Hello all! My name is DevonLee and I am the creator of this story-originally it was called Baby Miracle, so if you are an old fan, thank you and welcome back to the new and improved Meadow Snape! For you who are new, hello and welcome to the adventures of Meadow Snape! As I wrote this first chapter, I'm already loving the (new) direction I went with.
ANNOUNCEMENT: I will be posting in "bulk" meaning 3-4 chapters at a time!
**I am announcing this during this chapter only: J.K. Rowling created and owns the Harry Potter universe apart from my own characters.
Enjoy this fanfic! Don't forget to let me know in the comments of if you love/hate this chapter and what you'd want to know! If you LOVE this fanfic, check out my other two stories based on Meadow's universe (currently unable, but keep an eye out for them!)!
Miracle
Meadow Snape grew up in a quiet neighborhood. The usual families of mothers and fathers going to work and caring for their children was never something that she was bothered with. As Meadow was the only child in the small community to be raised by a nanny during the week, and by her father on weekends and in the summer. Her mother was hospital bound by an unknown reason, where she lay in a coma state with very little hope of recovery. When Meadow travels to Hogwarts, she meets an unusual group of boys: Harry Potter, Shane Lupin, and Ron Weasley. After being sorted, she has a difficult time accepting her house due to the amount of fun she had on the train ride. With tensions rising, Meadow has to find the balance between her new friends' adventures and her housemates' patience.
Follow Meadow through Hogwarts where she meets new challenges every year and shapes herself to prepare for the war in the coming years.
Chapter One: Unstable Beginnings
"A week ago, Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, received his Hogwarts letter. Escorted by the Keeper of Keys and Grounds, Rubeus Hagrid, the boy-who-lived finally emerged back into the wizarding world. Harry Potter vanquished You-Know-Who almost ten years ago was now getting his supplies for his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardly!—"
Severus Snape stopped reading the article. Of course, Harry Potter would make the cover after being sent to live with his awful aunt and uncle in the Muggle world. Per Albus Dumbledore's orders, Potter would be sent to live with the only living relative whom shared Lily's blood, her sister Petunia. A dreadfully jealous brat, whom ruined her friendship with Lily because they both weren't witches. However, in order to keep Lily Potter's sacrifice alive. . . the boy had to live with Petunia. Severus shook his head, turned the paper, and sat at the breakfast bar facing toward the windows with his coffee in hand.
The windows, framed with yellow curtains, brought in a lot of light to the dark-furnished room. The cabinets, smooth and dark walnut stained, had grey, concrete countertops; all the appliances: refrigerator, oven, and microwave, were black. The stove-top and kitchen sink, a shiny silver. Throughout the countertops were little knickknacks: a black knife-holder, black French-Press coffee maker, a yellow vase with lilies, a silver basket that held apples and oranges, a trio of candles on a copper stand, and finally, a yellow, old clock; these things were collected by Sadie, Severus's fiancé whom spent her days in a coma at St. Mungo's. Since that damaging day, Severus didn't change a thing at the house. The things Severus and Sadie bought together when they first moved in together… they were too painful to get rid of, despite the low hope of recovery for his fiancé.
Sadie, of course, at the young age they were, decided that the childhood home Severus grew up in, was at the perfect location for a starter home. Thankfully, they had made major changes within the house and it no longer looked like Severus's tormented past. Though, Sadie promised Severus when the time came for a family and once, they saved up more money, they'd move away from the awful home. This never happened, as their family started unexpectedly and shortly after Sadie was no longer able to live in the home.
Severus closed his eyes and pinched his nose between his forefinger and thumb, pausing in time as he remembered his fiancé. He took a deep breath before he took a sip of his coffee and opened a different article in the Daily Prophet as he waited for his daughter to wake up. An owl dropped off a very important letter this morning, causing for celebration and a trip to St. Mungo's and Diagon Alley. The letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardly proclaiming that Meadow was invited to attend the school to learn magic. Severus couldn't have been prouder.
He did not have to wait very long. Meadow bounded down the stairs, awake and full of energy at six o'clock in the morning. Her long, blonde, curly hair bouncing behind her as she slid into the chair diagonal from her father.
"Morning!" she said cheerfully and dug into the oatmeal Severus had prepared for her.
"Good morning," Severus responded dully; he was not a morning person, hence, the coffee. Of course, it did not help that he did not sleep very often. Originally, his poor sleeping patterns were due to being a professor at Hogwarts his first year. The following year or two, he couldn't remember, was due to Sadie's health condition. And those bad nights of not sleeping, became a habit.
"What's this?" Meadow pointed to the post on the counter.
Severus looked up from the paper with a pointed eyebrow, "It's for you."
Meadow's eyes widened in surprise; letting her spoon fall out of her hand, she grasped for the letter. An old parchment envelope held together by a wax stamp which bore the Hogwarts crest: a lion, eagle, badger, and snake in four corners with the large letter H. Quickly she turned it around, in green, swirly ink it read:
Miss M. Snape
First Bedroom on the Left
Spinner's End, Cokeworth, England.
She looked up with round eyes and exclaimed to her dad, "Is this what I think it is?"
He shrugged, "Open it."
Shaking with anticipation and excitement, she turned the letter back open, slipped her hand under the envelope flap and peeled off the wax. It made a slight "pop" as the stamp unstuck from the lower half of the envelope.
"HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
"Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDOR (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
"Dear Miss Snape,
"We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Please find the enclosed list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September First. We await your owl by no later than August Thirty-First!" Meadow yelled out, causing her father to flinch with the sudden burst of energy. "I got in! I'm going to Hogwarts!"
Oatmeal forgotten, Meadow paraded around the kitchen waving the letter around; Severus hid his smile with his coffee mug as he went to take a drink.
"Ooooh!" She exclaimed and raced back over to the envelope. "I wonder what we'll need to pick up." Meadow stopped suddenly, though, she already knew everything the first years had to get. Numerous times she snuck into the library at night to read some of the books her dad collected. Collecting her thoughts of all of the potions she'd finally be able to brew on her own, she thought of the one thing that separated her from the other witches and wizards before Hogwarts; "I can get my wand! Dad! I can get my wand! Can we go today? Can we go right now?"
"No," Severus said sternly; he held up a hand as Meadow started to protest, "Not right now. You need to go get dressed and washed up. We will go today, but only AFTER YOU TELL YOUR MOTHER!" He called after her as she squealed, raced up the stairs, and slammed the bathroom door.
-.-.
Once Meadow had freshened up, she was waiting for her father by the fireplace in the reading room. The red, brown, and cream bricks spread across the one wall. She pulled her hair back into a side ponytail as she looked around the room. On one side of the room, large windows shown the backyard, where birds, foxes, squirrels, and bunnies ran wild; the windows had large, dark grey, silk curtains hanging from them. The walls were a light grey, though, barely any wall space was seen, as bookcases covered the remaining two interior walls. The bookcases housed many of her father's books he collected among the years, though they also held photo albums and books her mother put together and kept when she was mobile, and a variety of photos and small plants or decorative items were placed among the shelves. In front of the shorter-length wall—the one that stretched from the window to the hallway, opposite of the fireplace—had a desk in front of it, where her father would grade papers from his students during the school year.
Meadow sighed in relief, no more Ms. Kashmire, the nanny who would care for her when school was in session. Her father would come back on weekends for Ms. Kashmire to take a break, but during the week. . . Meadow was stuck with the older woman. The worst part was that Ms. Kashmire talked Severus into signing Meadow up for Muggle School.
So for the past six years, Meadow was taught: mathematics of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; grammar and literacy; science on the planets and the sun, rocks and volcanos, and the ocean, lakes, and rivers; geography and world history; PSHE- personal, social, and health education; in Year 3, she started to learn French-Meadow was thankful she finished the last year of elementary French last school year; and finally, the fun classes of art, dance, drama, and physical education. Meadow's favorite subject was physical education, it was basically a glorified recess with a bunch of games and running around. The best thing ever.
Meadow's heart ached slightly as she thought of the Muggle school, as glad as she was to leave it, she would miss the boy she grew close with. His name was Shane Lupin. An awkward boy with medium-brown, shaggy hair, milk-chocolate brown eyes, freckles across his nose, chubby cheeks, and thin lips. The two had become close friends, best friends in fact. And a lot of the time after school, she'd head over to his house to escape Ms. Kashmire. Shane and his dad, Remus, were a hoot to be around; Remus was relaxed and easy going whereas Shane always nervous about something, and unlike Meadow, hated physical education class. The two hadn't seen each other since the end of school; Severus always had Meadow learning about the magical world during the summers, and he had signed her up for gymnastics since she was five as she was so energetic—or as Ms. Kashmire once said, "high spirited."
She caught her reflection in the mirror on the mantel above the fireplace; Meadow's black eyes stared back at her. She had on black, jean shorts, a grey short-sleeve t-shirt, and black flats. No need for a robe yet, as she didn't own a wand. Meadow's skin grew darker since the summer holiday started, and her hair, pulled up into a ponytail, was lighter than usual. Her hair would go darker in the winter and her skin would become lighter when there wasn't as much sunlight.
Finally, her father walked in, his robes flowing behind him, and grabbed the glass jar from the mantel, which held the Floo powder. "St. Mungo's first."
"But—" Meadow complained, eager to visit Diagon Alley to pick up her school items.
"No," her father cut her off firmly. "Mum would love to know."
The blonde nodded, always happy to visit her mom, but she'd rather go shopping first and then visit. As amazing as it was to visit her mother, it was always upsetting too.
Severus offered her the glass before pulling it back just as quickly. "No wandering off, and no changing your mind once you get into the fireplace. You know how the Floo works, you don't want to end up in a place you don't know."
"Yes, yes, I know; if I disobey, I'll be cleaning out the ingredient closet again," Meadow rolled her eyes and waved her hand in dismissal. It wasn't exactly the worst punishment, as it gave her new ingredients to look at; but cleaning it and reorganizing the store was a very slow and agonizing process. She reached out again for the jar, which her father let her take a handful of the powder as she stepped into the green fire. The cold flames sent a shutter down her spine, but she welcomed it, as the air today was suffocating.
"St. Mungo's!" Meadow shouted and slapped the Floo powder into the coal.
Her stomach dropped as she was yanked into the Floo system. Spinning very fast, many fireplaces swirled around her, and she shut her eyes. Just as fast as she was pulled into the fireplace, she shot out of the one at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. The Floo network in St Mungo's was in the only lower level of the hospital, away from the busy reception area, and located on the same floor as the morgue. It was a very dingy place, and everyone except staff and long-term resident visitors only knew of the wall entrance on the ground floor through a rundown department store in the Muggle world.
Meadow stood up and dusted herself off, though, it was pointless because her dad would perform a cleaning spell once he got there. Looking around, she took in the familiar room. The white, dirty stone walls were empty, and the single, white-painted door was pealing. A small rumble was heard from the fireplace right before Severus shot out of the flames. As expected, Severus pulled out his wand to eliminate the ash from their clothes. The two walked out of the room, down the hallway that was built in the same dirty white stone, and up the stairwell, which was much cleaner than the basement level.
Severus led her up to the reception area, which served as a waiting room for the regular hospital ailments, a waiting room for emergencies, and where visitors would check-in before going off in the hospital. Taking in the surroundings, today was extremely busy for the hospital. The rickety, wooden chairs had many witches and wizards occupying them; some reading outdated copies of Witch Weekly and The Daily Prophet, others had gruesome disfigurements like bird talons for hands or extra noses on their faces. It was very loud in the room, for many were talking and others were making very weird or painful noises.
The two walked up to the reception desk, where Violet sat, looking very flustered and annoyed. "Take this and fill it out, one of the Healers will be with you in the next thirty minutes," Violet said harshly, not looking up from her scribbled notes, and held up a clipboard.
"Violet," Severus said. The two were not friends, but not strangers either. As Severus and Meadow would visit Sadie often.
At the sound of her name, she looked up from her parchment. As her nametag had written "VIOLET BAGNOLD- Receptionist" most people would call her Miss Bagnold, due to sharing the last name as the retired Minister, Millicent Bagnold. "Sir—" She started saying sternly and then caught eyes with the two Snapes. "Severus! Meadow! Good to see you. It's been a bloody mess in here today. It's worse than last summer!"
They looked around the room, witches and wizards in lime-green robes walked up and down the rows, asking questions and making notes. There was the hospital's emblem embroidered on their chests: a wand and bone, crossed. This was a symbol of St Mungo's staff; Violet had one on her chest too, except her robes were a dark grey, showing she was not a healer.
"It looks like it," Meadow commented before pulling her gaze from the busy room and back to Violet. The witch was younger than the medics, though, she did look older than usual with bags under her purple eyes and her dark brown hair was ruffled. She had a few ink stains on her hands and cheeks.
Violet passed a different clipboard to them to fill out, a visitor check-in paper so there were records of who was there to visit patients. "Yes, it's been a complete mess today. There were a few emergencies with a couple trying to create a potion and it backfired, almost took out a whole block of people with random wounds. So, the nonemergency injuries have been backed up for hours, even with calling in more staff members. It seems that today the whole country has decided to be accident-prone."
Severus handed the clipboard to Meadow to write her name, who she was visiting, what floor the patient was on, and the time of arrival. They'd have to stop down and sign out when they leave. "Any news?" Severus asked Violet, talking about Sadie.
Violet shook her head, "The same as always, but you know she'll be happy to see you both!"
Meadow handed the clipboard back to Violet and a line started to form behind them, a couple behind them rushed up to the desk before the Snapes could say anything back.
"My boyfriend was bit by a—" the woman's voice rushed out before Violet cut her off.
"Fill this out and a healer to come by within thirty minutes."
Severus grabbed Meadow's shoulders and steered her to the stairwell again. A sign by the door stated the floors and departments:
GROUND FLOOR- RECEPTION and ARTEFACT ACCIDENTS
FIRST FLOOR- CREATURE-INDUCED INJURIES
SECOND FLOOR- MAGICAL BUGS and DISEASES
THIRD FLOOR- POTIONS and PLANT POISONING
FOURTH FLOOR- SPELL DAMAGE and LONG-TERM RESIDENTS
FIFTH FLOOR- VISITORS' TEAROOM and HOSPITAL SHOP
The two headed up to the fourth floor, and towards the Janus Thickey Ward, also known as ward 49, where the long-term residents stayed. Butterflies filled Meadow's stomach as they grew closer to the room where her mother resided; mostly just because she wasn't sure if she wanted to link cores or not. She knew she should, it was one of the only ways the healers got any progress reports on Sadie.
Meadow was only six months old when her mother, Sadie Beckard, 20 years old at the time, was caught in a crossfire of spells. She wasn't killed, instead, she was put in a coma-like state with a very slim chance at recovery. The healers can produce updates on physical activity, which was none, and brain activity—off the charts. Sadie's mind was constantly working. However, the only way to monitor her brain activity apart from scans and the machines, was through Severus and Meadow… they found a new link between family members and complete comatose patients; they're able to link cores to communicate. Sadie's been the only one to be documented; of course, that wasn't surprising, most other residents who were spell damaged had different symptoms going on-mostly not knowing who they were or why they were in the hospital.
The medics still were uncertain of why Sadie's core would link with Severus's or Meadow's cores. As her core would not link with anyone other than the two Snapes, the current theory involved her only linking with loved ones. Yet, when Meadow's grandparents went to visit Sadie, they did not have the same link. It was all very complicated, but the healers liked hearing from Severus and Meadow on what happened when they linked cores with Sadie. It gave them more information to research and write down; in hopes of finding a way to bring Sadie back.
When the two Snapes entered the ward, they were greeted by Alice Longbottom, a very thin and worn-looking woman, a round face that seemed to have lost the plump cheeks she once had and short dark hair with grey starting to appear throughout the years. She gave a very timid wave, before turning around and toddling back towards her room with her husband, Frank Longbottom.
Severus stopped to talk to one of the Healers on the ward, Miriam Strout, she was a very motherly-looking healer. She was plump witch, with mousy brown hair pulled back into a bun, she too wore the lime-green healer robes. Meadow gave her a wave who smiled back as she talked to Severus.
As Meadow passed the Longbottom's curtain room, she saw Frank sitting on the bed with his son, Neville. A clipboard with paper and a quill sat on it, a bunch of scribbled lines on it. "Hi Neville," Meadow said softly; glad she saw a familiar face among the adults and residents. The two bonded over their parents, as each child would visit the hospital often.
The plump boy looked very much like his mother. He had a round face, rosy cheeks, and hazel eyes; his hair was blonde, the only gene he seemed to receive from his father.
"Meadow, hi!" Neville said as he jumped up from the bed; he tripped over his feet and fell. "Gran went up for tea," he commented as he stood back up; he noticed she looked around the room for his stern grandmother. "I didn't think I'd see you today."
"Came to tell my Mum the good news," Meadow broke into a large grin, "I received my Hogwarts letter today!"
"Congratulations!" Neville cheered. He paused and looked back at his parents, both absent-mindedly looking at the two with vague smiles. Frank waved, and the two waved back. "I'm nervous myself, what if my gran thinks I never live up to my parents' reputations?"
Meadow patted his shoulder, "I'm sure you will. Hogwarts is a place for us to learn magic, right? We've got four houses we could be sorted into, to expand on us." Neville's parents, heroes of the Longbottom name, were tortured to near death by people called Death Eaters. However, Alice and Frank's fate was worse than death, they'll be cognitively impaired for the rest of their lives, including, not knowing who Neville was.
Neville shook his head as his lip quivered, "The only house there for me is Hufflepuff. It's the laugh of Hogwarts, just like me."
"Poppycock," a sharp voice said behind them. "Gryffindor is the place for you. It would make your parents proud."
Neville's grandmother stood tall in her deep green robes with a fur collar, and a brown sunhat on today; her white hair was in a tight knot, her forehead, corners of her eyes and mouth had wrinkles that made her look slightly vulture-like, though, her strong cheekbones and piercing light brown eyes gave the illusion of young beauty. Augusta Longbottom was a very prim and proper woman; hardly surprising as she came from and married into a long line of respected pureblood witches and wizards. "I take you finally received your letter?" she directed towards Meadow, whom nodded respectfully.
"Yes, Mrs. Longbottom, I received it today. I came to tell Mum today before Dad takes me to Diagon Alley for my school supplies," Meadow responded, her onyx eyes looked up at the older witch with much admiration and fear.
"Very good," Augusta responded. She paused and her lip curled as she caught sight of someone she found unpleasant. "Snape." Augusta paused as she narrowed her eyes at the eldest Snape. "I assume you will be teaching Potions again this year?"
Severus had quietly walked up to the three. "Yes."
"Neville, you do well to pay attention to his class." With that, Augusta went and sat by her son, greeting him with a rare smile as Frank hugged her.
"Well, I'll see you at school?" Neville squeaked, his voice shaking. He was very scared of Severus already, as Meadow's father did have a frightening exterior.
Meadow nodded and bid the boy farewell. She and her father headed down one curtain and across the hallway to Sadie's room; where her mother laid in bed, she was rolled on her right side slightly in an awkward position. Severus went and fixed Sadie's arm to rest on the bed, so it looked more like she was sleeping than frozen. He brushed her hair off her face and kissed her cheek.
Meadow stood at the end of the bed, leaning against the footrest, and watched her father with her mother. He was amazing to her, even in her state; Meadow wished she would have seen them both active together. She did have a grand time imagining Sadie waking up, immediately jumping into Severus's arms before turning to Meadow crying with happiness on how grown-up she was. Severus straightened up, "I'm going to go get her new flowers." He grabbed the vase on the end table that held dying Lilium canadense, or more commonly known as the Canada lily or meadow lily and gave her a pointed look. He wanted Meadow to link cores with Sadie. As Severus left the room, he pulled the remaining curtain closed.
The Fourth-Floor, long-term residents had a wide-opened room with curtains separating each patient. Of course, Frank and Alice Longbottom had a double room since they were married. And Sadie had a single room. It didn't really matter anyway, Frank, Alice, and Sadie were the only permanent patients on the floor. All the other long-term spell damaged people had come and gone within weeks or months, making a full recovery. At least it was nice where all residents got their own privacy curtains.
Meadow took a deep breath, picked up her mom's hand, and closed her eyes. Immediately she felt the tug on her sternum; where her magical core lay underneath, next to her heart. She let herself be pulled in by her Mum.
When Meadow opened her eyes, she saw her mom, smiling from ear to ear, and her eyes smizing. It was relatively sunny in Sadie's mind right now. It did wonders for her mother's beauty. Meadow always thought Sadie was a gorgeous woman: long, loose curls in her blonde hair shinned in the sunlight; her olive skin tone with freckles scattered among her face, neck, and arms; her nose was straight, petite, and slightly upturned- an adorable button nose; her mouth had a smaller upper lip compared to her full bottom lip, but her smile was incredible; and, her bright green eyes had speckles of yellow around her pupil and framed perfectly by light brown eyebrows. Meadow admired her mother most, for her daring ear piercings: she had double pierced lobes-which held two diamonds in her right ear and two gold hoops in her left, and her left ear also held a small diamond stud in her tragus, and two gold hoops in her upper ear cartilage, a double helix piercing.
"Meadow! Baby!" Sadie cried and outstretched her arms. "It's so good to see you!"
"Hi, Mum," Meadow responded with a smile and went in for the hug.
Sadie's arms enveloped her, she smelled of lavender and lemongrass; something Meadow always sought comfort in. Sadie had that effect on people—being welcomed and not judged in her eyes. Meadow felt that openhearted aurora from her mother. When the two broke apart Meadow looked around. They were at a park, where there was a forest with mountains and hiking trails on one side, and on the other, a few benches and a body of water with a beach. There were no clouds in the sky, a good sign so far; it must be a good day today.
"So, what's the special occasion?" Sadie asked happily as she and Meadow sat down at one of the wood benches.
Meadow broke into a grin. "I got my Hogwarts letter today," she said excitedly.
"That's amazing, Sweetheart!" Sadie cheered, though her voice caught slightly. "I can't believe you're going to Hogwarts this year."
"Dad's going to take me to Diagon Alley after we leave," Meadow said proudly. "I can get my books and read through some of them!"
A rumble of thunder came from the distance, and Meadow looked up at the sky. Across from the lake, dark clouds were rolling in very fast. "Mum, it's okay," Meadow bit her lip. "It's really not that big of a deal. . . we always knew I'd go to Hogwarts."
"Oh—" Sadie hesitated. "I know, Sweetheart. I just can't believe that much time has passed already. . . it seems like just yesterday we were excitedly chatting about Hogwarts when you were six. . . my little girl. . . growing up without me. . . " Beneath the dark clouds was a heavy pour of steady rain.
"Mum, you will always be apart of my life." Meadow said, her onyx eyes wide with the uncomfortable turn of events. "I'll always come visit you. And just because you're not physically there doesn't mean you're not here for me."
Lightening flashed in the storm that was heading towards the mother and daughter. Meadow hesitated and reached out to Sadie. "Mum, please. I want you to be happy."
Sadie choked, half in laughter and half sobs. "I am happy, Dear," her bright green eyes locked with Meadow's black orbs. Meadow always wished she had her mother's eyes, they looked stunning; even now, when Sadie had tears in her eyes. "I just wish I could be there like a normal mother. I—I can't believe my baby is eleven."
Meadow smiled sadly, it was very much like her mother to get dates mixed up. Not that she blamed Sadie at all, stuck in her own mind, living in unknown conditions. "I'm still ten, I promise. In a week I'll have my birthday. And—and Dad and I will come visit again. We'll spend the day here, with you. We'll throw a birthday party together."
The storm was growing closer, touching the beach now. Meadow's eyes widened. . . should she have not said she'd come to celebrate her birthday here? The storm was miles away before, and now it's merely feet away.
"I'd like that," Sadie said as she wiped her eyes. She stood up from the bench and offered a hand to her daughter, "Come now, the storm is much too close to be by the water." She led Meadow away from the thunderstorm and towards the hiking trails.
"Your father—" Sadie stated and closed her eyes. Meadow felt part of Sadie's presence in her body leave.
Then, Severus appeared by the mouth of a trail. Meadow's mum went running to her dad; their daughter of the two looked back at the storm, it had faded slightly into the distance. She walked towards her parents and they were in the middle of saying hello to each other. Severus gave Sadie a quick peck on the lips before pulling apart.
"How are you today?" He asked quietly.
Sadie broke into tears, this time the whole sky turned a tar-black. Meadow chewed her lip as she looked around at the park, where sun and peace had just lay; now there were angry thunderclouds swirling around, the waves of water in the lake were thrashing around, the sweet smell of rain flowed from the sky, the harsh thunder vibrated the ground, and the bright flashes of lightening illuminated the area.
A harsh wind whipped Meadow's hair around and the first drop of water hit her face. A second later, huge, missile-like raindrops poured from the sky and pelted the three. Sadie was loosing it; she was too upset.
"Meadow!" Severus's voice called.
Hardly able to see a few inches in front of her, she staggered in the wind, and followed his voice. A strong set of hands pulled her close, the scent of something overpowering sweet and earthy filled her nose: her father. He always smelt like potions ingredients; all of which, came from nature.
"Dad?" Meadow asked and looked up. Sadie had started to run across the grass, away from the two.
"I'll try to calm her down," he said quietly, though his voice was heard over the roaring wind and rain. "What did you say to her?" His voice hardened as he asked.
The two met eyes and though Meadow knew her father would search her mind, she said, "I told her we'd come visit on my birthday—that we could celebrate it together!"
Tears formed in her eyes, she blamed herself for Sadie's nightmare of a visit; Severus gave her a melancholy look. "I'll talk to her." He shook his head and pinched his hooked nose between his thumb and forefinger; clearly troubled. "Roam the hospital, if you must. But do not leave it's premises."
Meadow nodded, her lower lip trembling as she was close to crying; she didn't want to be the reason her mother was upset. She watched as her father briskly walked after her mother- whom had tripped and fell into a pile of mud from the heart of the storm's glory. Even soaked to the brim with dirty water and soil, Sadie still managed to look beautiful.
Slowly, Meadow pulled away from Sadie's hold. Hoping to feel the tug to stay as she unattached herself from her mother, Meadow felt herself disappear from the awful storm and back to the physical world. No pull from her mother to stay and Meadow opened her eyes. She let go of her mother's hand, wiped her eyes, and stood up from the hospital bed.
Her father sat, slightly slumped, in the fluffy, green armchair next to the bed, with his arms crossed over his chest and eyes closed. Under his eyelids, his eyes were moving around fast. Chewing her lip and sniffling, Meadow headed out of the room, brushing the curtain aside slightly before replacing it back so the room was closed off again. As she walked passed the Longbottoms' room, she stole a peak inside, Neville and his grandmother were no longer there. Alice was staring out of the window and Frank was scribbling circles on the clipboard from earlier. She wasn't sure if she was relieved or upset that the boy wasn't there, not that she'd ever tell him about the disaster of a visit; Neville knew how to take her mind off of her mother's condition. Much like she was able to keep his mind off of his parents' conditions.
Meadow headed up a floor to the visitor's tearoom and giftshop area. With each step she took, she inhaled deeply, paused, and exhaled. Her mother's visions weren't to be taken to heart. The storms were the most occurring, as they were a sign of Sadie being upset—which she was a lot when Meadow was there. More upset about not physically being present in life, rather than at Meadow. It was heartbreaking, to see her mother upset so much; especially since there was nothing Meadow could do to help.
Helplessness. An awful feeling that twisted her stomach and left a sour taste in Meadow's mouth; was a feeling that she hated. Being completely incompetent was not something Meadow enjoyed. Wrinkling her nose up she headed over towards Loralai Smethwyck, the witch in charge of the Tea Room. The little dinner offered different tea and coffee flavors, a wide range of baked goods, and a few different types of sandwiches for the visitors- as each patient or resident had their own diet to follow or was allowed to request certain meals to be made.
"Good morning, Meadow!" Loralai said cheerfully as she finished pouring a drink for another visitor.
"Morning, Loralia," Meadow replied dully. Even the sight of the stern witch didn't turn Meadow's frown upside-down.
"Do you want your usual?" Loralai asked as she grabbed a mug.
Meadow shook her head and propped her arms up on the counter—there was no line for the tea shop, and Loralia allowed it.
"Rough day with your mum?" the dark-skinned woman asked, her voice softer, and the Snape nodded. "Ah, come now, Meadow. Don't let it bother you too much. What happened today?"
Loralai knew about Sadie's condition and her ability to link cores with Meadow and Severus. Her son, Hippocrates Smethwyck, was training to be a healer on the Janus Thickey Ward. He just graduated from Hogwarts earlier that year, though he's stated he'd rather be in the Dangerous Dai Llewellyn Ward—the first floor that covered serious bites. The healer training when hired at St. Mungo's involved the two years the new hire would bounce from ward to ward—splitting the twenty-four months up into three months. So in Hippocrates's case, his first rotation was the Janus Thickey Ward; he'd be working on the floor until mid-September. Another month of having Hippocrates on the floor; Meadow wasn't exactly a fan of Hippocrates, he did amazing healing, but complained constantly about being on the "boring" floor. How Loralai and Hippocrates were mother and son, Meadow couldn't figure it out, the two were very different from each other.
"She got upset about my Hogwarts letter coming today. . ." Meadow replied and shook her head.
"You got your Hogwarts letter?" Loralai exclaimed. "How can you be that old already?" The older witch winked at Meadow; she had seen the younger Snape grow up into an older child before her very eyes. With each visit Meadow becoming more like her father-whether it was good or bad, Loralai wasn't sure yet.
"Well, I'm not even eleven yet," Meadow rolled her eyes. "Next week."
"I could never forget," Loralai responded and handed Meadow a tea cup with a turkey sandwich. "Your father taking you to Diagon Alley for you school things today?"
Meadow nodded as she took a slip of her tea, "I wish we did it before we came to visit though. . . I always manage to upset her."
"Oh hush now," Loralai tutted at the young girl. "You know your mother struggles because she feels ineffectual. And you should know how frustrating that feeling is," the baker gave Meadow a pointed look.
Meadow threw an unamused look at Loralai, "Okay! I'll try to have more patience with her."
"Good, now move along. You're holding up the line," the witch barked at her, gesturing for Meadow to scoot along. She did, moving over to a small round table and brushed off some crumbs from the previous customer.
Although sometimes harsh, Loralai gave Meadow the tough love she needed from an outsider's point of view without any medical interpretation, or Violet's "She always does better with you here!" hopefulness. No. Loralai was blunt, no matter how awful the truth was sometimes; that witch would tell it how it is. Meadow admired the woman; though Loralai did remind Meadow of Neville Longbottom's grandmother, she was less scary and more matronly.
Meadow set down her cup of tea and pealed open the sandwich looking at what was all contained in it. Turkey, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, with mayo spread on it; she put the toasted bread back on and took a bite. Loralai's cooking was amazing, much better than her father's. . . Not that Meadow would ever tell Severus his meals weren't as good as the tea shop manager's.
-.-.
Around a half hour later, Severus came up to the Tea Shop and gathered Meadow up to leave the hospital.
"Did you manage to calm Mum down?" Meadow asked as he grew closer.
Severus nodded, "She's fine now. Asked if we could come back after shopping so she can talk to you."
"Oh," Meadow whispered, not expecting a second visit in one day. "I suppose."
"Clean up, we have a lot to do today," her father said gruffly as he stood, waiting for Meadow.
Once the table was clean and Loralai had the cup and plate, Meadow squealed and skipped over to her father, ready to head to Diagon Alley.
-.-.
Yeah! Chapter One concluded! I hope you all enjoy this first chapter, let me know in the comments!