PROLOGUE

Trixie waved goodbye to her friend before stepping through the barrier to King's Cross Station. She pushed her trolley forward pulling it next to one of the benches before sitting down next to it. She checked her watch. Her dad should be here… she thought to herself, but she had seen no sign of him. Men and women with briefcases and suitcases bustled back and forth, none stopping to pay attention to the little girl sitting cross legged, all by herself a large black owl hooting softly from the cage on top of her trunk. She glanced at her watch again.
Two hours. She had been sitting here for two hours, and he still hadn't come.

"He… must've got the dates confused…" she told herself, shivering slightly as it was getting darker now. Since the incident in the chamber, she found she was now afraid of the dark. Unsure of what else to do, and careful not to let anyone see what was in her trunk, she wrestled out a piece of crumpled up parchment that had been sitting at the top, and a quill. Carefully dipping her quill into the ink bottle she'd found tipped upside down (sealed luckily) and scratched out a note, not caring that she was writing on the back of her Potions Exam.

"Fly as fast as you can Daes, please" she whispered as she tied the letter to the owl's foot. Daes hooted gently at her, nibbling softly at her ear, before flying off. All that was left to do was wait. She hoped he would come.

Severus let out a frustrated groan as a muggle tennis ball flew through his living room window. He scowled at the offending object, before moving to the window to glare at the children playing on the street. They saw him and scattered. Nobody dared mess with the mystery that was Severus Snape on Spinner's End.

Suddenly there was a knock on his door. Muttering, he opened it, glaring at the brunette woman who dared disturb him.

"I'm so sorry Mr Snape" she began, rushing through her apology in what Severus assumed was nervousness. "My idiot nephew has been staying with me this week, and believe me when I say he will be paying for the damage of your window"

"It won't be necessary" he sneered, before trying to close the door on the woman. She stuck her foot in the door, and pushed it open.

"Perhaps it is that attitude that is the reason the boys ran away instead of coming forward!" she snapped, pushing into his house and moving to inspect the window.

"Get out of my house woman!" Severus growled in a low voice. The woman stood her ground, hands on her hips. She had very nice blue eyes, Severus noted.

"We will pay for the fixture of the…" her reply dropped as a black owl suddenly swooped into the room.

Severus recognized the bird, and his eyes widened in fear. Forgetting the muggle, he quickly removed the letter and tore it open.

Professor Snape

I need help.

Severus scanned the rest of the letter quickly, and with a final glare at the muggle woman, and a mental note to obliviate her later, twisted on the spot and with a pop he was gone.

Back in Spinner's End squib and family cast out, Darla Malfoy, fell back into the couch and began to laugh. He was a wizard. Of course.

"Trixiebelle"

The blonde girl with the bright blue eyes that Severus had grown quite fond of sprinting toward him, wrapping her arms around his waist as tight as she good; letting out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you for coming for me" she whispered into his robes. Severus patted her back, a little less awkwardly this time, and gently pushed her away.

"Let's get your things," he told her, "I'll take you home."

With a quick notice-me-not charm, Severus was able to shrink her trunk, and place it in his pocket.

"This is going to feel very strange Trixiebelle," he explained, as he took her hand. "You'll feel like you've been squeezed through a tube, but it's quite safe, as long as you don't let me go"

Trixie nodded. "Now, think of your home"

With another twist and a pop, they were gone.

Trixie glanced up at the tall two story white house with the green shutters with a scared sigh. She hadn't told anyone, not even Ginny, how angry her father had been when he dropped her off at King's Cross at the beginning of the year, nor how he had ignored her appeals to return home for Christmas.
Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door. Professor Snape stood off on the sidewalk, not entirely sure why he hadn't left yet. He had a nagging feeling something was going to go wrong. The door opened, and a tall man, of roughly six feet opened the door. He had blonde hair that matched his daughters, and he wore nothing but a dressing gown. The man stared down at his daughter, hatred etched into his every feature, before suddenly his hand lifted and struck the almost twelve year olds face.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO COME BACK HERE YOU FREAK!" he yelled, raising his fist again, before suddenly he was thrown backwards and into the house, the door slamming shut beside him. Severus rushed toward Trixie, his fury at the tall man only outweighed by his concern for his girl.

Trixie sat on the ground where she fell, her wide eyes staring at the front door. Severus bent down and wrapped his arms around her, picking her up in his arms as she began to sob, clutching onto his robes as though her life depended on it.

Darla had waited patiently for the man, Mr Snape she believed, to return. She did not, however, expect to see him return with a crying child in his arms. The Professor collapsed onto the sofa, and pulled the girl close to him.

"It's okay," he murmured softly to her, holding her as close as he could, as he stroked her back. "I've got you, I've got you."