To some of you dedicated Harry Potter fans you may have been curious about why Ava was not acting like a house elf, never fear my dears, because this should hopefully clear all things up and to those who were not sure what jarrah is, the wood that was mentioned in the last chapter, it is a dark brown hardwood found here in Australia that is ten times better then any pine you will ever find. Well here is the next chapter so don't forget to review!

Disclaimer: Only thing I own is Ava and she's up for sale, interested J.K?

First Night at Snape's House

Harry walked down the stairs, pondering what was going to happen at dinner. Damn, he thought to himself, I have no idea where dinner is even being served. Going down the stairs he looked around, hoping for clues that might tell him where he would find his dinner, he was starving and was so looking forward to a hot meal.

Smiling he thought to himself, "duh the biggest clue where dinner is would be the scrumptious smell". He started sniffing the air, like he was a dog. He didn't have to try for long, because after half a second he could smell the rich scent of home cooked gravy and the strong aroma of roasted vegetables with herbs.

His nose lead him to a really big room. Sitting at the head of the table was Snape. Snape was sitting with both finger tips together with a straight back. Dressed in casual clothes, a woollen jumper, Harry couldn't see what his pants where, he looked up as Harry walked into the room.

"Well it's about time you turned up, late as usual Potter, will you ever be on time?" Snape asked.

"I doubt it for some reason, I was born late", came the reply.

Ava came bustling in, using her magic she had the food levitated above her head, waitressing made easy, she lowered the food onto the table and took a seat next to Snape. Harry looked at the seat that had a place laid out for him that was facing Ava on the opposite side of Snape that must be his seat he decided.

Snape didn't look too pleased to have Harry sitting next to him, no more pleased then Harry himself was he guessed. Ava smiled uncomfortably; the tension in the room was so thick it could have been cut with a knife.

Harry didn't quite understand the little house elf. She looked like a house elf, but didn't act like a house elf. He had been told personal things about Snape so easily by the little creature; she still had Dobby like traits, like needing to punish herself, but her conscience was different, she would tell Harry stuff, then think it was a bad thing to do, say she had to punish herself but she never did it, Harry remembered how Dobby didn't hesitate, he just went right ahead and started inflicting pain on himself, bloody emo house elves.

The food was nice and there was lots of it. The three sat eating their meal in stony silence, Ava looking at the two of them, studying and thinking, she was a lot smarter then your average house elf Harry decided, but there was just something about her that made him feel uneasy.

"Are you enjoying your meals?" Ava asked, trying to make conversation.

"Yeah, it's great, thanks," Harry replied.

Snape just grunted and looked at Ava, Harry couldn't see his facial expression clearly but from the side of his head he could tell that Snape's expression had softened looking at her, he cared a lot about the elf.

"So, what are we doing tomorrow?" Harry asked, looking at Snape.

"Well I don't know, or care what you are doing Potter, but I will be enjoying a sleep in followed by breakfast and then going on a leisurely walk by myself, what YOU do", he said emphasising that word hardly, "is up to you, as long as it does not involve annoying me or destroying my home".

"Oh", Harry replied, he was expecting something a little different to that.

They finished their meal in a rush, neither wanting to be in the other's presence for to long. Harry walked back up to his room and sat on his bed.

"Great, he thought to himself, I am bored and lonely, if this was a horror movie, wish for many of us it is", thinking of Snape, "this would be the perfect time to start killing us, though it would be a very short horror movie, there is only three of us here".

He decided that he might as well unpack; it was a good thing that he had brought Hedwig as well to keep him company so he put her cage on a stand and let her out so she could stretch her wings.

There was a small knock on the door, "come in!" Harry called, thinking it was Snape coming in to ask him about something. Instead the small, willowy figure of Ava walked in.

Harry looked at her questioningly, feeling uneasy, even though he knew she was of no danger to him, who has ever heard of a homicidal house elf? He still didn't think she was a normal house elf.

"Sorry to barge in on you sir, but I thought you might like to talk", she asked simply. "I noticed you thinking about me during dinner tonight and I thought you might want to clear up what ever is on your mind".

There were a million questions rushing through Harry's head, but instead he just gaped, not sure what to say first.

"How did you know I was thinking about you"? Harry finally asked.

"Living in a house with Master Snape for as long as I have, I learnt occlumency off him, it was a good way to see into his mind and know if there was something wrong with him; it was an even better way to keep him out of my head". She added.

"How long have you lived with Snape then"? Harry asked.

"Do you want to listen to a story sir"? Ava asked, "It may clear some things up for you".

"Um yeah, sure, oh and please call me Harry; there is no need for this Sir stuff".

"Well Harry", Ava started, the name feeling funny in her mouth, "this is my story":

I am not a complete house elf, I am actually part human, something that you may have noticed, but by the look on your face, you have not. My mother, what you humans would call her, was half house elf and half human. Her mother, my grandmother was the house elf to a very powerful wizarding family, a family that for my knowledge is possibly still around but since the demise of the Dark Lord is no longer in force, many members are in Azkaban and others are dead, the family name was Delacroix and the man of the house's name was Victor Delacroix. (Delacroix is pronounced Del-a-croy, it's a French Name)

Victor Delacroix was a very evil man. He was one of He-who-will-not-be-named biggest supporters, a death eater and a devout muggle hater. My grandmothers' ancestors had all worked for the Delacroix's for as long as we can remember.

They were not a bad family to us, no worse then any other wizarding family is to their house elves, we, to most people are the scum of the earth as we clean up after people and their grubby offspring. My grandmother, whose name was Leia, was just another servant to them, she cleaned the big house all on her own, very few house elves have more then the amount of children that their masters have, this is so that there is always a house elf for that generations family when the children grow up and leave home.

For some reason Victor, despite having an absolutely beautiful wife, she was one of the most attractive people of this century, he was also for some reason attracted to Leia, a weird attraction considering she was just a house elf that was dressed in grubby clothing.

It had been decided years ago that humans and elves could never have reproduced, but that is a lie. More then once, over years and years of Leia being at their house, Leia and Master Delacroix engaged in the sacred act performed between man and his wife, ending up in Leia falling pregnant, something that shocked both of them. .

Now before you tell your friend Hermione about elf rape, let me explain something to you, an elf is at the liberty of his or her master and it is their duty to do what ever their master or mistress tells them to do, Leia was asked to satisfy her master and she did as she knew it was her duty, she did not feel bad about it, she just knew it was her job, like washing the dishes or cleaning up after his children.

She fell pregnant with my mother and she eventually gave birth to her after a very difficult and painful pregnancy. You can just imagine the problems that this caused around the magical community, it was not advertised and only a select group of people knew about her, but my mother was one of the biggest political problems of the magical world

No one knew what they should do with her, theoretically she had the rights of a were wolf or a centaur as she was half human, but she was also half house elf, meaning that it was her duty to be nothing more then be a slave to the humanoid race.

Doctors eventually found a way to suppress her human characteristics, despite her being a big baby; by house elf standards anyway she grew to being no bigger then an average female house elf. Leia did not want her to look like an outcast, there was not enough knowledge to make her develop into a normal looking human but it could be done to keep her looking like a house elf. This was so that she was not going to be shunned by the rest of her race, either one; even house elves can be cruel but also to hide the shame that had been brought upon the Delacroix family.

She grew up as a normal house elf, doing the usual chores, cleaning up, looking after kids, the mending, just the usual boring stuff. This was all happening while the dark lord was coming to power.

When my mum was an adult house elf, ready to go out and live with one of the kids who was getting ready to move out a terrible thing happened. My mother had gone out looking for houses with her soon to be new mistress and fiancé, only to come back to an empty block of land.

Vincent had fallen out of favour with the Lord, he was sloppy with his duties, only reason he stayed being a death eater was that he knew that if he was to give up that title he would be in even graver danger then before, it also meant that he had free access to any women, muggle or witch that he wanted, he loved being the torturer, the number of innocent women that he found attractive that were kidnapped because he fancied them and then killed were huge.

The Dark Lord had destroyed the house and all its occupants, including Leia, my grand mother. Of course my mother and her mistress were distraught and immediately went looking for protection.

Albus Dumbledore, the same man that is your headmaster protected us. He sent my mistress and me as well as her fiancé to live with Master Snape, he was a double agent and also a family friend of the Delacroix's, interested in the dark arts he had spent a lot of time with Victor, wanting to learn the ways of getting into the Dark Lord's good books. Being a double agent as well and someone that was impeccably trusted by Dumbledore made the perfect place for my mother to stay with her mistress, despite Death Eaters constantly walking in and out of here, but none of them would have realised what was in the house, they were all just stupid little minions.

My mother acted as a house elf to my master, looking after him and his house. Her mistress how ever had a second deadly blow given to her when her fiancé left her. He was cut off from his family and life and was going mad; when he abandoned her it made my mother's mistress so unhappy she eventually died from a broken heart, depression in a nut shell.

My mother went on to serve Master Snape, in debt to him and as it is with the house elf code, he was the next person that would be her master. She listened in a lot to the conversations that took place in this house between the Dark Lord, Master Snape and the other death eaters. She was asked by Dumbledore to keep an ear in to make sure that all details that Snape reported back were included, but it was also a way to make sure that nothing happened to Snape and that he stayed on the "good" side.

When the Dark Lord was defeated there was no use for my mother at Snape's house, she no longer needed protection, but she chose to stay anyway, she had grown to like Snape, despite his rather gloomy and depressive ways, besides she now had me and I was almost an adult house elf.

Dumbledore asked her to come work for him at the kitchen in Hogwarts, he said that it would be better for her as there was more of her kind that were half casts, mum was starting to feel curious about those who were also house elf/humans, Hogwarts had a few, younger then mum of course but still just like her. I was left to look after Master Snape, there was no way mum would dare leave him unattended, he is hopeless, can't even make his bed.

So that is where I am now, I am now the sole carer for Master Snape, I look after his house when he is at work, I sought his mail and send to him what he needs and I cook and clean when he is at home. I am the closest thing that he has to a friend or companion and the only person he trusts, he does get annoyed with me as I am not like my mother, even though it was her who was the half breed I am less like a house elf, I am chatty, mischievous and far from quiet but I do my duties as any house elf would.

Ava stopped her story, looking at Harry, he was there, gaping with his mouth wide open, he could not believe what he had just heard, and it explained so much, why she told him so many personal things about Snape, why her clothing was new, everything.

"So you are able to wear whatever you want? It will not set you free or anything?" Harry asked, curious.

Nodding she replied, "I am technically free from the restraints of the house elf, under the laws about half breeds, the ones that cover centaurs and were wolves, I have the rights of a human being, under no circumstances do I have to stay here, I stay here because I like Snape and enjoy the hospitality that he offers me".

With that Harry almost fell off his chair, did he hear right? Someone actually liked Snape? Wait till he told Ron this, he would kill himself hysterically about this, probably wanting to know what kind of curse the poor little mite is under.

Ava smiled at him, "I think that you have learnt enough for tonight, would you like anything before I leave? Some hot chocolate or anything? I bring Master Snape's his just before bedtime or he has trouble sleeping, I can do the same for you if you would like?"

"Nah thanks, that's cool". Harry replied.

"Okay then, have a good night sleep, call me if you need anything".

With that Ava walked out, quietly closing the door behind her.

As quick as greased lightning, Harry turned around and grabbed his invisibility cloak, he wanted to follow Ava, she would take him to Snape's room and he could wander around the rest of the manor after he found out where Snape slept, the knowledge he was sure would come in use one day, he was curious what the manor was like and he couldn't just explore when Snape was around and watching him.

Slinking out behind Ava, he watched her walk down the stairs. She then went straight to the kitchen, confused Harry followed her, not sure what was going to happen.

Ava started warming up milk, Harry smiled to himself, of course that's what she was doing in the kitchen, poor little Snape couldn't sleep without first having a hot drink.

He waited while Ava put the milk in a mug on a tray along side some milk flavourings like chocolate. Picking up the tray the house elf walked back towards the stairs, carrying the tray delicately.

Harry followed her closely behind, being careful not to bump into anything or make to much sound, he wasn't sure how good her hearing was but he didn't want to test it by being caught following her into Snape's room.

Every now and then she turned around, listening and searching for the mysterious entity she felt following her, she couldn't put her finger on it, it seemed to Harry, but it looked like she could sense him around her.

Harry followed her a little further back now as she turned down a very eerie passageway. He couldn't believe how big Snape's house was, they had been walking for almost five minutes in the opposite direction to his house, he had better be able to find his way out of here.

Then she came to a big mahogany door with a gold knocker. She had to use both hands to pull it up; it was that heavy, the tray of milk and stuff hovering in the air while she did.

A deep voice called from inside; "Is that you Ava?"

"Yes, it's me master" came the reply.

The door opened, almost magically and the house elf walked in, closely followed by Harry.

Harry gaped when he saw Snape's room. It was so unusual. There was a four poster bed in the middle of the room, surrounded by a royal blue carpet, there were banners of Slytherin around the room. There was also weird works of art on the wall, a kind of gothic almost emo mood with lots of blood and skulls featured on the works of art.

Then there was Snape. Harry wished he had a camera; it would have been the perfect blackmail at school to show Snape in his pyjamas. He had blue and white striped pyjama pants and night shirt; he resembled one of the "Bananas in Pyjamas" to be brutally honest. On his head he had a night cap to keep his head warm. Shock, horror! He had wet hair as well, Severus Snape was actually capable of washing his hair, the people at school would never believe that.

"You're later then normal". Snape stated.

"Yes, I was seeing Harry to bed".

"You call him Harry? What came of the polite manners you normally use with the few guests I have had."

"We started to talk and he said that he felt more comfortable with me calling him by his proper name, so I complied by calling him Harry".

After a small silence Ava spoke up.

"You really are quite a rude man, did you know that? There is a young teenage boy, upset and confused, possibly starving for attention and love as well as understanding after the incredible losses that he has suffered, then there's you, up here alone, reading a book like there is nothing more important then the last damn potion that has been created. For once in your life would you do something for someone else?"

Snape looked up stunned, he was so used to having the people around him, even his own colleagues, treading on egg shells around him, treating him with the upmost respect, and being told by his servant what he really was like was something he was far from used to.

"What did you just say to me?" he asked, aghast.

"You heard me Severus", Ava said, using his first name for the first time in quite awhile, "you are a selfish loner, Dumbledore has asked you to do this for a reason, he would be angry id he knew you were flaunting his wish."

"Dumbledore is a fool if he believes I am going to become the father figure that boy so dearly needs, if he was so serious about this he would do it himself, therefore all that I am going to do is keep him as far away from me as possible and try and make the most of this awful situation and I do not want to hear a single thing from you". Snape snapped back.

"You're impossible! No wonder Lily never wanted anything to do with you, how could she, she would have more luck getting blood from a stone then getting a single caring emotion from you ". Ava yelled.

With that she turned around, and went to walk out, Harry following her, quickly waking from his shock induced stupor.

"Think about the decision you are making, beware, you know that Dumbledore wants this to work and that he wants me to make sure it happens, don't make me force you to get along! You know I will".

Leaving a very grumpy Snape she walked out, fuming.

Harry could not believe it, Snape had seemed for years to be impossible to fight with and win against, and then again he has just been beaten by a house elf. Hermione was going to love this. She had the perfect feminist in the shape of a four foot half-elf.

But there was still one thing plaguing his mind, was this Lily the same person as his mother? Why did Snape like her? What exactly was going on? Obviously there needs to be some more sleuthing done to get to the bottom of this.

He wandered into his room and sat down to get ready to go to bed. When there was a crack and suddenly Ava landed on the floor next to him. Arms folded she looked at him, studying his face.

"You were in his room weren't you?" it was more of a statement then a question.

"Yes", Harry said in a small voice, not sure if that was a safe answer.

"I trust that you learnt something from that? " Ava asked.

"Umm, yeah I think so". Harry said, not really sure if he had but knew he could just think about it later.'

"You're lying, I can see that, but think about what happened, you may learn something and gain something from the experience, good night Harry, I expect there will be some interesting things tomorrow".

With that she left in a flash leaving a stunned Harry, not sure whether he was going to enjoy tomorrow, there was something creepy about the way that she had said that she would make them get along, he wasn't going to enjoy this was all that he knew. Slipping into bed, he fell asleep, so as to be fresh for what tomorrow had in store for him.

A/N: Once again here is your weekly instalment, hope this has cleared up some confusion and made you all happy campers again. Thanks to those who have suggested ideas and anymore will be accepted happily. REVIEW PEOPLE!! PLEASE. Cheers guys. Taryn.

Taryn