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For the first few days after the students left, Severus Snape found he couldn't fully concentrate on anything he did. His thoughts kept drifting to the blonde girl he had found in the forbidden forest. Professor Dumbledore had started trying to work out where she came from and who to talk to about her but had remained unsuccessful. The girl remained unconscious in the hospital wing, and until she awoke she would remain a mystery. Snape hadn't seen her since Poppy Pomfrey had got him to put the girl on a bed before pushing him away. He asked to be notified when she awoke, but he didn't believe they would tell him. It had been three days. Surely she should awake sometime.

He left the darkness of his private lab and headed up to the hospital room. He took his time, trying to work out why it was he couldn't get her out of his mind. Something about seeing her lying broken on the ground made him upset. But she was just some random stranger. Why should he care about her?

Minerva McGonagall looked up as Severus Snape strode into the hospital wing. He didn't stop to look at anyone, just walked straight over to where the girl lay in her bed. He looked at her for a moment then stepped away as if to leave. The girl whimpered. Severus stepped toward her again and watched for a moment as she moved around a bit.

"I think she might be waking." Madam Pomfrey's voice whispered somewhere close to his ear. He jumped at the sound, his eyes still focused on the girl. The girl shifted around before she scratched at her arm. Snape pulled her hand away, preventing her nails doing any damage before he realised what he had done. Poppy, Minerva and Severus watched as the child's eyes fluttered before opening slowly. She sat up, blinking a few times as Severus released her arm. As she looked around her gaze landed on the women, a frightened expression crossed her delicate looking face. And she was gone.

Severus looked around, but there was no sign of her. Instinctively he looked around, before getting down to floor level and looking under the bed. Why do I get the feeling she will be down here? Snape thought. To his surprise cowering under the bed was the little girl. She looked up when he noticed her. His dark eyes stared into her lighter eyes. In the lighting it was hard to tell what colour they truly were. He wordlessly held out his hand. She hesitated, then crawled forward to slip her small hand into his bigger one. She gave him a small brilliant smile. Snape felt rather odd, he was happy, pleased, as if a small smile could light the world. Swiftly, he pulled the girl to her feet then swung her up onto the bed once more.

Again she became frightened when she looked at the stern faces of the people staring at her and she tried to pull away, but Severus kept a firm grip on her hand. She sat still with her knees pulled in close for a moment, looking down at her toes, ignoring all those around her. She leaned her head forward on her knees, her waist length hair forming a curtain around her. Snape looked down at her, wanting to comfort her but held back.

"See if you can work out who and what she is, and where she is from." Dumbledore suddenly said from behind him. Severus hadn't noticed the headmaster enter, but he watched as the two women walked away with Dumbledore.

He turned back to the girl, releasing the hold on her hand as he sat on the edge of the bed. He waited for her to look up but she didn't. He was a little confused as to what to say to her, he didn't even know if she spoke English.

"Hi, I'm...I'm Severus. Severus Snape. What's your name?" He spoke softly, in a voice he wasn't aware he had. Her head raised, and he found himself staring into a pair of dove grey eyes. Severus was startled. As the girl smiled her face lit up and her grey eyes changed to a brilliant shade of blue. That wasn't natural. He watched her for a moment, to see if anything else changed but it remained the same.

"I'm called Lilly...usually." She had a smile on her face but Snape noticed the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. Her voice held no trace of an accent but sounded rather musical. He smiled as she relaxed her guard and sat with her legs folded under her.

"Where are you from...Lilly?" He nearly choked on her name. She didn't notice.

"Nowhere. And I'm not going back." She had such a determined look on her face that he nearly laughed.

"Why? Don't you want to go home? Back to your family?" He gently spoke, hoping she wouldn't get scared and disappear again. She just looked at him, then sadly down at her hands. Severus waited for her to speak, wishing she would open up to him.

"I don't...I can't go home. I don't really have one."

"Surely you have a family? Everyone has one"

"I don't. Where is your family?" She was avoiding his gaze, looking downwards then around the room. It was unlike any place she had ever been. Snape looked down at his hands. He didn't have a family. Lilly caught him. Not everyone had a family.

"I don't have a family. But I'm older than you, I don't need one. You do."

"No I don't." Lilly crossed her arms over her chest, as a form of a shield. "I take care of myself. Always have." She shrugged her shoulder as if she didn't care. Snape could tell she was lying. She could speak, and very well. Again she looked downward, this time at the silk pink dress that was all torn and scratched, barely staying together in parts. She absently ran her hand over the scratches, the dirt and the tears. Under her hand formed a slight silver light as the dress repaired into its beautiful original state. Severus looked at Lilly who didn't look surprised to see the dress fixed, in fact, he thought she looked pleased.

He sat with her for several hours, asking her questions and watching her reactions as she brushed away any that were too personal. She asked plenty of questions too but he brushed them off lightly. He was far too interested in finding out all he could about the little blonde that her questions were answered as quickly as possible. After hours of talking and the only useful info he had was her name. Even then, he wasn't sure that was her real name.

She fell asleep as she was asking him where he found her, so Severus covered her gently with a blanket. He walked out and found Albus, Minerva and Poppy in the Headmaster's office. They all looked at him expectantly. He didn't know what they expected from him. He was a potions master, not a people person. And certainly not one to like children much. The silence was awkward. Albus was the one to break it. He leaned forward from behind his desk, eyebrows raised.

"Any news?" Albus leant back as Severus took a chair and sighed.

"No, not really. She won't say anything about where she is from, why she was in the forest. or anything. The only thing she told me was her name. Lilly. And she knows about magic. Or well, can do her own. It varies from ours slightly though. And I get the distinct feeling she is a runaway." Snape ran his hand through his hair, disappointed he couldn't get more information from her.

"How does her magic vary?" Albus asked, genuinely confused. To him, the girl appeared totally human. Severus sighed.

"She doesn't use a wand. Or say anything out loud. She actually pulled away from me when she saw my wand. It took a bit to convince her nothing was going to happen. She did mention that only royalty had wands. But they weren't like mine. Once she realised I wasn't this 'royalty' she calmed down." Severus frowned for a moment. "Oh, and she moves fast. Very fast. One moment she is right in front of me, the next she is half way down the room. I didn't even see her move." Poppy nodded.

"We noticed that. It's not natural. Is it?" She looked toward Dumbledore, who shook his head.

"No, well, not for us. It might be for her, after all. Severus saw her with wings." He glanced toward Snape who was looking out a window absently. "We need to know what she is. And where she is from. If she doesn't tell us how will we get her home?"

"She doesn't want to." Snape answered his question, continuing watching the skies outside.

"Ah, but everyone has to go home sometime." Albus told him gently. Severus thought about that. he hadn't gone 'home' since he was able to leave for good. He didn't see the point. There were too many memories, mostly bad ones. Minerva's voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"There is a way to find out her parents."

"How so?" Albus sounded amused.

" Genealogy chart." Minerva sounded certain it would work.

"That's for wizards though. For humans. I thought she wasn't human." Poppy interrupted. Minerva turned to her.

"We could try it. What do we have to lose?" Minerva turned to Dumbledore. he smiled back at her, nodding.

"Yes we shall try it. Severus?"

"You should try it yourselves. I just built trust with her. I'm not going to ask her to slice open a finger so we can find out where to send her." Severus said bitterly. He didn't honestly think it would work. And part of him didn't want it to work. He didn't want to send her back. What is happening? I've never cared for children. But here I am, hoping to keep this little child in my life. She isn't even my child. But part of him wished she was. He had never wanted a child, yet he wanted it so badly.

"We should wait until she is awake though. Poor little girl." Poppy said as she headed back to the hospital wing. Albus and Minerva both nodded. Severus felt this was his chance to leave, so he rose and fluidly strode out of the room without a second glance.

He had been at work in his lab for quite a while when a face appeared in his fire.

"Severus." Albus called, startling him. "I thought you might like to be here when we do the chart." Severus nodded, checked his work and left.

Lilly was startled to see all these people staring at her. The two women looked very strict and the old man had such a long beard. She couldn't help but giggle slightly at the sight of Dumbledore stroking his beard absent-mindedly. Severus appeared and she gave him a brilliant smile. He smiled back at her and sat at the end of her bed. He made no attempts to say anything. Poppy had already asked the girl for permission, and Lilly had given it to her. Very reluctantly. And only because she wanted to know who her father was. Minerva bought over the parchment and Poppy quickly split the skin on the tip of Lilly's finger. A single drop of glistening red blood fell onto the blank parchment. Lilly ran her hand over the cut, healing it instantly as the parchment began to fill with lines and names. Albus looked down reading it silently. He looked up in pure surprise.

"Your parents...wow...your father is..."

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