Leandra: Jacenty is a Slavic name so it is actually pronounced yah-SEN-tee. And Jacek is YAH-sek. But for the purpose of this story the names are pronounced: Jacenty (jay-SEN-tee) and Jacek (JAY-sek).
A Memory Found
by: Mystical Dragon
Harry had given up trying to convince Hermione that it was impossible for a Memory Charm to have been placed on Snape. Especially since he was beginning to wonder if she could be right. Hermione had read up on them, quite in depth, and Lupin had even given her permission to get into the Restricted Section of the library and look around for books on Memory Charms, and she did seem to know what she was talking about.
"But Dumbledore said that one couldn't have been placed on him," Lupin argued, his voice not carrying any conviction to it whatsoever.
Harry grinned at Hermione. Lupin was coming around too.
Hermione shook her head. "Dumbledore also doesn't have the time to thoroughly research Memory Charms like I do," she said hurriedly before anyone could ask her when she had the time. She was Prefect now and still doing loads of homework every night. "It's not likely, I'll admit that," Hermione sighed. "Memory Charms are very tricky. Too strong of a charm and the person's memory is affected..."
"Like Bertha Jorkins," Harry added in.
"Yes," Hermione nodded. "But if it wasn't strong enough then the memory would have, in a sense, leaked back into Snape's brain when he was still a child and he, more than likely, would have just forgotten about it by now."
"That's a pretty small chance of one working then," Sirius said, glancing at Hermione skeptically. "And who would put a Memory Charm on a three-year-old?"
Hermione shrugged. "Who said it had to happen when he was three?"
"That's what Dumbledore said," Lupin stated. Both he and Harry had agreed not to tell anyone, yet, about Snape's being abandoned in Knockturn Alley when he was three. "Dumbledore said that Snape's whereabouts are accounted for after that and Dumbledore would know if a Memory Charm on been used on him."
"I still say it's possible," Hermione defended.
"You just don't want him going insane," Sirius objected. "There is no proof that you're correct."
Hermione's nose flared and her mouth hardened. "And there's no proof that I'm wrong either."
Harry kept quite, aware of how shaken Hermione had been after seeing Snape tortured. Even Ron hadn't uttered a single nasty word about Snape since that incident. This was probably just a carryover of that. Hermione was protecting herself from the possible truth by searching for alternatives. But there was a chance she was right and Harry wasn't about to discount her idea.
"Has anyone asked Snape if he's remembering things?" Harry asked.
Lupin shook his head. "Harry, I doubt Severus would admit it if he was. Not even Dumbledore knows much about him. He's an extremely private person. We'll just have to watch him and see what's going on with him. Spy on him."
Harry didn't like it, but that was the only thing they could do. Watch Snape and see if he was going insane or if he was remembering things. Or, maybe nothing was going on with him. Maybe he was just tired and sore right now and would be back to normal in a few weeks. Harry silently hoped so.
"I could spy on him tomorrow," Sirius volunteered, grinning. "I haven't spied on anyone since I was a student. It'll be fun. Besides," he sighed, "there's nothing else to do around here. Not to be rude, Moony, but being around you all day is rather boring."
Lupin snorted. "Thanks."
"Good luck on your match tomorrow, Harry," Sirius said and the conversation turned to Quidditch, homework, and Lupin's upcoming transformation.
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Dumbledore started as he realized he had let Severus sleep an extra three hours instead of just the one. He must have fallen asleep himself while he waited.
"Severus?" Dumbledore gently called, not wanting to startle him.
"What?" Severus mumbled as he sat up and stared at Dumbledore groggily.
Dumbledore immediately noticed Severus's hair. It wasn't greasy. Strange, considering Severus's hair could be half damp from a shampoo and still be greasy.
"Your hair's not greasy," Dumbledore said, surprised.
Severus ran a hand through it, his eyes growing wide, as he felt it for several more seconds. "It worked!?" he said, barely audible.
"What worked?" Dumbledore asked, confused.
"The potion that.... Nothing. Just a new shampoo," Severus said nonchalantly, shrugging, though his face was doing its best not to look excited. "Just a shampoo I picked up. One finally worked," he added as he got off his bed and made his way to his bathroom.
Severus locked the door, leaving Dumbledore suspicious. The potion? What potion? Was it the one they had just made? Dumbledore went into the living area and looked over the ingredients for the potion they had just made. Potions had never been his strong suit but he did realize that this potion could be used for greasy hair, though whoever had come up with it had to have been inventive. Most of the ingredients were never used for putting on the body, though they weren't dangerous.
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Severus stared in the mirror, his eyes fixed on his ungreasy black hair. If that potion had worked, then the dreams he was having had to be true. And if they were true than he had had parents that had actually wanted him. A father and a mother.
His mother. She had been in a Daily Prophet. He had to find that Daily Prophet and see if any other news was ever reported about her. The Hogwarts Library had all the Daily Prophets ever printed in bound volumes so looking through them wouldn't be a problem. He roughly even knew the years he would have to look through.
Tomorrow. He could ask Madam Pomfrey to let him stay in the library during the morning. Surely she would agree to that if Madam Pince would be there to keep on eye on him.
Severus wandered into his living area and ate the meal that Dumbledore had set up, with help from the house-elves, barely noticing anything. He wanted to go to the library tonight but he doubted if Dumbledore would allow that.
"Hagrid is watching you tonight," Dumbledore said as he sipped at his tea, watching Severus out of the corner of his eyes.
Severus absently nodded his head, rather pleased with that arrangement. Hagrid would keep to himself and leave Severus alone, something that Lupin didn't seem to be able to do.
"And tomorrow, after classes," Dumbledore continued, "Filch will be watching you with two seventh year Slytherins. Are you going to go to the match between Gryffindor and Slytherin?"
Severus nodded his head. "Yes."
"Good," Dumbledore smiled. "I'm sure the Slytherins will appreciate that. Many of them are very worried about you and seeing you out and about would be very beneficial to them."
Severus smiled a tiny bit. He knew which Slytherins Dumbledore was referring to: Draco, Millicent, Pansy, and a few others like that.
"I don't suppose I can go to bed now?" Severus asked.
Dumbledore shrugged. "Sure."
Excusing himself, Severus went back into his rooms.
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Dumbledore looked at the closed door and sighed, feeling very weary all of a sudden. Trelawney had admitted that Severus had not opened up to her, at all, during their counseling session, though Trelawney hadn't seemed worried about that. It had taken her two sessions to get Harry to trust her enough to open up and Severus, she said, would be much worse, having had many more years of being alone than Harry. She wasn't worried and encouraged Dumbledore not to be either. But Dumbledore couldn't help it.
Musing over his thoughts, Dumbledore was startled as someone knocked on the door. Glancing up, he went to answer it, to find Hagrid and Fang there and ready to take over. Dumbledore didn't want to leave quite yet.
"I'll check on him," Dumbledore said as Hagrid settled himself on the couch Dumbledore had enlarged for him.
Hagrid nodded and grinned. "Don' hurry any on my account."
Dumbledore pushed open the door to find a small candle still flickering on Severus's desk. Severus was sitting at it, sleeping with his head on an open book and his hand still holding a colored silver pencil.
Curious, Dumbledore moved closer, barely very quiet, to find that Severus had been sketching a man and woman, both dressed in very elaborate robes of green and silver. Given their unfinished state Severus must have just started on them this evening.
Not feeling like he should have invaded Severus's privacy like this, Dumbledore gently blew out the candle and then silently retreated out the door, aware that the slightest noise might wake Severus up. He had been harder to wake since Karkaroff's surprise but any day now Severus would return to being a very light sleeper that could be woken up with to hard of a footfall.
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"Off!" Severus declared as he scrambled onto his parent's bed and glared at his father.
Cezar glanced at him and then went back to reading his book.
"I said off!" Severus told him, standing up, his hands on his hips.
Cezar peered at him over his book and nudged his sleeping wife. "Jacenty has come to rescue you from your big bad husband."
Vasya rolled over, blinking away sleep as she sat up. "Really?" she asked tiredly.
Severus nodded his head and grabbed his father's foot, trying to tug him off the bed. "Mommy is going to marry me," Severus said, pulling, at least he was trying to pull. "And you have to go stay in my room from now on. You're the baby now."
"I'm a bit big to be a baby, Jacenty," Cezar said, easily moving his foot out of Severus's hands.
Severus moved to his side and tried to shove his father off but Cezar wouldn't move. He only went back to reading his book. Severus looked hopelessly at his mother, trying to get her to help with his pleading eyes and face. Vasya shrugged her shoulders and they both started to shove their bodies against Cezar's, to get him off the bed. But Cezar wasn't moving and adult Severus wondered about that. How heavy was his father?
"So," Cezar growled, "you're both against me, eh?"
Severus screamed happily as his father, faster that Severus thought someone his size could move, attacked them both. All three of them landed on the floor, wrestling with each other, and Cezar was winning easily. Severus screamed and giggled as both of his parents turned on him. As Severus looked up at his parent's faces, to see them smiling at him, Severus blushed though his child self didn't. They really liked him.
Severus jerked awake, shaking his head, and quickly closed his sketchbook he had fallen asleep on before anyone could see it. Putting his sketchbook in a drawer and charming that door closed, Severus ran a hand through his hair, enjoying the feel of it. Today he would look through the Daily Prophets to see if he could find out anything about his mother.
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Madam Pomfrey and Madam Pince readily agreed to what Severus had asked, though they would only allow it during the morning, and Severus found himself sitting at a table with a stack of bound Daily Prophets next to him. He quickly found his mother. But who was the little girl they had found next to her?
Putting a piece of parchment over the page, Severus took out a copy stick and ran it lengthwise down the page. The writing quickly appeared on his parchment and he set that aside as he flipped through the rest of the year's Daily Prophet's. This part, seeing if there was any other mention of his mother, was going to be very slow. He just hoped there was some other mention of her.
Four hours later and after four more volumes, there was an obscure mention of his mother. Since she and the little girl had not been identified their bodies had been thrown into Saint Mungo's 'Awaiting Identification' room. And four years later the little girl had been found to be a transfigured piece of concrete and not a real human. Anything transfigured into a human or any other sentient being was perfect in every way but one; they were always dead, though no one knew why. Severus sat back, staring at the obscure article that barely took up a small block of text. His mother must have done that to make anyone think that the girl was her daughter, the 'daughter' she had saved that day. But why would his mother have had to do that?
Severus rubbed his head. Hopefully during one of his dreams he would remember exactly why his parents had been murdered.
Severus copied this article too and then stuffed them into his robe, not wanting anyone to see what he had been up to, closed all the books and reshelved them.
"It's lunch time and then back to Madam Pomfrey's," Madam Pince said, her voice allowing no argument.
**************************************************
Sirius, once he was alone, took the two volumes off the shelf that Snape had made copies from and did the same himself. Strange thing for Snape to be interested in considering Snape would have only been three when the woman had died. Shrugging, Sirius pocketed his pieces of parchment and went to spy on Snape some more.
He had been wrong about spying being fun though. Being around Snape was even more boring than being around Lupin. At least with Lupin, Sirius could play little pranks on the students while Lupin taught and watch Lupin try to keep a straight face. Sirius had nothing to amuse himself around Snape with and being in the same room as someone he detested was not enjoyable either. But at least Snape wasn't acting like the slimy grease-ball he normally acted like.
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Remus tiredly rubbed his forehead while everyone gathered into his rooms. Even Ginny was here this time. His transformation was tomorrow, and as usual, he had a pretty nasty headache growing. Sirius offered him a pain relieving draught and Remus drank it, enjoying the almost immediate relief.
"Thanks," Remus said.
"Took it from Madam Pomfrey's," Sirius admitted. "Well, I did find something interesting," Sirius said as he pulled out two pieces of parchment. "Don't know what it means though."
Remus scanned the articles, his body stiffening as he did so. "Knockturn Alley," he muttered. "The girl not real and aged three. Occurred when Severus was three."
Harry looked at him, his own face showing understanding. "Snape's mum?"
"What?" Sirius asked around a mouthful of candy.
Ron, Ginny, and Hermione were looking at Harry and Remus suspiciously.
"Snape," Harry said, as Remus nodded, "was abandoned in Knockturn Alley when he was three."
Sirius choked, spitting some candy out. "What?! But Snape was constantly going on about his family when he was a student. He had a family right?" he asked, sounding slightly hopeful.
Remus shook his head. "No. Raised in the Orphanage until he got kicked out when he was nine, according to Dumbledore. He never had a family. Lived on the streets until he came to Hogwarts."
Sirius's face was white. "That can't be true," he protested, almost in a whisper. "He was always going on about his family."
"I guess he just didn't want anyone to think he had been abandoned," Remus said gently, aware of why Sirius was looking sick.
Ron, Hermione, and Ginny looked pretty shaken about the news too.
"He was abandoned?" Ginny asked, horrified.
"He had to live on the streets of Knockturn Alley?" Ron asked. "But dad says that place is horrible. People are always getting killed there."
Remus let the news sink in, noticing how guilty Sirius started to look.
"Oh, no," Sirius muttered, dropping his face into his hands.
"What?" Harry asked, confused. "What's wrong?"
Sirius looked up, his face miserable. "I used to joke, got a ton of laughs, that Snape's parents would have wanted to throw him out with the trash if they had ever gotten the chance. Either that or visit Knockturn Alley and conveniently forget about him."
Harry sat back, looking tired. "You're kidding?"
"No," Remus said, sadly. "I can't imagine how much that must of hurt him."
Sirius stared at the table. "I wouldn't have said it if I had known. I thought he had a family. He was constantly talking about them. He even said he had a brother and a sister and would rub my face in it since I'm an only child. Does he have siblings?"
Remus shrugged. "None have been mentioned. I doubt it."
Sirius shook his head. "I don't believe this. It was just a joke. It wasn't supposed to be something that had actually happened. He said he had a family."
Remus put a hand on Sirius's shoulder. "Let's think about the article, Sirius. The paper," Remus said, taking the parchment, "says that the woman had been hit with several curses and died from the effects. They assume it was because someone robbed her, though she was wearing rags and looking penniless so maybe someone just wanted to kill her. Maybe she hid Severus to protect him from whoever was after her?"
Hermione took the paper from him, looking at it. "But why would she transfigure concrete into a girl, instead of a boy. That makes no sense."
"Maybe she was too hurt to realize it was a girl and not a boy?" Ginny theorized.
"Snape was muttering a name while he looked through them," Sirius said, still looking disgusted with himself. "Vasya?"
"Vasya," Remus muttered and then grabbed a quill and wrote down a list of names. "Severus told Draco to write these names down the other day. Vasya, Illyana, Cezar, and... and... Jacenty."
"Those aren't English names," Hermione said.
Remus grabbed the parchment with the article on it. "In the hopes of identifying the woman the article mentions that the woman and the girl looked Slavic."
"Viktor Krum," Hermione suddenly said. "He had sallow-skin, a large curved nose, black hair, and was very thin. Just like Snape!"
"You think Snape and Krum are related?" Ron asked, skeptically, and a little darkly at the mention of the boy that Hermione had visited during the summer.
"No," Hermione snapped, noticing Ron's tone. "But Viktor was Bulgarian, a Slavic country."
"Maybe Snape is remembering something," Ginny said, "and is trying to find out what it means. But why would she put a Memory Charm on Snape just because she was being robbed or something? Did she have a wand?"
Remus nodded his head looked at the article again. "Her wand was apparently of very good craftsmanship too and was confiscated because the authorities figured that someone in the kind of clothes she was wearing had to have stolen it."
"We need to spy on Snape some more," Harry decided. "That's the only way we are going to find out anything else."
"Sure," Sirius said, sounding weary.
"I better go get ready for my game," Harry grinned and left with the others trailing behind him, leaving Remus and Sirius alone.
"I can't believe I teased Snape about being abandoned," Sirius said, his head falling back into his hands. "I didn't mean anything by it. I thought he had family. He said he did."
Remus squeezed Sirius's shoulder. "We were all just kids back then, Sirius. You didn't know."
Sirius sighed. "No, I didn't know," he allowed.
"Severus has been taking care of himself his whole life," Remus muttered. "He's really good at it."
And Remus knew that was the main problem with Severus. He, Dumbledore, and a few others wanted to be Severus's friend but Severus wasn't used to having one. Remus just hoped that eventually Severus would learn to trust them and let them in. But Remus couldn't blame Severus if he never did.
Remus looked down at the two articles and wondered what they said to Severus. Did he know, for a fact, that was his mum? Did Severus know why she had been killed? Hopefully, with Sirius spying, they would know the answers soon.
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Draco was determined to win this match against Gryffindor. Snape never really cared if they lost a game, he enjoyed it if they won, but he never got angry if they lost so none of the team felt much pressure from him. It was their captain that was obsessed with winning but everyone pretty much ignored him. But this time, everyone was listening to the captain. They wanted to win.
When the game finally started, Draco concentrated on the Snitch and on Potter and nothing else, relying on the Beaters to take care of the Bludgers. Potter was doing the same.
As the game progressed and an hour went by and no Snitch was seen, Draco glanced at Potter. He also looked fairly bored. None of their games had lasted this long without the Snitch at least being spotted once, if not caught.
In the lull of activity Draco glanced over the Slytherin side and noticed Filch was there, in the front row, but no Snape. Disappointed, Draco was about to fly away when he noticed Filch shaking his head and moving back to leave and then moving forward to stay and then moving back again. Draco flew near him, searching for the Snitch with his eyes, and drew up level with him.
"Where's Snape?" Draco asked, scanning around for the Snitch. "And what's wrong?"
"Rooms," Filch said rather strangely. "He's in his rooms. I hope. I left. I had to leave. I... I didn't want to. But I had to leave. I wanted to stay. But I had to leave..."
Draco snapped his head around, taking his wand out. "Finite Incantatem," he spat, his heart twisting as he realized Filch was under the Imperius Curse and trying to fight it. "Whose watching Snape?" he asked, hoping it had worked.
Filch's eyes cleared, enough at least. "Two seventh year Slytherins," he said. "Robertson and Morton."
Draco froze. Children of Death Eaters and very loyal ones at that. They had often been to the Malfoy mansion this summer, pining away for something to prove their worth to their Dark Lord with. Draco had envied them. One more year, instead of Draco's three, and they would get to join the Dark Lord. Now the thought just made Draco sick.
Draco shot towards the castle, zooming past Potter. "Get Dumbledore!" he yelled at him as he left the stadium, ignoring McGonagall screaming at him to get back. She was then screaming at Potter to get back.
It was against the rules, but Draco kept on his broom as he headed down to the dungeons and then crashed into Snape's room, breaking the door down and looking around as he picked himself up. Snape wasn't there.
But a bottle of something was. Draco hurried to it and sniffed it; a strong minty smell. A mind-ensnaring potion! Draco went into Snape's bedroom and saw a tall glass, barely anything left in it, on Snape's desk. They had mixed the potion in with a mint shake. Snape would never be able to detect the mind-ensnaring potion in that thing.
Angry, Draco picked up the glass and threw it at the bathroom door. Where were they! They had an hours lead already!
"Draco!" Dumbledore yelled from the front room.
"It's a mind-ensnaring potion," Draco called as he rushed to meet him. "They put it in a mint shake so Snape couldn't tell. They've had an hour's lead already!"
Dumbledore was white but he started to issue orders immediately. "Harry, get the map. Conjure it. See if you can see Severus on it," Potter nodded his head and concentrated on exactly where his map was.
"Why wouldn't they just use the Imperious Curse?" Lupin asked.
Dumbledore shook his head. "Severus can fight that easily and they are only students. Filch, whose only a Squib, was able to fight their Curse. This mind-ensnaring potion, from the smell of it, was very strong. My guess is that Voldemort made it himself and not the students. This bottle looks like some he used during his last reign," Dumbledore picked it up and smashed it on the ground. "I didn't count on this! I thought I could trust the students."
Potter suddenly had the map in his hands and scanned it. "He's not on it. But it only goes to a certain point out. How far away do you have to be to Apparate?" Potter asked.
"Morton and Robertson can't Apparate," Draco said firmly.
"They may just be taking him to someone that can," Lupin gently said.
Draco bit his lip. He shouldn't have trusted anyone else to watch Snape. Or else seen to the watching assignments himself and picked the people out. Stupid, idiotic, Gryffindors.
Dumbledore's eyes hardened. "Get Fang and get Snuffles. Draco bring something from Morton and Robertson and we'll have the dogs sniff it. They both can track."
Draco didn't see what good this was going to do, Snape had probably already been Apparated to the Dark Lord, but Draco did what he was told.
In Snape's rooms, both Fang and Snuffles thoroughly sniffed the pillows that Draco had brought, and one of Snape's, and then bounded away.
The students were being kept on the Quidditch field, to keep them out of the way, so the dogs had no trouble following the scent, though Draco's heart was failing fast as they left the castle. It was very doubtful they were going to find Snape but at least they knew who had took him and could question Morton and Robertson when they returned.