her spending more of her time with Severus instead. He would not have a job for very long, and did nothing to help out in the house. Not only did he ignore Kristina, in fact, he also verbally abused Angelina too.

Severus was not having any of it. Matthias was nearly the same age as Severus at the time, however, after hearing Matthias cursing Angelina out he came out to her defense. A magical scuffle ensued, and after Severus managed to bind Matthias, Kthalas had come in to find it out. That was when he took his half-brother out to the street and that was the argument of the century, just about. Kthalas's face grew red with anger and Severus worried he'd kill his brother. Thankfully, all he did was use a spell to bring out all of his belongings and threw them all to the ground.

To this day, Severus could hear the harshness in his friend's voice as he said, "I don't want your selfish arse to show up on my doorstep ever again!"

Kthalas tilted his head to the side with a frown, "I know, Severus. But...Desari...she is still a child."

"The child is almost 18, she's way past the age where you could fix her," Severus pointed out.

"I'm hoping there is something I can do for her...and Hogwarts too."

Severus sighed and gave up the argument. He knows Kthalas had to try, for his sister's sake. However, it did not stop Severus from worrying deeply for his dearest niece. He put his hands on his hips and sighed.

"Perhaps..." he hesitated. "I'm just concerned for Kristina."

"I know you are," Kthalas nodded. "I am too...but I'm hoping this teaches her how to cooperate with people and learn boundaries and communication."

"Somehow, I'm not positive it's going to help in the slightest," Severus muttered.

"I don't know, Severus," Kthalas finally gave an exasperated sigh. "I don't know what to do. I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. I just..." He shook his head. "I just hope that this is her last year at a magical school and then she can be on her merry way, out of sight...out of mind. Hopefully not a Ravenclaw. Gods no."

"Well, I sure as hope she's not a Slytherin!" Severus exclaimed. "She can be a Hufflepuff of a Gryffindor for all I care. I'm not going to be the head of house for her and she needs to be away from Kristina."

"I doubt she'll be a Slytherin...but, we'll see..." Kthalas sighed. "You have everything ready for heading to school tomorrow?"

"Damn right I do," Severus smirked.

After watching Desari brush past angrily, attitude evident in her movement, Kthalas glanced at his friend anxiously. Severus knew exactly what he was thinking with the expression and put his face in his right hand.

"I'm going to keep the two of them separated on the train ride there," he muttered.

"You do that," Kthalas muttered.