McGonagal had just returned to her office, after a long walk round the grounds, when a knock sounded on her door. "Come in," she called out, already having a fair idea of who would be knocking on her door on a Saturday afternoon.

Sure enough, an angry Snape opened the door and entered her office. She had been expecting this from the moment she'd discovered he was the one escorting the students.

"Good afternoon, Severus," she said once he'd closed the door behind himself. "Please, have a seat."

He ignored her, instead towering over her desk and glaring down on her, "You knew! You knew Katrina was alive! All these years you knew, and you said nothing," he growled.

She took a deep, calming breath before speaking, "It was not my place to tell you. She wanted to disappear and she did. When the war ended, Albus tried to find a way to reverse what she had done. Two years of trying before he decided it was useless. Maggie was three by that time, and was clearly a muggle as well." She watched Severus slowly sit in the chair opposite her desk. She lifted her wand and idly waved it over her desk, summoning some firewhiskey and two glasses. She continued speaking as she poured them each a drink, "Katrina decided that she wanted to remain dead to the wizarding world. After all, she was virtually defenseless out there. She was just another muggle now. She also knew that the Ministry would merely Obliviate her memory of the wizarding world if they knew she was still alive."

Minerva lifted her glass and took a small sip, savoring the burn, before she spoke again, "Katrina lived as a muggle in her enchanted home, invisible to the world, until five years ago. That was when Dumbledore decided to put her unique talents to use for the school." She glanced up at the troubled man before her, "You were never supposed to know, Severus. None of us wanted to hurt you more than you'd been hurt during the war. Your wife sacrificed everything to protect you and your child." Her eyes narrowed at the scoffing sound he'd made. "You, Severus, more than anyone, know what he was doing to his follower's families. How many Death Eaters were forced to kill their own families? She did what she did to protect your child – and to protect you. She knew how devastated you would have been had you been forced to kill your wife and unborn child. By giving up everything she was, she saved you from that situation." She finished her glass and placed it down, silently watching as he downed his second glass and poured a third.

"We tried to convince her to go to you once the war had ended, but she was afraid – this time of your reaction. She was aware of the fact that her disappearance was one of the factors that made you change sides. None of us were sure how you would react if your now-muggle wife were to reappear. Then, years passed and Maggie grew into a beautiful young lady. Now Katrina fears Maggie's reaction should she ever discover that she was supposed to be part of the wizarding world – a world she only learns of from books and those students she meets under her own roof – and that she would be a witch, were it not for her mother's actions before her birth." She stopped and tried to measure the effect, if any, her words were having on the man opposite her, but his eyes were as stormy and unreadable as ever.

Severus slowly rose before her, nodded his head slightly once, and silently left.

Sighing heavily, Minerva poured herself another glass. She wasn't sure if she had helped matters, or made things worse.

-- --

Hermione, Harry, and Ron sat on some benches in the garden surrounding the home, speaking in low tones. "I still say something's not right here," Hermoine was saying for the sixth time.

They had been told their afternoon was free time after they had finished a short history on muggle-wizard relations. Professor Smith had then informed them that she would be out for a while.

"Dumbledore knows what he is doing, I'm sure," Harry said, glancing around at the other groups of students.

"Maybe she's a squib," Ron added. "It would explain Snape's reaction to her."

"Professor Snape," Hermoine corrected automatically, "and it wouldn't, not really. His expression was more of shock than of scorn."

"Well, they knew each other, that much is certain," Harry said, watching Malfoy and the other Slytherins out of the corner of his eye.

"Yeah, that was pretty obvious." Hermione brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes, "I wish I had access to the school's library."

Ron and Harry exchanged a look before Ron turned to Hermione, "Ok, I'll bite. Why?"

"Because," she said slowly as if he should have already known, "there is a record of squibs there. I thought maybe I could check it. Maybe you are right, Ron, and that's why she knows as much as she does."

"Well, there's no point in worrying about it then," Harry said, his mind already elsewhere. He was picturing the girl with the straight black hair and those enchanting hazel eyes…