Chapter XIV

The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.

Cyrille read the words off a small piece of parchment. As soon as she had finished, the parchment self-destructed and turned into ashes. She jumped back in surprise thinking her hands would get burned along with it then flushed when she realized that she had overreacted. Her guardian watched in amusement as he saw the emotions play on the girl's face.

"You did memorize the words, didn't you?" asked Snape.

"Of course I did! How hard is it to remember a simple sentence like that?" she snapped.

"Watch your tone, Miss Cromwell," said the man with narrowed eyes.

"Sorry," said the girl. As she looked up, she saw a house emerge from the ground, pushing the neighboring houses away. She was quite surprised to see the occupants unperturbed. "Cool!"

"I believe I'm going to have to enroll you in an etiquette class soon." Cyrille chose to ignore her guardian in favor of gawking at the house in front of her. "Come. We do not have all day," said Snape as he led Cyrille into the house. He rang the doorbell and waited. Suddenly, the door burst open and the entire Weasley clan was upon him.

"Severus! You poor, poor man," said the Weasley matriarch, dabbing at her eyes with a small handkerchief. "Why, you look so thin now!"

"Now, now, Molly. Severus has just recovered from his condition," said Arthur. "Let him breathe." At that moment, Cyrille's head poked out from behind Snape. "Now who do we have here?" he asked.

"Ah, this is my ward," said Snape, and everyone fell silent. Never did they think that the man was capable of, or that he was even interested in, having a child. "Miss Cromwell, please come and introduce yourself."

"Hello, I'm Cyrille," she said shyly. She always felt uncomfortable in the presence of strangers. She wasn't used to having to introduce herself to people since her aunt had never brought anyone home before. And even if she had, Cyrille seriously doubted that she would have the pleasure of being introduced to them.

"Well hello, dear! It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Molly Weasley. This is my husband, Arthur. Those two men by the door are my sons Bill and Charlie. Oh please come in! Goodness, where are my manners?" asked Mrs. Weasley as she ushered them both into the house. As Snape set foot inside, the first thing he noticed was the absence of Mrs. Black's portrait.

"We've been doing some renovating since the end of the war," said Arthur in response to Snape's unasked question. "We reapplied the wards since the magic seemed to have been weakened. Somehow, we were able to take advantage of that. Mrs. Black's portrait will no longer be screaming insults at us," he said with a chuckle. They were all led into the kitchen where an entire table was filled with food.

"Sit down and eat. Don't be shy!" said Mrs. Weasley. "There is plenty of food for everyone." Cyrille piled a small amount of food on her plate as she saw her guardian do the same.

"Cyrille dear, you have to eat more or else you'd be as thin as your guardian!" said Mrs. Weasley in a motherly tone. "Severus! Don't you feed her properly?"

"Trust me, Molly. When it comes to eating, she doesn't have to be told twice. She has the appetite of a starving hippogriff," said Snape dryly.

"I do not!" said Cyrille indignantly, though she didn't exactly know what a hippogriff was, but coming from her guardian, she was sure that it was something unflattering. Suddenly, there was a loud crash from the living room.

"George! What have you done now?" asked Mrs. Weasley as she stepped out of the kitchen.

"Mum! Why is it that whenever something happens, you automatically assume that I had anything to do with it?" Cyrille heard a familiar voice reply.

"Who else would 'arrive with a bang'?"

"It could have been Ron, you know?"

"Ron does not own a shop filled with explosives!"

"Neither do I!"

"Hush now. We have guests!"

"Old Snape is here?" asked George as he entered the kitchen. "Hullo, Professor!" he said in an unusually cheery voice upon seeing Snape. He had already forgiven the man for his other ear since he knew that he had only done it to save him. Ever since the war, a lot of things had changed his perspective in life. He had been trying hard to put his life back together; he felt lost after the loss of his twin. However, deciding that it was far better to be cheerful rather than to lock himself away and brood, he decided to continue where they had left off before Fred died. Mrs. Weasley was worried, but her son had told her that he had already moved on and that Fred wouldn't have wanted him to be sad.

Snape nodded back to George in acknowledgment. "Mr. Weasley."

"And who's this little cretin?" asked George.

"George!"

"Sorry mum," he said sheepishly. "I think I've seen you before."

"Yes, Mr. Weasley. You've had the honor of meeting my ward in Diagon Alley. I believe it was you who gave Miss Cromwell those blasted treats."

"Ah of course! That was you!" said George, completely unperturbed by the fact that he had just been apprehended. He led Cyrille out of the kitchen as he tried to get her to talk about how she made use of the treats. As soon as they were gone, Mrs. Weasley began her questioning.

"How were you able to escape? When Harry came back, he told us how you had been betrayed by Voldemort!" Not this story again, thought Snape.

"It's a long story, Molly. To be honest, I'd rather not have to speak of the details but I'm sure that Minerva would tell you if you asked her," he said. He felt guilty for pawning it off to his colleague, but he figured that she would be able to handle it better. He felt uncomfortable talking about himself in any way. "To keep it short, Miss Cromwell saved me. She found me and brought me to a local healer."

"Severus! How could you call your ward Miss Cromwell?" chastised the redhead.

"That was how I addressed her before she became my ward."

"Oh! And how did that come about?"

"Her family's condition was less than ideal," said Snape darkly.

"How bad was the abuse?" spoke Mr. Weasley for the first time. "It must have been difficult to make her trust you let alone come with you."

"I wouldn't exactly call it abuse; it was more of neglect. And quite the contrary, I had no difficulty making her come with me. I believe she may have trusted me from the moment she saw me."

"She's a good judge of character then!"

"I sincerely hope so," muttered Snape to himself as he thought of how dangerous it would be if Cyrille started trusting everyone. If the girl managed to trust him under the suspicious circumstances in which she found him...

"What is that?" asked Snape suddenly as he pointed to a book which had a picture of himself smiling brightly and waving to the public on the cover.

"I see Minerva hasn't told you yet," said Mrs. Weasley uncertainly as she looked to her husband for support.

"Told me what?"

"It would seem like Rita Skeeter has a mind of her own, however surprising that might sound," said Mr. Weasley. "She thought that it would benefit us—meaning herself—if she would publish a book about you."

"What?" asked Snape, speechless for the first time in his life.

"I assure you, Severus; we had nothing to do with this. We just saw the book in Diagon Alley when we went to visit George in the shop." Snape snatched the book from the table and flipped open to a random page.

"Grossly exaggerated..." he muttered. He went a shade darker with each page that he turned. Arthur grabbed the book from Snape before he would hyperventilate on the spot.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now. You kind of turned into a war hero to the people after the book came out," said Arthur uncomfortably.

"You're telling me that people actually bought this?" asked Snape incredulously.

"Well, if they bought Lockhart's books before, it's not surprising that they'd buy this. Not that I'm saying you're anything like Lockhart." At that precise moment, Molly decided to clean invisible dust. She was noticeably blushing, but thankfully the two men were none the wiser.

Snape closed his eyes and mentally counted to ten, taking deep breaths in between to calm himself. When he felt sufficiently calm, he opened his eyes once again. "Now I know how Potter felt three years back," he muttered. He felt a little bad for making fun of the boy before. He couldn't help but think that if the tables were turned, he would've been furious enough to commit murder to anyone stupid enough to make fun of him. The boy probably still hates me, he thought. And I wouldn't blame him. I spent years trying to make his life miserable. Even with the truth out, he didn't believe that Potter would ever forgive him. His actions had damned him. He sighed aloud as he had forgotten that he was currently in front of the Weasleys.

"Severus, are you alright? You look a little tired," said Mrs. Weasley.

"I'm fine, Molly. I was just thinking about certain things."

"Why don't we go and check in on the children? Frankly speaking, I'm feeling a little nervous. They're being too quiet. With George here, they should've broken at least half a dozen plates by now," she said as she led the two men out of the kitchen. They went up the narrow staircase and passed by the closed doors. As they reached the top, Mrs. Weasley cracked the door open silently.

They saw everyone huddled around in the middle of the room as if they were discussing their deepest, darkest secret. Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat and everyone jumped back in surprise.

"Mum! Stop scaring us like that!" protested George.

"What on earth are you doing there huddled around like a bunch of Quidditch players discussing strategy?"

"I don't think I'll like Quidditch very much," said Cyrille.

"That's because you haven't tried playing it yet," said George.

"And she is not getting on any broom without my permission," said Snape. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley looked at each other and smiled knowingly. Snape was starting to get protective of his child. They never thought they'd see the day Snape would openly show his care for anyone.

"Of course, Professor! I would never try to get Cyrille on a broom without asking you first," said George defensively.

"And you never broke any rules back at Hogwarts," said Bill. Charlie snickered beside him.

"And I thought you were family," said George with mock hurt.

"I think it's about time I take Ms. Cromwell home. We have imposed on you for far too long," said Snape.

"Nonsense, Severus. You're always welcome here," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Molly is right, Severus. In fact, you should visit more often," said Mr. Weasley.

"I appreciate your kindness. However, it is getting rather late."

"Why don't you two stay the night? Cyrille can use Ron's old room. He won't be coming here for a while because he and Hermione are helping Harry get settled into his new house." Cyrille looked at Snape pleadingly. She really did like this bunch, and she was hoping to get to spend some more time with them.

"Fine. We will stay," said Snape. Cyrille jumped and hugged her guardian.

"Thanks, Severus!" she said and the Weasley children nearly choked after hearing how the girl addressed their most feared professor.

"George dear, why don't you help get Professor Snape and Cyrille settled in?" asked Mrs. Weasley. "You don't mind sharing a room with Severus do you?" she asked, directing the question to Cyrille.

"I don't mind at all," said Cyrille. "Even if he does snore," she added mischievously. Snape extended his hand to grab Cyrille's ear but the girl had already predicted this. She stepped away and hid behind Mr. Weasley and added, "Occasionally."

"I'll forgive you this time," whispered the man to his ward. George jumped in to the rescue and led them to their room. Once inside, he left them after giving Cyrille a wink.

"I snore?" asked Snape with a raised eyebrow.

"You look like the snoring type," said Cyrille.

"If you ever tell people about that again in the future, you'll regret it."

"What makes you think I would even dare?" she asked with mock horror.

"I see Mr. Weasley is rubbing off on you."

"You do realize that potentially every man in this house is Mr. Weasley?" she asked.

"I will regret introducing you to them," he said. Cyrille smiled widely. This was basically Snape's way of telling her that he approved of her behavior today.

"I guess it's too late for regrets now," said Cyrille. "I really like them. They're nice."

"I could see that. What were you doing in that room earlier? You look like you'd seen a ghost when we came in."

"What do you mean? We were just talking," said Cyrille.

"Huddled together like that?"

"We can't talk huddled together like that?"

"Don't think I didn't notice how you changed the subject to Quidditch when you were asked what you were doing. I have to say that I'm impressed with your quick thinking. However, that does not fool me. If anything, it makes me even more suspicious."

"Well, we weren't really doing anything. George was just showing me stuff."

"It's the 'stuff' that worries me."

"Are you normally this paranoid?"

"Only when it concerns Mr. Weasley." And you, he added in his thoughts.

"Relax, Severus. He was just showing me some of his new products," she said. "And I promise not to use them on you or the Weasleys," she added when she saw her guardian begin to protest.

"You had your wand out," he pointed out.

"He showed me a few quick spells. Not harmful ones. I swear!"

"Fine. I will let this go. But if you ever get into any kind of trouble with these spells, I will personally make sure that you suffer enough to never even think about doing it again. Is that clear?"

"Crystal."

The next day, Snape woke up early and decided to go down for a glass of water. He saw his ward sleeping peacefully on her bed and he crept out silently so as not to wake her up unnecessarily. As he was about to enter the kitchen, he heard footsteps inside. He thought that perhaps Mrs. Weasley was already awake and was preparing for breakfast. He stepped inside and the figure turned around in surprise. As he saw Snape, he dropped the plate he was holding and screamed. Everyone rushed downstairs to see what the ruckus was about.

"Ronald Weasley! Why are you screaming like a little girl at this hour?"

"Mum! I thought... I thought it was... a g-g-ghost," said Ron, his heart still audibly pounding in his chest.

"I told you that Professor Snape was coming!"

"But I thought that was yesterday! I still have to get used to the idea that he's not dead, you know?"

"Ron! That is rude! You will apologize now."

"Sorry," he said miserably. He had a huge blush on his cheeks.

"It's alright," said Snape. "I'm sure he didn't do it on purpose," he added irritably. In truth he was annoyed, but he couldn't really bring himself to yell at the man in front of his mother, not when she went out of her way to let him stay the night.

"What's going on down here?" asked Cyrille while rubbing her eyes, clearly having just woken up. Snape resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"This is my son Ronald. Ron, meet Cyrille, Professor Snape's ward." Ron merely gawked at the girl as if she were some kind of mythical creature.

"Hi," said Cyrille.

"Honestly, Ron. The girl says hi and you gawk at her?" said George.

"Er... hello," said Ron. "I'm Ron, but I guess you already know that." He laughed awkwardly.

"What are you doing here, little brother? I thought you and Hermione were helping Harry?" asked George.

"Ginny came so I left," said Ron. "Hermione kept staring daggers at me and I thought I'd done something wrong. Turns out she wanted me to give them some privacy. She made up some lame excuse about researching some Feng Shui or whatever for the house so I said I'd come here and visit first," he added.

"You left Ginny alone with Harry?" said Mrs. Weasley with a hint of alarm.

"Yeah, is there something wrong?" asked Ron.

"Honestly, Ron. You really do have the emotional range of a teaspoon," said George as he rolled his eyes. "Mum's afraid that those two might be having much more fun than they're supposed to."

"What's that supposed to—mum! Harry wouldn't do that!" said Ron, suddenly outraged. Mrs. Weasley turned a dark shade of red.

"I was expressing concern! Harry is like a son to me; I would never doubt his intentions. But sometimes, children don't think before they act!"

"Molly, I'm sure you mean well, but Ron is right. You have to trust the children more," said Mr. Weasley soothingly. Everyone fell into an awkward silence.

"Is this Harry the same person who did the interview to clear your name? You know... that student of yours who you seem to have this misunderstanding with?" whispered Cyrille to her guardian.

"Yes," replied Snape. "Though misunderstanding seems rather inadequate to describe our relationship. We hated each other," he added matter-of-factly.

"You don't really hate him, do you?" she asked. Snape took a moment before making his reply.

"I suppose not, though I can't say the same for him."

"I don't think he hates you either. He cleared your name even if he thought you were dead, didn't he?" Before Snape could make a reply, George interrupted.

"What are you two whispering about there?"

"Nothing that concerns you, Mr. Weasley."

"And here I thought we were friends," said George with mock hurt. Ron gawked at his brother as if he'd gone mad. He was certain that Snape was going to chop him up and sell him to the apothecary or something.

"And here I thought I had a good sense of judgment," replied Snape. Ron simply blinked at his professor. Had nearly dying changed him? He vaguely wondered.

"Why don't I start making breakfast since Ron managed to wake everyone up?" offered Bill.

"I'll help," said George. "I'll play Fleur today so you wouldn't miss her too much while you're here," he added playfully as he batted his eyelids in mock flirtation.

"Fleur doesn't help me cook, George. And she doesn't act like that."

"Eez eet zi accent?" asked George.

"Oy, watch it. That's my wife you're mocking."

"Don't be such a killjoy, Bill."

"Maybe she does sound a little like that," added Bill thoughtfully.

"You'd be sleeping on the couch for the rest for your life if she heard you say that," interrupted Charlie.

"Make yourselves useful and go set the table instead of making fun of my wife," said Bill to his brothers.

"Fine," replied George and Charlie in unison as they did what Bill asked.

"Do you need any help with that?" asked Cyrille.

"You're the guest here, Cyrille. You're not supposed to lift a finger," responded Charlie.

"That's okay, I really don't mind helping."

"Why don't you put these where they belong then," he said as he handed Cyrille the napkins. As she finished, Bill served the food and everyone chattered away as they ate a hearty breakfast.

"Is Percy not coming?" asked Bill suddenly.

"He's been held up at work, apparently," said Arthur.

"Is he still aiming for that stupid promotion?" asked George. "Never mind, this is Percy we're talking about here."

"Is Percy another Weasley?" whispered Cyrille to her guardian.

"Yes."

"Oh."

After breakfast, Snape and Cyrille bid their farewells as they returned home through the Floo.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," said Cyrille as she stepped through the fireplace.

"Speak for yourself," muttered Snape.

"You liked it there too, you liar." Snape shot the girl a death glare.

"Did you just say something?" he asked dangerously.

"Nope."

"I thought so," said her guardian with a triumphant look.

Cyrille woke up to the sound of claws scratching on cardboard. As she tried to discern where the noise was coming from, her eyes fell on a small box on the floor beside her bed.

She crept out of her bed and stared at the box in wonder. Then, she heard the unmistakable sound of scratching. She lifted the flaps on the box and a small furry ball poked out of it.

Meow.

Cyrille stared at the mass of black as it tilted its head. It seemed to glower at her as she continued to stare.

Meeoooooow. It purred impatiently.

"Um, Severus?" she called tentatively.

"What?" she heard him reply from downstairs. At that moment, the cat decided to wrap itself around her leg. She picked him up and ran downstairs straight to where her guardian was.

"Severus! Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" she squealed in delight. She let go of the cat in favor of hugging her guardian and it seemed to glare at her from the ground.

"What is all this fuss about at such an hour?" asked Snape as he pretended to be immune to his ward, who seemed unable to let go of him.

"You didn't have to!" said Cyrille as she clung onto her guardian. And miss this? Not a chance, thought Snape.

"Happy birthday, child," he said softly as he felt his throat constrict. He rarely saw his ward so happy and it felt good to know that he had caused it.

Cyrille was starting to tear up as well though she tried not to. She felt infinitely grateful to Snape. No one had ever given her a gift before, especially not on her birthday. She couldn't help herself as the tears came.

"Why are you crying, you silly child? Shall I return the cat to the pet shop then?" he asked as he held the girl in a firm embrace. The cat in question turned to glare at Snape, as if it understood what he had just said. Or perhaps it was just naturally grumpy.

Cyrille continued to cry while she was in her guardian's arms. It took a while before the tears subsided. When she had finally used up all her tears, she spoke.

"Severus, I love him! Oh how did you know?" Meow, the cat purred. It licked its paws as they conversed.

"I didn't. I was going to get you an owl for practicality, but I thought you would appreciate having a cat more. He did seem somewhat lonely in the pet shop."

"I do like cats, Severus!" Meeoooow. "Look at him; he's so smart! It's like he understands us."

"I am glad you like my gift."

"This is the best birthday ever!"

"Stop exaggerating," he said lightly. "You are officially eleven now," he suddenly remembered.

"I'm officially eligible to attend Hogwarts!"

"Yes, another troublemaker to look out for. My peaceful days are over."

"I'm not that bad," said Cyrille as she rolled her eyes. "Severus?" she suddenly called after a while. The cat looked up and purred once again, and Cyrille looked at it momentarily before turning her attention back to her guardian.

"Yes?" he replied.

"Thank you."

"You've already said that. There is nothing you should thank me for. I did what any guardian would have done for his ward."

"No, you're the best guardian in the world!" said the girl proudly.

"Humph. You're still not getting extra dessert tonight."

"But Severus!" Meow? Cyrille looked at the cat in suspicion then her eyes widened as a realization hit her. "Uh-oh."

"What is it now?"

"He's responding to Severus." Meeoooooooow, the cat purred delightedly.

"Severus," attempted Snape. The cat instantly went to the man and wrapped itself around his leg. "Cyrille Cromwell!"

"What? It's not my fault! I didn't name him! Maybe it's because that's the first word he heard me say when I saw him," she reasoned.

"Make him stop it."

"But he's a cat," protested Cyrille weakly.

"A smart cat, according to someone."

"Fine," said Cyrille as she took the cat back upstairs. When an hour had passed, she came trudging back downstairs with a triumphant smile.

"He responds to a different name now?" asked Snape lazily as he scanned the morning paper for the usual stories.

"Yes."

"Good."

"He responds to Sevy." The newspaper fell to the table with a soft thud.