Not Quite the Same Yet

"What are you doing here?" Aurora Sinistra, a black-haired witch in a long black dress with pointy hat, asked in shock. "Oh…this better be a nightmare because so help me if…"

"Aura, I'm really here," Jezlyn replied with a smile. "Surprised to see me, Big Sis?"

"Surprise doesn't even begin to describe what I'm feeling right now," Aurora softly muttered.

"Yes, well, as touching as this is, perhaps you would like to describe to your sister as to what just occurred down in the Great Hall?" Snape sneered as he kept a firm hold on Jezlyn.

"Oh, Jezlyn, what did you do now?"

"Nothing, sis, he's blowing it all out of proportion." The grip on her upper arm tightened. "All right, fine…I'll tell her." Jezlyn then lowered her eyes to the floor. "I may have gotten into a bit of a scuffle with one of the girls here."

"You did what?" Aurora barked before she threw a fierce glare at her little sister. "That's it. You're going home tonight, Jezlyn." She then shook her head fiercely. "Honestly, Jezlyn, don't you ever think. Well, then I trust you remember the way to the Great Hall?" She watched her sister's honey-colored hair wave gently as she nodded. "Wonderful. I expect to find you there in an hour."

Without as much as a glance, her little sister silently walked down the cast-iron staircase and left. Aurora, however, waited until she was positive her sister was not around. She then sighed heavily and hung her own head out of shame.

"How bad, Severus?"

"She began a duel with Miss Parkinson in the Great Hall."

"Well, did she win?" Aurora softly asked.

"Yes."

"Any dark spells?"

"None that I saw," Severus calmly responded.

"So, all in all, she did the same thing you and James Potter used to when you both were students, but she dumbly did it in front of everyone in the Great Hall."

"That would be correct."

"Well, what'd you think? Is my sister what you thought she'd be?"

"No. However, I was not under the impression that you had a sister to begin with."

"Yeah, well, I do," Aurora defensively stated before she wrapped her arms tightly around herself.

"Obviously," Severus drawled. "I take it you do not approve of your sister's being here?" If he were any other man, he would have winced when Aurora whirled around and leveled her glare at him.

"Would you if you were in my robes, Severus? Trouble follows that girl wherever she is. Do you know that at her last school she once picked a fight with a couple of seventh-years?" Aurora then shook her head wildly. "She was a second-year at the time. Don't ask me why she thought it was wise to duel five seventh-years, but she tried it. The seventh-years easily won, but they didn't stop when she dropped her wand. They taught her a lesson that night. She had a whole list of injuries that ranged from a broken nose to a hairline fracture at the base of her skull."

"I do not understand."

"No, you wouldn't. I don't expect you to understand, Severus. My sister being here, though, is a very bad idea. I mean, she fought a girl in the Great Hall. The Great Hall, Severus…even Malfoy and Potter haven't done that. Merlin, by the time she graduates, she will have reduced this castle to nothing but shambles. The students will be all but gone. The parents will be calling for Dumbledore's head."

"Surely, you are overacting, Sinistra. If Potter and Malfoy have not done so in five years, I doubt that your sister can destroy this castle in the very little time that she has remained here."

"You don't know my sister, Severus."

"I do not, but I know you. You would not allow your sister to do so." Severus then sighed. "While I understand your wish for your sister not to remain here, perhaps it would be best if she did."

"What! You couldn't have just said that. Who are you, and what have you done with Severus Snape? Honestly, I must be hanging around Trelawney too much."

"You have not. However, I believe that you heard the Headmaster. Difficult days lie ahead for all of us. Perhaps your sister can be there for you when I cannot."

"And just where will you be?"

"Albus wishes for me to train Potter this year," Severus replied in a strained voice. Clearly, the disgust was evident in his face.

"I sincerely doubt that you'll kill Harry, Severus."

"It is not Harry—" Severus then grimaced before he growled softly. He hated it whenever he slipped up. However, he noticed that he had been slipping up more and more as the days passed. Luckily, his days of spying were long behind him. Otherwise, his recent slipups would have gotten him killed. "It is not Potter that should be concerned, Sinistra."

"I see," Aurora replied sadly. "And just how long are you going to be out for blood, Severus?"

"I am not, as you say, out for blood, Sinistra."

"Could have fooled me," she snapped. She then rolled her eyes and glared at him. She was getting tired of all his sneaky tactics he used on her. She could clearly see something was bothering him. Whatever it was she knew it was something that he needed off his chest before something happened. However, she had something eating at her too. "Honestly, Severus, stop lying to me. You've been out for blood ever since that Shadow attacked you."

"My actions have nothing to do with the Shadow."

"Oh, yeah, then tell me why you haven't went to any of your sessions with Pomfrey."

"Perhaps you have been blind, Sinistra, and not seen that I have been incredibly busy this past summer?" Severus then angrily shook his head. It was their fourth fight that week. However, he knew their fighting was mostly due to his withholding certain things.

"I haven't been blind, Severus," Aurora snarled. Her dark brown eyes then narrowed on him. She couldn't believe the way he was acting. He seemed as if he had changed back into the bastard he usually was to everyone else. She had thought that attitude of his would have disappeared since they started their relationship. That seemed to be a serious misjudgment on her part. It was time to take measures that were more drastic. "However, since you're being a stubborn jackass, I guess then that leaves me to back down." Aurora whirled around and walked towards her office door. The door slammed shut behind her.