Author's Notes: Another short one! Originally, this one and the last one were one chapter, but I think they flow better separately. Just as I felt it was important to get inside Ellie's head for a bit to get a better understanding of how she felt now about Snape and their relationship, I also feel it's equally as important to get inside Snape's head to see exactly how he feels about Ellie, and his thoughts on where she fits into his life.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Thirty-Five: Snape's Musings

When Snape had first learned that Ellie was his daughter he had been disgusted, repulsed by the very idea of being related to this girl. Gradually, he could not help finding himself feeling proud at her obvious talents, and not just in potion making. Sitting around the staffroom, he had heard snippets of conversations that told him that Ellie was making good progress in her work overall. Although he was watching from the sidelines, he was eager to see how far she would go.

Circumstances had forced the truth of their relationship to come out between them, and although he had bitterly lamented it at first, the more he thought about the more he realised that perhaps it was not such a bad thing after all. He could now perhaps play a more active role in steering Ellie onto the path to greatness. She had the potential to become a powerful witch; he could see that more and more.

When Amelia had showed up at his house, begging for his help his first instinct had been to turn her down for several reasons. One, his house, and he himself, was not really equipped to handle a teenage girl; two, it may attract unwanted attention. If Snape suddenly was found to have a young girl living with him by certain people then questions were sure to be asked. The right conclusion could not be too long out of reach of these people if they researched her background. Although his romantic relationship with Claudia had been a secret, it would be common knowledge that they had worked closely together in class. It wouldn't be too much of a grand leap to guess the rest.

A sudden thought had struck him, however. If he did have the girl with him, then he could help her with her studies, but along the way equip her with the magic she may need should the worst ever happen, and should she find herself in danger because of her relation to him. He would have to be careful. She would have to stay indoors as much as possible. It would not do to have her seen wandering around near his house if there was anyone spying on him.

He decided to take her in. A part of him of him taunted him as weak, mocking him for wanting to protect her, for caring. He did care, in spite of himself. He dismissed it, ignored it, attempted to justify it before loathing himself for such a low act, but he did care. She was more like her mother than she knew. Even worse, Snape thought bitterly to himself, was the niggling voice that told him that even if she were nothing like her mother, he wouldn't care any less for her. He was mildly disgusted with himself for these sentiments. He had, for so long, refused to allow himself to care about anyone, and had prided himself on that fact, that to suddenly feel so strongly for someone was a bitter pill to swallow. These feelings however, no matter what they were, could never become widely known. He may as well sign Ellie's death warrant himself if he allowed himself to indulge them. Distance was the key. Ellie may be inspiring powerful feelings within him, but she would never, ever know.

Despite his rational, well thought out reasons to keep an emotional wall between himself and Ellie, there were times when a chink in his armour exposed him to emotions he tried to ignore. When Amelia had come back so suddenly, just arriving on the doorstep with no warning, Snape had felt put out. Here this woman was, actually thanking him for looking after his own daughter. This woman, who was not connected to Ellie in any way, was calling the shots. He felt resentful. He felt jealous. He felt angry. Amelia had concealed Ellie from him for 12 years, and would have continued to do so if he had not discovered the truth himself, and she had the nerve to waltz into his home and treat him like a glorified babysitter. How he loathed her.

Then there was that Logan boy. What Ellie saw in him he could not even begin to fathom. When he had seen inside Ellie's memories and had seen Jamie with his hands all over her he had felt very close to disapparating to whatever part of America he had been banished to and strangling him. Quite frankly, the further he was away from Ellie the better. Insufferable boy…

His absence had however prompted an interesting thought. Would Gryffindor still hold all its shine in Ellie's eyes now that Jamie was gone, or would it lose its sparkle? Snape's hands positively rubbed with glee as a new idea played out in his head. Ellie was his daughter, and he was the head of Slytherin House. Although before he had been hesitant to explain anything to Dumbledore, whom he was certain guessed, if not flat out knew, the truth about Ellie's parentage, he wondered now if perhaps he explained to Dumbledore that it would be in Ellie's best interests for him to keep a close eye on her, if Dumbledore would consent to Ellie switching from Gryffindor to Slytherin? It was not something that Snape believed had ever been done before, but there was always a first time for everything, and the circumstances in this case were unusual. The one thing that irked him immensely about Ellie was that she was in Gryffindor, the house he detested most of all.

Snape made a note to himself to discuss this with Dumbledore as soon as possible. He would have Ellie in Slytherin yet, just as he had wanted when he had first seen her…