A/N: Enjoy. :)

Meddling Headmaster

"What in…" Both parents stared at the little girl for a few minutes before Aurora yanked one of the blankets from the back of the couch and quickly covered the nude child. Aurora then whirled back towards Dumbledore. She had anger written all over her face. "What the hell did you do?" she growled. It didn't faze the older wizard a bit, though.

"A simple aging spell, my dear," Dumbledore calmly replied. "You did mention before that she has been crying quite frequently."

"She's a baby. They cry a lot. It's what they do!" Aurora snapped.

"Yes, my dear, I understand that. However, your daughter—"

While Aurora and Dumbledore continued their heated exchange, Severus and the little girl stared at one another as if seeing each other for the first time. He gently touched the girl's chubby cheeks, which made the little girl giggle softly. He then sighed softly and narrowed his eyes at her. In response, the little girl tilted her head right then left as she stared back at him. He chuckled and held a hand up. She quickly held her small hand up to his and gently threaded her fingers into his.

"Daddy," the small blonde said innocently.

Snape couldn't explain the feeling that surged through his veins at her sudden declaration, but he knew that this innocent child sitting on his lap was his daughter. He gently pulled the child closer to him and sighed. He had to admit that he was rather glad that she had grown out of the infancy age rather quickly. He, like most other new fathers, hated to change diapers.

"Why's Mommy fighting with Grandpa?" she whispered in Snape's ear.

"She didn't appreciate him making you grow up so quickly," Snape quietly replied as he watched Aurora and Albus continue their argument.

"Oh," the little blonde said. "But I don't feel so yucky anymore, Daddy."

"You didn't feel well before?" he asked while gently pulling her back from him.

"Uh-huh," she said nodding her head. Her little blonde curls bounced freely on her shoulders. "Everything hurt, 'specially my head. Now it doesn't."

"Then I'm glad he did this," Snape replied. His eyes then narrowed on her as a thought occurred to him. "I'm going to ask you two questions, and I want you to answer truthfully. Understand?" She nodded in response. "Your teddy bear—"

"He made me feel better sometimes. Grandpa told me it's cause he's magical like you and Mommy. So when it hurt a lot, the bear took it away."

"Then it hurt more at night?" he asked.

"Uh-huh," she said nodding vigorously. "It's cause I wasn't near you and Mommy."

"Who told you this, Angel?"

"Well, my bear did of course," answered Angel giggling. "You're silly, Daddy. Doesn't your bear talk to you?"

"Ah, yes, of course, the bear," Snape drawled. "Unfortunately, I didn't have a bear growing up."

"Is that cause you didn't see the scary monster?"

"Scary monster?" asked Snape. "I don't understand. What scary monster?" When he caught Angel's dark eyes dart to the far corner, he felt his heart skip a beat. "Angel, have you seen a scary monster?" However, she didn't respond. "Please, Angel. Answer me. Have you seen a scary monster?" She then glanced at him for a few seconds before nodding slowly.

"It…it comes into my room at night. It usually just stares at me, but sometimes it hurts me."

"How?" demanded Snape. He had heard the silence long ago and now felt Dumbledore and his wife's eyes on him and Angel. He drew in a steadying breath. His emotions that he held behind his barriers were acting as if they were yo-yos during this conversation. Then again, he had just found out that something was hurting his daughter. Who honestly could blame him if he was being a tad bit emotional underneath his barriers?

Snape's eyes then caught his wife's eyes. He immediately noticed the fear etched into her face. He silently watched Aurora walk closer to their daughter before kneeling behind her. He watched her gingerly hold a hand up to rub Angel's back lovingly. However, Aurora pulled her hand back at the last moment for some reason.

"Sweetheart, tell us how it hurts you," Aurora said with a slight waver in her voice.

"It puts its hand on my chest and makes me see horrible things…like the green light."

"The green light…?"

Snape was barely breathing now. If someone were sending his daughter dreams of the Killing Curse, he would kill them. No child, especially one as young as his own, needed to dream of that. It was enough to send anyone into a catatonic state. He should know after all. He had casted it more than a thousand times while he had been in the Dark Lord's ranks.

"Uh-huh," Angel replied. "It's the Ralashan."

Snape quickly glanced towards Dumbledore. He hadn't ever heard of that term before. It wasn't Latin or some familiar dialect like that. He tried to see if he could break it down into some familiar language to ascertain its meaning. However, nothing was even close. He then caught his mentor's blue eyes deepen as sadness seeped into them. He opened his mouth to ask Dumbledore what it meant when the older wizard answered the unspoken question.

"The Elders referred to our Killing Curse as the Ralashan," Dumbledore calmly explained. He then spoke in a gentler tone. "Tell me, Angel. What does this scary monster look like?"

"I don't know, Grandpa," Angel answered. "It doesn't let me see its face, but I think…um…I think it might look like a Serin."

"House elf," Dumbledore quickly translated for Aurora and Severus. He then stroked his long white beard thoughtfully. He had only meant to age the child as per Eileen's instructions, not learn these sinister events. The curiosity in him couldn't hold back. He needed to know more. After all, he did now have an interesting discussion with Eileen planned for tonight. "Does it look like Dobby or Mokai?"

"Uh-uh," Angel replied fiercely shaking her head. "It…well, um…I can feel its magic, Grandpa. It doesn't feel like Daddy's Serin or yours. It's darker than that." Tears then started to feel her big dark eyes. Her voice lowered to a whisper. "I think it might be one of his."

"You must forgive me, my dear, but I do not understand. One of whose?" asked Dumbledore.

"The bringer of darkness," she started to say before inhaling deeply, "Malante."