Chapter 6
Professor Binns had finished droning on to the class and was assigning their homework when Siniva returned. One of the other girls had taken the rest of the notes for her in her- Siniva's- absence.
"You were gone for quite some time." she whispered.
"Uh, yeah...Moaning Myrtle and...You know how she can be..." Siniva said. This was a believable lie, seeing as it held up some fact; Myrtle did like to trouble students when they crossed her path.
"I hear you. She snuck up on me the other day and started wailing about 'the books' again, as if we didn't already know that people usually throw books through that translucent head of hers..." the girl trailed off.
"Yeah...she'll...show up on you unannounced..." Siniva said.
"Are you okay, Siniva?" the other girl asked.
"Yeah...Fine." Siniva replied, though her stomach was still turning and she was still angry about earlier.
Class ended with Professor Binns's usual closing statement. "I will be checking your homework next week."
Siniva scurried out of the classroom and tried to act as she normally would, but her fists were clenched and her face was more pale, except for her red-hot cheeks.
I can't believe it...What will dad say?
Siniva already thought she knew exactly what her dad would say, but maybe she was just blowing things out of proportion. He wouldn't be angry at her for Venia's prolonged presence in the school, surely.
As Siniva turned a corner and headed for the Great Hall, a hand on her shoulder pulled her back.
"Siniva," Draco started. "Your dad needs to see you."
Siniva's eyes widened, just slightly, so Draco wouldn't notice. The color faded from her cheeks and her natural skin tone returned to the entirety of her face.
"Um...Did he say why?" she asked.
"No, he just needs to see you now." Draco told her. "You'll be fine."
Siniva turned away from the Great Hall and started down toward the Slytherin dungeons, to Snape's office.
"Dad-" Siniva started.
"Sit." Snape said softly.
Without further comment, Siniva sat in a chair next to her father's.
"I'm going to show you something that I've been trying to hold off until you were older...But I think, given the circumstances, I should show you now." Snape said, rising from his chair, collecting a vial of memory from a vast shelf. The silver swirls waltzed within the glass and poured quickly into the Pensieve as Snape uncorked the vial and tipped it.
Snape motioned for Siniva to join him.
Excited, but not sure what to expect in this endeavor, Siniva got up from her chair and crossed the room to the Pensieve.
In seconds, Siniva leaned over the Pensieve, her face breaking the cool surface and she tumbled with unbelievable rapidity back through time. Just as quickly as Siniva had touched back to the stone ground, Snape appeared at her side. He held out his hand, which she took, feeling safer in the dark, cold labyrinth that was this neighborhood.
"Dad, where are we off to?" Siniva wondered.
Snape made a small noise as if about to speak, but remained otherwise silent and steered Siniva around a corner onto another street.
"She won't be home for long." he said suddenly.
"Who?" Siniva asked.
Again, Snape made a small, hesitant noise.
"Oh...Her." Siniva said, frowning.
Taking a few side streets and sharp turns on main ones, Snape stopped in front of a large house. Siniva couldn't see his face, but she could tell he was grimacing at the place.
"This is the place." he said, leading Siniva up the walk.
The father and daughter were completely nonexistent as the walked through the front door and stood in the entryway. The walls were papered with cranberry and gray, swirls of gold decorating the corners. A moving portrait was placed every few feet; a young, strapping, brown-haired wizard in a beige fedora to accent his sandy robes; a subtly-tanned witch with striking rose-gold hair sweeping her collarbone as she turned her head- it stood out quite noticeably against her velvet dress of deep emerald- and her eyes resembled a sweet, bubbly champagne; there was a portrait of a younger witch with lilium hair and eyes of diluted lime, grinning at Snape- though this was not the Venia he knew.
Mr. and Mrs. Rowan smiled from their portraits.
Snape could not tell whether or not these were genuine. After all, he had never met Venia's parents.
Siniva's eyes fell upon the last portrait; a wizard younger than Mr. Rowan, whose brown hair draped over the champagne eyes inherited from his mother, a smile pointed down at Siniva as if he could really see her.
"Caleb Rowan." Siniva muttered. "Caleb Rowan, Orla Rowan, Gabriel Rowan."
She skipped over the portrait of her mother.
"She should be around here." Snape said.
He looked around the entry hall, taking a few steps forward.
"Whose memory is this?" Siniva wondered.
"Venia, where are you going?" came a sudden voice, skipping down the steps. "And where's the baby-"
Lilium hair streaked past a doorway, hiding eyes of diluted lime from a pair of dazzling champagne ones.
"I am in no mood to speak of her." Venia said coldly, stuffing tiny clothes into a trunk.
"Where are you going?" Caleb asked, walking into the room where his sister slammed the packed trunk onto the floor.
"That is none of your concern." she snapped back at him. "I have decided that I will no longer bear this burden-"
"You're not thinking, Venia." Caleb reasoned. "Trust me, she-"
"No, Caleb. You don't understand, not that I would expect my little brother to anyway!" Venia said, louder than before. "I have given birth to a stranger's child and I am not taking responsibility for it. He thinks he can take nine months of my life-"
"Didn't you say he was-" Caleb started.
"Well, I'm not having it! No, I am taking her out of here-"
"But you can't honestly expect-" Caleb continued.
"And there's nothing you can say to change my mind!" Venia concluded.
The two siblings were accustomed to speaking over each other, but never had it been about such a serious matter.
"Venia, look at her-" Caleb started.
"Caleb Rowan, I have made up my mind." Venia said dangerously. "If you have a problem with my decision, take it to your grave. There is no place for a child in this house and certainly no place for one in my life."
"Mum and dad-" Caleb started.
"Mother and father will not have to remember." Venia said. "I'm quite skilled at memory charms-" she held up her wand.
Caleb frowned, eyebrows low, cobra's hoods over those champagne orbs.
"You can't just abandon-" he started.
"I can and I will. Or must I fix your memory?" Venia hissed.
Caleb silenced. His eyes fell away from his sister's, where they scoped the floor briefly, before landing upon a sleeping, ebony-haired baby.
"How can you stand to get rid of her?" he asked quietly.
Venia ignored him as she waved her wand.
"Locomotor trunk."
"Be that way." Caleb said. "She'll be better off with someone who will care for her."
Venia strutted out of the house, a trunk following as she carried the baby away with mild disgust.
Caleb slammed the door and turned to look out the window, but his sister had already disappeared from view.
Siniva was staring around at her father's office again, the Pensieve sat in front of them.
"Caleb Rowan was still living in the house, last time I checked." Snape said. "I knew that I would need to answer your questions one day, so he chipped in his opinion."
"His opinion being that his sister was a horrendous woman?" Siniva asked, feeling both pride for herself and disdain for her mother.
Snape smiled and nodded.
"That would be the opinion of more than just your uncle. He's moved away from this country in search of a quiet family life, but I managed to meet up with him just before he went."
"I hope he's got everything he wanted." Siniva said. "He seemed nice."
"He was definitely not like his sister, I will say that much." Snape replied. "But now that you've seen one side, it's only fair that I show you the next."
He uncorked another vial and the dancing stream of silver fell into the Pensieve.
Siniva's face broke the surface once more and she landed on a stone walkway as her father appeared next to her.
"Where are we now?" Siniva asked, looking up into Snape's focused, black eyes.
"My memory." he responded.
Lilium hair shone under a streetlight some feet away, covering eyes of diluted lime and a scowl stretched from ear to ear.
The packed trunk at one side, Venia turned and headed toward one of the many houses on Spinner's End.
She knocked furiously on the front door, tapping her foot impatiently, releasing the trunk from her enchantment.
The front door opened and Venia stood in front of Snape, eleven years younger.
"Venia?" he asked.
Siniva stared at the scene in front of her, mouth agape.
"Severus." Venia hissed.
"What are you doing here?" Snape asked.
Without saying anything more, Venia pushed the small, ebony-haired baby into Snape's arms and disapparated.
Hair falling in front of his face as he looked down at the baby, Snape was momentarily caught off-guard. But, quickly regaining himself, he smiled. He took his daughter inside, along with the hastily-packed trunk.
The tiny girl's pale, pinkish skin tone indicated that she had been born quite recently. And, assuming she did not already have a name, Snape pondered this for a few moments.
"Siniva," he said quietly. "Siniva Lily Snape."
She yawned and continued to sleep. Snape nodded to himself. But, he realized quickly that his house was not quite set up to fit the new resident. Some things would have to be changed, other things, he realized, he may have to get rid of completely. But, it would all be worthwhile, he knew, to have Siniva here.
Snape smiled at her again and, with a short flick of his unrenowned wand, a basket appeared in the corner of the room. For now, this would be adequate.
Siniva's feet reunited with the floor of her father's office and she stared down at the Pensieve once again, as the magnificent silver memory rippled out of sight.
"Dad?" she asked quietly.
Snape looked down at Siniva as his form made contact with the present again.
"You've done everything for me, and-"
Siniva stopped speaking briefly, blinking small tears out of her eyes.
"It's okay," Snape said. "I know."
Siniva leaned into his side, thinking again of the lilium hair and eyes of diluted lime, features that she felt so fortunate not to have inherited. She looked so much like Snape and, no matter what anyone ever thought of him, she was proud of her features, because they always reminded her of the only family who had ever loved her. The only family she had ever known. The only family she needed.