A/N: Ah sorry for the late update! Exams have started at school and the teachers are piling coursework and homework and all sorts of things on us, which really isn't fair D: but I'll try and keep updating as quick as I can! Some lovely reviews might motivate me to update quicker ;)

Chapter Three

She didn't say anything to Abel when he met up with her. After all, there could be hundreds of people called Severus! But… it did make her wonder. After Flourish and Blotts they went to the apothecary's to get potion ingredients, then the cauldron store, then they got brass scales and a shiny collapsible telescope and a set of crystal phials. Then Abel decided it would be a good idea to get a supply of parchment, quills and ink which was great fun for Rae because she loved to write and there were so many things in the store! She got inks of all different colours, an assortment of beautiful quills (including an exquisite peacock feather quill) and then normal parchment, but she couldn't resist buying some patterned ones either. Afterwards, they headed to buy a wand when Rae almost walked into someone else. A squat woman had just ran by, screaming about something or another. And then Rae saw what she was running after, a tiny ball of fluff of some sort. No, wait, it was a kitten, she noticed a second later as it began to try and climb up her leg with rather large paws. Rae laughed and picked it up – it was so fluffy! And its eyes were a beautiful bright emerald green… they sort of reminded her of Albus and Harry's eyes. The woman approached Rae, exhausted from the chase.

"T-thank you, s-so much!" she panted, reaching out for the kitten. When Rae began to pass the kitten over, however, it began to wriggle and claw its way back up Rae's arm. Rae brought the kitten to her chest again, and it curled up happily by her neck.

"How much is the kitten?" Rae asked, stroking it. The woman looked at her in disbelief, after the show the thing had put on, who'd want to buy it?! But then she suddenly looked relieved to have it taken off her hands and told her the kitten was female and was seven galleons. Rae paid the woman and bought all of the necessary things to keep a kitten, and she had already been house trained so the only thing left to do was name her!

"I think… I'll call her Lexxie! Yes, that's a good name, isn't it Lexxie?" Rae said happily, cuddling the little creature in her arms. Abel looked at her with a slight smile, she may seem grown up most of the time, but really there was no mistaking how carefree she could be. Well, what more could be expected of an eleven year old girl? They returned to their previous task of going to the wand store. Abel told her all about the previous owner, Ollivander, and that he was practically the best (and most famous!) maker of wands in the world, for a very long time. But he was also very old and passed away, leaving his store to his grandson, who was also called Ollivander.

Inside the store was quite small and gloomy, there wasn't very much light and everything seemed to be covered in a layer of dust. By the door was a window, and in front of the window was a rickety old chair that Abel sat down on, holding Lexxie. Directly in front of the door was a counter, and behind that Rae could see a narrow corridor made up of shelves which were piled to the ceiling with thin boxes that held wands. A moment later, a middle-aged man appeared from the corridor. "Good afternoon, my dear. Just starting Hogwarts, I presume?" Rae nodded, the man spoke in a very soft voice and had bright grey eyes – he was a little creepy, if she told the truth. He came from behind the counter holding a tape measure and smiled at her, "well, we should get started. Hold out your wand-arm please," Rae decided this meant her writing arm and she was left-handed, so she held out her left arm. He nodded and began measuring different lengths; from shoulder to finger, wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor and so on. It seemed every part of her was measured before he was finished.

Next second, he rushed off behind the counter again and disappeared down the corridor. Rae turned to give Abel a very unsure look, but he just smiled at her as if this was amusing. Well, it probably was to him. Mr. Ollivander returned carrying three separate boxes. He laid them down on the counter and motioned for Rae to come forward as he opened the first box, taking out a long, thin wand and handing it to her. "Holly and dragon heartstring, quite supple – six inches. Give it a bit of a wave," he said. Rae felt quite stupid but she did as she was told and waved the wand, but she had hardly lifted it when he took it off her and began to open the other one. "Ebony and unicorn hair, flexible – nine inches," once again, she began to wave it but he shook his head and took it off her. The third one was no good, either.

And neither was the sixth one. However, this seemed not to bother Mr. Ollivander at all, the more wands they got through, Rae noticed, the happier he was. He stood back and looked at her for a moment, circled her once or twice and then held his hand to his chin, thinking. Coming close, he looked into her dark, almost black eyes and gave her a slight smile. "Ah… I wonder," he disappeared again and when he returned, he only carried one box. He passed her the wand, saying, "willow and phoenix feather, nice and swishy – eight and a half inches." Rae held the wand in her left hand and knew it felt different. There was a warmth that radiated from the wand, and as she rose it, bright red sparks shot out of the end and illuminated the dull little shop. Ollivander clapped joyously. "I knew it, the wand chooses the wizard, you know. You must be a natural with practical magic, and of course, animals," he winked. Rae didn't quite know what he meant, but she wanted to leave the shop as soon a possible. Paying him (eight galleons), she hurried out.

"I wonder what's so strange about this wand… or me," she thought aloud, "he seemed very pensive just before he brought this wand, as if he knew it was going to be this one. And he looked at my appearance too; do I look like someone who had this wand before?" Abel's eyes widened, as if in shock, but just for a moment. He smiled.

"You look like your uncle," he said. Rae was surprised, she'd never heard of people looking like uncles or aunts, it was always parents or grandparents. Abel seemed to see this. "Just as he did, you inherited your grandfather's eyes. As it is said, the eyes are the window to one's soul, Ollivander never sold your uncle his wand, of course he's too young. But a long time ago when the original Ollivander was captured by the Dark Lord, this Ollivander must have seen your uncle a couple of times, you know, checking up on the family, making threats and so on. Your uncle was a double-agent, as they say. He worked for Albus Dumbledore, the greatest wizard I've ever come across, and he was a spy in the Dark Lord's inner circle.

"Unfortunately it was very dangerous work, and the Dark Lord… well, he was the one who killed him. It was a mistake really, because it was all for an extraordinary wand but Severus was mixed up with another and it was he who ended up paying the price. Funny thing was, it was just those two in there, except Harry Potter and a couple of friends. No one knows why, guess it was all part of the 'master plan', but Harry and his friends watched Severus die and didn't make a single move to save him."

Rae didn't speak; she was too shocked. So… her uncle could have been saved? His death was a big mistake and there were people who could have saved him but they just sat there watching! She blinked a couple of times. Why…?

*

An hour later, she was in her room in the Leaky Cauldron and Abel had gone. Rae had gotten through a couple of her books already and Lexxie was busy playing with some of her toys on the floor. The barman, Justin, was happy to give her two bowls for her kitten's food and milk. Rae sighed; she felt very restless. Why did Harry Potter name his child after her uncle? Maybe he felt guilty about watching him die, she thought bitterly, and what was the deal with this Albus Dumbledore person? She closed her current book and reached for the history ones, maybe they'd tell her. And they did, sort of. It explained about a war with an extremely dark wizard who had been terrorizing the world for many years. He was called by a lot of names in the book: He Who Must Not Be Named, You Know Who, Lord Voldemort, the Dark Lord. Apparently, the only person this 'Lord Voldemort' was afraid of was Albus Dumbledore, one of the greatest wizards in history and headmaster of Hogwarts. Also, Harry Potter survived a deadly attack from Voldemort when he was only one year old and was prophesized to destroy Voldemort. Unfortunately, there was nothing about her uncle.

Feeling even worse, Rae stood up and headed to the door. Lexxie suddenly dropped her toys and bounded after her. It seemed that the pub was a lot busier now; Rae could hear lots of voices and laughing. She picked Lexxie up in case there were a lot of people and began to descent the stairs. A moment later, she wished she hadn't.

"Ah, hi there! I didn't think I'd see you until school!" Rae looked into the startling green eyes of Albus Severus Potter and wondered what she had done to deserve this torment. She smiled at him though, and decided to finally introduce herself.

"I know, I'm surprised to see you too. But at least this time I didn't run into you," she laughed, he did too, "my name's Rayven Williams, but you can call me Rae."

"Ooooh, has ickle Albus got himself a girlfwend?" a taller, older-looking boy mocked, coming up behind Albus. The young boy looked immediately annoyed. "Bloody 'ell, Al, you've done well," he said a little more seriously, looking Rae up and down. She raised her eyebrows at him.

"Ah, the girl from earlier! I hope you two aren't giving her trouble," Rae gulped and looked up into another pair of green eyes. But this time they belonged to an older, wiser face with a deep lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead. She stared up at him for a moment and he smiled, suddenly heat rose up in her face and she felt herself blush. "Though you could say Harry Potter got revenge for Severus though…" did he know? Could he see Severus in her eyes like Ollivander had? Was he smiling at her like that because of who her uncle was, because of what he did. Rae was about to look away, but then something happened that she couldn't have counted on.

"Have I seen you before today?" Harry asked, "it's just… your eyes look familiar." Just then, Harry's scar gave an odd twinge.

Chapter Four Preview:

"He died… during the war?" Hermione looked a little aghast that Harry would mention such a thing. However, Rae nodded.

"He shouldn't have," Rae said bitterly, not realising what she was saying, "apparently it was all for some 'amazing' wand… he wasn't meant to die. The person who brought me here, a Hogwarts teacher, told me some things. He said this Voldemort guy thought he had to kill my uncle, but it was someone else! My uncle died for no reason…" Rae stood up, looking straight at Harry, "but you, you," you just watched him die!