Author's
note: Whoo! Though I'll be replying individually in a few mins, I
wanted to take this time to say thanks for all the reviews! I've
found a new one in my mailbox every time I've checked my mail, and
have gone from 3 to 12 in the period of a chapter! YAY!
Ok, I know
I mentioned Melinda being part of a pre existing HP family in the
last chapter, but Porcelain Prayer brought up a very good point in
their review, thus I'm changing it. Melinda is now part of a
completely fictional family (the Snyders, as you will later find
out). I was going to put her in the Malfoy family, having Draco take
the place of Kelvin, and Lucius would have been Loren. As Porcelain
Prayer pointed out, this seems to take place before the books, given
Severus' attitude/actions. I never actually thought of that.
As
a result of the above, Melinda Snyder, Kelvin Snyder, and Loren
Snyder are mine, given they're not in the original HP. And our
friend Allan Lesesne from the last chapter is also mine. As per
usual, anything you recognize is not mine. I'll stop saying this
eventually, probably when I stop introducing characters.
And,
something I just thought I'd clarify, given I got confused while
writing this chapter out and had to look back at past chapters, the
timing for this is as follows: Selina went to see Voldemort with her
father one evening in mid summer (ch. 1). She came to a few hours
later (ch. 2), which, as of this chapter to avoid going back and
changing it, I see as the early hours of the next morning. Thus, when
Eric said the healer was going to be by later, he means later in the
day that this chapter takes place. Does that work, or did I lose
everyone?
Hope you like it, and don't forget to review and let
me know what you think. Criticism is always welcome if you'd like
to give it, but be pre-warned, I may not heed it, depending on the
extent. Don't take offence if I don't though, I do take
everything said to heart.
Porcelain Prayer: Thank you so very much for pointing that out. I hadn't really thought of a time frame for this when I started writing it, I just let my ideas run off and write it, lol. I suppose, now that I think about it, it would be, as mentioned above, taking place before the books, probably before Severus turned spy as well. Given we don't know when that was exactly, we'll just say it's before he turns spy, lol, and hope that he was of a decent age to have a daughter of Selina's age before he did so if there ever is a date given. I know it says in book 5 that he taught at Hogwarts for 14 years, so…I dunno. Heh, I won't look too far into it, lol. Worst case scenario, he's…just being abnormally loyal to Voldemort and hates his daughter -shrug-
ghst.sama: I'm glad you like it, thanks for the review!
lovelylady: Lol, here's the more that you asked for. Hey, that rhymed!
ravenfairie (for your 2 reviews): I'm glad you like it, but I'm sure there's more out there that's like it. I'd be rather surprised if this was original original. Here's next chapter for you!
italianprincess1: Would you care to elaborate? Biologically speaking, it's impossible to decide the sex of a child.
Crazy-Physco: Glad you liked it! Thanks for the review!
Ashley: It definitely was nice of Eric to save Selina's life. He's definitely a different guy than he is in my other fics, though that one may change, mwhahahah! However, to avoid being killed by Eric (don't ask), I'll probably keep him as is. He may slip into a mild evilness once or twice, but he's gonna stay as he is for the most part.
me'shell: Thanks for the review, though I must say, if there was a hidden message, it was impossible to find it, lol.
A Disgrace Redeemed: Chapter 3
At
about nine o'clock in the morning, Voldemort called a small group
of extremely loyal followers to him; Selina's father, Severus
Snape, a man named Loren Snyder, and another named Lucius Malfoy.
Loren and Lucius were to be told of the events of the previous
evening, as they hadn't been present, and Severus was to be present
for no reason other than to re live the moment and add things in
where he felt he needed to.
Usually
when Voldemort was holding his meetings, Eric would hold mini
meetings with the children of his father's followers. His father
said it was to prepare him for the day he'd take over.
However,
this time, only two people joined him.
Kelvin Snyder, Loren's son, was Eric's age, and was Eric's most trusted friend and, so to speak, follower. Eric trusted Kelvin with nearly anything, and that was why he'd asked that Kelvin come along.
Melinda
Snyder, Loren's daughter and Selina's best friend, had been asked
to come along to keep Selina company while Eric talked to
Kelvin.
Melinda was Selina's age and had been a Slytherin.
However, she'd always been nicer to Selina than the others, thus
how she became Selina's best friend. She hadn't stood up for
Selina, yet had kept as quiet as she could when the teasing began,
staying away from Selina in crowds and such.
She wanted to appear
loyal to her father and Voldemort, yet felt sorry for Selina.
When
Melinda and Kelvin arrived, Eric went and gently shook Selina
awake.
"Selina, you have a visitor." He said.
Selina
sat up groggily and looked towards the doorway, where Melinda had
just entered.
"Melinda." She said tiredly.
"What are you
doing here?"
"I'll leave the two of you alone." Eric said, leaving the room again and heading off down the hallway with Kelvin.
"Well,
the dark lord called my father to a meeting of some sort. Apparently
something about Eric finally finding himself a bride, though one that
doesn't please him entirely. Eric only wanted to see Kelvin, but
asked that I come to keep you company." Melinda paused for a
moment, noticing Selina's tiredness.
"I know you usually don't
take part in Eric's meetings because you don't want to have
people making a scene, but don't you usually just hide out
somewhere and read if you end up coming? Usually if you're tired,
you just stay home."
"Well,
I've been here since last night. I came to the meeting with my
father." Selina replied.
"Really? Does that mean you know who
Eric's bride is to be?" Melinda asked, sitting in a chair beside
the bed.
Selina
nodded.
"Well, don't keep it to yourself. Tell me! You know
how nosey I am!" Melinda exclaimed excitedly.
Selina
was silent for a few moments.
"Selina? Earth to Selina! You
going to tell me?" Melinda continued.
"It's me." Selina said
quietly.
"You?" Melinda gasped.
Selina nodded again, then told Melinda what exactly had happened the night before.
"Well,
my father's not going to like that much. Though I'm happy for
you." Melinda said when Selina had finished her tale.
"What do
you mean?" Selina asked.
"Well, my father always wanted me to
be the one who was with Eric. He asked me to try to get close to him
and such, but I suppose he likes you more than he ever did me.
"To
be completely honest, I'm glad it was you and not I. Maybe now
everyone will stop bothering you so much." Melinda replied.
"Well,
that's the thing. I'm not sure I want to be Eric's wife."
Selina said.
This
took Melinda by surprise, but she didn't show it. She'd vowed to
be the ideal best friend, standing by Selina in every way she
could.
"Why not? This is the chance of a lifetime." She said.
"Well,
I barely know him. I mean, he seems decent and everything.
"He
was like you when it came to the teasing at school. He never did
anything extreme, but still did it.
"But who's to say he's
as nice as he's appearing. Perhaps he's just trying to reel me
in.
"And even if he is this nice all the time, I'm not sure
I want to be the daughter in law of the dark lord. I know I'm
supposed to at least pretend to be loyal to him because of my father,
but I don't think I could live like that for the rest of my life,
especially if Eric ends up taking over for him.
"But, if he
does end up taking over for him, that wouldn't make him nice, would
it?" Selina said, her words forming a verbal waterfall and rushing
out in a rather confusing manner.
"I see the problem." Melinda
replied.
While Melinda and Selina had been talking, Eric and Kelvin walked around the house and had a talk of their own.
"So,
what was it you wanted to talk to me about? Having second thoughts
about whoever you finally chose?" Kelvin asked.
"No, not
really. However, I am worried about her." Eric replied.
"Well,
maybe we should start at the top and work our way down here. Who'd
you chose?" Kelvin asked.
"Selina." Eric replied.
"You
mean Severus' daughter? The one everyone sees as a disgrace and
shuns? I thought you had everyone else's opinion of her." Kelvin
said.
"Yeah, that's her. And no, I've never completely shunned
her. I may have bothered her once or twice, but never to the extent
of the rest of the Slytherins. I guess I've always had feelings for
her." Eric said.
"Well,
it's your life. I guess that explains why you're worried about
her too. Scared your father might have second thoughts and kill her?"
Kelvin asked a few moments later.
"That and that she'll try to
escape, only to be attacked by anyone who's angry that I didn't
pick them." Eric replied.
"You really think she'd try to
escape?" Kelvin asked, wide eyed.
"If she disagrees with you
that much, you might want to re consider what you're doing."
"Well,
I can see why she'd want to, though I'm not saying she will. I
mean, she barely knows me, why would she suddenly be in love with me?
She probably thinks I'm just like my father; heartless, hateful,
and all around evil.
"I want to show her that I'm not; that
I'm practically the complete opposite, though still obedient to my
father." Eric explained.
"I see." Kelvin said.
"So,
why'd you come to me?" He asked a few moments later
"Well, I
thought perhaps I could ask you to keep an eye on her. Act as a
bodyguard of sorts. I know I can trust you to keep her safe if need
be, and given you're her best friend's brother, I think she'd
feel better having you in the position than she would if I were to
pick someone that had bothered her all her life. You can start
tomorrow if that's ok." Eric said.
"I think I can do that."
Kelvin laughed.
"And here I was thinking you were going to ask
me to force her to love you or something.
Eric chuckled.
"You
know I'd never do that."
The two of them had found their way back to Selina's room at this point, and entered to find Selina and Melinda talking about what they'd done with their summers thus far.
"Hello,
Selina. Feeling better now that Melinda's here?" Eric asked in
greeting.
"I am, though I'd hardly say it was Melinda's
doing entirely. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't feel half this
well, if I could feel at all." Selina replied.
Kelvin
winked at Eric.
"Looks like she likes you at least a little
bit." He whispered, so low that only Eric could hear.
"What
have the two of you been up to?" Melinda asked.
"Oh, Eric just
asked if I'd mind keeping an eye on Selina and keep her safe. If
that's ok with you of course, Selina." Kelvin replied.
"Well,
if anyone needs to be keeping an eye on me, I'd rather it were you
than anyone else." Selina replied.
Eric
elbowed Kelvin and smiled.
"I would feel better knowing that
nobody was trying to hurt you anymore." He said.
Melinda
laughed, having noticed the elbow and the whispering.
"The way
you two are acting, one would think you were plotting against the
world or something."
The four of them had a laugh, and then Loren and Severus entered the room.
"It's
time for us to go." Loren said, nodding to Melinda and Kelvin.
His
face looked grim, and it was somewhat apparent that he was
disappointed.
"I hear congratulations are in order." He
continued, nodding to Eric and Selina.
Eric smiled.
"Thanks."
"Kelvin,
Melinda, lets go." Loren said, heading out of the room
again.
Kelvin and Melinda followed immediately, saying a hurried
goodbye to Eric and Selina.
"I'll be back tomorrow, as you
asked." Kelvin said as he passed Eric.
Eric nodded.
"Well,
it seems you're nicely settled in here." Severus said when the
three had left, looking darkly at Selina.
"I have, father."
Selina replied.
"Good, because you are to stay here for as long
as Eric asks you to." Severus said.
"Which, if the dark lord
has his way, will be until you manage to make yourself loyal to us,
if that ever happens. I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up dead
like your mother. You're about as disloyal as she was, after
all."
Selina looked away.
"And
if I have my way, your daughter will be my wife, and I will not have
you speaking to her like that." Eric piped up.
"Of course,
young master Eric." Severus replied.
Eric didn't have as much control over his father's followers as his father did, but he did still have the power to make them obey him.
"Good,
now leave us." Eric said.
"Goodbye, Selina." Severus said,
turning and leaving, just as the Snyders had.
Eric sat down beside Selina and gently turned her head to face him. He found a lone tear rolling down her cheek and wiped it away.
"You
haven't had a great life, have you?" He asked.
Selina shook her
head.
"That'll all change, you know. Provided, of course, that
you're ok with all this. I don't want to force you into
anything." Eric said.
"I really don't know how I feel about
any of this right now. I barely know you. In fact, it feels like we
just met this morning. Before then, I didn't know anything about
you except your name." Selina replied.
"I know, and I
understand. And you can have as much time as you'd like to figure
out how you feel." Eric said.
"I'll keep you safe and treat
you as if you were my wife until you decide. Anyone who wants to get
to you will have to get through me first." He promised.
"Does
that mean I have to get through you in order to see my favourite
assistant, whom I hear is stuck in bed after being injured?" A
voice said from the door.
"Of course not, Allan, I trust you not
to kill her." Eric replied, turning and smiling at the newcomer,
Allan Lesesne.
"Well, I'd never kill her, that's for sure.
Not in front of you at least." Allan replied, causing the whole
room to laugh.
"And
how is my favourite assistant?" Allan asked, approaching
Selina.
"I'm fine, just sorry I'm not able to give you a
hand today, Mr. Lesesne." Selina replied.
"My dear Selina,
please call me Allan." Allan replied.
Selina
laughed.
"Oh, alright, fine. I'll let you win this time. But
only because you've finally come around and are calling me Selina."
Selina replied.
Allan had refused to call Selina by her given name, and had insisted upon calling her 'Miss. Snape' up till now, thus Selina had taken it upon herself to call him 'Mr. Lesesne'.
"Well, lets have a look at you then." Allan said, beginning to check Selina over.
"Looks
like Eric did a perfect job. I couldn't have done better myself.
It's definitely not long before you're a fully qualified healer
of your own, Eric." Allan said when he had finished checking
Selina.
"Good to know." Eric replied.
"So,
my dear Selina, I believe Eric already told you bed rest was the best
for today, but you should be able to get up and back to your normal
activities tomorrow. I won't expect to see you anytime this week
though; please do keep yourself here or at home, don't bother
coming in to help out. Take some time off to rest." Allan said.
"If
you insist." Selina replied, looking rather disappointed about it.
"Ahh,
the standard Selina, never stays home unless she's told to."
Allan said.
"But I should be going, I have a few other things to
do before I can head home for the day, so I'll see the two of you
another time."
"Of course, and thanks." Eric said.
"See
you next week, I'll definitely be there the very second I can."
Selina replied with a laugh.
"But not a moment before!" Allan
replied, while heading out the door.
Another
Author's note: Alright, I think this is a good place to leave off
for the night. Isn't Healer Allan Lesesne just a crazy guy? Lol,
ok, maybe not, but heh, I thought I'd try to add a bit of humour in
after the mildly tender moment (at least, I hope it was tender..),
hope it worked! (Looks like I'm hoping for a lot of things
here).
Don't forget to review and let me know what you think!
Though, I know I already said that at the top, and I'm sure this is
long enough as is, so I'll stop now..at just over 4 pages, lol.
