DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING JK ROWLING DOES!
Rose sat across the desk from him, looking distracted. Distracted in a way that suggested she wanted to be.
"And how did the ball go?" Snape asked for the second time.
"Hmm? Oh, it was…well, it was just a ball. I don't mix well with them, I'm afraid," she replied cryptically.
"Hmm. Well, I apologize if it did not live up to your expectations." Snape had, of course, heard all about what had happened between Rose and Draco. In fact, he heard it directly from the source. Half of the source, that is. Noticing that Rose had been carefully ignoring Draco since the ball, which had been several days ago, he had rounded Draco up after Potions one day and demanded the whole story. However, he also took note that this was not affecting her health (which was a great relief), only her attention span. She was eager to think about anything and everything else if it meant she didn't have to think about him.
Which perhaps troubled him more. She had taken a risky assignment from Dumbledore, one that could potentially put her into a very dangerous position.
"And Dumbledore's request? Have you found anything new?" he asked.
"No," she said quickly. "I have been studying the cup, though. I know that Dumbledore said that no spell would allow an underage wizard to put their name in, but I know sometimes, well, let's just say sometimes things fall through the cracks. But I haven't found any so far. My next step is to look into the adults, because it must have been one of them. But I can't seem to figure out a reason anyone would want to put Harry's name in the cup, so I'm just going to keep an eye out for someone whose actions don't quite match up with their words."
Snape could see she had already put much time and thought into this, and he knew that this was serving as her main diversion from the blond haired boy trying to get her attention. "Well, I have some other news for you. Something I have been looking into," he said.
Her eyes flew to his face. He had her full attention. He caught his breath, and for a moment she was Lily, right before he would tell her some story about how the pots stir themselves that seemed so ordinary to him, but so wondrous to her. Then he snapped back to his senses.
"You have reminded me of someone from the moment you arrived," he stated plainly, "and I cannot think that you have not noticed your resemblance to the Potter boy."
"Oh, yes, I suppose we do look something alike," she responded, rather confused.
"Well, I have done some research into your family tree, and thought you would like to know. You are descended from two powerful wizards, who had a child that was a Squib. Your mother and Harry's mother are extremely distant cousins, that goes all the way back to that child." Rose's face lit up.
"Thank you, Professor," she said. "You know, I had wondered about where I had come from and I – "
His mouth turned up into his thin smile. "And one more thing, before you go, Rose."
"Yes?"
"Don't be too hard on the Malfoy boy. I think that perhaps you had someone along the way that showed you what love truly looks like. Imagine that you never had that person, that absolutely no one loved you just the way you were and that even the people who should love you the most only cared about what others thought of you, perhaps because that was all the care that had ever been shown to them. Then you will have imagined his life." Snape sighed. "He doesn't mean to be a coward, it's all he knows."
She looked away, hurt by this thought. After a moment, she nodded at Snape and left the office.
Later, during lunch, Snape was observing Rose eating with her friends. She was doing so much better now that she was sitting at the Gryffindor table (word had somehow got around that she had not been Sorted) and now she had no trouble with her appetite. Today she was quiet though, finally pondering what she dared not let herself think about before. Then suddenly, her jaw squared and her shoulders lifted. She had made a decision. After excusing herself from her friends, she quietly got up and left the hall.