Arista politely nibbled at the sandwiches and snacks, for though she was hungry, she
was unable to resist darting sidelong glances at the tall man seated to the left of the old white-bearded wizard. He seemed familiar to her somehow, as if she'd seen him before, though this was the first time they'd ever met. His name was the same as her own, and she wondered if they were distantly related somehow. Snape was a popular name in Yorkshire England, she'd read.
The nagging feeling in the back of her mind persisted all through lunch, until the
moment that Professor Snape offered to take her on a tour of the gardens. The slight
hesitancy in his speech, as if he was unsure of her reaction, coupled with the way he tilted his head, clicked in her brain.
Why, he's the man in my locket! she realized with a jolt of amazement. The one
holding my mother and smiling. Her hand moved automatically to stroke the locket, she often touched the necklace for comfort. He was the "Sev" of the locket, she was certain of it, she'd stared at the portrait often enough over the years, imagining what her parents had been like.
That's my father sitting across from me, she thought in a kind of dazed wonder. My
real father. I'm not an orphan any more. Hard on the heels of that thought came another, less pleasant one. If he's my father, why didn't he ever come and see me all these years? Could the spell Jenna said my mom put on the locket to hide me from enemies have kept him away too?
She liked that explanation better than the only other reason—that he didn't care to
know his own daughter. What kind of man didn't like his own child? He had certainly loved her mother, if the sentiment on the back of the locket and the portrait were anything to go by.
She glanced over at her teachers, wondering if they knew the Potions Master was her
father. Something in their manner told her they knew as well as she did. She had always been able to read people that way, a legacy inherited from her mother, who'd been the strongest empath in the Dark Hunters.
From the slightly awkward way Jenna and Colin were behaving, Arista assumed that
the knowledge was recent, perhaps as recent as her own deduction. That made sense, for when she'd asked them about her parents when she'd first gone to live with them in the Poconos, they'd only spoken of her mother and her father had never been mentioned. Intuitively she'd sensed they didn't know anything much about him, and thus she'd never asked again. She had naturally assumed he was dead too, otherwise why would she have been sent to an orphanage?
To find him here, alive and well, was disconcerting to say the least. Questions
burned the tip of her tongue, but she had better manners than to just blurt them out in the
middle of lunch, where everyone could hear. They were personal issues, things she would talk about with no one else except the professor.
Thus it was with relief that she accepted Snape's invitation to accompany him on a
tour of the grounds. She followed obediently on his heels, reflecting that he was much taller in person than he looked in his portrait.
Taller and more imposing. The man in the locket was young and happy, he looked
easy to talk to. She had often imagined conversations between them, as a matter of fact. But the stern professor in his black robes seemed about as approachable as a stone statue.
Or a porcupine, curled in a ball, bristling with prickles. The prickles were a defense
to keep others at bay, but perhaps if she were patient, he would uncurl and tell her about himself.
She hid a grin, wondering what he would think if he knew she'd just compared him
to a porcupine. But the comparison was apt, she knew that instinctively. The animal
comparison was a game she played when she met strangers, it helped to set her at ease, since she'd always found it easier to understand animals than people. Professor Dumbledore reminded her of a kindly old owl, wise and knowing.
A porcupine then, well I know how to deal with porcupines. You just have to know
how to handle them the right way, respectfully and gently.
Thus, despite the fact that her curiosity was killing her, she did not start off
questioning Professor Snape right away. She remained silent, waiting for him to speak first.
He pointed out several types of roses, a hyacinth, then he halted beside a large
lavender bush, which filled the air with its calming scent. Arista inhaled deeply, she loved the aroma of the purple flowers.
"Lavender. It has many properties, especially to calm and soothe the body and the
mind. It can be used as an oil to disinfect cuts and also as a tea to help people sleep
dreamlessly. A necessary ingredient in any sleeping draft." He broke off his lecture to eye her thoughtfully, then said, "This was your mother's favorite plant, did you know that?"
"No, sir. Colin and Jenna—they told me to call them that—" she added when he
frowned at her in disapproval for addressing her teachers so familiarly. "—told me a few things about her, but not that."
"You look so very much like her," he murmured, almost to himself. "So very much."
"Everyone says that. But then, you'd know best wouldn't you?" She looked right at
him and in her eyes was an unmistakable recognition.
Snape stared back at her in astonishment. "Do you know who I am? But they said
She nodded. "You're Professor Snape. But you're also my mom's Sev—the one
who gave her this locket." She held it up so it caught the light. "I recognized you from your picture. You're my father, aren't you?"
"I am. You're my daughter, the daughter I never knew I had, until today."
Arista's brow wrinkled in puzzlement. "My mom never told you? Why not?"
"I wish I knew. I can only surmise that she wished to inform me in person, rather
than a letter. Walk with me this way, if you please. There's a bench nearby, we can talk there comfortably." He led her over to a stone bench carved with hummingbirds and owls. He gestured for her to sit down.
She did so and he settled beside her. Then he cleared his throat and said softly,
awkwardly, "I know this must make you feel . . .bewildered and confused, perhaps. Neither of us was expecting this, to say the least." He shook his head, his mouth twitching into a half-smile. "Your mother was always fond of surprises. Both of giving them and receiving them. The last time she wrote to me, she mentioned a surprise she had for me. At the time, I assumed it meant she would come to visit me after she'd finished her case. She had promised to return to me someday, you see. But now I think she meant you, Arista. In fact, I'm almost certain of it."
"But why make such a big secret about it? People have babies every day."
"How much do you know about your mother's last case, the one she was working on
before she died?" he asked suddenly.
Arista considered for a moment. "Well, I know she was working on a top secret case
for the government, trying to bring in a really wicked necromancer named Livia Nightshade. Nightshade's on the Most Wanted List for practicing dark magic, murder, kidnapping, and a bunch of other crimes. Colin told me that just before we came here, he said it was important to know your enemies."
"He was right. Knowing your enemy is half the battle." Snape agreed. "So you know
how dangerous Nightshade was, and that she was most likely the reason your mom kept your existence a secret. Amelia knew Nightshade would seek out anything she could use against your mother, and you were the most obvious target—a helpless little baby. Amelia's first priority would have been to protect you, and that was why she hid you among Muggles, because that would be the last place a dark sorceress would look. She enchanted the locket, placed it on you, and only then did she continue with her mission. I think, and your guardians agree with me, that she meant your placement with that orphanage to be a temporary thing. She would have returned to you when she finished her case and brought you here to see me. But she never got the chance."
"Because Nightshade killed her."
Snape nodded heavily. "Yes. And that is why I never knew of you and why you
remained at that orphanage until the Flynns adopted you. I wish it had been otherwise, but we can't always have what we want, now can we?" He gazed at her, loss and longing in his dark eyes. "Understand, if I had even suspected that you had been born, nothing short of death would have stopped me from coming for you. Nothing."
"I believe you," she said, sensing the utter sincerity in his voice and his manner. He
was not lying, he truly meant every word he said. She took his hand in hers, and her
empathic talent could feel the truth of his words when she touched him. It was a great relief, to know that she was not unwanted, had not been cast aside like an old shoe.
"Sometimes, when I was little, I used to dream about what you were both like. Most
of us kids did, it was like a game, wondering what your real parents were like and what kind of life you'd have had with them. Most of the kids there didn't even have a picture to go by, just their imagination. Some of them weren't even sure if their parents were dead, only that they'd been given up," she recited, a far away look in her eyes.
"I was lucky in a way, because even though I thought you two were dead, at least I
had the locket. Because of that I never had to wonder if my parents loved each other or whatever. The locket said it all. Mrs. Dowd, the orphanage manager, said it was very
special and I should never take it off. Of course, she didn't know it couldn't be taken off, not until two years ago. I always knew the locket was special, because whenever I touched it, it felt warm and there was this feeling of love and peace it gave me. I used to sleep with my hand on it when I was little, and I was never afraid of the dark."
Amelia must have put some kind of empathic charm on it, Severus thought dazedly.
Just in case she couldn't return, she wanted our daughter to grow up knowing we loved her, so she'd never wonder about it.
"That sounds like something your mother would do. She was an amazing woman,
one of the best magicians I've ever known. Did they treat you all right at that place? They didn't hurt you or anything? Because if they did . . ." the warning in his tone was
unmistakable.
"No, they weren't mean to us or anything. They didn't beat us, or starve us, or lock
us in closets with rats, like all those movies about orphanages," Arista reassured him. "Mr. and Mrs. Dowd liked kids, they couldn't have any of their own. They were state funded, and Pennsylvania Child Welfare Services did unannounced inspections all the time. The Dyfus people would show up out of the blue and one of the things they insisted on was talking to all of us orphans, by ourselves. The social workers asked us all kinds of questions, to make sure we weren't being abused or anything like that, and if we liked school, and were getting regular doctors appointments.
"We really couldn't complain too much. I mean, the food wasn't great, but you
could eat it, and most of our clothes were hand-me-downs, but they weren't falling apart, and we got presents on Christmas and our birthday, so it was pretty good. We even got secondhand books from the library, and that was the best of all."
She emphasized the word "books" the way another child might have said
"Quidditch", showing him quite clearly that she'd inherited his love of the written word.
He was relieved that her years in the Muggle orphanage weren't as bad as he'd
envisioned, at least she hadn't endured the nightmare of his own childhood. He wouldn't have wished that on anyone, especially not his precious child.
"Colin tells me that you're a very talented Healer. He said your first act of magic was
bringing a cat back to life after it had been run over. I don't know where you inherited that gift, maybe from your mother's side, because I don't know anyone in my family who could heal like that."
"Must have come from somewhere, I guess," she shrugged nonchalantly. "I'd just
turned eleven, it was a day or so after my birthday, in fact. I'd wanted a cat for my birthday, but pets weren't allowed, 'cause some of the kids were allergic and stuff. So I got a cat encyclopedia and a stuffed one instead. Some of the others kids were making fun of me, asking how I liked my new kitty, stupid stuff like that. Tommy Barnes threatened to throw it in the fishpond, but I threatened to deck him one and he didn't, he was always a little crybaby. A couple of the older boys were hanging out down by the road, and they thought it'd be funny to play a joke on me. They ran up laughing and said, "Hey, Arista, you know how you always wanted a cat for your birthday? Well, maybe old Dowd will let you have this one, since nobody else'd want it! Go take a look, it's down by the fence row."
"So I went to see. There was a marmalade tabby lying on the side of the road, it had
just been hit by a car. I knew that because when I touched her, she was still warm. She was dead, but when I touched her, I could feel her somehow. A part of her spirit was still there.
I could feel it hovering over me, trying to get back into its body. I could hear it meowing
in my head. At first I thought I was going crazy, but then I just felt so bad for it, I didn't care about me any more. I wanted to help it, so I put my hands on its body. My sight went all blurry and then I could see inside the cat's body. Bones were broken and she had some internal injuries. I thought about trying to heal what was wrong and suddenly I knew how. I concentrated really hard and it just happened. There was this white light coming out of my hands and when I blinked it was gone and the cat was alive.
"I remember looking at her and laughing, "You were dead and now you're alive."
It was like a miracle and somehow I'd healed her. It was the most amazing feeling. When the other kids came over, I told them the cat wasn't dead after all, just stunned, because how else could I explain a dead cat coming back to life when I'd touched her? But I knew that was what I'd done."
"Then the Flynns found you and became your guardians, am I right?"
"Uh-huh. You should have seen their faces when they first saw me. I thought Jenna
was going to pass out right there. I guess it was kind of like seeing my mom's ghost." Snape nodded, for he'd had much the same reaction. "When they told me I was a magician and took me to live with them, Colin told me that my healing the cat that way was pretty near impossible, even for wizards. Then how'd I do it? I asked. Jenna says that my healing gift is so strong and I wanted so much to make the cat alive that somehow the magic did it. She also thinks that because the cat had just died, I could feel its spirit and that's how I was able to put the two back together. If it had been dead any longer, nothing could have brought it back."
"They are correct, in a sense. Although your mother was fond of quoting to me that
nothing is impossible with magic." Severus related, shifting slightly on the bench. Then he said in a rather sharp tone, "You do know that raising the dead is not something you ought to do, no matter how powerful you are? Death is part of the natural order of things. We are born and we die and that is what is meant to be. Tampering with that is most unwise, and therefore forbidden. It disrupts the Balance between life and death, and consequently good and evil," Snape lectured quietly. "Only a dark wizard considers himself above the Law of the Universe, only he is arrogant enough to think the rules don't apply to him and that he may break them with impunity. Do you understand what I'm saying, young lady?"
"I'm not sure. You think I'm like a dark magician because I resurrected a cat?"
"No, listen to me!" he ordered with a hint of exasperation in his tone. "You did that
unknowingly, and with the best of intentions. You can't be held responsible for an honest mistake. Evil lies in the intent as well as the deed. The necromancer who summons the dead from the grave knows he does wrong, that he disrupts the Balance, yet he chooses to cast the spell anyway. All I'm saying, Arista Snape, is that you must be careful. With a gift like yours, it's too easy to misuse it, and do great harm while trying to do great good."
"I promised Colin and Jenna when I apprenticed with them I'd never resurrect
anything again. They said there was a time for all things and not even a magician who can heal has the right to change that," Arista said solemnly.
"That is a very important lesson. See that you never forget it. As a Healer you may
save those who are a breath away from death, but once they are gone, you must let them go. Or else be guilty of practicing dark magic." Severus stressed, eyeing her sternly.
"I'll remember, sir. I would never disgrace my mother's memory by becoming a
dark magician. Or you, either," she added. Then she looked off to the left across the
expanse of lawn to the huge shadow of the Whomping Willow. "What's that tree over
there? It looks. . .weird."
"That's the Whomping Willow. It was planted on the grounds the year I started
school, twenty-three years ago. It's partly sentient, and will strike at anything that comes in range of its branches. I'd advise you to stay away from it, it can kill you if it hits you just right."
"Why do you have it here, if it's so dangerous?"
"It was planted because one of the students in my year was under a werewolf curse.
The tree was made to contain him when he transformed and to keep other students safe from him."
"Oh. I've been reading about werewolves, there's a new potion you can make to
contain a werewolf's rages, so he doesn't become an insane beast. It's called the Wolfsbane Potion."
"I know, I've made it on several occasions. It allows the werewolf to transform to
a full wolf form and sleep through the full moon. So far, it's the closest we've come to a cure for lycanthropy."
"Lycanthropy's a disease, right? I mean, when a person is bitten by a werewolf, he
infects the victim. The poison's in the saliva, like rabies. And once it's in the bloodstream it attacks all the healthy cells, like a virus, until it either destroys them or mutates them."
"Correct. It's a particularly nasty disease, over half of those who survive the initial
bite go mad eventually."
"I wonder . . .if I studied a drop of werewolf blood, maybe I could figure out a way
to neutralize the disease somehow with my healing powers," Arista mused.
Severus looked doubtful. "Many doctors have tried and failed to cure lycanthropy."
"But we should be able to cure it," she argued. "What magic made, it can unmake.
How many of those doctors can do what I did with the cat?"
"None, I'd wager. But they have years more experience and schooling than you,
Arista. What makes you think you can succeed where they failed?"
"It doesn't hurt to try," she stated with a determined look in her eye. "What have I
got to lose?"
"Hmmm. It'll be an interesting summer project for you, if you're serious about it,"
Snape remarked. "I'll give you access to my library, I have several texts there on
werewolves and you can do research in the school library as well." He didn't think she would be able to come close to a cure, even with the Wolfsbane Potion to draw upon. Older, wiser, and more experienced master healers had tried for years to effect a cure and they had all failed. But he didn't want to dampen her enthusiasm. He enjoyed watching students with inquisitive minds, ones who were willing to take intuitive leaps of logic, and were motivated by a love of knowledge. If anything, the project would keep her busy and out of trouble during her stay.
"May I also have the use of your potions lab? I might need to test some elixirs."
He considered, then at last he nodded. "Yes, on one condition. You are to put
everything away just as you found it, no excuses. I don't tolerate sloppiness in my classroom ever. Any ingredients you need you may ask Mr. Filch, the steward, to fetch you from the school stores. If you need anything rare, you can come to me, and I'll give you what you need from my personal stores, if I'm here. Otherwise, you'll have to wait. I can give you the recipe for the Wolfsbane Potion, though I strongly suggest you not try it unless I'm with you, it's not a potion for novices. Are you clear on those rules, young lady?"
"Crystal. I'll be careful, I promise. Colin's a neat freak too, so I'm used to it. Besides, Potions is my second best subject."
"Your first being medicine, I suppose?"
"Right. And third, well it's a toss-up between Care of Magical Creatures and Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"Please tell me you don't plan on becoming a Dark Hunter someday," he said, a note
of alarm creeping into his voice.
"Um, I thought about it two years ago. But you have to move around a lot, wherever
the U.S.M.A. sends you, and I hate that. And you have to be really good at combat spells and I can cast them, but I'd much rather be healing than fighting."
"Good. We need healers as much as we do dark wizard catchers." Snape said,
relieved beyond measure that she would not follow in her mother's footsteps, and he'd have to risk losing his child to a necromancer as well. Once had been more than enough.
"Are there any kids here now?"
"A few students do remain here over the summer, mostly fifth and sixth years,
completing internships with one professor or another. Then there are a few orphans, who have no permanent home to go back to, and of course there are those who have failed a subject and need to repeat it," he answered. Then he added with a faint sneer, "You'll meet one of those last students in my classroom, he's around your age, name's Neville Longbottom. His grandmother was most dissatisfied with his Potions grades last term and she wants him to take some remedial lessons with me." He rolled his eyes and she heard him mutter, "Just the way I wanted to spend my summer, tutoring a boy who's as thick as a brick wall and who doesn't listen to a word I say." Then he continued in a more normal tone, "Longbottom is not allowed to use my classroom unsupervised. I shudder to think what new disaster might occur if he were left alone there. The whole school might blow up. Therefore, when I'm not with him, another teacher will be."
"Where is your classroom, anyway?"
"Right below the Great Hall, in the dungeon. It's safer there. I have a map of the
castle I'll give you until you learn your way around, this is bigger than what you're used to." He drew his wand and tapped it against his hand. A rolled up piece of parchment appeared in it. He unrolled it and began pointing out the various features. "The rooms marked in red are off-limits to students, the ones in blue are the dormitories, and you may go anywhere with a green label. The staircases here are enchanted and they move all the time, so you'll want to watch out for that. If one moves while you're
on it, the map will show you where you are so you can find your way back."
"Good, because this place is so huge, I'd probably get lost trying to find my way to
breakfast," she said, taking the map gratefully.
"You needn't worry about that, Arista. I'll tap on your door at 7:45 since breakfast
is served promptly at 8:00 in the Great Hall. You'll be sleeping in Slytherin's dormitory,
which is next to my quarters, your things are already there. No students from my House are staying over this summer, so you'll have the common room to yourself. Oh, and the password to get into the portrait hole is dragon's breath."
"Do you live here all year?"
"No, usually only when school is in session. During the summer I go back to my
house in London. This year is an exception, since I'll be assisting your guardians with
finding that accursed Nightshade." The utter hatred in his voice when he spoke Nightshade's name sent chills down Arista's spine.
"How long do you think it'll take for you to find her?"
"That's difficult to predict, but when I do find her—she can't hide forever—I'll
make her wish she never crossed the ocean. For what she has done, there can be no mercy, and I shall hunt her to her death."
Arista merely nodded. "Colin and Jenna have orders to kill too, if she resists arrest.
The Department of Defense has declared Nightshade a rogue, the most dangerous criminal on record. I guess she would have to be, in order to kill my mom."
"Perhaps, but I think she got lucky. Be that as it may, she'll discover I'm just as
dangerous, to her eternal sorrow," Snape promised.
Looking at him then, his dark eyes bright with the fires of war, grim as winter, Arista
was glad a thousand times over that he wasn't her enemy. She wouldn't be in Nightshade's shoes for all the world. Snape was positively terrifying when he was furious. He was no porcupine now, but a bronze dragon, and one bent on revenge at that.
If he ever looked at me that way, I think I might just die of pure fright. Nightshade,
you hag of hell, you don't have any clue what you're dealing with. I hope he kicks your ass all the way back to hell.
Abruptly, Severus regained control over his temper, and the aura of violence
vanished. "That's enough discussion of Nightshade for one day. Just mentioning her name puts me in a bad mood."
Nightshade not being her favorite topic either, Arista obligingly changed the subject.
"Was this where you met Mom?"
Severus blinked, though her question didn't really surprise him. It was only natural
the girl should want to know about her mother, and this was a question only he could
answer. "No, we met in a hidden glen in the Highlands, quite a ways north of here. It used to be my favorite spot to go and think. Once this business with Nightshade is settled, perhaps I'll take you there." He hadn't been back there in over a year, and since Amelia left, no one else had ever set foot there.
"I'd like that," she said quietly. They remained silent for some minutes, then Arista
said wistfully, "I wish I could have known her."
"So do I," he responded, not looking at her. "I would give everything I have for one
more hour with her."
Arista peered at him, and saw for the barest flicker of an instant, the terrible longing
in his eyes, longing mingled with sorrow so deep that not even thirteen years had muted it.
Why, he still misses her, after all this time. He's been as lonely as I have, wishing for
something that could never be. Except a part of my wish came true, after all. I have my father back. "At least I still have you," she whispered, then she threw her arms about him and hugged him. It was pure impulse, because he was so lonely and hurting and she had never been able to stand anyone suffering that way. His pain radiated right through her shields and she did the only thing she could think of to make it stop—she wrapped her arms about him and held on tight.
Caught completely off guard, Severus stiffened. He hadn't been hugged like this in
thirteen years and he'd almost forgotten how good it felt. The last time anyone had held him that way had been Amelia, when she had bid him goodbye before leaving him forever.
Now he gazed down at his daughter, child of their extraordinary love, and he allowed
the ice he'd sheathed his heart in to thaw. He put his arms around her and held her close, snuggled on his lap as if she were a child of three and not thirteen.
They remained that way for a long time, drawing comfort from each other, until at
last he drew away. "Your mother was the very best thing in my life, and I will never forget her. But at least she left me you, Arista Eileen Snape. I look at you and I see my Amelia, and it's almost like having her here again. She lives forever in you, child."
"You really loved her, didn't you?"
"More than anything in the world, except for her daughter." He smiled at her, and
the throbbing ache in his heart eased and began to fade, for he was no longer alone.
A/N: don't go away, there's lots more to come with Sev and Arista including a reckoning with Nightshade, saving a mermaid, potions class, well you get the picture. A huge thanks to all my dedicated reviewers!