Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.
Truths.
Harry woke up pretty late the next day, because, thanks to the silencing charm, his aunt hadn't been able to wake him up, and he was thankful for that. Slowly, he dressed himself in his usually hand-me-down-clothes, noticing that they were too short for him and still much too wide, and then he slowly walked downstairs. The whole family was sitting in the kitchen and looked up when he came in. Silently he ignored his uncle when he stood up, already purple faced, standing calmly before him, he extended the letter. "Read this before you start screaming." He watched as his uncle read the letter and grew pale. Then the fat man ripped the letter in two and turned his scared eyes to him. "I won't allow it!"
Harry looked at him calmly. "There's not much you can do about it. And if you have anymore complaints, I'll be more than happy to tell my godfather for you."
At that moment, he thought the old man was going to faint. In the end he pulled himself together and sat down, starting to talk with his wife and son in soft tones. Harry ignored them; he took a glass of juice and was about to walk out of the kitchen when a searing pain ran through his body. The sound of breaking glass startled the Dursleys out of their conversation just in time to see their nephew fall down, his eyes tightly shut in pain. The only thing Harry was aware of was the pain that cursed through his body and the sound of someone screaming. At first he thought he was doing the horrible sound, but he soon realized he had his mouth tightly shut. Opening his eyes slightly, he was able to see the legs of his relatives pressing against the far wall. Slowly, everything started to make sense, and the screams turned to shouts from his Uncle, demanding he stopped whatever he was doing at once. The pain finally left his body, and, taking his wand out of his pocket, he stood up slowly, leaning most of his weight on a wooden chair. Blinking, he turned his gaze towards his so called family and couldn't help but chuckle when he noticed their horrified eyes and pale features.
Getting himself together, Vernon started to advance to him, rage evident in his eyes. Acting on reflex, Harry raised his wand to him and made him stop dead in his tracks. Dudley screamed again and finally gathered enough courage to run to the door and leave the kitchen. Petunia on the other hand stood frozen on her spot against the wall. Panting slightly, Harry sat down on the chair he had been leaning against. With slightly shaking hands, he served himself another glass of juice and turned his attention to his aunt. "I apologise for the scene, I didn't mean to change in front of you, but I had little choice in the matter."
Harry was half surprised at his voice, it was much deeper than it had been and it was much like his father's. Shaking that thought out of his head, he turned his attention towards his aunt who had moved to the motionless Vernon. "Don't worry, he'll wake up in a few moments." Standing up, the teen sighed and nodded towards them. "I'm going upstairs and see what I look like now. Don't bother me and I will not bother you either."
Walking out of the kitchen, he was aware that he could have done much more to the Dursleys, he could have taken his revenge after all those years, but something in him didn't really want it. As long as they left him alone he didn't see the need to do anything. Entering his room, he immediately went to the mirror he had placed there last night, wanting to know what he looked like now. The image that met his eyes was stunning. The first thing he noticed was that he had most certainly grown. He was probably just as tall as Ron and his limbs were longer. He was just as thin as he had been, but now it looked even worse due to his length. His features had become sharper, clearly to mirror his father's, yet he still retained his mother's eyes and nose. His hair was lighter than it had been, he could even see a red tint to it, and it now reached his shoulders. All in all, Harry decided he didn't look all that bad. He certainly looked like Professor Snape, but he wasn't a carbon copy of him; many of his features were his mother's and somehow it all seemed to fit better this way.
Sighing he sank into his chair and turned his thoughts to the Dursleys, wondering why he hadn't done anything; it hurt to admit that it was because even if they didn't like him, they had taken him in, when his own father hadn't. Resolutely, he pulled out a book from under his bed; he would have to remember to take his trunk upstairs next time he went out of his room. He opened his book; he didn't want to think about the man, he shouldn't think about the man. He would always be his teacher and nothing more.
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A few days later, Harry was lying on the front lawn, reading his transfiguration's text when he was startled by the shadow of someone standing over him. Looking up, he was startled to see the pale face of a girl. From what he could see, she was beautiful with bright blue eyes, long blond hair, and pale features. Sitting up, he looked closer at her grinning face; she looked a lot like Malfoy. His mind stopped short at that last thought.
Taking a deep breath, he looked at her once again and softly said; "Chiara?"
The girl's smile widened. "You look very handsome, Zach."
The boy jumped up and hugged her tightly. "You're looking very beautiful yourself, Chi."
The girl laughed lightly. "Thanks. What were you reading?"
Harry shrugged a bit and sat down. "Just transfiguration, it's not as if I have much to do around here." He paused for a moment before asking; "What are you doing here, Chiara?"
The girl stayed quiet for a few moments. "My parents are looking for a house."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "How comes?"
The girl looked at him intently. "We've been living there for many years, Zach. How can you explain to the muggles that your daughter suddenly looks completely different? Not only that, but we would attract too many unwanted attention."
Harry nodded in understanding. Of course, such a thing was likely to attract not only the wizarding world's attention, but also Voldemort's. "So you're looking for a house here?"
Hermione smiled and nodded. "Yes, my parents asked me if I had any preferences, and since I could choose, I asked for some place close to either you or Ron. It seems there's no muggle village near where Ron lives so we've come here to see if we can find anything."
They stayed silent for a few long moments before Hermione spoke again. "So, you didn't answer my question when you wrote me back. Have you heard anything from your father?"
Harry tensed next to her. "No."
Hermione looked at him and then nodded, understanding the deep sadness and pain etched in his eyes. "I see."
Looking closer, she noticed the clothes he was wearing seemed to fit him even worse than before. Smiling at her sudden idea, she took his hand and forced him to get up. Harry stumbled a bit before regaining his balance. "Chiara! What are you doing?"
The girl laughed and started to drag him away from the house. "We are going to get you some decent clothes."
Harry blushed a bit but started to struggle against her grip. "But Chi, I don't have any money here, much less muggle money!"
The girl shrugged. "No matter, we'll ask some of my parents, and you can repay us when we go to Diagon Alley."
Harry tried to say more, but his friend didn't want to listen to him and just kept walking.
Neither noticed when they passed an old lady on their way to find Hermione's parents. The woman glanced at them questioningly, wondering who they were since she had never seen them before, and they seemed familiar. After she saw the pair disappear around the corner, she turned to gaze at the house they had just come from. Her placid expression changed into a frown when she noticed it was the Dursley's house. She hadn't seen Harry in a few days and the sudden appearance of two unknown teenagers made her nervous. Quickly, she hurried back to her house; she had to warn Dumbledore, especially now that she had figured out why the two teens seemed familiar. She could swear the girl was a Malfoy; she had the same eyes and hair as Lucius, but yet her features weren't the same. On the other hand, the boy strongly reminded her of Severus Snape. Yes, she needed to speak with Dumbledore.
Using the emergency portkey she always kept in her house, she arrived at Hogsmeade and started the short walk up to the castle. Once she entered, she noticed the time and headed towards the Great Hall, since everyone would be there having lunch. She was not very surprised to see several people sitting in the Hall, most of the teachers had foregone their holidays and decided to stay at the castle to help Dumbledore out; besides them, several aurors and other members of the Order of the Phoenix were sitting there talking softly. Everyone stopped to look at her when she hurried in. The old headmaster rose slowly from his seat, clearly wondering why she was there.
"Welcome, Arabella, we weren't expecting you."
The old woman stopped before him and nodded her head slightly, and then she glanced at the Potions Master, who was looking at her in disinterest. She couldn't help but wonder what those black eyes were hiding.
"Arabella?"
She snapped her attention back to Dumbledore. "I apologise. Something a bit strange happened today at Privet Drive, Albus."
The old man frowned slightly and motioned for her to sit down in an empty seat at the circular table. "Is young Mr. Potter in danger?"
The woman sat down and shook her head slightly. "Not as far as I know. It's just, I saw two strange teens coming out from his house."
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "The boy is allowed to have friends, Arabella."
The woman scowled at him. "Might I remind you, Albus, that Harry has not had any muggle friends.ever. The Dursley boy made sure of it."
The headmaster's eyes saddened a bit, and he held up his hands. "Maybe they came to see the Dursley boy?"
"That could be, except for the fact that the girl looked like a Malfoy."
Everyone's attention turned towards her. Dumbledore was now frowning. "A Malfoy? Are you sure, Arabella?"
The woman saw him glance slightly towards the potions master but the younger man didn't seem to notice; he was growing paler by the minute, and he seemed to be trying to remember something. Turning towards the old man, she nodded slightly. "Yes, very sure. Who wouldn't recognize that hair?"
Dumbledore turned towards his potions master. "Severus, do you know who it might be? I wasn't aware that the Malfoys had any girl in their family of Harry's age."
The younger man snapped out of his pensive mood and looked at him through hooded black eyes. Dumbledore frowned following the man's thoughts, and in a soft voice, he tried to comfort him. "Severus, Dalila died all those years back, remember? It couldn't be her."
Severus rolled his eyes slightly, but ignored his words, turning towards the woman. "What about the boy, Arabella?"
The woman shifted uncomfortably. "The boy looked just like you, Severus."
The potions master nodded but didn't look very surprised at the news. Dumbledore, on the other hand, was looking more worried by the minute. Everyone else was looking on silently. Most knew what this was about; they had all known about Severus' children and their tragic end.
Dumbledore's firm voice broke the strained silence. "Severus, those two teens can not be Dalila and Darrick; they are dead."
The old man looked worried at his potions master, who had by now stood up. The young man turned to him with a twinkle in his black eyes and a small smile on his lips, which made Dumbledore even more uncomfortable.
"It's reassuring to know that I am still able to keep some things from you, Albus."
Everyone frowned. "What do you mean, Severus?"
The younger man didn't reply, instead he picked up his cloak and put it around his shoulders, clearly intending to leave. Dumbledore stood up too, wondering how he would convince the other man that his son and daughter couldn't be alive. He was very well aware how much their deaths had hurt the younger wizard, but he had thought he was over it. Before he had the chance to say anything, the doors slammed open for the second time. Standing there was a strange teenager. Arabella noticed he looked a lot like the girl she had seen barely an hour ago. The young man seemed to be in shock and was looking around with frantic eyes. His eyes finally locked with the dark eyes of the potions master and he ran to his arms.
"Uncle Sev! Dad said I wasn't his son, why did he say that? Why did I change? I asked him but he told me that if I had to know, I had to come and talk to you. He said he would disown me if I came, but I needed to know the truth, please, Uncle Sev, what's going on?"
Everyone was frozen in place, slowly coming to the same conclusion. Severus was the only one that didn't show any surprise; instead, he looked annoyed, muttering about idiot Malfoys, while hugging the boy against him.
The old headmaster sat heavily down and looked at the teenager. "Severus?"
The younger man looked up and his scowl was replaced with a smirk. "Mmh, did you know that Lucius Malfoy isn't able to have children?"
Many unbelieving looks met his amused gaze, Dumbledore looked at him surprised. "You mean it was Lucius who killed..."
Severus' eyes turned sad and he looked down at his godson. "Yes. Lucius needed an heir, and since he couldn't get one of his own, he decided to take his sister's son. At first he demanded she give Darrick to him, but she refused, and it became her death."
Dumbledore shook his head. "All this time you knew..."
Snape looked up with furious eyes. "And what should I have done? Voldemort approved, and if I had gone against him, you would not only have lost your spy, but I would be dead. And after Voldemort, do you honestly think anyone would believe me over Malfoy?" Stroking the boy's hair, he continued in a soft voice. "Even if I didn't want it, I knew Darrick would have a good childhood with Lucius, maybe even better than what I could have given him."
Remus, who had been sitting silently until now, spoke. "Then, the girl Arabella saw was Dalila?"
Snape nodded slightly. "Probably." Assuming they wanted an explanation, he continued. "Lucius didn't want nor did he need Dalila, so Voldemort gave her back to me with the express orders to kill her; after all, her appearance would show that the children hadn't died, and everyone would start to wonder about Malfoy's son."
Remus grimaced. "That's sick."
Snape rolled his eyes. "We're talking about Voldemort, Lupin, he is sick. Obviously, I couldn't kill her, so I put her in a muggle orphanage knowing that being still young, she had a good chance to be adopted. At first I wanted to keep track of her, but soon decided it would be much safer if I just didn't know; this way no one would be able to force me to tell them where she was."
Dumbledore frowned. "How did you conceal her appearance? It would be easy to track her down looking like a Malfoy. Besides, young Mister Malfoy seems to have changed a great deal too."
Severus frowned; they were starting to get to parts of his history he didn't want to tell, not yet at least. "Lily helped me."
A few heads snapped up, Lupin being the first to speak. "Lily knew about this?"
Severus nodded reluctantly. "You know she was the best in charms, she charmed Dalila and made sure the concealment charms wouldn't drop until her fifteenth birthday. That was yesterday. I'm guessing Lucius did the same to Darrick to make him look like him."
Sighing, he held up a hand before anyone could question him further. "Look, I understand you have a lot of questions, and I can already tell you there's a lot more to this story than you know, but if I start now, I won't get around to pick up Dalila and her friend. I only want to tell things once and they need to hear it too." He grimaced slightly. "I should have gone to get them long ago, at least Zach; he probably loathes me right now, not that I blame him."
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Zach?"
Severus nodded sadly. "Later, Albus." Turning towards the boy that was still clinging to him, he spoke softly. "Do you want to stay here, or do you want to come with me."
The teen hugged him closer. "I want to come."
Severus nodded and pried his arms from his waist, keeping one of the boy's hands in his. "Come on then." Turning to the room, he nodded slightly. "I'll be back soon."
Without another word they left the hall, leaving behind a confused and curious group.
To be continued...
A/N: Thanks for all reviews. Thanks to my beta reader, Vinnie.
Truths.
Harry woke up pretty late the next day, because, thanks to the silencing charm, his aunt hadn't been able to wake him up, and he was thankful for that. Slowly, he dressed himself in his usually hand-me-down-clothes, noticing that they were too short for him and still much too wide, and then he slowly walked downstairs. The whole family was sitting in the kitchen and looked up when he came in. Silently he ignored his uncle when he stood up, already purple faced, standing calmly before him, he extended the letter. "Read this before you start screaming." He watched as his uncle read the letter and grew pale. Then the fat man ripped the letter in two and turned his scared eyes to him. "I won't allow it!"
Harry looked at him calmly. "There's not much you can do about it. And if you have anymore complaints, I'll be more than happy to tell my godfather for you."
At that moment, he thought the old man was going to faint. In the end he pulled himself together and sat down, starting to talk with his wife and son in soft tones. Harry ignored them; he took a glass of juice and was about to walk out of the kitchen when a searing pain ran through his body. The sound of breaking glass startled the Dursleys out of their conversation just in time to see their nephew fall down, his eyes tightly shut in pain. The only thing Harry was aware of was the pain that cursed through his body and the sound of someone screaming. At first he thought he was doing the horrible sound, but he soon realized he had his mouth tightly shut. Opening his eyes slightly, he was able to see the legs of his relatives pressing against the far wall. Slowly, everything started to make sense, and the screams turned to shouts from his Uncle, demanding he stopped whatever he was doing at once. The pain finally left his body, and, taking his wand out of his pocket, he stood up slowly, leaning most of his weight on a wooden chair. Blinking, he turned his gaze towards his so called family and couldn't help but chuckle when he noticed their horrified eyes and pale features.
Getting himself together, Vernon started to advance to him, rage evident in his eyes. Acting on reflex, Harry raised his wand to him and made him stop dead in his tracks. Dudley screamed again and finally gathered enough courage to run to the door and leave the kitchen. Petunia on the other hand stood frozen on her spot against the wall. Panting slightly, Harry sat down on the chair he had been leaning against. With slightly shaking hands, he served himself another glass of juice and turned his attention to his aunt. "I apologise for the scene, I didn't mean to change in front of you, but I had little choice in the matter."
Harry was half surprised at his voice, it was much deeper than it had been and it was much like his father's. Shaking that thought out of his head, he turned his attention towards his aunt who had moved to the motionless Vernon. "Don't worry, he'll wake up in a few moments." Standing up, the teen sighed and nodded towards them. "I'm going upstairs and see what I look like now. Don't bother me and I will not bother you either."
Walking out of the kitchen, he was aware that he could have done much more to the Dursleys, he could have taken his revenge after all those years, but something in him didn't really want it. As long as they left him alone he didn't see the need to do anything. Entering his room, he immediately went to the mirror he had placed there last night, wanting to know what he looked like now. The image that met his eyes was stunning. The first thing he noticed was that he had most certainly grown. He was probably just as tall as Ron and his limbs were longer. He was just as thin as he had been, but now it looked even worse due to his length. His features had become sharper, clearly to mirror his father's, yet he still retained his mother's eyes and nose. His hair was lighter than it had been, he could even see a red tint to it, and it now reached his shoulders. All in all, Harry decided he didn't look all that bad. He certainly looked like Professor Snape, but he wasn't a carbon copy of him; many of his features were his mother's and somehow it all seemed to fit better this way.
Sighing he sank into his chair and turned his thoughts to the Dursleys, wondering why he hadn't done anything; it hurt to admit that it was because even if they didn't like him, they had taken him in, when his own father hadn't. Resolutely, he pulled out a book from under his bed; he would have to remember to take his trunk upstairs next time he went out of his room. He opened his book; he didn't want to think about the man, he shouldn't think about the man. He would always be his teacher and nothing more.
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A few days later, Harry was lying on the front lawn, reading his transfiguration's text when he was startled by the shadow of someone standing over him. Looking up, he was startled to see the pale face of a girl. From what he could see, she was beautiful with bright blue eyes, long blond hair, and pale features. Sitting up, he looked closer at her grinning face; she looked a lot like Malfoy. His mind stopped short at that last thought.
Taking a deep breath, he looked at her once again and softly said; "Chiara?"
The girl's smile widened. "You look very handsome, Zach."
The boy jumped up and hugged her tightly. "You're looking very beautiful yourself, Chi."
The girl laughed lightly. "Thanks. What were you reading?"
Harry shrugged a bit and sat down. "Just transfiguration, it's not as if I have much to do around here." He paused for a moment before asking; "What are you doing here, Chiara?"
The girl stayed quiet for a few moments. "My parents are looking for a house."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "How comes?"
The girl looked at him intently. "We've been living there for many years, Zach. How can you explain to the muggles that your daughter suddenly looks completely different? Not only that, but we would attract too many unwanted attention."
Harry nodded in understanding. Of course, such a thing was likely to attract not only the wizarding world's attention, but also Voldemort's. "So you're looking for a house here?"
Hermione smiled and nodded. "Yes, my parents asked me if I had any preferences, and since I could choose, I asked for some place close to either you or Ron. It seems there's no muggle village near where Ron lives so we've come here to see if we can find anything."
They stayed silent for a few long moments before Hermione spoke again. "So, you didn't answer my question when you wrote me back. Have you heard anything from your father?"
Harry tensed next to her. "No."
Hermione looked at him and then nodded, understanding the deep sadness and pain etched in his eyes. "I see."
Looking closer, she noticed the clothes he was wearing seemed to fit him even worse than before. Smiling at her sudden idea, she took his hand and forced him to get up. Harry stumbled a bit before regaining his balance. "Chiara! What are you doing?"
The girl laughed and started to drag him away from the house. "We are going to get you some decent clothes."
Harry blushed a bit but started to struggle against her grip. "But Chi, I don't have any money here, much less muggle money!"
The girl shrugged. "No matter, we'll ask some of my parents, and you can repay us when we go to Diagon Alley."
Harry tried to say more, but his friend didn't want to listen to him and just kept walking.
Neither noticed when they passed an old lady on their way to find Hermione's parents. The woman glanced at them questioningly, wondering who they were since she had never seen them before, and they seemed familiar. After she saw the pair disappear around the corner, she turned to gaze at the house they had just come from. Her placid expression changed into a frown when she noticed it was the Dursley's house. She hadn't seen Harry in a few days and the sudden appearance of two unknown teenagers made her nervous. Quickly, she hurried back to her house; she had to warn Dumbledore, especially now that she had figured out why the two teens seemed familiar. She could swear the girl was a Malfoy; she had the same eyes and hair as Lucius, but yet her features weren't the same. On the other hand, the boy strongly reminded her of Severus Snape. Yes, she needed to speak with Dumbledore.
Using the emergency portkey she always kept in her house, she arrived at Hogsmeade and started the short walk up to the castle. Once she entered, she noticed the time and headed towards the Great Hall, since everyone would be there having lunch. She was not very surprised to see several people sitting in the Hall, most of the teachers had foregone their holidays and decided to stay at the castle to help Dumbledore out; besides them, several aurors and other members of the Order of the Phoenix were sitting there talking softly. Everyone stopped to look at her when she hurried in. The old headmaster rose slowly from his seat, clearly wondering why she was there.
"Welcome, Arabella, we weren't expecting you."
The old woman stopped before him and nodded her head slightly, and then she glanced at the Potions Master, who was looking at her in disinterest. She couldn't help but wonder what those black eyes were hiding.
"Arabella?"
She snapped her attention back to Dumbledore. "I apologise. Something a bit strange happened today at Privet Drive, Albus."
The old man frowned slightly and motioned for her to sit down in an empty seat at the circular table. "Is young Mr. Potter in danger?"
The woman sat down and shook her head slightly. "Not as far as I know. It's just, I saw two strange teens coming out from his house."
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "The boy is allowed to have friends, Arabella."
The woman scowled at him. "Might I remind you, Albus, that Harry has not had any muggle friends.ever. The Dursley boy made sure of it."
The headmaster's eyes saddened a bit, and he held up his hands. "Maybe they came to see the Dursley boy?"
"That could be, except for the fact that the girl looked like a Malfoy."
Everyone's attention turned towards her. Dumbledore was now frowning. "A Malfoy? Are you sure, Arabella?"
The woman saw him glance slightly towards the potions master but the younger man didn't seem to notice; he was growing paler by the minute, and he seemed to be trying to remember something. Turning towards the old man, she nodded slightly. "Yes, very sure. Who wouldn't recognize that hair?"
Dumbledore turned towards his potions master. "Severus, do you know who it might be? I wasn't aware that the Malfoys had any girl in their family of Harry's age."
The younger man snapped out of his pensive mood and looked at him through hooded black eyes. Dumbledore frowned following the man's thoughts, and in a soft voice, he tried to comfort him. "Severus, Dalila died all those years back, remember? It couldn't be her."
Severus rolled his eyes slightly, but ignored his words, turning towards the woman. "What about the boy, Arabella?"
The woman shifted uncomfortably. "The boy looked just like you, Severus."
The potions master nodded but didn't look very surprised at the news. Dumbledore, on the other hand, was looking more worried by the minute. Everyone else was looking on silently. Most knew what this was about; they had all known about Severus' children and their tragic end.
Dumbledore's firm voice broke the strained silence. "Severus, those two teens can not be Dalila and Darrick; they are dead."
The old man looked worried at his potions master, who had by now stood up. The young man turned to him with a twinkle in his black eyes and a small smile on his lips, which made Dumbledore even more uncomfortable.
"It's reassuring to know that I am still able to keep some things from you, Albus."
Everyone frowned. "What do you mean, Severus?"
The younger man didn't reply, instead he picked up his cloak and put it around his shoulders, clearly intending to leave. Dumbledore stood up too, wondering how he would convince the other man that his son and daughter couldn't be alive. He was very well aware how much their deaths had hurt the younger wizard, but he had thought he was over it. Before he had the chance to say anything, the doors slammed open for the second time. Standing there was a strange teenager. Arabella noticed he looked a lot like the girl she had seen barely an hour ago. The young man seemed to be in shock and was looking around with frantic eyes. His eyes finally locked with the dark eyes of the potions master and he ran to his arms.
"Uncle Sev! Dad said I wasn't his son, why did he say that? Why did I change? I asked him but he told me that if I had to know, I had to come and talk to you. He said he would disown me if I came, but I needed to know the truth, please, Uncle Sev, what's going on?"
Everyone was frozen in place, slowly coming to the same conclusion. Severus was the only one that didn't show any surprise; instead, he looked annoyed, muttering about idiot Malfoys, while hugging the boy against him.
The old headmaster sat heavily down and looked at the teenager. "Severus?"
The younger man looked up and his scowl was replaced with a smirk. "Mmh, did you know that Lucius Malfoy isn't able to have children?"
Many unbelieving looks met his amused gaze, Dumbledore looked at him surprised. "You mean it was Lucius who killed..."
Severus' eyes turned sad and he looked down at his godson. "Yes. Lucius needed an heir, and since he couldn't get one of his own, he decided to take his sister's son. At first he demanded she give Darrick to him, but she refused, and it became her death."
Dumbledore shook his head. "All this time you knew..."
Snape looked up with furious eyes. "And what should I have done? Voldemort approved, and if I had gone against him, you would not only have lost your spy, but I would be dead. And after Voldemort, do you honestly think anyone would believe me over Malfoy?" Stroking the boy's hair, he continued in a soft voice. "Even if I didn't want it, I knew Darrick would have a good childhood with Lucius, maybe even better than what I could have given him."
Remus, who had been sitting silently until now, spoke. "Then, the girl Arabella saw was Dalila?"
Snape nodded slightly. "Probably." Assuming they wanted an explanation, he continued. "Lucius didn't want nor did he need Dalila, so Voldemort gave her back to me with the express orders to kill her; after all, her appearance would show that the children hadn't died, and everyone would start to wonder about Malfoy's son."
Remus grimaced. "That's sick."
Snape rolled his eyes. "We're talking about Voldemort, Lupin, he is sick. Obviously, I couldn't kill her, so I put her in a muggle orphanage knowing that being still young, she had a good chance to be adopted. At first I wanted to keep track of her, but soon decided it would be much safer if I just didn't know; this way no one would be able to force me to tell them where she was."
Dumbledore frowned. "How did you conceal her appearance? It would be easy to track her down looking like a Malfoy. Besides, young Mister Malfoy seems to have changed a great deal too."
Severus frowned; they were starting to get to parts of his history he didn't want to tell, not yet at least. "Lily helped me."
A few heads snapped up, Lupin being the first to speak. "Lily knew about this?"
Severus nodded reluctantly. "You know she was the best in charms, she charmed Dalila and made sure the concealment charms wouldn't drop until her fifteenth birthday. That was yesterday. I'm guessing Lucius did the same to Darrick to make him look like him."
Sighing, he held up a hand before anyone could question him further. "Look, I understand you have a lot of questions, and I can already tell you there's a lot more to this story than you know, but if I start now, I won't get around to pick up Dalila and her friend. I only want to tell things once and they need to hear it too." He grimaced slightly. "I should have gone to get them long ago, at least Zach; he probably loathes me right now, not that I blame him."
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Zach?"
Severus nodded sadly. "Later, Albus." Turning towards the boy that was still clinging to him, he spoke softly. "Do you want to stay here, or do you want to come with me."
The teen hugged him closer. "I want to come."
Severus nodded and pried his arms from his waist, keeping one of the boy's hands in his. "Come on then." Turning to the room, he nodded slightly. "I'll be back soon."
Without another word they left the hall, leaving behind a confused and curious group.
To be continued...
A/N: Thanks for all reviews. Thanks to my beta reader, Vinnie.
