Later that night, Snape awoke to a startled cry and the growl of his familiar. Bolting up he saw Leia in the corner clutching a piece of bread whilst his familiar, a large black panther, stood in front of her.
"Aille, come here," Snape called the panther to his side. Leia looked up at him.
"I woke up and was hungry. Your tray was sitting there and you hadn't touched this roll." Leia said holding it up. "Then...Aille…attacked me." She held up her left arm. The sleeve of her sweater was ripped to shreds and there were three long scratches running up her arm. Snape walked quickly to a closet and pulled out a vial of cream. He walked back to her, pushed the sleeve away, and rubbed the cream on her scratches. Immediately the pain seemed to lesson.
"Aille, what were you thinking? Attacking a relative like that. Come over here and apologize, you big brute." Snape said to the panther. Aille walked slowly over and licked Leia cheek in apology. Leia smiled.
"You aren't so scary after all." She laughed and offered a bit of the roll to her. Aille didn't want it though, and turned to go back to her bed in the corner.
"Why don't I get you a tray of your own food?" Snape asked going to the fire. Minutes later, a tray of delicious food appeared. She sat down in a big armchair near the fire and Snape brought the tray over to her. Leia started to eat as Snape sat in a nearby chair. He looked at the face of his niece. Something had changed her. He didn't know what, but something about her lack of childlike qualities (annoying as they sometimes were) bothered him.
"Why aren't you a witch?" Snape finally asked. It had been running through his thoughts for awhile now. His entire family had magic in them, and yet she didn't exhibit any. Could she be a Squib?
"Probably because of my dad," Leia said taking a bite of potato. "He was averse to all things weird. He moved us to Oklahoma, for goodness sakes. If my mother was a witch, then he stopped her. Was I supposed to be one?"
Snape nodded. "Four years ago, I waited for you to get off of the Hogwarts Express. By that time, your mother had stopped writing, so I didn't know why you weren't there."
"I'm sorry," Leia said
"Not your fault. Obviously, my mother was right about your father. She always said he would quash whatever magic was in my sister's life."
"Um…Can we not talk about him anymore?" Leia asked setting her fork down. "He wasn't a good father and I'd rather just forget about him."
"Well, in two hours, I need to go up to breakfast and then I have classes to teach all day." Snape paused. "Would you like to come with me?"
"I'd love to!" Leia said pushing the tray aside and standing up. She ran back to the room she was staying in and threw open her suitcase. She quickly changed then ran back out.
"We will need to get you some robes to wear. You'll stand out in muggle clothing." Snape said. "Follow me. I'll give you a quick tour before breakfast." They walked up to the third floor, while Snape explained things. They spent a long time discussing moving staircases and the potential for injury. Finally, it came time to go to the Great Hall.
"Where do I sit?" Leia whispered as they walked in.
"With me at the teachers table," Snape whispered back. They walked to the teacher table. On the way up, Leia saw Hermione and waved. Hermione waved back then turned to converse with her friends.
Leia wound up between Snape and a Professor Minerva McGonagall. McGonagall kept looking at her as if she was something to be pitied. Leia looked out to the students and saw that many of the students met her glance with pity. Even Hermione looked at her that way. Was it something about her?
A/N: Thanks much to Lenna for the good ideas. I had forgotten al about the muggle/wizard family thinger. I'm thinking of bringing Sirius Black in as a slightly unlikable character. I'm gonna have to think about it hard though, because he's one of my favorites. Happy-Day-After-Thanksgiving!