"OUT
OF THE WAY, POTTER!!"
Severus
Snape pushed the 11 year old Harry Potter out of the way.
"Is
something wrong, professor?"
"YES!
THERE IS!!"
Snape
also pushed Hermoine and Ron out of the way, and started running. He
was on his way to Dumbledore's office. And not without a
reason.
Dumbledore told him he had relatives. It wasn't very odd.
Except for the fact that all the relatives Snape knew, were dead. So
it wasn't possible at all! How could he still have a living relative?
It couldn't be true. He entered Dumbledore's office.
"Professor
Snape, is there something I can do for you?"
"Professor
Dumbledore, please inform me about that "relative" you told
me about the other day."
"Ah yes, the relative.
Professor, this doesn't have anything to do with your relative, but
do you know the girl Hayley Faraday?"
Snape's face went from
"angry" too "I know her all too well."
"Yes,
too bad I do, professor."
"Fifth year, Ravenclaw, am I
correct?"
"Yes, she's a disaster at Potions."
"The
girl with the black hair, and the light-green eyes?"
"Yes."
"Would
you mind getting her for me? I need to talk to her right away. If I'm
not mistaken, she's having Defence Against The Dark Arts class
now."
"Yes, professor."
Snape was even more
annoyed. He wanted to find out more about that one relative. Besides,
he couldn't stand Hayley Faraday. She always messed up, that resulted
into several explosions. Her skin was about the same color as his,
and it always turned red if she was the guilty party.
"Excuse
me professor, but professor Dumbledore wants to see miss Hayley
Faraday in his office."
A few students started
whispering.
"Did she blow up a potion again?"
"Maybe
she pissed off Snape..."
"Or maybe he wants to talk to
her because she's SO good at Defence Against The Dark Arts."
"That
heckler..."
"Or maybe she was listening to that Muggle
thing, what was it called, "iPod" again."
"You
DO know her mom is a Muggle, and that she doesn't have a dad?"
"I
wonder why she has magical powers then. Maybe her dad was a
wizard.."
Hayley got up, and walked out of the classroom. She
ignored the other students.
"Is there something wrong,
professor Snape?"
"I have no idea. that is for professor
Dumbledore to decide."
"It wasn't me who blew up the
toilet, I swear!!"
"Miss Faraday, please be quiet."
"Yes
professor..."
Hayley looked sad, in Snape's opinion. She kind
of reminded him of himself. He didn't have a lot of friends, just
like Hayley. But Hayley wasn't accepted in this school because of her
background. There were rumors that her father, who's identity was
unknown, was a Death Eater. Or used to be a Death
Eater...
"Professor?"
"I thought I told you to
be quiet."
"There is something I have to tell a
teacher."
"And why would you choose me?"
"Because
you're the only one who could understand."
"I don't get
paid to listen to problems of teenage girls."
"There are
those things, called Dementors, right?"
"Yes?"
"And...you
can fight them off using a spell called "Expecto
Patronum?"
"Yes…"
"Well, I was teaching it
to myself the other day, and they say the creature that you "channel"
has a special meaning to you."
"Your point?"
"My
creature is a doe. And I don't get what it has to do with me.."
Snape
froze.
"Are you alright, professor?"
Her creature
was a...female deer...but that was his...Lily...
"Professor!!"
"Be
quiet, Faraday."
"I'm sorry I bothered you, sir."
"It's okay."
"What?"
"Wait,
did I just tell you that it was okay?"
"You did,
sir."
"I
MEAN IT'S NOT OKAY! STOP BOTHERING ME!"
"You're
not very happy today, are you, professor?"
Snape ignored her,
and lead her into Dumbledore's office.
"Ah, miss Faraday,
welcome."
"Hello professor, you wanted to talk to
me?"
"Yes, miss Faraday. I had a question for
you."
"Yes, sir?"
"Your level at the
subject "Defence Against The Dark Arts" is above the normal
level. Way above. First I would like you to ask how that is possible
for someone your age."
"I have no idea, professor. I
don't train or anything, I guess I'm a natural."
"We had
another natural like this, maybe, 20 years ago. A hard worker, but no
friends, unfortunately. That boy was a master in "Defence
Against The Dark Arts."
"What was his name,
sir?"
Dumbledore smiled.
"His name was Severus
Snape."
Hayley turned towards Snape.
"You were good
in that subject, professor?"
"But that's not the only
thing you two have in common", Dumbledore said.
"What do
you mean, professor?" , Hayley asked curiously.
Dumbledore's
smile got even wider.
"Black hair, great at Defence Against
The Dark Arts, that look in your ambitious eyes..."
"What
are you driving at, Albus", Snape said.
"What are we
driving at? And who's car are we driving?" Hayley
asked.
Dumbledore started laughing, and Snape gave her a little
smash on the head.
"Be quiet, Faraday!!"
"It's
okay Severus."
"But..."
Dumbledore ignored Snape
and said: "there is something very important that both of you
need to know."
"What is it, sir?"
"I'll
tell this story in a way everybody can understand. One day, about 15
years ago, a Death Eater went to a Muggle cafe, to hide himself.
Though he didn't notice the drinks had alot of "alcohol" in
them."
"So, he got wasted?" Hayley asked.
"Yes,
he did. He got very "wasted", as you put it, and seduced a
lovely lady."
"So he got laid?"
Dumbledore
started laughing.
"He did. The next morning, he realised what
he did, and left."
"He just left?"
"He
didn't just leave. He also left something for the woman he slept
with."
"What did he leave her?"
"A
baby."
"A baby?"
"Yes, the woman became
pregnant, and a little girl was born, a girl that never got to know
her father."
"You mean..."
"Yes, Hayley,
your father was a Death Eater."
"Is he...dead?"
"No,
he is very much alive. He turned his back on the dark side."
"So,
where is he, I want to meet him!!"
Dumbledore
sighed.
"Hayley, your father is in this very room, at this
very moment."
"Is
he invisible?"
Dumbledore's stare got stricter.
"Don't
you get it yet, Hayley?"
Hayley turned her head towards
Snape. Former Death Eater, black hair, same look in the eyes, Defence
Against The Dark Arts...
"You can't mean..."
"Yes,
Hayley. That's exactly what I mean."
Snape's face turned even
paler.
"Severus, meet your daughter, Hayley Faraday. Hayley,
meet your father, Severus Snape."
"NO WAY!!"
Hayley
almost fell to the ground and stared at Snape.
"The
Patronus", Snape said to Dumbledore. "Her Patronus is a
doe."
"Another thing you two have in common!"
"I
can't believe you hid this from me all those years, Albus."
"I
wanted to tell you when she came to Hogwarts. But since you hated
this girl with all your life, it wasn't a very good idea to tell you.
Especially, because during her first Potions lesson, she already blew
something up, in your own words."
Hayley snickered.
"Albus,
you must be joking..."
"I'm not, Severus. This girl is
the daughter of the woman you slept with 15 years ago."
"How
did I get drunk in the first place!! I can't remember!"
"It
looks like you got SO wasted you can't even remember, professor",
Hayley said.
Dumbledore got out of his chair.
"Hayley,
don't tell this to anybody. The only people who know this, is
professor Snape, you, and myself."
"So the stupid rumors
about my dad being a Death Eater were right after all?"
"It
seems", Snape said.
"That was all, you can go back to
your class now, Hayley. I'm sure professor Snape will escort you
back."
"I..."
"Thank you, Severus. Goodbye
for now, Hayley."
Snape and Hayley left the office. Snape
closed the door.
"I can't believe that you're my.."
"Silence,
Faraday."
"You won't accept it?"
"How could
I get drunk in the first place?"
"I don't know,
sir."
Silence.
"So, I guess I got some things from
you, right?"
"As my daughter? I suppose..."
"Well,
I've got the same hair color, and the talent for Defence Against The
Dark Arts."
"One thing you didn't get from me, is being
able to make a potion without blowing up the whole classroom."
Hayley
giggled.
"Sounds like something I would say..." Hayley
used all the courage she had. "Dad."
And for the first
time in her time at Hogwarts, she saw Snape smile. It was a little
smirk, but at least it was something.
"Yes, but now I have to
take you to class."
He knocked on the door.
"C-c-come
i-in?"
"Professor, here's miss Faraday back."
"T-t-hank
you p-p-professor Snap-pe."
Hayley got back in her seat.
Hayley's two friends, who were next to her, asked what Dumbledore had
to tell.
"Nothing special."
"Come on, tell
us!!"
"It's nothing."
"Now you made us
curious Hayley."
"I'll only tell one of you. And if you
tell it to anyone, I WILL kill you."
But class was over. And
that meant it was time for Potions. Hayley sat down next to one of
her friends. The one she was going to tell the secret. Snape entered
the classroom.
"Everybody, take your books on page 34, and
this time we're going to make a potion, and if miss Faraday manages
to let this easy one explode, I'm sure she will set a record for the
most potions failed. The class started laughing. Even Hayley.
"Why
are you laughing? You always hate it when he annoys you about
that."
"It's okay...for now."
"Start now,
and don't mess it up."
"Hayley, Snape is looking at
you."
Hayley looked Snape in the eyes. He grinned.
"HAYLEY
WHAT THE HELL!!"
"What?"
"Snape grinned. AT
YOU."
Hayley bent to her friend's ear.
"Dumbledore
just told me."
"What?"
"Snape is my
dad."
And after telling that, Hayley threw too much frog
organs in her potion, that made it explode. And this time, Snape
didn't punish her, as usual, but totally ignored her, and took his
want, in order to clean it, with a smile on his face...
