Thank you for those who reviewed last chapter! I really appreciate it!

Gwen let her eyes travel to take in the surroundings that flew by her. Her guardian-Severus Snape-lead her through Diagon Alley, past the many shops that adorned the said place. Borgin & Burkes, Magical Menagerie, Slug and Jiggers Apothecary, and Quality Quidditch Supplies just to name a few.

The little girl remembered reading several things about the famous wizard sport called Quidditch; she often wondered what it would be like to actually play. Severus, of course, wouldn't let her anywhere near a broom - always telling her that she was too young to fly one, that she would learn all that she needed during her first year at Hogwarts.

Gwen planned on at least trying out for the Hogwarts Quidditch team once she was in her second year though. She figured that Severus wouldn't be too happy about that. He always seemed to treat her like she was weak and wouldn't let her do things that she normally wanted to do; such as climbing tress, or playing in the creek, or with other children her age.

Speaking of children her age, her thoughts were turned to the Malfoy boy that she met at Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions - Draco was his name. To Gwen, he seemed like a decent boy, and he wanted to actually be her friend. She just figured that she would be awful at making friends considering she's never been around children her age. But her and Draco seemed to get along just fine, very fine, in fact, she was actually looking forward to being his friend.

Severus finally jolted to a stop, causing Gwen to slightly crash into his side. She looked up at him but his eyes seemed to be elsewhere, she followed his gaze and saw that he was looking forward at a shop; Ollivander's. The wand shop, she thought.

At that time, Severus looked down at her, giving her hand that he held a slight tug and said, "Come on," indicating they were finally going to get her wand.

Gwen's face lit up with excitement at that thought as she beamed up at the man before her. Severus couldn't help but to give a small smile back to her before leading her over to the shop.

This was it, she was actually going to get her wand. Upon entering the raggedy shop, a old man to fit the worn down shop flitted over to where Severus and the girl stood. He gave them both an eerie smile before speaking toward the dark man.

"Severus," he cooed. "so nice to see you back here. It's been awhile, has it not?" The worn down man - who Gwen could only guess had to be Ollivander - began to rub his shaking hands together in anticipation for Serverus' reply.

The said dark man didn't falter in his words. "I have here someone who is looking for a wand," he spoke slowly with his deep baritone voice. "Do your job and go start fetching them."

Ollivander's face held a slight scowl before giving a smile down at Gwen and finally spoke directly to her. "Ah, young missus Emerson, I see. I've been wondering if you'd show up or not."

Gwen squeezed Severus' hand tighter and put on her best stern face. After all, she learned from the best. "How do you know me, sir?" She questioned.

"Your parents came here years ago before their first year looking for their wands." He spoke, still wringing his shaking hands together. "Your mother-"

"Do your job, Ollivander." Severus interrupted the man with a scolding tone. "I'm in a bit of a hurry."

Ollivander looked slightly taken aback, then annoyed that this man would speak to him in such a tone. After all, he was the one who supplied these ungrateful wizards and witches with their beloved wands. One would think that poor old Ollivander would be treated with a bit more respect than he got, but no, he wasn't.

Swallowing his nasty words towards the potions master, Ollivander quickly replied with an 'Of course,' and scurried away into the back of the store.

Gwen briefly wondered what the old man was about to say about her mother before Severus had cut him off. Speaking of which, why did the man cut him off like that? Sure, Severus never actually spoke of her parents, he only told her that they were close friends. And when things turned for the worse, he promised them both that he would always take care of Gwen for as long has he lived. But that was all Severus told her, and she didn't ask for anything more. He seemed to always hate talking about them, even though Gwen was forever curious.

She wanted to ask him why he cut Ollivander off like he did, but thought better of it and decided to spark up another conversation. A conversation that her and Draco actually had back at Madam Malkin's. "Severus, what kind of House do you think I'll be in when I get sorted?"

Severus looked down at her for a moment before replying with, "Your mother was in Slytherin and your father was in Ravenclaw,"

"I know, you've told me before."

"And most of the time children normally get sorted into one of the Houses their parents were in, so naturally you might get sorted into either House."

"Oh, which House do you think would fit me best, then?" She asked, hoping to keep the conversation going while Ollivander was away, plus she was generally curious.

"You're smart for your age, which is a trait that fits most Ravenclaw students, but you act more like your mother than your father, so I wouldn't be surprised if you got sorted into Slytherin." Was his reply.

Gwen nodded her head when Ollivander came running into the room, holding a rectangular box in his hands. He opened the said box and shoved the wand in her face, telling her to give it a wave. By this time Severus dropped her hand to give her a bit of space, plus he knew what could result in finding the right wand.

The first wand was made of vine wood with a Veela hair core, and was 10inches; it didn't seem to work out. The second wand was made of ebony wood with a unicorn hair core, and was 12inches total; and same as the first, it didn't work out.

Slightly frustrated, Gwen went through five different wands; all with different cores such as, Kneazle whisker and Kelpie hair, and several other woods-hawthorn, pear, and rowan wood. And just when she was about to say that maybe she wasn't fit for a wand, Gerrick Ollivander brought out a wand and handed it to her. Gwen gave it a flick and a warm light grew around her. 11 ½ ebony wood, dragon heartstring core wand that was slightly springy gifted her with its presence.

Gwen smiled. She finally found her wand.

It didn't take long before the school year was finally starting, much to Gwen's excitement. The poor girl was hoping to see Draco during the month before the semester begins seeing that Severus knew Draco's father, Lucius, well. But Severus told her if she were to be friends with the Malfoy boy, that she had to be careful and watch her step.

Once she was seated on the train to go to Hogwarts, sitting alone in her compartment after her and Severus departed, she briefly remembered the conversation that she and her guardian had before he left her to go about the train as any teacher would do.

"He's not bad, is he, Sev?" Gwen asked the dark man she grew up to know as a father figure.

The said man, Severus, sighed and shook his head at the little girl sitting down on the blue seat of Hogwarts Express. "No, he isn't bad,"

But even though Severus told her that she could be friends with the Malfoy boy, she had to keep an eye out as well. It didn't make sense to her at the time, but soon enough she would grow to understand why her guardian had gave her such orders.

Gwen sighed and sank back into her seat, trying to relax a for the four hour train ride to Hogwarts when her compartment door slide open, revealing someone standing there.

As Severus made his rounds around the train, making sure everything and everyone was in their proper place. Every now and again he'd find a student out wandering the halls and getting into no good. Of course he docked House points off of the children who didn't listen and sent them on their way, sulking.

Sooner than later, the man's mind was directed back to the conversation that he held with Gwen, about him telling her to be careful when around Draco and his friends; Crabbe, Goyle, Zabini, etc.

Severus found himself contradicting his thoughts once he spoke those words to her, he knew what Draco's future would become and wanted to keep Gwen out of it. But there was only so much he could do. He was originally going to tell her to stay away from the young Malfoy, saying that she doesn't need a friend like him, but he saw that she was excited about meeting a peer, he just couldn't tell her something like that. After all, she's never had a real friend before.

Yes, Severus Snape actually has a heart.

That night after their trip to Diagon Alley, Severus found himself going to the Malfoy Manner to speak to the said boy and his father. Yes, he's known them for a long time, and has tried to keep poor Gwen out of it. But he should've known better, she was bound to be brought into this sooner or later.

Lucius Malfoy was slightly surprised to hear the request that Severus was asking his son to take. He was always under the impression that the man didn't want to mix up the young girl with his family due to… certain circumstances with a certain dark wizard. But Severus was dead-set on thinking that the Sorting Hat would place little Gwen into the Slytherin House. Saying that she had too many qualities that the House held.

Though it came to a shock that Severus asked his son to watch over the girl while she attended Hogwarts, seeing that, Severus, being a teacher, couldn't watch over the girl twenty-four seven.

Draco, who actually enjoyed the girl's company, said that he would do what he could to watch over her. Though he did look a bit annoyed that Severus would doubt his abilities to do so. Draco rolled his eyes and bluntly showed his irritation, in which Lucius had to reprimand his son and his manners. Even though he scolded his son, Lucius couldn't keep the smirk from sneaking onto his face at how much of a Malfoy Draco really was.

Severus was both pleased and uneasy about the young Malfoy agreeing to help watch over the child that he raised since she was six years old. He promised both of her parents that he would protect her no matter what, but the re-rising of the Dark Lord kind of killed all of his plans that he had of keeping her home schooled.

The Dark Lord himself has no interest in the girl, so he says, but he wanted Gwen to attend Hogwarts. The dark wizard didn't even have a body to call his, yet others still feared the snake such as the Malfoys, and Severus himself. Last thing he wanted to do was get Gwen dragged into all of this, but it seems that the Lord he swore his oath to when he was an ignorant fool had other plans.

Though nothing would stop Severus from letting the Dark Lord get his slimy hands on that girl. He would never allow it.

"Draco?" Gwen found herself saying with a smile tugging at her lips.

Draco, who was standing in the doorway to the compartment, let a smirk play at his own lips while he looked at the girl sitting alone on the train.

"There you are," he said, stepping inside the compartment, though he was not alone. He brought two other friends as well. One of the was taller than the other, but they were both fat. "This," Draco began, pointing from the taller fat boy to the shorter fat one, "is Crabbe and Goyle, friends of mine."

Gwen put on a nervous smile while Draco sat down beside her and motioned the two others to sit across from them.

"I'm-" Gwen began but Draco cut her off.

"Close the door, you oafs," he told the boys who just sat down with a sneer.

"Oh - oh, alright," said the taller fat one, Crabbe, as he quickly jumped up and slammed the door shut causing Gwen to wince slightly.

Draco groaned in annoyance. "Not so harder next time, think before you do things," he scolded, then added with a smirk. "Oh, that's right, you don't think."

Gwen bit her tongue as she watched Draco bully the other boys. She didn't like it, but she wasn't about to deny that the two boys sitting across from her did look a bit spacey in the head.

Draco finally brought their attention back to Gwen, who noticed that the boys' eyes never looked at her or in her direction once, until Draco finally spoke up.

"This, you two, is Gwendolyn Emerson, she's going to be hanging out with us for now." He spoke while Gwen gave a tiny wave and a smile.

"But, Draco," Goyle spoke up. "What if she's sorted into Gryffindor, or Hufflepuff even?"

The blond boy rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Does it look like I care about that? I already said she'd be my friend and I intend to keep to my word." He snarled. "If you two have a bloody problem you can keep it in your fat mouths and not say a word."

Gwen couldn't help but smile slightly as she listened to Draco tell the two boys that he planned on being her friend regardless of the House she's sorted into. But she also couldn't help but gently nudge Draco on the arm, silently giving him a look showing that she didn't approve of his attitude toward the boys.

He just smirked right back, silently telling her that he doesn't care. Gwen rolled her eyes and brought her robe closer to herself while she listened as Draco, being slightly civil, started a conversation with Crabbe and Goyle. She decided after a few minutes of staring off out of the train window, that she's close her eyes just for a bit. But ended up falling asleep for the entire ride.

After what seemed like an hour, Draco lifted his gaze over to look at Gwen only to discover that she was asleep with her head leaning against the metal wall of the booth. He snorted and scooted over on the seat, pulling her body down slowly as he went so that the girl could lay down while her head rested on his lap.

He looked over at Crabbe and Goyle to notice that Goyle's face was slightly tinted pink, and Crabbe's eyes was wide with surprise.

"What?" Draco snapped at the two, his voice a bit harsher than he meant it to be, but didn't try and apologize. Malfoys never apologize. That was something that Draco's father taught him while he grew up.

The two chubby boys went back to minding their own business and began to pick up conversation with themselves while Draco took the time to get a closer look at the girl that's lying on his lap.

Her light golden hair was slightly wavy, like it was last time, though instead of pulled back in a low pony-tail, it was left to flow with nothing stopping it. Her fair skin was pale, but not nearly as pale as Draco's own skin. Her blonde eyelashes, long as they are, sat softly on her cheeks while she slept.

Draco's father told her of her past, what happened to her parents. Even the snotty, young Malfoy couldn't argue that he felt pity for the poor girl. And after Snape had asked him to watch over the girl while they attended Hogwarts, he felt like he actually needed to, quite literally, keep an eye on the girl.

Snape had been dead serious when he asked Draco of this, even though the poor boy didn't really know why. He just figured that Snape was just an overprotective guardian.

Nonetheless, Draco would keep to his word, regardless of which House she gets placed in, he would, no matter what, keep an eye on this girl. He already liked her and thought she'd be a good friend, so he knew this would be easy.

Oh, how wrong he was when he thought that.

It didn't take long for the train to reach Hogwarts, and after trailing off with a fairly large giant, Hagrid, which Gwen thought he looked fascinating. Draco only rolled his eyes at the girl and grabbed her hand, leading her into the boat.

Once standing outside of the Great Hall inside of Hogwarts, Gwen began to hear little murmurs and such fly around her about a boy, the-boy-who-lived, Harry Potter was attending Hogwarts that year.

Of course, Gwen would have to be daft not to know who that boy was. She's read a lot of books and a lot of stories and things about the famous Harry Potter and how he, just a baby, defeated the Dark Lord, he-who-must-not-be-named. Gwen couldn't help but to admit that she was afraid to say the Dark Lord's name out loud, or even in her own thoughts.

Soon, the group of first year students was standing inside of the Great Hall, which, by the way, lived up to its name. It was the most grandest place that Gwen had ever set eyes on. It was beautiful in the very least she could think of. The ceiling was enchanted to looking like it was a night sky while candles floated to and fro about the large room.

As Gwen was looking about the room she noticed that there was a lot of students staring at them while they stood there, while a man, who introduced himself as Ablus Dumbledore, the headmaster, spoke to the group of eleven year olds.

He began to talk about the Sorting Hat and the different Houses in Hogwarts. Gwen couldn't help the nervous feeling she was getting about the entire thing. She glanced up at the teacher sitting behind Dumbledore and noticed a pair of dark familiar eyes looking her way. Gwen found herself smiling as Severus gave the slightest upturn of his lips, giving her a small, very small smile. She stood closer to Draco, who was right beside her, and grabbed his hand.

Draco looked over at her, shocked for a brief moment, before raising his blond eyebrows for a split second and turning his gaze back over the headmaster.

Soon enough, Gwen was beginning to feel better; her nerves not as shot. But then Draco was called forth for the Sorting Hat and she lost her only friend so far for the time being. She could seek comfort in Crabbe or Goyle, who stood behind her, but thought better of it seeing that she didn't really know, nor like the two.

She watched as the Hat was barely placed on Draco's head before the Hat called out, "SLYTHERIN!" making Draco smirk and make his way over to the table. But not before shooting a reassuring smile at Gwen, who was now determined to get into Slytherin more than ever.

After several, several names were called; including Harry Potter's, Hermione Granger's, and Ronald Weasley's name, who were all sorted into Gryffindor. Crabbe and Goyle, a boy named Blaise Zabini and a girl named Pansy Parkinson, plus a few others had managed to make it in Slytherin as well.

Soon, Gwen found herself sitting upon that stool with all eyes on her as the Hat was placed upon her head. After naming off the qualities of the other Houses, the Hat was about to place her in Ravenclaw, but made found something last minute that would qualify her as a true Slytherin. Also, of course, he took in her consideration as well, and no sooner was the Sorting Hat yelling out that she was placed in Slytherin.

Gwen felt a smirk tugging at her lips as she hopped down from the stool, took a quick glance at Severus who gave her an approving nod. With that, she practically skipped down to the Slytherin table, greeted by a lot of elder students and the newer ones as well.

Draco pushed Goyle to the side, making him move and motioned that Gwen sit beside him, which she did, beaming while doing so.

"So, happy with the House you got sorted into?" He smirked.

"The Hat was going to stick me in Ravenclaw, but at the last moment decided that Slytherin was better." She explained.

"Hello," a girl said who was sitting across from Gwen and Draco. The latter of the two rolled his eyes while Gwen returned the girl's smile. She recognized her as the Parkinson girl. "I'm Pansy," she said.

"Gwen Emerson," the blonde replied. Pansy quirked an eyebrow at the last name but said no more as they started with their feast.

A boy, whose name was Blaise Zabini, Gwen noticed, was trying to flirt with the Parkinson girl. Gwen rolled her eyes and nudged Draco.

"What?" The boy asked.

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" she asked. Draco's eyebrows knotted together in confusion, wondering why she would ask something like that. Gwen noticed this and smiled. "I'm just trying to get to know you better is all."

He gave a look off that he understood before turning back to his plate and scooping up a spoonful of mashed potatoes. "No, I haven't any siblings, I'm an only child and I'd like it to stay that way."

"Ah," Gwen responded taking a sip of her pumpkin juice. "I've always wondered what it was like to have a sibling."

Draco already knew the answer, but he decided to ask anyway, just to keep the conversation going. "You don't have any?"

She shook her head. "Nope, it's always just been me and Serverus."

The boy almost choked on his food. "You actually call him by his first name?" He sounded flabbergasted and shocked that she would do such a thing.

Gwen looked over at him with a confused face. "Yes, what else would I call him?"

Draco gave her a you've-gotta-be-kidding-me face and said, "Probably sir, I don't know, just nothing that sounds so…"

"Casual?" She finished for him.

"I suppose,"

"I've known Sev all my life, why would I want to call him sir when I don't have to?"

"He is our potions teacher, so you'll have to do it eventually." Pansy piped in from across the table.

Gwen sighed. "I know this, and I'll have no problem with it."

"He kind of gives me the creeps to be honest."

She puffed out her lip, "I don't see him in that way, Severus is just like a father to me and he wouldn't do anything to hurt me."

Pansy's eyes went wide for a brief second before choking out, "No, no! I didn't mean anything like that. I just don't know him and he seems creepy."

"Well he's not, so don't say such things," Gwen snapped, going back to eating her plate.

Draco couldn't help but smirk at how snappy Gwen could be. It's going to be fun being friends with her, he thought.

After the feast was over, the head of the Slytherin House, Severus Snape-much to Gwen's surprise-lead them to their common room. After Snape gave the entire first years their lecture and told them the House and school rules, he showed them off to the girl's and boy's side of the dorms and sent them to bed.

But, before Gwen could turn on her heel, she found a pale hand sitting upon her shoulder and turned to see no other than Serverus Snape. Draco was about to stick around as well, but the look Snape sent his way told the boy that he wished to speak with her alone. Draco got the hint and left.

"I didn't know you were the head of this House," she told him with her tiny hands placed upon her hips as if she were scolding him.

"Congratulations on making the Slytherin House, Gwendolyn." He told her, completely ignoring her comment.

She smiled. "Thank you, Serverus."

"Professor," he told her.

"Huh?"

"You are supposed to call me Professor now, understand?" Gwen bit the inside of her mouth but nodded her head, remembering the conversation she had at the diner table.

She may not have known that he was the head of the Slytherin House, but she did know he was the potions teacher. So she nodded and turned to leave, telling him she was going to bed now. But, as she reached the stairway to the dormitories she heard Severus say something before sweeping out of the common room.

"Your mother and father would be proud, Gwendolyn Michelle,"

Gwen stopped in her tracks upon hearing what he said. Biting her lip, she made her way up to the girl's dormitory with a smile on her lips.

Any thoughts?