The dark street was not inhospitable, but the only illumination aside from the lamp poles and a few scattered windows came from the small restaurant they were going towards. The yellow light overhead gave everything a golden hue, making the complexion of the trio seem sickly, which reminded Stefani of ghosts in old movies.

The street was mostly silent, the only sounds drowned and far away. Cars passing in the main avenue close by, someone's television, a cat meowing. So, when the family heard two loud pops close by, they startled. The sound came from an alley immediately beside them, where the darkness got so impenetrable it was impossible to make anything out of the shadows.

Joseph, Cynthia and Stefani stopped walking for a moment, looking. But it was silence, no movement could be seen. As nothing happened, they started to turn to continue on their way.

However, suddenly, two hooded figures emerged from the alley. Alarmed, Joseph positioned himself in front of his wife and daughter, protectively. "Hello?" He asked, uncertain if they should just go on, but the street was empty and the foreboding feeling he had on his gut didn't let him simply turn his back to the men. One of the figures, on the right, raised his hand in what seemed initially a wave, if not for the thin black branch in his grip. Joseph's eyes widened when he saw it, and he quickly moved to cover Cynthia and Stefani more fully with his body.

"Daddy?" Stefani asked, but he shushed her. The dark figure still had his hand raised, pointing the stick he had towards them.

"Filthy Muggles" One of them mumbled, voice rough and dripping with disgust.

"I don't want any trouble." Joseph said, seriously. The second hooded figure also raised his hand, and Joseph wasn't surprised to see that he held a long stick like the first. He pointed directly at Joseph's face. His heart beat loudly in his ears, and he swallowed dry.

"Just let us go." He asked. "Please."

"Joe..?" Cynthia murmured, confused as to why her husband was behaving like the two weird men were holding fire arms to them, instead of wood branches. He appeased her by touching her hip with his hand, his arm positioned over her belly, but didn't answer or move his eyes from his careful scrutiny of the dark apparitions.

Joseph watched them tensely for a few moments, before the men looked at each other. Unexpectedly, the one in the right moved his hand and spoke. Stefani didn't understand what he said, and his movements barely registered with her, but she startled when a green light came out of the stick he held. Joseph didn't have time to do anything, and the flash of light hit him straight in the chest. His body immediately became lax and started to fall.

"Joseph!" This time, Cynthia screamed. It had a high, blood-curdling quality to it, and Stefani felt weak, her own small heart trying to jump from her chest.

Cynthia moved to try to stop her husband from falling, but he was too heavy for her. Knowing it was a lost battle, she moved to put herself between the strangers and Stefani, with one hand pushing her daughter behind her and the other unconsciously holding her abdomen.

"What do you want?" She asked, her voice firm. Stefani saw her mother's hand tremble. Her father lay still in the dirty ground, not even his chest moving. Carefully, Cynthia crouched to hold his hand. She tried to feel for a pulse, but as hard as she herself was shaking, it was impossible. "What did you do?" She cried out, looking at the men.

"Pathetic." The dark figure in the left laughed, a cracking, ominous sound. He raised his hand, pointing towards Cynthia.

"No!" Stefani screamed. In the time it took for the word to leave her lips, her mother had been hit by the green glow. The deaf sound her body made as it connected with wet pavement was the only thing Stefani heard over her own heart.

The little girl stood there. Alone in the street with the two strange men, between her parents bodies. Her face was blank and she didn't move.

"What shall we do with you now?" The figure on the right spoke for the first time, voice masculine but silky, in direct contrast with the other who had been speaking so far. He stepped closer, gliding over to her, and Stefani could see the glint of greedy eyes under the darkness of his hood. A pale hand with long fingers came out from under a long sleeve to grip harshly at her chin, forcing her head up. Stefani looked down and tried to pull away, but the man was strong. "Aren't you a sweet little one?"

Stefani hated when adults called her sweet. It always had a condescending tone and it made her feel anything but, except when her father said it. Her always changing hazel-green eyes turned towards his body for a moment, before finally raising and staring into the silvery ones boring into hers. She knew she could make things happen sometimes, if she wished hard enough, and in that moment she wished with every fiber in her small body that the two men would disappear.

Nothing happened, and the man in the left laughed again, at the stupid Muggle little girl's face. The other let her go and stepped away.

"I almost feel regretful about this. It's like murdering a puppy." He said, elegant fingers pointing a wand at her.

Stefani watched, numb but somehow still surprised, as two red flashes came out of the alley's darkness in quick succession. Before the men could do anything, even turn around, they were out on the ground. Stefani wondered if she did that, but a moment after, a third figure stepped out of the shadows.

This one didn't wear a hood, and Stefani could see his pale face, with a big nose and eyes as dark as the alley behind him. His hair was also black, straight and reached his shoulders. In the soft light, it shimmered a little, looking unkempt. He didn't seem very old, but there was an air about him, as if he had seen and done much more than someone his age should have. He was dressed all in black, with what Stefani could only describe as a cape over more normal pants and a shirt full of buttons. He looked briefly at her, before turning to check on the fallen men, his expression one of extreme distaste. With a flick of his wrist, he pulled the hood over their faces, one after the other.

Stefani watched, standing very still. Her vision was out of focus, and it took her a while to realize that her face was wet. When he looked at her again, she opened her mouth.

"Please. Can you help?" She asked. Severus instantly noticed she had an American accent. She was kneeling in the filthy pavement, looking at her parents. He came closer, seeming to hesitate only for a moment, and crouched beside the mother's body. He brought the thin stick he had close to her, and Stefani's heart accelerated when she saw it, but he only flicked it quickly. Nothing happened, and he didn't seem surprised. When he looked at her his expression was carefully blank. Stefani, however, could see something in his eyes, even as they swallowed all light without reflecting any back. At six years-old, though, she was incapable of describing what she saw there.

"I am sorry." He said, his voice deep and smooth. There was nothing in his empty expression that indicated that he was sorry, except for how white and thin his lips were as he pressed them together, his bottomless eyes staring into hers.

Severus observed as the girl looked at her parents. Her small hands were clutching them in a white-knuckled grip, and her whole body trembled slightly. Tears that she didn't seem to notice traveled down her light brown eyes, and she turned her head from the man to the woman. Looking at her mother, she released her grip on the woman's arm and rested her hand over her belly. The woman had clearly been pregnant.

"I wish I could have met you." The girl said to the bump, before bending and kissing it. Severus looked away from the scene, his throat constricting tightly. She looked young, and he would have guessed she was about five years old. But the way she talked, clearly and maturely, and how she was dealing with the situation, comprehending so quickly the reality of her parents deaths, indicated that she was older.

He stood up and turned away, giving her privacy. Looking at the men responsible, he tied them up magically, before taking a deep breath and willing himself to feel his happiest memory. He conjured his Patronus and sent it to Dumbledore, to warn him of what had happened. The sight of the doe made him feel marginally better.

Severus had been running errands in London, hunting for a specific, rare ingredient he hoped to obtain before needing to go back to Hogwarts, when he heard a woman scream. This part of town had a lot of magical folk and was just nice enough that such occurrence wasn't common, and there was a quality of true despair to it that had him moving fast towards the sound. He knew the area, and used a shortcut of alleys to get closer. He got there just in time to see the woman who screamed be murdered. There was a man already on the ground, probably dead.

He knew, then, that they were Muggles being attacked by wizards. He hesitated. Dumbledore had long term plans for him that didn't include blowing his cover by saving Muggles from Dark wizards when he could have easily walked away, and both the man and woman were already dead. But there was a little girl with them, who stood still, big-eyed and surprisingly defiant between the adult's bodies. He was coming from behind, so the wizards couldn't see him. His wand was already drawn – since he had heard the scream – and he lifted it.

Severus made quick work of them, and checked that they were former Death Eaters, before the girl spoke. He knew that the man and woman, who he supposed were her parents, were dead, but he still performed a simple charm to check for vital signs. There were none.

After making sure his message reached Dumbledore and he was sending Aurors to the scene, Snape turned and looked at the girl. She was curled up on the hard, cold ground, her head on her father's shoulder, holding her mother's hand. She was shaking even harder than before, so Severus cast a Warming Charm around her. Her trembling didn't abate.

He knew he had to go, but didn't want to leave the girl by herself, so he cast a spell that would let him know when someone came by, be it by walking or apparating. Severus knew that it would be unsafe to not obliviate her, since the Aurors could use her to discover that he was the one who impaired the dark wizards, stopping them from committing more murders. However, the thought of using magic on the defenseless child seemed perverse to him, especially after what had happened. He chose, instead, to watch her quietly and hope that the case would be clear cut enough that the Ministry Aurors wouldn't feel the need to investigate her memories. She was also very young, so they probably wouldn't obliviate her themselves. It could cause damage to underdeveloped minds.

Stefani seemed mostly unaware of his presence. She wasn't crying anymore, her face empty. Her grief and loss were so incommensurable there were no words or actions to express it. Nothing exposed it better, however, than her eyes. Severus was simply standing there, observing, when she suddenly looked at him. He was talented both at Occlumency and Legilimency, but when he stared back, there was only an endless void behind her dark orbs. The light from the lamppost nearby cast a yellow glow that made shadows run across her face.

It didn't take long for his spell to warn him of someone apparating close by, and with a last look at the girl, who stared back at him with dark brown eyes and a sickly complexion, tear tracks drying on her face, he disapparated.


Hi! This is the first story I'm posting on this site, so please forgive me for any formatting errors. Reviews and constructive criticism are very, very welcome. So, feel free guys!