The hat sat on Elizabeth's head, and whispered in her ear. "Ah, so many choices with you… Slytherin and Gryffindor blood both, I see. Not a bad mind, though. Of course I'd imagine your father would like you to be in his house." Elizabeth looked out over the students, and her eyes fell on the Slytherin table. There was something about that table… everyone at it looked a little… angry. The hat was droning on, waffling in its decision until finally Elizabeth whispered.

"Not Slytherin. Please. Not Slytherin."

"Not Slytherin? Are you sure? You'd be great."

"Not Slytherin." Elizabeth pleaded one more time.

"Alright then, if not Slytherin, better be… GRYFFINDOR!" The hat screamed the last word to the hall, and the Gryffindor table erupted into cheers.

"We got Evans!" The Weasley twins were high-fiving everyone who would return the favor.

Elizabeth slipped off the stool, not looking behind her. She didn't want to see the disappointment in her father's eyes.

At the teacher's table, Severus continued to sip the pumpkin juice in his goblet, waiting for Elizabeth to turn around. When she didn't, he sat back in his chair. I wonder what that's about? He looked at Minerva. She was giving him an "I won" sort of look. He scowled in response, and watched Elizabeth sit beside Ron Weasley at the Gryffindor table. The trim on her grey uniform had turned scarlet and gold. Just like Lily, he thought fondly.

*S*S*

A knock on his chamber door around 11:30 startled Severus out of his trance over his nightly cup of tea. It didn't come from the door that connected his chambers to the Slytherin common room, which is where he would have expected it. He usually stayed up a bit later the first few nights of school, ready for homesick first-years.

He opened his hallway door to reveal his daughter.

"Elizabeth! What are you doing out of bed at this hour?" He pulled her inside and closed the door. "Sit." He pointed to the sofa, then firecalled Minerva.

"You're missing a lion, I'm afraid." He said, irritated that it was so easy to slip out of the Gryffindor common room.

"Is she alright?" Miverva's head asked.

"As far as I know. What is the penalty for being out after curfew in Gryffindor, Professor?"

"Detention." Minerva sighed. "Would you like her to serve it with me or with you?"

"I'll take care of it. We're going to talk."

"Let me know if you aren't bringing her back tonight."

Snape nodded, pulled his head out of the fireplace, and turned to Elizabeth. "What were you thinking? It's your first night, and already you're out after curfew!" Elizabeth looked down at the floor. "Well?"

"I needed to talk to you."

"Well then you go to your head of house and she will let you use her floo."

"I didn't know I could do that."

Severus sighed and sat down beside her. "What did you want to talk about?" His tone was quieter now.

"Umm… Are you angry?"

"Of course I am. This is not a castle to be roaming around in the middle of the night."

"Not about that…" Elizabeth paused. "About the sorting." She played with a string that was coming loose on the sofa.

Something clicked in Severus' head. Of course. That's why she hadn't looked at him at dinner. She thought he was upset she wasn't in Slytherin. "Elizabeth." He tilted her face up to look at him. "It doesn't matter to me what house you are in. The hat places students where their talents are most able to be utilized." He looked into her eyes. "You, my child, have your mother's heart. There's only one place in this school where such self-sacrifice is encouraged, and that's where you are. Now." He straightened. "That is not an excuse to be reckless. Just because you have absolutely no self-preservation instinct, doesn't mean you shouldn't try to develop one."

Elizabeth nodded. "I didn't really think…"

"I know. That's what always happens." He ran his hand through his hair. "You have detention with me tomorrow at 7. Meet me in my office."

"Yes, sir."

Severus put one arm around her shoulders. "Do you want to sleep here? Or go back to the dorm?"

Elizabeth had an urge to sleep in her room in the dungeons, but she wasn't sure how she'd explain that to her new classmates.

"I guess I'll go back."

Severus nodded. "Good. I'm sure there is some foolery going on in the Tower tonight, since Minerva doesn't seem to monitor her house." He smiled gently. "Maybe it's good that you aren't a Slytherin. You get enough of me breathing down your neck at home." Elizabeth smiled ruefully and learned against his side.

"I really am sorry about coming down here."

"You don't need to be sorry about coming, Elizabeth. You just need to do it correctly next time. After curfew, you go through your Head of House. Clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Alright then, let's go."

He walked her to the Fat Lady, waited while she said the password and stepped inside. He didn't bother directing her to bed, knowing from the noise that the common room was still full. He turned and went back down to the dungeons, taking to brief detour through his own common room to make sure that his students were conforming to their bed time. As he'd hoped, the only ones left in the common room were a few 6th years who were allowed to up because they would need to study for NEWTS, and 7th years who Severus allowed to do just about anything as long as they weren't destructive or out after curfew.

Back in his room, he lay down, with only enough energy to glare at Lily's portrait, in which she was still doing her "Elizabeth is a Gryffindor" dance. "Watch it, Evans. I'll send you back to Spinner's End." Lily just laughed and blew him a kiss as he drifted off.

*S*S*

Two hours of scrubbing cauldrons in silence was not at all Elizabeth's idea of a good time. At 9 o'clock, she snuck a look at Severus, who was grading papers behind his desk. "Professor?"

Severus looked up. "Yes?"

"Couldn't you just use a spell to clean these?"

Severus raised an eyebrow. "I could, but I've found that scrubbing cauldrons is an excellent way to modify behavior." He glanced at his watch. "You're done for the night. Come here for a moment." He turned his chair to the side as she came around the desk. His eyes were almost level with hers when he sat. "Why did you call me 'Professor' just now?" He stood her between his knees.

"Umm… I guess… I thought, since I was in trouble…"

Severus smirked. "Am I not your father when you're in trouble?" His voice was gentle, curious.

"Yes, sir." Elizabeth smiled a little.

"You call me 'Professor' in class, but that's it, understand? I'm you father first. Always." Elizabeth nodded, and put her arms around his neck. Severus held her until she pulled away.

"See you tomorrow?"

Severus nodded. "At breakfast. Hopefully we don't have to make a habit out of this evening nonsense, Elizabeth Rose."

"No, sir."

"Good. Now you have to get to your dorm. I want you in bed in half an hour."

"Yes, Dad." She kissed his cheek and all but ran from the room.

Severus watched her go, rolling his eyes at her exuberance. How different she was from the terrified little girl he'd discovered on the floor of the Dursleys' kitchen.

*S*S*

Thursday night, Elizabeth was sitting in a chair in the common room with Ron when Fred came in and pushed his brother off his chair. "So you guys have Potions tomorrow?" He'd overheard Ron complaining at dinner.

"Yeah, double with Slytherin." Ron picked himself up off the floor.

"Man, that's the worst. Snape loves his snakes, Gryffindors don't stand a chance in that class."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "I don't know why you are all so afraid of him."

"You haven't seen your dad in class, Elizabeth. You just wait. He's a terror."

"He says he has to be that way so that no one gets killed." Elizabeth said, feeling a bit protective over her father.

"Transfiguration is more dangerous, and McGonagall isn't like that." Fred rolled his eyes.

"She kind of is…" Ron related their experience, earlier that day, when McGonagall had threatened to turn one of them into a pocket watch because they were late.

"Well, watch your step in Potions. First year Gryffindors always have double potions with Slytherin. There's kind of an… unspoken rule." Fred paused.

"What?"

"Don't answer questions, or at least don't answer them correctly. Don't do anything that would show up a Slytherin or there's trouble later. Percy answered a question his first year and a Slytherin hexed him after class so that one of his legs was longer than the other for the rest of the day."

Elizabeth looked at him in shock. "But… didn't he tell someone?"

"Why? Then he's not only a show-off but a rat too." Fred looked at both of them. "I tell you this because you're my brother and you," he looked at Elizabeth, "are a cute kid. Watch your nose. And spread the word, especially with Granger. She's most likely to know something anyway." With that, Fred was gone, and Ron and Elizabeth were left sitting, bewildered, in the common room.

*S*S*

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of Potionmaking." Professor Snape stood at the front of the classroom. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses… I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death— if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

Elizabeth listened to his speech, praying that he wouldn't be calling on anyone today. "Evans!" Elizabeth groaned inwardly. "What would I get if I added powered rood of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Severus looked at his daughter.

"I don't know, sir." Elizabeth said quietly.

Severus narrowed his eyes slightly. They'd studied that part of the book the week before. She knew this material. He saw Hermoine's hand out of the corner of his eyes, but he ignored it, wanting to get to the bottom of the nonsense his daughter was giving him.

"Let's try again. Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

"I don't know, sir." Elizabeth's eyes were pleading with him. Malfoy's hand was up across the aisle, but again Severus ignored the alternative.

"What is the difference, Miss Evans, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

"I don't know, sir." Elizabeth looked at Malfoy. "I think Draco does, though, why don't you try him?"

Severus was appalled. How dare she pretend she didn't know the information and then be so snotty? "For your information, Miss Evans, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite." He cast a terrifying stare at the rest of the class. "Well? Why aren't you writing this down?" He turned back to his daughter. "5 points from Gryffindor, Miss Evans, for your disrespectful tone."

The rest of the period went no better, but at least Elizabeth was spared the spotlight as Neville almost blew up the dungeon with his potion. "Merlin, Elizabeth. Your own dad taking points from you?" Ron whispered under the commotion.

Finally, the hour ended, and Snape declared them dismissed. Except, of course, for…

"Miss Evans, stay behind." Elizabeth knew that tone, low and silky. It was dangerous when he sounded like that.

"Would you like to explain yourself, young lady?"

"I'm sorry, Dad. I didn't mean to be disrespectful."

"We'll discuss that in a moment. I'm asking if you'd like to explain why you pretended not to know the answers to the questions I asked you." Severus crossed his arms over his chest.

Elizabeth looked down at the worktable. "I couldn't remember the answers."

Severus sighed. "My office." He pointed at the door. The trip to the office was short and quiet, with Elizabeth becoming more and more uncomfortable with each step.

When they arrived, Severus gestured to the chair before his desk. "Sit." He ordered. She obeyed, and after a moment, he spoke again. "Elizabeth, if you genuinely had trouble remembering material, we would be finished with this conversation. But memory is not one of your faults. However, lying is. Luckily for me, you aren't good at it. So why don't you tell me what you were thinking?"

Elizabeth took a deep breath. "Have you ever noticed that Gryffindors don't answer questions in the first class?"

"Elizabeth, students rarely answer questions in the first class, period. No matter their house. I called on you because I thought I'd get an answer and could move on. A good example for everyone else. But that's not what I got, is it?"

"No, sir. But there's a reason that Gryffindors don't answer the questions."

Severus groaned. "That kind of crack-pot pact has your house arranged to make me crazy, Elizabeth?"

"It's not my house, sir. It's yours." She looked down at her hands. "Any Gryffindor that shows up a Slytherin by answering questions or getting a potion correct in the first class is… a target later."

"What are you talking about?"

"If a Gryffindor makes themselves look good in your class the first day, older Slytherins hex them later. Percy's first year, he answered a question you asked and he had to walk around the rest of the day with one leg longer than the other." Elizabeth looked up. "I'm sorry. I just didn't want…" She trailed off when she saw Severus' face.

"Are they still doing that?"

Elizabeth looked in surprise at her father. "What do you mean, 'still'?"

Severus leaned back in his chair. "When I was your age, it was a school-wide 'thing'. I remember my first class, double transfiguration with Gryffindor." He sighed. "I didn't answer either."

"Bet Grandma didn't keep pushing you though."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Your grandmother didn't know I knew anything. I thought we'd squelched this ridiculous little war. We'll have to re-examine it." He frowned. "Speaking of me pushing you, we need to discuss your attitude."

"I didn't know how to make you stop!" Elizabeth protested, trying to dig herself out of trouble.

Severus shook his head. "Elizabeth Evans, when did you find out about this nonsense?"

"Last night." Elizabeth examined the toes of her shoes.

"And was there a time between last night and class this morning that you could have come to me?"

"Yes, sir."

"Was there a time during the class that you could have asked to speak to me privately?"

"Yes, sir."

"Would it have been out of the question to answer the question and then speak to me after class?"

"No, sir."

"Well, then. It seems that in addition to your disrespectful attitude, you are also guilty of lying to me before when I asked you to explain yourself, and hiding information from me, which put you in danger. Have I left anything out?"

"No, sir." Elizabeth's eyes were glued to the floor. "I'm sorry, dad."

"I know. But you know that hiding information from me is really the worst thing, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"Come here." Elizabeth dragged her feet until she arrived at his side. Severus sighed, and put his arms around her. "If I were my father, I'd beat you senseless," he scolded. "How many times do I have to remind you that it's my job to take care of you?"

Elizabeth laid her head on his shoulder, not at all fazed by his threat. The lying was going to cost her some kind of punishment, but she was certain that she would retain her sense. "It's hard."

Severus leaned back, remembering how distrustful he'd been after years of his father's abuse. "I know. But listen to me." He tilted his head to look at her. "You have to trust me. There are many people in our world that love you, and there are many who see you as the downfall of their dark leader." He fixed her with a stern look. "So I need to know when you feel threatened. Although I suppose I'm glad to know that you felt fear in this situation. Proves that you can."

"I just didn't want to be a baby."

"Well, unfortunately for you, you will always be my baby." He dropped a kiss on her forehead. "Even more unfortunate is that you chose to lie to me today." He raised an eyebrow. "I want you in our quarters directly after your last class today. You'll stay until Sunday evening. Make sure you bring your homework, because you will have plenty of study time."