Maggie had been tense all through dinner. When her mother began to speak, she mentally steeled herself. Her mother had steadfastly refused to speak about anything having to do with her past.

Her insides went cold when her mother told her that this strange woman was her godmother. She had ties to the wizarding world? She'd always hoped, but never dared to dream…

"Maggie, my parents were magical, and… I was born a witch," her mother was saying now.

"But… you don't do any magic," Maggie protested, her head reeling.

"No, and I can't anymore," her mother sighed heavily. "I attended Hogwarts as a student, I met your father there and we married shortly after we graduated. We were happy for three years… but the war had already begun and our happiness was to be short lived."

"Wait," Maggie said quickly. "My father attended Hogwarts too?"

Maggie glanced at her mother and… her godmother. Both women were glancing at the dark man seated next to her.

"Maggie, Severus is your father," her mum said softly, her eyes on Maggie's. "Before you get angry at him, I should tell you that I am the one who left him. I was pregnant with you at the time. Severus… well, he made a bad decision and I felt that our lives were in danger." Her mum shook her head and glanced back at Severus before turning back to Maggie, "I went to Dumbledore, who is your godfather, and asked him to help me hide from everyone. He gave me a spell that would make me unable to do magic. It also made me untraceable by anyone."

Maggie knew Dumbledore, but she always called him Uncle. He would come at holidays and birthdays, always bringing her candy and toys. In recent years, his gifts had become books from his world.

She turned to face Sever- her father… "I need to know what you did to make her leave," she pleaded, hearing the desperation in her voice and hating it.

"Your mother has told you about the war and about Lord Voldemort?" he asked quietly.

"I haven't told her about the Death Eaters," her mother said quickly, "But she knows the rest of it."

The dark man nodded, "Lord Voldemort was determined to rule through fear and intimidation. He spread that fear with his followers, the most trusted of which were called Death Eaters." He paused and took a deep breath, "The Death Eaters were… marked with a magical tattoo so he could call his followers at any time." Maggie's eyes were drawn to his arm where he was slowly rolling up the sleeve of his left forearm. There, in ugly green and black, lay a skull with a serpent. She shivered and glanced at the older women in the room to see that their eyes were averted.

Her mother had told her of the sorts of things that happened during the war. All of the death, the tortures, the disappearances… And he… her father, she reminded herself, was a follower of Voldemort… Then she remembered that Harry had told her that already and that Harry had also said this man was now a spy for Dumbledore. Maggie nodded slowly, "Harry told me some of that… He also said… well, that you're not anymore… a follower of Voldemort, that is." She'd seen his scowl at Harry's name and the collective flinch when she had calmly said Voldemort's name.

He had again lowered his sleeve to cover the ugly tattoo. "Mr. Potter is correct. I am now a spy for Dumbledore. After your mother disappeared and I believed her dead, I went before Dumbledore and asked for his protection. He gave me a position as Potions Master of Hogwarts in exchange for what information I could bring him of the activities of Voldemort and his followers." He glanced at Minerva and at Maggie's mother before turning back to her, "Very few people know about that for obvious reasons. Although the Ministry of Magic will deny it, Voldemort is back and he is recruiting more followers by the day. Many of the parents of students in Slytherin are already marked, and quite a few students are unfortunately headed for a similar fate."

"Maggie, dear, do you still wish to go to Hogwarts to study with… with your father?" her mother asked.

"Yes, of course," she responded quickly. Maggie swallowed hard. This was a lot to absorb all at once and she needed to get away from everyone to sort it all out in her head. "Mum, may I be excused? I… I need to think about all of this." She slowly stood up from the table.

"Of course, Maggie," her mother softly replied. "I know this is a lot all at once. I'm… I'm sorry for all of this Maggie. I should have told you the truth of things years ago."

Maggie shook her head, she wasn't truly angry with her mother. She really did understand why her mother had done what she had done. "I'm not angry, mum, not really. I just need some time…" She glanced over at the other woman in the room, "It was a pleasure to meet you, Professor." She turned to Professor Snape, opened her mouth, and closed it. She wasn't at all sure how to address the man now. She finally settled for a soft, "Goodnight, sir," before she hurried from the room and to her bedroom.