Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Twenty-Four: Confrontation

Ellie ran away blindly, not caring where she went as long as it was as far away from Snape and Amelia as possible. She didn't stop until she found herself behind Professor Sprout's greenhouses. She rested her hands on her knees as she gasped for air. Her mind was racing.

What Snape had said… it couldn't be true, it just couldn't be! He was being sarcastic, joking about with Amelia for some reason. He hadn't meant what he said. He couldn't be her father.

The shocked faces of Amelia and Snape when they realised she had overheard them forced their way into her head, although she tried to block them out. Why would they be shocked if they were just joking…?

No! It could not be true!

Ellie sank to the ground, her head in her hands, wishing it would all just go away. Snippets of encounters with Snape began to flash through her mind. The way he made her detentions easier, the way he looked at her sometimes, the way he protected her in the snowstorm. Each recollection tortured her, as they only served to reinforce the notion that what Snape had said was true. He was…

But if he was, then why was she only hearing it now, and even then because she accidentally overheard it. Why had she not been told sooner? She had been at this school for almost two years! Why had the truth been kept from her?

Rage began to bubble up inside of her, hissing and spitting at her insides. She needed to confront him. She wanted to hear the truth right now. If he had been lying to her, he'd be sorry…

Ellie tore off back to the castle. Once inside she paused. Where would he be? His office seemed like the most likely place so she darted down to the dungeons. Annoyed and surprised students had to dodge out of her path. When she got to Snape's office, she banged loudly on the door.

When Snape got back to the castle, he had headed straight to his office and slammed the door behind him. He collapsed at his desk, feeling like he could use a stiff drink.

Blast that woman! Coming here and interfering! She had ruined everything! The dratted brat knew now, and she certainly wasn't happy about it. How long before she blabbed it to the rest of her Gryffindor friends? He would be the laughing-stock of the school when this got out. Damn her!

A loud rap at the door snapped him out of his bitter thoughts.

"Come in," he shouted in an irritated voice. If that was a student banging on his door like that, other than a Slytherin, he would skin them alive.

The door was flung open, and Ellie stalked in, her eyes blazing fiercely. He started violently and stood up.

"Is it true?" she yelled.

"Shut the door!" he hissed.

"IS IT TRUE?" she bellowed back, ignoring his request.

Snape snarled and swept past her to the door himself and slammed it shut. He turned back to the angry girl and met her fierce gaze, breathing heavily as his fists shook with rage by his sides.

"Yes," he spat, and walked back to the other side of his desk.

Ellie's anger faded briefly, as the devastating effects of this confirmation took hold. Tears sprang to her eyes immediately and her face crumpled. She resisted the urge to breakdown and cry however, and straightened herself out again, determined to have it out with Snape.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Her voice shook, but her expression was still forceful and angry. Snape felt compelled to answer. He wasn't sure how to begin and took a deep breath as he tried to string together a reasonable explanation.

"I didn't know, not for a long time," he admitted, bitterly. Ellie frowned in confusion.

"You didn't know?"

"Your mother never told me!" he snapped.

"Why?" she demanded. Snape hesitated.

"It's… complicated," he stated. Ellie rolled her eyes and gave a disbelieving scoff.

"Right, complicated," she repeated in a mocking tone.

Snape shot her a cold glare.

"You wouldn't understand!" he told her.

"Okay, fine. When did you find out? When I came to Hogwarts?"

"Not straight away."

"When then?"

"The end of your first term."

"The end of my first term? So you've known for a year and a half!" Ellie exclaimed angrily. Snape remained silent. This encounter was starting to affect him more than he could have anticipated. He just wanted Ellie to leave, so he could work out his own feelings without having to deal with hers.

"Is that it? Is that all you have to say?" she demanded. He gave her a frosty glare, but still he didn't speak.

"Fine!" she cried and turned her back to him. She stomped towards the door and reached her hand out to the doorknob, but then paused for a moment. She twirled around to face him again.

"The first time I met you, it took about ten minutes to realise that you were nothing but a greasy slimy git," she shouted. Snape's eyes flashed angrily at these words.

"How dare you…!" he began, furiously.

"Shut up!" she yelled, interrupting him. "My mum must have been mad! Mad! You're a nasty, horrible man!" she continued, giving him a look of pure disgust.

"I hate you!" she hissed, and then yanked the door open and ran out, banging to door behind her.

Snape stared at the door for a good minute before sitting down heavily in his chair. Ellie's parting words had cut him deeply. She had uttered them with such venom. Her comments about her mother being mad also had an affect. His own insecurities about Claudia rose to the surface.

Is that what Claudia had felt too when she found out she was pregnant – that she was mad to ever go near him? Is that why she never told him, never even contacted him again after leaving Hogwarts? Maybe she had hated him? Amelia said she was scared of him – did her fear turn into hate? Did she hate him for the path he chose? After all, he hated himself for it…

Ellie didn't stop running until she reached the Gryffindor tower. She barked the password at the Fat Lady and rushed inside. Jamie appeared immediately, asking questions about Amelia but she pushed him away. Jamie, realising that Ellie was shaking, tried to find out what was wrong.

"El, are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" she muttered. Jamie knew Ellie well enough to see that she was clearly agitated however.

"You don't look fine…"

"I'm fine! Just leave me alone!" she screeched and ran to the staircase that led to the girls' dormitories.

"Ellie!" he shouted after her, but she was out of sight by then. Jamie stared after her, perplexed. What had happened that had gotten her so upset? Surely Amelia didn't have anything to do with it, had she?

"If she has, I'm going to find out," he thought.

Determined to find out what was going on, Jamie left the common room, in search of Amelia.