AN: Sorry it too so long. My beta went to space camp (Space Camp:AviationChallenge! I am sooo not a space camp smurf! AC all the way!) so I had to wait a week till she got back. Bad beta! (HEY!)
"Blah.": Talk
'Blah.': Thought
(Blah.): Buffy's Notes
Ebony
Chapter 3
"Why are we here again, Albus?"
Dumbledore sighed from his seat. "I told you, Minerva. We are all here to have a meeting with Miss Riddle. Severus had gotten a letter from her saying that would like to meet us. Severus is picking her up from the location that was asked by her and we must wait for her bring her here."
The Order was all there at Grimmauld Place. Dumbledore couldn't help but fudge the truth a little bit. Yes, she did not say that she would like to meet them, nor did she even say if she knew of what happened those 15 years ago. But the Order didn't have to know that nor did she. Personally, he hoped she knew nothing of what happened. It would make things far more easier to control to the way he wanted. In order for her to stay away from Voldemort, she would have to be kept on close watch and the only way to do that is if she trusted them. He couldn't afford for her to go to her father's side. She could be useful.
Sirius chose then to interrupt his thoughts, "Are you sure this is such a good idea, Dumbledore? Taking her to our secret headquarters? I mean, can we really trust her? What if she's already in cahoots with Voldemort and just wants to meet us so she can spy on us for her father?" Some people nodded in agreement.
Dumbledore gave him a stern look, "Sirius, we do not know for sure if that is true, but is very unlikely that that has happened? And also, I will not expect you to like when you first meet her, but to at least be civil for the time being. That goes for all of you as well." He swept his head up and down the table as he spoke the last part.
Sirius reluctantly nodded along with others and tore his gaze to his hands on the table.
Dumbledore looked at the clock that hung above the door of the room. '11:45. He should be here with her by noon like he said." He sighed again and sat back in his seat as he waited.
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Three Hours Before
"Yo Eb! Be down in ten! We're going to the skate park!" The muffled voice of Kim yelled on the other side of her door.
Ebony looked at the door from where she was in her bathroom. "Alright. Be down in sec!" She put on the some lip balm and looked at herself in the mirror. Today was the meeting with her godfather and the Order and she wanted to be her punkiest. 'Show em' I won't put up with any of their shit.' She thought with a smirk.
She wore a plain white tank top with a black tie with a white skull and crossbones symbol on the end, a black pair of cargo shorts, black etnies and black hat with another white skull and crossbones symbol on the front jerked to angle on her head. She tied her black locks in loose down ponytail. She wore black finger less gloves, lots of black bangles on her right arm and a silver-spike wristband on left.
She put some waterproof eyeliner on and simple lip balm on before she left the bathroom. She was about to leave the room when she remember what Kim had said about the skate park. She back tracked and grabbed her skateboard than leaned on the wall. It was beautiful piece of work. It was totally black with red wheels, but had flames on the board. It was her favorite board of all time and she wouldn't trade it for anything. She left her room, and went to the grand stairs of the hotel. She decided to sit on the marble railing of the stairs and slide down the rail. She does that every time she goes down stairs (even though the manager doesn't like it when she does).
She reached the bottom and jumped off with ease and there was her "family" at the entrance with their skate park stuff. Cam with this BMX bike, Wolly with his carving scooter, Kim with her skateboard, and Mo with her in-line skates. She walked over to them. "Okay let's go." She was about to walk out when she was stopped by Mo. "Forgetting something, Eb."
Ebony looked at her for a second in confusion before smiling, "Oh yeah. Almost forgot." She snapped her fingers and her hair and eyes changed color. She was now a blonde and her eyes were a sapphire blue. Whenever she out, she changed her appearance and name. The name that she used in this form was Cascilla (Cas) Rose.
(From now on she will be named Cas until she turns back into 'Ebony'' okay?)
Mo smiled, "That's much better."
They walked outside into the blearing sunlight. "Dude, it's hot out here!" Wolly said, pulling his cap farther over his eyes.
"No shit, Sherlock!" Kim answered irritably as always. Mo, Cas, and Cam sniggered as Wolly glared at Kim.
"Okay guys." Cam said. "How are we getting there again?"
Mo groaned in exasperation. "For the last time, Cam! We are going to go to the nearest subway, take it to center London and then walk the rest of the way ourselves."
Cam smiled and got on his bike, "Ok then. What are we waiting for? Christmas? Let's go slow pokes." And he began to race down the side of the street.
Cas dropped her board on the sidewalk and jumped on. "Come on! Last one to the subway is a conformist!" and kicked off and raced after Cam, the other following close behind.
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Severus hardly became nervous over anything. And if he did, he never showed it. But right then he was a nervous wreck. He never thought that he could get so worked up over meeting a fifteen year old girl. What's the worst she could do to him? She was a teenage girl for Merlin's sake. She couldn't be that bad, could she?
He was in his living room looking through old things looking for a specific picture when she saw it. The picture he was looking for; a picture of Izayoi and baby Ebony. He couldn't really see what she looked like at the concert since he was pretty far away from the stage. He had to admit that he was pretty eager to meet her and see the young woman she became. But he just couldn't work the nerve to leave the house and see her; and that was the problem. He had gotten dressed and eaten a small breakfast, now he was just sitting in his living on the couch, thinking about what she would she would look like but going to see her in person never crossed in mind.
He shook his feverously and slapped his cheeks. He could do this. He was Severus Snape. Feared by all children under the age of 17. He's been teaching for15 years. He could take one little girl. And with that thought he put on his cloak (even though it was like 85 degrees outside) and left his house.
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Cas was sitting on the ground at the skate park, watching her friends showing the "amateur" how it's really done. After about two hours of shredding the air, she got tired and sat to the side to watch. That's when she remembered her meeting and looked at her watch: 11:15. 'Better get going.'
She picked up her skateboard from beside and stood up. She stretched for a few moments before calling out, "Hey guys! I'll see you guys back at the hotel. I have to get someplace." She was about to walk when Mo and Kim skated towards her and stopped.
"What time will you be back?" Mo asked.
"One. Two tops."
"Where are you going?" Mo asked.
"Harrison Park in London."
"Why?"
Cas hesitated before saying, "Personal matters."
Mo and Kim looked at each other and then looked back at Cas.
"Alright. Be careful. And if anyone gives you any trouble…" Kim said.
"Kick their ass." Cas finished with a smirk.
They skated away to tell the others while Cas skated to the subway. 'Man. All this moving around is getting on my last nerve. I can't wait til I get my apparating license.' She thought as she sat on a subway train seat.
She still couldn't believe that she was finally going to meet her godfather. She had secretly wanted this happen since she ever heard of him when she was five. She just hoped that he wasn't nothing at all like she expected. The train stopped and the speakers spoke. "Central London."
'That's my stop.' She stood up and walked out when the doors opened. She left the subway station and skate boarded the rest of the way to the park.
Harrison Park was a small quiet little park with a playground for children and benches all around it for well… ya now. There was no one around so she decided to sit on the swings. She looked at her watch again: 11:50. "If he's not here in ten minutes, I'm leaving." She said to herself and swung a little on the swings.
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The first thing Severus did when he walked into Harrison Park was look around for Ebony. There was no one there except for blonde teenager swinging on the swing set in the playground. He took a harder look but still did not see the person he was looking for. He sat on one of the benches and looked at the Big Ben: 11:58. 'Where is she?' he asked himself. It's not exactly noon yet, but he didn't think that she literally meant noon. He looked around the park and his eyes couldn't help but land on the girl again.
For some reason her appearance reminded him of a song that he heard at Ebony's concert a few days ago…
I was looking in the mirror
Trying to find
A
new reflection.
Wanna take the road
Less traveled in
A
different direction.
Make some new mistakes
Forget
the ones I made.
Cry some tears of joy
Dress more like a boy.
And come back as a blonde
Try a different lipstick on
As a blond
Where
I get whatever I want.
I'll be ever so enticing
Cake, a lot of icing
Never
have to watch my weight.
Yeah when I'm gone
I'm gonna come back as a blonde…
Severus shook his to rid him of that song before he looked back at the girl who was about to leave. Big Ben rung meaning noon had come. Look at her watch looked around the park one more time. She seemed to be looking for someone as well. She sighed and was about to leave. That's when Severus got this crazy idea. Maybe that was Ebony and she was just under some kind of glamour. Not wanting miss the moment, he shouted out, "Hey you! Girl! Wait!"
He walked briskly towards the girl who stopped to look at him walk toward her. She didn't flinch when he stopped only a few inches away from her. "Girl. Could you be by any chance be Ebon-"
The girl eyes widened as she clamped a hand over his mouth. "Ssshhh! You want people to hear. Call me Cascilla for now." She pulled her hand away then sized him up before asking, "Who are you?"
Severus cleared his throat. 'Here goes.' "I am Severus Snape, your godfather."
Cascilla just stared at him for a moment before stating flatly, "Let's go."
"What?"
"Take me to see the Order. That's why you're here, aren't you?"
Severus studied her face, she showed no emotion and when she noticed what he was doing, she looked at the ground. "Oh of course. We have lots to talk about." He didn't bother asking how she knew about the Order.
Cascilla looked up and smirked at him, "We sure do."
He pulled out a piece of parchment and gestured for her to touch, which she did gladly. They disappeared within moments.
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"What's taking him?!" Sirius yelled in frustration.
"Patience, Sirius. I'm sure he's on his way as we speak." Dumbledore said.
That's when the group heard a soft thump and female voice groan "Ow."
Dumbledore smiled. "I believe that's her now."
Everyone sat up in their seats and the air tensed in anticipation. They heard more muffled words.
The door opened. First walked in Severus, closely followed by a teenage girl… with blonde hair and blue eyes?
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Cas grunted as Snape helped her to her feet. She picked up her skateboard and glared at Snape, "You could've told me that we were gonna land on marble." She rubbed her butt a few good times to get rid of the pain.
Severus looked, "I must have forgotten to mention. He turned and walked to a door. He gesture for her to follow, which she did. He opened the door and walked inside and Cas walked in next.
The Order had a lot less people than her mom had described. She took a quick look around the room and only counted about 30.
The person who was sitting at the very end on the other side of the long table was someone that she could easily recognized from her mom's description; unbelievably old, snow white, had an air of wisdom and leadership: Albus Dumbledore.
He frowned and looked towards Severus who had somehow stood behind her without her noticing. "Severus… Who is this girl? I thought you said you had a meeting with Ebony. She looks nothing like her."
Cas smiled mischievously and said, "Ooh! Sorry. My bad! I forgot to take off the glamour." Her smile turned into a smirk as she snapped her fingers and turned back into Ebony.
(Okay back to Ebony, shall we?)
Her bled back to a shiny black and her eyes glowed a fiery red. Some people gasped at her ability to do wandless magic and other glared at her because of her appearance. Ebony glared back, 'If they don't like the way I dress they can go fuck themselves. I didn't come here for their approval.'
"Ah Ebony! It's so nice to see you again. I must say you look totally different from the poster we have of you." Dumbledore said. Ebony could tell he was trying to keep the peace for as long as possible.
Ebony looked at him with narrowed eyes, "Poster?"
"Ah well, we had one our members get one of your posters so we could get an idea of what you looked like. I must say you look much taller in person." He pointed toward the poster that was still on the wall.
Ebony walked toward it, feeling every person's eyes on her and she moved. She ignored them to look at the poster. She studied it for a few moments before snapping her tongue and turning around to the group seated at the table. She pointed at it over her shoulder with her thumb and said, "Yeah, that's me… When I was twelve! Bit late on your info, aren't ya?" She smiled in satisfactory as some people blushed in embarrassment and one red-headed man sunk into his seat.
"Here's a 'more up to date' poster." She snapped her fingers again (causing a few more gasps) and in her hand was another poster. She unrolled it and put it over the first. She put her hand in the center of the poster to put a wandless sticking charm on it and stepped back from it so everyone could get a good look at it.
It showed the upper body of Ebony as they saw her and she was wearing an all black jacket. There was "Ebony" in smoky-swirly letters above her head. But the one thing that offended most of them was that she had her middle finger up in front of her and a smug smirk on her face. There was some grunted of anger and a few yells. Severus on the other hand thought it was amusing.
Dumbledore cleared his throat to calm the irate adults. Ebony just looked at him with a smirk on her face, mischief in her eyes, and her eyes, waiting to see what he would say to that. Dumbledore gave her stern look and said, "Ebony, I would like it if you remove that poster please. It's rather inappropriate for this meeting."
Ebony rolled her eyes and put her right hand in the center of the poster. In a second the poster was washed of any color, nothing but a blank, white, piece of paper. She removed her hand and the poster fell to the ground. Snap of the fingers and the poster disappeared.
She turned back to Dumbledore, "Happy now?"
He smiled that smile again, "Delighted." He took out his wand and waved it. An overly stuffed chair appeared behind Ebony. "Please sit Ebony. We have much to talk about."
"I'll stand thanks."
"Oh… alright then… well Ebony, let me just say that I am so happy to see you again. I was so worried-"
Ebony interrupted him with a nice Slytherin sneer, "Cut the crap Dumbledore. Mom told me everything."
"Well I believe you have the wrong story-" That was wrong thing to say.
Ebony eyes narrowed in caged anger, "Wrong story? And what story would that be? The one where every single person in this room excluding one sold out a young woman that did nothing but want to love and protect her baby? Something that almost every mother in the world is guilty of. And for what? To kill a defenseless two week year old baby? That's low. Even for the Order of the Phoenix." There were many gasps around the room and Dumbledore's eyes widened considerably.
Ebony smirked in her angry tirade, "What? Didn't think that I would know about this little group of yours? When I said that mom told me everything, I meant everything."
Dumbledore was speechless (for once) and just looked at the girl whose eyes held such passionate anger and anguish. The person next to speak was not him.
Sirius stood up in fueled anger as he glared death at Ebony. Good thing looks couldn't kill. "Well it was the right choice I think! Looks like you're not all that different from your conniving father!"
Severus was so angry at what Black had said but said nothing, knowing that this Ebony's turn to say what she wanted. He would step aside… for now.
Ebony fumed at those words. "I AM NOT MY FATHER!" A vase that sat a few meters away blew up making many people in the room jump. Ebony, noticing that the vase exploded, tried to calm herself. 'Don't lose control. Don't lose control.' She breathed and then continued on her tirade. "I am my own person. Not my father. And if you can't make that distinction, you're dumber than you look."
That's when Dumbledore decided to step in before Sirius did something he'll later regret (or not), "I totally agree that you are not Voldemort. That is why we will skip right to your education. Now, have you ever gone to school for a professional teaching of magic?"
Ebony tore her gaze from Black to look suspiciously at Dumbledore, "No. I've been home-schooled ever since I started my career."
Dumbledore smiled grandfatherly smile again and said, "Well how would you like a grand education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? Your mother graduated from there. I'm pretty sure she told you that didn't she?"
Ebony breathed in sharply and clenched her fists as she looked at her feet and said, "Yeah she did."
Dumbledore's smile grew, "So how bout it then. Would you like to be a student of Hogwarts?"
Ebony didn't miss a beat. She looked up and glared at him, "You want me to go to a school where you're the headmaster and I'll be under your thumb at all times. That will make it so much easier for you to control me, wouldn't it? Ha! Keep dreaming! There's no way!" she walked to the door, opened and slammed it shut.
Dumbledore rubbed his face and sighed. 'That girl is making this way harder than it needs to be. If things keep going this way, then we're in big trouble.'
He looked at Severus with a withering stare, "Severus…" He said tiredly, letting the favor hang in the air.
Severus grimaced and said, "Alright." and left the room to follow his irate goddaughter.
Sirius slammed his fist on the table with force, "Why that little brat!" he looked at Dumbledore, "Dumbledore! You can't be serious letting that little spawn of evil go to Hogwarts! She could kill the other students!"
Dumbledore gave him a stern look, "Don't worry, Sirius. I'll make sure that nothing like that will happen." He took out his wand and waved it to fix the broken vase and put it back in its place.
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Severus didn't have to go far to see that Ebony had only gone down the hallway, realizing she couldn't just leave the headquarters. He walked up behind her and whispered in her ear, "We need to talk."
Ebony turned around in a hurry with an angry grimace on her face. When she saw who it was she visibly calmed but still looked suspiciously.
Ebony seemed to study him again and then said, "Severus Snape. So you're my godfather?"
Severus looked at her and said, "Yes I am. I want to speak to you."
"About what?"
"Things." He said simply. He walked behind her and pushed her into a room that was upstairs in the big mansion. He sat her on the moldy king sized bed in it and sat beside her.
There was silence in the room while Severus collected his thoughts on how he was going to approach this. The first person to speak was not him though.
"You don't have to explain your place in my life." He head, which was looking at her hands in her lap, rose to look at a slightly surprised Severus. "I already know about what you did for me and my mom. And ever since I learned of you when I was five and the risk you took, I've wanted to thank you. So… thank you."
Severus hesitated for a moment before sighing, "Your welcome." He said simply. That's when he decided to ask the question that had plagued him for 12 years. "How is your mother doing?"
Ebony visibly stiffened and her hands tightened into fists. About a minute passed before she answered.
"She's dead."
Severus, for the first time in a very long while, was in shock. He couldn't find the will to speak. He just sat there, staring into space. His best and only friend, Izayoi Uwameshi, was dead. How could this happen? She didn't deserve to die. She deserved to have a happy life with her daughter and live a long and beautiful life. And what about Ebony? What happened to her after her mother's death? Did she go to an orphanage or was left on the streets? Ebony's only 15. She's far too young to be left alone like that. And even though she put up a front of toughness, he could tell that she was still hurting on the inside. So he did the only thing he could think of to console her. He put his arm around her and awkwardly pulled her close to his side. Ebony froze with the unexpected touch, but then eased into it sinking her face in his shoulder and breathing in his scent. Severus felt wetness on his shoulder and automatically knew that she was crying softly. This wasn't in his expertise. He usually tried to make children cry than try to make them stop. He did the only think he could think of again and rubbed her back soothingly. He waited about ten minutes for her to calm down before he asked another question, "How?"
Ebony raised her head and looked at Severus. Amazingly, her eye makeup didn't come off with her tears. He took a handkerchief out of his cloak and gave it to her to wipe her wet cheeks.
"Disease." She said as she wiped away her tears.
"How long?"
"Seven years."
'So she died when Ebony was only a child.' Severus thought sadly.
"Where did you go after she died?"
"An orphanage and then I ran away and lived on the streets for a couple years."
Severus sighed. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately, "Ebony… I'm sorry. If I had known I would have been there in less than a second. But I had no idea where you two went. I didn't know what to do. It's-"
"Don't say it's your fault. It's not your fault that mom died. It's not your fault we had to hide. It's the Ministry for having such a stupid fear for one man. I mean, come on! My father couldn't that bad could he?"
Severus looked at her in surprise. "You don't know about what your father ahs done?"
"No. My mom just said that he was very bad man and had made a lot of people angry with him." She paused and looked at him meekly, "It's worse than that, isn't it."
Severus hesitated before saying, "A lot worse." He proceeded to tell her everything in detail of her father's misdeeds and the reason why she had to run. He told her of how he is the powerful, darkest wizard in history and how he is on the top of the most wanted list. He told her of the countless people he killed in his thirst for power. He told her of her father taking a new name other than Tom Riddle: Lord Voldemort. He told her that he so feared by all that people were even afraid to say his name, calling him You-Know-Who, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and the Dark Lord. He told her all this and more while Ebony listened with horrified fascination. And when he was finally finished, she just sat there in shocked silence absorbing all that he had said. Severus didn't expect her to be anything less. He sat next to her and gave silent comfort as she thought of what he said.
"My dad was that bad, huh?" she finally said after twenty minutes of dead silence. She was looking at her hands again but Severus could see the tears that dripped onto her hands.
"So that's why they hate me." Her voice dropped to a soft whisper. Severus grabbed her wet chin and made her look at him. "Don't you dare have those thoughts I know you're having." He didn't have to read her mind, if he could, to know that her thoughts were going there. "It wasn't your fault you were born. It wasn't you fault that your father is one of the most evil wizards in history. It's not your fault that you're here today. Don't let what your father did haunt your every action. You've grown into a very special girl and you ARE your own person, not your father."
Ebony nodded her head and Severus let go. After a few more minutes, Severus decided to move on. "How about we talk of something else, shall we?" he said as he gave the same handkerchief to wipe her face again with.
"Like what?"
"Your education."
"I don't need to go to school. I've been home-schooled-"
"For how many years."
"Three… years…" she said meekly, knowing what was coming next.
"That is certainly not enough years to learn centuries of information."
"Oh please. I'm a music star. When will I ever have to learn centuries of information?"
"You never know."
Ebony paused for a second to think on her. "There is no way I'm going to a school where Dumbledore's the headmaster."
"Don't you worry yourself with that. I will personally make sure that he can never have his hands on you. I promise."
"How can you do that?"
"Well, for one thing, I'm the potions professor of Hogwarts. You will be learning potions under me."
She paused again to think over her decision and reluctantly said, "Okay."
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The Order was still waiting when the door slammed open. In walked in Ebony once again, followed by a calm Severus Snape. Ebony attitude had changed a small amount. It seemed to be more haunted and subdued than before, but barely anyone noticed.
She turned back at Severus Snape with somewhat of a begging look, but Snape seemed to be firm on his expression, making Ebony sigh and turn back to the table. "I have two more concerts to do before my Europe tour ends. That will take about two weeks for me to finish. That gives me another two weeks to buy my things for school," she put of two fingers for effect, "Just send me a letter and the ticket for the train and I'll take care of everything else." She said grudgingly, not looking at the wall to her left.
Dumbledore smiled grandfatherly, "So does that mean you will go?"
"I wouldn't be saying all this if I wasn't." she said rounding her eyes on Dumbledore with a sarcastic smirk on her face. He clapped his hands, making Ebony twitch slightly in annoyance. "That's grand news! Just tell me if you need any help-"
Ebony turned up her nose, "I will not need help of yours." She picked up her skateboard that she left on the wall near the door and walked out with Severus coming along with her to take her home.
Dumbledore sat in his seat and sighed. He and the others knew the meeting wasn't over until Severus returned and they talked over what they heard.
"Well I would have to say she is a very vindictive girl." Mrs. Weasley said.
"I like her!" Tonks exclaimed. Most of the people in the room, including her cousin looked at her as if she was insane. "What? She's got attitude. I like that in a girl."
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(AN: I should end it here. Naw I don't think I will.)
Ebony and Severus were in the hallway once again. Ebony replaced her hat on her head, "So you are giving me the portkey to get out of here or are we going to stand here all day." She wore a smile to show he was kidding.
"Well we have to leave before I do that. The portkey only works going in, not out."
Ebony gave him a weird look, "That's retarded." She said simply.
"Indeed." He agreed slowly.
"Well let's go then." She snapped her fingers to change back to Cas and ran to the nearest door before Severus could stop her.
She swung the door and she realized it was the wrong room. It seemed to be a parlor of some sort. But the thing that shocked her was that there were teens sitting in he room, talking. Of course they stopped when she walked in. The was a girl with brown frizzy hair tied back in a ponytail and another girl with fire-red hair. There were three other boys with the same hair, so Cas guessed that they were the girl's brothers. And then there was one more boy with jet black hair, but the thing that caught her attention was his striking emerald green eyes.
She blushed lightly as she looked around the room to see them all staring at her. "Sorry. Wrong room."
That's when she felt a being behind her and knew that it was Severus. "Come Cascilla. The exit is this way." He weaved his arm around her shoulders and steered her out of the room.
"Who were they?" Cas asked. 'Mom said that was an all adult organization. Why are kids here?' she thought to herself. "Students of Hogwarts who are staying here for the holidays. They will be your schoolmates and maybe even, god forbid, your housemates." He said with a sneer adorning his face. Cas looked back at the door as it was opened by the black haired boy. They stared into each others eyes for a second before Cas decided to break the connection. She turned her head forward to see which way Severus was taking her.
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"Who was that?" Hermione asked from her seat on the floor as Harry closed the door and returned to place next to Ron on the couch.
"I don't know, but if she knows Severus, then she's nothing but trouble."
"Oh hush Ron. We don't know that for sure." Hermione admonished.
"Oh come on, Hermione! You saw how they were. It's so obvious that they are some kind of chummy with each others."
Hermione rolled her eyes and went back to her conversation with Ginny about magical makeup.
Ron began to continue his long-winded lecture about the Chudley Cannon, which Harry respectably listened. But in the back of his head he just couldn't help but think about that blonde haired girl.
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Cas had the feeling of falling from the sky as she landed on the soft, cool, green grass of Harrison park. Severus once again landed on his feet and helped her to her feet.
"Thanks." She said as she dusted off her pants.
"Don't mention it."
They stood in silence for a few moments, looking for something to say. "Well… I'll see you in two weeks?"
"I'll be the one meeting you on the station at Hogwarts so need not worry."
Ebony smiled at him and dropped her skateboard. "Until then, huh?"
And then she skated off, leaving a perplexed potions master in her wake.
'She's definitely your daughter, Izayoi." Thought to himself and then he disappeared.
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He appeared at Grimmauld Place but stopped before he opened the door that the Order was behind to prep himself for inevitable interrogation. Even if he was sort of trusted by him, Dumbledore always seemed to try to get every bit of information from him, even the bits that Severus didn't want in the open. With a tired sigh he opened the door.
Dumbledore looked at him with another smile. "Ah Severus now that you're here we can begin."
Severus held back the need to roll his eyes and sat in his usual seat.
"Well, we know that Ebony is a rather… eccentric young lady that has a tiny rough edge to her." Dumbledore started.
"She seemed to have a good head on her shoulder, sort of." Charlie Weasley said weakly.
"We didn't really ask her any questions. Not about if she knew who her father was or anything like." Moody grunted.
"Did she even know of what her father has done? All the lives he's ended and ruined." Bill asked to no one in particular.
"She didn't. She does now. I told her." Severus said garnering a few looks which he didn't acknowledge.
"Oh Severus I don't think you should have done that." Dumbledore lightly rebuked.
Severus glared at him in anger. "She of all people deserved to know who her father is and what he has done. Izayoi never told her the full story. Just a general story that would quench a child's curiosity of their father."
"And that leads us to a question that should have been asked first." Lupin began.
Sirius looked at him with curiosity, "And that question is…?"
"Where is Izayoi?" Lupin said.
Sirius rounded his eyes on Severus, "That's right Snivellus. Where is Izayoi? Did you even ask that question while you had your little heart to heart with the little bastard?"
Snape narrowed his eyes at the insult toward his goddaughter, but answered the question, "Of course I did, you disgusting mutt."
Dumbledore stepped to stop the rude retort that was bound to come. "And what did Ebony say?"
Severus looked at him and then toward his that sat in front of him on the table, then he said simply, "She's dead."
There was a tense, deadly silence around the room as everyone looked at him in shock. After several seconds, Black was the first to speak. "Wh…what do you mean…dead?" he asked shakily.
Severus looked at him rare fire of pure hate in his onyx eyes. "What other meaning "dead" is there? She died seven years ago. About a two year after the Ministries decided to end their searches for them. She died of sickness. She died partially alone, with only Ebony to give her company for her last hours." He wanted to rage at them. He wanted to scream and yell at them for they did. She could have lived. She could have, dammit! If they hadn't shunned her! If they hadn't abandoned her in her time of need. After all the things she had done for them, her life ended with only her daughter next to her as she breathed her last breath. He didn't think he could imagine her pain. To have all that happen to you and still have to be strong for your child's survival, only for it all to fall right from under you.
"Wait. She died seven years ago? Then that would mean that died when Ebony was only a child." Arthur said.
"Oh that poor child! She was all alone." Molly said despairingly.
No one said anything. Most thinking about what their mistakes have done to not only a young woman but also a little girl. At the moment they couldn't have been more ashamed of what they had done.
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Cas skated inside the hotel. She jumped off her board and looked at her watch. '2:30! Oh man! I'm late! Kim's gonna totally kill me!' she thought in alarm.
She picked up skateboard and sprinted to the elevator to go to the floor that they all stayed on. When she walked in, she snapped her fingers to change back into Ebony. As soon as the door opened again on the 21st floor, she darted out and almost crashed into a bell boy. The boy didn't seem to mind though; it was the Ebony after all. She ran to the end of the hallway and leaped over a box of soap as she went. She stopped and skidded to a stop in front a door that was numbered Room 2112. 'Kim's room.' She knocked lightly on the door, secretly hoping that Kim wasn't in right then. Unfortunately, fate was against her that day. The door swung opened she was pulled inside. Next thing she knew she was thrown on the bed and was met with the faces of an irate Kim, Mo, Cam, and Wolly.
She gave them a nervous smile, "Hi guys."
Kim's face became more irritated, "You're late."
Ebony sat up as they back away, "Yeah well… I sort of lost track of time. Sorry."
"Next time call if you were going to be late. We were worried." Mo said in her authority voice.
"About that… I forgot to bring my cell phone-"
"Well next time don't forget dammit!" Cam said.
Ebony looked at her hands in her lap, "Sorry." She mumbled. She hated it when she worried them. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Kim and Mo sitting beside with forgiving smiles on their faces.
"Alright. You're off the hook. But you better tell Katsui you're back. He practically had a heart attack when you didn't come back on time." Wolly said, getting a laugh from Ebony.
"Alright, but later we're going to the arcade. I mean, come on! It's only 2:30!"
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8 hours later
Ebony lied on her bed, staring at the ceiling of her private suite. They had spent the rest of that day at the arcade, just trying to get the high score on every game in the place. They had stayed there long before everyone else had left and then they had to leave when it closed. It was otherwise a great end to a wonderful day. Now that she was on her bed again, her mind had calmed down enough for her to think about the information that she had learned from her godfather.
Her father was evil tyrant. Hmm… even that one sentence at the time of being was told hard for her to wrap her mind around. But now that she had time to think about it, it didn't seem that farfetched. When she was child, she usually played alone because most children were afraid because of her blood red eyes. Many adults who came across her thought that she was devil's spawn (even if they were wrong, they weren't too far off from the truth). She was picked on a lot in the orphanage because of the evil connotation of her eyes. Not many people would adopt her because of her eyes. And those who did shortly took her back because of weird happenings that hadn't started until they took her home (which she knew was accidental magic). After a while she got tired of being ogled at in fear and not being wanted, so she ran away to he streets, Where she wasn't exactly cared for and was still not wanted, but she didn't have to deal with all the fear and hate ridden looks she had acquired. That was the thing she hated the most. Now she knew where her eyes came from. An evil, cruel, conniving, asshole. She already had a bad impression of him, and she hasn't even met him yet.
For some reason she had a feeling that she was soon going to. Even if she really didn't to.
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End of Chapter 3
AN: So what do you think of this chapter. R&R. Now that I'm finished with this chapter, I will now start working on chapter 5 for Unexpected Youth. I just wanted this one to have as many chapters as UY. As for those who asked, I mentioned in the last chapter that all of them except for Ebony are adults
(As A Blonde: FeFe Dobson)