It was the last day of autumn term, and the students were going home the next day for winter break. Alexander was walking down the hall towards the potions classroom. It was his last class of the day, and Christmas was everywhere in the castle. Alex had yet to find a student who was staying over at the castle for the holidays. With all of the underground Death Eater happenings, and even what had happened at Hogsmead, it seemed that families wanted to be closer together.

He had never really seen Hogwarts when all of the students were in session. Growing up he had attended a small primary school in Hogsmead and he had to portkey there from the headmaster's office, and then floo back to his father's office. He was allowed free reign of the school when students were home for holidays.

He sat down heavily at his seat and he watched his father stride into the classroom. It was certainly a surreal experience being in class with his father. He treated him quite the same as any other student, thankfully, but he generally kept his distance from Alex. This time he looked at his father, trying to detect some hint of the shaken man from the previous night, and as far as he could tell, his father had simply set it aside for the time being. However even as class started, he noticed his father seemed preoccupied as he sat at his desk. The class was brewing a simply pepper-up potion, which was a fairly simply second year potion but professor Snape instructed that should they produce an acceptable specimen, they were allowed to take it home to help with any illness experienced over the holidays. This was his father's twisted sense of public amicability. Alex was one of the first few to finish, and as he brought his potion up to his father for inspection, he watched him straighten in his chair.

"Very good, Mr. Prince…as usual." He spoke in a bored voice to him. Alex nodded, then returned to his seat, feeling his father's eyes follow him all they way back.

XxXx

"Good evening, Emily. I trust you are happy to be done with classes?" The Headmaster asked, looking at the small girl he had summoned to his office.

"Yes, sir." The girl nodded. "…professor… have you learnt anything more about what the hat said? During my sorting?" She asked, her face a wash of emotions.

"Indeed, Miss Arden, I have learned some things, and I have suspected a few more." He said quietly, and he watched the child sit in her chair and take a deep trembling breath. Dumbledore slid his glasses up his nose and watched the girl. His glasses were actually a sneakascope, and as he spied the girl through them, he did not see her as an enemy.

"There are some questions I need to answer, my dear, and in order to do so, I would need a sample of your blood." He said, watching the child's eyes widen slightly.

"So that means you have an idea who?" She asked breathlessly.

"I'm afraid I cannot answer that." He said gently. The girl stared at him for a moment and he watched her wring her hands for a moment.

"Of course, professor. Anything." She said. Dumbledore walked over to the fire and threw in a pinch of floo.

"Poppy, if you would come through, we have quick need of your services." Emily swallowed as the med witch stepped through the flames in a blast of green fire. She seemed already prepared to Emily's surprise. Emily watched as the med witch went about her business on her arm. Fir the witch numbed the area, and she watched in fascination as a small prod in her arm that she didn't even feel revealed a small steady stream of blood that flew in the air into a tall vial. At its conclusion, her arm was healed like nothing had ever happened.

"Here you are headmaster, I will just be on my way. See you at the start of next term." The witch said as she bustled back towards the floo. With a quick word she flashed back through the green flames and out of sight.

"Poppy is leaving for Holiday in Jamaica. It seems she is quite eager to begin her relaxing." The headmaster said with a chuckle. Emily was stunned by the rapid happenings, but she allowed herself to smile along with the whimsical headmaster.

"Enjoy your Christmas here, Emily, I'm sure it will be delightful." The headmaster said in a dismissive tone. Emily sat unmoving in the chair staring at the floating red vial of her blood.

"Professor… will you let me know… when you find out?" She said.

"Of course, my dear, I'm sure it will be much sooner than you realize." He said looking up at her. Emily nodded to him, and quickly slid off the chair and exited the room.

xXxX

Emily sat in the far corner of the Gryffindor common room and watched Harry Potter stare at the golden egg in front of him. Hermione Granger went up and beckoned him to go, and the two left through the portal, leaving Emily very much alone. By chance, Emily was the last remaining Gryffindor staying over for the holidays that year. It was strange to be so alone. She knew that all of the slytherines were gone as well, three ravenclaws stayed behind, and two hufflepuffs. She wasn't quite sure who it was, but Emily resigned to a fairly lonely Christmas. She waited a few hours after the students had left, after which she headed down to the great hall. Instead of the four massive tables lining the large chamber, there was one smaller table condensed down. Emily let her eyes roam over the remaining students, and she saw all over faces. However she did feel a wash of relief as she spied Alex. She quickly made her way over to the only friendly face she knew and sat down next to the boy.

"So you're stuck too?" he asked. She looked up at him.

"Yes… I don't really have anywhere else to go." She said with a disconnected smile. He gave her a small smile back, and they were interrupted as the meal suddenly appeared. Conversation started up, and Emily was aware of Alex looking over his shoulder. She looked back as well and she saw Professor Snape making his way towards the table. With a swish of his cloaks he sat down at the chair across from the two of them. Emily watched as Professor Snape's eyes rose and he froze, his eyes going back and forth between the two children. His face went pale and he sat unmoving staring at them. Emily quickly put her hand to her cheek, wondering if she had something on her face. The man cleared his throat and then immediately tucked in. He said nothing during the entire meal, even when the headmaster asked him how his potatoes were, he said nothing.

"Did you usually stay over at Durmstrang, during the Holidays Alex?" Emily asked quietly. She was acutely aware of the man in black across from them freezing for a moment, his knife clinking loudly on the plate.

"Err… yeah, generally. My father is fairly busy during the Christmas holiday." He said. Emily looked up at him, not quiet sure if she believed him before they both turned back to the conversation the others were in. The topic was the winter quidditch match between the Irish and English National teams the next day.

"Headmaster, at your convenience this evening, I require your presence." The potions master said under his breath.

"Of course, Professor Snape." The headmaster said in a conversational tone. It was not lost on either Emily or Alex, and Emily sat uncomfortably. Every time she grew aware of the potions master watching them behind the veil of his hair, she shifted in her seat. The moment desert appeared, Emily watched as the dark man pulled himself up from the table and exited the room in a quick stride.

xXxXxXx

Albus Dumbledore found Severus Snape sitting at his desk, staring at a selection of vials. He spied a clear potion that had a shimmery luster. Next to it were two vials of blood, both with initials labeled in the potion master's scrawl.

"Hello Severus." The headmaster said. The man said nothing. He was leaning back in his chair, his legs extended out rigidly, his ankles cross, his arms crossed in front of him tightly and his dark eyes did not waver from the setup before him.

"I-I can't do it." He croaked, his voice scratchy from disuse during the day. Albus Dumbledore looked at the wrapped up man, and he finally made eye contact with the tense man.

"Severus, would it help if I performed the test?" The headmaster asked. The dark man was still for a very long time; his breath was barely distinguishable as he pondered the headmaster's words. The only sound in the room was the crackling fire, and eventually the dark man squared his body to the desk. He looked at the layout before him, and he nodded his head silently.

The headmaster seated himself in the chair across from the potions master. He lifted the vial labeled "ss" and poured the ruby blood into the clear potion. The potion diluted to pink for a moment before nearly all of the color disappeared.

"Red is a blood relation… no color change is no relation, am I correct, Severus?" The headmaster asked. Severus nodded, looking at the vial the headmaster held labeled "ea." The headmaster poured the liquid into the potion and it swirled together, turning clear. Severus let out a breath he had been holding, staring at the potion on his desk. He rubbed his eyes resting his elbows on the table.

"Severus." The headmaster said in a quiet voice. Snape froze and he pulled his hands from his face. As he looked down the clear potion on his desk continued turning and the clear potion turned a deep ruby red.

"It's her, Severus." The headmaster said quietly.

A/N 0.o They found out!

Please Review! Your reviews really mean a lot to me! Even just a quick pro/con like/don't like. I'm going to update as best I can for the next few days, but I'm headed back to London from the US for University here in a day or so, so I'll be a bit MIA. XXXXXXXX