The Sky is Wrecked and Full of Rotting Clouds

Lined up alongside her classmates on Hogwarts's Quidditch pitch, Eileen paid Madam Hooch's instructions little mind. She knew how to fly a broom unlike some of her fellow first years. Though, if that was going to matter in a minute was up for debate. Surreptitiously, she wiped her sweaty palms on her school robe. Eileen was glad she'd decided to close it before coming out to the pitch for today's lesson.

Ravenclaws weren't necessarily the vicious sort, and her dormmates had already decided it was the odd Luna Lovegood who was no good, not her, the tetchy potions professor's daughter. However, the less weakness they saw in her the better. It might not always be like it was now. Eileen was drawn to the world outside her worries when Madam Hooch raised her voice and instructed, "Say up! To your brooms. You do not need to be loud, but firm. Some of you may be familiar with dogs? Commanding brooms is quite alike in that way."

Eileen sucked in a breath as her classmates around her shouted and yelled at their brooms. As for her, she kept her voice small, but stern (like Sev taught her and Lottie when they were six) as she commanded, " Up ."

The broom jumped into her hand. Eileen went stiff and with her palms newly slick and knees shaking, she wrapped her numb fingers around the wood as Madam Hooch went up and down the row, assisting students and checking their grips. Her eyes turned sharp when they landed on Eileen's hands. "Hold it a little tighter, Ms. Snape."

"Yes, Madam Hooch," she choked out.

The professor nodded and turned her attention to the Muggle-born boy on the other side of the girl to Eileen's left. After Hooch finished helping him get his broom in his hand, she smiled and crossed her arms. Staring at them all, she told Eileen and her classmates, "Now, everyone, please get on your brooms."

Eileen didn't realize what she was doing until it was done. Her broom was back on the ground and she was shaking all over, not just behind her robe. Madam Hooch was looking at her. She knew all of her classmates were too. Face growing hot, she turned her attention to her toes and let her hair fall around her face. It was at times like these she wished she had Sev and Essie's black, straight hair. It did such a lovely job of shielding one from the world.

"Ms. Snape? Is there a problem?" Madam Hooch asked, alarmed, in front of Eileen once again.

Lifting her head, she looked through her hair and met the concerned eyes of the old professor. "I-I can't," she stammered, hoping that the witch would understand and ask no more.

Madam Hooch's eyes took on a shimmery quality. She sighed and with a pained expression, said, "I know riding a broom can be frightening—"

Lip trembling, Eileen cut in, "Madam Hooch, I can't ." Voice barely a whisper, she begged, "Please, don't make me."

"Very well," relented the witch after a long pause. She then pointed to a nearby bench in front of the Hufflepuff section. "We will be discussing this after class," she said. "Take a seat over there."

Shaking even more from the relief she felt, she swayed as she walked over and sat down on the bench. There, she all but turned into a boneless heap. Breathing in and out, Eileen slowly regained her composure as she watched her classmates get on their brooms. When they began to rise into the air one by one, she looked to her hands in her lap. For the rest of her class, she studied her fingers, wondering if she got her ring finger from Edie or from Sev (or could it be someone else's?).

-o-O-o-

A (nearly) successful first flying lesson behind them, students filtered off the pitch in pairs and small bunches. They laughed and talked and squabbled with each other, not so much as glancing backward at Rolanda or their classmate who remained behind. She nodded to herself, satisfied. Often, Rolanda fretted when a student didn't have fellow or two who stood close by waiting to comfort or listen to them after a chat with her, but not today. It was too early in the year to expect that and she suspected it was the last thing Eileen would have liked for any of her classmates to do anyway. Turning her eyes on said, girl, Rolanda couldn't help the amused, upward pull at her lips. Severus and Eileen did not look a bit alike physically, but the way they carried themselves… No one was ever going to doubt who's child Eileen was with a glower like that on her face.

"Thank you for staying after, Ms. Snape," she said to the girl in a kind tone once she stood in front of her.

Eileen's glower deepened into a sullen glare. "You told me to," she replied almost as if she were trying to challenge her.

Rolanda didn't let it phase her. She'd dealt with plenty of difficult children over the years. "I did," she agreed easily, broadening her small, private smile into a grin for the girl. Chuckling, she told Eileen, "In my experience, however, requesting a student stay after does not always mean they will."

Eileen's glare turned dubious. "Sev's never mentioned students not staying after he asked them to before," she replied.

"It's happened, I'm sure," Rolanda said still smiling. She glanced away and rubbed her chin in thought. "I reckon it's not very often they do, however," she remarked. "Your father… He's a rather strict professor from what I've seen." Meeting the girl's gaze again she said, "Only the most foolhardy would dare to leave after he told them to stay."

Eileen nodded, seemingly satisfied by Rolanda's observation. "You're likely right," she said.

Feeling it was now time to, Rolanda sat down next to the girl. Throwing away formality, she put a light hand on Eileen's knee and asked, "Now, Eileen, may I ask why you wouldn't ride your broom today?" Searching the girl's face as she looked down, Rolanda said, "I know you can fly. I've seen you do it before."

Lips quivering, Eileen explained with reluctance, "I… I haven't flown since Lottie died. When you told us to get on, all I could think of was her." Roland watched the girl bunch her hands in her robe and had to bend in closer to hear her whisper, "The last time she flew, she couldn't have known what was going to happen. I became afraid if I got on the broom and flew, that it would be my last time too."

Rolanda's heart broke for the girl beside her. She had brothers and one had passed, but how he died… It was nothing like what Eileen had experienced. Her brother, Holden, had been cursed in the war with Grindlewald and then died shortly before the last with Voldemort from the effects of the cure. Rolanda, her other brother, Holden's wife, and children had years to make memories and come to grips with Holden's shortened life. For Eileen, Lottie had been gone in an instant, things unsaid never voiced, grievances never aired, and wrongs never righted.

That, however, did not change the fact Lottie's death had not been the result of simply flying a broom. Nor did it change Eileen would need to fly one to pass Rolanda's class. She sighed and gave the girl's knee a squeeze. "Ducky, your sister wasn't just flying, she was doing tricks ," she tried to reason.

The look the girl leveled her with would have surely made Severus a very proud father. Lips pulled back to bare her teeth, Eileen spat, "Are you saying I won't have to? I know we will. I've watched your lessons, Madame Hooch."

She had to look away from the girl's piercing look. Rolanda wasn't one to lie. "Not right away," she said.

Eileen's gaze didn't fall as she said, "I don't think I'll ever be able to do tricks, Madame Hooch."

Rolanda met the girl's gaze. "Eileen, to pass this class, you will at least have to try to," she warned her.

The girl stood up, hands balled at her side. Face white, not red, she growled, "Maybe I won't pass then."

She pursed her lips. "Eileen—"

However, the rest of what she had to say was drowned out by the girl. A facsimile of a smile on her face, she declared, "If that's all, Madame Hooch, I need to go. I've got History of Magic inside in fifteen minutes."

"Ms. Snape!" she yelled after the girl as she began to walk away.

Eileen only paused long enough to wave at her, still wearing her odd smile. "Thank you, Madame Hooch," she said as if she'd not just declared she was going to fail Rolanda's class. "I will see you at our next lesson."

Utterly gobsmacked, all Rolanda could do was follow Eileen with her eyes until she disappeared from sight, leaving her alone on Hogwarts's quidditch pitch.

-o-O-o-

"Come in," called a slightly muffled voice on the other side of Severus's office door.

Accepting the invitation, Rolanda walked into her colleague's office. Grim-faced, she told Severus, who was seated behind his desk comparing two texts, "Severus, we need to talk."

He looked up from his texts, barely concealed irritation in his voice as he replied, "To what do I owe the pleasure, Rolanda?"

"It's about your daughter," said Rolanda, not bothering to dance around the issue at hand.

"Eileen?" said Severus, blinking. "Now, that's a surprise. I thought if any of the girls were going to cause you or others to speak with me, it was going to be Essie," he remarked, an amused light to his eyes.

Rolanda felt her own lips quirk with a smile. Severus had a point. She knew all of his daughters, Eileen was (until today) a seemingly obedient girl who was not prone to trouble. While Essie… She didn't mean to create problems, but she was not nearly as thoughtful as her older sister and often caused unintentional trouble to sort out now and again. When she felt composed again, Rolanda explained, "She had a bit of panic during flying lessons today and afterward when I spoke with her about it, she said she would rather fail my class than fly again."

Severus's face turned blank and there was a long, drawn-out silence. Rolanda resisted the urge to fiddle with her wand or hair and waited for Severus to reply. Finally, he did, but not in a way she expected. Slowly, he asked, "…Is there no way we can exempt her from flying lessons?"

"You aren't being serious," she replied almost immediately, dismayed. "She needs to know how to fly," she told Severus.

His face darkened. "Eileen does know how to fly," he said.

She held back a sigh and looked toward the ceiling a moment. "Severus, you know what I mean," Rolanda said, quiet, but sharp.

His dark look turned into an outright scowl. "Rolanda, I will not force my daughter to fly a broom," he growled.

This time, Rolanda did sigh, utterly exasperated. Stepping forward, she put out her hands and beseeched, "I'm not asking you to force her, just encourage her—"

"—Absolutely not," thundered Severus, cutting her off. "After how we lost Lottie, I will not encourage anyone to ride a broom, let alone my remaining children."

Her heart twisted in her chest, but Rolanda knew she couldn't be cowed now. This was important. Severus's daughters already had the obstacle of being his children, they did not need another in the form of special accommodations that would draw whispers, resentment, and pity. "Severus, I understand this is difficult—"

"—No, you don't!" he roared over the top of her reasoning. "Rolanda you are not a parent," he hissed, standing behind his desk, hands gripping the edges of the tabletop. "You don't know what it's like to tell your daughter to be good for her mother in the morning and then, in the afternoon, cradle her corpse in your arms," he choked out, eyes distant.

Rolanda felt her own sting with tears. She didn't know, but she could empathize all the same. Sitting back down, Severus, looking very tired, put his face in his hands and said, voice muted by his hands, "If you must fail Eileen, I understand. I will not punish her for it, nor will I punish Essie or Calliope if they refuse to fly in the future as well."

There was not much Rolanda could say or do in the face of such an admission. If a parent wasn't going to punish their child for a failed grade, and it wasn't enough to hold her back in her schooling, Rolanda's options for how to deal with Eileen's refusal became nonexistent. Still, she could not help but say, "That is not a healthy way to handle what's happened."

"I can't say I care," Severus replied, a bitter sneer on his face.

Rolanda stared at Severus for a long beat before she decided it was time to admit defeat. Severus was right. His daughter did know how to fly. She didn't really need to be taught or practice. The chances Eileen would ever need to fly were quite slim too when there were so many other options for travel available to her. "…I won't fail Eileen," she said finally. Severus's shoulder relaxed, but before they could become loose, she put up a hand and declared, "I will think of something else she can do instead of flying. Perhaps some essays on different aspects of brooms and broom related activities."

He nodded. "Thank you Rolanda, I appreciate it."

"Make sure she doesn't leave any of the essays around where Essie can find them," she advised Severus, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "If she's like Eileen, she will have to write a number of similar essays next year."

He offered his own, small, but real smirk. "Of course," he agreed.

"I will leave you to your work then," said Rolanda, bowing her head. "Thank you for your time."

Her colleague dipped his chin in acknowledgment before returning his attention to his texts. Turning around, Rolanda saw herself out of Severus's office. As she closed the door behind her, Rolanda mused that while the meeting could not be deemed a success, it was not exactly a failure either. Perhaps a tie was the right way to see it. She sighed. When facing off against a man like Severus, that was often the best outcome one could expect.

This was a new thought that recently hit me that needed to be written. After what happened with Lottie, getting the rest of the girls to participate in flying class seemed like a difficult task. Especially because I couldn't imagine Severus pushing his daughters to participate either.

So, how did you like this little glimpse into the long-term impact of Lottie's death on Eileen?

Thanks a million for reading!