A/N: Thank you Angelpris :) you really got me going with your reviews and support and I've been working like mad to get a couple more chapters done! Chapter eleven should be posted in a couple of days' time :), enjoy!

Chapter Ten

"L-like who?" Rae stuttered. She knew who professor Kells meant, well, she thought she knew, but Rae wanted to know who this woman was.

"Your uncle, of course," professor Kells said with a little smile, "I started Hogwarts when he was headmaster," Rae almost gasped, but instead her mouth just hung open a little. Professor Kells, Rae noticed, looked rather sad. Her eyes were aimed at the floor and her smile was sorrowful. How was the professor and Rae's uncle connected? What had happened nineteen years ago when professor Adrastea Kells had started Hogwarts? Before Rae could ask any of these questions, however, the professor stood and went into the top drawer of her desk.

"A lot of people in Hogwarts disliked professor Snape, but they didn't really understand him. Well, I wasn't meant to but I like to think that it was fate that I found out the truth," she continued, not looking at Rae. "You see, I was sent by a teacher to his office with some things but when I was there, some students caused a commotion so he had to hurry off, leaving me waiting. The cupboard that he had been in when the commotion started hadn't been shut properly, and it attracted my attention.

"I didn't know what a Pensieve was so, naturally, I was curious. It was only when I had fallen into the professor's memories when I knew it was something not meant for a student. And I found out the truth about him, about why he had done the things he had, why he was doing the things he was. Professor Snape's life was a sad story and I felt sorry for him, for what he had been through," professor Kells was still determinedly not looking at Rae. "When he found me, it was terrifying. For an eleven year old girl, I had never seen anyone so angry… so hurt. I had accidentally stumbled on his most private thoughts and feelings, the memories he cherished more than any other. Of a girl whom he loved, but died because of him. The reason he became a spy for Albus Dumbledore… Lily Evans… more commonly known as Lily Potter."

Rae thought her heart was going to stop beating. Harry Potter's mother?! Suddenly, Rae felt even angrier that this had all been hidden from her.

"Professor Snape allowed me to keep my memory, and my knowledge of what I had seen. I promised not to tell anyone, and we grew close after that. He needed someone to confide in, you see, someone who would understand his sadness and not treat it as weakness… someone who would comfort him and not make him feel stupid," professor Kells had seemingly found what she was looking for as her hands stopped moving. "In return, he protected me from the Dark Lord and his followers. And when the war…" she stopped for a moment, her eyes closed and she swallowed. But a moment later, she continued.

"When the war reached its climax and Hogwarts was turned into a battleground, I got lost in the castle when the first years were meant to be protected. I was only eleven and was scared out of my wits. I knew no spells, no curses, nothing to protect myself with. So, as you can imagine, when a Death Eater approached me I was so scared I stopped dead in my tracks. I thought 'he's going to kill me'," she smiled. "But professor Snape saved my life. He took out the Death Eater and put me in a secret room and cast enchantments all over it so I would be safe… and then, before he left to join the Dark Lord, before he died… he gave me this."

Professor Kells pulled out a long silver chain with half of a pendant depicting half of the Hogwarts coat of arms, the side with Slytherin and Ravenclaw. She walked around the desk and took hold of Rae's hand, opening it and lowering the cold chain onto her palm. "I think he knew what his fate might be because he told me to keep this, and when his family returned to this school, they should have this. I think you know who has the other half."

Rae thought for a moment before saying "Lily Potter?"

"She never took it off, according to Albus Dumbledore. It's up to you what you want to do with it, but I've fulfilled his last wish. You have it. You may go to lunch."

*

Rae's head was bursting with thoughts and theories. She had fastened the chain around her neck the second she had left the dungeons. From what people had told her, Severus Snape was a Slytherin and he hung around with a Slytherin crowd. He hated Harry's father and his friends with a passion, yet he was in love with the girl who would later marry Harry's father. Being a Slytherin, his hatred for Gryffindors like James Potter was natural, Rae thought, recalling what Rose and Albus had told her about the two houses. So why would he choose a pendant like this?

She pulled it out from underneath her robes and examined it. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff would be on the other side, and when the two pieces were joined, Slytherin and Gryffindor would be one. Together. Unity. Rae stopped and sighed. That was it. Severus Snape hated the Gryffindors, every single one of them, and Lily Potter probably thought exactly the same about the Slytherins. But those two were friends, and they got the pendant to always remember that. No matter what house they were in, they were friends, and whenever they came together, they would still be friends. Their houses would be one.

As Rae neared the great hall, she was struck with a brilliant idea. Well, two. She walked past the Slytherin table and noticed Demitri Zabini watching her, hoping to see something that showed she had been told off. But instead, she turned to him, smiled and waved. He looked appalled. Rae laughed to herself, he really did underestimate her.

"Rose?" Rae said, sitting down at the Gryffindor table for a quick lunch. Rose looked up at her friend curiously. "You know how you can buy robes and stuff with the Hogwarts crest on it… well, would there be a way to get a pendant?" this confused Rose a lot more than she had been previously, but she didn't say anything and sat for a while, thinking.

"No, but I've heard of a store in Hogsmeade that sells jewellery and all that. Come to think of it, there's a Hogsmeade trip next weekend and my cousin Victoire's going on it as she's in seventh year. I could ask her to get you one if you want?" she replied.

"Um sure, but would I be able to talk to her after? You know, like, tell her what I want and that." Rose nodded and opened her mouth as if to ask what professor Kells had wanted her for, or why Rae suddenly wanted a pendant with the Hogwarts crest on it, or probably a thousand other questions. But instead, she closed her mouth and continued eating.

*

Later that evening, Rose had found Victoire and left Rae and her to talk about the pendant. Rae took the chain out from underneath her robes and showed it to Victoire.

"I got this handed down to me, but I don't have the other piece. When you go to Hogsmeade, could you try and get the other for me? I want to use it, you see, but it doesn't really work with only one side."

"Um, yeah sure. I think I've seen pendants like this before. A long time ago though, the store owner told me ones like this went out of fashion years ago and she was only selling them to get rid of stock. I'll have a look though," Victoire answered. Rae thanked her and gave her a few galleons, hoping that the store would still have one for her. Just as she was heading up to the girls' dormitory, Albus noticed her and called her over to the notice board.

"Look, we have flying lessons on Thursday!" Albus said happily, "with the Slytherins though," Rae grimaced. That's all she needed, to make a fool of herself on a broomstick in front of Demitri Zabini and his snobby little sister. But, she reconsidered; it could be a good thing. If he laughed at her she could always smack him around the head with it.

Laughing at this thought, Rae went upstairs and did her homework before getting into bed. She had Astronomy at twelve in the morning the next day, so she'd need all the sleep she could get to be able to stay awake for the lesson.

Chapter Eleven Preview:

Now, it was Demitri's move, and if he made one, he'd never make another. Well, if he had half a brain he wouldn't.