Hello! First off I want to say I'm so sorry for the long wait. Its been what? A month? My only excuse is I have been focused on my other stories and just only finished this chapter (I had half the chapter written for quite some time now). But anywho, here it is and thanks so much for all the reviews, favorites and follows! It makes me happy! :)

I do not own any of this, it all belongs to JKR! So, let me know how I did and Review, Favorite and Follow!

Enjoy! :)

Previously:

Severus' shoulders dropped ever so slightly, "Hope, you're safe here and you won't ever have to go back to your relatives- I promise you."

"B-but, then where will I go," She seemed astonished by the very thought.

"I'm sure you could either stay with Lucius or-" He was cut off by the seemingly innocent, but stubborn redhead.

"Why couldn't I just stay with you," She blinked imploring eyes up at him, a gentle cock to her head.

CcCcCc

Severus stared at the girl who watched him with an equal amount of intensity. Finally, after what seemed to be like forever and after he seemed to have composed himself enough to speak, his voice wavered slightly, "I would be honored to have you stay with me."

Hope narrowed her eyes as she observed him. Finally she asked, somewhat timidly, "Are you sure?"

Severus surprised himself when he smiled and it was then that it occurred to him- he had been completely wrong. He wasn't going to be blinded by his hate for James Potter, not anymore, "Absolutely."

Hope stared down at her lap, twisting her fingers around and kicking her legs absentmindedly. She blinked her eyes, attempting to delay the waterworks. She sniffed and glanced up at him, "Thank you...sir."

A somewhat comfortable silence surrounded the two, the only sound was that of soft voices coming from a few floors up. Severus gazed down at Hope, watching as she picked on an unraveled thread. Hope yawned, scratching at her eyes and rubbing her wrist over her nose.

Severus hesitated a moment, "Hope-"

"Severus? Is that you," A feminine voice asked from the general direction of the dining room.

Severus refrained from sighed aloud, looking down at Hope who peered up at him in timid curiousity, "Yes Cissy, I'm over here."

The small pitter-patter of feet were heard slapping against the tile and a little blonde head popped around the corner. The boy grinned, "Uncle Sev!"

He ran forward and quickly wrapped his godfather in a hug, immediately releasing the man and taking a step back to beam up at him.

Severus smiled, "Hello Draco, did you have fun shopping with your mother?"

The boy's face scrunched up and the tip of his tongue poked out of his mouth, "Ew, no! It was really boring, but mother let me have some ice cream before we got back."

Narcissa took that moment to walk in, her heeled shoes ticking loudly. She smiled softly at her son before focusing on Serverus, "Hello Severus, it's nice to see you."

"The same to you Cissy," He dipped his head towards the woman politely.

Suddenly Narcissa was crouching beside Severus, blonde hair swaying, laying a perfectly manicured hand on the couch fabric. She smiled warmly, bright blue eyes shinning, "Hello Hope, I'm Narcissa, but some people call me Cissy. You may call me that too if it's easier to say than Narcissa."

Hope slowly broke apart from the couch. She managed a timid smile, "Hello."

"And this," Narcissa grabbed the boy's hand and pulled him to her side, "Is my son Draco."

Draco smiled back at her, two emotions trying to gain control over his being. That of shyness and excitement.

Hope straightened up slightly and watched him curiously.

The boy had metallic grey eyes set upon a pale, pointed face, his blonde hair short and slightly messy, a few strands sticking up the way most small children's do. He looked kind enough, not appearing to act or look anything like her cousin Dudley. Maybe, just maybe, they could be friends.

Hope's eyes flashed towards the staircase, announcing the arrival of Lucius before anyone else had noticed his arrival. Lucius smiled, greeting his son with a pat to the head and kissing his wife's cheek. He gave a nod at Severus, looking down at Hope, "Hello Hope."

"Hi."

"Severus," he turned towards the Potions master, "everything seems to be in order."

"Excellent," He gave a nod of his head, thinking about his conversation earlier with Hope. She had asked to live with him. But the problem was that his quarters at Hogwarts only had one bedroom which he currently occupied, but he supposed Dumbledore could do something about that.

Draco shuffled on his feet, watching as the adults conversed and sighed. He tugged on his mother's top and whispered into her ear, "I'm hungry, could I get something to eat?

She nodded, "Yes, but ask for something light, dinner should be ready soon."

Draco nodded happily, "Alright," He gave a half-glance over at Hope, "What about Hope though. Isn't she hungry?"

"Hmm, I don't know, why don't you ask her?"

Draco looked at her strangely, "Um, no thank you..."

"Hope dear," Narcissa waited until Hope was looking back at her, "Are you hungry at all? Draco was about to go get a snack, would you like anything?"

Hope's emerald eyes widened and she bit her lip, slowly shaking her head. Draco glanced at his mother questionably.

"Why don't you go with Draco," Severus said suddenly, "The kitchen is only a few floors down and I'll be right here when you get back."

Hope seemed to be running the dispute over in her head. She gave Severus an unsure nod, hopping off the couch lightly, turning to blink at Draco expectedly.

Draco grinned, snatching her arm and ignoring the flinch and began to drag Hope out of room, already blabbering away. Hope looked over her shoulder, slightly bewildered by the blonde's actions.

"A light snack Draco," Narcissa reminded her son.

"Mmmhmm."

"Do you suppose that was a good idea," Lucius inquired aloud.

"I believe so."

CcCcCc

Hope allowed Draco to lead her down numerous hallways, but pulled the boy to a stop before they descended another set of marble stairs. Draco turned around and frowned, "What?"

"It moved," She indicated a large painting that was hung at the top of the stairs.

Draco tilted his head and walked around Hope so they were standing side by side, both of them looking up at the late painting. He looked at her oddly, "'Course it moved."

Standing in the painting, which was probably a portrait, were three young girls, all of which were smiling. One of the girls had long, light brown hair and dark brown eyes, she was standing in between the other two girls, glancing up at them with distain, looking around the photo's frame for a place to escape. Standing on the left was an ebony haired girl whose hand was clenched onto the brunette's shoulder, she had a wickedly evil smile and her bush of curly hair cascaded down her back and over her face until she flicked it away. Onto the right, arms clasped before her, was a blonde who looked vaguely similar to Narcissa, though much younger, whom was glancing between the two, obviously feeling the tension that was leaking out of the picture like the plague.

Hope's lips tugged into a frown, "But, I-it's a picture! They aren't supposed to move!"

Draco raised an eyebrow, "All magical pictures move, you see," Turning away from the frazzled redhead, he pointed at the painting, "That's my mum, then the one in the middle is my Aunt Andromeda, but I've never met her, she's been disowned. And the last one is my Aunt Bellatrix, she's scary, but don't tell her I said that."

Bellatrix laughed, sounding much like a deranged cackle, causing Andromeda to cringe and lean away.

Hope chewed on her lip, "So... all paintings move?"

Draco bobbed his head, "Yup! Books, pictures and cards move too."

"How?"

Draco paused to ponder the question, but just shrugged his shoulders, "Magic."

Hope opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off, "Are we done? Can we get to the kitchens now?"

"Um, yeah."

With one last glance towards the sisters, Hope followed Draco down the flight of stairs and further down towards the kitchen.

CcCcCc

Severus, Lucius and Narcissa watched as Draco dragged the astonished girl out of the room. They all sat in silence for a moment before Narcissa straightened her skirt, "Maisie!"

With a pop a house-elf appeared, watching them with wide eyes, "What can Maisie do for you Madame?"

"Could you bring up a tray for tea please?"

Maisie nodded, "Right away Mrs."

After a minute Maisie reappeared, a tray laden with tea, sugar and honey appearing with her. She settled it upon a magically summoned table and looked up apprehensively.

"Anything else Mrs?"

"No thank you, that will be all Maisie," Narcissa nodded down at the elf.

Maisie bowed and disappeared with a pop.

Narcissa poured herself a cup of tea and stirred in some honey, tilting her head, "So, what have I missed?"

Lucius and Severus traded a look, both beginning to explain the events that had transpired since they had picked Hope up. The abuse, the mistreatment, the trust issues; everything. Once the two had finished Narcissa was practically livid.

"You're joking? How could someone treat a child like that?"

"Their reasoning is beyond my comprehension," Lucius declared simply.

"It is most likely due to the child's magic. Lily's sister, Petunia, was always jealous of her sister because she was able to do things she could not. We expected Petunia's hatred of her sister wouldn't go as far as to harming her own niece," Severus said slowly, "I could only imagine they were trying to beat the magic out of her, though Hope really hasn't admitted to anything yet. Hope's accidental magic most likely scared them."

"Well I suppose she has good reason not to, I mean I could see the jealousy," Narcissa paused thoughtfully, contemplating, "But that doesn't excuse her behavior."

"Hold on, I've just remembered," Lucius spoke up suddenly, watching his wife carefully, "What was the reason you were looking so mad, Severus, when you went to retrieve Hope's things?"

Severus considered the question briefly before he reached a hand into his robes, "This was the reason why. I found it taped to the back of the stair cupboard door."

He withdrew a folded up piece of paper and slowly unfolded it. In large letters, obviously written by a child with a crayon, were the words 'Hope's room'.

"They made her sleep in a cupboard under the stairs," Narcissa screeched.

"It would appear so," Severus nodded gravely.

"Well that would explain why she's so small, she's smaller than she should be at her age," Narcissa shook her head, "I suppose when she gets back here with Draco I should run a diagnostic charm and see if there's anything else wrong we should look into."

Lucius nodded, "Sev, have you spoken to her about her living arrangements?"

"Actually I have. She brought it up when I told her she wouldn't be going back to that house. I proposed you, Lucius, or some other wizarding family, but as it appears... she would rather live with me," Severus told them in disbelief, as if not really believing it himself had it not have happened.

"Well Severus that's amazing," Narcissa exclaimed.

"How are you considering the sudden change of events," Lucius asked cautiously, "Considering how anti-Potter you were just a few hours ago?"

"I've opened my eyes. I've come to realize that though Hope is James' daughter, she is also Lily's. It was wrong of me to transfer my feeling of James towards Hope. I'm disappointed in myself to say the least that it's taken me so long to figure that out."

"Well, the main point is you will give her all the care and attention she will need, and we will be there whenever you need us," Lucius told his friend solemnly.

Narcissa nodded, extending a hand and resting it lightly on Severus' knee, "Yes, Hope is welcome here anytime."

Severus inclined his head, "Thank you."

CcCcCc

"So, this is the kitchens," Draco announced once they had gotten to the appropriate floor, dropping Hope's hand that he had acquired a little ways ago.

Hope walked in after him curiously, her emerald eyes widening.

The kitchen was huge, complete with anything and everything you would find in a kitchen. The marble white walls and pristine floors made the kitchen appear like one you'd find in a restaurant instead of a regular, messy household kitchen you'd find at any other house. There were various smells wafting around the room, most likely the smells of tonight's dinner.

Suddenly nearly twelve house-elves were standing before them, bubbling with excitement. One stepped forward and Hope vaguely remembered him as the one from that morning, "Hello, young master! What can Dobby do for you?"

Draco looked over at Hope, who just shrugged quickly. He bit the inside of his cheek as he considered, "Just a light snack for two, Dobby. Mother said something light."

"Right away sir!"

Draco glanced around at the house-elves and back at the girl, "We can just go sit over there, if that's ok?"

Hope dipped her head in acknowledgement, chewing her bottom lip.

They both plopped down at a small, circular table that sat against one of the walls. Hope swung her legs back and forth as they waited, mildly interested in all that was around her. Including Draco.

While her earlier assumptions were slightly correct, as far as she could tell, Draco wasn't anything like Dudley. Whereas Dudley was a disaster, a cry baby, an insult to whales everywhere, evil, and a pampered brat, Draco was so far very well mannered, was polite, quiet and as far as she could tell he was someone she would actually like to talk too.

On the other side of the table Draco was having nearly the same calculating reflections. He was used to hanging out with other children his age, mostly his father's friend's children. There was Pansy, but she didn't have an off button and was a large gossip, even at her age. Blaise was alright, he was easier to talk to, but he was a big shot and liked to express it. Theodore didn't talk much, he was somewhat lazy and he was guessing a little shy. Gregory and Vincent, or Crabbe and Goyle as they're often called, talked less than Theodore and he was fairly certain they couldn't speak more than the grunts and gestures they used to communicate anyway. But Hope... she seemed moderately normal, if not a little quiet. She seemed pretty polite and nice, she didn't talk much, but he just assumed she was shy. They had just met. But it was nice to hang out with another kid his age that wasn't self-centered, mute, or a loud chit-chat. Besides, she was kinda cute.