Paradise Found

Soul Dust

Disclaimer: see before!

Summary: see before!

Familiar stranger

Should I know your name?

Did we meet sometime ago?

I feel uncertain.

Shadows whisper to me now,

Sudden wind begins to blow.

What is veiled now soon

Will be shown,

Come walk with me through

The unknown,

Stranger.

-"Stranger" by Starship

Chapter 11: Familiar Stranger.

Blinking away the last remnants of sleep, Aeolia opened her eyes groggily and looked at the ceiling as the memories of yesterday's events flooded into her mind. The Prophecy, as her father told her it was. In truth, she did not understand any part of it at all. Who was the Prince of Night? Who was the Lion's Heir? Having been taught everything she has missed, from the Four Houses and Light and Dark, she presumed that the Basilisk must be Voldemort, whilst the Lion must be the Heir of Gryffindor. Although a niggling voice at the back of her head kept telling her that in the first verse, her, Harry, and their father are the ones mentioned. It is reasonable to say that she was the Lady of the Dark, taking her heritage into account. Harry, must be the son, and it is understandable that he will be angry. Who wouldn't be after finding out that their life has been shattered in one life altering moment, when he discovers that his father is not James Potter, member of the infamous Marauder, Quidditch star extraordinaire? Rather, it was a sour, Death Eater turned spy, cold Potions Master, who made his life a living hell since he first stepped into Hogwart.

She was however shaken out of her thoughts by an extra weight which settled itself down by her shoulder, and a wet tongue licking her face eagerly. Smiling gently, Aeolia reached up and stroked the dark lustrous fur of her new puppy.

"Woof!" the hyper little puppy yowled loudly and batted his paws at Aeolia's long dark tresses, alerting her to the needs of his stomach. A knot of guilt settled in her as she realised that in yesterday's excitement, she has forgotten all about her new companion. Gently, she sat up on her bed and crossed her legs, lifting the still yowling puppy onto her lap and gazed thoughtfully at him.

"Well little one, we will be off to breakfast soon, in the mean time, what shall we name you?" she asked.

The creature merely blinked his intelligent blue eyes and turned to groom its gleaming black fur.

"Ooh, I think I know the perfect name!" thinking back to her previous astronomy lessons, she remembered that the Dog Star was called Sirius, trotting faithfully by the side of the Hunter Orion across the night's sky. Grinning happily at the puppy, she proclaimed: "I shall call you...Sirius!" Delighted at such a simple yet accurate name, she lifted the puppy up on her palms to her face and peered into his bright eyes. "From now on, your name is Sirius! Ok?"

"Woooof!"

A clear sound of bell rang loudly around the chambers, signalling that it is time to go to breakfast. Picking out a pair of emerald and silver robes, Aeolia quickly showered and dressed, and strode into the dinning room with Sirius in tow.

"Morning dad!" said Aeolia as she sat down on a chair and poured herself a cup of tea.

"Morning Aeolia, did you sleep well?" glancing up from his copy of The Daily Prophet, Severus Snape smiled at his daughter, and proceeded to pour himself a cup of coffee.

"Yep, very well. I woke quite early, but Sirius kept me companied." She replied and sipped cautiously at the hot liquid.

A loud choking noise was heard, and the sound of breaking china. Severus Snape has choked on his coffee, dropped his cup, and burnt his tongue, all in one go. Gaping at his daughter with open horror, he started to shake his head in disgust and denial.

"Don't tell me that's true!" another vehement shake. "Sirius!? BLACK!? In Hogwart!? I'm doomed."

"Er...dad?" she approached the shocked man slowly, and prodded him on the arm. The man turned sharply to look at her, and waited with crossed arms.

"Well? Are you going to tell me why that mangy mutt is here? And what the hell is he doing in your room!?"

"Huh!?" spluttering from confusion, Aeolia pointed at the little puppy sniffing around on the table. "You just bought a puppy for me yesterday, remember? I called him Sirius."

Comprehension dawned on the pale Slytherin's face. He gaped at his daughter in horror and promptly paled at her nod.

"NO way in all nine hells!! What were you thinking!??"

"What is wrong with it?"

"It's not what's wrong with it! It's what's right with it!" screaming out his frustrations, the normal calm and collected Potions Master paced the length of the room, completely drawn into his own tirade. "Sirius, you named the dog, a black dog no less, that will be living with us for Merlin knows how long Sirius!??" turning to the confused girl, he spat: "Sirius Black is Harry's godfather. He was an Animagus, and his form was a big mangy black dog. He was in my year when I was in Hogwarts, together with James Potter, Remus Lupin, and that rat Pettigrew, and they made my life hell with their continuous pranks. And he also tried to kill me by sending me to the werewolf's hideout in a night of full moon."

"That...that is horrible! You could have been turned into a werewolf! You could have been eaten! Remus might have to live with that guilt! What was he thinking!?"

"He wasn't."

"Oh. Well dad, I'm really sorry, but I don't think I can change Siri's name now. I doubt it if he would respond to any other names." Feeling quite bad and sorry for her father, Aeolia hung her head in shame.

"It's alright, fledgling. You didn't know. By the way," his expression changing into one of concern: "I don't think Po...Harry will appreciate that name."

"Why is that?"

"Black died in battle just before summer."

"Damn."

"Couldn't put it better myself. But then again, Harry might like it, as it is so similar to Black in his Animagus form, just like a little baby Black, running around." Shuddering and shaking his head vehemently to get that disconcerting image out of his head, he changed the topic away from this depressing line of thoughts. "We should go down to the Great Hall now, or else there will be no breakfast left for us!"

"Oh no!" the girl rushed out of the room with Sirius the puppy running hot on her heels, barking madly. Shaking his head at his daughter and her hyper dog, Severus followed at a much more leisurely speed.

The scene that graced his sight in the Great Hall was not one that Severus has anticipated. Stood in the middle of the room are Aeolia and...a stranger. His daughter was clutching her puppy to her chest and gazing intently at the other teen, flickers of recognition dancing in her dark eyes. And across from her, a similar pair of emerald eyes gazed at her, the recognition present too in the flickering orbs. The teachers surrounded the teens in a ring; some of them even had their wands pointed at the stranger. Striding to the nearest teacher, who happened to be the tiny Flitwick, Severus learned that the stranger apparently barged into the Great Hall with a bang, literally, and has been staring at his daughter as if in a trance. Suddenly, the two teens said at the same time:

"Do I know you?"

Looking from one teen to another, suddenly realisation dawned upon Severus as he traced the similarities in their features, and seeing the green eyes burn with a fervent fire.

"Harry? Son?" he breathed out the words, uncertain of the response, uncertain of everything as he stood before the son he never knew he had, the son he had belittled for five long years.

The teen whipped around at this name, and the green orbs darkened a few shades as he spied the Potions Master standing at the edge of the crowd. Pushing his way towards him with narrowed eyes, Daedalus Snape, once known as Harry Potter, stopped sharply just in front of his father. Severus Snape even flinched under the amount of anger flowing out of those sparkling orbs. Suddenly, a fist flew out of nowhere and connected to his lower jaw. He was dazedly aware of the teachers exclaiming in surprise and his daughter's outraged cry.

"That was for doing what you did to my mother."

Another punch, this time on the left cheek.

"And this is for being a total bastard to me all those years."

And another punch on the right cheek.

"And this, is for holding a grudge for too long and not helping me further with Occlumency." The green eyes saddened a little, left unsaid, but shown clearly in his eyes was something akin to: If only you were nicer, Sirius might not have died.

Severus did not hear the hall around them erupt into chaos, all he is aware that his son is standing in front of him, radiating pain of anger and grief. Quite unexpectedly, the tall boy suddenly threw his arms around the older man in a passionate embrace, which he returned hesitantly. Drops of tear slid down the boy's cheek and into Severus' neck, pleasantly cool on his skin. Soft breaths tickled his hair as his son murmured into his ear: "And this is for trying, trying to be nice by acknowledging me, trying to be my father."

A/N:

Jean-Claude: hehe thanks, as to Aeolia and Draco, you'll just have to see...

Asha Ice: ARGH You are quite evil, wanting to see Snape squirm!?? I'll see what I can do about it! ;-)

A Reader: Yes, poor poor Draco. Hoho, you are thinking of the Aeolia/Draco as well!? lol, yes, wont Harry be 'pleased'!!

tbc

Soul-Dust

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