Nicoletta quickly and eagerly hurried through the halls of Hogwarts. She had just finished her lunch with her friends and now she was going to her very first class with her dad. She didn't know what to expect, but so far her day was going pretty well. She noticed that her Potions class was with the Slytherins, and she wasn't sure how she felt about that. She'd been hearing snickers and jibes in the hallways all day, but she had been able to ignore it. Thanks to the careful monitoring of the Great Hall at mealtimes, no one had approached her. But now what would happen with being in a classroom full of them.

"You're awful quiet, Nicoletta," James remarked, looking at her as they approached the dungeons. "Worried about class with your dad?"

"Least maybe the old bat won't take as many points off Gryffindor now that his kid is in here," Brian McLaggen commented.

"I'm warning you, McLaggen," James said, glaring at him, "if you don't watch it, I'm going to..."

"You're going to what?" Brian asked, turning toward him and holding up his wand.

"James, don't start anything," Nicoletta said, touching his arm gently. "He's not worth it."

"You're right. You know, I've heard about your father, McLaggen. From what I've heard, maybe he shoulda been put in Slytherin," James said, opening the door to the Potions classroom.

"You'll pay for that!" Brian said, raising his fist to hit James.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Mr. McLaggen," a voice said from within the classroom. "Not unless you want to add another detention to the one you already received today." He looked at the group of students gathered there. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

Nicoletta followed the other students into the classroom and was surprised to see that the Slytherin students were already there. There were snickers and whispers from the Slytherin side of the room as she entered and took a seat with Molly and Emily.

"Quiet," her dad said, taking his place at the front of the classroom. "Potions is is an exact science. You have to pay attention in this class, or else there will be dire consequences. it's not as easy as waving your wand or speaking an incantation." He went on to tell them about the rules in the classroom and then gave them instructions for a basic potion and then began walking around the classroom, dismissing the different tables to get ingredients from the student cupboards.

Having watched her dad brew this potion many times, Nicoletta was sure about what to do and knew that she could do it without trouble. She was almost finished the potion when...

BANG! The cauldron exploded and the potion was all over her and Molly. A roar of laughter came from the Slytherin side of the room.

"That's pretty bad, when Snape's own daughter can't brew a simple potion," one of the Slytherin boys said.

"Yeah, maybe it's the Mudblood in her," another Slytherin boy added.

"Detention, Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Malfoy. And fifty points each from Slytherin," her dad said, glaring at the two boys. "Miss Snape and Miss Weasley, come here," he said, gesturing to his desk and handing them each a bottle when they arrived. "Drink that. It will get rid of the swelling."

Once they had gone back to their table, he looked at the class in general. "And just in case anyone else decides to sabotage anyone else's potion, you should be aware that I have installed a special camera in each corner of the classroom. Nothing that you do will be unseen."

The rest of the class passed without incident and they were finished with classes for the day.

"Miss Snape, I would like to see you in my office before you go back to the dorms," her dad said before exiting the room.

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Nicoletta sat in the first year dormitory with her curtains drawn around her, her knees drawn up to her chest,and her arms wrapped around them. Tears were silently falling down her cheeks, and every once in a while she would sniffle quietly. The conversation that she'd had with her father ran through her head.

i"Nicoletta," her dad said, taking her into his office, "how has your day been going?"

"Good, I really like my classes. I'm really sorry about what happened in Potions," she said, looking at him.

"That was not your fault. Never apologize for something you did not do." He put his arm around her and gave her a hug. "I need to talk to you about something." He gestured to the sofa which was in his office and sat down, patting the seat next to him.

"What is it, Dad?" Nicoletta asked, sitting down beside him.

"Your mother is going to be coming to Hogwarts tomorrow to stay with me. But there is something that you should know about." Her dad's eyes were serious as he looked at her.

"She's okay, isn't she? She didn't get worse?" Nicoletta's voice was full of worry and her small brow creased in a frown.

Her dad sighed and ran his hand over his hair, a gesture she recognized as one he did when he had something that he didn't want to tell her. "She's fine. But there was something that happened at the hospital. She was upset by one of the Aurors. I wanted you to hear it from me before you heard it from someone else. The Auror who upset your mother was Emily's father."

"Why would he do that?" Nicoletta asked, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"For the same reason the Slytherins are teasing you. Your dad and Emily's dad used to be friends many years ago. Then something happened to change their friendship..." /i

"Nicolettta! Are you in here?" Emily's voice startled her out of her thoughts and looked up.

"Maybe she's in the library," Molly's voice piped up.

"No, I don't think so. I remember seeing her come up here and I haven't seen her come back down," Emily replied. "Look, her curtains are drawn. Come on, Nicoletta," Emily called, opening her curtains, "it's almost time for din-" Emily stopped when she saw the tears on her friend's face. "Nicoletta, what's wrong?"

"How could your dad do that to my mum?" Nicoletta asked, looking right at Emily.