Disclaimer: I own nothing of Harry Potter, I only own Dawn, Emily, and a few other characters.
-------
Diagon Alley was a busy place, being it was nearing the Christmas holidays. It was jammed pack and hard to move around for the two Snapes and one Phoenix. Emily was holding onto her father's hand as they tried not to get run over by the crazed shoppers. Even if it was hard to see through the crowds of witches and wizards, still people pointed out their group, and whispering to their neighbors about them. Ever since that news article published by Rita Skeeter, every time Dawn or Severus went out, people would whisper behind their backs, probably spreading gossip about them. If it wasn't for self control Dawn would turn them to insects, the same with Severus.
They were in Diagon Alley for holiday shopping and getting more school supplies for Emily. It was a bad time to go there, it was nearly one week from the twenty-fifth, and everyone was trying to get gifts before it was too late. Severus stopped in front of a potion shop and turn to the two witches.
"I need to get supplies here for my private storage and other items. You two head off and go off shopping."he said
"Ok, we should get together at..."Dawn looked at her wrist watch,"5 O' clock at Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlor."she suggested, Severus nodded and went into the store behind him.
Emily waved 'good-bye' at her father before taking Dawn's hand and let her lead. Dawn suggested they should stop by Flourish and Blotts first, Emily agreed. As they walked towards the bookstore down the block, Dawn was tugged back by Emily and stepped back to see what she was looking at. Surprising enough, she saw Emily looking hypnotized in front of Magical Menagerie, staring at a display of kittens of many sizes playing around as their mother watched from the corner. Emily looked from the window to Dawn, her dark blue eyes shining brightly.
"Dawn, can I get a kitty?"she asked
Dawn smiled,"If you will be a good little girl, maybe Santa will bring one of your own."Emily beamed and almost jumped in joy.
"C'mon, let's go,"she said, pulling the young child along.
When they enter the crowded bookstore, nearly half of the store went quiet, besides the ones who were reading, soon the whole store was filled with noise. Again, with more gossiping. Before they could take another step forward, an old man with hair sticking out, Dawn recognized him as Mr. Quill.
"Miss Phoenix, a pleasure seeing you again!"he nearly yelled out, shaking her hand, "I though you were missing, missy. Where have you been, my dear girl?"
Dawn chuckled at the old man,"Busy being a governess."
"So, you finally found a job, eh? Well good for you."he smiled before looking down at Emily who was hiding behind Dawn's leg,"Who is this little miss?"
"She is Emily Snape, my student,"she answer for her,"It's ok Emily, Mr. Quill is an old friend of mine, he won't hurt you."
"Who are you calling old?"
Emily came from behind Dawn and was face to face with Mr. Quill, who had bend down on one knee.
"Tell me, Miss Snape, how old would you be?"Mr. Quill asked
"Five and a half, turning six in July."she said
"Wow, your a smart girl for a five year old. You must have a pretty smart teacher."he grinned
at Dawn.
"Well,"he stood back up,"I better get back to work now! It's very busy during this time of the year. Please write to me Miss Phoenix soon."he said
"Alright."Mr, Quill waved 'good-bye' and went to help the other costumers.
Dawn lead Emily through the crowd, she got hit in the arm a few times by the not-so-friendly customers. Dawn sighed in relief when they reached the Potions section.
"Emily, I'm going to go looking in this section and you can go to the children's section. And please don't go off too far, or else your father will have me head on a silver platter."she said
"Alright, Dawn."she smiled and went off to the most colorful part of the store were the other children were while their parents shop.
Dawn looked through the section of books before her. She was looking for a Potion book to give to Severus as a gift. Even if he was a jerk at times, it was still an holiday season of gift giving. She picked up a random book and flipped through the pages. Her ears perked up when she heard her name being called nearby, she looked for the source and found three women in the next isle over. She put the book up high, pretending to read and had her face hidden.
"Have you heard this Doe Flex girl?"asked one of the woman, getting her name completely wrong.
"Dawn Phoenix, Misty. Yes, I have heard about her, what about her?"asked the second one.
"Well, I heard she had made two ex-followers of You-Know-Who fall in love with her using a high level love potion. Or so I have heard."said the one called Misty
"Really? I heard she is from America, no wonder she is so much like a...what's the word I'm looking for?"asked the second one
"Like a slut?"
"Yep, that's the one!"
"I heard she is part succubus and veela!"whispered the third one
"That's insane, Claire! I have seen her face in the newspaper and she does not look she has a drop of blood of both of those creatures in her."said the one who was still not named yet.
"You know that Severus Snape has a daughter, right? I wonder if this Phoenix character will make his daughter into a spitting image of herself. All whorish and-"Dawn growled and
slammed the book shut after she had enough of this crazy talk.
She stormed out of the isle, her fists clutched at her sides, as she made her way to the children's section. She spotted Emily in the reading circle, nearly hurting her as she grabbed her and walked away. She stopped by the isle where the three women from before stood.
"Just a word of advice, ladies, not all Americans are sluts as you claim, just ones that have no brains, just like all of you."she cursed at the shocked women before storming out of the store in a huff.
Dawn dragged Emily off into the streets, still ready to punch someone's lights out. She slowed down and loosen her grip on the frighten Emily.
"I'm sorry you had to see that, Emily, I got carried away. It will not happen next time."she promised
"It's alright, just don't let daddy see you like that or as you said 'have your head on a silver platter'."Emily giggled
"Ok, how about I make it up to you? We can go into..Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and you can get only one item from there."Dawn smiled, Emily nodded happily and they made their way to the joke shop.
As they enter the famous joke shop, Dawn was happy not a lot of people were inside, maybe just a few, mostly browsing. Emily ran off to the other side of the store, looking for the perfect item she could get. Dawn sighed, shaking her head, she too set off to look at the many and wonderful items. She scan the shelves for a gift to give to Marcy for Christmas. Something caught her eye, she lifted it from the shelf and looked at the tag.
'The Morning After. After a long night of partying and drinking up, this little item will cure all of your headaches, sickness, and maybe what you have forgotten.'
Dawn smirked, knowing this was the perfect gift for Marcy.
"Well, well, guess who decided to join the living..."said a voice behind her.
She turn around to face a red headed man she only meet at least twice in her whole life, besides this one. He wore the store's logo on his work apron.
"Oh, hello Fred, or is it George?"she asked, trying to remember which twin it was.
"Hit it right on the head the first time, Phoenix,"he said
"I haven't seen you since..."
"Since that party Marcy's employer had two years ago. I remember you and your brother, George, slip in some lust potion on the punch bowl. Luckily only married couple drank some before someone saw the effects from the potion."Dawn said
"Hey, it was an innocent mistake."Fred shrugged off simply
"The couple was about to do the horizontal tango on the floor before Lavender stop them."she pointed out, her arms crossed.
"Where is your brother anyway? I thought you two never split up."Dawn said a few moments later.
"Taking care of the misses, while leaving me alone to run the shop, what a selfish baster,"Fred said, pretending to look hurt.
"Now, that we got that out of the way, what has Miss Dawn Phoenix been up to?"asked the Weasley
Dawn was taken back, surprised,"I thought everyone knew from that Rita Skeeter's article a few months ago."
"Nah, me and the brother don't read whatever she writes. Mostly lies, really. And the wife rarely reads the crap anyway. So, are you wanted for murder, or a spy in the Ministry, or selling drugs to kiddies?"he asked
"Do you think I can sell drugs to kids and be a murderer? Never mind, don't answer that. Well, to put you up to speed...I got a job as a governess, been harassed by one of the staff members my employer hired, and been in the middle of a quote on quote 'love triangle.' Happy now?"asked Dawn
"Really, now? Sounds like a muggle soap opera. So, who is this mysterious employer?"asked Fred
Dawn sighed before answering,"Severus Snape."
"Severus Snape! No way!"yelled the red head
"Be quiet before you burst an ear drum. Yes, my employer is the legendary Severus Snape."she said
"I didn't know that man could create a hell spawn."he said, earning him a deadly glare from the blonde.
"Watch it, Weasley. I have already been through enough today and I will not hesitate to turn you into a beetle."she growled out.
"Alright, alright. Want me to ring that up for you?"asked Fred, pointing to the item in her hands.
"Please."she handed him the gift.
------
A few hours later, filled with shopping and browsing through every store, Dawn and Emily sat outside of Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlor, munching on a sundae, sharing between the two. Many different colorful bags laid at Dawn's feet, filled with gifts and personal items. A shadow loomed over them, making them both forget about the ice cream. There stood Severus, holding a bag, probably filled with potion supplies.
"Hello, Mr. Snape."Dawn greeted him.
He nodded and glanced at the bags on the ground,"I see you both had shopping filled day. Did anything exciting happen?"he asked, dryly
Dawn glanced at Emily before returning back to Severus, a small smiled planted on her face," Nope, just a boring day of shopping."
-----
Author's notes: Well, I got some explaining to do to one of my readers, cardigrl. I don't Snape is wildly OOC, that chapter was just a filler until I could get this chapter up. As I explain in my past chapters, i ahve no beta, because she is gone and I afraid she might have forgotten about my story. But, unless someone wants to take her place I can understand. I wish all of you have a Happy Valentine's Day!