Disclaimer: Harry Potter, its characters and settings are all the property of J.K. Rowling.
Chapter Ten: Congratulations Severus!
"Over here dear!" a familiar voice called.
Ellie spun around at the sound of Mrs. Manning's voice. She saw her standing a few feet in front of her, waving. Ellie was surprised at how glad she suddenly was to see Mrs. Manning. She rushed over to her, but stopped herself in time from giving her a hug. She didn't want to offend Mrs. Manning – not when there was the prospect of shopping for Christmas presents in front of her.
"Well now, let me look at you?" Mrs. Manning said, holding Ellie at arms length and casting a critical eye over her.
"Hmm, you've certainly grown! Well now, let's sit down and get a cup of tea and you can tell me all about your first term," Mrs. Manning said releasing her.
Fifteen minutes later, they were sitting down at a table, a cup of tea in Mrs. Manning's hands and a cup of hot chocolate sitting on the table in front of Ellie.
"Did you talk to Dumbledore my dear?" Mrs. Manning asked, taking a sip of her tea.
Ellie grinned mischievously to herself, again considering stringing Mrs. Manning along, making her believe that Dumbledore would show up any moment to berate her for being such a bad guardian. As tempting as it was though, she needed to stay in Mrs. Manning's good books, so she shook her head.
"No, I haven't spoken to him personally."
"Ah!" Mrs. Manning said, beaming. Good! "So, did you have a good term?"
"Should I tell her about all my detentions?" Ellie wondered. Mrs. Manning would probably explode at her if she did, so she decided against it.
"Oh yes, I had a wonderful time," Ellie replied.
"I hope you behaved well. You have your family's honour to uphold you know."
"Oh yes, of course I did Mrs. Manning," Ellie lied. "You know me," Ellie added, a twinkle in her eye as she took a sip from her cup.
Mrs. Manning stared suspiciously at her. She did know Ellie, and the girl usually seemed to have a remarkable knack for getting herself into mischief. Still, she hadn't received any owls from the school so if Ellie had gotten into trouble at least it wasn't anything major. Ordinarily Mrs. Manning would demand Ellie own up to whatever trouble she may have caused, but she felt she needed to stay on Ellie's good side, lest Ellie suddenly decide to have a word with Dumbledore.
A thought suddenly occurred to Ellie.
"Mrs. Manning, where did you get that owl that brought me your letter?" she asked. She had been very curious about this.
"Oh you mean Talas? Oh, I've had her for years! I use her to send letters back and forth with my sisters!" Mrs. Manning told her.
"Really? Then how come I've never seen her before?" Ellie asked, intrigued.
"Well, I didn't want to scare you. She lives up in the attic most of the time," Mrs. Manning replied. The mention of the attic caused Ellie to blush. Mrs. Manning noticed this.
"Of course, I'm surprised you haven't run into Talas, considering your fascination with the attic," she added.
Ellie blushed even harder. Mrs. Manning surprised Ellie though by chuckling. Ellie began to laugh.
"Wait, is that why you didn't want me in the attic? Because of Talas?" Ellie asked.
"Well, at first I didn't want you finding your grandfather's or mother's things. There are some items in that attic that may have been difficult to explain to you, before you knew of your family's history. I was afraid also that you might disturb Talas if you went traipsing about up there, or that she would give you a fright. You'd be surprised at how frightened people can be of owls when they're not used to them."
Ellie recalled the night she had been in the attic and screeching noise she had heard, as well as the sensation that something had brushed past her hair. It must have Talas, woken up by Ellie's fumbling through the chest. Phew! Ellie felt very relieved.
"So, does this mean I can go up to the attic now and have a look around?" Ellie asked hopefully.
Mrs. Manning considered the question for a moment.
"I suppose so. As long as you don't make a mess," Mrs. Manning told her.
"Oh thank you thank you Mrs. Manning!" cried Ellie, jumping up and down in her seat. Mrs. Manning looked around her, feeling people were suddenly staring at them.
"All right, all right. Calm down!" she hissed.
Ellie sobered up, not wanting to anger Mrs. Manning. This was wonderful! She might be able to find the information on her mother that she had been wondering about. Ellie resolved to begin her search as soon as she and Mrs. Manning got home.
After sitting in the staffroom for what seemed like hours, frozen with horror at the prospect of that little brat being related to him, of her actually being his child, Snape had managed to haul himself out of his chair and stagger back to his own room. He collapsed heavily on the bed, wondering for a moment if he crawled under the covers would it all go away.
He ran his hands through his hair desperately, trying to make sense of this revelation. How? How had this happened to him? How could Claudia have a child, his child, and not bother to say anything? Things had not ended well between them, but surely he deserved to know? Why would she keep this from him? Why did she keep this from him?
Another horrifying thought occurred to him. Did the brat know? He could just imagine the laughing-stock he would be if this news got out
"Claudia Winterbourne was so disgusted to be having Severus Snape's child that she ran away from Hogwarts and never told him!"
Snape quickly recalled all his conversations with the girl. She certainly didn't seem to give any indication that she was aware that he was her father. Yes, she had been ruder to him than most students had ever dared, but then again her mother had never been a shrinking violet herself. Snape suspected that Ellie's insolence was just part of her nature.
Snape suddenly felt the need for a drink. He had a bottle of wine stashed away for a special occasion, but what occasion could be more special than finding out he had an eleven-year-old daughter - the rudest, most insolent and temperamental student he had ever had the displeasure to teach to boot, he thought bitterly to himself.
He found the bottle and poured himself a glass.
"Congratulations Severus!" Snape sneered to a reflection of himself in the mirror, and held the glass up in a mock solute. He then downed the contents of the glass in one mouthful.