From Lion to Serpent
She was feeling much better. The furious aching in her skull was diminished to nothing more than an annoying twinge and her chest didn't sting any longer. She reached up, eyes still closed, and felt for the skin at the top of her chest. Her fingers came in contact, not with the blouse of her school uniform, but with some garment of soft cotton. I don't remember getting ready for bed. She slipped her fingers through the space between two buttons and felt the area where her skin had been cut. There was only smooth, unmarred flesh.
"She's waking up." There was a rustle of robes as someone sat down next to her. She turned her head towards the noise and opened her eyes. The face of Minerva McGonagall looked back at her. She let out a sigh of relief.
"Aunt Minerva, thank heavens. I just had the most horrid dream." She sat up and leaned over so that she could rest her head on the woman's shoulder. She didn't notice the woman's shock at the action. "I dreamt that Death Eaters were invading the school and one of them was hunting me down. He tried to get me with the killing curse but it hit my time turner instead, and there was so much pain. Then Papa was there, but he didn't look like himself and he didn't know. He looked right at me and he didn't know me. It was a nightmare!" She buried her face in the curve where the older woman's shoulder met with her neck, slipping her arms about the thin torso and hugging her close. She felt Minerva's hands some up and stroke her hair gently.
"There now, dear. You're safe here, but I'm afraid you had a bit more than a dream." She was trying to be firm yet gentle, the Professor McGonagall trademark behavior.
"More? Then we were attacked?" She sat up suddenly and realized she was in the infirmary. "Mum. Dad! Are they all right? Was anyone hurt?" She began to wrestle with the bed linens that had been tucked tightly about her. Only Poppy Pomfrey could trap a student into a bed with a simple tucking of sheets.
"Be calm, child. I fear that things are a great deal more complicated than you realize." Minerva leaned over to gently grip her shoulders and still her struggles. "Now, it's obvious you know who I am and where you are, and at that you have us all at a disadvantage." She smoothed the now wrinkled coverlet over the girl's legs. "Let us begin with who you are?"
She felt the color drain from her face and her blood pounded in her ears. "Who am I? Professor, don't you know me? I'm Antigone… Antigone Snape." There was a sharp intake of breath behind her and she turned her head around to see that they were not alone. He stood behind her, standing next to Albus Dumbledore who was watching her with keen interest. He still looked so… young. "Papa?" Her voice sounded weak and pathetic even to herself, but she didn't dwell on it. Her mind was working, grasping at the clues and trying to put them together like a puzzle in her head. Her father looked far younger than he should, and he did not know her. Minerva didn't know her either, even though the woman had been her mentor and teacher for most of her life. She recalled the bolt of sickly green light coming towards her, striking the time turner underneath her blouse. The crunching of glass and the shards cutting into the tender flesh of her skin.
She licked her lips. "Where… when am I?"
The gentle, kind voice of the headmaster drifted towards her. "It is the year 2004, my dear. I fear that is a good deal of time before you come into our lives."
There was a buzzing in her ears, her limbs feeling numb from the shock. "I was… will be born in 2013, but I was just in 2029." She turned her face back to the headmaster. "My turner… it's gone."
"Poppy removed the glass and sand from your wound before she healed it. I fear it was beyond repair. Even if it weren't, it would not have sent you back to where you came from." He moved over to stand by the side of the bed. "For the time being, I suggest that you remain here. You've had a nasty shock and even though your time turning took the brunt of the attack, surviving the killing curse is not an easy thing. Now, lie down and relax. Poppy will be in shortly with something to help you sleep. Professor McGonagall, your father and I need to discuss what to do about this situation you've found yourself in."
Her eyes slid over to her father. He was watching her closely, as if not sure what to make of her. She wanted to run to him and wrap her arms about his waist, snuggle her head against his chest and hear him tell her everything was going to be fine. However, looking at him now, she had the feeling that this younger version of her beloved father wasn't likely to offer her any comfort. Biting her lip, she slid obediently back between the sheets. She suddenly felt very small and afraid, something she hadn't felt in years. Nothing could ever touch her at Hogwarts before, but this was new and dangerous position for her to be in and the man to whom she had always been able to take her questions and problems didn't know her.
The teachers left the room, Minerva stopping to smooth her ginger brown hair briefly and murmur a quiet word of comfort. At least that is still the same. I can still count on her. The room was silent to the point of oppressiveness when them gone, but she wasn't alone for long. Madam Pomfrey came in, urging her to sit up and drink from a steaming much of her special extra strong hot cocoa, with double the cocoa powder and a pinch of cinnamon. It worked to soothe jangled nerves and untwist knotted stomachs. She downed every drop as instructed before pulling the coverlet over her body and turned over to bury her face in the pillow. She needed something familiar. If she were in her own bed, Pi would have crawled in with her already, his nearly crushing weight laying carelessly next to her and over her waist. There was no Pi here, though; he wasn't even an egg yet. There was no mother to go to either.
Actually, there is. The trouble is, she won't know you any more than Father does. As her eyes began to close from weariness and the special magic of Poppy's cocoa, her mind drifted towards Gryffindor tower. Is she sleeping, or is this one of the nights she snuck out after hours with Harry and Ron? Forcing the thoughts of her mother out of her mind, she urged herself to go to sleep.
~ * * * ~
Minerva McGonagall sat down in one of the squashy armchairs before the headmaster's desk. Severus was pacing before the heart. "It has to be a trick of some kind."
"A trick? Those weren't your eyes staring back at us, then?" Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling and Minerva had no doubt he was deriving some pleasure at Snape's discomfort. "I will admit that it comes as somewhat of a surprise but surely the thought of settling down some point in your life has occurred to you."
"It most certainly has not! I do not waste my time with such things." He stopped, hands clasped tightly behind his back. The girl's face was burned into his mind. Silky, ginger brown hair cut in a simple style that just brushed her shoulders. Eyes that were perhaps a bit too wide but his own jet black in color. She was tall for her apparent age, and lean in build, with his high cheekbones but the nose was far smaller. There were parts of him in her, to be sure, or at least parts that looked like him, but they were blended with someone else. "Even if I did, I have never had the desire for fatherhood."
"Well, 2013 is a long time from now, Severus. Perhaps you change. It does happen." The Transfiguration teacher smiled thinly. "I do have to wonder who the remarkable woman you end up marrying is, though. She called me 'Aunt' but I have no sisters still young enough to have children, so I can only assume it is a term of affection," she ignored the glare he sent her way, "But she is a lovely little thing. Must take after her mother's side." She accepted a cup of tea from Dumbledore with a nod of thanks. "The question is what do we do with her?"
"Yes, Severus. What shall we do with her?"
The younger man looked at the headmaster in confusion. "Why are you asking me? What say do I have?"
"From what we've learned so far, you are the girl's father. It seems only right that you have the greatest say in what is to be done." He smiled warmly at the scowling man. "Sending someone twenty-five years into the future is not a task I am familiar with. It may take some time to correct this. In the meantime, something will have to be done to at least give her some normalcy in her life. I will say, however, that she is holding up far better than most young people in her place. She must get her strength of will from you."
"Nonsense. She's a Gryffindor." Minerva allowed another thin little smile to peek over her cup. Snape's daughter, a Gryffindor. It was too poetic. How could he take points from her house if his own child was staring him in the face?
Snape glared at her, then took a breath. "It will take time to figure out how to correct this, if it can be corrected. Until that time… perhaps it would be best to continue her education. If she is my daughter, she should be bright enough to pick up where she left off in spite of her circumstances."
"An excellent idea, Severus. In the morning we'll find out what classes she was taking and get her the supplies she'll need. Also, perhaps we'll let the Sorting Hat take a look at her and see where she should be." Minerva sputtered a bit.
"She's already been sorted!"
"She will be a Gryffindor in her own time, but given that people do change, as you pointed out earlier, that may not be the best place for her in this time. There is also the trouble of her identity. We can't very well have the daughter of the potions master show up close to the end of her scholastic career, especially since there are many who know he has no child."
"I may have a solution for that, Headmaster. You are aware that my sister, Veloria, passed away recently. We were never close, she was considered somewhat of a black sheep in our family, but no one really knew her. I do know that she never married and, if you ever got a chance to know her, you would know she would not have been averse to bringing a child into this world out of wedlock. We can claim her to be my niece. There will be no reason for anyone to doubt it if I were to claim Veloria named me as her child's guardian."
"Very good, Severus. Now, there is little more we can do tonight. In the morning I shall begin researching a way to return her to her own time. Poppy will no doubt run us through if we disturb the girl anymore tonight, so I suggest we have her brought here after breakfast tomorrow."
~ * * * ~
Sunlight and the scent of fresh scones roused her from her slumber. Madam Pomfrey had just brought her in a tray of food, the afore mentioned scones with fresh butter, crispy bacon, fluffy eggs and a bowl of grapes that had already been removed from their stems. She shook away the cobwebs of sleep and sat up in the narrow bed. Her stomach rumbled eagerly at the smell of food and the mediwitch smiled warmly. "Now, eat up dear, then we'll get you cleaned up. The Headmaster wants to see you in his office first thing after breakfast." She even went as far as to butter one of her scones for her while she drank deeply from a glass of milk.
She dug into the food, tossing out half the manners her mother had instilled deep within her most of her life. She was starving from both the length of time since her dinner and from the energy her recent trials had taken. She watched as Poppy fussed over a non-existent wrinkle in the freshly pressed school robes that lay folded up on a chair next to her bed. "A Snape in Gryffindor, who would ever have thought it?"
"No one. Papa fumed for three weeks after my sorting." She grinned before taking another bite of the buttered scone. The house elves, it seemed, had always been wonderful cooks, though how anyone had guessed that orange-currant scones were her favorite she didn't know. Nor did she care at the moment. Now that she had time to calm down she was able to put her priorities in order. She doubted seriously that Dumbledore would kick her out of the castle. She was an underage witch, and quite without guardians at the moment considering her parents weren't even married yet and she technically had yet to be born. She would need to start looking for a way to go home, and she would need to work quickly. If she remembered her history correctly, Voldemort was very much alive in this day and time, and he was steadily growing stronger. Soon war would erupt and a good many families would be destroyed.
But she had the power to change all of that. She knew her history, what the Ministry felt safe in letting the public know anyway, and she could warn them of what was to come. She didn't know where Voldemort was now, no one had, but she could let them know all the important battles, all of the well-known attacks. She could give them the knowledge they would need to perhaps stop the war before it got out of hand.
The thought that she could actually possess the knowledge and the power to put a stop to Voldemort before more innocents died filled her with a heady excitement.
"Time to get cleaned up, Dear." Madame Pomfrey took the tray, considerably lighter now than when she brought it in, and ushered the girl towards the infirmary bathroom. She placed her uniform onto a small chair by one wall and left her to clean herself. Knowing that one did not keep the Headmaster waiting any longer than one should, she turned on the faucet to the shower and smiled as the scent of jasmine filled the air. The shower here was always spelled so that the water was mixed with the scent the bather most enjoyed. Night blooming jasmine had always been her favorite. A short time later, sweet smelling and feeling a good deal more like herself, she used a simple charm to dry off and another clever little one she had learned from her mother to detangle her hair and restore it to her simple, carefree style. Feeling ready to take on dragons, she dressed herself in her spotless, crisply pressed uniform and exited the bathroom, ready to face the world.
~ * * * ~
"Have a seat, Miss Snape." Dumbledore smiled warmly at the young woman as she had entered his office, pausing to give a searching glance at her father, then focusing back on him. Now she took a seat in one of the squashy chairs before his desk and smoothed her robes over her legs, holding herself poised and elegantly. "I trust that you are well rested after your ordeal."
"Yes, Al… Headmaster," she sighed and gave a frustrated frown. "I'm sorry, you've always been Albus to me. I have never had to stand on formalities with you. This is rather… difficult." He chuckled warmly, allowing her to relax a bit.
"I understand. I'm guessing you've spent little time away from Hogwarts during your lifetime. You were raised here?"
"Yes, sir. Both of my parents are… will be… teachers." She gave a subdued look towards her father. "I was born here, in the infirmary, and grew up here. It gives me a distinct advantage over the other students considering the professors oversaw most of my formative education."
"Quite understandable. It has been a long time since we had a family living in Hogwarts. It will be nice to have a baby present again. Don't you think so, Severus?" He smiled charmingly at the potions master, and a knife jerked in her heart when she heard the derisive snort coming from off to her right. Do not let him hurt you. He's just off balance, and you know what a git that turns him into. "Now, we have decided that it would be best for you to continue your lessons while you are here, just until we figure out how to send you back to when you belong."
"But I thought I might start researching a way."
"This is a complicated task, my dear. Far too difficult for a girl who hasn't even completed her schooling yet." He raised a placating hand when she bristled at that. "Not that I doubt your intelligence. Indeed, with Severus as a father, and knowing his taste for intelligence over beauty," he smiled mischievously, "I have no doubt you possess one of the finest minds ever seen in the wizarding world. Still, we cannot have a school age girl with free run of the castle without her being in classes. I will personally see to finding a way to send you home."
"Yes, sir." She sighed, a frown creasing her forehead. "Well, I was taking Potions, Transfiguration, Arithamancy and Charms, of course. I also remained in Herbology and was taking Runes, Advanced History of Magic, Care of Magical Creatures, Defense against the Dark Arts, Magical Fine Arts and Combat." She frowned again. "Without my time turner I suppose I'll have to drop a few of those, and I don't figure you have Combat yet."
"No, not yet. What exactly is it?"
"Training in physical combat, hand to hand and without magic." This time she pointedly ignored her father's snort. That was the usual response from him in her own time as well. "Just in case a wand is broken or you get separated from it."
"Rather clever. One of my ideas, I suppose?"
"Uncle Harry's, actually." She bit her lip as soon as it was out of her mouth. She probably shouldn't say things like that. There was a growl from off to her right, her father, of course.
"Ah, very clever indeed. Now, as to where we should put you. You will need to be sorted." He got up and took the Sorting Hat from his bookshelf.
"But I've already been sorted. I'm in Gryffindor."
"Yes, yes, and you will be again when you're in your own time. However, as I explained to Professor McGonagall last night, people do change, as do circumstances. We shall need to see where you belong in this time." His eyes twinkled as he brought the hat over and set it upon her head.
"Hmmm… a Snape is it? Quite interesting." She remembered this part, the raspy voice of the hat as it poked around inside her head. "Once a Gryffindor I see, and plenty of courage to go with it. A sharp mind as well. Still, there is ambition in you, such a strong thirst to prove yourself. Both of witch and wizard, strong in magic and intellect. I know where you will best fit. Slytherin!"
She didn't look over to see how her father took this news, she was too busy trying to wrap her mind about it. "You take that back!"
"Sorry, that's where you belong." The hat sounded so chipper about it!
"I most certainly do not! There isn't a conniving or malicious bone in my body!" She glared at a spot on the front of Dumbledore's desk. "I do not belong in Slytherin."
"I am never wrong, dear. I can see everything in your mind, up close and personal."
Her obsidian eyes narrowed. "Oh really? How would you like to get up close and personal with a fireplace?!" She grabbed the hat, ripped it off her head and drew it across her body in preparation to send it sailing into the cheerfully blazing fire behind her father.
"Miss Snape!" Dumbledore reached out with a hand and snatched the hat back into his own grasp. "I regret to inform you that you cannot throw the Sorting Hat into the fire."
"Why not?" The question was a growl. The mirthful glint in the headmaster's eye only served to further irritate her. "It's clearly defective."
"I wasn't the one about to throw an irreplaceable magical artifact into a fire."
"You're treading thin ice, rag bag!" She was glaring at the decrepit looking hat with fire in her eyes.
"Miss Snape, I must ask you to control yourself. Remember, you will only be in Slytherin during your stay here. Once we find a way to return you to your own time you will once again be a Gryffindor. Now, you will need to secure supplies for your classes as well as additional clothing and uniforms. As luck would have it, your father has no classes today and is available to take you to Diagon Alley to purchase them." She looked over towards Snape and noted that he was watching her closely. A feeling of guilt for so openly being against his house washed over her and she blushed, lowering her gaze. "There is the matter of what story you will use to explain your presence here, which Severus has devised already and will need to discuss with you. Also, it will give you both time to get to know one another better. After all, your father is the only family you have here," the glitter in his eyes made her wonder if he had already figured out the rest of it, "and you will need his help if you are both to get through this."
"Yes, Al… Headmaster." She sighed. "I'll try not to be any trouble."
"Oh, I wouldn't ask you to go against your nature, but I would ask that you don't tear my school apart while you're here. Now, the two of you should be going. You'll want to get back before dinner this evening. We have to introduce you to the rest of the school."
Her father pushed away from where he was leaning against the mantelpiece as she stood up. He inclined his head slightly as he motioned for her to lead the way out of the office. Though she loved him, and respected him, with ever beat of her heart, she could not deny that she feared going out that door with him. Something told her that Severus Snape was not entirely pleased with her being there.