Chapter Ten

The First Secret

In the Great Hall, sleepy-headed students were just arriving for breakfast after the busy weekend. Alex and Mandria stood just outside the main door, scanning the students going inside.

"Are you sure she didn't have an early class?" Mandria asked.

"I'd think she's smart enough not to get stuck in a class this early on a Monday. Older students get to pick some of their subjects, you know," Alex said.

"Let's just go in, I'm hungry," Mandria said with a yawn.

"We might not get to see her all day, and I'd rather hear it from her," Alex said.

"Good morning, Snape and Shea." Alex looked up to see her own ancestor, the ghost of Janus Craw floating in from the opposite wall towards the hall entrance. "Have you seen your mother this morning?"

"No, Janus, we just got here a moment ago, actually," Alex said. "Any particular reason?" Janus looked startled for a moment, staring at Alex with renewed interest.

"Very well spoken, Miss Snape. Might I ask who taught you?" he asked. Mandria looked at him in confusion, but became more confused when she saw a very panicked look come across Alex's own face. Alex forced it into a grin.

"Oh that! From books, of course! I study a lot on my own," Alex said quickly. "Well, we need to get going. Talk do you later." Taking Mandria by the arm, Alex began walking down the corridor.

"What was all that about?" Mandria demanded the moment they got out of earshot.

"Er, I'm not quite sure, actually. I was just playing it by ear, of course," Alex said.

"I don't believe you, Alexandria Snape. You're hiding something, now what is it?"

Suddenly the painting of an owl they were passing began hooting loudly. As they looked around, they saw something white drifting to the ground.

"Look! There's a note!" Mandria said, grabbing it before Alex had a chance to react and opening it.

"Here, might I have that? Really, I'm sure it's nothing important!" Alex insisted.

"Just as whatever it was that just happened was nothing important?" Mandria answered, opening the seal. "I thought I was your friend, Alex!"

"Of course you're my friend!" Alex said. "May I see it, please?"

"It's in total gibberish! Or perhaps it's in code," Mandria said suspiciously. "You know, Alex. If I was really your friend, you'd tell me what's going on, or at least let me in on what the note says."

"Well, I can't tell you anything unless you let me see it," Alex pointed out. She couldn't help but notice the hurt look on Mandria's face as the girl handed the note over. How could Alex make her understand?

Alex opened it up, taking a long breath as she read the note inside:

Whatever it is you're doing or are thinking of doing, stop it. You know why. – A2.

"Well?"

"I can't tell you, Mandria. It's… it's a family matter," Alex said carefully.

"Something to do with your parents?" Mandria asked suspiciously.

"No, no not at all. In fact, I'd really rather you not bring this matter up to them, or anyone else for that matter. Can we keep it a secret?" Alex suggested.

"How can I keep a secret when I don't even know what the secret is?" Mandria demanded. "Are you talking about me behind my back?"

"No! Of course not!" Alex said emphatically. "It's just that this is something I'm not allowed to tell anyone. I promise if I could tell you, I would." Alex gave Mandria her best pleading look. Mandria frowned at her for a long time before finally nodding in resignation.

"Fine. I'll believe you this time. But I am disappointed that you don't feel like you can confide in me," she said.

Alex couldn't think of anything to say to make things any better, so the two of them spent an uncomfortable minute wondering what to say before someone called their names from down the hall. Looking up, they saw Rose coming towards them, her cheeks red from running.

"There you are at last! I've been looking absolutely everywhere for you! Come out to the courtyard!" Rose insisted, dragging them by the arms.

"But we haven't even had breakfast!" Mandria protested.

"I have an early class so it has to be now, but I don't think you'll regret it," Rose said as they headed outside. She led the other two girls to an empty bench on the far side of the courtyard away from everyone else, grinning from ear to ear. "Now you both have to swear you didn't hear this from me. Everyone on the Quidditch team assured McGonagall we wouldn't tell anyone, but I knew you two had to be bursting with curiosity about what really happened on the Quidditch Pitch yesterday. I hope I can trust you to keep a secret until our first game."

Alex and Mandria gave her their promises, but Alex was very aware of Mandria's eyes on her and fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Alright, the reason things got so heated yesterday was this… Conner Donovan is getting replaced as a Seeker. Gaffney told him that either he took the Chaser position offered to him or he was off the team. McGonagall knew about it beforehand too. She and Stewart Gaffney spoke of it before tryouts, so when Donovan flipped, she ran in for damage control. Boy, did she have her hands full with Snape breathing down her neck," Rose chuckled. "But McGonagall and Stewart were tired of him showing off instead of actually playing last year, so they decided to pick someone who seemed to take the team more seriously. And guess who that was?" The two girls shook their heads and looked tat her blankly. "Me! Isn't that a kick?"

"You? But er…didn't you have trouble keeping up last year?" Mandria said.

"Well, yes, but that was on last year's broom," Rose said, blushing slightly. "Platt was right about that. My broom was a joke, but I had been so attached to it. It had been made from a branch of a tree that I used to talk to when I was very little."

"You talked to trees?" Mandria said curiously.

"And my parents thought I was weird wanting to be a Muggle when I was a kid," Alex chuckled.

"I think you're both odd, but then what's the fun in being normal anyhow," Mandria said. "I think you'll do splendidly, Rose! And they're right in wanting someone who'll take it more seriously than Donovan."

"From what I've seen I don't think he takes anything seriously," Alex snorted. "At the very least, it should turn some heads that first game."

"Well, just as long as Slytherin don't find out. And personally, I don't think anyone from any of the other houses would tell them either. They've won so many years in a row now that I think most of us would be happy no matter which team won, as long as it wasn't them," she grinned. "Well, I'd better get to class. I'll see you later."

"Congratulations!" Mandria called after her, then turned her attention back to Alex as they headed towards class themselves. "Now, there's a true friend," Mandria added. Alex only frowned in response, following along behind her.

If there was any class she liked more than the others, Alex guessed that Charms would be it. So many of the other classes were bogged with rules and formulas and process and all sorts of boring things, but in Charms class they were actually using spells, and not just silly things like changing their desks into pigs like in Transfiguration class. Already they had been taught how to open locks and sealed pickle jars, how to get dishes and clothes to wash and put themselves away, and how to waterproof brooms. Now they spent the day learning how to charm quills to dictate their class notes for them. Alex couldn't think of anything handier that she could possibly learn. Now she wouldn't have to strain her wrist writing all day!

"Make sure you ask your professors for permission before you try using this in your other classes," Professor Weasley had warned them. "Some of them will encourage you to use it for accuracy, but others prefer that you make your own notes. Best ask before you get yourself in hot water."

"Do you think your father will let us to use the quill spell?" Mandria asked as they left the class. "After all, he is such a stickler for accuracy."

"Not likely," Alex sighed. "He doesn't seem to encourage anything that might make life easier in his class."

"This doesn't sound like the same girl I met on the train," Mandria teased lightly.

"Yes, well, I guess I learned that I don't know my parents as well as I thought I did," Alex said.

As they turned the corner towards the Defense Room, they noticed a crowd of students gathered before it, talking quietly to each other. They hurried over curiously, most of them looking at Alex with accusing expressions.

"I don't suppose you knew about this?" Fischer said suspiciously.

"What's going on? Why isn't anyone going in?" Mandria asked.

"That is why," Ralph said, pointing towards the open door. Mandria peered in and had to cover her mouth to keep from screaming.

Just inside the door, glaring at them with a glass yellow eye and the other eye covered with a patch, was the largest reptile that Mandria had ever seen. It was longer than a crocodile but with a lizard-like head, watching the door with a look of ferocity that none of the students dared question. There could be little doubt at that moment who was the boss of the classroom.

But Alex's shoulders relaxed when she saw the creature, laughing quietly to herself.

"That's only Rasputin! That's Snape's familiar!"

"He has a basilisk for a familiar?" Mary Meyers from Hufflepuff's voice cracked as she said it. "That settles it, we really are going to die in this class."

"Oh don't be silly! I know Snape's not the nicest teacher in the world, but no teacher could keep a job as long as he has if he's gone and killed students every year," Mandria pointed out.

"I think he's just trying to scare all of you so you'll be out of your seats when class starts to get you into trouble again," Alex said.

"Us? What about you? I don't see you going near it," Fischer challenged her.

"If he gets that eye patch off, we are all going to die," Mary said.

"Oh, honestly! Don't you know the difference between an ancient basilisk and a monitor basilisk? Rasputin is just a hybrid. Besides, I grew up with this lazy old lizard and I'm telling you he's harmless," Alex said, walking in the door.

But Rasputin didn't seem at all put out by the fact that he had guarded her cot as a baby, or how many times she had given him treats during those summer months he spent laying in his box in the basement. The moment she passed through the door he lifted his head up and hissed at her menacingly.

"Now, don't you give me that," Alex nagged the basilisk, shaking her finger at him like a dog. "You're not about to hurt me or anyone else here and I know it. And even if you tried, Mum has a cabinet full of potions to cure being stoned. I'm certainly not afraid of you."

The basilisk hissed again. It was obvious even to the students behind her that he wasn't relenting his position.

"Well, how about I sneak in a mouse for you tonight? Would that do?" she coaxed. The basilisk just stared at her with his glass eye for a moment, then hissed again. "Fine. A mouse every night this week, but I swear I'm not bending any further than that," she said, folding her arms stubbornly.

Rasputin's glass eye gazed at her unblinking for a moment, then finally he decided that perhaps under the desk might be a better place to take a nap. A collective sigh came from behind Alex as the class edged into the room and into their seats. Some of them smiled at Alex on the way past her, very careful not to trip over Rasputin's tail, which was stretched out on the floor from under the desk.

"Just in the nick of time," Mandria said as the two girls settled into their own chairs. "It's a good thing that basilisk understands English, and not a minute to spare before class too. I wonder if the other class had to deal with that this morning?"

"I don't know, why would they?" Alex shrugged.

"Because I think it was some sort of test," Mandria said thoughtfully. "I wonder how they managed to get in?"

It was at that moment that Alex realized just how big of a mistake she had just made. A panic rose up inside her. It was going to be obvious what had happened, what she had done to get in. And if her Father put two and two together…

The room suddenly became quiet, and Alex looked up to see him standing in the doorway, an unmasked look of surprise on his face. He squinted at the students with suspicion before heading to his desk, hissing angrily at his familiar.

"What are you doing under the desk? I thought I told you to guard the door," he hissed at Rasputin.

"Yes, I know, but you don't feed me enough," Rasputin hissed back at him. "The girl promised to feed me more, so we worked out an agreement."

"An agreement?" Severus hissed back in surprise "How can you work out an agreement if she can't even…." His head whipped suddenly toward his daughter with an expression that made students around her shrink back. She was cringing. There could be little doubt now. He knew that she had understood everything that the two of them had said.

"You…" Severus snarled in English, looking furious. "Office. After class. No excuses!" Alex nodded, trying very hard not to gulp even though her throat was dry. "You've completely disrupted my lesson! I was expecting you to try and use your heads and employ a little problem solving. It seems that I was expecting too much."

"Well, isn't that what I did, really?" Alex asked. "Even if it wasn't what you had in mind?"

"As far as I am concerned you deliberately cheated! And because of that, I'm sure your house will be good to know it has just suffered fifteen points for it, and ten more for your speaking without permission!" he snapped. "Now open your books to the chapter you were supposed to have read last night, because you're going to get extra homework for attempting to get around what I had planned for today!"

Alex opened her book; very conscientious of the looks the other students were giving her. Unlike the last time, their expressions were more sympathetic than angry. Well, it was terrible that things had to turn out this way, but at least the students wouldn't accuse her of parental favoritism anymore.

The class ended much sooner than she would have liked. Mandria immediately offered to wait for her outside. But as grateful as Alex was for her friend's support, she could hardly feel good about anything as she made her way into Snape's office. It was several moments before he joined her, leaving her to glumly look around the office. Very little of it did she recognize from home, except for the large portrait of her mother hanging on the wall. The portrait looked at Alex curiously; her expression concerned, but the painting was immediately distracted when Severus came in, slamming the door behind him.

"Why…" he began, his pause full of obvious restraint, "is it that you never told me you were a Parselmouth?"

"Well, it's because… er… well, I just never thought to mention it, I suppose," Alex said, hoping she didn't sound too shaky. "I didn't mean to wreck any plans or anything! Honest! It was just we knew you'd be upset if we weren't in our seats and we had to get past so… I had him move," she explained. "I'm sorry, but I was only trying to obey the rules. I didn't mean to break any!"

Severus Snape stared at his daughter for a very long while. At first she didn't notice the subtle changes taking place in his expression, but soon she realized that for whatever reason he had stopped being angry with her. The anger instead seemed to be at himself, but why Alex couldn't even begin to guess.

"Don't ever let me catch you doing that in my class again, is that clear?" Severus said sternly.

"Yes, sir," Alex nodded quickly.

"And I expect whatever 'deal' you made with my familiar is carried out, despite my disapproval of both of your behaviors in the matter," he added.

"Yes, sir."

"Oh, and one other thing. If I ever catch you attempting to turn my own familiar against me again, you won't ever be allowed to have one of your own as long as you live under this roof or mine." he said, his stern gaze adding weight to his threat.

It was that threat that helped Alex realize what had happened a few moments before. Somehow during the course of the conversation… perhaps for all of it… the Father that she had known had crept to the surface and had taken over, and she knew then she wasn't about to get into any more trouble for what had happened.

"Very well, I'm done with you. Get out of my sight before I change my mind and have you scrubbing the dungeon floors for upsetting a professor's familiar."

"Yes, Father… Professor… Both," Alex said, deciding the sooner she got out of there the better. She hurried to where Mandria was waiting for her and they walked towards the Great Hall. They didn't notice Snape staring after them, drumming his fingers restlessly before finally going down the stairs towards the dungeons.

"Are you all right?" Mandria asked.

"Yes, I suppose so. I mean, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be," Alex admitted. "He just yelled at me a bit. I didn't lose any more points or anything."

"Thank goodness! Twenty-five points! You sure you want to sit at the table at lunch?" Mandria asked, dreading the worst.

"Oh, let them rib me, I don't care," Alex sighed. "At least he only thinks I'm a Parselmouth."

"He thinks you're a Parselmouth? Well, didn't you tell him you were just, well, talking to the basilisk?"

"No! No, he can't know that!" Alex said, wiping her brow. "Oh boy, I am in so much trouble."

"You are making no sense whatsoever, Alex!" Mandria said, shaking her head. "When are you going to give up and tell me what this is all about?"

Alex was wondering the very same thing. She was now realizing that the secret that she had been keeping from everyone since the four Snapes had been old enough to talk was on the edge of discovery. And so what? What was the harm in knowing? But before she could answer that question for herself, an owl flew into the Great Hall, screeching so loudly that everyone stopped what they were doing to look up.

A bright red envelope was in its beak, suddenly swooping to where Alex stood near the Ravenclaw table and dropping it into her hands. The students, which had all grown quiet when the owl had flown in all began talking at once.

"Looks like your father is going to give you a double helping," Ralph said, sounding slightly sympathetic.

"He wouldn't do that, would he? Even Snape isn't that nasty," a second year on the other side of Ralph said.

"I think I'd better take this outside," Alex decided.

"You'll never make it," Kirk warned her. And unfortunately he was right, for just before she got to the door the envelope burst open, and the voice of a young boy boomed out, speaking in absolute gibberish.

No one in the entire hall understood a word, even those whom English was not their only language. They only shrugged at each other and stared at Alex, who had turned bright red and her knuckles white, still clutching a tiny corner of the envelope. Finally the shouting gibberish stopped, and after a short silence was replaced by the sound of all the students talking at once.

"I think I'm going to take a walk," Alex told Mandria slowly. "I don't really feel like heading into that crowd right now."

"Perhaps I should go with you," Mandria said. "Friends should stick together when they're in trouble."

"I couldn't agree with you more!" said someone coming up behind them. It was Rose, putting an arm around Alex sympathetically. "Come on, I know the perfect place where we can find some peace and quiet."

Alex couldn't help but feel guilty as her friends guided her out to the back of the grounds and sat with them near the trunk of a great willow tree. They didn't talk much at first, but began to scrounge for food. Rose, it seemed, had several candy bars stowed in her pockets, and even Mandria had a small bag of pumpkin crisps. It wasn't much of a picnic, perhaps, but the weather was still warm and pleasant, and for a very little while Alex felt rather far away from all the hectic nature of the school.

"Remind me to start carrying drinks in my pockets for emergencies," Rose joked lightly as the three of them munched on crisps. Mandria giggled.

"It's a shame we have to go back to class today. We've had a full enough day already, after what happened in Defense and all," Mandria explained.

"Oh no, Professor Snape was on the rampage again?"

"Yes, because he had his familiar guarding the door, and Alex convinced him to move," Mandria said.

"I never should have done it," Alex sighed loudly, shaking her head. "It was a stupid thing to do. Aurelius is so right about that."

"Aurelius? Your little brother?" Rose asked. "Was he who sent you the Howler?"

"Yes, and rightly so," Alex said.

"Rightly so? If my little brother sent me a Howler, I'd deck him," Mandria swore.

"What language was that that he was speaking? You did understand it, I take it?" Rose asked curiously.

"Yes, of course I did. That's just the trouble," Alex said. "You see, it wasn't a real language, it was just something he made up for the occasion."

"I don't think I understand what you mean, Alex," Mandria said. "But then that's nothing new."

"I suppose I might as well tell you the truth. It's obvious I'm not going to be able to hide this much longer, at least not from you two," Alex said with a sigh. "You see, I have a secret ability. All of us Snapes have. Our cousins have some too," she explained. "And because of the nature of some of those abilities, we decided that we'd have to keep them all a secret… even from our parents."

"How could you possibly keep anything from your mother? She sees through everything! Like last week, I heard she caught Davis Bulstrode trying to cheat by taking a Telepathy potion, but she was able to read him and boy did he get detention," Mandria said.

"Trust a Slytherin to try to cheat in the first week of school," Rose snorted. "But yes, what about that, Alexandria?"

"Actually, the answer to that is not my part of the secret," Alex explained. "I honestly can't tell you."

"All right then, what can you tell us? I mean, if we swear to keep it a secret too," Mandria said coaxingly.

"I'm surprised you haven't figured out by now, especially after what happened today," Alex said. "And after me being able to read the ancient book and all…I still need to get back to that… and what happened with the ghost of Janus Craw."

"I knew that was tied to this somehow," Mandria said. "But I don't get how."

"I understand all languages, Mandria, and anyone speaking them can understand me," Alex explained. "It doesn't matter what kind. Bird, bee, human languages… they all sound like they're in English to me."

"And even when you're speaking English, they hear you in their own language?" Mandria said, her eyes widening slightly as everything that had happened began to make sense.

"An Omnivox!" Rose said, looking at Alex with amazement.

"Oh is that what it's called? I've always wondered if there was a name for it or if I was one of a kind," Alex chuckled.

"You might as well be. It's only spoken of in legends now," Rose said. "No wonder you're so drawn to books! Why, you must understand the very essence of what the writer is trying to get across!"

"Muggle books are the best. They're so much more romantic than ours are!" Alex said emphatically.

"But Alex, I just don't understand," Mandria said, refusing to let them change the subject. "Why would you want to hide this talent? What harm would it do if folks knew about it?"

"Well for one thing, if they find out my talent, they're on the road to finding out the talents of my siblings, and I can't allow that Pact to be broken. Especially considering I probably got the most boring talent of them all," Alex chuckled modestly.

"I can't imagine how that can be," Rose said.

"Well, at least now that you know, perhaps you can help me keep it a secret." Alex suggested hopefully.

"How do you want us to do that?" Mandria asked.

"Simply let me know when someone's… well, not speaking English, so I can play stupid," Alex said. "I didn't have this sort of trouble at home. I usually had enough sense to figure out that animals couldn't speak it and the people around me could. But here English as a first language isn't guaranteed. Right now, I only have to worry about my father thinking I'm a Parselmouth. I'd like to keep it that way."

"We will do what we can," Rose agreed, making a symbol with her hand, signifying a pact of her own.

"I'm in too. And I am sorry that I was beginning to think you were balmy," Mandria said. Alex grinned at her in amusement.

"I can't read minds, Mandria. Only my Mum can do that. But apology accepted anyhow." Mandria chuckled slightly in embarrassment and offered her hand, the other two following suit.