Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling owns Harry Potter along with Scholastic and whoever else.  I only own my characters so DON'T SUE!!!

Six Feet and Falling

by Saerry Snape

Chapter 14 :: November 25, 1995 :: Hogwarts – Night/Morning

At midnight, while everyone else slept, Sheyne stayed awake.  She was once again down in the Gryffindor common room, the charms books she'd been looking through for weeks spread out across two tables.  Sheets of paper with writing in slanted, barely legible script scrawled across them lay scattered between and under the books.  Sheyne sat at the center of the table, quill in one hand as the other ran down a page of the book.

Occasionally, she stopped and scribbled something on the paper then began to read again.

Suddenly, her eyes widened and she scrabbled for a piece of clean paper.

"Dammit.  C'mon…paper, paper, paper…  Where's the sodding paper?!"

Finally she found a piece that wasn't completely covered by her scribbles and tore off the tiny corner that was blank.  Quickly, she refilled her quill and began to scribble hurriedly on the tiny piece of paper, covering both sides before she was done.  Then she slammed the book she'd been looking at shut and hissed to the empty room, "I've got it."

* * *

"Ste!  STE!"

"Wha'?" said Stephen sleepily as he opened the door that led from Snape's private rooms to the classroom.  He blinked blearily up at his adopted sister and asked, "What time is it?"

"Around six.  C'mon!"

"Can't I get dressed?"

Sheyne looked down at Stephen's tattered old shirt and worn sweatpants.

"Fine.  Get dressed.  But do it fast."

Stephen wrinkled his nose, green eyes suspicious.  He grumbled, "It'd be nice if I knew what was going on," before he disappeared back into the rooms.  When he reappeared, he was clad in a pair of stonewashed jeans with the knees completely worn through and a black t-shirt with a glowing green skull on the front.

"Okay, I'm ready."

"Well, close the door and let's go.  Is Papa awake?"

"Snape?  Shey, its Saturday."

"It is?" exclaimed Sheyne as the two of them walked across the room.

Stephen gave her an odd look and said, "You're really out of the loop, aren't you?"

Sheyne sighed and rubbed her hand over her face as they walked.  She let out a low growl and said, "I've been up all night looking for that charm.  I haven't had time to think of what day it was."

"So you found it?" asked Stephen, eyes brightening.

"Yep.  It took me twenty-five books and who knows how much ink and paper to find it but I did."  She looked down at him and continued, "And now that we've got it, when should we do it?"

"Today."

"Today?"

"Today."

Sheyne nodded and said, "Alright.  Let me set up an Illusion Charm outside the Great Hall and we can hide there and wait for Harry.  But I have to warn you, you'll have to trust me to tell you what happens when I cast the charm."

"Why?" asked Stephen.  "Dumbledore cast that spell on me so I could see magic!"

"I know he did, Ste, but this charm only lets the person casting the spell see it.  All Dumbledore's spell does is allow you to see what we see, not everything."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah.  Let's go.  When does Harry get up?"

Sheyne shrugged.  "It depends."

"Well then LET'S GO!"

* * *

"How long have we been sitting here?"

"About an hour and a half.  Why?"

"Because my ass hurts."

Sheyne looked at her little brother and said, "Y'know, Mum would've skinned your hide for saying that."

Stephen nodded.  "I know.  But it would've been fun to see her get you after you'd started laughing at me."

Sheyne snorted then nudged Stephen, pointing down the corridor.

"There they are!"

"Well get out your wand!" snapped Stephen, peering through the illusion at Harry, Ron, and Hermione coming down the corridor.

Sheyne pulled her wand out of the special holster her father had insisted she buy along with.  'In times like these,' he had said, 'with Voldemort risen and back in power, one had to be prepared to pull their wand in an instant.  Especially you.'  Her wand was eleven and a quarter inches of dragon tree wood, a wood that Mr. Ollivander the wand-maker had gotten sometime in the Canary Islands as that was the only place it grew.  The core was a hair from a Darcorn, a type of unicorn that was completely black with a crooked horn of ebony.  Her wand was the only one that had a core of that type and was one of two made of the rare dragon tree wood.  Apparently her mother's had been the other.

Now she drew it and aimed at Harry as Stephen bounced up and down beside her.

"C'mon, c'mon!  He's getting away!"

Sheyne snapped her head towards him, amber eyes glittering dangerously.  She spat, "Do you want me to do this or not?"

"Y-yes."

"Then sit.  Down."

"Meep," said Stephen, sitting down.  Sheyne scowled at him then aimed at Harry again.  She checked the incantation she'd written down on the piece of paper then looked back up.

"Aspicio Parens!"

A flood of light blue motes flooded out of Sheyne's wand and spiraled towards Harry.  As they struck, he halted, one hand going to his forehead.

"Harry?" said Hermione in a worried tone.

"Mate, what's wrong?" asked Ron.

Harry shook his head and said, "Nothing.  Just…dizzy."

"Lack of food, I say!"

Harry grinned at Ron and said, "I suppose.  Let's go."

As the trio walked off, Stephen turned to look at Sheyne, who had collapsed against the wall and turned as white as one of the ghosts.  He reached forward and shook her arm gently.

"Shey.  Shey, what's wrong?  What'd you see?"

Sheyne shook her head then looked at her adopted brother.  She stared at him for a long moment before she spoke.

"You were right," she breathed.  "My God, you were right!"

Stephen gasped.  "So…so…"

Sheyne nodded slowly.

"Harry's my brother."

Aspicio Parens – See Parents