Chapter 3: Meeting with a Stranger
May 15, 2003
Summary: Abby and Snape finally meet.
Rating: Still G!
Author's Notes: Look, another chapter! It may be a while before the next one is up, as I haven't entirely written it yet, but the same still applies: I'll try my hardest to have it up in a week or less.
Disclaimer: Please don't sue. We've all heard about the troubles musicians and students have with money; well, I'm both. They aren't mine!
A tall man stepped out of the shadows, robes billowing about him. Abby stared up at him, eyes wide. This man was huge and a little scary looking, dressed all in black with long black hair, black eyes, and pale skin. The two of them stood there for a minute, silently regarding each other.
Snape wasn't sure what he had expected, but this was not it. At first glance, the short, scrawny child standing before him didn't look any more like a Snape than the Weasley boy did. The little girl definitely had her father's coloring, as evidenced by the tanned skin and waist length blond hair, most of which was still contained in two messy braids. As they stared at each, Snape found the conformation he'd been looking for. The child's eyes were exactly like his own mother's, a brilliant blue-green with flecks of orange surrounding the pupil.
"I am Professor Severus Snape," Snape finally said, a bit more harshly than he'd intended. The girl shrank back slightly, apparently feeling somewhat overwhelmed.
"I'm Abigail Snape-Monroe," the child shyly said. Snape raised an eyebrow in surprise. He hadn't realized his sister had given the child both surnames.
"Come. It is time for the start of term feast." Snape turned to head back into the Great Hall. A small hand slipped into his and he instinctively grasped it, surprised. A quick glance downward revealed his small niece looking up at him, managing to look both curious and scared to death at the same time.
The first years hadn't arrived yet, so many of the students in the Great Hall were up out of their seats, getting reacquainted with classmates and catching up on summer happenings. The noise in the hall dimmed quite a bit at the sight of Snape hand-in-hand with a small girl, who was practically skipping to keep up with him as they moved down the center aisle towards the teachers' table. No one dared approach the potions master though, as the expression on his face was one of obvious displeasure.
Snape was somewhat pleased to note that an extra chair had been placed at the head table, right next to his. The headmaster had thought of everything in his preparations for the arrival of the orphaned child. A small tug at his sleeve broke Snape from his thoughts. Abby was looking up at him.
"Um, sir, I…I…I'm supposed to…to give you this." She held out a white envelope, folded in half and crumpled. He took it gingerly.
"What is it?"
"Um, I think it's a letter from Aunt Kara, Mum's best friend." A dark shadow passed over the child's face as she said this and she settled back into her chair, staring at the people in the hall. A great number of them kept looking back at her, and she found all the stares quite unsettling. After tucking the letter into his robes, her uncle had turned and was talking to another professor, a very old looking one with long white hair and a long white beard. Abby poked at him again. He turned to look at her, exasperation and anger evident on his face.
"Yes?" he said icily. Abby's curiosity was quickly overcoming her shyness.
"Why are they all dressed like that?" she asked, gesturing at the students who were finally taking their seats.
"It's the school uniform," Snape explained, sounding rather annoyed.
"But –"
"We will talk later," the man said irritably. "Now hush, the sorting is about to begin." As he spoke, the doors at the end of the hall swung open and a stern looking woman swept down the center aisle, followed by nearly 90 students not much older than Abby. They all looked nervous, to one degree or another, and many of them were staring at the ceiling, the professors, and the other students. Abby glanced at the ceiling as well and was shocked to see the night sky above. Rafters could be dimly made out amongst the twinkling stars and scattered clouds, so Abby figured the ceiling must be painted or something, like on Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland. She didn't have any more time to think about it though, as the stern lady stopped and turned to face the students following her.
"As I call your name, you will come up here, sit on the stool, and put on the hat." Abby craned her neck to get a glimpse of the hat. It was an old, battered, black, pointed hat, with many rips and dirt stains on it. The girl wondered what was so special about this hat when suddenly one of the rips opened and the hat began to sing. Abby was so startled she nearly toppled off her chair, but her uncle reached out to steady her.
Finally the hat was done singing and the first student was called. "Anderson, Matthew!" A dark haired boy broke from the mass of students to make his way up to the stool. He slowly clambered atop it and the stern lady placed the hat on his head. Abby wondered what was happening until the hat shouted, "Ravenclaw!" One long table of students began cheering, and the boy made his way over to them, grinning.
"Appian, Marie," became a Slytherin next, followed by "Azure, Thomas" becoming a Gryffindor. It became obvious fairly quickly that each table was one of the four names the hat shouted, but Abby was still confused. She turned to ask her uncle about it, but the glare she received as he turned to look at her effectively silenced the girl.
This continued until every student had been sorted and was seated at their respective tables. The old man with white hair stood and began addressing the students. He droned on for a short while, something about a forest and some halls that were off limits. Abby quickly tuned him out, paying more attention to the surroundings. Suddenly the man clapped, startling her again. Even more startling was what happened when the man clapped.
The tables had been set with empty plates and serving dishes. At the old man's clap, the plates filled with all kinds of food, including roast beef and lamb chops, as well as a few dishes she didn't recognize. Abby's eyes grew wide. Without a word, her uncle took her plate and began filling it with food.
"Um," Abby started to say as he ladled peas onto her plate. She hated peas, but he shot her a look that stifled any complaint she might have. Abby was coming to the conclusion that her uncle was not the nicest man.
The feast passed without incident, though Snape noted with displeasure that a number of curious glances were directed towards his end of the professors' table. Finally the students were finished and the headmaster sent them off to their dormitories, the first years nervously following their house prefects. Snape had spent the last half hour in an intense debate with the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, and had largely forgotten the small girl seated next to him.
"You had better get that young one off to bed," Dumbledore commented quietly as he passed, his eyes twinkling. Snape turned towards the girl and was rather dismayed to find Abby curled up in the chair, sound asleep. "I do believe it has been a long day for her," the headmaster added as he moved on. Snape quickly realized he was right. If you took into account the time change, the airplane flight, and the train ride, Abby had left home almost twenty-four hours prior and probably hadn't slept much in the meantime.
Grumbling to himself, Snape carefully lifted the girl in his arms gingerly carried her out of the Great Hall and down to his own chambers, in the dungeons.
"Acroceraunia," he murmured to suit of armor that stood in a corner. It stepped to the side and a doorway flicked into existence in the midst of the stone wall. Snape stepped through and the doorway disappeared behind him. The room he had entered was rather large, serving as both the kitchen and a sitting room. A thick carpet covered the floor, dark purple in color, and a fireplace flicked cheerfully on the other side of the room. Shelves lined the walls, mostly filled with books, though there were a few pictures and other knick knacks scattered around as well.
Directly across from the entrance were two doors, one of which led into Snape's own bedroom, the other of which led to the bathroom. The potions master ignored these doors though, instead carrying the sleeping girl through a brand new door to the right. The new room Albus had created was sparsely furnished at the moment, containing only a standard four poster bed and a plain chest of drawers. The girl's suitcase (what an odd looking contraption, Snape thought, what with the metal fastening running along the edge and wheels on the bottom) had been placed at the foot of her bed, which was covered with a pale green quilt.
Trying not to wake the girl, Snape struggled to pull down the covers using one hand. He mostly succeeded and gently placed her on the sheets, still fully clothed. After pulling off her shoes, Snape took out his wand and with a simple spell, changed her jeans and t-shirt into pajamas. Abby stirred slightly, mumbled something, then curled into a ball on her side, but did not wake up. He pulled the covers over her and left the room, carefully closing the door behind him.
Snape walked across the room and half sat, half collapsed into his overstuffed easy chair. With a sigh, he rubbed his temples, staring into the flickering flames. He'd been sitting there for some time when he suddenly remembered the letter his young niece had given to him at dinner. The envelope he pulled from his pocket was crumpled from its long journey in the child's pocket. It was blank on the front and sealed with wax. Inside was a fairly short letter from Kara Aikens.
"I have instructed Abby to give this letter to you immediately," the letter read. "There are many things you should know about Abby, and most of them are spelled out for you in a letter to you from Sera, which is hidden in Abby's suitcase. It is spelled to be readable only by someone from the Snape bloodline." Snape immediately dropped the letter he was reading and went to Abby's door.
Quietly pushing it open, he was relieved to find the girl sound asleep, still curled in a little ball on her side. It took Snape a few minutes to open the suitcase, as he was unfamiliar with the strange device sealing it, and another few minutes to find the letter. Obviously, Kara hadn't been too concerned about someone else getting hold of it, as the letter was simply buried beneath the clothing at the bottom of the suitcase. He left the room clutching a thick envelope and carefully closed the bedroom door behind him. Dropping back into his armchair, Snape settled in to read the letter.
"Severus" was scrawled across the front of the envelope. He stared at his name for a moment before slowly turning the envelope over. After breaking the wax seal, he pulled a thick stack of parchment out and unfolded the papers. They were blank, but as he thumbed through them, words began appearing, along with a date at the top of the first page. Snape was surprised to see that this letter was dated almost three months previous.
"My dear brother," it began in his sister's familiar looping handwriting. "I know it's been a long time, but I had a premonition last night and I don't know if I'll be around much longer." Snape's lips tightened. His sister had often had what she called premonitions when they were younger. To Snape they seemed more like flashes of the future, as she was almost always correct.
"If you are reading this letter, it is likely that my premonition came true and my daughter is now in your possession. Abigail is now your responsibility, as she will need the protection that comes from living with a blood relative. This will be a very big change for her, as not only has she grown up in the States, but William and I decided it was best that she be raised away from the magic world. Yes, Sev, Abby has been raised as a Muggle."
Snape groaned. A nine-year-old who knew about magic would have been hard enough to deal with, but a nine-year-old who was raised Muggle? He could only hope Abby was as quiet of a child as she had been tonight. Otherwise…well, he could only imagine the questions he would be in for. He turned his attention back to the letter.
"You may be wondering about the blood relative protection thing, and why Abby needs it. Well, I'll explain that later. First off though, you need to know a little of Abby's history. I sent you a letter when William and I were married. Abby is the reason we were married. You see, Abigail is an essence child."
To my reviewers:
Psychadellic Flower, Kathi Skywalker, and Emma: Thanks for reviewing!
Dena Nehele Black Widow Queen: I know what you mean about the being too tired to review! I actually appreciate the nitpicking, it's good for me. I'm pretty good (I think) about my grammar and spelling, so hopefully you won't be finding too many mistakes. I also avoid stories that follow the same storyline, and when I do write ones that do, they have a twist that makes them different, such as Abby being only 9. As you will see later, you are correct in assuming Abby will be causing some trouble later on. ^_^