Haarii-chan: Alright guys, here's chapter two. I hope you enjoy and please do review!

Severus-kun: Why am I still here, you twit? (glares)

Haarii-chan: (not effected) Oh shush you! You are at least stuck here until this tale is over, BUT you can brew whatever potion you want. Oh, and James Potter and Sirius Black are available for your hexing pleasure.

Severus-kun: (blink blink) May I hex them now? (insert Puppy Eyes of Doom)

Haarii-chan: Kiss first, hex after. (heavy blush)

Severus-kun: (glare) Please?

Haarii-chan: (matches glare) Kiss. First. Hex. AFTER!

Severus-kun: (rolls eyes) Fine. (kisses)

Haarii-chan: (grins) That wasn't so bad was it? Now, off you go!

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE HARRY POTTER SERIES.

Last time:

"Hello Mistress. Sparkles is apologizing for the lack of proper greeting but she has been tasked with easing Young Master through his time of Changing. See, my Young Master is very special and Sparkles is very proud of her task, but will not be able to watch him all the time, so she will permit some questions in return for helping in keeping her Young Master from harming himself. Is a deal?" She ended her speech by sticking out a hand, waiting for the Med-witch to decide whether the good matron would accept or decline her offer. In the background, Sev Snape twitched lightly before settling back into his dreams, for once not haunted by his usual nightmares.

The Med-witch stared at the strange House elf that appeared to either be delusional or actually telling the truth, no matter how absolutely strange it might be. However, her curiosity as to what was actually going on with her patient was so strong that she was considering the elf's offer.

"Before I agree or disagree to this accord, tell me what exactly this so called 'time of Changing' is. And why exactly is this happening now? If this were a traditional magical inheritance, young Mr. Snape would have this happen next year, not this year. I need more information Sparkles."

The elf stared into the witch's eyes, checking for sincerity and something that could prove this woman trustworthy. Eventually deciding that she found what she was looking for, Sparkles motioned for the witch to sit, knowing that there was no way for her young master to awaken from her spell anytime soon.

"Okays. Firstly off, Sparkles' Young Master is actually not humans, but is yets to be all creature. His mama is trulys the human, Mistress Eileen Prince. But Young Master's papa is not human named Tobias Snape; his papa is really being my goodly Master, Puck. When Mistress was young girlie, she makes promise to Master Puck, saying, 'When I's all grown up, I marries you and gives you a good son, a son that can unites the courts of the Fae.' But Mistress Eileen forgets about promise and marries nasty human Snape," she said with so much venom that the matron was taken aback.

"So, did your master spirit her away?" she asked, curious as to the way the tale was going. However, the elf was not quite as quick to answer this time.

"Wills you now swears to be helping my Young Master through his time of Changing? No more questions until Mistress Matron swears," the elf stated.

The Med-witch thought for a while, considering her options until she finally decided that whatever the elf had to say, she would help her young charge have a better future than whatever the abuse-blind Headmaster could do for him currently. She then agreed and asked her question again.

The elf shook her head negatively, flapping her large ear across her face and the back of her head.

"Nos. My Master deeply sad by her, but he not take her away. He still watches her and loves her, but only at big distance. Instead, he visits in nightly dreams, where he reminds Mistress of her promise. Mistress very sads because she unable to leave human. Master also sads because he not able to takes her away unless she and he be married; but in dreams, Mistress and Master can be lovings each others without problems. Only, Master makes mistake one night and instead of staying in dream, visits when Mistress in flesh when she be awakes. He makes Mistress his bride that night . . ." the elf trailed off with a blush which the matron mirrored.

"So, your master slept with Eileen Prince. So, young Mr. Snape is a bastard—"

"NO!" the elf exclaimed. "My Young Master borns from Fae and human marriage; when Fae decides to marry, theys and partners exchange vow, then consummates. And if marriage be trues, baby be made. Young Master be made after Master and Mistress marry." She finished with conviction.

"Alright, alright, clam down my friend. No harm done, no offence meant. I was just curious. Could it be said that the marriage between Eileen and Tobias Snape was not a true marriage?" the confused witch asked and Sparkles nodded her head emphatically, glad that the witch was finally starting to catch on. "So, young Mr. Snape is half Fae, is that correct?" The matron then asked, trying to get her head around all the information she had just received. However, the elf once again shook her head in the negative.

"It is not being possible to be being half Fae. When baby is borns of human and Fae, baby grows up whole human till sixteen winters, then has time of Changing and becomes whole Fae after its nineteenth winter."

"Why is it not possible to be half Fae?" the matron then asked. The elf gave her a look that said 'Are you off your head?'

"Because," the elf said slowly, "Fae bloods and human bloods not able to share body. Fae bloods has too much magic for human body. Plus Fae bloods is being violent by nature . . ." she trailed off, noticing that the witch still wasn't quite getting it. She sighed before continuing, "Fae bloods not play well with others. It converts all other bloods types into same type- Fae."

"So, to put it in simple terms, Mr. Snape's human blood is being killed off?!" the Med-witch asked, her voice steadily rising until the last word was screamed.

"Mistress Matron must be calm!" the elf demanded firmly. The Med-witch breathed deeply and then nodded to the elf to continue. "As Sparkles was trying to explain, Fae bloods too strong for human body and changes other bloods into Fae bloods after nineteen winters of life is being complete. When blood is changing, Fae bloods replaces human bloods, but doesn't kill human bloods. Mistress Matron be knowing that some bloods die every day and new bloods be made?"

The matron nodded; it was common medical knowledge. The body replaces lost blood, but in some cases of extreme blood loss, a blood transfusion or potion like the Blood Replenisher was necessary because the process of making new blood, while not the longest process by far, took longer than some patients had available.

"Fae bloods takes over in body, so body makes Fae bloods instead of human bloods. So Fae bloods not kill human bloods, just replaces what is being lost. But Fae bloods in human's body make human body not stable. Makes human confused, not act normally. During time of Changing, bloods, body, and magic change; bloods becomes Fae first, then magic grows really big, and body finally catches up."

"I see," the witch murmured, absorbing as much information as she could. "But it seems that Mr. Snape here has gone through a drastic change already. Are all of the changes going to be this, how should I say this, explosive? I just learned that the boy comes from an abusive home and if what you say is true, not that it isn't," the woman quickly soothed, noticing the small elf opening her mouth to argue, "then how will I be able to keep him safe? I would hate for him to be alone as well as confused as these changes occur."

Sparkles seemed to deflate a little as she turned adoration filled eyes on her Young Master's sleeping form. "Sparkles doesn't be knowings right now, but she is sure that a goodly plan wills be made to keep Young Master safe during Change. And, to puts Mistress at ease, only little changes happen during most of year, but at summer and winter solstice, biggest changes happen. Young Master only now showing a big change because Sparkles be makings first Change happen little bits faster."

'So, he wasn't suppose to have such a drastic transformation,' the Med-witch thought as she followed the elf's eyes to rest on her patient. Having spent many a night in the Hospital Wing, she was familiar with the sleeping Severus Snape, but looking at him now, she noticed something that she had missed earlier and caused her to remember his earlier transformation. She then furrowed her brows in confusion and cocked her head to the side as if in thought.

"Sparkles," she said, not taking her eyes from the pajama clad teen but still grabbing the elf's attention, "I have known Mr. Snape for a while now and have seen him sleep in this Hospital Wing for nearly as long. So tell me, why was it when he was going through that difficult change, did he not scream? And why are his lips moving, but no sound is coming out? Mr. Snape is an incredibly vocal sleep talker."

"Why must Sparkles repeat herself?" the small elf mumbled to herself before saying with just a tiny amount of scorn, "Fae must give up voice until time of Changing is over."

"Why?" was the prompt reply.

"Fae voice very magical, but must go through several changes before mature. So young Fae not able to speak until voice is ready, then they wills be speaking like they never be stopping. Also means that before time of Changing, voice never really changed. Has you not noticed with Young Master?" the elf asked with a raised brow. The witch giggled a bit, seeing young Severus in that expression. She could tell why this elf had been picked to watch over the teen.

"Actually, Mr. Snape doesn't talk much. Outside of pain filled moans and whimpers, he really just speaks very softly, so it's almost impossible to tell what his voice sounds like. But now that you mentioned it, I have noticed that his voice was higher than what is normal for a boy his age. However, with him, I could never really tell."

"Mistress may being surprised when Young Master talks with true voice again," Sparkles said mysteriously. Looking out of the window, she obviously decided that she had stayed long enough and hopped off her perch, kissed Severus on the forehead and turned back to the Med-witch. "Bye byes now. Sparkles must return to Master, but she will return in two weeks time. But should Mistress or Young Master really need her, simply says, 'I beg the Fae to help Kailen' and Sparkles comes quickly."

"Wait! One last question! Who is Kailen?" the witch called as the elf was about to 'pop' away. The small elf just smiled again.

"Young Master's real name be Kailen. Good night Mistress. Take cares of Young Master please." And with that, Sparkles disappeared with a very small 'pop' leaving Severus Snape asleep on his bed and the Med-Witch lost in thought and information overload.

Severus Snape awoke the next morning, completely unaware that anything had happened since he encountered that strange house elf the afternoon before. His own heart ached within his chest at the thought of Lily's broken one, the one that he broke when he had called her that horrible name. A soundless sob escaped from his throat as he wept for the only friend he had, now lost because he couldn't keep his temper under control. He drew his knees to his chest and placed his face in his hands, knuckles white as they gripped his hair and his shoulders shook with the force of his crying. But not a sound escaped his throat, no matter how hard he tried to scream.

Several minutes later, his sobs subsided into hiccups and his tears stopped flowing. Red eyed, he pushed himself off the bed and stumbled into the washroom to clean his face, and then into the loo. Once he finished, he washed his hands numbly and turned back to the door, not even noticing his reflection in the large oval mirror. Severus barely made it back into his bed before he collapsed, exhausted from his earlier crying. He pulled the blanket up to his shoulders and closed his eyes, trying to forget about the world for just a little while longer.

Two hours later, the Med-witch walked over to Severus and began to gently card her fingers through his now softly curled hair. Eventually, sleepy eyes, one black with small glints of gold, the other black with glints of silver, opened and looked at her. She smiled softly and continued to stroke his hair lightly.

"Good morning Mr. Snape," she softly murmured. "It's time to get up. I have to get you well again so that you can return to classes soon. Come on, first some breakfast and then a shower I should think."

The eyes, once sharp with intelligence and wit, were dull and lifeless as they looked up at her. Severus only nodded and sat up, staring into his lap blankly. The Med-witch sighed before she placed gentle fingers under the raven's chin and lifted his head so that he was looking at her.

"I know that you are upset Severus, and I know that you are confused, but the only way I can help you is if you let me. Don't shut me out Severus. Let me help you."

Severus only continued to look at her as tears welled up in his dull, now quickly becoming pain filled, eyes. His shoulders started to shake again as he mouthed,

"Please. Let me die. Please."

The Med-witch was stunned but her shock quickly turned to anger.

"Mr. Snape!" she said sharply, only to stop when she saw him flinch, "I'm not going to harm you child," she continued much softer. "But a rare magical Inheritance is no reason to want to die, my boy. You'll see. All will be better once—" she stopped shortly, noticing his highly confused stare.

"Magical Inheritance?" he mouthed, forgotten tears falling down his face. "I don't— I'm not—" he cut off, frustrated at his lack of a voice. The witch looked sympathetically before drawing her wand.

"Mr. Snape, I'm going to cast a charm so that the words your mouth makes can be heard. It's a little known charm that Med-witches and wizards use when a patient has damaged or lost their voice. Permissum Os Audimini," she spoke, waving her birch wand lightly over his head. When the boy didn't make a move to speak again, she gently said, "Try now dear."

Severus then opened his mouth again and this time, while his voice wasn't heard, a voice not unlike his usual whispered words said,

"Thank you Madam."

The Med-witch nodded in welcome before motioning the boy to continue.

"I-I am not ashamed of some magical Inheritance, Madam. I-I-I broke Lily Evans heart yesterday, but I don't know why I did it! I just, I just could not stop my temper from attacking the nearest person to me. I-My heart feels like it has been ripped out and destroyed, but the person who did it shoved the useless thing back in my chest to keep me alive. She, my sister, my Lily, she will never forgive me!" He finished with a sob.

The Med-witch could only hug the crying teen close to her and rub his back as he clenched her robes tightly. She then began to stroke his hair again and rock him softly until he cried himself out and only his shoulders bouncing showed his hiccups.

"There, there dear. All will be better soon. I know you are upset, frustrated, confused, and so many other things that you don't understand, but know this," she soothed, pulling his chin up so that the now mismatched eyes looked into hers, "I will be here to help you. Just give it some time." She finished with a smile and lightly kissed his forehead, chuckling at his shy blush. "Now, breakfast, a shower, and then we'll go to work."

At the clap of her hands, a breakfast of porridge, sliced fruit, toast with marmalade, and some lean cuts of bacon appeared with a glass of milk and orange juice on a tray. Severus rubbed his eyes with his sleeve and thanked the witch again softly before tucking into his meal. After the first bites of his meal, he realized just how hungry he was and dug into the food with relish; soon, the plate was empty and the glasses drained. As he set the cutlery on the tray, it disappeared and he scooted off the bed towards the washroom to shower.

There, he unbuttoned the pajama top and gazed in wonder at the lightly muscled, tanned skin— without the terrible scarring inflicted by Tobias—that was not there the previous morning was revealed. Shocked, he looked at the mirror, expecting to see what he had become accustomed to seeing for years: an ugly, scrawny, ghostly pale teen with pure black eyes— just like Merlin his mother had told him— the only major give away that the boy held great magic. Instead, a stranger with black eyes flecked with either silver or gold was staring back at him. This stranger had long, lightly curled raven hair with blue highlights that went to the middle of his back, completely tanned skin, an aristocratic nose, full lips, high cheek bones, and elegant eyebrows. Startled by this strange appearance, Severus touched his face, watching as the teen in the mirror did the same. He also caught sight of the slightly pointed ears and the golden collar that seemed to be tattooed to his throat and, looking down, his wrists as well. Still shunned, Severus removed the rest of his clothing, amazed by the new state of his body. Perhaps this is what the Med-witch meant by rare Inheritance.

After deciding he would ask the witch, he showered, with the only physical pains in his joints bothering him. Unaccustomed to having to wash such long hair, Severus was baffled by the bottles of shampoo and conditioner that appeared along with the soap. Figuring that it couldn't hurt, he decided to wash his hair with both products, but after having rinsed out the shampoo and noticing the blood from his little 'accident' the other day, he chose to scrub his head down again before adding conditioner to the mix. Finally deciding he was finished, the teen left the shower, a warm, fluffy towel around his waist and a second being used to soak up the excess water from his hair.

"Ah, Mr. Snape! Excellent, I have some clothes for you. Just the pants and trousers if you please," the Matron said, not looking at the teen who was blushing at the woman since he was only in a towel. However, he obeyed swiftly and tapped her shoulder when he was done. Seeing that her patient was decent, she procured a hair tie for the teen and cast a mid drying charm at this still wet hair. He tied it back without complaint, though he had flinched when she flicked her wand at him.

"I guess that you have some questions about your current appearance. Shall I answer these questions as we work, or would you prefer to simply talk?" she asked gently, pushing the teen to sit on the bed.

"Either or both is fine," came the soft reply. She nodded and began casting more charms that would show her the different scans of his different physiological systems and his magical pathways.

"Very well. Shall we start with why you were brought to the Infirmary bloodied and barely breathing then?" she asked as an enchanted quill wrote the findings of her scans on a floating piece of parchment. Severus' eyes gained a pained and faraway look before he replied almost robotically,

"It was after the DADA O.W.L. I was sitting under a tree by the lake, waiting for Lily when Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew walked up. Potter was playing with a snitch he had swiped from the Quidditch set, when Black told him to put it away and entertain him. I guess that's when someone saw me because Potter told Black he had found something to 'entertain him.' They soon started taunting me, so I tried to get to my wand. Unfortunately, they cast Expelliarmus on me.

"After that, things are a bit hazy. I remember saying some sort of foul things and having a Scourgify cast at me and then an Incarcerous. Then Lily showed up," he broke off with a sob. "I-I-I don'-don't rem-re-remember m-much, but I-I-I k-know sh-sh-she wa-was de-def-defend-defending me. Th-Then I-I-I wa-was i-i-in-in the air-air, an-and-and P-P-Po-Potter was s-s-saying how-how-how he-he was-s go-going-going t-t-t-to ta-ta-tak-take off-ff m-my tr-trousers. B-But L-Li-Lil-Lily st-still-ll de-fe-nded m-me. Then I-I-I was j-ju-just so-so-so ANGRY th-th-that I-I-I," he sobbed into his hands, unable to even finish his thought, much less his sentences. It just hurt so badly to even think about how much Lily Evans hated him now.

"What happened Severus?" the Med-witch asked kindly. "Oh child, come now. Tell me what happened," she crooned as she rubbed soothing circles on his back.

"I called Lily a Mudblood," he confessed softly, almost inaudibly. At the Med-witch's gasp and flinch, he cried harder, curling himself into a ball. "I don't deserve to live," he cried out, "Please Madam! Let me die! Please kill me, or better yet, let Potter kill me! I can't live with this pain! It hurts so much! Please!" He then spoke in an agony filled whisper, "Please."

"Oh child!" the Med-witch cried, wrapping him in a tight hug. "Oh child," she repeated much softer. "You didn't mean it. I know you didn't mean it. Come now child, there is no reason for you to die. No reason at all. I'm sure Miss Evans will forgive you without a doubt once everything is straightened out. Now come, I need to perform some more tests and I'm sure you would like to know about your Inheritance."

She continued to soothe the pained Slytherin before he had calmed down enough to allow her to continue her tests on his new body. He still felt horrible, but not necessarily suicidal. He then asked her what Inheritance he had gained so early.

The Med-witch smiled and assured him, "So rare and wonderful, I myself have only seen it in one person- you, child. Your Inheritance is called a Fae Inheritance and by the time you are nineteen, you shall become a full-blooded Fae."

"But how did I receive this Inheritance? My mother was a Prince and the blood line would never sully itself with creature blood. And my father is a Muggle," Severus whispered with confusion, though his eyes were considerably harder when he said the words 'sully' and 'father.'

"From what your friend Sparkles the House-elf told me, Tobias Snape is not actually your father. Instead, a Fae by the name of Puck claims that title. Apparently, your mother and this Puck made a pact when she was young that the two would be married and she would give him a son, you. Unfortunately, she married Snape and was unable to fulfill her part of the bargain."

"Then how is Tobias Snape not my father if he married my mother? Am I some Fae's bastard?" Severus asked, confused by the tale the Matron was weaving, but somehow knowing that it was true. Being a bastard wouldn't surprise him too much; his apparent 'father' had been calling him that since he showed his first signs of magic to the man at age five. Severus had actually been doing magic since he was fourteen months old, but his mother had always been nearby to claim responsibility for the strange happenings.

"You know, I asked Sparkles the same thing and from what Sparkles told me, it is not possible to be the bastard of a Fae. Apparently, when a Fae and a mortal decide to have a child, the child can only be created if the two are married— at least in the Fae way, since apparently your mother had married Tobias Snape first, but the marriage was not recognized by the laws of magic as a true and proper marriage. Now, shall I tell you more about this Inheritance process, or would you perhaps like to begin the mandatory physical therapy?" the Matron asked after she wrote down the results of her scans on the chart by his bed and faced the changed teen.

"Will you tell me more about this Inheritance of mine and then I'll do said therapy?" bargained Severus; even though he had been thrown for a major loop, he was still a Slytherin.

"Sneaky Slytherin," the Matron said affectionately with a smirk. "I believe that we can work with that. Now, I admit I don't know much more about your Inheritance, but I do know it is the reason you no longer have a voice. I don't know the specifics, but Sparkles told me that Fae have a very strong and unique magic that is only channeled through their voices. Apparently, when a Fae reaches their coming of age, magic surrounds and paralysis the vocal chords, as you can see by the tattoos on your neck, until the time when the Fae can control the strong magic that their voices contain. It is also the reason your voice never changed, even after you hit puberty."

Severus nodded, absent-mindedly running his fingers over the golden coils inked into his skin. They tingled lightly with each brush of his fingers, but it wasn't unpleasant.

"And my appearance? Is that also part of this Inheritance?" he asked, lightly rubbing his aching wrists. "And why do my bones ache?"

The matron hummed and rubbed a pain relieve salve on his wrists and elbows and then answered with,
"When I was healing you after your accident, which you still haven't finished telling me about, this was how you looked. My guess is that your mother or Puck put a Glamour on you to protect you from the Muggle finding out that you were not actually his son. So no, your looks are pure genetics, '100 percent mix of dear Mummy and Daddy'," the witch joke with a very posh accent and her nose in the air, actions that had Severus snickering.

"And your bones aching would have to do with the fact that you had a rather rapid growth spurt last night. Now then, up you get," she announced, pulling the teen to his feet. "First, stretch your arms over your head as if you were trying to touch the ceiling."

Severus complied, knowing that the sooner he did this, the sooner the Med-witch, who he was rather fond of and thought of as an aunt, would release him from her domain. While he was rather terrified of leaving the comfort of the hospital wing and the matron, he knew that he had to apologize to Lily, or they would never be friends again. So he fulfilled the require exercises, feeling physically more comfortable with himself than he ever had. It was like he had been in clothes that were too small and was finally getting closer to wearing ones that fit; still too small, but closer. This thought and realization had him wondering how much more he would grow before he was at his proper size.

They continued these exercises until well after noon before the witch proclaimed him healthy, returned his robes, magically tailor to fit his longer arms and legs, and sent him to Dumbledore's office with the password, 'Licorice Wands,' and a warning not to divulge his heritage to the man if he was in any way uncomfortable with the idea; to let the Headmaster believe what he wanted to about Sev's appearance. Severus rolled his eyes at the candy password and nodded at the instructions to keep his mouth shut, knowing he would not tell anything to the grandfatherly Headmaster who had never taken an interest in Severus before today. However, he did thank the Med-witch again for taking such good care of him, shocking both himself and the matron when he hugged her tightly, and hurried out of the Infirmary with not only a deep blush, but also a small, content smile on his face.

Haarii-chan: Hope you enjoyed this chapter and review if that is what you wish. Bye Bye!