"You think I have time to copy your homework before class starts?" Nick asked Dierna outside the greenhouses. "I might have had time to do it on my own if I hadn't had to chase Connor off of you on the way out here."

"Of course, just do it quickly," she handed him a parchment covered in her neat writing.

"You're a life saver doll," Nick kissed her cheek as he started writing on his own nearly empty paper.

Serena laid her head on her sister's shoulder, "I think I'm going to just skip class, I still don't feel good."

"You must really be dying if you want to skip Herbology," Dierna teased her sister.

"All right, everyone inside now, we have a lot to get through today," Neville Longbottom smiled warmly at his students. During his school years he had never thought that he would ever have a job that he would love like this. He enjoyed his students, and was daily able to feed his passion for magical flora.

But what Neville had truly come to value about his position was the change it had brought about in him. Teaching had transformed him from being shy and awkward, to outgoing and confident. It was a constant source of pride to him that he was hailed as a favorite teacher by many of his students.

"I hate dirt," Dierna mumbled under her breath.

"Deal with it," Nick whispered back to her.

Dierna responded by sticking her tongue out at him.

"Very attractive, if you didn't have dirt on your hands right now I'd be tempted to kiss you," Nick deadpanned.

Dierna giggled, then covered it up by coughing into her hand when she noticed that Professor Longbottom was looking in their direction.

"Very smooth," Nick said out of the side of his mouth.

"Nick, look" there was a note of panic in Dierna's voice.

"What is it?" Nick swore loudly when he looked over at Dierna. He didn't notice that he and Dierna had become the center of attention for the entire class; he was too busy trying to catch his best friend before her limp form hit the ground.

Nimue closed her eyes and swayed on her feet. She had skipped class because she was in so much pain. But even though she felt close to collapsing she felt a strong pang of guilt over missing class, she never broke the rules...

"Are you alright?" Sophia asked as she came into the Gryffindor common room.

"I don't know," Nimue answered uncertainly, "my head feels like its going to explode."

Sophia instantly took charge, "I snuck out of Remus' class because I could tell this was happening. Unless you prepare yourself for visions they will hurt like this. Lie down and try to relax."

Nimue obediently lay down on one of the worn sofas and tried to breathe deeply.

"What did you see?" Sophia asked as she sank into a chair.

"It was a vision I've seen before," Nimue whispered, "Hogsmead was in flames and I saw people... it was horrible what they were doing, so many died." Nimue fought back tears, the horrors of the vision had been more than her sensitive heart could take in.

"It's always hard when you're not used to the visions," Sophia inserted sympathetically; "they used to give me horrible troubles before I learned to control them."

"What can I do to make them stop?"

"Nothing."

The tears that had been pooling in Nimue's violet eyes spilled over, "then what is the point?! Why did you and Kalliope come if I won't be able to stop them?"

"Well..." Sophia answered uncertainly, "Kalliope is a very talented oracle, she should be able to help you learn how to control the visions, and to summon them. If she ever gets back from Paris," she finished bitterly.

"And why are you here?" Nimue asked, as her tears stopped.

Sophia shrugged, "I'm not completely sure. I know part of it is because Kalliope thought I was spending too much time in the warrior's camp," she blushed slightly.

"What's his name?" Nimue asked, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

"Scamander, but he really doesn't mean anything to me. There's another reason why I'm here, but I'm not supposed to know about it," Sophia dropped her voice to a whisper, "the high priestess, the Lady Rheia, said I should come so that I could find out more about my past. I know that I have never been told the truth about who my parents are, and I think that at least one of them might be alive. If I was supposed to come here to find out about them, then maybe one of my parents is here at Hogwarts."

Nick gently ran the back of his hand along Dierna's face. She was so cold. It scared him. And the blood that bubbled from her mouth with every breath she took terrified him. "Will she be alright?" he asked Madame Pomphrey.

"I don't know, this isn't like anything I've ever seen before," Madame Pomphrey pursed her lips together and shook her head. "Something is missing... I just don't know. Her parents should be here."

Neville, who was badly shaken, answered from where he stood next to the bed where they had placed Dierna in the hospital wing. "I sent Serena to find her mother."

"Well, all we can do for now is wait. It's almost as though she's been poisoned, but I know of no potion that would have this affect on a person..." Madame Pomphrey gently tucked in another blanket around Dierna's still form, "poor girl, all we can do is wait, and hope for the best."

"Do you ever feel like you're missing out on something?"

"What do you mean?" Nimue cocked her head to the side.

"I don't know," Sophia paused, "sometimes, I just feel like there's more to life, more than tallying offerings at the temple, more than following the orders of the priestesses. Don't you ever feel that way? Don't you ever want to escape from the life that you know and do something different?"

Nimue fought a battle with herself, Sophia's questions had brought to surface a whole barrage of feelings. Nimue, who always did as she was told, concealed an inner desire for freedom. "I know exactly how you feel."

"You look like you could use some company." Remus sat next to Morgan and slid a supporting arm around her shoulders.

"I can't do this again Remus," Morgan looked at the still form of her daughter, painfully aware of how slow Dierna's breathing had become. "I just can't, no mother should have to..." she buried her face in the front of Remus' shirt.

"Shhhh...." Remus gently hushed Morgan as she started to cry, "dwelling on the past is not going to help you Morgan."

Morgan clung to Remus, hoping with all her might that everything would turn out alright.

"Have you seen our elusive friend today?" Severus asked Kalliope. They had arrived at the opera house several hours ago, but there had been no sign of Eric yet.

"No, and I don't think that you're too disappointed about it," Kalliope answered.

Severus gave her a rare smile, "I think you may be right, the less I see of that... Eric, so glad you decided to join us."

Eric practically flew into the room and thrust a vile of light blue liquid into Severus' hand, "you must leave immediately!"

"What the hell are you talking about Eric? I'm not going anywhere until you give us the rest of the information that we were promised."

"Severus there is no time for you to argue with me, if you don't leave now your daughter will die."

"WHAT?!" Severus grabbed Eric by the front of his robes and lifted the disfigured man several inches off the ground, "Explain, and explain quickly."

"I gave the death eaters a poison that I created," Eric wheezed, speech made difficult due to the position he found himself in, "the vile you hold is the only antidote. I swear, I didn't know they would try to get to you by poisoning your daughter, I figured they'd use it on a real enemy, preferably you."

"I'm going to kill you." Severus let Eric fall to the ground and pulled out his wand. "You sick, demented..."

"I swear to you Severus, I never imagined they would sink to this level, the bloody cowards. Keep your insults, and save your daughter."

Severus gave a curt nod and turned on his heel, "I'll be back to deal with you Eric."

Dierna felt as though she were trapped, she could have sworn she was screaming, but she made no sound. As she slipped deeper and deeper into unconsciousness strange dreams surrounded her.

She ran across a field and threw herself into Stephan's waiting arms, but when she tried to kiss him he pushed her away. She watched in shock as he walked away from her into the gathering mist. Soon the fog had grown so thick that she couldn't see anything around her.

Everything felt so heavy, and she was so tired. If she just let the darkness come she could lay down and sleep. The darkness was so warm and inviting, and everything felt like it was closing in. As she dreamed Dierna tried to force herself deeper into the darkness, all she wanted was to rest, to be free...

Her breathing slowed till it was nearly non-existent. Every breath was labored, and each one took more effort. She was so exhausted, if she could just drift further into sleep, maybe she wouldn't feel so tired, so weak...

"It may be too late..."

Dierna felt as though she were teetering on the edge of a cliff, should she lean forward and let herself fall? In her comatose state she felt herself leap off the cliff, the wind rushed up around her, she felt so free, until she was roughly pulled back by an invisible hand.

"When are you going to tell me more about my parents?"

Kalliope rolled her eyes, she hadn't been back from Paris for more than two hours and it was already starting. "When I think you're ready."

"I'm ready now."

Kalliope hesitated, perhaps Eric had been right, perhaps she should tell the girl... but she hadn't planned on doing it with an audience. She shot a quick glance at Remus, who was looking slightly amused. "What do you think?" she asked him.

Remus held out his hands, "don't ask me, this is your call." He had been talking with Harry and Sirius when Kalliope and Sophia and come in, already in the middle of this argument.

Kalliope sighed, "as long as you realize that you may not like what you here I will tell you."

Sophia nodded eagerly and scooted forward to the edge of her seat in anticipation.

"Would you like us to leave?" Sirius asked.

Another sigh, "no, you wizards might as well stay, after-all this involves one of you."

"Tell me already!" Sophia was nearly shaking with anticipation, after years of waiting she would finally know the truth.

"Patience little one, and you shall know all. First off, you should know that both of your parents are still alive, but they are not part of a nomadic tribe as you were originally told." Kalliope paused, as though considering whether or not she should continue, "and you're not completely human either."

"What?!" Sophia looked shocked, "wouldn't I know if I'm not human?"

"Not necessarily, and its not a bad thing either, although there are some ignorant fools who will tell you otherwise. Your mother's name is Briseis; she is a water nymph, and a member of the cult of Thetis. She is a priestess to her own people, and very powerful within her own community. Why she decided to give you up is beyond me. Your father..." Kalliope took a deep breath and closed her eyes, "your father is..."

"I am your father."

Dierna felt as though every muscle in her body was on fire as consciousness slowly came back. She didn't even want to try to move, or open her eyes. Even though she had been unconscious for so long she was exhausted. As much as she wanted to listen to her parent's conversation she couldn't fight off sleep any longer. She drifted back to sleep without having really waken up.

"Morgan, I don't care, I'm going to kill that bloody bastard, this is all his fault."

"Sev, hush, there are more important things to deal with right now," Morgan gripped her husband's hand as he frowned down at her.

"What could... in the name of..." Severus fought to maintain his balance as Misty the house elf through herself at him, wrapping her arms around his leg.

"Oh Master Snape is back, Misty is so happy! Misty is happy to have such a good master now, she is waiting to serve whenever he needs something, Misty is a good house elf."

"What is she doing here?" Severus looked annoyed, but Morgan caught a hint of amusement in his eyes.

"Sev, Misty is here because..."

"Oh Master Snape, it is a sad reason why Misty is here!" Misty interrupted as she started sobbing, "Master Tiberius, he is dead sir, so I is here to serve you. But I is happy to have someone to serve, and is very happy to be serving the Snape family."

"It's about time, I've been waiting for him to die for years."

"Severus!" Morgan hissed at him, "you could at least try to show some compassion, no matter how much you hated him."

"You're right Morgan, I'm very sorry the he died, now I have all the work of handling his estate, and the last thing I need right now is more work."

Morgan rolled her eyes, "that's not what I meant and you know it," but she stood up on her toes to kiss her husband on the cheek.

Severus looked pleased with himself for a moment before resuming his normal stern appearance, "I suppose I should go get some work done, I'll probably have to go to Tiberius' estate, I may not be back till the morning, get some rest."

"Sev, I need to talk to you about something, I'm..."

"We'll discuss it when I get back, I want to get this business over with as soon as possible," he kissed his wife quickly, "I'll see you in the morning," and he turned on his heel and swept out of the hospital wing.

"... pregnant."

"What?! You are not my father! You can't be!" Sophia felt like she wanted to cry.

Sirius was aware of the looks of shock on everyone's, except for Kalliope, faces. "I know it seems impossible, but there's a logical explanation."

"Then let's hear it!" Sophia spat at him.

Sirius sighed, "it all started about nineteen years ago. There was a battle at the Ministry of Magic, I was hit by a curse and thrown through a portal. I just kept falling and falling, I thought I was going to die. Right when I had given up hope I was grabbed by a beautiful woman, the next thing I knew I was laying on a marble floor, surrounded by women.
"One of them stepped forward and told me that it wasn't time for me to die yet, and that a priestess had 'requested' me."

Sophia continued to glare at Sirius, she wanted to discount his story, but she knew very well how the temples worked, and so far his story made sense to her.

Sirius looked wearily up at his audience before he continued his story, "I was handed off to the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, she said her name was Briseis. She had this long red hair and eyes like the sea," Sirius' voice had become dreamy, "I instantly feel under her spell. The next few years passed in a blur, I only remember bits and pieces until the very end. Briseis said she would grant me one request. I asked for my freedom.
"I have never seen a woman get that angry, she ranted and raved at me, and tried to tell me that she was pregnant and that I couldn't leave her. But I didn't believe her, I thought she was just trying to keep me from leaving."

Tears formed in Sirius' eyes, "I'm so sorry Sophia, if I had known... I would never have left..."

"I hate you!" Sophia ran from the room. Remus followed her, after shooting murderous look in Sirius' direction.