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August 1981

Severus didn't know what to expect as he made his way to the headmaster's office where he had been summoned. He knew he had done nothing wrong but that didn't stop him from worrying. What if it was about Lily? Or Voldemort? He didn't want to hear that his beloved Lily had perished.

He shook his head. He mustn't think like that. He knew they were well protected and he trusted Dumbledore to keep it that way. He had promised after all.

No this must be something school related; perhaps a change in the curriculum or something along those lines. Maybe they were due for the start of the school year staff meeting. They hadn't had one yet.

Well he guessed he would just have to wait and see until he got up there. No use pondering over it…

Ah another school year was about to begin and he, after only one year, had made a name for himself as the meanest professor at Hogwarts. He smirked to himself. Dumbledore knew what he was like when he hired him so he couldn't complain. Besides, the students needed to know that there were people like him out there… and much worse. He may be a reformed Death Eater but he was still a mean snarky bastard and he wasn't about to change for a bunch of annoying hormonal and self engrossed children. They would learn how to deal with him in time.

His thoughts were brought to a stop as he reached the gargoyles standing guard outside the Headmasters office. Quietly giving them the password he climbed up the stairs ready to have the meeting over and done with already.

"Ah Severus my dear boy, so glad you could join me" Dumbledore said as he smiled at Severus, gesturing the seat in front of his desk.

Severus inclined his head slightly before taking a seat in front of the Headmaster.

"What can I do for you this evening Headmaster?" he asked, noting that there was no one else coming up to the office, hence not a staff meeting…

"I only wish to talk to you about a student that will be joining us this year" he started, reaching into the top draw of his claw shaped desk and pulling out a folder that clearly held all the details of this student.

Severus had to admit that his interest was peaked. Why would Dumbledore wish to speak to him about a student? They didn't even know what house they would be in, they could be Minerva's responsibility after all.

"Her name is Brooklyn Innes does she sound familiar to you Severus?"

Severus just stared at him. Of course it sounded familiar. He had forgotten that they had a daughter. And now it looked like he was going to have to deal with her. He wondered if she would be anything like her parents. Not that he had personally known her parents but he had heard enough about them.

He nodded in response not entirely sure where this was headed. He had a hunch though and he only hoped that he was wrong.

"She will need to be watched Severus" he stated, looking at his Potions Master intently.

He swore inside his head. Of course this job would get landed on him! What if she was in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw? Surely Minerva or Filius would be just as well equipped to deal with her and any past family matters. But of course not, given Severus' past he was the one that would be landed with babysitting duty until they could determine what she was like and who she would become.

"I know that you are none too happy about this extra duty Severus but I believe that you are the best for the job" He said looking down his crooked nose at Severus and knowing the young man would never say no.

Severus resisted the urge to glare at the old man who knew he would never say no. Severus was in no position to do so given his circumstances and the fact that he still felt the need to prove his worth to the old man; if watching over Brooklyn Innes helped in the slightest than he would do it. He had to prove that he was trustworthy not only to the Headmaster but to himself.

Not that he considered going back to his old loyalties but he knew there was darkness within him that he would forever have to fight. He knew that being Dumbledore's lapdog was not going to give him any power and he would always feel inferior and therefore the urge to run back to Voldemort and gain power would always be tempting. But if he thought about it, no matter who he worked for, he would always be working for someone other than himself. He would always be someone's lapdog and always trying to prove his worth.

He shook his head and looked up at Dumbledore who had said nothing while Severus was pondering his situation.

"It is of course fine Headmaster, I will watch over her from the moment she steps foot in the door to the moment she leaves in seven years if need be"

"Excellent" Dumbledore replied beaming and bringing his hands together in front of him, "Now here is her folder, there isn't much in there but I would like you to read it anyway"

Severus took the folder and scanned the first few pages, he was just about to close it and take it back to his office when a photograph fell out and landed on his lap. He looked down and staring up at him was a gorgeous set of pale green eyes surrounded by a halo of light red curls. She was smiling lightly and always looking away from the camera. She looked to be about ten or eleven in the photograph so it was a recent one.

Severus didn't know how long he looked down at the photo before picking it up and placing it back in the folder.

"Is that all you wish to speak to me about Headmaster?" He asked, trying to remove the photo of Brooklyn Innes from his sight.

"Yes, thankyou Severus"

He merely nodded before turning on his heal and hurriedly leaving the Headmaster's office and the knowing look in his sparkling blue eyes.

Severus cursed as he slammed the folder down on top of his desk. What was Dumbledore playing at? There was more to this than he was letting on. Severus' capability for the job was not the only reason Dumbledore asked this of him. He knew it. Well he bloody well hoped he was not trying to match-make. The girl was ten years his junior and Severus was many things but not a child molester…

Of course Dumbledore would never allow something like that anyway so… No he didn't have a match making agenda… So what was it? Severus had not failed to notice the girl's hair and eyes. The red and green, so like Lily's…

Severus shook his head. She was not Lily Evans. She was Brooklyn Innes. She was a student that he now had to watch over… But was Dumbledore trying to get at something with her physical appearance? Of course Severus has a penchant for green eyes and red hair and Dumbledore knew that. Of course Brooklyn's eyes and hair were paler in colour to Lily's… She was a paler form of Lily. She wasn't Lily.

Severus snarled and nearly threw the folder in the fire. Instead he decided to flick through it. The first page held minor details such as name, date and place of birth, parentage and so on. He was irked to notice that she shared his birthday, making him exactly ten years older than her.

The next page however was more detailed; outlining things that Severus already knew about her parents. They were both deceased one killed by an Auror and the other murdered. Brooklyn had grown up with her mother's second husband Cole Reedy. She had other family members that she could have lived with… Her father's parents were still alive and well but they had refused to take her. Evalyn Innes had insisted that Cole be given custody of Brooklyn should she die.

They lived in Cokeworth where she had spent most of her life although she was born in Scotland. This was just getting odder by the minute. He himself had grown up in Cokeworth, not too far away from her by the looks of it. She had lived near Lily. She might have known Lily. She may have even gone to the park that Lily and he played at.

Why must Lily intrude on all his thoughts? He was trying to understand anything he could about Brooklyn Innes before she arrived at the school and all he was managing to do was make every connection he could between herself and his beloved childhood friend. It was frustrating to say the least and he blamed it entirely on Dumbledore. What was he trying to do, make sure that every time he saw Brooklyn's face he would be reminded of Lily and of his loyalty? Seemed a bit of a reach but it was the only explanation he could come up with at the moment.

Sighing, he threw the folder back down on his desk, not wanting to think anymore about this Brooklyn Innes. She was a painful reminder of the youth he destroyed. She reminded him of the old days when Lily and he was that young and still so innocent; before he had immersed himself in the Dark Arts completely and been so attracted by the colourful green lights of power.

He was in a particularly foul mood come September 1st. All he had been able to think about for a month now was that bloody girl he was charged with watching over, Brooklyn Innes and now it was time for him to meet her. He wondered if she would be in his house. Argh what did it matter, she was driving him mental!

"You're awfully quiet this evening Severus" Dumbledore noted quietly as the second through seventh years filed into the Great Hall.

"Much on my mind Headmaster" he muttered in return watching all his students from last year take their seats.

The students talked loudly, shouting out to friends across the hall and catching up on news from the summer. Severus found it extremely irritating. He would never have been caught dead shouting across the Great Hall when he was a student; which hadn't been all that long ago. Some of these kids were not that much younger than him, and he knew that some of them sought to use this to their advantage. He had already had one girl the previous year try to sleep with him for grades. Although the girl herself had been a pretty pureblood witch from his own house, he knew she was only asking him because she believed that she could take advantage of his young age.

Minerva walked back into the Hall closely followed by the newest inhabitants of the castle. The hubbub died down and every student in the Great Hall was now looking at the torn and tattered hat placed before them. The students seemed to be holding their breath, especially the first years. Severus rolled his eyes as the hat broke out into song and the first years all took on identical looks of pleasure, their mouths gaping open in astonishment or else beaming with wonder.

All, except one. He had spotted her and she was nowhere near as impressed by the hat as her fellow students. She actually looked rather bored. Perhaps she was just nervous and felt that she would vomit if she opened her mouth. He knew plenty of people that had felt that way during their sorting.

Everyone clapped once the hat had finished its song, her included, though without the vigour of her classmates. He watched as students began to be sorted and clapped at the appropriate times, not taking any notice of who was sorted into his own house. His eyes were glued to Brooklyn Innes who didn't seem to be taking in anything around her. She seemed uncomfortable being there and she looked like she just wanted to go home. That was something he couldn't understand as he had wanted nothing more than to be at Hogwarts when he was her age. But then perhaps she had a happy home life. He found himself hoping that she did. He would never wish his own life upon anyone.

He was brought out of his musings when Minerva called her name out. He watched her move slowly up to the sorting hat, not looking at any of her fellow students nor touching any of them as she went past. She seemed to shrug away from them.

She took her place on the stool and he watched as Minerva placed the hat on her head and watched as it fell down past her ears. He wondered how long the hat would take to place her. It seemed to be having a conversation with her like it always did with the students.

He had hoped that she would be in his own house because it would be easier to keep an eye on her then. But he wondered how much he would have to involve one of the other professors if she was placed in another house. Pomona and Filius seemed the most likely to not ask too many questions regarding his task of watching over her. Minerva on the other hand would want to be involved. She would want to know how Severus thinks she doing and she would always be offering her own insights. Argh, it would be much easier if the girl were in his own house that way no one else need get involved.

It had been almost five minutes since the hat had been placed on her head and still there had been no decision. He wondered if she were Hatstall, although the only ones he knew of were Minerva and Filius.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Severus smiled to himself. Thank Merlin she was in his house. Things would be much easier now. Or at least he hoped so. He prayed that she was nothing like her parents, of whom he had only heard stories about. But those stories had been enough to convince him that he was a lucky man for never having met them.

She didn't seem like the type of person from what he could tell of her demeanour but that was not much to go on. He would have to try and get her alone at least once to assess the type of person she truly was. However if she was shy and didn't draw attention to herself, she may be hard to get hold of. A loud and obnoxious student was much easier to get to know that a quiet goody two shoes.

He watched her closely as she took her seat at Slytherin table. People were clapping her on the back and trying to talk to her. She smiled lightly at them but never made eye contact. She looked down at her empty plate instead and then back up at the sorting, pretending that she was listening.

Once the sorting was over and the food appeared on the table, Severus continued to watch her. She didn't appear to have a big appetite and put only a little on her plate. She ate slowly and continued to avoid eye contact with everyone else around her. He didn't once see her talking to another student and from what he could tell the other students had stopped trying.

Perhaps she was just nervous about being there and wasn't the best at making new friends. Or perhaps she, like him, just didn't like people's company in general. He was like that most of the time when he was her age, the only exception of course being Lily and maybe Lucius, although even Lucius he could've done without.

"Not hungry Severus?" came Dumbledore's mild voice.

Severus wasn't startled but he did tear his gaze away from the young redhead at Slytherin table to look the headmaster in the eye.

"Just a lot on my mind Headmaster, that's all" he replied before finally putting some food on his plate and beginning to eat.

Once the Headmasters attention was drawn elsewhere Severus continued to look down at his newest charge. She had pushed her still half full plate away from her and seemed to be looking around the hall, taking everything in while everyone else was talking and laughing and getting to know each other. The people didn't seem to interest her and when she looked around she did so with her eyes only, her head staying in the one position, facing down.

She definitely seemed like an odd little girl and Severus was actually interested in getting to know her. Quite a feat for a small child to peak the interest of a man like Severus but there you had it. He was intrigued and he was going to get all the answers about her that he wanted by the time she left the castle for the last time in seven years.

Xxx

Dear Diary,

I know that Cole told me not to keep a diary but I find that it helps so much to get everything off my chest. I find people aren't nearly as reliable to be telling my feelings to, much better to be writing them down. Perhaps I'll burn this book when it's full so no one can read my thoughts about this school and the people in it…

I don't think I like it here. There are far too many people for my liking, and all of them want to know who I am and where I come from. It's none of their damn business and I hope everything calms down over the next few days. Although I do suppose once people find out who I am… who my parents were, there will be more questions. Oh Merlin I hope not. I just want people to leave me alone. Why don't people understand that?

No instead they think that they can FIX me… I don't need fixing. I don't need people trying to get to know me so that they can go away all proud that they broke through to me. I don't want to give people that satisfaction. Cole said it would be better to make a few friends 'Everyone needs a few friends Brooky', well I don't agree with you Cole. Friends are for the weak. I don't need anyone and I don't plan on needing anyone in the future.

'You're only eleven Brooky, you'll make friends easily at this age' I realise what age I am but that doesn't mean that I WANT to make friends. No matter how easily they may come to me. I think I've already done a good job in scaring people away. Well perhaps not scaring them but they definitely don't think much of me so far. Just the way I like it.

Well I will just have to wait and see what the rest of the year has in store for me. I can't wait to go home though. To my own bed in my own room that no one can just walk into and possibly be touching my stuff.

My gosh the other girls in here are noisy! They won't stop giggling and going on about how excited they are to finally be here! Silly little twits. I hope they get over their excitement in the next ten minutes or so because I for one would like to get some sleep.

Should I just tell them to shut up? I don't suppose that would make a very nice impression but I never said I wanted to make one. Sigh. I guess I should just put this silly diary away and try to get some sleep. By the sounds of it they're going to be talking for hours about where they all come from and blood statuses and what not. Yippee.

Hope you enjoyed, I'd love to know what you think so far