Warnings: Mentions of violence (sexual and non) against a child in this chapter. Nothing graphic however.

Severus Snape I

31 October 1983 – Royal Palace, Kingstown

Like most weekends, Severus was locked up in his Potions lab in the Royal Palace, experimenting on a new potion. Most people, if they did the same work as him, would probably spend their only two free days of the week, relaxing and going out. Severus didn't have many friends to spend time with however, and being idle was just not in his nature. The study of Potions and the Dark Arts was his passion, and if he was not engaged in one activity, he was in the other.

Five days out of seven, in fact, he worked as the Defensive and Offensive Magic Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and when he was not in class, he was busy marking essays or making plans for the next class he would teach.

At first, he had taken this job more as a way to finance his research than because he was particularly interested in teaching snotty brats the beauty and nuances of the Dark Arts. He soon came to realize, however, that there was a certain satisfaction in passing on his knowledge to others, in shaping young minds and be partly responsible for their future successes.

It was amazing how far he had come since the first time he set foot into Hogwarts. Back then he was just a penniless half-blood whose only saving grace was his mother's name.

It didn't matter that the Prince name was gone, along with everything else that went along with it: the money, the castle, the lands. It didn't matter that Eileen Prince had not been a Prince by name since the moment she had married a muggle. All that mattered was that she still came from one of the most revered Houses in the Wizarding World.

Though the Prince name was not as important as the Dumbledore or the Smith name, it was still considered like nobility and therefore anyone who had it was respected. That was the only thing that saved him from being bullied by his housemates when he was sorted into slytherin.

The first year had been the hardest. He had no friends in his house, and barely any friends outside of it. The only one who really stuck to his side was Lily Potter née Evans.

She had been his best friend since he was 8 and kept being his friend even when she was sorted into Gryffindor. They couldn't openly be friendly with each other because of the hostility that existed between the two houses, therefore very few people were even aware of the fact that they knew each other at all.

Still, they found ways to spend time together, in the library and in deserted classrooms and then, in his third year, he found a hidden room that answered to the needs of the person who used it. Since then, every chance they could get away from their housemates without being noticed, they would spend time there, helping each other with homework and telling each other about their days.

The relationship between him and his housemates improved after his first year however, when he was able to show exactly how much further he was in his studies than most students, not only of his own age but also older than him. He was especially adept in Potions and Offensive Spells, starting to improve the Potions recipes on his books and tweaking on existing spells since his second year, before starting to invent new potions and spells from his fourth year and on.

He became the youngest Potions Master the world had ever seen – at only 19 years of age – and then the youngest Professor soon after, being employed just two years after graduating.

Thanks to his job at Hogwarts, he gained enough money to buy the ingredients needed for his research and in little less than two years, he was able to rebuild the fortune that the Prince family possessed a few centuries back and that they had lost because of poor investments, too-high expenditures and gambling debts.

When James Potter became King, then, only one year ago, he was chosen as part of his Council, as per Lily's suggestion. Lily had in fact married James as soon as they both graduated from Hogwarts and had a child – a daughter – together a few years after.

When they had married, the public had gone crazy over them. James was the heir to the throne and Lily's father had just become Lord Paramount of Scotland, after her grandmother's death, and, of course both were also incredibly handsome, powerful and from eminent families.

Most of the Wizarding World had viewed their love story as something taken directly from the pages of a fairytale book. They were loved and respected by everyone – or at least that was the general impression – therefore, when they became King and Queen, everyone was of the opinion that it didn't exist a more excellent choice.

The pitter-patter of footsteps behind him roused him from his thoughts and he turned around sharply. When his black eyes met Avada-Kedavra green, he huffed a little but a smirk graced his face very briefly.

"And how did you end up here, Princess?" He said, sternly.

The child in front of him smiled at him brilliantly, not at all intimidated by his show of irritation.

"By walking of course, Sev!" She said cheekily. Severus hated being called 'Sev' but he tolerated it from her because he knew she still found it difficult to say his full name.

"I meant, how did you open the door? I locked it."

The child frowned a little in confusion. "I don't know. I just…wished it open."

Severus almost rolled his eyes, once again surprised at the magical capabilities this child had shown since she was one. Not only it was peculiar for a child to show accidental magic so early, it was almost unheard of for a three-year-old to have such control over it. Severus knew that Annabelle Potter would become an amazingly powerful witch once grown-up. For now, though, she was just a nuisance that was interrupting his very volatile experiment with Wolfsbane Potion. He immediately turned down the fire since it was useless continuing now. The potion had assumed a dreadful brown color whose consistency resembled mud. It was completely ruined. He magicked the all thing away with a gesture of his wand.

"Do your parents know where you are, Your Highness?" He asked, already knowing the answer to that.

Anna looked sheepishly at the floor. "They think I'm with Mr. Hollard, learning about the history of our family. But I was bored, so I escaped."

Snape almost smiled at that, but refrained and put on his most intimidating glare instead, the one that all children at Hogwarts knew – even the oldest ones – meant he was very displeased and displeasing him was very dangerous.

It didn't seem to have any particular effect on the child however, because she smiled at him instead. "Come on, Sev. I know you're not really angry."

"History is very important. You shouldn't miss your lessons."

Anna huffed. "I know that. But I've already learned everything he was teaching me. I read 'The History of the Peverell Family' ages ago…" which, in child-language meant not even a week ago. Still, Severus was impressed. That book had been written for children, that was true, but for children much older than Anna currently was, especially because Anna wasn't even supposed to be able to read yet.

"Can I stay here and watch? Please, Sev! I'll be still and quiet and I won't dist-disturb you…" She struggled a little on the last word, before widening her eyes and pouting her lips to the best effect.

Severus shook his head in exasperation, knowing that she had him wrapped around his finger but still not fully ready to admit it to himself. Severus had never particularly loved children, and becoming a teacher had probably worsen his opinion of them but Anna was different. Not only was she Lily's only child, she was also a particularly bright and curious one, and if there was something Severus appreciated, it was the thirst for knowledge.

"Very well, your Highness. Sit there on that chair and don't move!" Severus ordered. Anna smiled her bright smile at him and did as she was told. Severus was just about to begin with his experiment once again when a loud bang reverberated from outside the chamber. Then he heard screaming and curses, then spells shouted from different directions. It all was coming from upstairs, the Throne Room.

Severus turned to look at Anna and noticed the expression of utter fear painted on her face. "What's going on Sev?" She asked with a trembling voice.

"I don't know." Severus replied, clutching his wand in his right hand before he had even realized he pulled it out of his hostler. "Be quiet now and come here." He gestured with his hands to hop on his arms and Anna did without complaining. She was still small enough that he could take her in his arms without tiring too much.

He opened the door of his lab cautiously and checked in every direction for a sign of someone but the corridor was deserted. He walked slowly and carefully until he reached the upper level and that's when he noticed the rubble of columns and window shards, chunks of the rooftops that had collapsed and bodies, some passed out, others probably dead; they all belonged to the royal guard and they were all out of commission.

"Don't look, Princess! Don't look!" He said to Anna when he noticed her wide eyes taking in the disaster around her. It was too late though, the child had already seen it all, her eyes wet with tears.

"Where's mum and dad?" She asked with a trembling voice.

"I don't know." He repeated. "But we'll find them."

Anna nodded and hid her face in the folds of his cloak.

Severus kept walking, wand at the ready when he heard it. A woman screaming. Lily.

Severus ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Finally, after interminable minutes, he turned a corner and saw them, through the open door, the two thrones at the end of the room, occupied by the King and Queen, their bodies positioned like dolls in their seats, their eyes vacantly staring in front of them, their body immobile and rigid, with their hands left to dangle uselessly over the armrests.

"Mum! Dad!" Anna screamed, fat tears running down her cheeks in her desperation.

"Don't look, Princess, don't look!" Severus repeated in a whisper, voice broken.

He didn't lose any time thinking about what he was doing, all his attention focused on protecting the child in his arms. He pulled his emergency portkey around his neck from out of his robes and activated it with the touch of his wand. A few seconds later, he felt the tug at his navel that meant the portkey had activated and then…he reappeared in a dark alley in the middle of Muggle London.

Severus didn't know exactly where to bring Anna but he knew she couldn't stay in the Wizarding World at the moment, not until her parents' murderers would be caught and brought to justice. For now, she was in danger.

Severus noticed the sign of the orphanage at the other hand of the street and cursed himself for what he was about to do. It was the only way though, for now.

He turned towards Anna and took her wrist in his hand: "I'm sorry, your Highness but this will hurt. Try not to scream." He pointed his wand at the pallid skin and carved the rune of untraceability on her wrist. Anna whimpered at the pain, her eyes filling once again with tears but she didn't cry aloud.

"I'm almost done." Severus said, drawing the last line.

Once done the rune turned black like a tattoo and then disappeared under her skin.

"There. All done." He said, hugging her a little closer to his chest. Anna nodded, her face still streaked with tears. Now, if someone would try to find her through magical means, they wouldn't be able to. Immediately after he cut a lock of hair from her head, planning on using it as decoy somehow. He tied it with a string and hid it in his pocket.

"Now," He said, starting to walk towards the orphanage. "I will have to leave you in this building right here, Princess."

"Why?" Anna asked, her voice trembling with fear.

"It's to protect you. Bad men killed your parents and they could be after you next. Here you'll be safe and one day, when I'm sure the ones responsible for killing your parents can't hurt you anymore, I'll be back for you. But not now, now you have to stay here, do you understand?"

Anna nodded but she still looked miserable.

Severus kissed her forehead to reassure her, feeling awkward. He had never being good at consoling people, especially children who had just lost her parents.

"Also, remember. Your name is not Annabelle Potter. You're not a Princess anymore. From now on, your new name will be Anna Evans. Do you understand?"

"Anna Evans. Yes. My name is Anna Evans." Anna nodded, trying not cry once again. "Is it to protect me from the bad men? So that they can't find me?"

Severus smiled at her. "Yes, that's exactly right."

Finally, Severus reached the doors of the orphanage and knocked on the door. He heard the steps coming closer from the other side and put Anna on the ground. "I have to go now. Good luck Anna."

"Bye, Sev!" Anna said, the tears streaming down her face yet again.

Severus apparated away and reappeared on the main street leading to the Royal Palace. It was the apparition point for everyone who lived or worked in the palace since, just like Hogwarts, you couldn't apparate in or out of it. People were always streaming about therefore when he arrived, they noticed him but everyone kept going about their business all the same. The news about the Potters were probably still not common knowledge, which would work perfectly for his cover story.

There was always a guard at the entrance, but this morning he had not seeing him come in. Lily had in fact given him clearance months ago to use his portkey to get directly into the palace when he had to work on his Potions, since most of the time he stayed locked up in his Lab day and night and nobody even knew he was there. Therefore, as far as everyone knew, he had not even been in the palace at all today.

He greeted the guard with a nod of his head and walked on, feigning obliviousness about what he was going to find inside. It was a good twenty minutes' walk from the front gate to the actual Palace doors, so it was understandable why the guard had no idea either, what had happened to the Royal couple.

He climbed the steps slowly, his gate relaxed. Nobody watching him would have known he had just seen the body of his best friend not even 15 minutes ago, or that he had just left the rightful Queen of the Magical United Kingdom into a muggle orphanage.

He was not even halfway through when the alarm started to sound. Suddenly everything was chaos. Severus started to run towards the palace, like everyone else.

Half an hour later, the most important people of the Kingdom were all stacked in the Throne Room – now devoid of bodies fortunately – to discuss what just happened. The bumbling fool Cornelius Fudge, the Head of the Auror department Rufus Scrimgeour, all the Lords Paramount and most of the Heads of the Noble Houses to name a few.

Albus Dumbledore – the headmaster of Hogwarts as well as Lord Paramount of Ireland – took control of the situation while Tom Riddle – a powerful and influential half-blood whose mother was a Gaunt – brought two floating bodies to the front of the room, before dropping them directly below the steps leading towards the two thrones.

Severus recognized them immediately as Alecto and Amycus Carrow. The infamous Carrow twins came from a Dark pureblood family in ruin and since Hogwarts, they had been obsessed with regaining the privileges they had lost. They were powerful, vicious and without much common sense. Severus knew they were perfectly capable of murder but why murder the King and Queen? What could they possibly thought to gain from that?

Riddle brought forth two witnesses – Severus recognized them as two of the Royal Guards he had found unconscious outside the Throne Room – and both confirmed that those were the people who attacked the Palace. After that, swift justice was administrated, with both condemned to the Dementor's Kiss. The sight was horrifying but Severus didn't look away.

He wished he could say he felt better after knowing that justice had been served but there was still something nagging at his mind. Why nobody had seen fit to question the Carrows before giving them the Kiss? Severus couldn't believe that they thought about this plan all on their own. Someone else must be behind it. Someone who had probably promised the Carrows something in return. Something that had not been delivered since they were now just soulless bodies. Was it possible that they had chosen to give them the Kiss as soon as possible to make sure they would never talk?

Severus was feeling more and more suspicious, especially after seeing Sirius Black – bound and stunned – being taken directly to Azkaban without a Trial. Severus knew that, as James's best friend and Hand of the King, Sirius was supposed to be the one chosen as the Secret Keeper but Severus had always thought that he was too obvious of a choice. Of course, he wasn't sure since nobody but the King, the Queen, the Hand and the Secret Keeper knew but he was rather sure that James and Lily had chosen someone else to entrust the secret of the Royal Palace's wards to.

Now, with Sirius arrested without being questioned, they would never know if that was true or not.

As soon as that was out of the way, the focus shifted towards Annabelle Potter. Dumbledore and Riddle – two of the most accomplished Legilimens of the last two centuries – interrogated anyone who could have known of her whereabouts but nobody seemed to have any idea where the child was. Severus thanked his zeal in wanting to master every branch of magic for learning both Legilimency and Occlumency since he was a student at Hogwarts. That was the only reason why he was able to lie to Dumbledore's face without being found out. Fortunately, nobody really knew how close he and Lily actually were – or how much he cared for Annabelle – so Dumbledore didn't try to probe too deeply into his mind.

When it came Remus Lupin's turn – another one of James's friends – however, both Dumbledore and Riddle dug into his mind without finesse or gentleness of any kind. They were convinced he was the one who had hidden the child somewhere but they weren't able to find anything to prove their suspicions correct.

The more he observed the behaviour of both men, the more Severus was convinced that they were somehow involved in Lily and James' murder. He breathed a silent sigh of relief that he had taken Anna away from the palace as soon as he did and hidden her away. He didn't want to imagine what would have happened to her if she had still been there at their arrival. They probably would have found a way to kill her as well and blame the now soulless Carrows for it.

When they finished 'interrogated' him, Lupin looked like he had been aged ten years – which was the way he usually looked after a full moon. Lupin was a werewolf and everybody knew it. When James had chosen him to be part of the Royal Council, people had protested but James hadn't cared. They had been best friends since they were eleven and James was not about to turn his back on him just because he was King.

Severus remembered perfectly his speech when he had chosen all members of the Council: 'It doesn't matter where you come from, who your families are, or if you turn into an angry wolf once a month. You were chosen because of what you can do. Every one of you has certain skills and expertise that makes you invaluable for this Court.'

Though Severus had never had any particular interaction with James or his friends – the so called 'Marauders' – at Hogwarts except for classes, because he was a Slytherin and they were Gryffindors, he had always believed that James was an arrogant, spoiled child and had always wondered what it was about him that had made Lily fall in love with him. After listening to that speech however, he had understood and Severus had respected him for that.

Now he was dead, Sirius was in Azkaban and Remus Lupin was about to be thrown in the streets – literally since he really doubted that anyone would ever hire a werewolf. The only one left of the Marauders was Peter Pettigrew and the fact that neither Dumbledore nor Riddle had even paid attention to him, let alone interrogate him, made him wonder if he had been the one Chosen as the Secret Keeper after all. No one really paid attention to Pettigrew; nobody would have thought James would have entrusted such an important thing to him. He was the perfect choice.

Except for the fact that he had betrayed them.

It made too much sense. After all, Severus didn't believe that Sirius Black would ever betray his best friend. Especially because what would he have gained for it? He had been one of the most important men in the Kingdom, he had the King's complete trust, he was Annabelle's – the then heir to the Throne – godfather, and he was Head of the Black Family, with everything that came with it. Why would he betray them? Logic said that he didn't. And if Lupin had been the Secret Keeper, Dumbledore and Riddle would have send him to Azkaban as well, or Kiss him to keep him quiet, forever, just like they did with the Carrows.

Instead, Pettigrew had been left alone. Why? The only thing Severus could think of, was that Dumbledore or Riddle – or both – knew something about Pettigrew that he didn't want anyone to find out. Something they had used to 'persuade' him to betray the Potters and, at the same time, something that assured his silence about their involvement.

When the search party for Annabelle Potter was organized, he pretended to go looking for her like everyone else. Instead, he followed Pettigrew. What he found made him want to vomit. Instead, he decided to turn the situation to his advantage.

Pettigrew had left the Palace and made his way through the forest that extended on its south side. It was a dilapidated building that reminded him of the Shrieking Shack at Hogsmeade, the little town at the foot of the hill where Hogwarts had been built.

Inside, there was a little girl, 3 or 4 years old at the most, pale and with long black hair covering her face. Her resemblance to Annabelle didn't escape his notice and he clenched his fists in anger at what it meant. Her small arms were tied over her head with a heavy chain, her naked body covered in cuts and bruises. From that distance he couldn't tell if she was still alive but the blue on her lips made him suspect she wasn't.

Pettigrew was walking towards her slowly, his back hunched, hands wriggling nervously in front of him. He looked like he was uncertain what to do. Snape didn't give him time to decide. He blew the door to pieces and petrified him before checking the girl's vitals. Like he suspected, she was dead.

That was the moment when he devised the plan that would convince the Wizarding World that Annabelle was dead.

Fortunately, the child had been dead for less than two hours – the implications that, while James and Lily were killed, Peter was there, raping and torturing a little girl that looked like Anna made him shudder in disgust – so he could still administer the potion that would forever alter her appearance.

It was a derivative of the Polyjuice Potion that he had invented by chance, after an experiment gone wrong with said potion. Polyjuice potion gave the drinker the appearance of someone else for only one hour and made the drinker look exactly like the person whose hair or other part of the body it is added to the potion. The drinker would therefore not only acquire the appearance of said person but also gain the same condition this person was in when the hair or nail had been taken from the body and added to the potion.

The potion he had invented, on the other hand, altered irreversibly the appearance of the drinker but left him with the same injuries and marks that he had been in when he had drunk the potion.

Fortunately, he had a small glass vial with him because he had planned on showing it to the King the next day, letting him decide if they should reveal the recipe to the public and allow the potion to be sold or not. Such a potion, in fact, could be very dangerous in the wrong hands and Severus didn't have the authority – nor did he want to have it – to decide what to do in cases such as this.

He didn't lose any time in searching Pettigrew's mind for information regarding the child and where he had found her and was disgusted – but also relieved – to find out that the child had been a muggle orphan and that therefore nobody would come looking for her, nobody would even notice she was gone in the first place. Peter had certainly chosen the perfect target. With a snarl of anger, Severus used a spell he had invented – the Sectumsepra – and killed him without remorse.

Then he added Annabelle's hair to the vial and used a spell to make the child's throat swallow the potion. A few minutes later, he watched with revulsion as the child took on Annabelle's appearance – lightning bolt scar on her forehead she had acquired during a magical accident when she was one included.

He freed the child's arms then and took off his cloak to wrap it around her body before levitating Pettigrew's form out of the shack and back towards the palace.

An hour later, after he had presented the body of 'Annabelle Potter' to Dumbledore and Riddle, recounted how he had found Pettigrew and why he had killed him, he was brought to the Ministry for further questioning. They questioned him under Veritaserum but since he had built a tolerance towards the potion since he was 15, he had no problem lying while pretending to be under its effect. They let him go after that, establishing that his decision to kill Pettigrew was justified under the circumstances – especially since he had affirmed that Peter tried to kill him first in his desperation at being found out.

A day later he attended the funeral of the entire Potter family and two days later he took part in the extraordinary Wizegamot meeting held to nominate the new Chief Warlock, elect the new King or Queen and any other position necessary.

Nobody was surprised when Dumbledore was chosen as the new Chief Warlock. The choice had been between him and Amelia Bones, the two members of the Wizegamot considered by everyone the most qualified to cover such a role. Everyone had known, of course, that James had intended to support Amelia Bones against Dumbledore, feeling that Dumbledore had already too much power and that he would use such a role to further his own agenda instead of thinking of the Wizarding World's best interests. The King's vote would have assured Amelia's election but now the King was dead and therefore Dumbledore had no one left to oppose him.

Dumbledore put forth Hepzibah Smith as the new Queen, since she was the only pureblood left of the four Great Houses who wasn't still a toddler, and the vote went along without any trouble.

What did surprise, on the other hand, was Dumbledore's choice of new Lord Paramount of Scotland. Lord Evans – Lily's father – had in fact died a few weeks ago and everyone thought the new Lord Paramount – since Lily was ineligible because she was Queen – would become Lord Sayre, Lily's cousin. Dumbledore surprised everyone when he, instead, supported Tom Riddle.

Everyone knew, of course, that Riddle's mother was a Gaunt but his father had been a muggle and worse than that, the direct Gaunt line had been taken out of the succession when both Marvolo and his son Morphin had been arrested after killing three muggles. That Tom Riddle was both Marvolo's grandchild and Morphin's nephew and son and grandson of the muggles the two Gaunts had killed, made the situation all the more peculiar.

But Dumbledore had said that the sins of the father (or grandfather in this case) don't have to fall on the son and that, even if Tom was a half-blood, he was still the closest relation to both Slytherin and Peverell thanks to his mother and therefore the rightful choice, the only choice possible really. After such a speech, most people were convinced and Tom Marvolo Riddle became the new Lord Paramount of Scotland.

A few weeks later, Cornelius Fudge mysteriously renounced his position as Minister of Magic and Rufus Scrimgeour was elected in his place – once again thanks to Dumbledore's intervention.

Severus had already had doubts after what had happened when Lily and James had been killed but now, after so many changes in powerful positions, all somehow connected to Dumbledore and Riddle, he knew that the Potters' death had been carefully orchestrated and that Anna's life was more in danger that he had first realized. He had no choice. Anna needed to stay hidden in the muggle world until she would be old enough to learn magic and defend herself. He would make sure she would take her rightful place upon the throne when the time came. But for now, Annabelle Potter needed to stay dead.