The next morning, Rinn was very conscious of her father's eyes resting on her throughout breakfast. Smiling, she waved to him and turned to Draco who sat beside her.
"Who are you staring at?" he asked. "Professor Snape?"
"Yes." She answered cheerily. Draco stared at her incredulously.
"Why would you want to do that?" Rinn just sent a Mona Lisa smile his way. "Okay, I know when to give up." He said and they turned to the porridge and toast that had appeared before them.
After breakfast, Severinn felt her father's presence behind her.
"Ms. Thompson, I would like to speak with you." He said and turned away, stalking to the doors of the Great Hall. Draco turned to his friend with a look of horrified surprise. Rinn winked at him and followed her father.
Down in the dungeons, Snape paused before a portrait and whispered a password while covering the portrait's theme so that Severinn would not be able to find her way back . . . or so he thought.
The room which she entered was very different from his office. The walls were a dark green and the atmosphere gave off an air of comfort rather than intimidation. Two cozy chairs were positioned before a gigantic fireplace and a table stood in a corner under a gigantic hanging candle. The two high-backed chairs facing it did nothing to hide the stacks of books and parchment on it.
"Sit." Snape ordered which Severinn did only too willingly. "Now that I have had a chance to gather my wits about me," began Snape "I want to know what exactly you are doing here at Hogwarts."
Severinn looked at him earnestly before beginning her tale. "Two weeks ago, death eaters were sent to my mother as she was British. Voldemort is trying to recruit new followers from different lands who might have different knowledge from what we know. As mother and I lived in California, Voldemort figured she would be perfect to begin recruiting. I am sure you would know why, Mom never did tell me anything about your time outside of Hogwarts." This was met by another frown accompanied by a dangerous glitter in his eyes. "Anyway, Mom refused and in retaliation, she was eradicated in order not to spread the news of Voldemort in the USA. Luckily for me, they did not know I had come home for the weekend and so did not try to kill me as well. I knew that I did not stand a chance against them alone and as my mother was dead, I decided to seek out the father I had never known and here I am!" She concluded with an air of "Tada!" Snape sat a few minutes in deep thought.
"You have told no one of your relationship to me?"
"Nope. I'm not stupid, you know. I know it can compromise your position if Voldemort knew you had a daughter." Snape raised an elegant eyebrow. "Hey!" She said and raised her hands in emphasis. "When I do a check on someone, I do it thoroughly." Snape sighed. This father business was going to take some getting used to.
Friday came around quickly and Rinn found herself quickly striding through the corridors on the way to the Gryffindor tower. It was time to meet Ron, Harry and Hermione for her first DA meeting.
She had only been chatting with the Pink Lady a few minutes, when the portrait swung open and Harry & Co., along with a few others, left the tower.
"Severinn?" Hermione exclaimed.
"Rinn!" Harry said delighted. "So glad you could make it! Come and we will show you where the DA meetings take place." Rinn did not miss the strange look that Ron threw his way.
As they entered the Room of Requirement (Rinn did have to admit her astonishment at this part of Hogwarts. She also noted the smiles of Hermione and Ron with little mirth) they saw that half of the members from the other houses were already there.
At first, no one noticed Rinn, for they were all asking excitedly what that day's lesson would hold, until Ernie McMillan asked rudely: "What is a Slytherin doing here?"
"Severinn has been invited by myself." Harry said quickly before she was able to fire back a retort.
"But Harry," Seamus protested. "She's a Slytherin! She is so much so, she even reminds us strongly of Professor Snape!"
At this, Harry chuckled. "I never knew that you found Snape attractive, Seamus!" Seamus spluttered and looked at Harry indignantly. "So, let us begin, shall we?" Harry said, walking to the front of the room where his habitual pillow sat on the floor. Gesturing to an extra one at his side, he said: "Please, have a seat Severinn." A flash of anger crossed Ron's faces for a moment, before taking a seat on the pillow on Rinn's other side. "So," Harry began "we have decided, that today's would be a theoretical lesson, for we are going to begin Animagus training."
An excited murmur ran through the occupants of the room. Ron and Hermione smiled proudly before Hermione spoke up. "We will not only be practicing this though, a lot of the mental practice will have to be done on your own free time," Half of the students sitting upon the pillows groaned (mostly of them boys of course) while the other half wriggled in anticipation.
"Now," Harry continued "one impression that you must get rid of, is that becoming an Animagus is easy. The training takes years of practice lots of mental concentration. Another factor is depending on magical strength. Each person will progress differently."
"Well, we know who will be the first to succeed." Someone whispered.
"You don't know that." Ron replied. "A lot matters on the person's talent for interaction with beasts, but everyone does have the ability to become an Animagus."
"Ok, understood." Severinn spoke up. "What is the main thing we should concentrate on in between meetings?"
Harry smiled at her, but addressed the whole room. "Meditation. Animagi takes, as I said, great mental strength, so we need to learn to be able to block out outside influences." With this introduction, Harry spent the rest of their meeting showing them the right beginner's stance and how they could wipe their mind free of thoughts.
After the meeting, Rinn and Harry made their way together toward the dungeons for their detention.
"So, what is your relation to the old bat?" Harry asked.
"What do you mean?" Rinn asked, avoiding having to answer.
"Despite what I said to Seamus, it is obvious that you are either a daughter, which I find hard to picture (but know is a possibility), or a niece. You are definitely a close relative."
"Promise not to tell?"
"Of course. You can trust me with anything." Harry said seriously.
"I am the daughter he hadn't known he had."
"Did you come here to meet him, or because of Voldemort?"
"Both." She answered, but didn't explain any further and Harry had enough in his own past not to ask. Soon afterwards, they entered the potion master's classroom.
"Ah, on time for once in your life, Potter?" Snape snarled.
"Yes, sir. With the right influence, anything is possible and miracles do occur." Harry answered with a straight face.
"Go scrub those cauldrons." Snape said menacingly. "Both of you!" Without another word, the two students made their way toward the sink where cauldrons were stacked ceiling high on the counters and on the floor, all of them burned and crusted. In the sink itself, was a bottle of soap and two scrub brushes. They got to work.
An hour later, Rinn dared to state her question: "Severus, mother said you were an Animagus. What shape do you take?"
Snape's head shot up to glare at his daughter. "I warned you . . .
"Oh, don't worry about Harry, he already knows, guessed correctly, he did."
"Oh, and that makes it all right." Her father answered sarcastically.
"Don't worry, sir. I won't say a word." Snape rolled his eyes, but didn't retaliate.
"So, Severus, aren't you going to answer my question?" Severinn said, not to be distracted.
"You may have inherited my looks, but your mother's habit of being annoying was unfortunately also transferred."
"You are just as evasive and annoying as mother warned me." Rinn stated, never pausing in her scrubbing. Harry just listened in amusement.
"All right, all right! My form is (Potter, if you ever breathe a word about this I'll kill you)" Harry snorted at this muttering something about registration "a clown fish."
"A clown fish?" Rinn and Harry said incredulously and Rinn began laughing.
"Good form." Harry said to Snape's surprise. "Small, unnoticeable, and quick to travel as long as there are waterways." Snape barely nodded in acknowledgement, which the boy couldn't see as he scrubbed the cauldrons.
It soon became normal to find Severinn in the company of Harry Potter and Co.. Often though, the two could be found working alone in the library or talking quietly on the Quidditch pitch. So it was no surprise to Harry's friends, when he went over to the Slytherin table one day at lunch. There he found Severinn chatting with Draco Malfoy while pausing once in a while to eat a spoon full of soup.
"May I join you?" Harry asked them and pointed to the empty chair next to Severinn. Draco looked positively shocked, whereas Severinn just smiled and nodded as she had just put soup in her mouth. Swallowing she said:
"Harry! How are you doing? I haven't seen you in ages!"
"I know." He replied. "Two hours seems like decades, doesn't it?" They both shared a smile, leaving all the others, especially Draco, feeling left out. "Malfoy, I trust you are well." Harry then inquired politely. At this, Draco started in surprise.
"Yes, Potter, and you?"
"Very well, great in fact." Turning to Rinn he said: "Rinn, Hogsmeade weekend is coming up and I would be delighted if you would accompany me."
Draco's eyes narrowed in anger, while Rinn's lips curved upward in a small smile. "I would be delighted to go with you Harry." She said. The rest of dinner was spent in laughter, Rinn coaxing Draco into the conversation. By the time they went back to their dormitories, Draco had even told a joke, much to the shock of one Harry Potter.