Chapter 24

I spent most of Saturday in a bit of a distracted state. In the morning, I finished off all my homework with Lisa and Terry in the library. I knew I was quiet, and Lisa and Terry didn't have to ask why. I would officially became Armilla Lucia Kemp Snape today. Out of habit, I still signed my name as Armilla Kemp on all my homework. I didn't really want to start using the name until the staff had acknowledged it.

By the time we stacked up our books and headed back to the common room, Terry had already suffered several playful punches from me. He had insisted on calling me 'Miss Snape' all morning as practice.

"Hey Mill, with you being Snape's sister and all, does that mean he'll be nice to you in class?" Terry asked, as we went into the deserted common room. It seemed that most students were making the most of the sunny day.

Lisa grinned. "If you mess up a potion, he'll pretend not to notice?"

"Don't count on it," I laughed. "He's already made it clear to me that once I'm a Snape my marks aren't allowed to drop."

"Oh, what will he do?" Lisa said, smirking. "Give you detention? Imagine that. Snape putting his own sister in detention."

"Well, I don't think he'd call it detention," I said, sitting down in an armchair by the fire, "but he wouldn't hesitate in giving me extra lessons to make sure his family name looks good."

"You know, out of all the people who could have turned out to be Snape's long lost sibling, it's kind of a shame it had to be you," said Terry, taking the chair next to me, while Lisa sat down opposite us.

"Why's that?"

"Well, you're such a good student. You rarely do anything wrong. You're respectable. I wouldn't say you're that fearful of Snape – I mean some students actually quiver and tremble in his presence-"

"Like you in first year?" Lisa interrupted, laughing.

Terry went red. "No idea what you're talking about. Like I was saying…you have guts, Mill. You won't be an embarrassment to Snape. It's a shame because it would have been so much fun for us if a personality like Crabbe or Goyle or even Longbottom had turned out to be Snape's sibling. Snape would have died.'"

I laughed. "You're right," I said thoughtfully. I wondered what Snape truly thought about it all. I got a guilty feeling inside me whenever I thought too hard about it; surely, Snape would wish that the discovery had never been made?

"What's it like when you're with him?" Lisa asked, looking a little concerned. "It's one thing to have a nasty teacher, but I hope he's not going to be like that when you're his family."

I shook my head. "Last night was the first time I'd met with him as his sister and not his student, so perhaps it's too soon to say." I was quiet for a moment, replaying the conversation from the previous evening in my head. I shrugged. "He wasn't as harsh as he is during class, but he's incredibly distant."

Terry gave a slight nod. "Well, I suppose that's what you'd expect at this point."

"I just worry..." I trailed off.

"About what?" Lisa asked softly, leaning forward.

"That he'll resent me for everything that's happened," I whispered. "I'm sure the last thing he wanted was the trouble of being guardian to a younger sister."

Lisa looked troubled at this, while Terry merely looked thoughtful.

"He doesn't strike me as the parental type," he admitted, "but I can't imagine him just leaving you to yourself, either."

Lisa nodded slowly. "I agree. I think he'd feel the obligation fairly strongly."

"Yes," I said, not feeling much better. "The obligation."

"That has to do for now," said Lisa seriously, reaching for my hand. "It's beyond your control."

"And you know that we're here for you, Mill," Terry said earnestly, taking my other hand. "I know we can't fill the void left by Merle, but we really don't want you to feel alone."

I smiled. "Thanks...I'm lucky to have you both, truly."

"You sure are," Terry laughed. "Not everyone would want to be friends with Snape's sister, you know."

I rolled my eyes.

"Well come on," said Terry, jumping up again. "Let's go have lunch. I'm starving."

We left the common room again and made our way down to the Great Hall. As we approached the entrance, Malfoy and his friends appeared from the staircase that led to the dungeons.

"Hey, Kemp," he called, grinning. "Enjoy your detention with Snape?"

I didn't answer. I moved to pass through the doorway, but Malfoy got there before me.

"Snape seemed pretty angry at us," he said, still grinning. "Or was he defending you?" He folded his arms.

"Why would Snape defend me?" I asked, nonchalantly, as Malfoy's friends gathered behind him. I saw Terry clenching his fists out of the corner of my eye. Lisa had folded her arms, glaring at Malfoy.

Malfoy put a mock puzzled expression on his face. "Oh, I don't know," he drawled. "Perhaps it's a loyalty thing, even if you are a Ravenclaw."

I froze. He knew.

"Still, it's better than being a Gryffindor or Hufflepuff," Malfoy went on. "I don't think Snape would have liked that." He smirked.

"Oy! What's the hold-up? Who's blocking the doorway?"

I turned around to see that a bunch of first and second years from all four houses had queued up behind us, evidently too scared to ask Malfoy and his friends to get out of the way. They had clearly heard the whole conversation because their eyes were darting from Malfoy to me.

The person who had spoken was a tall seventh year Gryffindor. He was moving through the crowd, looking annoyed.

"Oh, it's you, Malfoy," he muttered as he reached us. "Clear off and stop blocking the way in."

Malfoy ignored him. He turned back to me. "You know, Armilla. You're kind of related to Slytherin House now. We had better be careful how we treat our Head's little sister." He smirked and sauntered off to the Slytherin table with his cronies following in his wake.

"You're what?" said the Gryffindor, looking at me in confusion.

I didn't have time to answer. Lisa grabbed my arm and pulled me into the hall. She let go once we had sat down and I looked down at the table, trying to keep my expression calm. My insides were performing their own gymnastics display. Terry sat down opposite us, staring at his watch.

"How long does it take to tell the time?" Lisa grunted, picking up a sandwich and putting it on my plate.

Terry didn't answer. He stopped looking at his watch and instead of eating, he turned around and cast a glance at all the other students.

"What are you doing?" I asked, picking up my sandwich. I was no longer hungry, but it gave me a distraction.

Terry turned around to face us. "Timing how long it takes for this bit of news to spread," he whispered. "Watch."

I looked across at the other tables. Sure enough, many people seemed to be engaged in quiet conversation, but their eyes were wide as if shocked about something. The Slytherins were whispering among themselves and casting shrewd looks in my direction. The Hufflepuffs looking in my direction had faces mixed between horror and pity.

The Gryffindors looked completely aghast. I saw Hermione Granger shushing Ron Weasley after he said "Blimey!" a little too loudly. Next to him, I met the eye of Harry Potter, who was staring at me with his mouth slightly open. He looked completed disconcerted.

Before long, I had to look away because so many pairs of eyes were resting upon me. I wondered how many meals it would take in the Great Hall before I stopped being a topic of fascination.

"That was about forty seconds," Terry announced, looking at his watch again. "New record, I believe."

"People need to stop looking," I muttered.

"Maybe we should have eaten in the common room," said Terry, picking up three sandwiches.

"No," I whispered. "I would have to have shown my face sooner or later. It's not that bad. I could have been related to someone worse than Snape."

"Like the Dark Lord?" said Lisa, taking a bite of her sandwich.

"That is sick," I said, grimacing.

"Hey, Armilla!" called Padma Patil, as she strode towards the Ravenclaw table. "Parvati and the other Gryffindors have just been asking me the strangest thing. They wanted to know if you were related to Snape! His sister or something. Fancy that!"

I laughed.

"Fancy that," said Lisa.

"Yeah, I told them to pull their heads in," Padma laughed. "Ha! Related to Snape…bit of a sick rumour don't you think?" She sat down and looked at me, her face changing from jovial to uneasy when she saw my uncomfortable expression. I noticed all the other Ravenclaws within hearing distance had paused in mid conversation and had turned their heads slightly.

"Ah…" I began…how could I find the best way to say that yes, Snape was indeed my brother?

Padma's frown deepened. "It's true?" she whispered, her eyes as wide as the other students who were still looking at me.

I gave a small nod.

The other Ravenclaws who had pretended not to be listening suddenly gave either gasps or made horrified noises.

Padma had covered her mouth with her hand. Anthony Goldstein, who was sitting opposite her, looked at me gravely. "How long have you known?" he asked.

"A little while," I replied.

Padma seemed to recover from her shock. She opened her mouth to speak but I spoke before she could.

"Look, it's enough that I've told you," I said, "but I'm not going to be giving away all my private business. Rumours will cover that anyway and I'm sure they'll be creative."

A large number of Ravenclaws were still watching me, some with their mouths hanging open.

"Well, that's just lovely," said Luna Lovegood, dreamily. "I think Professor Snape will be a wonderful brother." She smiled at me. "You're very lucky."

"Yes, it is lovely," Lisa piped up, an expression of determination covering her face. She spoke a bit louder. "And we're all here for Armilla, aren't we? She's still the same person after all."

"Hear, hear!" said Terry, grinning back at me.

A few people laughed. Some of the Ravenclaws nearby smiled at me. A few students down the table still looked too shocked to say or do anything.

The fast beating of my heart seemed to slow down to its normal rate again as the Ravenclaws went back to their lunch. Lunch continued, and I avoided looking around too much, as I could feel the stares of students around the Great Hall.

One time, I did sneak a peek at the Slytherin table, where Malfoy looked thoroughly pleased with himself. Pansy Parkinson looked frustrated that he wasn't paying her any attention and was moodily pushing food around her plate. If the Slytherins were shocked, they were good at hiding it. Those who were looking at me had curious expressions on their faces.

I drew more attention when Lisa, Terry and I made our way out of the hall. Heads turned in our direction when we walked the length of the table towards the exit.

We met Fred and George Weasley in the doorway, both of whom were leaving as well. They both bowed to me and Fred took my hand and shook it.

"I'm very sorry," he said, as if someone had just died. I was just about to say so when George spoke.

"I'm afraid this means neither of us will ever be able to date you now," he said grinning.

"Yep," said Fred, letting go of my hand. "No boy in his right mind will come near you now, no matter how much he fancies you. We all reckon Snape will murder any boy who so much as looks in your direction."

"Oh, thanks," I said, rolling my eyes. Terry and Lisa laughed.

We went outside for the afternoon, basking in the October sunlight. As the day drew on, the knot in my stomach tightened. This time tomorrow, I would have met my father. I kept telling myself to stay calm. I did not want to appear weak and nervous in front of my father or Snape…Severus…whatever. I would have to train myself to mask my fear.

I didn't see Snape at dinner, but when I went to bed that night I found a sealed envelope under my pillow. Opening it, a bit of parchment fell out. Picking it up, I read it.

Armilla,

Everything was finalised today at the Ministry. You are now legally Armilla Snape.

We are meeting Father at Snape Manor tomorrow, so make sure you are at my office by ten o' clock. I will give you further instructions in the morning as to how we will get there.

Severus

Lovely. I stood up and threw the letter in the fire.

I got back into bed and stared at the canopy above me. Armilla Snape. A wave of fear threatened to plunge into my stomach again, but I mentally tried to push it away. No! I was not going to let myself be fearful anymore. I would mask it. I stared into the darkness, feeling resolute. I would play the game as best I could. Even more, I was not going to be a burden to Snape. I was old enough to take care of myself.