"Repeat it again."

Samantha Shaman sighs. "My name is Minerva Archer, and I'm an American pure-blood witch, and my mother insisted that I return to Britain for school so I could attend her alma mater," she says, grumpy, kicking an innocent pebble out into the grass as she and her grandfather walk around Battersea Park.

Stephan Shaman directs a stern look at her. "And?" he prompts. Samantha scowls at him.

"And she named me after her favorite teacher and head of house," she responds sourly.

"I'm not happy about this either, Sam, but I can't keep you in America," he says, trying to console his heir and favored granddaughter. She only continues to scowl at him, making him sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose.

"You know I would if I could, don't you?" he asks, unable to keep a plaintive note out of his voice. It's that very pained note that causes Samantha to stop scowling, her expression rapidly changing to one of anxiety.

"I'm sorry Grandfather... I just don't like it here... It's so..." she trails off with a helpless shrug as she looks around.

"Dead," Stephan finishes for her with a nod. "I know... but that's why you're here. You'll be safe from any problems in the spirit world here."

"You hope..." she retorts, some of her sullenness returning.

Stephan sighs. "As long as you steer clear of the ghosts, keep your head down, and your feet..."

"Out of the spirit world, I know, Grandfather..." Samantha says, resigned. "C'mon then... How many more houses do we need to look at?"

"Just one. It's near here somewhere." Stephan, relieved that his granddaughter was letting this go for now, eagerly takes the opportunity and pulls out a map of London. Samantha stops walking so they could both look at it. After folding the map into a progressively smaller square, he found their location, and the last house they'd found for sale.

They leave the park, head down Grimmauld Place, and turn a corner onto Snidget Court. The house for sale is easily spottable, even without the realty sign out front, as the bright white paint on the siding was fresh and it seems to be just slightly out of place with the rest of the houses around, which are decidedly faded and have an aura of old secrets.

"Ooooh I like this area already..." Samantha says, looking around eagerly with bright eyes.

'That should worry me... but I suppose, since I'm cutting her off from all she knows and sending her to this dead place, a little aura to a house wouldn't be bad... At least it doesn't seem to be haunted like the last one.' Stephan thinks, adding a note that, as long as the interior was in good order, he would see about purchasing it.

To say Severus Snape is not a people person would earn one an award for the understatement of the decade, and at least an honorable mention for the century. However, there are a few things that could make him sociable; potions, and the Shamans of North America, to name just two. Few knew that Severus had studied under the Shamans, renowned herbalists and potions masters, for several years before and during his tenure as Potions Professor at Hogwarts, but it was something the former Death Eater was very unlikely to forget, given the high price that study had come with. Now, it wasn't anything on the level of a life debt, but it was a significant debt both financially and in favors owed.

It was for one of these favors that Severus finds himself knocking on Minerva McGonagall's door. Immediately, the deputy headmistress opens the door, curiosity quickly replaced by surprise when she sees the Potions Master. She recovers quickly, opening the door wide and allowing Severus to enter.

"Severus... To what do I owe the pleasure?" she asks as he sweeps into the office and takes the seat across the desk from hers. "Please... have a seat," Minerva adds drily, earning a withering glare from her peer.

"I need you to add a student to the roster for the incoming class," Severus states without preamble. Minerva pauses in taking her seat, piercing her younger colleague with a look that could stop the Weasley twins. "Her family is sending her to us to keep her hidden from... a problematic situation. They're presently procuring a home for her to stay in while she's in Britain, and she already has an alias. For her protection, her true identity will remain between myself, the administration - primarily meaning yourself and the Headmaster, as well as her eventual House Head - and her family."

Minerva stares at him skeptically. "What exactly is this 'problematic situation'? And how do they know it will not follow her to our doorstep?" she asks, all business. With a murmured 'Finite', Severus slides the folder he'd been given across her desk. The older professor raises an eyebrow at the seal now visible on the cover, boldly proclaiming to hold classified information from the Shaman Council of the Americas.

Her initial perusal takes a matter of moments, and though her expression remains skeptical, she pulls out a roll of parchment and a quill. "Archer, Minerva," she says, and, animating itself, the quill scribbles the name in a neat script at the bottom of a list of names. Moments after the ink dries, the list rearranges itself, and the new name made its way towards the top, just after 'Abbott, Hannah'. After the parchment and quill were put away, Minerva turns back to Severus.

"How are we safer than anywhere else, if she has such problems with ghosts?" she asks, incredulous. "Hogwarts has no less than six active ghosts, and a very annoying poltergeist..."

"The ghosts don't pay attention to every student, Minerva, and they certainly don't go out of their way to talk to students that actively avoid them... As for Binns, I believe she plans on using that hour for self-directed study... Probably more useful, given how he's been stuck in the Goblin Wars since before I was a First year," Severus says, unable to keep the smirk off his face.

"Severus? Just an idle question, but how did they come up with that alias?" she asks, one corner of her mouth twitching as though trying to smile.

"Grandmother's maiden name, and the Roman version of her favorite cousin's name," he responds with an answering smirk. "Though her story will be that her mother was Gryffindor, and you were her favorite teacher."

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you might recognize from real life, or from Harry Potter. I only own the concept for this story. This story was inspired by several things, not the least of which was my desire to see Sirius survive, and the horcruxes dealt with in a far simpler fashion without resorting to the crazy deus ex machinae of the stupid Elder Wand. I understand there'll be many questions, but trust that they will be answered in chapters to come.

Thanks for reading and as always; Read, Review and Have Good Dharma!
~Marina
The Slytherin Shaman