Chapter Six

Memories Long Forgotten

Severus shrugged away from his stepmother as she tried to straighten his collar and he unbuttoned it again. Why didn't she just leave him alone? She wasn't his mother, and she should know by now that he didn't like it when she acted like she was.

"I like the collar down, Meryl. It doesn't look good with my dress robes the other way," he said. "Why don't you go fuss over Anna? I'm sure she has a button somewhere that isn't buttoned yet." Meryl backed off with a sigh, lost in thought.

"That's quite enough, Severus," Octavius said sternly, looking at him disapprovingly. "There are going to be a lot of important people at this wedding; including some wizards that we definitely can't risk offending, and that 'we' includes you. You're old enough to know that the public doesn't need to see your true colors, and I'd rather you treated your mother with the utmost respect while we're there."

"Stepmother," Severus corrected venomously.

"I could just leave you home," he warned.

"Octavius, he's only nine. I doubt anyone will notice…"

"I notice, and that's enough. He's old enough to know his place," Octavius frowned at the boy. "If you can't say anything respectful to others, don't say anything at all."

"Fine," Severus said. "If that's what you want, Father." Severus glanced down to see his three-year-old stepsister hanging on his robes, trying to get his attention. With a bit of effort he was able to pick her up, unbuttoning her top button.

Severus had always despised his stepmother for trying to fill his mother's place… a right she had even less of having been born to Muggle parents, something that his own mother, he knew, would have rightfully condemned. But Anna was a different story, for Severus knew she could no more control her parents than he could. In a way, he felt a little sorry for her, nearly as much as he felt for himself. After all, Meryl had proven time and again that she couldn't take care of him. How could he expect her to be able to take care of Anna? And his father was often gone most of the day, so he wasn't much help. No, it was up to Severus. He often took it upon himself to make sure Anna's needs were taken care of before his own, ignoring Meryl any time she tried to help. As far as Severus was concerned, they were better off on their own and were quite capable of taking care of themselves.

It was a very quick port to the Craw Mansion, a luxurious country estate on the western coastline. Flowers and trees were in full bloom, the back lawn had been decorated with garlands of blossoms, and there were tables placed around the ornate fountains and trees that landscaped the area. The property was decorated with flowers all the way up to the edge of a small wood that were cropped above the rocky cliffs. High class wizards and witches mulled about the area, and Octavius began softly informing Meryl and Severus who was who. Quite a few members of the Ministry were there, from Cornelius Fudge to Bagman and Crouch, and even more wizards of real influence, such as Cassius Malfoy, John Nelson, and the Lestranges. Severus' father's voice took on an odd tone that even Severus couldn't help but notice.

"There he is, that's him," Octavius said. "Standing over by Thomas Craw."

Severus glanced over to see a dark-haired man in fine black robes standing near the groom. Suddenly the man's head snapped up and looked straight over at them before smiling thinly and giving Octavius a curt nod. "He's seen me. I'm going to need to go over. Perhaps it'd be better if you took the children over to the tables."

"Let me go too, Father," Severus said.

"You'll do as your told," Octavius snapped. "This is no time for your games, Severus. You will mind me today," he said in a voice Severus knew better than to cross. "Watch over your sister, and make sure… make sure she doesn't leave your sight," he said carefully before walking over.

Severus' eyes followed him, slightly puzzled about the tension in his father's voice. When Octavius neared the two men, Severus noticed that the man who had unnerved his father was looking straight at him. It was an eerie, searching stare, as if the man gazing at Severus could see everything… his thoughts… his feelings. The man then smiled softly and nodded to him, and Severus nodded back. He felt himself being pulled back and looked around to see Meryl behind him, nudging him quite forcefully towards the tables with a worried expression on her face.

"Stop it, what are you doing?" Severus asked, trying to shrug away from her grasp. "You're going to wrinkle my clothes. Don't touch me!"

"Your father warned you to mind. Do you want me to tell him that you're not?" Meryl said, sterner than she ever been to him before.

"He told me to mind him, he didn't say anything about you," Severus pointed out, stepping away. "I wasn't doing anything."

"You did more than you know," she said quietly.

That was when she looked around and noticed a group of women standing by the fountain and walked towards them. One of them turned and noticed them approaching, smiling warmly. The woman's hair was golden brown in color piled loosely upon her head, and her green eyes were glittering happily. She was wearing a snow-white wedding gown with hand-sewn lace around the trim that sparkled in the sunlight, and there was little doubt that the bride could not be any more radiant than she was at that instant. Severus stopped and gaped at the beautiful woman before Meryl cautiously nudged him forward. "Alice! Congratulations! My goodness, what a lovely bride you make!" she said with a smile, putting Anna down a moment to hug her.

"Meryl! I'm so glad you could make the reception! Where's Octavius?" she asked.

"Over there," Meryl said quickly.

"Ah, I see," Alice said, nodding knowingly as she looked into Meryl's eyes. "Don't worry, nothing will mess up this day of all days. This must be young Severus, then! Why, he's a regular young gentleman now, isn't he?" Alice said, giving him a warm smile. Meryl grinned nervously at the boy, but was quite surprised when the boy took Alice's hand and kissed it.

"Congratulations on your marriage, Mrs. Craw. From what my father has told me, you are marrying into a fine family," Severus said.

"Oh, um…thank you, Severus," Alice said, exchanging glances with Meryl before turning to Anna. "And this is your little darling, isn't it? How very pretty she is! She takes after you quite a bit, doesn't she? But she has her father's eyes."

"Hullo there!" A young boy with dark hair walked up in long blue robes, slightly soiled as if he'd been playing in them. He grinned at Severus. "I haven't ever seen you before. What school do you go to?"

Severus eyed him warily, wondering what dustbin he dropped out of.

"Severus, this is Sirius Black. His father scouts properties for Thomas. Sirius, this is Severus Snape, his father is a friend of Thomas as well. And this is little Anna."

"Hullo Anna! I say, can she have candy?" Sirius asked. When Meryl nodded he pulled a lollipop out of his sleeve, handing it to her. "A sweet for the sweet." Meryl couldn't help but chuckle.

"My goodness, you're going to grow up to be quite a charmer!" Alice laughed. "Like father like son, I suppose."

"Can I go, Meryl?" Severus asked abruptly. Meryl frowned at him.

"All right, but please don't bother your father…" Severus turned without another word and walked back towards the house. Surprised, Sirius followed after him.

"Hey, wait up, where are you going? Don't you want to meet the other kids?"

"Not particularly," Severus said, looking around. He no longer saw Thomas or the stranger, and his father seemed to be busy talking to Miles Nott.

"Some of them are even going to Hogwarts. It might be fun to hear all about the school and all. I go to Prince's Wand Primary in London. Where do you go?"

"I go to a private school," Severus said, walking around the building. "Why don't you go join your friends? I'm busy at the moment."

"What are you doing?" Sirius asked.

"Looking for someone," Severus explained.

Suddenly he noticed the man again from across the lawn and went in that direction. Sirius stood and watched him, looking back towards where the other children waited for him then back at the strange boy again, wondering if it was worth the effort to find out what he was doing. But curiosity got the better of Sirius, and he couldn't help but wonder what could have been so important that he didn't want to play. As Sirius ran to catch up, he suddenly realized where Severus was going and grabbed a hold of his arm.

"Wait a minute, you're not going over there, are you?" Sirius said. The obvious fright in his voice was enough to make Severus look at him a moment. "Don't you know who that is?"

"No, but I have to talk to him," Severus said with a shrug. In fact, he wasn't even sure why he wanted to, only that there was a persistent nagging voice inside him that he couldn't shake. It had been something to do with his eyes, Severus thought, or it was something about how he held himself? Perhaps it was even the fact that no one seemed to want him to go over there that attracted him. But whatever the reason, it wasn't long before Severus found himself standing in front of Voldemort.

The dark wizard paused his conversation to look over at the boy, and a smile crept across his face. Now that he was there, Severus found himself wondering what he should say. But before he could get up the nerve to say anything, the wizard spoke.

"This is Severus, son of Octavius," he told the wizards standing next to him, who nodded to the boy, turning back to Voldemort questioningly. But Voldemort was looking steadily at Severus, who couldn't seem to bring himself to look away. "Is that your mother and sister I saw you with earlier?" he asked in a gentle tone.

"Stepmother," Severus corrected automatically, earning another smile from Voldemort.

"Yes, of course…your mother was Sabina Selezin', wasn't it? She was from a very reputable family indeed. And what wizard family does your stepmother come from?" Voldemort asked.

"She isn't, she's a…I mean, she was Muggleborn," Severus explained. Voldemort tsked softly.

"Poor boy. It must be very hard for you growing up without a mother, and with a mudblood pretender in her place." Voldemort said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "She doesn't begin to understand you, and your father betrayed your mother, so not worthy of your trust. Is that it?" he asked. Severus looked away, but Voldemort turned his chin back around. "It's alright, Severus. Don't be afraid. I understand," he said. "If you need anyone to talk to, just come to me, and I'll make sure everything is taken care of."

"Severus?"

Severus looked up to see his father striding up with Thomas Craw right behind him. There was a look of anger and tension in Octavius' face, but it had taken Severus a moment to realize that it wasn't directed at him.

"I'm sorry, Voldemort, if he was disturbing you…"

"Not at all, Octavius. Your son has quite a lot of potential. I suspect he'll go quite far in life with the right sort of guidance," he said evenly. "You know, I could use such a boy in my work, especially since I don't seem to be getting the cooperation I need from others I could name," Voldemort hinted, gazing at Octavius.

"I will continue with my support, Voldemort, for my own reasons, and not because of threats. If it wasn't for Thomas, I wouldn't have even gotten mixed up in the business affair to begin with," he pointed out, glancing over at Thomas before turning his gaze back to the dark wizard. "But you will leave my family out of this."

"I intend to," Voldemort said, "for now, at least," he said, giving Severus one last smile as he walked away. Thomas quietly excused himself, following closely behind. Octavius quickly turned around and grabbed Severus' shoulders, gritting his teeth slightly as he leaned down to look at him.

"Tell me what he said to you," Octavius demanded. Severus attempted to shrug away, but his grasp was too tight.

"We didn't talk about much of anything. He only asked me about Meryl. Let me go." Severus said defiantly.

"What about Meryl?" he asked, his anger apparent. Severus didn't particularly want to make him any angrier either.

"He just asked who she was, that's all," Severus said. "Then you came. Can I go play with the other kids now?"

"No, I want you where I can see you," Octavius said, standing up, glancing over at Voldemort and Thomas again. Just then, Meryl ran up, obviously upset. "What's wrong, what is it?"

"Anna, I can't find Anna! She was sitting by the table watching the other children playing hide and seek in the woods, then she just disappeared. While I was watching her," she added, giving him a hard look.

"We need to find her quick before certain other people do," Octavius said.

"We might not find her in time alone. Let me go get Aunt Tony, she's over talking to Alice and Auror Belle," Meryl said.

"Fine, but please no one else," Octavius hissed. "Severus, I want you to find your Aunt Viviane and stay with her, do you understand me? Do not leave her side," he commanded sternly. Taking one glance back to see Thomas and Voldemort stepping inside, Octavius hurried away.

Severus frowned as he watched them race off. Anna disappeared? She probably just wandered into the woods. Why in the world were they getting so frantic? It wasn't as if she hadn't disappeared before, only to end up being asleep in some odd corner or another. One thing was certain; he knew he couldn't leave it up to adults to find her. Turning around and purposefully avoiding where his great aunt was standing, Severus ran towards the woods.

Sirius Black hated hide-and-go-seek. He had never been any good at it, and he often suspected that the Hogwarts students were cheating and finding a way to make themselves invisible. Even his best friend from primary school was better at it than him; James never ever got caught. So Sirius never found any joy in being the one who was 'it.'

He had gone quite a ways into the woods when he realized the trail was gone, and he wondered if he hadn't gotten turned around somehow. Well, he could hear the sound of the waves, so he decided to try and follow them to the cliff where he could make his way back without getting lost. It was hard to tell when they were getting louder. He often stopped to listen, trying to figure out if he was going the right way. Suddenly he heard a whinny and turned around to see a baby Unicorn standing behind him.

She wasn't looking at him… perhaps she hadn't even noticed him. Instead, she was looking out into the brush. Sirius looked around just in time to see something white disappearing into the woods. Her mama perhaps, Sirius guessed, or another Unicorn at any rate. But for some reason the filly didn't follow, she just stood and whinnied pitifully.

"Hello there," Sirius said. The Unicorn filly turned around in apparent surprise and swiftly trotted up next to him, looking at him expectantly, her head standing so close to his that he held his breath, afraid he would scare it away. Hesitantly he reached up and patted the beast on the nose, relaxing somewhat when she didn't run away. Instead, the Unicorn began nuzzling the sleeve of his robes as he stared at it in amazement. "What do you want?"

Sirius asked as it started chewing at his sleeve. He froze for a moment, trying to convince himself that Unicorns didn't eat meat, when he remembered what he had in his sleeve and pulled back his arm, taking out a lollipop. He stared at it as the Unicorn looked at him quite expectantly with pleading eyes. Sirius had never seen anything quite so beautiful in his life.

"Here, how about a trade? I'm lost. I need to get back to the wedding. I give you the lolly, you show me how to get out?" he asked. The Unicorn looked at him as if not quite understanding. "Maybe you're too young to understand me," Sirius mused. "Show me your Mum, can you do that? I give you the lolly, you take me to your Mum?" The Unicorn neighed then as if that had made sense, and encouraged by her reactions and gentle nudges, Sirius got on her back. "Ok, let's go find your Mum," Sirius said.

A strange sensation went over him then that he didn't quite understand, and he found that he could somehow read her thoughts. She was lost too, he realized. But how could she be? Her mother was right there. No, that wasn't her mother at all, she seemed to think her mother was a human. Just then, Sirius saw a tree right in their path and cried out loudly in surprise as they passed right through it and out the other side. The filly stopped short, wondering why he screamed, and whinnied questioningly.

"Maybe this riding stuff isn't such a good idea," Sirius decided, getting off. "Are you sure we're going the right way?" he asked, listening for the ocean again. But Sirius heard another sound, the sound of someone calling a name and it sounded like 'Anna'.

"Hullo?" Sirius shouted back. "Help! We're lost! Over here!" Sirius yelled. "Don't worry, Unicorn, we'll find your…" he turned around, but the Unicorn was not there. Panicking over a sudden sense of loss that overcame him, he almost didn't notice when a small hand reached up and grabbed a hold of his robes. Looking around in surprise, he found himself looking at the little girl he met earlier, reaching up for his sleeve as if waiting to find something there. "Wait a minute, it can't be! Not at your age," Sirius said in awe, crouching down beside her. "It couldn't have been you?" Anna finally found what she was looking for, sitting down unworriedly as she tried to bite the wrapper off with her teeth before handing back towards him.

"Fix?" she asked.

"It was you! Somehow, it was!" Sirius said, ignoring her beating the lollipop across his hand before she gnawed at it again. "You're an Animagus! That's astounding!"

Just then, a bedraggled figure burst through the brush, and Severus glanced between the two of them before running over to Sirius and rammed his first into his eye then tackled him. The two of them rolled over as Sirius tried to fight him off and finally began to get headway, for although the other boy was taller; Sirius quickly realized that he was the stronger of the two. Anna yelled at Severus, but apparently her older brother still hadn't learned what the word 'no' meant. So Anna plopped down and began to cry, hoping it would get them to stop.

"What the blazes is the matter with you?" Sirius asked when he finally had the other boy pinned.

"What is the matter with me? Why did you kidnap my sister?" Severus asked.

"I didn't kidnap your sister! I got lost, and then I saw a Unicorn and then it ended up being her!" Sirius said.

"That's the lamest story I've ever heard, how stupid do you think I am?" Severus asked.

"Pretty damn stupid if you think I'd kidnap your sister! My Dad would kill me!" Sirius said.

"My Father is going to kill you when he hears how you led her away with lollipops!"

"I did NOT lead her away!" Sirius said. "We were trying to get back to the mansion."

"Oh, so now all of the sudden it's we? So you admit you were with her," Severus said.

"She was a Unicorn!" Sirius shouted at him. "Look, someone's got to calm her down, and I can't do it if I have to keep you pinned to the ground."

"Don't you dare touch my sister! Let me go! If you don't let me go, you're going to wish you had!" Severus snapped, struggling.

Sighing loudly and deciding that he could easily pin him again if he had to, Sirius let him up. Severus wasted no time getting to his sister and picking her up, but the toddler hit him on the shoulder with her hand.

"Bad! Bad!" she said angrily, her crying slowly subsiding.

"See? I told you, she's on my side." Sirius said.

"Oh, shut up, Black! You know what, if you're not lost, then I guess you don't need me to help you out of here, do you?" Severus said, backing up with his sister. Sirius blinked.

"Oh, come on, you wouldn't seriously leave me here!" Sirius said. "You really think I'm going to let you?"

"Try and follow me then," Severus challenged him. "But you won't be able to keep up. I just wish I could see the look on your face when you finally meet your true fate."

Severus turned around then and was about to dash away when he suddenly heard a ferocious growl. Turning cautiously back around, his eyes came open wide when he saw the large dark canine beast that Sirius was backing away from. It was, without a doubt, a Grim.

Severus wasn't about to stick around to see it eat the other boy, and he certainly didn't want to see his sister meet a similar fate. Severus dove into the trees, wondering if he could run fast enough to get help before the fool boy got completely mauled… well, at the very least he served to keep the beast occupied so he could get the toddler safely away.

But before Severus had taken more than a dozen steps, his arms dropped, for Anna had disappeared. Crying out in alarm, Severus looked around only to find her standing between the Grim and Sirius, looking at it sternly. Before Severus could react, she suddenly pointed at the beast with the same expression she had given Severus a moment before.

"Bad! Bad!" Anna said, slapping it on the nose. A sudden blast of light came out of her hand, and Sirius and Severus found themselves knocked back as the wave hit the beast, which cried out in pain as the light completely enveloped it. Whatever happened to it, Severus didn't get to see, so blinded by the light that by the time his eyes readjusted, he only saw Sirius lying a few feet away under a tree, and Anna, who was sitting calmly in the leaves, chewing on the wrapper around the lollipop.

Severus felt hands on him as someone helped him to his feet, and he looked up to see his father. Meryl had hurried past them and had scooped up Anna in her arms, squeezing her tightly, while two witches helped Sirius up.

"Why, it's Sirius Black," the plumper woman said with surprise. "Are you alright?"

"What happened? What was that light? Where did she come from? What did she do to that Grim?"

"Good lord, a Grim? Here?" They looked up to see Cornelius Fudge standing next to Alice, looking quite pale. "Where is it?"

"I've never heard of anything like that ever being in this wood before," Alice said.

"It was after Sirius, I think," Severus said. "Probably for kidnapping my sister."

"I didn't kidnap anybody! I got lost and I found a baby Unicorn and then it turned into her! And she can Apparate! And she got rid of the Grim!" Sirius said insistently.

"It couldn't have been Anna, that's just impossible," Severus said.

"Can we get back to that 'stupid' thing again?" Sirius asked, glaring at him.

That was when Severus noticed that none of the adults were talking at all. In fact, Severus' father was hovering protectively around Anna and Meryl and kissing his wife's forehead in such an usually open display that Severus felt a pit in his stomach. Whatever was happening was serious, more serious than Severus had realized, but exactly what it was a mystery to him.

"Well, I suppose this proves my theory," Tony said slowly, turning towards Audi.

"Do you think he noticed?" Audi asked. There was an eerie silence.

"Well, I'm going to go find out," Alice said, turning around.

"Alice, wait. He might sense you trying to read him, and if he does, he'll want to know why you're probing him," Audi warned. "Let me do it."

"He'll suspect me a lot less than you right now, Audi. I'll let the Blacks know Sirius is all right, they seem to be away from the pack at the moment," Alice said, running out of the woods.

"You can't leave her here, you know," Tony said. "As much as she's popping in and out, it won't take long for them to figure out she's not a normal child, and she won't be able to control it… that is, unless we do the one thing we discussed. Maybe you should let us take her to the States, Meryl. She'll be safe there…"

"You can't do that! You can't send my sister away!" Severus said in such a loud voice that all the adults hushed him.

"Even if we sent her away, what about these two? All you-know-who needs to do is talk to them once and ask the right question, and he'll know about her talents. He'll see her as a threat," Fudge said nervously.

"You see her as a threat," Octavius accused Fudge.

"If you want to keep her here, you'll have to take my advice and seal her magic, at least until the Ministry can get anything solid on him…"

"Corny, by the time the Ministry gets anything on him, it'll be too late," Audi snapped. "He's already grown more powerful than anyone should've allowed him to get, and before long, nobody will be able to do anything against him. I say we just kill the bastard and end the problem now."

"And you'll have a hundred men after you to avenge him," Octavius grunted.

"Well, we certainly can't stand here all night discussing this anymore. People are going to start wondering where we are," Tony said impatiently. "We've been talking this over for months now. Octavius, Meryl, she's your daughter. You've already heard our advice on the matter. Whatever you decide is what we'll go with."

Octavius turned to Meryl, his soft gaze questioning. She stood there for a long time looking at her daughter, before she finally turned around again.

"I want to keep her. I know it's risky, but she's our daughter, no one else's, and it wouldn't be fair to either her or Severus to separate them. Besides, I think it'd look suspicious if we sent her away now," Meryl said, a pained expression on her face. "She is too young to understand her magic, and I'm not sure I even understand it fully. But I also know what'll happen if the Death Eaters find out that there might be an Aethermage on their doorstep. I suppose that means we must hide it in the only way we can."

"It is the right thing to do, Merylin," Fudge said softly.

"But the moment he is gone, I want it fixed," she added seriously. "All of it."

"Agreed," Fudge said, "The moment it's safe, then everyone will know the truth."

"You should probably start with the boys, Cornelius." Octavius said softly.

"Here, I'm sure I can be of assistance," Tony said, stepping up.

"I will be glad when this is over and we can all talk about this," Meryl said, gazing at Severus. "I just hope we can get them to understand we're only doing this to protect them."

Fear gripped Severus then, not quite sure what was going to happen, and he was pretty sure from the look in her eyes that he didn't want to know. But before he could back away or even think of running, the old woman and Mr. Fudge was standing in front of him, and Fudge took out his wand.

"Obliviate!"