"That is absolutely out of the question." Snape's velvety voice sounded angry. "I will, under no circumstances, keep her with me. Perhaps Sprout will take her?"
I was listening at the door as Snape discussed my fate with the white bearded man and the tight faced woman. He wouldn't have me. I felt a stab of disappointment.
"Sprout burst into tears when she heard the news." The woman cut in. "It would be too hard on her."
"You, then—" Snape began, this time cut off by the other man,
"Minerva will be quite too busy I assure you. She will be taking on my duties when I leave the castle."
"I'm sure someone else—"
"There is no one else Severus." Said the bearded man, "You were the one who recovered her memories. You were the one who suggested to me that the Memory Charm might prove flawed. You know what she needs more than anyone else. I'm afraid I must insist."
Snape swept from the room, angry, and nearly collided with me. He looked resentful, and kept moving without a word to me or a glance in my direction. I was hurt. The bearded man was right. He had seen everything. He knew me better than anyone, and he didn't want me.
"Miss Woods?" The bearded man called from inside the room, "Is that you in the doorway?"
"Yes, sir." The sound of my own voice was still foreign to me, but I liked using it.
"You may enter, Miss Woods." I did, with some trepidation. "I regret that we have not been able to spend much time together, but know I think you are a very brave girl. At the start of the school year you will be returning to Hogwarts under the care of Professor Snape.
"Professor Snape may not always seem kind or sympathetic. He is, however, a good man, and I trust he will take care of you to the best of his abilities. I will be seeing you at Hogwarts, and please to not hesitate to visit me, or Minerva here, if you feel the need." He smiled kindly at me. "I know you will get along well."
I wished I could say the same.
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A/N: Thank you all for the reviews! I'm so grateful for the support! Haha…oh no, LadyEkathle caught me… In my head I figured someone would have explained things to the kids before having Emily eat with them, but they probably wouldn't have gone into so much detail. In truth I wasn't really happy with the last chapter…I felt like it was needed, but Ginny was sort of out of character and the whole thing was a little weird. Hopefully someday I'll have a brilliant idea and go back and fix it. Haha. But no, you totally got it, it was my bad =). Thanks for the review!
Anyway I really appreciate all the support I've been getting! And the attention to detail! Thanks so much. Sorry for the really long author's note…