A/N I see a bunch of you have added this to your story alerts and favorites. Thank you, I'm truly flattered. :)
Ivy made her way downstairs as soon as she heard Severus rummaging around the next morning. She found him in the rundown kitchen making tea and buttering toast.
"I apologize for the meager fare, I didn't plan on coming here," he motioned toward the table for her to sit.
"It's fine," she croaked. "You planned on letting me die then," she added, not looking at him.
Rubbing his temples he sat across from her at the table. "My life is no longer my own. I made mistakes in my youth that I am now paying for in adulthood. What happened last night was out of my hands, you must understand that."
"I do not understand that and I'm not sure I ever will but right now, it is the last thing for me to ponder over," warming her hand on the mug of tea in front of her, she took a deep steadying breath. "I'm trying very hard to comprehend everything you told me last night. Reality has not yet sunk in. I've always known that I was different but, this tale of witches and wizards you've spun is almost too much."
"I understand," he responded carefully.
"Do you?!" she looked up. "Everything I've known to be true has been turned upside down. My family is dead, sir! They're dead and then you come along and tell me of this fantastical world filled with magic before adding that I'm "not quite" a member of it. I have no one and I might as well be no one seeing as you're the only person who knows I am alive right now."
"It is the only way," he chose to only address the last statement, hoping to keep the teenage dramatics to a bare minimum. "You will not be safe otherwise. The Dark Lord has returned and the war is just beginning. To enter the magical community now would be a death sentence," he explained. "You will stay here until it is safe. Very few know of this place."
"I will stay here? For how long? Correct me if I'm wrong but, did you not say the first war with this madman lasted years? I will not be holed up here as a prisoner! That is not fair!"
"I know it is not fair!" Severus began to lose his temper. "Life is not fair! This is your reality and unless you want to die you will have to deal with it."
He was right and Ivy knew it. She would have to resign herself to fate and if that meant indefinite confinement then so be it. "Fine."
"Eat," he instructed, a bit confused that she hadn't put up more of a fight. "I do not know the extent of your abilities and there is much to be done before I leave."
"How long will you be gone?" she asked, not expecting to be left alone so soon.
"A week at most."
"I'll be safe here?"
"My wards are strong. In fact, that's how I knew you were magical," Severus smirked a bit at the memory.
"I don't understand," she sent him a quizzical look.
"I've placed magical wards on my property to alert me of people trying to get in and to keep those same people out. When you showed up in the back garden a few years ago I seriously questioned my abilities, I hadn't even felt you enter."
"You thought I was a- um, an- um," she stumbled over her words trying to remember what he'd said the previous evening, "a Squib?"
"Indeed," he shook his head. "There is a book at Hogwarts, that is the school where I teach, that names all future students upon their birth. In my haste to hide you, my younger self did not think of what would happen if your name showed up in that book. I started teaching there a few years later and was able to --" he paused, thinking of the right words, "borrow the book."
"You stole it," Ivy interrupted with a small chortle.
"I did not steal it," came his rebuttal.
"Oh no?" she challenge.
"No," he paused again. "I broke into the headmasters office for a bit of… research."
"Ah, breaking and entering," she teased. "I don't know about your world, sir but here that's a crime."
"May I continue?" he drawled and raised one eyebrow.
"Certainly."
"Your name wasn't in the book and I assumed you to be a Squib. When you appeared in my garden I didn't know what to think, no one should have been able to get on this property. As soon as you left I set about testing all of my wards, they were strong as ever. When I checked to see if any of them were breeched I found the faintest trace of a magical signature… your magical signature."
"That still doesn't tell me how I got in," Ivy pushed, her curiosity getting the best of her.
"Uncontrolled magic. It's not uncommon in young witches and wizards. Magic will usually manifest when the child is throwing a temper tantrum or in danger; it's linked to extreme emotions. You must have wanted to get back there very badly. I do have to admit that I've been very curious to find out the reason for years."
"I was following a turtle."
"Come again?"
"A turtle," she managed to chuckle at the absurdity of it. "Hector. He still lives here, under the spruce along the south wall."
"You slipped through my wards because you were determined to follow a turtle?" he asked, at a complete loss.
"I'd been following him around the neighborhood all day. I believe he was more determined than I to get into your yard. He wanted to eat the hyssop you were growing."
Taking a deep breath, Severus resigned himself to the fact that he would never understand children. "Oh, of course," he rolled his eyes.
"If I have magic then, why wasn't I in the book?"
"That's a good question. I've done some research over the years but, there is not much written on the subject. I have yet to find documentation of someone with a signature as weak as yours. There have been cases however, of children entering Hogwarts but not being able to finish their education due to a weaker signature. It's very likely you simply don't possess the strength to do the magic required."
"But why? What's wrong with me?"
"I believe it was the potion Narcissa was given to terminate her pregnancy. There are herbs used in abortifacients that cleanse the blood. They are perfectly safe for an adult but, on an undeveloped fetus they were too strong. They literally cleansed the magic out of you."
"Great," she responded sarcastically.
"That's enough dawdling," he suddenly pushed his chair back from the table. "Come, I need to see if you can feel the wards."
Standing, both Ivy and Severus moved into the sitting room. Ivy quickly situated herself on the couch and watched as Severus began murmuring to himself in what sounded like Latin and waved his wand. After a moment or two her mind wandered off and she began picturing him as a baton twirler and laughed loudly.
"Are you finished?" Severus broke her daydream.
"Quite," she reigned in her laughter. "Are you?"
"Yes. I've adjusted the wards. They've recognized you for years, that's how you were able to return but, now you should be able to read them as well. I'm going to test them, tell me if you feel anything," he explained, flourishing his wand.
"It tingles," she nodded. "Feels like when your foot falls asleep, but all over."
"Good. You will feel that whenever I come through." Continuing with his wand waving he smirked when Ivy suddenly shot up off the sofa.
"What the bloody hell was that?!" she squealed, crossing her arms and rubbing her shoulders briskly. "I feel like I was electrocuted."
"You essentially were," he stated matter-of-factly. "That is what will happen when someone who shouldn't be here is trying to get through. Follow me," he strode over to and walked up the stairs. When they arrived at the end of the hallway on the second floor Severus stopped abruptly in front of a ladder leading into what appeared to be an attic. "I did this last night."
"What is it?"
"It is where you will go if you ever feel someone other than me trying to enter. I cannot feel these wards at a distance but, I will be alerted as soon as you pull up the ladder and seal that entry," he pointed toward the ceiling. "As soon as it is sealed the room will be undetectable and only I will be able to see and open it."
"There's no way you're locking me up there," she stated finitely. "What if something malfunctions and you come back in a few months just to find me a dusty pile of bones in your cramped attic?"
"It will not malfunction," he snapped at her. "I am very good at what I do and when I return and have more time, I will make sure it is modified to be a comfortable living space in case of an emergency."
Ivy looked at him skeptically before sighing and shaking her head. "What else?" she asked.
"Come back downstairs."
Arriving back in the sitting room Severus showed his charge a stack of books he'd piled next to one of the armchairs. "These should be able to answer most of your questions about our world," he told her, reaching for the book on top and rifling through the pages. "This," he spun the book around to show her an image, "is a house elf. Do not be alarmed when one shows up here tomorrow. His name is Dobby and he once belonged to the Malfoys. I'm sure he will remember you and be a blubbering nuisance when he arrives but, he's the only option I have right now to get you any items you may require."
"My god," she scrunched her face as she looked at the picture. "That thing is uglier than a garden gnome."
"What do you know of garden gnomes?" he asked curiously.
"I found one in the garden yesterday. Gave me a right fright, it did," she chuckled. "Edgar was kind enough to tell me what it was, after he had a good laugh, of course. Will he be staying?"
"No, Edgar comes with me. He is my familiar and does some of my bidding."
"That sounds ominous."
"He delivers letters for me and harasses the occasional dunderhead," Severus smirked at the bird that was once again perched in the sitting room. "There's a book relating to familiars in that pile. You may want to read up on them seeing as you are able to communicate with mine. It's highly unusual for someone not bonded to the animal to understand it."
"I will," she nodded, standing a bit awkwardly in the middle of the room.
"I must go soon. This is my summer home, I have not spent much time here during the summer in the past but I will make my excuses and come as often as possible. There is much for you to learn yet."
"You've got that right," she mumbled.
"Dobby will arrive tomorrow with provisions. You may move freely about the house and the backyard only, do not under any circumstances move from under the wards," walking around the living room he gathered a few things and let Edgar out through the window. "I am going to apparate out of here. You will hear a popping noise and I will seem to have vanished into thin air. If for any reason you feel unsafe move directly into the attic space. Is that clear?" he asked in a no nonsense tone.
"Yes, sir," she nodded.
"Very well, I shall see you soon," Severus bowed slightly, "and I'm very sorry about your family." With that, he disapparated with a pop (like he had explained) and Ivy slumped down onto the couch.
The sudden silence was overwhelming and his parting words began to repeat themselves in her head. "Sorry about your family," she whispered to no one as tears began to flow freely down her face. Her family was dead and in their place was the knowledge that there were people out in the world that wouldn't hesitate to kill her if they knew she was alive. Her tears quickly turned to full out sobs that she had trouble controlling for the rest of the day. Somewhere around midnight her body finally succumbed to exhaustion and she fell into a fitful slumber.