Disclaimer: I don't own anything (except my fave Lia )
A/N: Info on Lia's abilities are now posted in the author notes at the end of chapter one!
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Chapter 2
The first of September after Voldemort's defeat proved to be a cheerful, sunny day. Platform 9 and three quarters teemed with the usual chaos of disgruntled hooting, grumpy yowling, and students promising their parents to behave and not receive any detentions from Professor Snape. However, several glances were spared for the tall, seventeen-year-old stranger who appeared alone. She had thick waves of jet-black hair and very pale skin, but what drew the most notice were her eyes. They were a pure, dark blue that swept away many boys' hearts. Many people noted that she resembled someone they knew, but they couldn't exactly put their fingers on whom.
Lia Snape surveyed the scene before her with mounting excitement. Most of her American friends were very apprehensive about her meeting "those odd British-type people", but not Lia. She viewed it as a new adventure.
"Ron? Ronald!" came an impatient sigh.
Lia looked up and saw a redheaded, freckled boy her age, staring at her with his mouth slightly open.
"Oh, Ron!"
The source of the impatient voice came to view as a girl with very bushy brown hair.
"Ron, we have five minutes before the Hogwarts Express leaves and your trunk is still on the floor back there! Honestly, do you wish to miss the train again?"
With no reply from the redheaded boy, the bushy-haired girl whirled around and took in Lia. Her eyes narrowed immediately.
"Who're you?" she demanded, suspiciously.
"I'm a new student," Lia returned, smoothly. "Is it customary in England to greet new students with a certain degree of hostility?"
The girl flushed to the roots of her bushy hair.
"You are obviously new around here," she sniffed. "I'm Hermione Granger, Head Girl of Hogwarts."
She jabbed emphatically at a badge attached to the front of her robes.
"Really, and here I thought you were just wearing your initials. Easily forgettable, are you?" Lia smirked.
She didn't normally start out in a new place with her snarky ways, but something about this know-it-all Hermione Granger girl set her off.
"You two, what's wrong? Why are you still standing here?" another boy joined their group.
"Just…having a nice little chat with this new girl," Hermione's dangerously calm tone betrayed her indignation immediately.
The newest addition to their group spared Lia a glance and for some reason, looked extremely amused.
"Hi, I'm Harry Potter," he said to Lia. "This is Hermione Granger, as I'm pretty sure you know, and this is Ron Weasley, her boyfriend. Where are you from?"
Lia blinked at the boy for a moment. Even though she lived in America, she'd heard numerous stories about the famous Boy-Who-Lived from her mother. So this is famous Harry Potter, she mused to herself. He definitely looks like a normal boy to me. Pretty cute, too.
"I'm from America," she replied just as the train tooted a warning whistle.
Hermione whirled and tugged at the boys' arms with a bit more force than usual so that they were dragged away from Lia.
"Come on, you two, we don't want to miss the train!"
Harry turned his head back slightly and called to Lia, "Come share a compartment with us!"
Lia hurried forward in time to hear Hermione hiss, "What are you doing, Harry? She could be some Dark witch from America out to get you for Voldemort's downfall!"
"I assure you I have no intention of turning to the Dark," Lia informed her silkily as they slid in an empty compartment at the very end of the train. "In any case, that sounded very much like a fabricated story to not sit with me."
"Well we can never be too careful, can we?" Hermione retorted, huffily, flushing slightly at Lia's observation.
She flounced down in the furthest corner, pulled out a very advanced-looking Transfiguration textbook, and covered her face without further ado.
"So," Harry began, his tone still amused. "You never told us your name."
Lia raised her eyebrows. If her father really was the Potions Master of Hogwarts, these three would obviously know who he was. Keeping one eye on the huffy witch in the corner, Lia replied, airily,
"Oh, right. My full name…well, no one really calls me by my full name, everyone calls me Lia…"
"Your full name?" Harry prompted her.
"Cornelia Rosebury Snape," Lia drawled, slowly.
Hermione dropped her Transfiguration textbook with a very loud clunk! Lia smirked to herself as the bushy-haired witch straightened her back and eyed Lia, shocked. Ron, on the other hand, finally seemed to have recovered from his trance.
"Snape?" he repeated, incredulously, horror filling his face. "You're not…you're not related to…you know, Snape, are you?"
"I'm Severus Snape's daughter, if that's what you mean," Lia told him, nonchalantly.
She laughed silently as she garnered their reactions. This really was too amusing. Hermione seemed to have forgotten about the state of her Transfiguration book completely as she gaped with an open mouth. Harry's green eyes had a slightly wary gleam to them as he scrutinized Lia with both distrust and disbelief. Ron had gone furiously red around the ears and he was staring at Lia with something akin to pure terror, as though she had turned into an Acromantula.
"Well, if it isn't the Golden Trio," a sneering voice interrupted the astonished silence. "With a new addition to their group! I'm shocked; who would be crazy enough to sink as low as to sit with Potty, the Weasel, and the Mudblood?"
Lia turned to face an extremely blond boy with a thin face and cold grey eyes. He would have been quite good-looking if it wasn't for the sneer that graced his face.
"You British do know how to create an excellent first impression," she informed him, loftily.
The blond boy narrowed his eyes and started down at her for a moment. Lia faced those cold grey eyes without a flinch until he finally blinked and turned away.
"Hello, I'm Draco Malfoy," he purred, his voice suddenly as smooth as syrup. "I happen to be Head Boy this year. You appear to be new; I could show you around, if you like. You really don't want to make friends with…well, some sorts of people."
He smirked at the trio.
"I'm Lia Snape, it's a real pleasure to meet you, Draco," Lia purred back, just as sweetly.
Malfoy's eyes widened.
"Snape?" he repeated.
"This reaction is really getting quite old," Lia yawned, feigning boredom. "You need to do better than that, darling."
Malfoy recovered quickly.
"Well, of course," he hastily amended. "Just a little surprised, that's all. Welcome to Hogwarts, Lia."
With that, he hurried down the corridor without even shutting their compartment door.
"Now, that's a first," Harry grinned. "Malfoy has never left us alone without plying each and every one of us with insults. Nice to have you in our compartment, Lia."
"I can't believe we're holding a decent conversation with Snape's daughter," Ron grimaced.
The rest of the trip was quite uneventful. Ron and Harry began discussing Quidditch, which Lia quickly joined in as it was her favorite sport in America. She spent half her life on her broom ever since she could walk, and she especially enjoyed playing Chaser. Hermione just sniffed again and burrowed even deeper into her book. Just as it was getting dark, a pudgy, round-faced boy entered their compartment while tripping over his own feet.
"Oof! Whoops, sorry, guys," the boy grunted, blushing slightly. "You haven't seen Luna, have you?"
"Not yet. Come join us, Neville," Harry replied, patting an empty spot next to him.
"Sorry, I promised her I'd meet her on the train," the boy called Neville explained. "Gran let me visit her over summer holidays. We went hunting for Crumple-horned Snorckacks in France, but we couldn't run fast enough to catch them. Luna did say she saw a Bizzerbug flying, but I wasn't too sure."
Harry had a wide grin on his face now and Ron had a look as though he was trying very hard to hold all his organs back in his body.
"You haven't met the new girl, Neville," said Harry, gesturing towards Lia.
Neville looked at Lia and his jaw opened slightly.
"Oh, erm…hello," he stammered, blushing.
Lia felt a surge of companionship towards the pudgy boy at once.
"Hi, Neville, I'm Lia," she said, warmly, purposely leaving out her last name.
"Nice to meet you, Lia," said Neville, shyly. "I do hope you're Sorted into Gryffindor. I have to go find Luna now; see you all later!"
"Good thing you didn't tell him your last name," Ron declared as the compartment door swung shut once more. "Neville's terrified of Snape. We fought boggarts in third year, and his turned to Snape!"
He and Harry chuckled at the memory while Lia smiled absently, imagining the scene.
"How did he turn Snape into something funny?" she asked, curiously.
"He forced Snape into his Gran's clothes," Ron went on, even more enthusiastically. "Long skirt, witch's hat with a vulture, complete with a handbag…"
He began miming Snape stumbling around in a long skirt as Lia started laughing. Ron appeared very pleased with himself and acted with even more exaggeration while Harry surveyed his best friend with a knowing grin.
"We're at Hogsmeade Station," Hermione interrupted, stiffly, shutting her Transfiguration book with an unnecessarily loud snap. "Come on, Ron, let's go."
Ron was bodily dragged across the threshold and was nearly out of sight as he yelled, "I'll chat more with you later, Lia. Do try to be Sorted into Gryffindor, will you?"
His yells faded. Lia turned to Harry, who was looking amused once more.
"You are certainly very prone to amusement, are you," Lia remarked, smirking slightly. "I do hope your defeat of the Dark Lord wasn't based on this particular emotion, or the Ministry would have been embarrassed beyond words indeed."
Harry threw his head back and laughed, heartily, his full tenor filling the corridor easily.
"Oh, Lia, you have the exact same way of speaking as your dad," he chuckled, nearly banging his head in the doorway of the train as a result. "I'm very interested in his reaction once he's met you. Snarky git meets his match at last! And defeating Voldemort is a relief…which explains all the amusement, I suppose."
"Snarky git, eh?" Lia raised her eyebrows teasingly at Harry while they trudged into the cool night air. "I'll be sure to tell him that tiny detail."
"Please don't!" Harry mock gasped and they fell over laughing again.
Once their laughter had subsided slightly, Harry beckoned to Lia, "Come on, I'll introduce you to Hagrid. He'll be taking you and the first years across the lake."
With that, Lia found herself in the care of an over-exuberant half-giant, who was so excited upon meeting "Professor Snape's l'il girl" that he knocked over a boat and dumped four tiny first-years into the lake.
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Severus Snape was feeling quite disgruntled. With the defeat of the Dark Lord, he finally expected to earn the DADA job at last. He could still remember striding impressively into the Headmaster's office, smirking so wide it could nearly be called a smile, and twirling his application in a Lockhart manner before setting it down in front of the Headmaster with flourish.
"Severus," Dumbledore had greeted him with twinkling eyes. "To what do I owe this pleasant visit?"
"Well, as I appear at the exact same time every year with the exact same inquiry, I doubt that question was necessary," Snape replied, snarkily.
Dumbledore's bright blue gaze twinkled even more merrily.
"Ah yes, I'd wanted to speak with you about that," he stated.
Snape settled himself down in a chair and crossed his arms, smugly awaiting the news that he would be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. No such news came.
"With Voldemort's demise, I feel that it's about time the wizarding community starts promoting open-mindedness towards all individuals," said Dumbledore, benignly. "Wouldn't you agree to that, Severus? None of this pureblood – Muggleborn nonsense and that half-breed prejudice."
"Of course, Headmaster," Snape bit out, impatiently.
Dumbledore twinkled mischievously.
"Well it's settled then," he declared, popping a lemon drop in his mouth and sucking absently. "I'm sure you can see why I've decided to offer the job to Remus Lupin once more."
Snape was so shell-shocked that he could only stare at Dumbledore for a few seconds.
"Something wrong, Severus?" Dumbledore asked, smiling slightly.
Snape recovered his wits and sprang up, swinging his robes out to their most dramatic. He didn't even bother to grace the question with an answer. With one final malevolent glare (which grew at Dumbledore's light chuckle), he swept from the room and stormed down the winding staircase.
Just the memory of that day was enough to make him scowl to his full potential at the trickling stream of students entering the Great Hall for the start-of-term feast. His look was so terrifying that several Hufflepuff second years squeaked and ran to the end of their table furthest from him. Remus Lupin, who was sitting next to him, noticed and chuckled.
"Still into your old ways, Severus?" he smiled.
"I have no clue what you are on about, Lupin," Snape snapped, irritably. "Do cease with your pointless questioning."
"Ah, there are Harry, Ron, and Hermione!" Lupin beamed, obviously not listening.
Snape whipped his head back and his eyebrows narrowed most threateningly as he gazed at the Golden Trio of Gryffindor. There was Potter, the brat who refused to die and hailed as hero of the wizarding world. Snape snorted. He was merely an arrogant boy who had an extremely high opinion of his miserable skills and relied on his two faithful sidekicks. Snape's eyes traveled to Weasley and glared when he noticed Weasley was scowling at him.
"Ten points from Gryffindor for disrespect," Snape mouthed and smirked, satisfied, as Weasley flushed an indignant red and quickened his pace to the Gryffindor table.
He passed a critical eye over the Granger girl and snorted. Still the same bushy-haired know-it-all. One would think that the girl would start brushing up on her feminine charms after her seventeenth year after all.
"They do seem much more relaxed this year, don't they?" Lupin observed pleasantly.
"They have always been noisy dunderheads who can't tell the difference between owl pellets and Kneazle fur balls," Snape returned, irritably.
Lupin chuckled lightly as a hush silently descended upon the Great Hall. Snape turned towards Professor McGonagall as she strode in with the tottering first years at her heels. Snape eyed them with interest. It was always painfully easy to judge who would be placed in which house. There was a girl with blond braids and deep dimples who obviously hadn't gotten over her baby fat yet. Definite Hufflepuff material. A dark-haired boy was dropping frog spawn in her braids and grinning deviously, while another dark-haired boy scowled, puffed out his chest, and plucked them out. Slytherin and Gryffindor respectively.
"Abbott, Hailey!"
The girl with blond plaits inched forward nervously and sat, trembling, on the edge of the stool as the hat drooped below her eyes.
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
Snape smirked to himself. He had never yet been wrong.
"Braddock, Mark!"
The dark-haired boy swaggered forward, frog spawn still dangling between his fingers. The Sorting Hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"
Mark Braddock grinned deviously and stuffed the rest of his frog spawn into the Sorting Hat's mouth.
"You'll have to watch out for that one," Lupin murmured with a frown as the Sorting Hat started choking and Professor McGonagall had to tip a tumbler of firewhisky in its mouth.
"There is no need to mandate how I run my house, Lupin," Snape hissed.
"You're not still mad about losing out on the Dark Arts job, are you?" Lupin frowned suddenly. "You're the best Potions Master there is in Europe who would work as a teacher."
"Do stop plying me with empty praises, Lupin," Snape snorted, irritably. "What I feel is none of your business."
Before Lupin could formulate a reply, the Sorting Hat shouted "RAVENCLAW!" to the last of the first years. Madam Pomfrey hurried forward and carried itaside with great care, while it coughed with great gusto every five steps.
"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts!" Dumbledore said, beaming brightly. "Yes, this will be a fine year…a very fine year indeed! Now, before we dig in to our fabulous feast – courtesy of the house elves – I have one final announcement to make."
The chatter, which had risen in volume when the Sorting Hat was carried out, died down immediately. Wave upon wave of faces turned towards Dumbledore expectantly. Dumbledore twinkled at Severus for a split second before continuing,
"Hogwarts is playing host to a transfer student this year. She has spent her whole life at a private wizarding institution in the United States. However, due to certain circumstances, she has chosen to transfer to Hogwarts to acquaint herself with her father. May I welcome…Cornelia Rosebury Snape!"
Severus Snape choked on his pumpkin juice and dropped his goblet with a loud thunk!
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