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

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Bad News

The summer holidays started off very well. Amelia met Ellie at the train station. Amelia had been living in London for the last few months in a big flat in Knightsbridge. The first few days were wonderful as Amelia took her sightseeing about the city and took her shopping and to the theatre. Ellie had never enjoyed herself so much in her life.

Ellie began to wonder what exactly Amelia did for a living. Her flat was very big and judging by the things she had bought her, she wasn't in want of money, yet she didn't seem to have a job to go to. That worked out well for Ellie as it meant Amelia had a lot of time available to spend with her, but Ellie still felt curious.

One evening, Ellie decided to ask, hoping the question wouldn't sound too rude.

"Amelia? I was just wondering, do you have a job?"

Amelia chuckled.

"Trying to get rid of me?" she asked playfully.

"No! I'm just wondering."

"Well, I do have a job of sorts, but I'm afraid I can't tell you too much about it."

"Why not?"

"Secrecy is a part of the job. Couldn't tell you if my life depended on it."

"Are you on a holiday at the moment?"

"Not exactly. My job has very busy periods and then quiet periods. This is a quiet one. Hopefully it'll last for the rest of your holidays."

"What if it doesn't?"

"We'll worry about that if it happens."

After spending a week in London, Amelia took Ellie to visit some old school friends. Amelia's friends were nice to her, and had many stories to tell about her mum. While Ellie was still enjoying herself, she was longing to visit her family's home. Amelia had promised to take her during the holidays, and now they were here. She broached the subject with Amelia, who promised to bring her to see the house soon. Before that could happen, disaster struck.

Ellie and Amelia were sitting down to breakfast in their hotel, when Amelia's owl flew in the window and dropped a letter on her head. Luckily, there were no Muggles around to see. Amelia opened up the letter and began to read it. Ellie could tell by her expression that the letter contained something that bothered her.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

Amelia frowned.

"Not really. Remember those busy periods at work I told you about?"

Ellie nodded, a sinking feeling in her stomach starting to take hold.

"Well, looks like we've just entered one of them. They need me to come in," Amelia continued.

"Oh, so we have to go back to London?" Ellie asked, disappointed. This would probably mean they couldn't go and see the house.

Amelia shook her head.

"No. The job's not in London. They need me to go somewhere else," Amelia said, sounding annoyed.

A horrible thought struck Ellie.

"I can go with you though, right?" she asked.

The expression on Amelia's face told Ellie all she needed to know, but Amelia confirmed it to her.

"Unfortunately, you can't."

"So, what happens to me? Are you going to send me back to Hogwarts?"

"No, there's no one there to look after you. I'll think of something, don't worry."

Ellie felt bitterly disappointed at this sudden turn of events. She should have known that this holiday was too good to be true. Who knows where she would end up now? Maybe Mrs. Collins would take her for a while. That would be okay, she supposed.

Amelia left Ellie in the charge of some friends and then disappeared for the morning. When she came back, she took Ellie back to the hotel to pack their things. She announced that she'd found Ellie a place to stay.

"Where? With Mrs. Collins?" Ellie asked, as they walked up the steps and into the hotel foyer.

"Er, no," Amelia said. Ellie thought that Amelia was looking strangely at her. A moment later she found out why.

"You're going to your father's house," Amelia admitted.

"WHAT?"

Ellie's shout was so loud that other people in the room turned to look at them. Amelia hurried Ellie away to her room, as Ellie spluttered in disbelief.

"You must be joking!" Ellie finally said.

"Ellie, it was the best I could do on short notice. I've been apparating all over the place. He's the only one that could take you for so long."

"So long? How long is going to be?" Ellie cried.

"Well, it might be for the rest of the holidays," Amelia admitted reluctantly.

"The rest of the holidays! With Snape? No! I can't do that!" Ellie cried desperately.

"Please Ellie! Hopefully it won't be for too long. I'll do my best, but I need you to do this, for me. Please!"

Ellie groaned. She felt like kicking the table. The last time she had seen Snape she had come away feeling like a prized idiot. It took a few minutes before Ellie could even think about Snape without sighing in exasperation. Amelia remained silent and let her vent her frustrations, feeling guilty that she had suddenly been called away like this. She knew the arrangement was far from ideal, and she didn't blame Ellie for being disappointed.

Amelia and Ellie packed their things, left the hotel and headed to the nearest train station. Ellie remained mostly silent. A new thought was occurring to her. She had been curious about Snape's home outside of Hogwarts, and now she was going to see it. It was almost exciting, if it wasn't for the fact that she wouldn't be able to leave once her curiosity had been satisfied.

Ellie was surprised that Snape had agreed to this at all. She would never have anticipated that. She was curious about how Amelia forced Snape to say yes to this arrangement.

"What did you say to him to make him agree?" Ellie asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come on! I'm not exactly his favourite person. You must have had to work on him."

"He was surprisingly helpful actually. When I did think of him initially, what put me off was that I thought he'd tell me to get lost to be honest. Don't take that the wrong way, you know what he's like."

Ellie nodded. She definitely knew what he was like.

"Anyway, it turned out he didn't need much convincing at all. It was a huge weight off my mind."

Ellie sniggered as a sudden thought occurred to her.

"So how did you approach him? Did you go banging on his door?" Ellie asked in an innocent voice, although Amelia noticed a wicked gleam in her eyes.

"Well yes, I suppose I did," she answered, wondering why this amused Ellie so much as Ellie collapsed with laughter against the window.

"What's the joke?" Amelia asked.

"Oh," Ellie said, rubbing tears from her eyes, "it's nothing. Don't worry about it!"

Ellie made a mental note to store that joke away for future reference. Being nice to Snape had gotten her nowhere before, apart from making her feel stupid. Being cheeky was much more fun and made those long stares more bearable.

Amelia and Ellie fell into a comfortable silence, and familiar questions began to pose themselves to Ellie. What kind of family, if any, did Snape have? Was he married? Did he have any other children? Brothers, sisters, parents? Ellie was being to feel quite nervous.

Ellie and Amelia changed trains once. Ellie got some odd looks as she sat on the platform waiting for the next train with her owl, Helga, in her cage beside her.

The journey took several hours, but eventually Amelia told Ellie that they were getting out at the next stop. Ellie began to feel very anxious. Her stomach was in knots.

When they left the train and walked through the station Ellie could not help noticing that their surroundings felt rather shabby. It certainly was not what they expected. Amelia found a number of a taxi firm printed on a poster and called for a taxi to take them the rest of the way to Snape's house. They only had to wait a few minutes for the taxi to arrive. The driver looked hesitantly at Helga, but said nothing.

Once they were in the taxi and on the way, Ellie's opinion of the area didn't improve. It seemed very run down. Mrs. Manning would have been horrified if she could see it. When the taxi pulled up outside the last in a row of dilapidated looking houses Ellie felt like tapping the driver on the shoulder and telling him he must have the wrong address. Snape, so pompous and proper, couldn't live here.

The curtains of the front window were shut, but Ellie saw a face peep out from the corner of her eye as she got out of the car. A moment later the door opened and Snape walked out, his black robes looking suddenly ridiculous in these surroundings. Ellie noticed the taxi driver giving Snape an odd stare as he took Ellie's luggage out of the boot of his car.

"What's his story?" he muttered to Ellie. Ellie suppressed a laugh.

"Fancy dress party," Ellie replied, saying the first thing that came into her head.

"Is that what the bird's for?" he asked, gesturing at Helga.

"Er, yeah," Ellie said.

The driver nodded, and looked like he wanted to laugh at Snape. Ellie felt she should warn the driver that he might regret it if he did.

Amelia paid the driver, who tipped his cap to Snape before he got into the car. Ellie resisted another urge to giggle as Snape gave the man a sneering look as he drove off.

"Severus!" Amelia began cheerfully.

"You're late," he replied curtly.

"Oh, well, we had to take the train you know. Ellie can't apparate."

"Come in," he said, not even paying attention to Amelia's explanation. He turned and walked into the house. Amelia waited until he was out of view before mocking him.

"You're late!" she repeated to herself in a low, but silly voice. Ellie suppressed another giggle as she followed Amelia into the house.

Once inside, Ellie felt for the first time that this could be Snape's home. They were inside a small sitting room that was lined, wall to ceiling, with books. Ellie gaped as she looked around in wonder.

"Thank you for doing this Severus," Amelia said.

"Not at all," he drawled in reply. "May I offer you some refreshments?" he added.

"No thank you. I must be off."

Ellie's stomach lurched as Amelia said this. She was going to be left alone with him. She didn't know if she could bare it.

Amelia took her aside and whispered to her.

"I'll be back as soon as I can. Just send word to me through Helga if you have any problems. She'll know where to find me. You'll be okay. Sorry I'll miss your birthday. I'll send you something."

Reminding her that her birthday was three days away and she would be spending it with Snape of all people made Ellie feel even worse.

Amelia hugged Ellie, said goodbye to Snape, and then disapparated away. Ellie was left alone with Snape.