Disclaimer: All Harry Potter people, places, and things, (all Harry Potter nouns) belong to J. K. Rowlings. Desiree Snape and Eleanora Snape are mine. I have Severus being named after his great-grandfather.

Chapter 6: So your great-grandfather's a vampire.

"I never thought to ask you, and I'm sorry no one else has, but how are you doing, living here instead of in America?" Harry asked her.

Nora thought for a moment. "I like the weather here better. It's not hot and dry. I like Hogwarts too and I like the people here. I guess I'm alright, but I really don't like these dementors and," she paused, glancing down at her clothing, "I hate uniforms. Most schools in American don't use school uniforms unless it's for bands, cheerleading squads, sports teams, or physical education, PE."

He laughed. "I don't see a problem with the school's dress code."

She shook her head and sighed. "I miss wearing jeans most of all. The tea thing is okay with me though. Poor mom, she likes black coffee."

They both laughed and then Harry's gaze drifted outside of the courtyard. "Let's go down to the lake," he suggested.

She stared at him, wide-eyed. "You can't be serious. First of all, there are dementors everywhere. Secondly, with Sirius Black loose, that's probably the most dangerous suggestion I've ever heard!"

"You're absolutely right on both statements. However, I have a foolproof way not to be caught," he mentioned.

Raising an eyebrow, she realized that he had something behind his back. He caught her by surprise when he looked around and, seeing no one, whipped a cape around both of them. She stood and he covered their heads. "What the heck is this?"

"It is an invisibility cloak. We can partly see out, but no one else can see in," he explained.

The walked down to the lake and he took the cape off as she went to look at the water. Though she could not see much at that moment, she knew the lake was teaming with life. "Harry, what's in here? I can sense countless life forms."

He walked over to her and looked in. "Merpeople live down there, as do a few small creatures. There is also a giant squid."

She stepped forward with interest, trying to see more than the murky dark-green water. Too fascinated to see how close she was to the water, Nora continued to attempt to single out a specific thought pattern. Because underwater languages were foreign to her, she could not decipher any specific thoughts. Suddenly she lost her balance and expected to fall in, but then an arm wrapped itself around her waist and pulled her back. She turned and smiled as she faced Harry.

"Thank you. I wasn't in the mood to go for a swim," she stated.

"You are welcome. I think you might have scared someone down there if you had fallen in," he remarked.

She blushed lightly when she realized that he had not yet released her. He seemed just as embarrassed when he noticed the same thing. "I think we should head back to the castle." He nodded in agreement and the two grabbed the invisibility cloak.

When they returned, Harry looked around and removed the cloak, having not noticed anyone, and they started walking back to the Common Room. As they rounded a corner, Nora stopped dead in her tracks at seeing her mother. I knew something like this would happen, she told him mentally.

Desiree raised an eyebrow at her daughter. "Nora, what are you doing wandering the halls?"

"Mom, I- I was just- we went down to-" she could not seem to form a coherent sentence.

Harry decided to explain. "It was my fault. Nora tried to tell me that it was not a wise idea."

The woman sighed. "I ought to give you both detentions. Nora, you know how dangerous it is out there. I'm letting you both off with warnings. Don' let me catch you again," she stated. Before Nora could leave, Desiree put a hand on her shoulder. Nora glanced over at Harry. Go on, I'll catch up later, she told him mentally.

When he left, Desiree spoke again. "Nora, you know I only want what's best for you and I'm telling you this because I want to see you do well in school and have opportunities that I didn't have."

Nora sensed where the conversation was going. "Mom, nothing happened. Harry is just a friend. But you wouldn't believe the things living in that lake."

Desiree smiled. "Go on, just be careful."

The girl nodded and dashed off toward the Common Room while Desiree headed for her intended location. Having made it to the dungeons, she knocked on his office door. She heard grumbling from the inside before Severus opened the door. "Oh, come on in then," he told her.

"I never finished telling you about Nora," she began as she took a seat.

"I understand time constraints and being busy. There are countless things I wish I'd have gotten to. Would you like anything to drink?" he offered.

She sighed. "I suppose I'll have a cup of tea."

"You make it sound like a punishment," he teased.

"I'd just prefer coffee, not the conjured kind," she explained.

He handed her a cup of tea and resumed his seat as his desk. "Alright, now what would you like to tell me?"

She took a sip of the tea before replying. "You know she gets into trouble, just like I did. It's in our blood. What you probably don't know is that she is a natural Legillimens. Without much effort, she can probe minds and remember everything she sees. I wish that was the only thing. I suspect that in time she can also control minds."

"How long have you known this?" he questioned.

"I've only known since my parents died. If you remember, I told you their death wasn't an accident. They knew some very prominent people, who were also deatheaters. My parents almost handed Nora over to them because of her abilities. They were killed because at the last second they changed their minds about giving her to them. The deatheaters don't expect her to join them willingly and they realize that she could some day be a threat to them, so they've been trying to kill her. If it wasn't for the fact that Nora was at a friend's house, she would have been killed in the same car accident that killed my parents," she explained, her voice beginning to waver.

He put a hand on her shoulder. "I will do everything I can to see that she stays safe. I already have Minerva keeping an eye on her, as you know."

She nodded and stood. "Thank you," she added before leaving.

Two days later a staff meeting was called. Severus arrived early, but soon found that he was not the only one. He opened the door to find Remus and Desiree kissing softly. When they broke away, he was sending a death glare in Remus' direction. Desiree shot him a disapproving look that he would have rebutted with a sharp remark, but the other staff members entered the room and he was forced to hold his tongue.

Remus left the room first as the meeting ended. Desiree tried to leave quickly, but Severus caught her arm. "What did you think you were doing?"

She shrugged off his grasp. "I like him and it's my life." They parted and he began to devise a plan to separate them.

Desiree knew that Remus would not be teaching that day and she had planned a lesson when Severus walked into the class and began shutting the windows. The loud crash a few of them made caused her to jump. She eyed him with suspicion as he came to the front of the room. "Turn to page three hundred and ninety-four," he instructed.

She stood to the side and watched with indignation as he brought up the subject of werewolves. I hate being angry with him, but he's gone too far. Without reservation, she walked up to him. "Professor Snape, may I have a word with you? It's important," she requested.

He told the students to read while he and Desiree made the short trip to her rooms. As soon as she shut the door, her hand contacted with his cheek in a lady's open-handed slap. "How could you do that to him? Don't you know what the parents will do if their children tell them their teacher is a werewolf?"

"I only did what I thought was necessary to protect the school," he argued.

She slapped him again. "You did what you thought was necessary to inflict revenge on a man who did nothing to you!"

He was taken aback and glared at her. "You know nothing of what he and his friends did to me!"

"It still doesn't justify revenge twenty years later! I can't believe you'd be so heartless as to ruin his chances of teaching here like that!" she glowered.

She was about to leave when he grabbed her by the shoulders. "How do you know about him?"

"It was actually simple. When he jumped in front of Mr. Potter to change the dementor boggart, it turned into the full moon. I wondered why anyone would be afraid of the moon. And then he was sick once a month, showing up with more injuries and scratches. What I can't understand is why I can't substitute for him. Cousin, you have no business teaching this class if you're not even following the curriculum!" she expressed.

He glared at her. "I have petitioned to teach this class for years! If anyone knows anything about the material, I do! As for your teaching the class, you are not skilled enough yet!"

Placing her hands on her hips, she retorted, "You may know the material, but you don't know how wrong you are in what you're doing. If you want to do this, you're doing it on your own. I won't help you hurt him!" With that she stormed out of the room and he returned to the class, using a spell to quickly hide the red blotch on his face.

As soon as Remus was teaching again, Desiree came by his rooms in the evening. He was surprised to find her at his door, but not annoyed. "Is everything alright?" he asked her.

She looked down before answering. "There are important things I need to talk with you about."

He stepped aside. "Well then, come in and have a seat."

Nodding, she entered and sat the armchair closest to the door. Remus took the armchair by the fireplace. "Would you like some tea, or maybe even a cup of coffee?" he offered.

She thought for a moment. "I think coffee would be fine, thank you."

"You are welcome," he said as he stood slowly and walked over to the coffeepot. Once he had gotten it started, he resumed his seat. "It should be ready in roughly fifteen minutes. Now, what was it that you wanted to talk about with me?"

She glanced at the fireplace and sighed before facing him. "I'm so terribly sorry for what Severus did. I told him it was wrong, but he wouldn't listen to me. I don't think any of the students caught on though."

He locked his gaze with hers and she saw the panic in his eyes. The room was so silent that he could hear his heartbeat as he found it difficult to breath. I finally make a wonderful friend and Snape has to come along and demolish everything. He has probably ruined my chances here and I never did anything to him. It was Sirius and James, yet he blames me because I'm the one who is here. You know, don't you? What you must think of me, he lamented.

Standing, she walked toward him and did not stop until she could touch his face. "I know you're a werewolf, but I promise I won't tell anyone. It doesn't change my impression of you for the most part."

He gently removed her hand and held onto it for a moment. "But it has changed your impression of me."

A smile that could only be described as lovely spread across her face. "Because I know, I respect you more for what you've had to go through," she whispered.

She took a seat on his couch and fiddled with her hands for a moment, deciding that it was time he knew. "Remus, have you ever wondered why Nora is thirteen and my daughter, but I'm twenty-eight? It was after I had transferred from here to the American school. I hated it there and found every excuse I could to rebel. One day my rebellion went too far. With the right potions, my roommates and I managed to keep the entire situation a secret. Their names were Eleanor, Leonora, and Nadya."

"That explains her name," he realized, standing to get the coffee. She nodded and waited until he had returned before continuing.

"Nora was born when I was fifteen and my roommates helped me take care of her until I graduated. No one knew until then what had happened. Of course, my parents were furious. They took her away from me and barely let me visit her. Even in death, they didn't grant me custody. Severus, being the only male left in the family, has custody over her until I fulfill a particular bargain. We're both at Hogwarts because the will stipulated that she was to come to Hogwarts and I wasn't about to excommunicate myself from her life," she conveyed.

"You did not have to tell me any of this. Why did you?" he inquired.

"I felt that it was only fair for you to know my secret, since I figured yours out," she explained.

He sighed. "Care to tell me how you figured it out?"

"It was a matter of seeing the right clues. The fact that your boggart was the full moon made me suspicious. Then you were sick once a month, and there are also the scars and scratches. I don't think anyone else is as perceptive as I am though," she mentioned.

He glanced at the fireplace and then took a gulp of his coffee. "I am quite worried about the possibility of students discovering what you know."

"Everything will be alright. I will cover for you as best I can and Severus will just have to get used to my being on your side."

He smirked. "Isn't that a bit dangerous?"

She laughed. "Do you want to know something funny? Severus doesn't have as much to hold over you as you might think. His great-grandfather was a vampire who pillaged Southern Germany. He was killed with a stake to the heart and his family was ostracized for years."

"That is definitely interesting." When they had finished their coffee, he walked her to the door. "Would you like me to walk you to your rooms?" he offered.

She stepped close to him and giggled. "I live right next door."

"I know," he paused and looked into her eyes. "Thank you, for coming by."

Reaching up to touch his face, she stood on her tiptoes, but then stopped. "There I go, being impulsive again. It's just that-"

He cut her off and surprised the living daylights out of her by capturing her lips in a gentle kiss. "Did I mention that I rather like impulsive?"

A glint of playfulness flickered in her eye. "Do you now?"

"Most definitely," he whispered before kissing her soundly. They exchanged a few more kisses in his doorway before she left.

Severus sat in his office after dinner, feeling guilty because it had been a few days since he had seen, let alone spoken, with Desiree. He looked up from his desk when he heard his owl at the window. "Ah, Macduff, I hope it's good news," he stated as he untied the parchment from the owl's ankle and unrolled it. Minerva wanted to speak with him in her rooms immediately. I probably know what she will want to discuss, he reasoned drearily.

He arrived at her door and she nodded for him to enter. "Would you care for a game of chess?" she asked almost dryly.

"You are only asking me to play chess because you would feel better discussing the matter at hand while doing something," he deduced.

She nodded. "I think it would make this conversation easier."

As they sat, he noticed that it was Wizard's Chess, as was the chessboard in his rooms. They played in almost silence for a while, only calling out the moves. She finally broke the awkward quietness.

"Bishop to b5. Why did you do that to him?" she asked coolly.

When he did not answer she grew frustrated. "How could you do that to him? You know it is difficult enough for him to find work. I cannot believe that you would do something so immature-"

"Never refer to me as immature," he interjected in a quiet, stern tone. "Rook to h5."

At that moment she realized that revenge was not his only motive. "Bishop to a4. This has something to do with Desiree, doesn't it?" she inquired in a voice barely above a whisper.

He sighed heavily. "Knight to f6. I am only trying to protect her. The last thing she needs is to involve herself with him. I cannot allow her to-"

"She is hold enough to make decisions for herself. You need to give her a chance!" Minerva expressed, trying to persuade him. "Bishop to c2."

"Rook to h1. It isn't the decisions I am worried about; it's the consequences. She added a daughter to the family," he argued.

"So you continue to hold a mistake against her that she made as an adolescent? You don't trust her, do you? Bishop to g6, check," she pointed out.

He looked away and then returned to the chess board. "I want to trust her, but I am worried that she will bring trouble upon herself. It's in her nature as it is mine and Nora's. I don't think that she is incapable of making decisions. I only want them both to be safer and I want to give Desire custody of her daughter. King to f8."

She placed a few stray hairs back into her bun. "The best way to help her is to let her take care of herself. She will only fight you until you do. Queen to d3."

He managed a half-smile. "I suppose you're right; I haven't been fair to her. Rook to h6."

She looked at him over the top of her glasses. "Bishop to f5. And you need to leave Remus out of your family problems."

"Knight to h7. I can't promise anything, but I will try. I know that I owe her an apology," he conveyed with sincerity.

"And that's all that any of us can ask, even of ourselves. Queen to e3," she relayed.

Minerva eventually won the game, both having enjoyed a challenge despite the gravity of the discussion. As the board began to put itself away, they moved to the couch. "You really are like your namesake, wise."

She actually blushed slightly. "Thank you. Were you named after anyone?"

"Must you ask that?" he stated with a sigh. "I was named after my great-grandfather, the outcast of the family, in the hope that the name could be salvaged. My mother was a superstitious woman who wanted to change the family's association of the name 'Severus,'" he explained.

She raised an eyebrow. "Your family had outcasts?"

He glared at her, but answered wryly. "Whose family doesn't?"

"Alright, I see your point. Why was he an outcast?" she inquired.

Sighing, he leaned back into the couch. "He was a vampire who wreaked absolute havoc on Southern Germany until he was captured and put to death by a wooden stake. If that's not an example of a family outcast, then I don't know what is."

He had closed his eyes as she stood to put the chessboard back on its shelf. "I suppose you are correct in that every family has its black sheep," she paused and looked at her clock on the mantle. "Oh my, it's rather late."

"You say that is if you have to be somewhere," he mumbled.

She turned toward him and realized that he was drifting off to sleep. I suppose I could just make my rounds and then wake him when I return, she figured as she transformed into a tabby cat. She returned thoroughly exhausted. On her rounds she had found a few small animals she had chased back into the woods, as well as a few students who received detention. Then she ran into a student's cat who had gotten loose. It took quite a while to convince the other feline that staying in the castle was better than leaving.

She had forgotten that Severus was still asleep, sitting up on her couch. Too tired to even notice him, she jumped up on the couch in her animagus form and curled up on his lap, mistaking him for a new cushion.

(my thanks to Quill of Minerva, Leta McGotor, and Lizella for reviewing :D)