** Hey hey! Chapter three up! I used a few lines straight from HP:HBP book and i'm sure you'll recognize them. If not, *shrug* no big. Just wanted to give credit where credit was due and say that i didn't create HP yadda yadda disclaimer stuff. you know the drill. Anywho, I hope you like this chapter. It took me a little while to finish it and I realized that I didn't mention Snape and Zephyris living on Spinner's End in the fist chapter. I'll have to go fix that. Enjoy!**
The silver locket book, no larger than a small paperback novel and no thicker than her finger, gleamed in the morning light. Zephyris turned it over, as she had so many times before, turned it back and searched the silver casing that was cast in ornate patterns. There was a tarnished name plate in the middle but it looked as if the name had been taken off forceful with magic. The locket posed such a mystery for her. Especially because she had no idea how she had gotten it. She had a vague idea who had given it to her but as to why it was given, Zephyris couldn't even imagine. She thought back to the night she found it among her trunk wrapped in a handkerchief with a note. A dreary night this past summer when her and her father were visited at their humble home on Spinner's End by two witches; Zephyris remembered back.
That summer, a man who her father called "Wormtail" stayed with them. Zephyris had been harshly instructed by her father to never speak to the man. She didn't mind at all. The squat servile little man reminded her of a rat and she was glad to not have to talk to him. In fact, he ignored her all together. It was almost as if he was unaware of her presence in the house. But that too was not all together unusual. Her father kept a quiet house. It was usually tidy yet empty with one in school and the other teaching abroad. Zephyris inhabited the attic of the house that her father had transformed into a lovely bedroom for her. The level below was a guest bedroom where Wormtail stayed and her father's bedroom as well. The lowest level, the sitting room that was more like a library, the kitchen and dining room, and a sun room that her father enchanted to not take sunlight in for his potion work.
Zephyris had lived her all her life, except when she was at school. During her younger years when she didn't attend a wizarding academy, she lived here with a nanny.
During that summer evening she had been tracking the wind while standing on her little balcony with an anemometer that she had found in a muggle store. It fascinated her the way it did things without magic. This evening she could tell that a storm was rolling in before she had heard the thunder. A mist had just come on the wind, settling over the houses and the river beyond like a grey blanket. She could hear the music from the wireless set that was gently playing the Weird Sister's latest album. Her father didn't approve of the music but he didn't mind as long as she kept it down.
As she dipped her head down to record the anemometer's readings, something caught her eye. Actually, some one. Down at the far end of the rapidly darkening street were two robed figures darting in and out of the lamp light. Zephyris went back into her room and doused the lamp light, cloaking herself in darkness then returned to the balcony to watch the two figures. One seemed to be chasing the other almost. They would catch up to the first one, stop them, then the first one would go ahead a little farther until the other caught up again.
But robed? The only place they could possibly be going was here. Zephyris went to the trap door that lead down to the hallway of the second floor and lowered it. Laying on her stomach, she poked her head down, her curly black hair falling in waves behind her.
"Father!" she called out. There was no answer. "Father!" she called louder. There were footsteps behind her and she strained to turn her head. She felt a hand brush her curtain of hair aside.
"What are you yelling for and…why are you dangling from the trap door?" Severus snapped.
Zephyris smiled at him. "There are two robed people coming up the street," she told him. There was a loud knock on the door. Someone had hit the knocker. "Just thought you should know."
He sighed but gave her a small smile back. "Thank you Zephyris." He patted her cheek began descending the stairs. "And stop dangling. You'll break your neck."
Zephyris pulled herself back up into her room and ran to the balcony to hear who it was that had arrived on their doorstep. As she peeked over the balcony she saw the door crack open shedding light on a very pale and blonde woman. She was very pretty but looked very worried. The other person was another woman with dark hair in tight curls that fell everywhere. She too was pale and looked like she needed sleep. She heard her father address them as Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange.
Bellatrix Lestrange! Zephyris let out a gasp then clasped her hands around her mouth. She pulled away just in time for Bellatrix to miss her as she peered up at the balcony, hearing something. Zephyris crawled back into the window to her room, drew the curtains and turned on the lamp. That woman…She was one of the escapees from Azkaban! But why was she here? Was her father in danger? Wasn't that woman in league with he-who-must-not-be-named? Put in Azkaban for countless tortures and evils.
Zephyris's heart pounded as her mind rushed about with worst case scenarios. As soon as she calmed herself, curiosity took over in waves. Perhaps she could accidentally go down there and find out what was going on. Her ear twitched, picking up the tap tap of the rain that had just begun to come down. Zephyris went to her dresser and picked up her brush. She ran it through her hair and pulled it up into a pony tail. Then she pulled on her tennis shoes and let herself down the trapdoor ladder into the hall.
As she made her way to the staircase and down it to the hall that connected the sitting room at the front of the house and the dining room she could hear voices. Suddenly Wormtail came rushing out of the sitting room, nearly knocking her over, muttering some choice words about her father. He dashed into the kitchen and began noisily gathering cups.
She could hear a woman, Bellatrix she assumed, arguing with her father about something. It was hard to hear. She inched forward and again was almost knocked over by Wormtail who rushed back into the room. He exited again, brushing her. He stopped and turned to look at her but was almost looking through her.
"Must be my imagination…" he muttered as he turned and walked up the stairs. Zephyris huffed. What a rude little man! She shrugged and returned to eavesdropping. She could hear someone raising their voice from time to time but what was being said wasn't clear. If she could only get closer…
Zephyris edged to the door way and pressed herself against the wall, straining to listen as the adults spoke in hushed voices.
"But through all these years, " she heard her father say, "he has never stopped trusting Severus Snape, and therein lies my great value to the Dark Lord." Zephyris frowned in confusion. What in the hell was he talking about? The conversation shifted to the other woman, Narcissa. The woman spoke softly and Zephyris could barely make out what was bind said.
"Draco should be proud!" Zephyris heard Bellatrix say. "The dark lord is granting him a great honor. And I will say this for Draco: He isn't shrinking away from his duty, he seems glad of a chance to prove himself, excited at the prospect—" She was cut off by the other woman crying loudly.
Zephyris walked back to the kitchen. None of this had anything to do with her. She was smart enough to know sensitive information when she heard it. This was private. It must be her father's work with the Order. As complicated as it was, the Headmaster at Hogwarts had informed her that it would be confusing if she heard her father speaking to people about Voldemort. This must have been one of those times.
"Trust your father to do the right thing." He had told her in the great office he inhabited in Hogwarts.
Zephyris began making herself a sandwich, trying not to listen in anymore. Anytime anything came up about Voldemort or the order or anything like that, Zephyris always found herself cold with fear. Her hands shook as she spread mustard on the rye bread.
"You should be proud!" Bellatrix yelled in the other room. Zephyris dropped her knife, startled and it clattered loudly into the porcelain sink.
"Wormtail!" Her father yelled. "Will you keep it down in there! Quit eating all of the food you worthless sack of skin!"
Zephyris cringed and walked to the doorway of the sitting room. "It was me." She said as she stood in the door way, plate in hand. "I'm sorry."
Both women jumped up, wands flying. "Who is she!?" Bellatrix yelled. Zephyris cried out and dropped the plate as she drew her wand with one hand and threw up her arm to as if to shield herself. The plate shattered onto the floor.
"Put your wands away, all of you!" Severus barked as he stood. Narcissa put her wand away immediately while Bellatrix kept hers out.
"Bella, put your wand away. " narcissi said, looking at Zephyris, "That girl can't be any older than my Draco." Her voice waivered.
"Who is she, Severus? A servant?" Bellatrix asked.
Zephyris put her wand away in the back pocket of her jeans and looked at Bellatrix with an insulted scowl. "I live here." She said, "Severus Snape is my father." Bellatrix lowered her wand.
"Your father?" she echoed. She looked at Snape whose face looked oddly blank.
"yes," He said. "Zephyris, come here." In two steps, he made it to her and grabbed her wrist rough enough for her to know she was in trouble but not rough enough for anyone to notice. "This is my daughter, Zephyris Snape." He said to the two women. "Zephyris, this is Bella Malfoy and her sister Narcissa Malfoy."
"P…Pleased to meet you both." Zephyris said with a gentle curtsey.
"Why, she is much prettier than you." Bellatrix said.
"I should hope so…" Severus replied.
"I didn't know you had a daughter." Narcissa said, her voice still shaky as if she would burst into tears at any moment.
"It wasn't widely publicized."
"Why not?" asked Bellatrix. "Is she a…." Bellatrix gasped. "She's a mudblood?!" She shrieked.
"For god's sake no, you silly woman!" Severus said. "Her mother died a few months ago and she was sent here to live with me."
"Who was her mother?" Bellatrix asked warily. Zephyris knew her father was weaving some lies. Did this woman know too? "I don't remember you being with anyone."
"My personal life has traditionally been my own business…" Snape said in his trademark cool and annoyed tone.
The next question came from Narcissa, "but why isn't she attending Hogwarts?"
Severus sighed and gave Zephyris a short glare, "I didn't want her to be in the same school with that annoying little bastard Harry Potter." He said. "Besides, I preferred her education at Durmstrang for obvious reasons."
"Their dark arts program, I assume?" Bellatrix asked.
"So not all your brains were addled." Snape replied.
Narcissa stood up again and had taken Zephyris's hand in her's. She was looking at Snape. "You understand then." She began. "You understand what it's like to have a child! Please! As a father, help me!"
There was an uneasy silence and Zephyris extricated her hand from Narcissa's. "I'm sorry to have interrupted your meeting." She mumbled. "I'll excuse myself."
"Yes Zephyris." Severus said as he flicked his wand at the broken plate. It flew to his hand repaired. "Take this with you and please stay in your room."
"Yes sir." She turned to the two women. "A pleasure to meet you both." She curtseyed again and left before anyone else could say anything. Hurriedly she cleaned her mess in the kitchen and back upstairs. As she pulled the trapdoor down she heard footsteps coming up.
Zephyris turned to meet the eyes of Bellatrix.
"You know who I am, don't' you?" the woman said. Zephyris's skin prickled as the other woman grasped her wrist.
"I know you just from meeting you, ma'am."
"Your father doesn't' think I know who you are." She said cryptically. "But I do."
Zephyris tried to pull her arm away but Bellatrix held it tighter.
"Do you know who I am?" she hissed, her eyes almost mad.
"You..You're Bellatrix—"
"Lestrange." They said in unison.
"Good good," Bellatrix said. "You do know." She squeezed Zephyris's arm even harder. "If you tell anyone I was here tonight, I will track you down and punish you for being a naughty little girl. Do you understand?"
"Yes." Bellatrix wrung her arm even harder, "Ouch! YES! Yes I understand!" Zephyris's eyes widened in fear. "Please let me go. You're hurting me."
The older woman released Zephyris's arm. "Am I?" she asked airily. "I'm so sorry dear." Bellatrix turned to walk away. "Just remember, do not cross the Dark Lord, Zephyris." And with that, she left down the steps. Zephyris dashed up her ladder and pulled the trap door shut. About thirty minutes later she heard her father's voice bellowing up at her.
"Zephyris! Get down here!"
With the quickness, she made her way to the sitting room where her father stood alone. As soon as she was within arm's reach, he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. "Do you have any idea what kind of danger you were in tonight? ANY!? You put both of us in danger!!"
"What are you talking about?" Zephyris cried, cringing in her father's hands. "Why are you yelling at me?"
Severus looked at his daughter then pulled her tightly, hugging her. "You little idiot." He said gently. "The dark lord doesn't know you exist. He wasn't supposed to!" His voice faltered slightly. Zephyris looked up at him confusedly. He rarely hugged her let alone sounded worried. "If I cross him or if anything should happen to me, he'll come after you just as he is trying to come after Dra—" Severus stopped himself. "You know who that woman was, don't you?"
"Yes…she's the one who escaped Azkaban. She killed Sirius Black." Zephyris pulled away a little to look at her father. His face was paler than usual and the lines in his face and on his brow were especially defined by worry.
"…Yes." He said. "She will tell him you exist and I'll have to explain to him why no one knows about you."
Zephyris's eyes widened and she forcefully pulled away from him. "Wait, Why are you talking to the Dark Lord!? What is this all about!!?" she yelled.
"Calm down!" he growled back at her. "Muffliato!" he said, making sure they weren't overheard. "I need to use my previous connection with the Dark Lord to help the order. It seems bad from where you're standing but by staying in his good graces I can help."
"So by doing a little bad you can do a lot of good?"
"Basically, yes."
Zephyris wrung her hands. "But what if something goes wrong? What if you get hurt? What if…what if he finds out?"
Snape looked away for a moment, then back at her. "Those are all rational and real fears, Zephyris. But no matter what, you'll be protected by the order."
"I don't want protection! I want you to be ok!" she cried, bursting into tears.
Severus looked at her and sat down. "Stop that childish crying." He said coldly. "I won't talk to you while you're carrying on that way."
"But what if—"
"I said stop!"
Zephyris quieted herself and sat down where the two witches had sat in the room, across from her father. "I know you didn't want me but please understand that I—"
"Don't say that, Zephyris." He snapped. "That's not true." Severus leaned back in his chair. "You will attend Hogwarts this year." He said as he flicked his want to her open trunk in the corner. Her maroon Durmstrang robes flew out and settled beside them. "We'll have to you new robes and I'll send Prometheus to Dumbledore informing him."
"but I don't—"
"Enough." He said. "You have to. Perhaps if you hadn't been nosing around earlier you could have returned to Durmstrang but now, for your safety, you must attend Hogwarts. It's the best place for you right now. You may not write your friends informing them where you have gone. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir…"
"And from now on, if you are not invited to a meeting or conversation of mine, assume that you are to keep away. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir."
They sat in silence for a moment. The only sound was the storm raging outside.
"Can you wait till the storm clears before you send Prometheus?" she asked. The thought of her beloved owl flying through this storm made her shiver.
"Yes. That's fine." He stood up. "Start gathering your things for school and sort them. We'll be leaving to Diagon alley in a few days, then after that we'll be spending the rest of the summer at Hogwarts."
"Yes sir." She said. Zephyris stood and looked at him. She was still trembling from everything. "Father, I…" she started as he had turned to walk out. Severus paused and looked over his shoulder.
"What is it?"
She threw caution to the wind as she did something she hadn't done since she was small. Zephyris ran to him and threw her arms around his shoulders, buring her head in his chest. "Father, I love you." She said as she held him tightly. "I don't want anything to happen to you."
His body stiffened for a moment. It had been a while since his daughter had hugged him so tightly. She was usually so independent due to their constant separation. She must have been genuinely scared. In a very uncharacteristic moment, he held her back, resting his cheek on her head. "I love you too. Don't be scared, Zephyris."
She said nothing but nodded, feeling safe for the moment in his arms.
"Alright, now do as your told." He said releasing her. He turned and left the room. Zephyris went to her trunk to begin emptying it when she saw something that must have been uncovered by her robes as they zoomed out.
It was something the size of a small book but thin, wrapped in a gold handkerchief with the letters SB elaborately sewn in. She removed the handkerchief and saw the locket book.
"What the?..." she muttered as she opened it. A small bit of parchment fell out with a few words scribbled onto it. It read 'the weeds removed. The weeds to be removed.'
There were many pictures in the locket. Some with names. Some without. She recognized Sirius' picture, a picture of a woman she had met a few times named Tonks but that was about it. As she flipped through, she found herself looking at her own picture. The hair on her neck stood up as she tried to snatch it out of the locket. Some magic must have kept it there for her fingers couldn't pry it out.
At the end of the parade of pictures was another bit of parchment. 'to be or not to be a weed?'
Zephyris closed the locket and tossed it back into her trunk. She thought of telling her father but then didn't. He had enough to worry about than some prank someone was probably pulling on her from school.
Students began filling the courtyard, pulling her from her memories. From across the yard a tall blonde boy walked up to her with two large stupid looking boys. He stopped in front of her and put his hand out.
"My mother said she met you over the summer." He said. "I'm Draco Malfoy."
Zephyris stood, recognizing Narcissa in this boy's features. She grasped his hand and shook it. "Zephyris Snape. Pleased to meet you."
"dreadful about you being in Gryffindor." He said to her.
"I was surprised, to be honest." She told him. "I thought I'd be put in my father's house."
"You would have thought so, huh?" he replied. "Pity, now you're stuck with Potter, Weasley and that mudblood Granger. Your clothes will never get the stench out." His two friends chuckled.
"Please, don't use such language." She said, "I'm a lady."
"Well you should understand that there are some people you don't want to associate with." He told her. "I mean, we can still be good chums."
"no not at all." She said. "Just please, don't use that language around me. I'd appreciate it."
"What, are you some sort of a blood traitor?" he asked with a smirk.
"Did I say I was?" she retorted. "I just don't enjoy flaunting my lineage, that's all."
"why not? That's what it's for." He laughed.
Zephyris just smiled serenely and hoisted her bag onto her shoulder. "not to break up a pleasant conversation, but I must be going to class." She said as she spotted Neville.
"Walk with us. We're probably going to the same place."
"another time, Draco. I've just seen Longbottom and I need to ask him a question about our password. Goodbye!" she quickly walked off, following after Neville.
Draco watched her go. "I think my aunt was right. I bet she is a mudblood too." He said.
**I really hope you liked it! comments are welcome! please don't flame me, ok? ^_^() Again, if you're going to berate me with HP lore, please don't. I'm just having some fun. ^_~ CH4 up soon!**
