Alright, I've seen the 61 views and the review, and I feel so so so so bad about my total disappearance for the last... what is it, like three months or so? So, as an apology, I'm going to post the second chapter early. :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Harry Potter except Vanissa and her back-story, as well as some added scenes and character changes. (You'll see later ;D) Thank you, Fanfiction, for forcing me to admit that! X(

Anyway, the time has come to see the outcome of the young infant Vanissa.

~GharrahGirl

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ALBUS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, we turn our gaze on a one Albus Dumbledore. To anyone who knows him, they will tell you of his wisdom and power. They will speak of his unending kindness and seemingly infinite knowledge. Albus, you see, is the headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He is a rather old man with hair and a beard long enough to pass his belt. He wears half-moon glasses on his crooked nose. He is currently preparing for the Order meeting that is in a few days. He is worried. Both for the Potters and for Bellatrix. The Dark Lord is after them, and they are in grave danger because of it. Bellatrix more than the Potters. Her house is safe, but it has no Secret Keeper. The house is not hidden. It is protected with wards.

The silence of the room is disrupted as Severus Snape walks in, not bothering to knock. Albus looks up calmly, setting his quill down.

"Ah, Severus, to what do I owe this pleasure? Lemon drop?" Albus asks, a small smile on his face.

Severus gives him a look of impatience and frustration.
"Albus, I have never accepted the lemon drops, and I do not intend to now. The Dark Mark was put above Bellatrix LeStrange's house tonight."

Albus stands and walks around his desk, his mood darkened considerably. His worries turn toward Vanissa.

"Then we must waste no time. Come, Severus. We will floo there."

"It is impossible."

"Unless you know the password."

Albus walks to his fireplace, throwing in a handful of floo powder. The entire fireplace roars up with green flames, which Severus and Albus step into without hesitation. Albus stands straight.

"Safe house of Bellatrix LeStrange. Chocolate frog."

They are whisked away through the floo network, fireplaces passing at rather quick paces. In moments, though, they stop in the fireplace of the safe house of Bellatrix LeStrange. Albus walks out to see the door blasted open. Splinters of wood coat the ground. A quick Homenom Revelio charm shows him that only an infant remains in the house.

"She is gone, Severus. Only young Vanissa remains alive in this house."

They walk silently, wands drawn in case of any entering Death Eaters. As they approach the door, Albus points his wand at it. He fears finding the body of Bellatrix in the bedroom.

"Alohamora."

The lock clicks, and the door swings open freely. Inside, there is no body, no sign of Bellatrix. He enters slowly, and Snape stays outside the room. He was never comfortable around infants. He despises the children at the school enough.

Albus approaches the crib and sees Vanissa sleeping, her tiny hand clutching a vial with a memory. Bellatrix's last. He gently takes it and stows it in his robes before picking up Vanissa, who wakes and looks at him with hazy eyes. Her eyes are the only thing that she did not inherit from her mother. No, they are her father's.

He carries her silently from the room, and Severus glances at her. He begins to grow restless. One should not remain in a house marked by the Death Eaters.

"We should leave here quickly, Albus."

"One more thing, Severus."

He goes to the hidden room and opens the door. Severus approaches in curiosity, looking over the hundreds of vials.

"Albus, are those..."

"Memories. Of Vanissa. Bellatrix has long expected Voldemort to find her. She began this the moment Vanissa was born. Hold her for a moment, Severus, while I collect these."

"Albus, I don't-"

"Severus, she is your goddaughter the same as young Draco is your godson."

Albus hands the once again sleeping infant to Severus, who awkwardly holds her in his arms, his face showing his displeasure at the situation. Albus chuckles at the sight before carefully putting every marked vial into a bag charmed to be bigger on the inside. Once finished with that, he pulls the vial from his robe and dates it before putting that in, as well. He closes the bag and stows it in his robes. He turns to Severus, who quickly hands Vanissa back to Albus.

"Bring that pensive with us."

"Why, Albus?"

"It was her mother's. It belongs to her, now."

"What happened here, Albus?"

"I do not know, but I am sure you will at the next meeting with Voldemort. I fear the worst for Bellatrix."

They leave the house silently, flooing back to Albus's office. Once there, Severus sets the pensive down on Albus's desk. He leaves silently, his mind on finding out what happened. Albus, though, turns back to the fireplace and sets Vanissa down beside it. He tosses in more floo powder and sticks his head in.

"Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place."

The kitchen of Sirius' home appears, and he sees Sirius look over, the fork in his hand dropping. He walks over to the fireplace and kneels in front of it. Albus never risks flooing. Something's happened, and his gut is churning as he looks at Albus through the fire.

"Dumbledore... What's happened?"

"I'm afraid that Bellatrix has been taken by Voldemort."

"Where's Vanissa?"

"Here, with me. She will go to her aunt in the morning."

"With Narcissa? Albus, you know her husband's a Death Eater! After all that Bellatrix did to keep her away from that, you're going to hand her into the middle of the table?"

"I have no other choice, Sirius. Lily and James are in hiding, and they were her godparents. She cannot go to them because we cannot lead the Death Eaters to their hiding place. I want you to inform the others of what's happened."

Sirius nods gravely, and Albus pulls his head from the fireplace. The fire returns to normal, and he look down to see Vanissa chewing on one of his many assortments of silver trinkets. The one in question is an old teapot. She's chewing happily on the handle.

Now, on a broader note, the night only got worse. For, just after midnight, Albus was notified that the Potter's had been found and the house destroyed. Their bodies were lost to the rubble alongside Voldemort's. Only young Harry survived. A lightning shaped scar on his forehead the reminder and proof of his remarkable survival of the Killing Curse. He left Vanissa in the care of the school's house elves to take Harry to his aunt and uncle's. When he returned, he took Vanissa to Narcissa's.
In the following month, Bellatrix was found and arrested with a small group of Death Eaters for torturing Longbottom's with the Cruciatus Curse until they went insane. They were taken immediately to St. Mungo's, but they are not expected to recover. The group was sent to Azkaban, and he saw her briefly. She was not the same. Voldemort had done something. She was far more wicked than before. He feared her fate was similar to that which she dealt on the Longbottom's. He feared that Voldemort tortured her until she went mad enough to forget her daughter. Mere days after, Sirius was arrested and sent to Azkaban for blowing up a muggle street, which blew a young Peter Pettigrew to bits. Only a finger was found.

And there is what happened to poor baby Vanissa. Aw, the awkwardness of of Snape with a kid, huh? Which is something stupid for me to say considering my other story, lol :P Anyway, so Vanissa's off to the Malfoy Manor. Oh, the tragedy... Welp, that is it for this chapter. What is coming up? Well, what else but the start of Vanissa's Hogwarts year!? Of course, in the next chapter, it's going to switch from this 3rd person, which, FYI, is killing me! Seriously, I never write in 3rd person. Why? I can't get a single, unobstructed view of events from somebody's POV. It'll start in 3rd person, but it'll switch to first person, naturally. Anyway, I'll just be going, now. I promise on my paintings (a thing that's distracted me lately... I've taken up painting on top of sketching, drawing, writing, work, and school {talk about stretching myself thin, eh?}) Anyway, I swear post the next chapter by... How about Wednesday. Yeah, this'll work. I'll post the day I will post the next chapter, that way I can get past this whole abandoning stories thing I've been prone to do lately.

Wow... That's like a paragraph in itself... Anyway, let's just end this chapter, lol. Now, I'm hoping you liked it. More to come on Wednesday!

Again, I'd like to thank any of you for your patience with me. Not sure I really desreve it, but I'm eternalyl grateful for it. :) Thank you, and good night! Okay, well, it's like 8 in the morning, but it's night to me, lol. Up all night writing and painting when I got a block. Alright, enough talking. Chapter officially over!

~GharrahGirl