I own nothing! I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters! I just own the Snape family members (except for Severus, of course), and the other OC's.

Harry, Hermione and Kiru were preparing for the trip on the Hogwarts Express. The male knew it was the last time that he would ever be able to call Prince Manor his home, and he would be leaving to Privet Drive the next summer to live with Dudley until the wards were broken on his birthday. The other Half-bloods and even some of the Muggle born students were terrified as to why their sleeping arrangements had been altered drastically during the next summer, but Severus and Harry knew that Grimmauld Place was the safest place for the Muggle born students to be, no matter what. It was under some of the strongest wards, and anyone who dared enter in (that wasn't in the Snape family) would immediately be shot with dozens of hexes and jinxes nonstop until they were half dead.

Kiru was extremely unhappy about this fact, but knew that if all went well, Voldemort would be long since dead before the end of her own fifth year. Her father would be headmaster for a year, she'd get treated like royalty, and Harry would be missing from the maps completely. They were all extremely smart, and they all knew how Dumbledore's plan was to play out now in counter to Voldemort's. Kiru and Hermione were so upset, but they also knew that this was for the best. Kiru had only told Hermione that it was a plan of Dumbledore's that had upset her, and the brunette had understood somehow.

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose tightly as he stepped into Malfoy Manor at eleven o'clock that morning, just as the train was leaving. He'd left Chessie at home, and knew that Dudley would also have to be moved the next summer. Doubting not even for a second that Voldemort was furious at not being able to get past Harry's shields all summer, Severus was wary of his master's rage as he walked in. He sat down in silence, staring up at the small, thin frame of the Muggle Studies teacher that had been harping on Chessie every spare minute of every day once she'd found out that he was married to the brunette. She was sobbing, and being levitated in the air and bound with magic, having been subjected to the Cruciatus curse numerous times, no doubt as a result of his master's wrath at latecomers.

"Severus," Voldemort sneered, "How nice of you to join us. Tell me, was this the woman that was driving your wife and daughter mad?"

"Chessie and I, yes," Severus answered evenly. "Kiru, no, as she never came in contact with this teacher, I made sure of it."

"To keep the bad blood and foolishness out of our prodigy's ways," Voldemort said almost happily and proud. "Well done, Severus."

"Severus, please," she sobbed. "Please, don't let him do this. I'll do anything, just please… please…"

"Tell me, Severus," Voldemort continued. "What are your feelings towards studying Muggles?"

"I think we should get to know how best to kill them, my lord," Severus answered immediately. This was somewhat true – he'd always had a grudge against Tobias, and heaven help him he would not turn into his father! "As I'm sure you're aware, my father was a foolish one with alcohol."

"Ah, yes," Voldemort grinned maniacally. "Your first kill at age sixteen, and extremely well done and constructed, Severus. The Muggles thought it was a normal murder, and as did the Ministry of Magic, and since you had an alibi with Sarabella that night, nobody suspected you. Very well done, indeed, Severus, I was right about you. Not how I attacked my own Muggle father, but it was rewarding nonetheless once I framed my mother's deranged older brother, Morfin."

"I'm honored that you would speak so well of me, my lord," Severus said, taken aback. "I have spoken with Kiru and she's leaning towards becoming a Death Eater, but she would still like to place emphasis on her courses of study so that she may become a better asset to the armies."

"I see," Voldemort said thoughtfully. "Let's say that she become a Death Eater, helps Draco get their fellows into Hogwarts, helps him kill Dumbledore, and rises in the ranks to be my right hand girl, equal to yourself only. After her task is complete, I will approach on a rare occasion so that she may continue studying and surpass most others her age. Does this sound suitable to her likings?"

"I'm sure she would be more willing with this new plan, my lord," Severus said carefully, "But I'm afraid that I will still have to ask her first. She can be extremely picky sometimes and very… cautious … in her decisions."

"See to it that you do, Severus," Voldemort grinned. "Now, Lucius, about my diary that I left in your possession to use should I be vanquished… how did you manage to get it destroyed?"

"I – Well, you see, my lord," Lucius stammered, quivering in his chair.

"You may go, Severus," Voldemort said. "I want an update next time on Chessie."

"Yes, my lord," Severus said before apparating back to the Shrieking Shack. He raced back to the castle to reach the Staff room just in time for a meeting. He half expected to be bombarded by questions, but his former Potions teacher was gone and nowhere to be seen.

'Humph! Good riddance! Wait, then how am I supposed to teach? Shit, I hope he actually comes. If not I'll have to hunt him down and skin him alive! Or have Kiru use the Requiem of Spirit again. Perhaps Nearly Headless Nick or the Bloody Baron could help?' Severus contemplated silently.

.o0O0o.

Kiru, Harry, Hermione, and Draco were all sitting in the car together when Horace Slughorn walked in and plopped himself next to Kiru, who immediately swore in Parseltongue and moved over to sit next to Harry. Well, to her it was sitting, but to the others, she was crouching and eating far too many sweets.

"I swear, Kiru, you're watching too much Death Note," Harry said shaking his head. "And I seriously hope that Professor Snape didn't teach Skull the song I thought he did, because that will land you in detention for sure."

"Not if he times it right," Kiru smirked evilly. "And I must admit that this is going to be extremely good of a school year. Well, if my hunch is correct, which I'm hoping it is."

"So, Harry, m'boy, what house are you in?" Horace asked, and Kiru glared at him.

"Nobody asked you to be here, you know," she said calmly. "Or was my Parseltongue not spelling it out enough for you?"

"Come now, child, you're not saying that you hate me already?" Horace asked offended.

"Anyone dad disapproves of for a Potions Professor, I disapprove of, especially since you let your students blow the lab up numerous times like he says you did," Kiru retorted matter-of-factly. "And while I'm at it, you need to stop using students for your own personal gain? I think that one of these days, you're going to be forced by a student to right the wrongs you've made in the past, and mark my words, old man, when that day comes…"

The pregnant yet deadly silence that hung as Kiru's threat dangled was so thick that even Snape himself could only occasionally produce in classes. Kiru's mind went back to the discussion she and Severus had held at the vault.

(Flashback, Kiru PoV)

I stared at the necklace that dad had taken from a petty thief in Hogsmeade. This necklace was rightfully mine, not Voldemort's, yet I could already sense he'd tainted it with Dark Magic. I needed no explanation: this was the same Dark Magic I was sensing in Harry, the same one Skull said faintly lingered on the destroyed diary (which was now lying below a bench somewhere on the floor of the room we were in), as well as a number of other things.

"Okay, so we've gotten rid of four of them," I said thinking aloud. "And we know that he was a thief by nature. What would possibly catch his eye aside from Slytherin's locket?"

"The other artifacts from the other heads of houses," Skullduggery suggested. "Hufflepuff had a cup, Ravenclaw had a diadem, and Gryffindor had a Sword, but that last one's clean except for Basilisk venom."

"There are other artifacts as well," Severus said softly. "Something of value from his mother's family has been brought to my attention, and destroyed. So, in short, the artifacts of the three founders are what we need to search for. It won't be easy at all, Kiru. I'm warning you now, child, you're in for hell if you think you can just up and leave the school like that during the school year."

"The song of Soaring allows me to go wherever I want," Kiru defended. "And the Elegy of Emptiness creates a hollow doppelganger of me to take my place for a day or however long I need it in one room."

"Not bad, bran-girl," Skullduggery said proudly. "Well thought out. Slytherin's locket is no doubt a Horcrux. Hufflepuff's and Ravenclaw's items are missing, and the diadem was most likely placed somewhere by a descendant of theirs. Any ideas?"

"The Grey Lady," Severus nodded. "Shy, but I was able to talk to her in my school year without worry for fear of her acting too much like Myrtle. She's Ravenclaw's only child, I'm sure she might have a clue."

"Or, Voldy tricked her," Kiru said thoughtfully. "He did trick Slughorn, if I think about it."

"Ah, but as did I," Severus said calmly. "Oh, and he keeps trying to use more and more things to bribe you into joining his club."

"Sluggie or Voldy?" Kiru asked, and Severus scowled and put his arms across his chest. "I'll take that as a 'both'. So, what about our plan? Do you think it'll work?"

"I don't know," Severus said sadly. "I hope it does, but I sincerely hope that Harry knows what he's doing. I've got two muggle born students that are brothers who are going to be used to cast the blood wards around Grimmauld Place. Dudley can stay there next summer after we move Harry. I've also got a pair of Muggle born sisters who will act as guardians over Number Four Privet Drive. Am I making any sense?"

"Yup," Kiru nodded. "But, but dad, what about Spinner's End?"

"I will protect it with my own Blood wards. There's something I forgot to tell you, Kiru… about your mother…" Severus trailed off, not sure of how to word what he knew. "She – how do I – oh bloody hell I may as well say it – she used the Imperius Curse on me and made me sleep with a Muggle born Ravenclaw that looked almost identical to Lily Potter. And, how shall I say this?"

"If she conceived your child, said child would be coming to Hogwarts this year?" Kiru surmised, and the potions master nodded. "Great. Okay, alright. Yet another half-sibling I've got to put up with. What's so bad about this one?"

"You know her," Severus said calmly, "But not very well. You only met once or twice your entire lives. I believe, and I hope I'm right, and that she'll go to Slytherin. And, Kiru, don't yell at me, but – Hebiga's dead."

"What? NO! You're lying!" Kiru shot back not wanting to believe his words.

"I'm afraid not, pet," Severus soothed. "She – killing her was Draco's initiation. Killing Pettigrew was yours."

"But I didn't kill him!" Kiru protested, and Severus shook his head.

"The Dark Lord thinks otherwise," Severus said calmly, his anger seeping into his voice. "And it is best for him to think that. Hebiga wouldn't have needed to be killed if she'd stayed in her place like we'd told her to and not disrespect the purebloods."

"Fine," Kiru grumbled. "But do I have to become what you are, dad?"

"Yes, child," Severus sighed, "You do. There's no other choice."

(End Flashback, 3rd PoV)

"So, Kiru, what're we going to do since I'm a Muggle born?" Myrtle asked, and Harry's eyes widened in shock at the blatant question in front of a Death Eater in training. He shook his head, not knowing what would happen before the end of the war.

So, any ideas as to who Kiru's half sibling is? Here's a hint: I'll be killing them anyways I think.

Reviews are pretty.