Emily sprinted as fast as she could down to the dungeons and she quietly opened the large chamber door, and it let out a loud creak, making any hope of a graceful entrance a joke.

"SIT." A voice commanded. Emily felt her face blanch as she made eye contact with the feared potions master. She quickly walked to long table and sat down.

"It seems, Miss Arden, that you need not only an additional lesson in tidiness, but also in TIME MANAGEMENT." He snapped. Emily felt herself flinch as she stood before him. She looked up into the man's eyes and she saw a range of emotions roll through his features. There was a moment, perhaps surprise? Something she couldn't identify.

"Get out your potions text, page three hundred and twenty four." He said quietly. Emily quickly pulled out her crusty and ink stained text book out, as well as slug livers and her various kit to prepare her ingredients.

"You will begin by completing the assignment you failed to do today, and then you will be writing lines." He spoke.

"Yes, Sir." She took time to roll up her sleeves and tie them with short knots to keep them out of her way. Emily cracked open the textbook, and the ink had bled so much by this time that it rendered most of the text unreadable.

"What, pray tell, is that abomination?" Emily looked down embarrassed; them back up to meet the professor's gaze.

"My potions texts, sir." Snape picked up the book and flipped through it.

"I assume you're a ward of the ministry?" He asked in a strained voice. Emily nodded in response. Only his eyes lifted from the inspection of the text and he regarded her. "Well, it seems that the ministry still doesn't deem basic student needs to be a viable expenditure." Emily watched as the professor set flame to the book and threw it in the trash. He went over to a cupboard and pulled out a shiny volume, which he placed in front of her.

"From Hogwarts." He said. Emily stared in shock. Wasn't this detention?

"Thank you sir!" She gasped quietly. The man regarded her, and then sat down at his desk. She quickly made work of her potions ingredients, and the professor only gave a raised eyebrow of approval. She was sent lines for the rest of the evening, which simply consisted of "I will be conscious of time."

Severus Snape stared down at the child, and it was every so often that a flash of her eyes reminded him of his son. His son had those same eyes and it was somewhat disconcerting seeing them on another child. Severus immediately notes the child was a ward of the ministry. Even if Severus hadn't been informed of such, he would have had no problem seeing as the ministry spent barely enough to clothe the child. Her robes were two or three sizes too big and were graying. Her texts were all used, and used more than once from the look of the crusty book Severus had taken from the child.

He watched her read her text so vehemently that her small nose was nearly touching the page, not unlike he did as a child. His internal clock chimed and he cleared his throat.

"You are dismissed. Curfew is in ten minutes; I suggest you make your way back to your common room. And do NOT be late" he told the girl. He watched her quickly scramble to do as he beckoned and he watched silently as she bolted quickly from the room. He went back to his lesson plans for the next day, pushing the small Gryffindor from his thoughts.

At the end of her morning Transfiguration class, Emily went up to her head of house, wringing her hands nervously.

"Can I help you, Miss Arden?"

"Err… yes, professor, could, would it be possible for me to meet with the headmaster?" She asked, and she watched the older woman's eyes as they combed over her face for a moment.

"The headmaster is a busy man, perhaps I can help?" She asked. Emily looked around, seeing the rest of the class disperse.

"Well… it's about what the sorting hat said…it said I had a brother… well, it didn't just tell me I had a brother, I mean, it was deciding on a house, and it said I might be suited to Ravenclaw like my brother, but I don't have a brother… well, I guess I could, but I've never known about him…" Emily was halted as the strict woman put her hand up stopping her.

"I do believe you are right in considering this issue being taken up with the headmaster. I will inform him of what you've spoken to me of, and he will send you an owl with a time to report to his office."

"Thank you, Professor." Emily ran off to her next class, a mixture of emotions swirling throughout her.

XxXxXx

Alexander Snape watched as the particularly small Gryffindor girl he had met the day before leave the potions classroom during the afternoon classes. He met her eyes for a moment and he regarded her with a short smile. She looked at him, a caution in her eyes, but she returned the smile and then made her way out of sight. There was something oddly familiar about the girl, he felt like he knew her. He wouldn't lie, she looked slightly ridiculous running around in robes that were far too large for her, but he wouldn't judge her based on her circumstances.

Alex entered the potions classroom and then went back through to his Father's private office. "Rembrandt" he spoke and watched as the large portrait of an old painter staring at a canvas swung open. He entered their private chambers, where a room had been added for him. Of course they had Snape manor, but so much time was spent at the castle, that Alex had his own room from the time he was small.

"Alexander." Severus said smiling.

"Hi father…" He said, with a grim face.

"Has something happened? He asked observing his son's face.

"Well, nothing too serious… a few students commented that I remind them of you."

"I see."

"It just worries me a bit… things aren't going to be as simple anymore, are they?" Alex asked. He looked at the visage of his father who was staring down into his tea.

"No, I suppose it won't be."

"Dad, will you, tell me about my mother and sister again?" Alex watched his father's eyes dart up to him.

"Why now of all times?"

"No reason…"

"Well...Your mother, Sarah… she was a beautiful woman." He said, going over to the mantel and pulling down the charmed picture. To any onlooker it was a portrait of Eileen Prince, Severus's mother, but to the two wizards they saw a woman with long brown hair, and bright blue eyes with a younger version of the dark man in the room. There were two small children, a little girl with wisps of black hair and bright blue eyes, barely a month old, and a boy of three, his silky black hair and piercing blue eyes shining with happiness as the family looked to each other in the frame.

"Why did they attack?"

"Remember what I told you about the your ability to see the threads?"

"Yes! What are they?" Severus looked to his son and a part of him wanted to shield him from the knowledge, but he looked at his son and he saw him as no longer a boy, but the beginning of a young man.

"Alexander…"

"Father! Please, I know the story, but you still won't tell me what it was about us! I'm old enough to know." He pressed.

"Alexander, you know that they were servants of the dark lord, they wanted to use you, and your sister to bring him back. When they attacked, your mother died defending you and your sister, but she died as well."

"But how could we possibly be able to bring the dark lord back?" Alex asked.

"It is knowledge that you do not need to be burdened with. Right now"

"FATHER! That isn't possibly fair! I think at fourteen I should have a right to know why half of my family was killed."

"I know, and I cannot tell you for your own protection." Severus watched as his son stormed off down the hallway to his small room. Some of his belongings had been moved to his dormitory, but the majority of them remained in the dungeons. Severus looked down at the family of four and he closed his eyes, trying to remember those short happy months, trying to imagine what it would have been like to have his wife and daughter in his life all these years.