Chapter
Two
A
Fresh Beginning
Severus's
POV
I woke up the next morning around
8:00am. I quietly opened the door to Katie's room to find her still sleeping.
The sun was shining on her face and I could see her features clearly. Her hair
was dark brown and curly like her mother and from last night, she had green
eyes like her father.
After checking in on her I went
downstairs and found a letter on the table. Next to it was a brown owl. Dumbledore's
sent a letter already. He doesn't waste time does he? I sat down next to
the table and opened the letter.
Dear
Severus,
I know that last nights events happened so suddenly. I hope you and Katie are doing alright. Despite your complaints last night, I know you and her will hit it off. Just don't worry about it. I know you'll do a great job raising her. Remember, school will be starting again in only a month, so start getting ready.
Albus Dumbledore
Only a month until the
beginning of a new year. It seemed like there was a lot more time until then. That
only gives me a month to get to know Katie, and then help her get ready for
school. Will she be able to do the spells in her mind? I hope everything works
out. Oh brother would you look at me? I'm becoming soft.
I suddenly felt
someone tapping my shoulder and when I turned around Katie was standing in
front of me. "Good morning. I hope you were able to get some sleep last night."
She nodded and then sat down beside
me. There's no food here so I guess we have to go out. " What do you
usually have for breakfast?"
To my surprise she picked up the paper
on the table and flipped through it until she held up an ad. "So… you go to the
old restaurant in the center of Hogsmeade? Well I guess it's off to the center
then." Katie gave me a questioning look but I just nodded.
Katie's
POV
Breakfast was great. My uncle was
being so nice to me, considering I had only just met him last night. This makes
me wonder if all of my papa's stories were true. He said that my uncle was cold
hearted and very strict and mean, but he's been nothing other than extra nice
to me. He probably just over reacted.
" So… what do we do now? Sorry if I
mess up at all, I'm not really used to taking care of kids…" he said.
Well, this will make things a lot
of fun. Hm… I do need some new clothes since I don't have any of my things. I
wonder how he feels about shopping…
I tapped him and
then pointed at my dress. He stood there for a minute and then gave me a
clueless look. " Pink? Cloth…? Clothes?"
As soon as he said clothes I nodded my
head. Gosh, sometimes I wish I could talk. Things would be much easier for
both of us.
" So you want to
go sho-shopping?" my uncle asked with a stutter.
If you ask me he didn't like the idea.
I guess I can see he's a little hesitant. I mean I AM the first kid he's had
to take care of. Oh well, this ought to be fun.
We walked around
for about a half hour until we came to a clothing store. It was the most
amazing place I had ever seen. Everything was perfect. I must have seen a
bazillion things I liked but I was only able to get 3 things. All of them were
dresses though, but I loved each of them.
By the time we got home it was almost
2:00pm. I know, we spent a lot of time shopping, but what can I say, it was
fun. When I got inside I noticed a letter on the table. I ran over and suddenly
smiled as I found it was to me!
I grabbed the envelope and ran over to
Uncle Snape. He looked at it for a minute and then handed it back to me. " Go
on, open it."
I smiled brightly and carefully opened
the envelope and looked at the letter. It was written in cursive and I couldn't
read all of the words to I held it up to Snape so he could read it to me. He
didn't seem to mind and cleared his throat.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc.,
Chf. Warlock
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)
Dear
Ms. Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you
have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find
enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await
your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours
sincerely
Minerva
McGonagall
Severus's
POV
When I looked back up Katie had the
largest smile I had ever seen on her face. I'm guessing her parents told her
all about their experiences at Hogwarts, so she probably can't wait to go. "
I'll send them a letter back saying you'll go, okay?"
Katie nodded quickly and smiled. I
can tell this is going to be a very interesting year. Now that reminds me. It's
already almost August. Her birthday's coming up. What am I supposed to get her?
I know, I'll ask Professor McGonagall. She's a girl after all. I swear, this is
going to be the death of me.
Katie had now gone back upstairs, probably to change. First I wrote the reply to Dumbledore and then I pulled out a blank piece of paper and started writing.
Dear Minerva,
I'm
sorry to trouble you but I'm in a little bit of a jam. Everything's been okay
so far. I guess it's not as hard as I thought it would be, although I never
knew that girls clothing was so expensive. But now I have a new problem.
Katie's birthday is coming up and I have no clue what to get her. You've just
got to help me come up with something. I mean, you ARE a girl and all. So
please, reply ASAP. Thank you.
Severus
Snape
I then
gave the letter to the owl and it was off. After it was out of sight I sat down
beside he front window and picked up a copy of the daily prophet. My eye's widened
at the first page. Rita Skeeter's daughter was now head reporter. This
spells trouble. I'll never forget how much trouble she was back when Harry was
in school and now her daughter's grown up to be just like her. This is going to
be one crazy year.
