Sorry for the delay I was going up update on Wednesday but my boyfriend hogged the computer. *eye roll* Anyway here it is.

Monday 2nd September 1991

Morning
Before Breakfast

Waking up after the bell for once was a luxury. Abigail had a horrible habit of waking up horribly early even when she went to bed late. Feeling awake for the first time in a while, however, wasn't likely to last long.

Someone banged on the bedroom door.

"Severus!" a rasping voice called out.

Instantly alert I picked up my wand and strode to the other side of the room and pulled the door open. Lucius fell into me. Lowering him to the floor I noticed how feverish he was. Shaking all over and doing his best to stay conscious he tried to take something from his pocket. I ignored him and ran a diagnostic spell over him. He was suffering a major salt overdose as well as organ failure. Fortunately I had the relevant potions on the shelf in the lounge.

"Give this…" Lucius started foaming at the mouth.

Quickly accio'ing everything I needed I began pouring potions into his mouth, first the instant hydrator. Then there was a blood cleanser, liver growth stimulator and then a stomach calming draught so that he wouldn't regurgitate the potions he'd just swallowed. Alone the potions were innocuous enough but together the stomach tried to repel them.

"Sev!" Abigail called.

"Oh for the love of…"

Instead of cursing I pulled Lucius into my bedroom and booted the door closed. I locked it shut and lay Lucius flat on the floor. His fever had reduced and he was breathing normally.

"Sev!"

"In a minute, Abigail." I called and whispered to Lucius, "Did you succeed?"

"Yes." He choked out. "I –"

"Sev!" Abigail called and knocked on the door.

"Dumbledore…"

"Se –Lucius!"

Abigail was suddenly by Lucius's side and held his hand. She looked rightly scared and her cheeks drained with colour.

"What can I do?" she asked.

I had fully expected her to panic or cry at the very least. Instead she looked at Lucius with calm, confident eyes, brushed his hair back from his face and smiled at him. Her voice was level and held all the authority of an Order member. She, eleven years old and acting much beyond her years, assured me she'd survive the Dark Lord in that moment.

"Bring Albus."

She nodded and left without hesitation.

Pulling Lucius's arm around my shoulder I dragged him over to the bed and lay him on it. He seemed intent on reaching into his pocket so I put him out of his misery and did it for him. Inside it was a smooth object on a chain. I pulled it out to see a Slytherin heirloom. It was a locket with an amber front with the letter 'S' inlayed into it. Evil permeated it. It was like a mist had clouded the room and sent us to the pits of hell.

"Dumbledore." Lucius said once again. "Must give it to Dumbledore."

"I will." I said pushing him back to the pillows. "Drink this."

I pushed another potion to his lips and, the fool, drank it instantly. Dreamless sleep. Peace fell over his features and his eyes slowly closed, a trademark I've-been-an-idiot smirk in his eyes. Moving to the floo I called Narcissa.

Dumbledore tried to get rid of me as soon as I had given him the locket.

"Albus, do not expect me to leave until you have given me an explanation." I drawled.

"It must be destroyed. You cannot be here in case Tom realises one day. You must leave, my boy."

"Very well. If you are not down for breakfast I will come looking for you."

Morning
Breakfast

I got down to breakfast late for the first time ever. I was surprised to see Draco but one glance at Severus told me not to say anything to him. I nodded in response and sat at the Gryffindor table next to Hermione of all people. All she'd done last night was sit and read books and told the rest of us in the dorm we were being too loud.

I was rooming with a blonde curly haired girl called Lavender Brown. I thought she was a bit silly and gossiped too much but she was a good laugh last night. Then there was Pavarti Patil. She giggled a lot, was intelligent and kind but a little too much of a gossip as well. Still I would have rather been sat with Lavender and her than Hermione. She had her nose in her book already and was haughtily ignoring everyone and muttered something along the lines of all of us being whimsical about our education and should be studying.

"Morning, Abigail." Harry greeted with a smile.

"Morning." Ron said and then made a face when he saw who I was sat next to.

I began filling my plate with food and Ron and Harry did the same.

"So what do you think we'll be doing today?" Harry asked.

"Not sure." I replied.

"Professor McGonagall is going to give us our timetables in a few minutes I read all about it in –"

"Hogwarts: A History, I know." I interrupted Hermione. "I witness this every year, remember. She waits until she finishes her breakfast and then gives them out." I shrugged. "The same every year. Here she comes look." I pointed down the table.

Minerva was wearing her infamous green robes and pointed hat that sat lopsided on her head with a feather in the rim. She walked down the table towards us first years who had all subconsciously sat together.

"These are your timetables. I expect you to attend all lessons all of the time. Unauthorised absences will be dealt with severe punishments and the loss of house points. Are there any questions?" Minerva asked as she gave the time tables out.

Everyone stayed slient.

"Good, then I wish you well on your first day of Hogwarts."

"Double potions after lunch!" Ron moaned. "Fred and George said he's a real git in class."

"Ron!" Harry hissed. "She's his sister."

"Errrmmm… I'm sure it'll be great." Ron smiled a little doubtfully.

I shook my head with a smile and turned back to my breakfast thinking about Lucius. After a moment I looked down to my timetable. First was defence against the dark arts with Slytherin, Herbology with Hufflepuff, charms with Slytherin and the double potions, again with Slytherin. I smiled to myself. I'd still be seeing a lot of Draco.

First Lesson

"Look what the mud dragged in. A filthy mudblood." Draco sneered.

We were stood outside Professor Lupin's classroom waiting for him to let us in. I wanted to tell Draco to stop being a spoiled brat but I knew that this was part of his act. He had to hate the Boy-Who-Lived even though they would probably be really good friends if it weren't for the fear of Riddle coming back. Being mean to Harry meant being mean to his friends as well. I sighed already hating what we had to do.

"Shut up, Malfoy." Harry growled and stepped in front of Hermione.

I wondered why he was defending her when he didn't seem to like her. Maybe he'd been bullied before. I sighed and leaned against the wall.

"What do you want, Potter?" Draco demanded.

"Leave her alone, Malfoy."

"Come in, first years!" Professor Lupin called as he opened the door.

The door I was leaning against. I fell backwards into him and landed on my bum. The Slytherins laughed at me but I guess Lupin gave them a look that told them all to be quiet because the laughing immediately stopped. I was helped up from the floor.

"Thanks, Professor." I said and blushed. "I – um – guess I shouldn't, err, lean on doors, huh?"

"No I guess not." Lupin smiled. "Wouldn't want your head of house to hear that you got injured in my classroom now, would we? Come in, come in." he ushered us all into the classroom and closed the door behind us.

I ended up sitting at the front next to Hermione. I rolled my eyes when she instantly took out parchment and a quill. She wrote the date at the top of the sheet. I had to give it to her – she had nice, smooth handwriting.

"Good morning, class. I'm Professor Lupin your defence against the dark arts professor. In this class I will be teaching you how to defend yourself against dark magic and how to cast offensive spells of your own. Bear in mind though that these spells are not to be used against each other in the corridors!"

The Slytherins began snickering amongst themselves.

"Now. I will begin today's lesson once I have taken the register."

He quickly called all of our names out pausing when he came across Harry's name and then mine. Whilst he seemed down right happy to see Harry he looked completely baffled when he found out he had a Miss Snape in his class. I rolled my eyes and answered wondering if he'd even been listening to the Sorting last night.

"Now the first spell we are going to use is the Knockback Jinx." He began a moment later. "It is a basic spell that every witch and wizard can learn. It can be used to break jars and pots and, more importantly and most usefully, to knock back your opponent. Can anyone tell me why this is useful?"

I already knew all this as Lucius had been teaching Draco and I this months ago so I kept silent. Unsurprisingly Hermione's hand went straight up.

"Miss Granger?"

"The knockback jinx is useful because when used effectively against an opponent it will give you time to hide, run away or hit them with another spell. Furthermore, it can be used to incapacitate your opponent if they hit a solid object such as a wall or if a heavy object hits them in the head." Hermione recited. And I mean recited. I had read that passage two days ago. It was on page three I think.

"Very good, Miss Granger. Five points to Gryffindor. The incantation is 'flipendo'. Repeat after me. Flipendo."

"Flipendo." We all chorused.

"Good. Now I'm going to give you all a cushion and when you've got one I want you to take your wands out and try the spell on the pillow."

Herbology

For Pomona's lesson we were led into the classroom located near the greenhouses. It was a small room with benches and tables sat in rows. Gryffindor took the first few rows and Slytherin took the back three. I was, once again sat next to Hermione with Neville on my left.

"Come along, children, hurry up and sit down. That's it. Sit nicely now so we can start the lesson." Pomona began in her mothering tone. "Now you won't need your wands today. Just parchment and a quill. Now, let's see."

She moved a few papers on the desk and found the register. She called our names out quickly and then got back to the lesson.

"Now to care for plants we need to make sure they get a few important things before we even begin to look at how to care for their individual needs. Can anyone tell me what all plants need, Abigail perhaps?"

I knew she'd pick on me. "Water, air, sunlight and soil."

"Can you tell me plant that needs large amounts of sunlight, but not much water?" she asked.

"The Echinopsis cactus."

"And where are they commonly found?"

"In areas of drought. They do, however, grow reasonably well in greenhouses."

"Do they have a medicinal use?"

"Yes. They contain a liquid which can be used in the healing of the mind if a small dose is used. If a large dose is used it can cause the patient to experience hallucinations and enter a state of delirium. It has been discovered that plants with four 'ribs' have a greater amount of this liquid meaning that it is also more potent thus they are widely harvested in the wizarding world, especially in hospitals that deal with those who are not sound of mind. The liquid has to be turned into a vapour and mixed with camomile oil to soothe the mind into a restful peace before the Echinopsis extract can take effect."

"Who did you learn this from?"

"Se… Errrr... Professor Snape." I replied.

"Can anyone tell me why asked Abigail to tell us this? Yes, Miss…."

"Hermione Granger." Of course it was. Didn't she know when to leave her hand under the desk and let someone else have a turn at answering questions?

"Herbology and Potions are strongly linked in that many of the ingredients we will be using for potions come from the plants in the green houses. The caring of the plants was learned by potioners and so one cannot exist without the other just as we cannot pass potions without herbology and vice versa."

"Excellent. Now I hope you have all taken notes on what Miss Granger has said. Five points to Miss Granger. Ten to Miss Snape for being able to remember all that. You said it quite well actually."

"Thanks Pom – Professor."

"Now, back to the real lesson, as Abigail quite rightly told us plants all need earth, air, water and sunlight. Can someone apart from Abigail and Hermione, tell me the difference between a flower growing plant and a fruit bearing plant."

"One has flowers the other had fruit." Draco said and the Slytherins snickered along with him.

Next to me Neville slowly put his hand up. Pomona asked him to answer.

"Flower bearing plants have seeds in the flowers. Fruit plants have blossoms which is how they get pollinated, but the fruit is where the seeds are."

"Well done, dear. Neville was it?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Well three points for Neville."

Charms

This time I managed to escape Hermione and sat next to Seamus. Harry was next to him on the other side and then there was Ron and then Hermione. We were doing the wingardium leviosa spell, or the hover charm. Filius told us first of all how charms and transfigurations were different and then he set us to making feather fly. I already knew how to do this one as I had 'borrowed' Sev's wand a couple of years ago and had a go myself. To say he wasn't impressed that I had stolen his wand was an understatement.

I was the first to get my feather to float in the air, followed immediately by Hermione who had just scaled Ron for saying it wrong. When Seamus had a go it lifted into the air just enough to explode right before his eyes.

"How the hell did you do that, Seamus?" I asked.

"I don't know. But I think I need a new feather."

"Is there a charm that will make it unbreakable, Sir?" Harry asked Filius.

"Yes. There is." Filius said as he placed another feather in front of Seamus. "Abigail, I assume you can do this one too?"

I pointed my wand at the feather. "Infragilis."

A gold light spread over the feather and then disappeared. Seamus had another go at the charm but it went wrong. The feather, thankfully, stayed still.

Lunch

"You're Professor Snape's sister right?" Ron asked at lunch.

"Yeah?" I replied not sure where this was going.

"Is he really as bad as everyone says?"

"Of course he is." Fred said.

"Worse sometimes." George said.

"Hi, Abigail!" they said together.

"Hi guys." I smiled. To Ron I said, "He's not that bad. Depends on how much he likes you and if you're in Slytherin or not."

"Long and short of it Ronnikins, is," George said.

"He won't like you." Fried said.

"Because you're a Gryffindor."

"And you're a Weasley."

"Good luck!" they said over their shoulders as they headed down the table to sit with their friends.

"I think I'm going to hide in the toilets for this lesson." Ron whimpered.

"Only girls do that, Ron." Harry smiled. "We have to go. It can't be that bad."

Potions

"Welcome," Severus said in anything but a welcoming tone, "to my potions classroom. Here I will teach you how to brew liquid death, healing potions and potions that will boggle the mind. In this class you will be working with potions that can kill you as fast as the blink of an eye. I do not expect any of you, least of all the Gryffindors, to understand and possess the fine art of potion brewing. This is a difficult subject by nature but one I expect you to grasp by the end of the year. You will all reach acceptable before long."

No wonder he never let me sit in on the first class of term. He was down right horrible to everyone.

"Mr. Potter, you arrogance surprises me. Just what are you doing with that quill?"

"Writing the date, Sir." Harry honestly replied.

"The date? The date will not save you in a battle, Potter. Tell me the properties of a mandrake plant?"

Harry stayed silent whilst Hermione shot her hand into the air. Once again I was sat next to her.

"I don't know, Sir."

"What potions are moonstones used in?"

Hermione's hand shot up again.

"I don't know, Sir."

"The difference between the root of asphodel and the royal staff?"

This time Hermione bounced in her chair.

"I –I don't –"

"Which potion is monkshood used in?"

This time I grabbed Hermione's wrist before she could raise her hand. She glared at me but I ignored her and faced the front of the class.

"It seems that fame does not make you intelligent. I suggest, Potter, that you save your strength to paying attention in class."

Severus got on with his lesson shortly there after setting us book work to do. I worked through the questions quickly as I already knew the answers – oh the hazards of living with a potions master – and then sat quietly for a moment as Severus was busy stalking down the rows of chairs and would get to me shortly.

"What did you do that for?" Hermione hissed.

"Do what?" I whispered back.

"You pulled my hand down when I was trying to answer a question! It hurt you know!"

"In case you hadn't noticed Severus wasn't going to ask you to answer. I've known the answers since I was seven but you didn't see me being an insufferable know-it-all, Did you?"

"But I was only –"

"Miss Granger you are talking out of turn. Five points from Gryffindor. For tomorrow's class I expect you all to memorise the instructions for brewing the boil cure potion."

Dinner

"It can't be that bad? Harry, it was bloody awful!" Ron said as we sat down for dinner. "Abigail, how do you put up with him?"

"He's my brother Ron." I growled. "Just you be careful what you say about him!" I stood up from the table and sat next to Pavarti.

"Oh, hi, Abigail." She smiled. "I think you did us all a favour when you made Hermione stay sat down."

"Tell me about it. I swear if she flicks my hair once more whilst doing that I'll charm her hand to stay glued to her leg. Permanently. Where is she anyway?"

"The library I expect."

What's the matter? I asked Abigail hoping she had her parchment with her. I'd seen her snap at the Weasley boy and move off down the tale to sit near Pavarti Patil.

Nothing much, Ron's being an arse. Don't worry about it. You alright?

The first day of term always brings such joy.

Good for you, Sev! I knew you'd begin to enjoy it eventually.

Come home for training tonight at 7:30. A hall pass is waiting for you in your dorm.

Sure. Thanks.

Evening

"This will not effect their studying I hope, Severus." Minerva said. She was sat in an arm chair by my fire nursing a cup of tea.

"This will always come before their education, Minerva, it will keep them alive more than any amount of magic can. The Dark Lord cares not for magical prowess but blood status. You well know that neither of them have a choice in the matter."

"Hel – Min!" Abigail called. She quickly closed the door behind herself and came to sit down. "I have transfigurations tomorrow!" she said.

"I look forward to it." Minerva replied. She stood from her seat. "I think I will leave you two to gossip about your first days of term."

"We do not gossip, Minerva." I replied.

Minerva chuckled to herself and let herself out just as Draco came in.

"Evening, Professor." He said formally.

"Good evening, Mr. Malfoy." Minerva replied and then left the dungeons.

"You're wrong." Abigail suddenly said. "Professor Lupin is really good!"

Ignoring Abigail's last comment for there was no way Lupin was a suitable professor for a person of any age let alone children, I asked her to concentrate on her occulation shields and then asked Draco to describe his shields to me.

He closed his eyes and for a moment said nothing.

"There's a forest. In the forest there are snakes on the floor hiding in the leaves. There're a few dragons. One's blue, the others silver and green. Vines hang down from the trees and there're low branches everywhere. There're bushes and logs, a few cliffs. It's dark. Father's there. So is Mother. I can see Abbie and nearly you too. I feel… safe." Draco opened his eyes.

"Can you yet stave an attack?"

"Yes. Not as good as Abbie can though. She's really good at it."

Hope you liked it! Please leave a review!

J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter