Disclaimer- I'm only going to do this once more. I don't like writing
disclaimers over and over again. I own Mary, Anne, Ethan, and in the
future of this story- Tavorian (Rian), Saoirse (Maya), Andrew, Elizabeth,
Leo, and Kara. All other characters that you do recognize belong to the
wonderful JK Rowling.
The five of them had a silent journey on the Knight Bus. Anne soon fell asleep in Ethan's arms who was looking avidly at his hands. Mary had curled up next to a window. Severus caught himself gazing at her. She did look a lot like her mother in many ways. Mostly though, she reminded him strangely of himself. It was the way she hunched over around her knees, the way her eyes looked so lonely. He hated that this had happened but more then that, he hated that it was his fault. Nothing was known for certain, nothing ever was anymore, but he had a hunch that Voldemort was after him and using his relatives to do it.
The trip dragged on for a seemingly endless amount of hours but they finally pulled into Hogsmeade station. It was late, nearly midnight and the station was almost deserted. McGonagall was the only one, apart from the janitor; she was sitting on a bench. Dumbledore was the first off the bus and went over to speak with her. Ethan followed, carrying Anne in his arms though it looked to be a lot of weight for the somewhat wimpy 15-year- old. Then Severus and Mary followed out together without meaning to. They collected their luggage and Dumbledore magiced it to dance around in front of them. "Hagrid's sent up the carriages," McGonagall said in a low voice.
"Thank you," Severus said sullenly. He glanced up and saw the Thestrals. They always made him cringe. He glanced over at his niece and saw a look of abject horror on her face. He wondered silently what death she had seen. Dumbledore apparently noticed Mary's face too for he spoke up.
"They really are fantastic beasts, though a little frightening to look at if you can see them." Ethan had a puzzled look on his face and Anne was still snoozing.
"I could help you with that," Severus said, coming over to him. Ethan, who had always been a very loyal person looked up at him gratefully.
"Thanks, she's a might bit heavy if you have to carry her over long distances." Severus smiled and took her. She was relatively light but he could see why Ethan was tired. They climbed into the carriages (they had been enlarged to fit the extended party). Severus, Anne, and Mary sat on one side while Ethan was sitting comfortable between McGonagall and Dumbledore. Then they "enjoyed" another silent journey though a bit shorter then the first. Ethan was gazing keenly out the window at the castle. "So this is a school? It's a bit grander then the one Mary and I go to, well went to."
"Yes, Hogwarts is far older then your school too, I'd venture," Dumbledore smiled slightly. Ethan reminded him very much of his own best friend at school, Daman Harriet.
"So what do you teach here anyway? You said you were wizards so do teach magic and stuff?" Mary asked suddenly. Dumbledore's smile grew a little wider.
"No, just magic, no stuff. You're uncle is the Potions Master and Professor McGonagall teaches transfiguration."
"So, you said we were magical, are we going to go to this school?"
"I don't know yet, you see, school starts at age 11 so you're a bit behind," Dumbledore said uneasily.
"Wait, let me get this straight, we're magical. How come we haven't seen it before? And how come we didn't go to your school?" Ethan implored, looking excited.
"Well, it's a long story and we're at the castle so we should discuss this further inside. I don't think you have had any dinner so we'll get to that first." Mary noticed then that she hadn't eaten since the waffles she had had for breakfast. Her stomach gave a loud grumble and she blushed. Severus looked down at her with a slight smile.
They continued to the Great Hall where a meal lay on the tables. They sat there and Mary woke Anne. She yawned and looked around. "Where am I?" she asked in a groggy whisper. "Where are mum and dad? Oh Mary, I had the most terrible dream. Mummy and Daddy were dead and-" she stopped when she saw the look on her sister's face. A tear tumbled down her small, freckled cheek.
"It'll be okay Anne, we're at an enchanted castle like in Beauty and the Beast. We're here with our Uncle Severus. Guess what?"
"What?" Anne asked, mid-sob. Her eyes had grown really big.
"We can all do magic like in the Wizard of Oz, you're like the witch!"
"The bad witch?"
"No, of course no, the good witch!" Ethan exclaimed, putting on a large smile.
"Oh, well if we do magic, then can we bring mummy and daddy back?" she asked, looking at the 5 people in front of her. Ethan and Mary looked at the three "elderly" people. The 3 of them sighed deeply.
"That is a power that none on earth possess," Dumbledore answered. The three siblings faces looked crestfallen. It always seemed that no matter how much of something you had it was never enough. They looked down at the steaming plates of food again a smidgen less enthusiastically as before. Slowly, and very slowly, their mood brightened. Finally, not being able to stand the silence, Ethan spoke up again.
"So, why don't you explain?" Dumbledore gazed at him in astonishment. The boy seemed to possess an innate ability to break any uncomfortable silence.
"Well, why doesn't Severus explain, I don't think I know all the details."
"Okay," Severus looked very uncomfortable. "Well, a long time ago, a I fell into the clutches of Lord Voldemort. I saw the error of my ways and became a spy for Dumbledore. Meanwhile though, Lucy and Hew had gotten married and had a baby. Lucy saw how dangerous it would be in this world for you Mary. So, she abandoned her powers and made a vow to stay away from this world to keep her family safe. I'm not sure if you got letters but anyway, you couldn't come into contact with this world without being put into danger."
"So why did Voldemort want to kill mum and dad?" Ethan asked.
"Well, we don't know but, well, he was probably trying to get at me. You have no idea how terrible I feel about this whole thing," Severus waited for their biting words. He deserved them.
"Well it's not your fault is it? It's this Lord Voldemort's fault," Mary said simply. It's as much mum's fault as yours." Severus breathed an internal sigh of relief. Mary had no idea how happy she had made him with those words. No one had ever been that kind to him.
"Well, are we going to learn magic now that we're here?" Ethan asked.
"I think that would be wise but I don't know if a summer's worth of training is going to get you ready for school in September," Dumbledore said slowly.
"I don't know, if they take after Lucy and Hew they must be sharp as a tack. They always were," Severus let the pride fill his heart.
"I'm sure the other teachers would be happy to help you," McGonagall smiled. It did her good to see the sullen Potions Master moderately happy. "I know I will."
"That's cool. Do you use wands?"
"Yes, I'm sure we could get you one."
"I want one with a silver star on the end! Can you get pink wands?" Anne asked with excitement, jumping up from her seats. Dumbledore laughed heartily.
"Maybe we could get you a special one." They finished their meal and were shown to a room in Severus's wing.
"It's not much, we'll get you something else soon," was all he could say before leaving the three grieving youths to each other for comfort.
"Good night Uncle Severus," Anne said in a very small voice.
"Good night." He walked down the hall and into his own room. He must have slipped off to sleep some time for when he came about again he heard singing wafting toward his room. He got up, pulled on his robe and followed it. It was a sad song and went like this:
'Fair Lady, throw those costly robes aside,
No longer may you glory in your pride;
Take leave of all your carnal vain delight,
I'm come to summon you away this night.'
'What bold attempt is this? Pray let me know
From whence you come, and whither I must go.
Shall I, who am a lady, stoop or bow
To such a pale-faced visage? Who art thou?'
'Do you not know me? I will tell you then:
I am he that conquers all the sons of men,
No pitch of honor from my dart is free,
My name is Death! Have you not heard of me?'
By this time he neared the door. He recognized it. He too had used it much in his school days. He used to practice sometimes but mostly just to get away from James, and Sirius. He opened the door and saw Mary sitting by the open window clad in a big, white nightgown. She was stroking the fabric lovingly as she sang.
'Yes; I have heard of thee, time after time;
But, being in the glory of my prime,
I did not think you would have come so soon;
Why must my morning sun go down at noon?'
'Talk not of noon! You may as well be mute;
There is no time at all for vain dispute,
Your riches, gold, and garments, jewels bright,
Your house, and land, must on new owners light.'
She stopped and looked around at him. She had tears falling freely down her face. Her hair was waving around in the breeze and her big eyes seemed magnified in the tears. The sight of her awoke a strong paternal instinct in Severus that had not been felt since he and Lucy had been younger. The two of them were the younger 2 of 4 Snape siblings. There was Luke then Deirdre then Severus and finally, the youngest, Lucy.
"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Mary apologized, wiping the tears from her eye with the back of her hand.
"Yes but it was a quite pleasant wake up call," he tried to be light but ended up just shifting his feet nervously.
"I, I just couldn't sleep. All of this just doesn't seem real at all."
"May I ask you a question?" Severus asked uneasily. She nodded and he sat down beside her. "I know you saw the Thestrals, what death did you see?"
"You mean those terrible looking horses?" Severus nodded. "My best friends, Skye and Mya died in a car accident. I was in the car with him," she gave a rather large sniff. "Can you see them?"
"Yes, I'm afraid I can. I saw many people killed by Lord Voldemort's hand," he said gravely. He hoped she wouldn't ask if he had killed anyone.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I don't know. Mum always said that I took Skye's and Mya's death too harshly. It is true that I don't really talk to many people anymore. I really only had 3 friends. We were all in the car, Skye was driving since he had his licence and everything. Mya was in the front seat, Danny and I were in the back. They died instantly after this idiot plowed into the front of the car."
"So you were close to them?"
"Yes, very much so. Skye and Mya were brother and sister. It was always just the 4 of us.." She trailed off into silence.
"So what about Danny?"
"He's still my best friend. I think it was the fact that no one knew how we felt. They'd never really lost someone like that. I miss Danny."
"I'm sorry about this whole thing. None of you deserve this."
"You don't either. Listen, I don't think you should feel guilty about this," she said seriously. "It's not your fault, everybody makes mistakes and no one even knows if that's why Mum and Dad were killed."
"Right, so what song were you singing?"
"It's a folk song "Death and the Lady". I don't know, it just kind of felt right."
"It was very pretty albeit a little sinister."
"Yeah, I'm kind of that kind of girl."
"I know what you mean."
"There's actually a ton more verses but I don't think I even know them all."
"It was quite lovely. Aren't you tired though?"
"Yeah, I'll go off to bed." With a wave of her hand she continued out the door and down the hall. He looked after her retreating back. He had found out many things that night that he hadn't really bargained for. Just as she was getting out of her line of vision she turned and went back to him. "Uncle Severus?"
"Yes?"
"I'm going to say this just as a pointer. I know it's not my place or anything but- Um, I think you'd look a lot less imposing and a lot handsomer if you cut and washed your hair." His mouth fell open. No one had had the gall to say that to him in years. Strangely though, she seemed to genuinely be thinking about him. There was no malice in her voice, not even the smallest bit of it. He grinned. "Actually, you'd look a lot better if you'd just smile more often." With that she turned on her heal and continued on her way.
Back in her room Mary felt much better. Something about Severus struck a cord with her. He seemed to understand her and having him there somehow made the blow of her parent's death much easier to bear. She lay down on the bed across from Anne's. The small girl was sleeping with her face crinkled up. Her black curls fell across the pillow in a startling contrast to the pale, cream silk. Though her lids were shut deftly over her eyes you could nearly sense the intensity of the bright blue behind them. Mary soon fell into fitful slumber.
Severus on the other hand was busy in his own room. He couldn't help but laugh at Mary's abruptness. He drew his wand to his head and muttered a charm. It was one that he had seen in a magazine a long time ago when he and Lucy still lived at home. He looked into the mirror and was startled at the change. He didn't know why he hadn't done it before. The charm, quite genius actually, cut your hair to perfection to frame your face. He muttered yet another charm that kept him from having to use the ice cold shower. He guessed that he hadn't done these before just because his disgusting hair suited his mood perfectly. He wasn't a very happy person in general. His hope, however, was that that was about to change. For now, he knew someone like him...
The five of them had a silent journey on the Knight Bus. Anne soon fell asleep in Ethan's arms who was looking avidly at his hands. Mary had curled up next to a window. Severus caught himself gazing at her. She did look a lot like her mother in many ways. Mostly though, she reminded him strangely of himself. It was the way she hunched over around her knees, the way her eyes looked so lonely. He hated that this had happened but more then that, he hated that it was his fault. Nothing was known for certain, nothing ever was anymore, but he had a hunch that Voldemort was after him and using his relatives to do it.
The trip dragged on for a seemingly endless amount of hours but they finally pulled into Hogsmeade station. It was late, nearly midnight and the station was almost deserted. McGonagall was the only one, apart from the janitor; she was sitting on a bench. Dumbledore was the first off the bus and went over to speak with her. Ethan followed, carrying Anne in his arms though it looked to be a lot of weight for the somewhat wimpy 15-year- old. Then Severus and Mary followed out together without meaning to. They collected their luggage and Dumbledore magiced it to dance around in front of them. "Hagrid's sent up the carriages," McGonagall said in a low voice.
"Thank you," Severus said sullenly. He glanced up and saw the Thestrals. They always made him cringe. He glanced over at his niece and saw a look of abject horror on her face. He wondered silently what death she had seen. Dumbledore apparently noticed Mary's face too for he spoke up.
"They really are fantastic beasts, though a little frightening to look at if you can see them." Ethan had a puzzled look on his face and Anne was still snoozing.
"I could help you with that," Severus said, coming over to him. Ethan, who had always been a very loyal person looked up at him gratefully.
"Thanks, she's a might bit heavy if you have to carry her over long distances." Severus smiled and took her. She was relatively light but he could see why Ethan was tired. They climbed into the carriages (they had been enlarged to fit the extended party). Severus, Anne, and Mary sat on one side while Ethan was sitting comfortable between McGonagall and Dumbledore. Then they "enjoyed" another silent journey though a bit shorter then the first. Ethan was gazing keenly out the window at the castle. "So this is a school? It's a bit grander then the one Mary and I go to, well went to."
"Yes, Hogwarts is far older then your school too, I'd venture," Dumbledore smiled slightly. Ethan reminded him very much of his own best friend at school, Daman Harriet.
"So what do you teach here anyway? You said you were wizards so do teach magic and stuff?" Mary asked suddenly. Dumbledore's smile grew a little wider.
"No, just magic, no stuff. You're uncle is the Potions Master and Professor McGonagall teaches transfiguration."
"So, you said we were magical, are we going to go to this school?"
"I don't know yet, you see, school starts at age 11 so you're a bit behind," Dumbledore said uneasily.
"Wait, let me get this straight, we're magical. How come we haven't seen it before? And how come we didn't go to your school?" Ethan implored, looking excited.
"Well, it's a long story and we're at the castle so we should discuss this further inside. I don't think you have had any dinner so we'll get to that first." Mary noticed then that she hadn't eaten since the waffles she had had for breakfast. Her stomach gave a loud grumble and she blushed. Severus looked down at her with a slight smile.
They continued to the Great Hall where a meal lay on the tables. They sat there and Mary woke Anne. She yawned and looked around. "Where am I?" she asked in a groggy whisper. "Where are mum and dad? Oh Mary, I had the most terrible dream. Mummy and Daddy were dead and-" she stopped when she saw the look on her sister's face. A tear tumbled down her small, freckled cheek.
"It'll be okay Anne, we're at an enchanted castle like in Beauty and the Beast. We're here with our Uncle Severus. Guess what?"
"What?" Anne asked, mid-sob. Her eyes had grown really big.
"We can all do magic like in the Wizard of Oz, you're like the witch!"
"The bad witch?"
"No, of course no, the good witch!" Ethan exclaimed, putting on a large smile.
"Oh, well if we do magic, then can we bring mummy and daddy back?" she asked, looking at the 5 people in front of her. Ethan and Mary looked at the three "elderly" people. The 3 of them sighed deeply.
"That is a power that none on earth possess," Dumbledore answered. The three siblings faces looked crestfallen. It always seemed that no matter how much of something you had it was never enough. They looked down at the steaming plates of food again a smidgen less enthusiastically as before. Slowly, and very slowly, their mood brightened. Finally, not being able to stand the silence, Ethan spoke up again.
"So, why don't you explain?" Dumbledore gazed at him in astonishment. The boy seemed to possess an innate ability to break any uncomfortable silence.
"Well, why doesn't Severus explain, I don't think I know all the details."
"Okay," Severus looked very uncomfortable. "Well, a long time ago, a I fell into the clutches of Lord Voldemort. I saw the error of my ways and became a spy for Dumbledore. Meanwhile though, Lucy and Hew had gotten married and had a baby. Lucy saw how dangerous it would be in this world for you Mary. So, she abandoned her powers and made a vow to stay away from this world to keep her family safe. I'm not sure if you got letters but anyway, you couldn't come into contact with this world without being put into danger."
"So why did Voldemort want to kill mum and dad?" Ethan asked.
"Well, we don't know but, well, he was probably trying to get at me. You have no idea how terrible I feel about this whole thing," Severus waited for their biting words. He deserved them.
"Well it's not your fault is it? It's this Lord Voldemort's fault," Mary said simply. It's as much mum's fault as yours." Severus breathed an internal sigh of relief. Mary had no idea how happy she had made him with those words. No one had ever been that kind to him.
"Well, are we going to learn magic now that we're here?" Ethan asked.
"I think that would be wise but I don't know if a summer's worth of training is going to get you ready for school in September," Dumbledore said slowly.
"I don't know, if they take after Lucy and Hew they must be sharp as a tack. They always were," Severus let the pride fill his heart.
"I'm sure the other teachers would be happy to help you," McGonagall smiled. It did her good to see the sullen Potions Master moderately happy. "I know I will."
"That's cool. Do you use wands?"
"Yes, I'm sure we could get you one."
"I want one with a silver star on the end! Can you get pink wands?" Anne asked with excitement, jumping up from her seats. Dumbledore laughed heartily.
"Maybe we could get you a special one." They finished their meal and were shown to a room in Severus's wing.
"It's not much, we'll get you something else soon," was all he could say before leaving the three grieving youths to each other for comfort.
"Good night Uncle Severus," Anne said in a very small voice.
"Good night." He walked down the hall and into his own room. He must have slipped off to sleep some time for when he came about again he heard singing wafting toward his room. He got up, pulled on his robe and followed it. It was a sad song and went like this:
'Fair Lady, throw those costly robes aside,
No longer may you glory in your pride;
Take leave of all your carnal vain delight,
I'm come to summon you away this night.'
'What bold attempt is this? Pray let me know
From whence you come, and whither I must go.
Shall I, who am a lady, stoop or bow
To such a pale-faced visage? Who art thou?'
'Do you not know me? I will tell you then:
I am he that conquers all the sons of men,
No pitch of honor from my dart is free,
My name is Death! Have you not heard of me?'
By this time he neared the door. He recognized it. He too had used it much in his school days. He used to practice sometimes but mostly just to get away from James, and Sirius. He opened the door and saw Mary sitting by the open window clad in a big, white nightgown. She was stroking the fabric lovingly as she sang.
'Yes; I have heard of thee, time after time;
But, being in the glory of my prime,
I did not think you would have come so soon;
Why must my morning sun go down at noon?'
'Talk not of noon! You may as well be mute;
There is no time at all for vain dispute,
Your riches, gold, and garments, jewels bright,
Your house, and land, must on new owners light.'
She stopped and looked around at him. She had tears falling freely down her face. Her hair was waving around in the breeze and her big eyes seemed magnified in the tears. The sight of her awoke a strong paternal instinct in Severus that had not been felt since he and Lucy had been younger. The two of them were the younger 2 of 4 Snape siblings. There was Luke then Deirdre then Severus and finally, the youngest, Lucy.
"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Mary apologized, wiping the tears from her eye with the back of her hand.
"Yes but it was a quite pleasant wake up call," he tried to be light but ended up just shifting his feet nervously.
"I, I just couldn't sleep. All of this just doesn't seem real at all."
"May I ask you a question?" Severus asked uneasily. She nodded and he sat down beside her. "I know you saw the Thestrals, what death did you see?"
"You mean those terrible looking horses?" Severus nodded. "My best friends, Skye and Mya died in a car accident. I was in the car with him," she gave a rather large sniff. "Can you see them?"
"Yes, I'm afraid I can. I saw many people killed by Lord Voldemort's hand," he said gravely. He hoped she wouldn't ask if he had killed anyone.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I don't know. Mum always said that I took Skye's and Mya's death too harshly. It is true that I don't really talk to many people anymore. I really only had 3 friends. We were all in the car, Skye was driving since he had his licence and everything. Mya was in the front seat, Danny and I were in the back. They died instantly after this idiot plowed into the front of the car."
"So you were close to them?"
"Yes, very much so. Skye and Mya were brother and sister. It was always just the 4 of us.." She trailed off into silence.
"So what about Danny?"
"He's still my best friend. I think it was the fact that no one knew how we felt. They'd never really lost someone like that. I miss Danny."
"I'm sorry about this whole thing. None of you deserve this."
"You don't either. Listen, I don't think you should feel guilty about this," she said seriously. "It's not your fault, everybody makes mistakes and no one even knows if that's why Mum and Dad were killed."
"Right, so what song were you singing?"
"It's a folk song "Death and the Lady". I don't know, it just kind of felt right."
"It was very pretty albeit a little sinister."
"Yeah, I'm kind of that kind of girl."
"I know what you mean."
"There's actually a ton more verses but I don't think I even know them all."
"It was quite lovely. Aren't you tired though?"
"Yeah, I'll go off to bed." With a wave of her hand she continued out the door and down the hall. He looked after her retreating back. He had found out many things that night that he hadn't really bargained for. Just as she was getting out of her line of vision she turned and went back to him. "Uncle Severus?"
"Yes?"
"I'm going to say this just as a pointer. I know it's not my place or anything but- Um, I think you'd look a lot less imposing and a lot handsomer if you cut and washed your hair." His mouth fell open. No one had had the gall to say that to him in years. Strangely though, she seemed to genuinely be thinking about him. There was no malice in her voice, not even the smallest bit of it. He grinned. "Actually, you'd look a lot better if you'd just smile more often." With that she turned on her heal and continued on her way.
Back in her room Mary felt much better. Something about Severus struck a cord with her. He seemed to understand her and having him there somehow made the blow of her parent's death much easier to bear. She lay down on the bed across from Anne's. The small girl was sleeping with her face crinkled up. Her black curls fell across the pillow in a startling contrast to the pale, cream silk. Though her lids were shut deftly over her eyes you could nearly sense the intensity of the bright blue behind them. Mary soon fell into fitful slumber.
Severus on the other hand was busy in his own room. He couldn't help but laugh at Mary's abruptness. He drew his wand to his head and muttered a charm. It was one that he had seen in a magazine a long time ago when he and Lucy still lived at home. He looked into the mirror and was startled at the change. He didn't know why he hadn't done it before. The charm, quite genius actually, cut your hair to perfection to frame your face. He muttered yet another charm that kept him from having to use the ice cold shower. He guessed that he hadn't done these before just because his disgusting hair suited his mood perfectly. He wasn't a very happy person in general. His hope, however, was that that was about to change. For now, he knew someone like him...