"It means that you are currently sitting in the presence of the leader of the primary resistance group against the Dark Lord, and his Death Eater spy. I trust you don't have to guess which is which?"
He didn't want to look at her, not after what he'd just said. But he had to know her reaction to his words, otherwise there would be no going forward. A part of him hoped she didn't know what a Death Eater was, but he knew better than to count on her ignorance. She'd already shown she was knowledgeable about events that had happened an ocean away, and he just knew that things would get worse before she understood.
'But can she ever truly understand? All that has happened thus far was to protect her from the next two months before she can be kept behind these walls for the better part of the year. All so that she can be safe from what the other children will have to endure. Without the experience of what it means to be one of them, she can't understand. And I refuse to let it happen.'
Alice's grip on her tea cup tightened enough that a minor thought ran through her head that she might end up breaking it. The major thought, however, made her want to run again. 'Oh God, I'm sitting next to a 'might be, could be' murderer who happens to be my father.' But this time she had no idea where she could go. She knew that Death Eaters were the followers of Voldemort, that many had been convicted of murder and mass terror and were consequently sent to prison.
She turned to Dumbledore. "I want to go home, right now!" She put her tea cup down atop one of the stacks of parchment on the cluttered desk, picked up her bag and stood. She was shaking, her anxiety getting the best of her. "Take me home!" She kept her eyes on Dumbledore, not wanting to even look at Severus now.
But Dumbledore remained calm and composed, having anticipated such a reaction. He knew her outburst was due to fear and lack of knowledge. He could only hope that he might placate her, and soon. A quick glance at his potions professor and he knew that it might be best if he, himself did more of the talking. Decades of teaching and dealing with children and teenagers had given him an advantage that he fully intended to use. He worried too that Severus would speak to her as though she were only his student, which would only be to his detriment. She might never get along with him then.
"I'm sorry, but that is not currently an option. You see, those papers that your father signed back in New York were dated for late August, nearly two months from now. Mr. Jackson has been kind enough to help us with some 'missing paperwork' until those papers can be filed. Your birth certificate has been filed away for the time being, and on paper you are considered MIA. It is because of this that nothing can be officially verified. In the time between now and the week before school begins on September first, you will be kept in a safe house in London."
Alice sat back down, trying to process what had been done. "I don't understand. Why are you doing all this?" Severus was trying not to look at her, didn't want to speak for fear of causing another outburst. Albus had no problems with continuing.
"You seem to know enough about Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters to realize that they inspire terror to many. Where they go, death and destruction tend to follow. But what else do you know of them?"
She tried to recall other facts from her history textbook, which was actually sitting in her magically expanded backpack. "They believe in blood purity, that muggleborns and muggles are inferior to them."
Dumbledore nodded and took a sip of his tea. "That is the basis upon which they operate. Cleansing the world of those of lesser blood. But I must ask: do you believe in such a philosophy?"
Both men looked at her and took in her stricken face. She felt horrified that she had even been asked, but a small part of her wondered if this was some sort of test. She had a sinking feeling that it was, that they needed to know her stand on the subject. She wouldn't disappoint.
"I don't. I couldn't care less if someone has magic, or if their parents did or didn't. It doesn't matter."
A wistful look came over Severus' face as he raised his teacup to his mouth. A small smile, one that Alice thought was a bit sad, came over Albus' face.
"And that, my dear, is why you must remain hidden until you can be kept safely here at Hogwarts."
A questioning look came over Alice's face. "I don't understand."
Dumbledore took a breath, and began to explain. "Over thirteen years ago, after Voldemort's defeat, many of his followers were rounded up and sent to Azkaban Prison. But some managed to escape their imprisonment by claiming to be under the Imperious Curse. They claimed they had no control over their actions and feigned innocence. Few even offered monetary compensation for their wrongdoings. As you might imagine, these people had children, into whom their pureblood ideals have been impressed. But you, you were clearly not raised with such morals. Severus, perhaps you might expand on this a bit?"
Severus, though it was plain as day that he was uncomfortable with the topic, understood that it might be best if this came from him. "During the previous war, the children of Death Eaters were to be supportive of their parents and the pureblooded ideals. Some were even expected to participate in certain 'activities'." Alice thought she might be sick at this point, and he hadn't even finished speaking yet.
"Some of them, however, wouldn't conform to those beliefs and were often punished, or went through what they called 'reconditioning'." He took another sip of his tea before looked at her. "You don't hold those beliefs either. And because you currently have no way to hide it from the other Death Eaters, who you would most certainly be around, cannot be found out until you are someplace they cannot get to you."
With more answers came even more questions, ones Alice wasn't sure she wanted to know. But there was one she knew she had to ask, that was probably the most important of all. "Why do you care?"
Severus was afraid she might ask that. He'd never been one to be vocal on his feelings, and trying to explain to this girl, his girl, that despite knowing she was his for so little a time, that he cared for her was difficult. He could have spouted off that it was because he was responsible for her now, her well being and all that. It was far more than just that. He wasn't ready to say anything of that yet, though. But she needed an answer, and he had to give her one. "Because you are a child, you don't deserved to be punished for believing what you do, and I won't allow it."
