Typically when summoned to the Headmaster's office, a member of staff could assume the topic would be one or more of the following: Lessons, detentions and nightly patrolling. If you were a head of house, they might also include: Dormitory problems and prefect and head boy/girl(if they were in your house) duties. If your name happened to be Severus Snape: Excessive amount of points taken, the generous number of detentions assigned, Harry Potter, language used in Slytherin House that ought not be used elsewhere, the vitriol that spews from your mouth(that in many peoples opinion there ought to be a potion to correct), another round of Potter, the Dark Lord, and are you certain you wouldn't like a lemon drop?
Having the Headmaster tell you that you may have fathered a child about fourteen years ago was not on that list of topics. It would have been rather funny, and he might have had a good laugh, until he realized that he did, in fact, recall a woman named Regina. Of course, there was a fair bit of a combination of tequila and firewhiskey shots involved, so all he'd caught was a first name.
No, he didn't make a habit of getting drunk and sleeping with random women, but it seemed to do the trick of making him forget another woman that he would have much rather been with at the time.
When shown a picture of the girl who he had supposedly fathered, even he couldn't stop himself from staring and swallowing hard. And for him, it wasn't the glare that did it. After all, he didn't give that look to himself in the mirror.
No, for him it was the eyes. He'd know those in an instant.
He looked up at the Headmaster, an emotion welling up in him he hadn't felt in years. Fear.
It came out in a whisper. "Please tell me this is some joke, Albus?" It had to be. This couldn't be real. The ramifications of such a thing could be disastrous, and the old coot knew it. But those blue eyes held no twinkle in them, and that was a sign that this was surely no joke. Elderly hands steepled and a breath was released, but that twinkle still didn't show.
"I wish I could tell you it was Severus, you know I do. I had even held out the hope that Regina Morgan had lied and simply put down your name. But then I saw that picture. It would seem our only hope now is that the paternity test comes back negative, though that is doubtful."
Severus placed the picture on the desk and stood. Quick steps brought him to the nearest window where he could see the half-moon shedding light on the school grounds.
This was never a predicament he ever thought he'd find himself in.
'And at the worst time.'
With the Dark Lord's return, this was the worst time to bring a child into the life of a double agent. If he should be killed, it was one thing. But to be killed because he had been caught would be a death sentence to any family of his.
'Oh sweet Circe. Family. I can't provide his girl with any semblance of that.'
Thoughts of family and death swirled in his head. How could he condemn any child to what fate might have in store if he were caught? Hell, even if he weren't caught, what kind of future would a child have to look forward to?
The children of Death Eaters were expected to uphold their parents beliefs, and in some cases, join in their atrocious activities. How could he ever think of subjecting any child to the things he nearly lost his stomach in doing? He supposed the only upside to having a girl was that they were not typically invited to do such things, unless of course you were named Bellatrix and volunteered for anything involving torture. Nevertheless, it still made him sick to think of.
He couldn't do that. He just couldn't. There had to be another option. A way to keep this child, his child, safe from all of that.
He turned back to Dumbledore and made his way back to the desk. The older man looked up at him from his chair just behind the desk. He too had been thinking, he knew also what would await the child of any Death Eater. And he knew Severus well enough to know that the younger man would never subject this girl to that.
Severus made to speak, but Albus held up a hand. "I know this is difficult, Severus. But we need to know for certain she is yours. If the test is confirmed, we will make a plan from there." There was, after all, no need to make plans if this wasn't an issue.
Except one of them already had a plan. He always did.
The walls were a creamy beige and the moulding was sky blue. The chairs were plastic and Celestina Warbeck was coming from the wireless, serenading the occupants of the waiting room with 'Make a Wish, Wizard Mine'. There were various periodicals on the wooden coffee table in the middle of the room.
It was half past seven in the evening and only three people still occupied the room. Two of them were twin boys about eight or nine that had passed out in their chairs nearly an hour before. The third was a young girl who was curled up in a chair reading an older copy of 'Transfiguration Today'.
The hood was up on her dark blue pullover, effectively covering her semi-blonde hair. Her jeans were ripped and worn, and her shoes had seen better days for sure. A backpack lay beneath the chair she was in, charmed to hold more than seemed possible.
While other children had been in and out within only an hour or two, she'd been waiting for nearly six hours. She'd gone up to the window earlier to inquire how much longer it would be, where on on the other side sat a portly witch continually doing paperwork, and was told that she would be taken to the testing lab as soon as the person she was being testing with arrived. The witch didn't know any more than that and the girl mumbled something under her breath about digging out a granola bar from her pack for dinner as she walked back to her chair. As it turned out, all she had in her pack were a few sticks of Fruit Stripe gum. She popped two in her mouth and sat back on her chair.
She was halfway through reading about how Emeric Switch was about to release a new version of 'A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration' when the door leading out of the room was opened and a tall brunette walked in. She had a set of dark pink robes over her smart business suit, and her heels clicked against the floor as she walked over to the two boys and shook them awake.
She spoke quietly to them, but the words 'back to the home' could be heard clearly. The boys looked sad but nodded and got to their feet. They headed for the door and the brunette spoke to the woman behind the window. The words 'We'll be back again tomorrow' didn't inspire much hope for anyone in the room. Two folders were passed to the heeled woman through the window and then she was gone, the twins trailing behind her.
Their departure had left the young girl to wonder if the same would happen to her. It wouldn't surprise her if no one came, but she couldn't help but feel a sadness settle in herself. She thoughts trailed off to places she preferred remain untouched within her. Old hopes of childhood she dared not dream of in years were bluntly pushed aside as she looked back down at the periodical in her hands.
The next few articles kept her mind occupied for another hour. When the clock on the wall showed that it was nearly half past eight, the girl was almost certain that she would be sent back to the children's home they had brought her to five days ago. She was sure that when she had been brought here by the social witch that afternoon, there had been a sign outside the main office door that said it closed at nine. The witch behind the window had even gotten up and was putting things on the shelves behind her, most likely preparing for when she could leave.
The door opened then, and an older man with graying hair and dark blue robes entered. He walked up to the window and opened it, speaking in a low voice with the woman. She looked over his shoulder once at the last young occupant of the room then back at the older man. He turned his head just far enough to see the girl in his peripherals, then nodded in thanks and shut the window.
A few strides brought him in front of the girl. She was no longer curled in the chair, but rather had set her one foot on the floor and her other leg was draped over the arm of the chair. She looked up from the magazine, her eyes questioning him.
"Alice Snape?"
He asked like it was a question, but one he already knew the answer to. The girl, having chewed on nothing more than rubber for the past few hours, looked up at him in annoyance.
"Morgan."
Until five days ago, she hadn't even conceived Snape as being someones name, and now because some piece of paper she'd never seen before said it was her name, it irked her to no end. She'd always been Alice Morgan, and if this man they had contacted ever bothered to show up for the paternity test, she was certain it would come out negative and she'd never have to hear Snape again.
"My apologies then, Miss Morgan. However, I believe it matters little, as you are still the girl I've come to see about."
"And you are?"
"Ah, another apology. My name is Mr. Jackson. I've come to escort you to the testing laboratory. Please, gather your things and come with me."
He walked back to the door as Alice stood and stretched, having been in the chair for far too long. She tossed the periodical on the table in the middle of the room and grabbed her bag from under the chair and followed Mr. Jackson from the room. There was no one in the hallway as he led her down to the end and made a right into one of the rooms.
Inside was a younger man with flaming red hair and a white robe with a caduceus clasp. He was at a table in the middle of the room chopping ingredients, so engrossed in his task that he didn't bother to look up as they entered. There was a cauldron at one end of the table, an unlit burner beneath it. On the walls of the room were numerous white cupboards, a sink in the corner and another door.
"Stay here a moment." Jackson told her as he went through the other door. It clicked shut and Alice was left alone with the other man. She watched him as he continued to chop what looked like bitterweed.
'Well, at least this day wasn't a total waste. At least something is happening now. Wait, I take back that thought. Things have been happening. And kinda fast too. And not like I can deny it in my own head, I am curious about this Severus Snape. Did he even know about me? Maybe he didn't care?'
Left with her thoughts, her mouth moved automatically to chew the gum in her mouth.
'Maybe he has a family somewhere, and that's why we're here so late, so they don't get suspicious. Not like he'd be the first married man Regina slept with. Or he could be a bachelor. Would be kinda awesome if he had one of those flashy apartments. He might be someone important. Then again, if he was important or wealthy I have no doubt Regina would have had her claws in him the moment she found out she was pregnant with me.'
The door clicked and was pulled open. Mr. Jackson stepped into the room, but he wasn't alone. Behind him was a tall elderly man in pale blue robes with long white hair and a white beard that went all the way down to his stomach. Half moon spectacles were perched on his crooked nose, behind which were bright blue eyes. Alice was certain she had seen this man somewhere before, but couldn't place him. Her attention was diverted when a third man stepped into the room.
He was younger than the other two men, perhaps a bit older than the young man in the white robe. His skin was pale and his hair black and lank. His robes were black as well, but Alice could make out buttons to a coat beneath them. Her first impression was that the man looked like he ought to be attending a funeral. As pale as he was, it might have been his own.
As he entered the room, his eyes locked onto hers and his breath caught in his throat.
As she looked into his eyes, Alice found herself truly believing for the first time in five days, that maybe the little piece of paper they found under Regina's bed held the truth after all.
Two chapters for your viewing pleasure. Reviews are happily accepted.
