Author's Note: Here it is, the last installment of Year 1! Thanks for all the reviews! I won't keep you waiting any longer. J

~TheVampyre13

Snape's POV

When Olivia stepped out from behind the tree, I did a double take. She was completely naked but grinning like a fool. I averted my eyes. I removed my cloak and handed it to her wordlessly so she could cover herself. She fastened it around her shoulders.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

"Um…studying Muggle magic," she replied. She picked up a book off the ground and showed it to me.

"Right," I said listlessly, "I'm assuming 'Muggle witches' if there is such a thing, must dance naked?"

"Yes. They believe it brings them closer to nature and makes spells stronger. They also harvest herbs naked when the moon is full. They believe it makes the herbs more potent."

"Ridiculous," I muttered, "So you're out, after hours, in the Forbidden Forest, naked and alone…to study Muggle Magic?"

"Uh…yeah, let's go with that," she replied.

I studied her silently, frowning.

"You weren't alone," I concluded.

"I was," she insisted hastily.

I knew she was lying. And I knew who it was she had been with, though I had no proof. She only had one friend, after all.

"Don't lie to me, Olivia," I said in my soft, dangerous voice.

Her emerald eyes flashed guiltily as she looked up at me.

"Alright, I wasn't alone," she admitted, "But I can't tell you who it was."

I was silent a moment.

"I hope, for her own sake, Pirelli had sense enough to go back up to the castle and did not flee deeper into the woods," I remarked.

Olivia paled but remained silent.

"…Come, let us go back up to the castle," I said finally.

"Will you help me find my clothes?" she asked.

"No. But I will wait while you find them."

"I haven't a wand- it's with my clothes. It's too dark to see."

"You should have thought of that beforehand," I said, but handed her my wand anyway. The light became a little dimmer as she took it in hand.

"Well I had a bonfire," she said pointedly, "So I could see just fine, until someone made it go out."

She moved away into the trees to look for her clothes, leaving me enveloped in darkness.

"I didn't make your fire go out," I said.

"Oh."

She was silent, the only noise coming from her feet as she crunched along he dead leaves and dry pine needles, looking for her clothes. After a while I heard her stop. I listened intently. Then she screamed. I ran towards the sound, reaching frantically for my wand which wasn't in my pocket, of course, because she had it.

When I reached her, Olivia was staring down at the ground. She had dropped my wand, the tip of which was still lit. I picked up my wand which immediately grew bright so that I could see what it was that had frightened her. A thick black snake was curled up on top of her shirt, which lay on the ground. It hissed loudly and showed it's fangs. I glanced at Olivia, who no longer seemed frightened, but was watching the snake rather interestedly.

With a wave of my wand, I vanished the snake. Olivia looked at me.

"That didn't kill it, did it?" she demanded.

"No. And you're an idiot," I said to her, "You shouldn't have dropped my wand- you could have vanished it yourself."

"It took me by surprise," she said defensively.

"Right," I snorted, "Get dressed. I'll be…over here somewhere."

I started to walk away, taking my wand with me.

"But it's dark!" she protested.

"So?"

"I can't see! What if the snake comes back?"

"It won't come back."

"What if there's a spider in my clothes?"

"Well it would serve you right. You shouldn't have been dancing naked in the Forbidden Forest in the first place," I said coolly, "Besides- you have your own wand now."

"Oh. Right."

A short while later she stepped back out of the trees fully clothed, her wand tip lit. She was still wearing my cloak. I said nothing but started back towards the castle.

"So are you, like, mad at me?" she asked as she followed me back to the castle.

I didn't respond. In fact, I said nothing at all until we were back inside and had made it to the dungeons without seeing anyone.

Se stopped outside the hidden entrance to the Common Room and looked at me expectantly.

"To bed," I told her, "…I would not speak of this again if I were you."

She nodded solemnly and handed me my cloak before giving the password and disappearing into the Common Room.

I stood there a moment after the stone slab closed behind her, then I continued on to my office.

The weather grew warmed and Summer was fast approaching. In the blink of an eye, it was time for end-of-the-year tests. Olivia performed outstanding work on her Potions final, though of course I didn't tell her this. At dinner on the evening of the last day of exams, I asked the other teachers how she had done. Flitwick and Sprout both said she had done well.

"she would have done well in Transfiguration," said McGonagall, "had she not refused to perform magic on animals."

I could think of nothing to say to this but had to try hard not to smile.

Olivia and her friend Pirelli left the Great Hall as soon as they were done eating. I saw them head out onto the grounds once they entered the Entrance Hall, rather than head into the dungeons.

I finished eating slowly, not in any particular hurry to be done. When I was finished I found myself heading outside as well. The sky was just starting to turn pink with the setting of the sun. Kids were all over the grounds, enjoying the fair weather and the fact that exams were over.

After a while of walking around- I told myself I wasn't looking for her- I spotted Olivia laying on her back in the grass behind some bushes near the lake. Her friend was no longer with her. I thought she was looking up at the clouds, but as I approached I saw her eyes were closed. She had a book facedown on her stomach, the title of which was "Faeries and Pixies".

I entered her mind using Legilimency and found that she was daydreaming about pixies the way Muggles thing of them- with rainbow wings and pretty dresses.

She noticed me suddenly- she opened her eyes and looked at me and smiled.

"What're you doing?" I inquired.

"Just thinking and relaxing. What are you doing?"

"I was out for a walk and I spotted you over here on the ground. I came to make sure you were okay."

She smirked at me.

"How were your exams?" I asked hastily.

"You know better than I do, don't you?"

"I only know about your Potions exam. The Heads of Houses don't see students exams from other classes until next week. Were they challenging?"

"Yeah right," she snorted.

She pushed herself up into a sitting position, closed the book and laid it aside.

"Minerva tells me you refused to perform magic on animals for your exam."

"It's inhumane," she said hotly. "And cruel. Did she fail me because of that?"

"She didn't say."

"I hope she did," she muttered.

"Olivia! You don't want to fail," I said, frowning.

"If it makes someone pay attention to animal rights-"

"It won't. You aren't the first student to be obsessed with animal rights. Your failing won't make a difference, it will only hurt you. Eventually they all get over it. You will, too."

She muttered something indistinguishable that sounded a lot like 'yeah right'. I cut my eyes at her then started to walk away.

"Wait, where are you going?" she asked, quickly getting up and following me.

"Well," I said, thinking quickly, "I was thinking about cleaning out the student store cupboard- get rid of ingredients that have expired and organize things that have been misplaced."

"Ooh, can I help? Pleeease?" she said earnestly.

"Well," I said slowly, making it seem like a bigger deal than it was, "I suppose…"

"Yay! Let's go!" she said and hurried ahead of me towards the castle.

Olivia and I worked in silence for a while down in the dungeons, separating green, usable herbs from he dying brown or yellow ones.

"Have you and plans for the Summer?" I asked casually tossing some unusable Dittany into the waste basket.

"Ellen might have something planned, I dunno. …Mari was talking about going to the beach and she said I could come."

I said nothing but nodded.

"You should stop by the store sometime and see Ellen. I think she misses you."

"Yeah," I said, "Sure."

Though of course I knew I probably wouldn't. I dreaded talking to Ellen. I had avoided her for years, in order to let her raise Olivia the way she wanted to. There was a lot I had never explained to her.

Olivia's POV

The end of the school year came faster than I expected. Before I knew it, it was the last day. Classes were over, bags were packed, and everyone was saying goodbye. The train was do to leave in two hours, but I wasn't ready to go yet. I went for one last walk around the grounds, then went back inside and made my way to Snape's office.

He was sitting at his desk, unconcernedly working, as if it were any other day. I came into his office and sat down with a sigh. I looked around his office- the shelves along the walls with the carious vials of potions and jars of wonderfully creepy things.

"I'm going to miss this place," I said remorsefully.

"My office?" Snape said, glancing up form his work with a wry smile.

"Hogwarts in general. Can't I just stay here for the Summer?"

"No students are allowed over the Summer," he said, "It's the only time it's quiet around here."

I rolled my eyes and smiled at him.

"I'm going to miss you," I said lightly.

He cut his eyes at me and scowled.

"Why?" he muttered.

"I have no idea," I said somewhat cheerfully, "You are, without a doubt, one of the most unpleasant people I've ever met."

"Right," he said, still scowling, and continued working.

"Seriously, take care of yourself over the Summer."

"Don't waste your concern."

I just shook my head and smiled. I stood to leave.

"Bye Snape," I said to him, "You really should visit Ellen and I over the Summer."

"Don't hold your breath," he said, then looked up at me again, "…Goodbye Olivia."

"Bye," I said again, then turned and left.

All the students lined up in the Entrance Hall, then McGonagall led us down to the train station where the Hogwarts Express was waiting to take us home. Mari and I found a compartment together and we spent the entire ride home talking, playing cards, and eating chocolate frogs.

When we got off the train at King's Cross Station, Ellen was waiting for me, smiling. We hugged and I introduced her to Mari before she went hurrying off to find her Mum. Then Ellen helped me pile my trunk into a taxi and we headed for home. We talked about school for a while and eventually she brought up Snape.

"So what did you think of your cousin?" she asked.

"Well…he's irritable, unpleasant and most everyone dislikes him."

"That sounds like Severus."

"But I like him. He's nice to me, sometimes. He's going to let me be his apprentice."

"Good," she said, smiling.

She chuckled to herself.

"What's so funny?" I asked curiously.

"Nothing. Tell me about your other teachers."

…

Snape's POV

(Late June)

It was getting late- the sun was starting to sink low in the sky, turning the light orange-ish. I had been in Diagon Alley most of the afternoon, doing some shopping and running errands for Albus. I had not seen Olivia or Ellen while out and I had successfully avoided Cain's Books the entire day. Once I had finished my errands, I considered going to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink but somehow my feet led me to the bookstore.

I peered through the front window. Ellen was sitting at a desk, reading a book. Olivia was nowhere to be seen. I walked past the window several times before I found myself knocking on the door.

Ellen opened the door and immediately hit me with the book she was holding.

"Ow," I said, jumping back.

"where the hell have you been?" she demanded, "Eleven years, Severus! No letters, nothing."

"I've been busy," I mumbled.

"Right," she snorted, "Come in, I suppose."

I followed her into the bookstore hesitantly.

"Where's Olivia?" I asked, glancing around.

"Staying with her friend. An older girl named Mari Pirelli. I'm a bit concerned that she doesn't seem to have any friends her own age."

Ellen locked the bookstore and led me back to her sitting room.

"She isn't on the same level as most kids her age," Is aid, sitting on the couch, "She's smarter than them. Pirelli is a good girl, though. She makes good grades and she's very polite. I believe she may be the only person I've ever seen Olivia actually talk to."

"Her peers aren't mean to her, are they?"

"No, of course not. Olivia just isn't concerned with them. If anything, she's actually somewhat cold towards them, but I've never heard any of them say anything against her. I believe they respect her because she is somewhat brilliant."

Ellen smiled at me. I felt uneasy, talking to her about Olivia. I wasn't sure why.

Ellen didn't say anything for a while, just studied me curiously.

"You are open about her adoption," I said, "I was surprised."

"Yes. I thought about just raising her as my own…but I couldn't lie to her. She believes she came from an orphanage."

"Isn't that lying to her?"

"well, I've never told her otherwise. She just assumes…" Ellen said, "…You should tell her, you know? About your role in her adoption."

"No," I said curtly.

"Why not? She is very fond of you."

"That's a reason in itself. I don't want to be liked. I don't care."

"You mean you don't want to care."

I said nothing, but sighed irritably.

"…Just don't tell her, Ellen. I mean it," I said, "…If you ever need anything for her…money, whatever…"

"We don't need your money, cousin. …See? You do care."

I stood up.

"I'm needed back at the castle," I said quickly.

"Right," Ellen said skeptically, "Okay Severus. I'm glad you stopped by."

I left without another word and headed to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink.

Author's Note: Oh my gosh, I'm finally finished with Year 1! I'm so psyched. You guys are going to LOVE the next Year. Um, so I skipped a couple of years and there will now be a time jump to Year 5. Just go with it. Not a lot happened in years 2-4, except that Olivia becomes the Potions apprentice and starts to become attracted to Snape. I'll be posting the next bit soon. J Thanks for all your lovely comments and please continue to read and review!

~TheVampyre13