Winter and Draco were now sitting in the Astronomy Tower. Winter was leaning against a wall, and Draco was sitting on the floor.
"Draco, come here," Winter said.
Draco slowly stood up and walked over. He was still wary of Winter. Winter took his hand and placed it over his heart.
"You can feel your heart beat," she said. "Feel it racing. Still scared, are you? You really don't need to be. I'm much stronger now. I won't hurt you." She moved his hand over her heart. "But mine's dead. It won't beat ever again."
"I'm sorry," Draco said, taking his hand away.
"Don't worry about it," Winter shrugged. "While Severus ages, I stay nice and young and pretty and wrinkle free."
Draco laughed and leaned back.
"So you guys are twins, right?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Yes," Witner said. "But I didn't get the fat nose somehow. Eh, I'm fine with it."
Draco laughed again. "You guys aren't very similar."
"Yes and no," Winter said. "I'm cheerier and much more pleasant, but we both have short tempers. I have my sarcastic moments. And we're both skilled in Dark Arts, although I'm self-taught, so it's not the best of my abilities. But I'm no Death Eater. I won't help You-Know-Who. I'm just starting to be able to have a life back after all these years, and I won't go help him."
"What did you do when you guys were eleven?" Draco asked.
"It's moments like this when I wish I had a Pensieve," Winter laughed. "That memory is hard to re-tell, but it's simple to show. I might be able to borrow Dumbledore's...Come on."
Winter grabbed his hand and flew down the stairs and to Dumbledore's office. She knocked on the door, and Dumbledore opened it.
"May we borrow your Pensieve?" she asked politely.
"What are you trying to show younger Mr. Malfoy?" Dumbledore asked, allowing them in.
"Err...that one thing that happened in my childhood with Snape and such that led to me leave," Winter replied, looking down at the floor.
"Ah," Dumbledore said. He pointed at the bowl with the weird marking. "Go ahead."
Winter stepped up to the Pensieve and tapped her wand to her forehead. She pulled away a strand of silverly memory and placed it into the bowl. She took Draco's hand and lowered her head into the liquid swirling around. She and Draco were sucked in and deposited into a small, dirty house.
Winter nodded and the rest of the house was created: the Snape house. A few dingy rugs covered the hardwood floor, and a ripped couch was pressed up against the wall. A smaller version of Snape sat cowering in the corner, and Winter with shorter hair and black eyes had her arms around him. Severus had a large bruise over his eye and cuts on his body, but Winter was untouched.
A man resembling Snape entered the room.
"Tobias," a female voice said. "Leave Severus alone!"
"Our dad," Winter whispered to Draco. She didn't want to watch it seemed, so she turned away, but Draco paid close atention.
Elieen Snape entered the room behind Tobias and ran in front of her children. She had a long face and thick eyebrows, looking sullen and also abused. Tobias slapped her and picked her up by her throat. He slammed her against the wall, and Winter cried out.
"Dad, stop, please!" she screamed, trying to pull his arm away from her mother's throat. Tobias used his elbow to knock her away.
"No!" Elieen choked out. "Stop hurting them."
Severus ran to his sister and helped her up. Tobias dropped Elieen, and she slid down the wall. He stalked over to the twins and kicked Severus hard in the stomach. Severus cried out and wrapped his arms around his stomach, looking up at his father, tears in his eyes.
"Stop!" Witner cried, pulling Severus away. "Please!"
Tobias punched Severus - hard - in the nose. There was a sickenling crunch, and blood gushed down his front.
"Knock it off!" Winter yelled, standing up and pounding at her father with her tiny fists. Tobias laughed and kicked her away. Winter crashed into the couch, and didn't move. Severus looked up at his father, afraid for what could happen next. His mother was too weak to do anything, Winter was currently trying to pick herself up, and she was too small to do anything.
Tobias glared down at Severus, and quickly began attacking the small boy. Severus bit his lip, tears streaming down his face as he tried not to cry out. Suddenly, his father's eyes rolled back in his head, and he slumped onto Severus. Severus took in his sister standing over the man, her teeth barred, and her eyes held nothing but hatred. A few spots of blood also covered the area around her nose: she had just murdered her father. She pulled the knife out from his back and pulled his body over, onto his back.
She screamed furiously before stabbing Tobias's chest repeatedly. Blood squirted up at her face, and she was soon spotted in it.
"STOP!" Severus screamed, pulling his sister away by her waist. He took the knife away from her.
"Winter, what have you done?" Elieen whispered, staggering over.
"He deserved to die," Winter spat, wiping her face, but only smearing the blood.
"You need to leave," Elieen said.
"What?" Severus and Winter asked together.
"They'll send you to Azkaban if they find you," Elieen whispered. "Severus, clean her up. I'm going to pack a bag for you."
Winter took his hand, and they flew out of the memory and back into Dumbledore's office.
"You're a-a m-"
"Don't say it, please," Winter pleaded. "It's haunted me my whole life. Thank you, Professor."
They left, and started slowly back to the Slytherin dungeons.
"So, Professor Snape was abused?" Draco asked.
"Yeah," Winter said sadly. "And Mum. I wasn't een touched until that day. He...He liked me. And I..."
Winter stopped, giving a slight sniffle.
"Winter, it was for the better," Draco said,
"But I killed him," Winter muttered. "I hated it. I would starve myself until I went crazy because I didn't want it kill."
Draco didn't know what to do. So he acted on an impluse: he pulled her into his arms. Winter froze with the contact and pushed away.
"I'm not THAT in control of myself," she said. "Good night, Draco."
Winter turned and left Draco standing there, stunned. She went back to Snape's office and looked at him.
"I told him," she said.
"You told him what you did?" Snape hissed.
"Yes," Winter responded.
"Why the hell did you do that?" he shouted. "He'll probably tell! You'll go to prison! Winter, you're so stupid!"
"Shut up!" Winter screamed back. "He deserved to know!"
"How was that?" Snape snarled.
"I-I don't know," Winter said. "I just thought he did."
Snape shouted inchoarently before dropping into his chair, holding his head in his hands.
"I can't believe you told him what he used to do," Snape whispered.
Winter walked over and pulled her brother into her arms. Snape hugged her back and sighed.
"Winter, did anyone else find out?" Snape asked.
"No," Winter assured. "Don't worry, Severus."