The door was cracked open and she looked through to see that her grandmother was sitting in a chair and looked very distressed. She was wringing her handkerchief and looked like she had been crying a river, something Eva had never seen. She turned her attention to her grandfather.

"I will not agree to that! I have already given you your answer countless times! You can go back and tell him that he will not have her! She has known nothing but this house and I will not have her world toppled! You can do your worst; you will not have her!"

Eva had never heard her grandfather so angry before. She had this feeling that he was talking about her, but had no idea what he could be referring to. She heard one of the men whisper "Have it your way," and then a black glove with a silver snake on it was holding a wand and pointing at her grandfather.

It all happened in slow motion for Eva. She watched as the green light floated from the end of the wand and cross the room to hit her grandfather square in the chest. She watched him open his mouth in a soundless scream and slowly descend to the floor, dead even before he hit the ground.

She could not move and she could not scream; her shock was so complete. She saw her grandmother move to her grandfather's side and then the other man, with the same gloves, took out his wand and pointed it at her. Eva couldn't help but think that this was probably not exactly how her grandparents would have liked to die, but at least they were together until the end.

She felt a hand cover her mouth and was about to scream when she heard her mother's voice in her ear. "Don't scream. We need to leave as quickly and quietly as possible. Do you have your wand?" Eva nodded her head. "Alright. We don't have time to gather any things. I need you to follow me and not to say a word, understand?"

Eva nodded and waited for her mother to remove her hand from her mouth. She turned and followed her mother out of the corridor and into the entrance hall. Her mother made a quick turn at the front stairs and disappeared into the china cabinet that stood there. Eva followed her and was surprised to find a dark corridor was opening. Her mother led her into the passageway and out of a small opening a few minutes later. They were in the forest that surrounded the house.

"Call your Firebolt, Eva, we're going to Hogwarts."

Eva walked behind Saveage with her head down; they were walking towards a clearing that was in the middle of the forest. She took one last look at her home. The elegant manor house had been her domain for as long as she could remember and this was the last time she would see it for she did not know how long. She climbed onto the broom and kicked off of the ground. It occurred to her that her grandparents were still in the castle, lying dead on the floor, yet her mother had not hesitated to leave them. What was going on?

Saveage and Eva had reached the school and were greeted by Professor McGonagall, who led the way to the Headmaster's office.

"I'm sorry that I did not owl ahead," Saveage's voice cracked a bit. "I had not planned on coming."

"It's quite all right. I daresay Albus was expecting you to come."

Eva was walking behind her mother, her hood over her face.

"Your daughter looks a bit tall for an eleven-year-old, Miss Nocturino," said Professor McGonagall.

"That's because I'm fifteen," said Eva.

"You will speak when spoken to, Eva," said Saveage.

"I apologize."

They came to a stop in front of a stone gargoyle. Eva hadn't been listening to the adults as they hurried along, but Professor McGonagall murmured something to the stone figure and in no time they were moving upward toward the Headmaster's office.

"Come in, come in. I was just having a talk with some of the staff and faculty about preparations for the school year." Dumbledore ushered them inside to his office.

"Oh, Professor Dumbledore, I can wait until your meeting is over. I didn't mean to interrupt," said Saveage, purposefully looking away from Professor Snape.

"Nonsense, we were just finishing. I also believe that whatever you had to speak to me about may need the opinion of the Professors." Dumbledore looked towards Eva.

"Yes, it does, but I was hoping that I could speak to you in private."

Dumbledore looked at Saveage for a moment and then nodded his head. He dismissed the staff and faculty that were present and then motioned for Eva and Saveage to sit in the chairs in front of his desk.

Saveage turned to Eva before she could sit down. "Could you wait outside the door, darling? I need to speak to the Headmaster in private."

Eva was reluctant, but obeyed her mother. She waited and hoped that she might be able to listen to some snippets of the conversation being held inside the room, but knew that the door was probably imperturbed. Finally, after what seemed like hours to Eva, her mother opened the door and allowed her to enter. She sat down in the chair next to her mother's.

Dumbledore scrutinized her for a few moments and then, apparently, found what he was looking for because he stood and walked over to a cabinet. He pulled down what looked like a very tattered wizard's hat and moved towards Eva. "You will have to remove your hood, Miss Nocturino."

Eva looked at her mother before she moved. Her mother's nod of approval gave her the courage to remove the hood on her cape. Dumbledore's eyes flicked to her hair and then to some point over beyond her shoulders with a little twinkle in them, but she did not think much of it.

Dumbledore placed the hat on Eva's head and it fell over her eyes. Before she could protest, she heard a voice in her ear.

"Let's see, let's see. A special case here. You have much knowledge, quite advanced for your age. Quite open to things, I see. There is some knowledge here that most your age do not have. A stubbornness and confidence I can see here and a curiosity for what was in your family. You would do well in Slytherin."

Eva wondered if the hat could read her thoughts. She was wondering if all the people who were in Slytherin turned out to be dark wizards and witches. Apparently, it could because it answered her.

"Not necessarily. I believe that your father was in Slytherin and he's been fighting against the Dark Lord since before his downfall. Your grandparents were also in Slytherin."

"My Mother was in Gryffindor. What if I don't want to be in Slytherin. Where would you put me then?"

"I wouldn't be able to tell you. Are you sure about Slytherin? You could do great things in that house."

"Do you have a House for people who don't want to be here?"

"Afraid not."

"I guess you would know better than I do. You have been around for quite a while."

"Very well," Eva heard him say "Slytherin" to the room.

When Dumbledore took the hat off, Eva looked to her mother. She was surprised to see disappointment in her eyes. "You're not happy?"

"No, of course not dear. The hat places you where you belong. Your grandparents were in Slytherin, after all."

"It even said that my father was in Slytherin, too. What's wrong Mum?" Eva had seen panic race across her mother's face.

"Nothing, dear. I'm sure you will do well in any house."

"Since we know what house you will be in, Miss Nocturino," Dumbledore said. "Professor Snape will be your Head of House as long as you are at Hogwarts. If you need anything, he is the one you will go to."

Eva missed the look of apprehension that crossed her mother's face.

Severus had seen the face of the girl who accompanied Sage even though she tried to hide behind her hood. It was amazing the resemblance between the two, except . . . He had seen a lock of raven colored hair that had fallen outside of the hood. The girl looked up and he noticed the sapphire blue eyes that stared at nothing and seemed horribly blank.

He was taken aback when he sensed his heart go out to the girl. It was not like him to feel sympathy for the students. There was something about this girl that seemed to call to him; and that was quite unsettling.

Severus heard the Headmaster dismiss the faculty gathered in his office. He was actually glad the meeting ended then, he had a nagging doubt in the back of his mind. Sage had refused to make eye contact with him. No doubt out of guilt. She had left him sixteen years ago without so much as a letter of explanation. He had not heard of a marriage, however, between her and Sirius Black or anyone else for that matter and he wondered how she could possibly have a child. The girl looked too tall to be eleven. There was an egg of an idea incubating in the back of his mind and he knew he needed to know how old this child was.

He caught sight of Minerva McGonagall and made a way towards her. "Professor McGonagall, may I have a word?"

"Of course, Severus." Minerva moved out of the line of professors that were making their way to their offices. "What can I do for you?"

"That girl you just escorted into the Headmaster's office, how old is she?"

"I would think she's about your age, Severus. Saveage Nocturino was in your year when you were at Hogwarts."

Severus' face grew annoyed. "Not her. The young girl, her daughter, presumably."

"Ahh," said Professor McGonagall. "She said she was fifteen. Why did you want to know?"

Severus placed a blank expression on his face. "Just curious, Minerva. Thank you." Severus turned on his heel and headed towards his office in the dungeons.

He slammed the door behind him as he entered. He paced the room for a few minutes before calming down, thinking back sixteen years ago. He remembered that he had last seen Sage in March, which would mean that the girl would have to have been born in November or December for her to be . . .

Severus shook his head. This was impossible! He was simply overreacting to seeing Sage after such a long separation. There had to be a reasonable explanation. The girl was adopted or some distant relative that she had taken in as a daughter. He continued to pace and think of plausible explanations for the two faces that were swimming around in his head; identical except that one had raven hair and blank eyes. When he could no longer stand being cooped up between the four walls, he decided to go out on the grounds for a walk to clear his mind.

Eva walked with her mother to the Entrance Hall of Hogwarts. The Headmaster had conveniently had something to attend to when Saveage told him that she needed to be heading off. Eva took the opportunity of privacy to ask her mother what was going on. It was not like her mother to keep her in the dark.

"Mum, who were those men at the Manor?" The thought of what happened to her grandparents came back to her mind and tears formed in her eyes. They began to fall when her mother did not respond right away. "Why did they do that?!"

Saveage lifted her eyes to her daughter's. Her face was also wet with tears. "Severa," it had been a while since she had used her daughter's full name. "I cannot tell you who those men were, because I don't know. I wish I could give you the answers that you want, but there are things that you must not know. You must trust me, and believe that what I do is for your own good and for your safety. One day you will be told the truth, but only when it is safe to do so. Do you understand?"

Eva was sobbing now. This was not a see-you-later speech her mother was giving her. This was a definite goodbye. "Where are you going? Please don't leave me here. I want to stay with you." She threw herself at her mother. "I'm scared, Mummy. Please don't leave me alone."

Saveage held her daughter tightly. "I can't tell you where I'm going, and I must ask you not to contact me. I will contact you as often as I can, through Professor Dumbledore, I promise." She sighed and kissed the top of Eva's head, a few tears mingled with the kiss. "I don't want to leave you, darling, but these are things beyond our control." She pulled away from Eva and took her face in her hands. "I love you more than anything in this world and I will think of you always. I want you to promise me you will be good and do what your professors tell you. You will do well here, Eva."

"I don't want to do well here. I want to do well with you."

"You can't. I promise I will be back. You are safer here than with me. You must trust me, Severa. Do you trust me?"

Eva nodded her head. "I will try my best here."

"That's all I ask. I must go." Saveage kissed her daughter's forehead and ran down the steps of the castle. She turned before mounting her broom and waved to Eva. She mounted and kicked off the ground. She sped off into the sky and did not see Eva running after her as far as the school gates.

What neither of them noticed was the tall wizard in black robes, who had seen and heard everything.