A/N Yes, a reason as to why she never received a Hogwarts letter will be provided. Next chapter though. Thank you for reading. :)

I DISCLAIM

"She never told you," Severus sat down in the chair across from Ivy. "Of course she didn't tell you, that would be too easy," he grumbled under his breath.

"Told me what?" Ivy asked carefully.

"Your mo-- Hazel was a Squib."

"A what?"

"A Squib, the non-magical offspring of magical parents."

Ivy stared at the older man seated across from her as though he had sprouted another head. "You're barmy. A complete nutter! Rosie was right. All these years and she was right, I can't believe it…" she began to ramble.

Not sure what to do Severus pulled out his wand and cast a silencio on the hysterical girl. As soon as the spell took effect Ivy stopped, eyes wide in panic. "I am not, as you so eloquently stated, a nutter. I am a wizard. Now, if you would kindly shut up and let me speak I will lift the charm and explain."

Nodding her head in the affirmative, Ivy felt the spell lift and bit her tongue to keep from speaking out of turn.

"Now listen closely because I will only explain this part once," he said tiredly as he launched into an explanation of the wizarding world, the war currently waging within and his current position, knowing he could always obliviate her later. Ivy, to her credit listened attentively and did not interject though she couldn't quite figure out her place in all of this.

"Hazel was born to a pure-blood family; the Browns. Squibs are not well received in our society and she was disowned by her family and lived her life as a muggle. During the first war her father sided with the Dark Lord. Now that he is back, her remaining family has chosen not to realign with him. Hazel and her family were quickly marked for death. They were far enough removed from our world to not make the papers but, in it enough to send a message. You do not refuse the Dark Lord."

"This is my mother! Stop speaking like she's a stranger!" Ivy exclaimed.

"She was not your mother, Ivy," Severus told her gently. "Not by blood at least. Hazel and her husband took you in upon my request."

Ivy sucked in a sharp breath. It made sense, she looked nothing like either of her parents but, that didn't change the heaviness of what she was just told. "Are you my father then?"

"No."

"Am I a squib too?"

"No."

"A muggle?"

"No."

"A witch?"

"Not quite."

"Not quite?!" Ivy leapt from the chair. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Sit down," Severus shot her a look, causing her to immediately sit back down. "You have a very faint magical signature, meaning you have very limited magical abilities."

"Is that why your raven can talk to me?" she asked, pointing to the bird that watched them attentively from the back of the sofa.

"You can converse with him?" Snape raised an eyebrow. It was highly unusual for ones familiar to be able to communicate with others.

"Not really, he shows me pictures," she shrugged. "He's a cheeky bastard."

"Interesting," he stared at his familiar briefly, the corner of his mouth twitching into the slightest bit of a smirk at Ivy's description of his cantankerous raven. "Yes, I assume that's part of your limited abilities. Witches and wizards are innately drawn to nature."

"Do you know who my parents are?"

"Yes."

"Well, are you going to tell me?" she quipped testily.

"Mind your tone, young lady," he scolded, shocking even himself with the fatherly air he had taken on.

"Sorry," Ivy responded sheepishly. "Please, just tell me the truth."

"I was summoned away from school to dispose of you shortly after your birth," he said in one quick breath. "Your mother, Narcissa Black was set to marry Lucius Malfoy through an arranged marriage. They are not uncommon in our world, especially in the upper echelons of society. I do not know the sordid details but, from what the gossip mongers had to say she was very much in love with another; Gideon Prewett. He was a pure-blood like your mother but, from a family of "blood traitors." She fell pregnant with you shortly before she was to marry Lucius. Both her family and the Malfoy family were furious. She was given an abortifacient potion to terminate the pregnancy. It was made incorrectly however and you continued to thrive. By the time anyone realized she was still with child it was too late. There was no way to terminate the pregnancy without a high risk of killing Cissy. She carried to term and gave birth to you. She was told you did not survive."

Ivy sat silently, listening to a tale so strange she was sure it was all a bad dream. The reality of the situation had not yet sunk in and would probably not for some time. "Please, go on," she urged.

"At the time I was in my last year at Hogwarts and foolishly trying to get into the Dark Lords ranks. Lucius summoned me. I was to kill you and in return he'd sing my praises to the Dark Lord. I took one look at you and couldn't do it," he told her with an unprecedented amount of tenderness in his voice. "I came back here and looked after you myself for a few days before I was able to convince Hazel and her husband to take you in."

"What of my parents, my birth parents?"

"Cissy was wracked with grief for many years, she has not been the same since. Your father and his brother were killed by Death Eaters when you were four. He never knew of you. Narcissa was kept under lock and key when she became pregnant with you and they never saw each other again. Lucius Malfoy continues to serve the Dark Lord and Narcissa is the epitome of the perfect pure-blood wife."

Both Severus and Ivy sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Neither looked at the other, too absorbed in the events of the evening.

"What is to become of me?" Ivy quietly asked him.

"You are almost of age in the wizarding world," he explained. "You will stay here, it is the safest place for you right now. Only I know you are alive, the muggle authorities will assume you've died alongside the others. We will work out the details in the morning. Right now we both need to sleep."

Ushering her up the stairs he made sure she was settled in the spare bedroom before retiring for the evening. Sleep found neither of them that night however.