Author's note: Sorry this chapter has taken so long. I have been really busy this semester what with assignments and working nearly full time hours as well. I promise I will try to update quicker in the future. In the meantime, here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 3

Kaylin sat at the windowsill staring out at the empty street. She was extremely tired, but she couldn't sleep. She let her eyes drift over to the small cot bed that her younger sister was sleeping on and felt resentment at the people who had placed her here. Her stay with Mr Dursley was turning out worse every hour that she stayed here.

Though he hadn't done anything to physically hurt them, Kaylin felt a spike of fear every time he came near them. She got the general impression that he would hurt them if he thought that he could get away with it.

Her eyes travelled over the scantily clad attic. It was barely the size of a broom closet in this room, and contained no more furniture than a small chest of drawers and a small cot bed which was supposed to service both girls. She felt a pang as she remembered the home that she had been forced to leave, and her father lying in the hospital bed. She didn't understand why she had to stay with this mean old man and his horrible wife. She felt a tear trickle down her face and suppressed a sob. Mr Dursley had already gotten angry at her for making too much noise and she didn't want to disturb him again.

She stared out the window once again, wishing that it wasn't real. Wishing that in the morning, her father would wake her up with his usual grin and tickle her. That she would be in her own room with all her toys, and that the hurt she was feeling would disappear. She sighed, and was about to move away from the window when she heard a number of loud cracks outside and her head shot up. Across the street, she could see a group of figures dressed in black.

They seemed to stand there looking for something for a while, before the tallest of the group began moving around, waving his arms in angry motions. She couldn't hear any noise coming from him, which surprised her because in all outward appearances, it seemed as if he was yelling.

She felt fear spike through her and subconsciously lowered herself from the window, but not enough so that she could not see what was going on. She saw the figure point a wand and a flash of light hit one of the other figures, sending them sprawling to the ground, where they lay moving around like a snake on the pavement and bending in odd directions. The figure with the wand pulled the wand back and the other figure stopped moving. The tall figure turned to the others that were assembled and made some sort of gesture before disappearing. Then, as suddenly as they had appeared, the rest of the group of figures was gone, leaving only the figure on the ground. The figure got up, shooting a small glance towards her. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle and sank a little further from view. But the figure seemed not to see her. The head moved back and forth, as though looking for something, then the figure raised its wand and disappeared like the others had.

Kaylin stared at the now empty street, not quite understanding what had happened. She was relieved that the figures had disappeared, but was still frightened. She scanned the street with her eyes once again, making sure that there were no threats visible. She was startled to hear a soft whimper from the bed. She could see from the moonlight through the window that her little sister was shivering.

She shook her head slightly and made her way over to the cot and jumped under the thin blanket that Mr Dursley had given them, nestling herself close to her younger sister to keep her warm. Silently, she prayed to whatever power could help her that someone would take her away from here.

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Severus Snape walked tired through the gates of Hogwarts and made his way silently up to the castle. He barely registered the doors of the castle opening as he approached and a woman in a tartan dressing gown and her hair in rollers rushing down the stairs towards him.

"What happened Severus?" She asked urgently.

He shook his head slightly, his eyes roaming over the castle windows. She nodded slightly in understanding and walked beside him as he walked inside the castle and towards the dungeons.

He paused only to whisper the password to his quarters, then ushered her inside, checking the halls to make sure there was no one spying on him before he quickly shut the door and warded it.

"What happened?" She demanded. "Tell me everything"

"There was an attack tonight" he said gravely. "They went straight after the girls"

Minerva slumped into a chair and put her head in her hands.

"And?" she asked tiredly.

"As they were unsuccessful in finding the residence, the Dark Lord became infuriated. He used Legilimens on all of us to find out who had betrayed him. Luckily, it is not only I who had been informed of their whereabouts prior to the gathering" he said. "Apparently Wormtail harboured some positive feeling for the girls situation, as he was ultimately blamed for the whole escapade and tortured near to the point of insanity. I believe the only reason he was spared was because he aided the Dark Lord in his return all those years ago"

Minerva nodded, still looking at the floor, her hands gently massaging her temples.

"After realising that the endeavour was fruitless, we were instructed to go to a village not far from Chesterton." He said, going over to the cabinet at the wall and pouring himself a large glass of firewhiskey.

"None were spared" he uttered softly, and downed the glass in one gulp.

He heard a small cry from behind him, but did not dare to turn around for fear that the night's events would catch up with him once more. Visions of small children crying fearfully and huge blasts of green eyes swam through his mind as he downed another glass.