A/N: I do not own rights to the Harry Potter franchise. All rights go to J.K. Rowling. I only own my own OCs.

Hi guys. I just wanted to set a TRIGGER WARNING to everyone reading this chapter. This will mention suicidal ideation and depression. Please read at your own discretion.

Chapter 20: The Worst Birthday

Sienna marched through the halls of Hogwarts, covered in red paint and gold glitter all over her head and body. Tears streamed down her face, her black hair sticking to her cheeks and ears. The squeak of her shoes echoed through the corridor as she continued to make her way to the Slytherin Common Room. The sun began to set and the moon began to rise, but all Sienna could see was darkness - physically and mentally.

Damn, Parkinson. Good for nothing, bloody cunt. Sienna thought.

Today was Sienna's fourteenth birthday. December 1, 1994. Yet it was ruined by none other than Pansy Parkinson herself. Apparently it didn't matter that she was Professor Snape's daughter, or the fact that she was in the same house as her. Pansy still somehow humiliated her in front of the entire school.

Sienna was sitting in the Great Hall with Ginny, studying for their Care of Magical Creatures exams. The next one was on Grindylows, and Sienna was struggling to remember what their living environment consisted of.

"C'mon, Sea, why won't we turn in for the night? It's your birthday, after all."

Sienna sighed, rubbing her eyes. "I guess you're right. I'm just stressed that Hagrid is going to fail me."

Ginny laughed. "Hagrid would only fail you if you're harming the creatures."

Sienna snickered. "I guess you're right. Okay fine, let's turn in for the night."

Sienna and Ginny began to walk towards their appropriate common rooms. Sienna suddenly felt a cold, wet substance fall onto her head. It streaked down her face, onto her uniform. Immediately after, she saw shiny dust falling onto the floor. She noticed it was glitter, and suddenly she felt very vulnerable, and angry. She heard laughter erupt around her, and looked frantically to find the culprit. To her right she spotted Pansy Parkinson, smirking and chuckling at her. Behind her was Grabbe and Goyle, Draco's two cronies who she couldn't stand.

Red paint continued to slide down her head and onto her face, the gold glitter on top of the paint. The paint hid the color of Sienna's face, although it was not far off from the paint.

"Now you're wearing the colors you should be prancing around in." Pansy sneered at Sienna.

Sienna huffed at her, and marched up to her. "What is your problem, Parkinson?"

"You ruin the name of Slytherin every day you mingle with the blood traitors. You should be wearing those colors, not the sacred green and silver." She sneered again at Sienna.

"Piss off."

"Oh dear, Snape's daughter finally got the guts to stand up to people, eh? That's rich considering who your mother is. Filthy blood traitor too. No wonder your father didn't want to be with her, or you. You're a poor excuse of a witch. You shouldn't even have the privilege to call yourself a Slytherin. Not to mention, Draco Malfoy would never bring himself to be in a relationship with such a filthy witch like yourself. No wonder he's using you for a stupid bet." Pansy laughed even harder, Crabbe and Goyle joining in.

For some reason though, Sienna couldn't help but let the words heed to her heart. Like the breath of fresh air around her suddenly went cold. Like the dementors of Azkaban were present, but they weren't. It was just Pansy's words.

Holding her tears back, Sienna drew her wand and pointed it at Pansy. "Flipendo!" Sienna shouted.

Suddenly, Pansy was thrown back into the two oafs behind her, and all three hit the wall behind them. The crowd around them suddenly went quiet, and Sienna stormed off towards her common room, Ginny left behind to take it all in.

Sienna had managed to keep her tears at bay until she was far away from the crowd. Sienna came to realize she never truly gave herself time to come to terms with her parents' relationship and what came about it. She knew her father didn't know about her until her first day at Hogwarts, but that didn't heal the hole that sat in her heart for more than half of her life. Remus did what he could - but deep down, Sienna knew Remus wasn't her father. She never got time to grieve, and that slowly ate away at her soul as she continued to build a relationship with him. The burning question she wanted to ask, why did you leave mum? Sienna knew the answer everyone told her, that he was a spy for the Death Eaters and was a "very bad man". However, she wanted to know why he didn't fight for her, for his family.

Aside from that, she wept more at the thought of what else Pansy said.

Pansy bringing up Draco was almost like a punch in the girl's gut. Sienna's mind is burned by the memory of the night in the astronomy tower. Ever since then, Draco and her have been the same as they always have been. Draco didn't bring it up again, and neither did she. She wanted to ask him if they were anything more than that. However, Draco seemed to be the same way he was since their first year. Flirting, but nothing more. Sienna even tried to find him at the astronomy tower some night afterwards, but hasn't seen him there in a few weeks.

She wondered if he even cared for her, if he was just using her to get what he wanted. Good graces with her father. Why was it that any man in her life somehow strayed away from her? What was it about her that was so rotten?

Did she even deserve to be happy? To live her life happily? Maybe she wasn't worth being alive. Maybe she didn't deserve anything good in life. Sienna's dark thoughts clouded her mind. It reminded her of the time the Dark Lord tried to cloud her mind with said dark thoughts. She remembered the hopelessness feeling she felt, the thickening air of being alone suffocated her. Although this time, it wasn't the Dark Lord who was doing it.

It was her own mind.

"Miss Snape." Sienna heard from behind her. She turned to find the one teacher she didn't have quite the patience for today.

Professor Moody.

"Yes, Professor?" She managed to get out. She quickly attempted to wipe her tears off her cheek, but somehow managed to make it worse, adding more glitter to her face from her sleeve.

His good eye eyed her curiously. "Hell of a party you went to, eh?"

Sienna's face stayed the same. "I guess you could say that." She tried her hardest to keep a straight face, but her eyes seemed to weld up more with tears.

Professor Moody hobbled over with his crutch to her. "Let's get you to your father, eh?"

"No!" Sienna shouted accidentally. She quickly realized how loud she was, and heard someone else coming down the hallway.

"Snape?" She heard. She turned to find Draco standing at the entrance of the Dungeons, his eyes bewildered at the sight in front of him. "What the bloody hell happened to you?"

Sienna spun and looked at the professor. "I was just going to wash this all off now, Professor."

His good eye continued to eye her curiously, however his "bad" one, Sienna would say, was spinning wildly throughout the room. He looked at Draco briefly, and then back to her. "Alright, Miss Snape. Goodnight, and happy birthday."

She smiled very subtly towards the man, nodding at him in thanks. She spun around and walked towards the Dungeons. Her smile quickly dropped at the sight of the boy.

Draco continued to stare at her. "Snape, what happened?" He asked as she approached him.

Sienna stopped in her tracks, glaring at the boy. "Why don't you ask your precious friends, Malfoy?" She sneered. His eyes grew to the size of plates.

"Sien-"

"Oh, piss off. You put them up to this."

"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about, Sienna."

"Come off it! Stop lying to me! You put Pansy and your two dimwitted cronies up to this!"

"Sienna, what are you talking about? I haven't talked to Parkinson in weeks."

"You liar! Pansy dumped paint and glitter on me and humiliated me in front of the entire school!" Sienna roared at the boy. Draco's eyes turned to plates. She marched her way past the blonde teenage boy.

"Sienna, please, I didn't know what they were up to." He almost begged.

"Just leave me alone!" She spun around again and sped up her pace to the staircase. "You've barely spoken to me since…since… you know! Yet here you are, conveniently waiting for me near the common rooms. How chivalrous of you, Malfoy." She sneered.

Draco caught her wrist and stopped her again. "Sienna, I swear to Merlin I had no idea what they were planning. Please believe me!"

Sienna continued to glare at him. "You're a dirty liar, Malfoy." Tears again welded up in her big blue eyes, and cascaded down her cheeks, the red paint mixing in as they crossed paths. "Just let me go, please." She choked.

"No, not while you're like this." He stated sternly.

"Draco-"

Suddenly, Draco pulled her into him and didn't care if the paint clung onto his own uniform. And there, Sienna broke down.

She wailed, she grasped at Draco's robes. She stuffed her face into his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist. Her knees became weak and gravity took her legs out from under her. Draco held onto her and held her up tight. He wrapped his arms around the girl. He soothed her, petting her paint-dampened hair. "I've got you. You're safe with me." He whispered to her. She continued to cry, and cry, and cry.

After about ten minutes, Draco convinced Sienna to clean herself up with a shower and comfortable pajamas. Sienna waited patiently in the common room on the black leather couches. A black knit blanket laid over her lap. Her now clean, wet hair was braided to the side as normal. She wore a green and brown flannel set of pajamas, and cream colored slippers on her feet. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying so much, her head began to form a headache of somesort. Draco joined her about two minutes later, he himself wore green silk pajama pants, a black t-shirt, and his black slippers. With two black mugs in his hand, he handed one to Sienna and sat down next to her. Sienna took the mug from the boy and he sat next to her on the couch. Sienna turned herself to face him, sitting criss-crossed. She sipped the mug in front of her that contained tea with milk and one sugar cube.

"You remembered how I like my tea." She stated.

He nodded his head. "After last year, I don't see how I could forget."

Sienna giggled quietly. She remembered the time she split her entire new mug of tea on Draco's lap when they were studying for Potions. Draco never let her live it down.

"Do you want to talk to me now?" Draco inquired, sipping his own mug. Sienna stayed quiet for a few moments, before nodding her head. Draco sank back into the couch and waited for Sienna to speak.

Taking a deep breath, Sienna started.

"I was walking out of the Great Hall with Ginny. We had dinner together with Hermione, Ginny's brothers and-"

"Potter I'm assuming." Draco sneered.

Sienna rolled her eyes. "Yes, anyway." She continued. "I was at the entrance of the Great Hall when I felt this wet, cold liquid on me. It was of course the paint and glitter. I hear laughing and I find Pansy and your two oafs standing there. Pansy had her wand pointed at the bucket of paint. I confronted her, but then s-she-" Sienna stuttered.

Draco sat and waited patiently for her to answer. "It's okay, Sienna. I'm here."

She felt tears fall from her eyes again. "She told me that my father never wanted me, and that you would never waste yourself on such a filthy witch for a stupid bet, whatever that means." She sniffled a bit, wiping her tears on the back of her hand. She looked up and observed Draco's face.

Draco at first seemed panicked, but then it was quickly masked by him sipping his tea, keeping his composure. On the outside, he seemed fine. Internally, he was nervous. He forgot that the two oafs had a big mouth. They most likely told Pansy of the bet.

Draco sat up a little straighter. "Well, for one, Pansy quite literally resembles a pug. Second, she has no business talking on our Head of House's family matters. The Parkinson's have never been a fan of Snape."

Sienna tapped the tips of her fingernails on the mug. "You're right." Although her face did not change. "What bet is she talking about?"

Draco felt his blood run cold for a moment. His face went numb, his moments still. "Something Blaise and I talked about walking to Hogsmeade one day. Nothing that concerns you." He sipped his tea, trying to believe his own lie.

Sienna wasn't buying it, but she did not want to upset herself even more. "I see."

"Parkinson still had no right saying that to you, Sea."

Sienna nodded in agreement. She started to get choked up again. "It's just…I wonder." She started. Draco looked back up at her, giving his full attention.

She continued. "Why didn't my father fight harder to be with my mum? What if he didn't want a family?"

Draco continued to stare at her, listening intently. She continued again. "It makes me feel like I don't belong here, like I'm not worth fighting for." Tears again welled up in her eyes. "I felt so alone."

Draco's eyes showed something he never showed anyone else - sympathy. He put his mug down on the coffee table in front of him, and put his hand on her knee that was tucked under the blanket. "To be honest, Snape, you of all people deserve to be here." She smiled through her tears. "You're the smartest witch of your year. Your father is well established in the Wizarding World. Your parents love you."

Draco paused at his own statement. Sienna noticed he gulped very subtly. He continued. "You mean a lot to me, Sienna."

She smiled at the boy. "You mean a lot to me too, Draco."

He smiled at her. "I think you should get some rest. You are 14 after all. You need your shut eye."

Sienna couldn't help but laugh at him. "I suppose I should turn in." The two of them cleaned their area and went about their ways. Before Sienna could walk up the stairwell to her dormitory, Draco grabbed her hand gently.

"Oh, by the way." He started. "Accio gift."

A box floated over to Draco's hand. It was the size of Draco's palm, wrapped in a sage green paper with an emerald green bow on time. "Happy birthday."

Sienna's eyes lit up with joy, unable to contain her smile. She gently took the box from Draco and began to unwrap it. Once a plain white box, she opened it, erupting a gasp from her throat.

In the box was a ring. A dainty, sterling silver ring. In the middle was an opal that glimmered in the light. Sienna immediately started blushing. "Draco."

He awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "I saw it on our Hogsmeade trip about a month ago. I thought you might've liked it. It's nothing crazy, but-"

Sienna suddenly stood on the tip of her toes and planted her lips on Draco's cheek. Draco immediately stopped talking and froze. Sienna settled back down onto her feet, and smiled. "It's perfect. Thank you."

Draco blushed like mad, and grinned. "Anything for you, Snape."