A/N: Okay, I've aged everyone up for my purposes. This takes place in August fifth year (right before Harry comes to Grimmauld Place) so fifth years canonically would be 15-ish, and instead are 17-ish.

In this timeline, wizards come of age at 19.

Hermione Granger - September 19, 1978 (age 17)

Theo Nott - October 31, 1978 (age 17)

Blaise Zabini - November 1, 1978 (age 17)

Draco Malfoy - June 5, 1979 (age 17)

Harry Potter - July 31, 1979 (age 17)

Theresa Snape - September 21, 1979 (age 16)

Also, I haven't decided yet, but I'm thinking this might be a Why Choose/RH type situation… which means Theresa and 3 boys… together. Just in case that's not your thing – ye be warned.

Chapter One

The last thing I was expecting when I stepped off the train from Paris was that Albus Dumbledore would be waiting for me on the platform and not my father.

"Theresa, wonderful to see you again." The headmaster said warmly, taking my hand in his.

"Where is my father?" I asked immediately, glancing up and down the platform. "He always meets me here."

The term at Durmstrang ran from October to the end of July, which meant that my father and I had one month to spend together before he dropped me at Malfoy Manor to be looked after by Narcissa and Lucius. This was the first summer that I'd be able to stay by myself, but in all likelihood, I would probably spend as much time at the Manor as possible over the next two months soaking up time with Draco, Theo, and Blaise and enjoying the fabulous food that the Manor provided. And the month that I had Lucius and Narcissa to myself was quiet nice, considering they doted on me like I was their own child. My father wasn't a terrible dad, he was just… detached and not very affectionate. And since my own mother wasn't in my life, I really enjoyed the time I spent with Narcissa.

"Severus is seeing to a few matters for me and regrets that he could not be here to welcome you home. I'll be taking you to where you're staying for the summer." Dumbledore smiled, but I could see some tension around his eyes. The platform was fairly empty as my train had been delayed and hadn't gotten in until after ten, but there were still people milling about. He was dressed in wizards robes, but since no one was staring at him, I guessed he had a glamour up.

"What do you mean where I'll be staying? I stay with dad and the Malfoys." I twisted away from him as he moved to grasp my arm. "Is he okay?"

"Everything is fine, Theresa. I will be able to tell you more when we get where we are going."

I wasn't sure that I believed him, but as I wouldn't be seventeen for another month and a half, I couldn't use magic without causing a major issue. I nodded, and he smiled.

"Thank you. Do you have any luggage?"

I clutched the strap of my bag that was slung over my shoulder and shook my head. "My trunk is shrunk and in my pocket with a featherlight charm. We should probably get going though, because it's bound to wear off soon."

I followed Dumbledore over to an alcove and allowed him to grasp my elbow before turning on the spot. The familiar tightness that came with side-along apparition washed over me, and then we popped into existence outside a row of houses. We were on a street lined with row houses; most of them were dark, grimy, and had windows broken. There was rubbish on the sidewalks, and it made everything feel unwelcoming.

"This is where I'm spending the summer?" I asked as I followed him down the street. I'm not a snob by any means, and Spinner's End wasn't opulent, but it was home and it was comfortable. And I definitely wanted to spend some time at Malfoy Manor, particularly in the large bedroom that Narcissa had allocated for me. It was beautiful and twice the size of my bedroom at home, decorated lavishly and the color scheme was changeable based on my mood. The last time I was there over Christmas break, it had been done in varying shades of blue, but when I returned, I was certain to change it to purple to match the streaks in my hair. The bed was huge and soft as a feather, the sheets silk. And the bathroom - the bathroom. It was almost the size of the bedroom itself, with a large bathtub that took up an entire wall and was deep enough that I could stand in it and the water came up to my chest.

I stopped when he did, turning to face two houses that were numbered eleven and thirteen. I was about to ask what we were doing when Dumbledore said quietly, "The location of the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix can be found at number twelve Grimmauld Place." A second later, there was a rumbling, and the houses parted to reveal number twelve.

"Oh."

Dumbledore hummed and continued up the stairs, tapping his wand on the door before entering, and then I followed behind him. We stepped into a dark foyer and once he closed the door behind them, cutting off the sunlight, it became even more dark and dank. I could hear a soft hissing noise and then old-fashioned gas lamps sputtered into life along the walls, mastering a flickering light over the peeling wallpaper and threadbare carpet of a long, gloomy hallway, where a cobwebby chandelier glimmered overhead, and age-blackened portraits hung crooked on the walls. Both the chandelier and the candelabra on a rickety table nearby were shaped like serpents. A moment later, I heard something scuttling behind the baseboard.

"What the bloody hell is this!" I said loudly, and then moments later a horrible, earsplitting, bloodcurdling screech started.

A pair of moth-eaten velvet curtains flew apart a few feet down the hallway, and an old woman in a black cap was screaming and screaming in the portrait as though she was being tortured. The old woman was drooling, her eyes were rolling, the yellowing skin of her face stretched taut as she screamed, and all along the hall behind them, other portraits awoke and began to yell too.

A moment later, a man with long black hair came charging out of a door at the end of the hallway, followed closely by a plump woman with red hair and a reedy, thin man with thinning hair and a scar on his face.

"Shut up you horrible old woman! Just shut up!" The first man roared, and he and Remus finally were able to close the curtains. The woman's screeches died, and an echoing silence fell. "Albus, is everything okay?" The mans eyes flicked to me and then his attention went back to Dumbledore.

"Let's take this down to the kitchen, please, before we wake them up again." The woman whispered, motioning them all to follow her.

We started our way down the hallway but stopped when I heard footsteps on the stairs. I looked up to see five teenagers looking down from a landing, four boys and two girls, all but one of them with brilliant red hair.

"Who's the girl, mum?" One of them called down, and the woman shooed me down a set of stairs before I heard her talking to them. I stepped out into a basement kitchen, and she followed behind me a moment later, Dumbledore, and the two men trailing after her.

"I'm Molly Weasley, and this is Sirius and Remus." Mrs. Weasley said, pointing to the dark haired man first and then the man with the scar. I paused for a moment, the names settling around me. Sirius Black, the assumed mass murderer, and Remus Lupin, the werewolf – both men who my father hated. I didn't know the specifics, but I was well aware of the animosity between him, Black, Potter, Lupin, and Pettigrew. "Please, sit down, Professor, and… I'm so sorry dear, I don't know your name?" Mrs. Weasley said kindly as she put a kettle on the stove.

"Oh, I'm Tessa. Tessa Snape." I said absently as I looked around, taking in the bare kitchen and trying to understand why I was standing in it with two of my father's enemies.

There was a crashing noise and I jumped, whirling around to find the three adults staring at me dumbly, a broken mug on the floor beside Lupin. I glanced over at Dumbledore who had taken a seat at the table, a serene expression on his face.

"Tessa Snape." Black repeated quietly, while Lupin stared at me with his mouth open.

"They didn't know I was coming?" I asked, flinging my hand out toward the other adults. "They look fairly shocked to me!"

"Ah, we knew that a young woman would be starting Hogwarts as a transfer student in the fall, and that Dumbledore wanted her to stay the summer here. We, however, did not know that she would be Severus'… daughter." Lupin choked on the last word.

I snorted. "Yeah, I'm one of the best kept secrets in the Wizarding World. That's why he shipped me to Siberia instead of letting me go to Hogwarts." The kettle whistled and steam poured out of it as Mrs. Weasley set about the process of making tea. "Can someone please tell me what I'm doing here, and where my father is? And wait a minute, what do you mean transferring?"

"Please have a seat, Tessa. Would you like something to eat?" Dumbledore asked lightly, and I felt my temper spark as I slid my wand out from his holster on my right forearm, gripping it tightly.

"No, I don't want anything to eat. I want someone to tell me what is going on right now." I gritted out.

Dumbledore sighed. "How much do you know about what happened at the final task of Triwizard Tournament?"

"I know a Hogwarts student was killed, but that's it. Everyone who went has been very tight lipped about it; I couldn't get anyone to tell me very much at all." It had grated on my nerves, particularly that Karkaroff hadn't let me be one of the students to go, but of course my father wouldn't have allowed it.

"The Dark Lord returned that night."

I froze, and then I stood there and listened to Albus Dumbledore tell me how the Dark Lord had used Harry Potter's blood to return to a corporeal form, called his Death Eaters back, and now my father had returned to his service as a spy. He detailed the history of the Order of the Phoenix and that it was now headquartered here, in Sirius Black's ancestral home. I sat down heavily in a chair, dropping my bag at my feet and placing my wand on the table in front of me.

"The boys. Are the boys okay?" I breathed out, glancing up at Dumbledore. "I need to see them. Can you take me to the Manor?"

Black scoffed from the other end of the table, and I looked over at him. I had honestly forgotten he was there. "The Manor? You mean Malfoy Manor?"

"Draco, Theo, and Blaise, Headmaster. Are they okay?" I asked earnestly as I looked back at him.

Dumbledore nodded. "From everything that we can tell so far, Voldemort is not interested in recruiting those who are still at school, so Messers Malfoy, Nott, and Zabini should not be of interest to him right now."

I exhaled and nodded, grateful for an answer. I knew for a fact that none of them, as well as Lucius, were interested in the Dark Lord returning to power. Though I suppose that Lucius had to keep up appearances if he wanted to live, and if he had to choose between Draco dying and Draco taking the Dark Mark… he would have Draco take the Mark. And Theodore Nott Sr would throw Theo at the Dark Lord's feet in a heartbeat, the fucker. Blaise's mother wasn't associated with the Dark Lord in any way, but where Theo and Draco went, so did Blaise.

"And you'll take me to the Manor? I really think my father would prefer that I be there rather than here with… well, rather than here." My eyes flicked over to Black and then Lupin. The first man was glaring at me with hatred in his eyes while the other merely looked curious. Confused, but curious.

"Severus and I discussed this in depth and decided that you would spend three weeks here and then the final week at the Manor with the Malfoys. You'll be sorted with the first years on September first. I've already received your records from Durmstrang and feel quite confident that you'll be able to pick up the work without much disruption, and I've already pass along your summer work to Molly."

My head was spinning, and the worry for my father and best friends was sitting heavy in my chest. I was finally going to go to Hogwarts, and part of me wanted nothing more than for things to go back to the way they were.

My next question was interrupted by a Lynx Patronus bounding into the kitchen and speaking in a deep baritone. "Harry Potter cast a Patronus charm tonight in the presence of a Muggle and they're going to expel him, Albus. We need you here immediately."

Dumbledore stood immediately. "I have to go, Molly. Thank you for the tea. Can you please help Tessa get settled?"

I stood up as well. "You can't just go! I have more questions. I –"

He turned and left through the kitchen door, ignoring me and leaving me standing there with my mouth hanging open. I stood there for a few minutes, chewing on the cuticle of my thumb, the murmur of lowered voices behind me.

"Are you certain you wouldn't like anything to eat, dear? Or a cup of tea before I take you upstairs?"

I turned to Mrs. Weasley and tucked my hands behind my back. I was hungry, the snacks that I had on the train long gone.

"I could make a sandwich, if that's okay, if you have anything? Or just, anything that's simple." I shrugged, feeling a bit out of place and awkward. I didn't belong here with these people, and I was having to process so much information at once. Not to mention I was pissed at my father, who hadn't mentioned anything in his letters. I suppose he didn't have much choice considering anyone could've intercepted the letters, but I still felt a little angry.

Mrs. Weasley waved her hand dismissively. "I can make you a sandwich, dear. Please, sit. And I will answer whatever questions I can."

I nodded and sat back down at the table, and a glass of water was placed on the table in front of me. I looked up at Remus Lupin and he gave me a small smile, and I took the glass and sipped at it, grateful for something to hold onto. I ran my thumb through the condensation gathered on the glass, thinking.

"Is my father okay?" I hadn't had a letter from him in two weeks, but that was about normal, especially since he was supposed to pick me up tonight.

Another snort from Black, and Lupin admonished him with a quiet, "Sirius."

"The last contact we had with him was two weeks ago, but he's supposed to report in within the next few days I believe." Lupin said as Mrs. Weasley started pulling out ingredients to make the sandwich.

"What's he doing? Where is he staying? Why can't I just go home?"

"Albus and Professor Snape made their decision, and it's not our place to question them. As for everything else, I don't think that's something we should discuss. It's sensitive information." Mrs. Weasley said as she set a plate down in front of me.

"That's not very helpful." I mumbled, and I caught Lupin grin out of the corner of my eye. "Thank you, Mrs. Weasley."

I tucked into the sandwich, which was a delicious chicken, and lapsed into silence. I finished it fairly quickly, and then Mrs. Weasley led me upstairs to a bedroom. Mrs. Weasley seemed nice enough, but I could feel Black's hateful gaze on my back. But my father wouldn't have left me here if he truly thought that I wasn't safe, would he?

"As I said on the way up, we're working on making this place habitable. It has been sitting empty for years, and we've been focused on the bedrooms mostly since my family came to stay and we knew you were coming. Sirius was doing some work, but wasn't very dedicated until he offered the place as headquarters." I watched as Mrs. Weasley enlarged my trunk at the end of the bed. "I'll introduce you to everyone tomorrow. I have three sons and a daughter here, and then Hermione Granger, who is a friend of theirs. And I'm sure Harry will be here in a few days."

I already knew her children by name – Fred and George, the twin jokesters, Ron who was Harry Potter's best friend, and then Ginny, was a year younger than all of us, and my father didn't have much to say about her. And Hermione Granger, the insufferable know-it-all, grated on my father's nerves mostly because she reminded him of me, but that was just my opinion.

"I put the summer assignments that Albus left for you on the desk in the corner and there's a bathroom across the hall. I'll see you at breakfast, dear." Mrs. Weasley made to pat me on the shoulder, but I stepped out of her reach. I didn't mind physical affection, but I didn't know her, and I didn't really want her touching me.

"Okay, thank you." I nodded, and then shut the door and locked it behind her with a sigh. I dug through my trunk for my body wash, a pair of sleep shorts and a sweatshirt, and then unlocked the door and darted across the hall into the bathroom. It was dark and dank, but it seemed clean. Mostly. I twisted my long black hair up into a clip and pulled a towel out of the cabinet before stripping and stepping into the hot stream of water.

As I washed the days travel away, I reflected on how I should be excited to finally be going to Hogwarts. I'd wanted to attend the school for as long as I could remember. I knew that the sorting ceremony included having your name announced, loudly, for the whole school to watch you don the sorting hat and have your house chosen. And I knew that her father was not the most popular professor with students outside of Slytherin house. When I was at Durmstrang, I was just another student, albeit one that stood out since I was the only British student to attend. The majority of students were from Eastern Europe and I tried, successfully, to blend in, but it had been lonely and isolating. At least at Hogwarts I would have Blaise, Theo, and Draco.

Many children who grew up with knowledge of the Wizarding World often joined study groups with other families and shared tutors before starting their formal magical education. From around the age of six to thirteen, I had gone to Malfoy Manor every week day to learn with Draco's tutor, and we were often joined by Theo and Blaise, increasingly more often as we all grew older, our magic settled, and our friendship grew. I couldn't remember much from before I'd started visiting Malfoy Manor, but from what I understood, the other Hogwarts professors and a nanny had split their time watching over me when my father had to classes to teach. After nearly seventeen years, I still didn't know who, or where, my mother was.

The water eventually started to turn cold, and I sighed before stepping out and dressing quickly. I missed Malfoy Manor so much. I faltered when I opened the door and found a tall red headed boy looking down at me.

"Well, hello." He said with a smile, highlighting the smattering of freckles across his nose and cheeks.

His smile was infectious, and I couldn't help but return it slightly. "Hi."

"I'm Fred. And you are?"

"Tessa."

"Tessa. So you're the transfer girl?"

I nodded. "Yep, I'm the transfer girl. My father finally decided that he wanted us to be in the same school after, you know, four years."

Fred cocked his head to the side, curious. "Father?"

My fingers clenched around my balled-up clothes, the urge to pick at my cuticles pulling at me. "Yep, my father. Severus Snape."

He actively took a step back, his face falling into a frown, and I laughed. "Yeah, I'm expecting that reaction a lot over the next month."

"You're really Professor Snape's daughter?" His voice was incredulous.

I nodded. "Yup. The dark hair and pale skin are a match, and I'm pretty sarcastic too."

A crack of a smile. "I just didn't expect Snape's daughter to be so fit, honestly."

"I'll take that compliment." I could feel a slight blush on my face.

I had dated a few guys at Durmstrang and I wasn't blind – I was pretty. My dark hair was interspersed with purple streaks and came down to the middle of my back. The moment I'd learned how to transfigure my hair, I'd started putting colored streaks in it, much to the chagrin of my father. I did have very pale skin and a larger nose than most, and Pansy Parkinson had loved to make fun of both until I'd shoved her down the stairs at the Manor one day. After that, she didn't come around while I was there. I had also been a chubby kid because there wasn't food I didn't like, but as I'd gotten older, the extra weight had settled in all the right places. I was still a little big, but I owned it and loved it, and anyone who had anything to say about it ended up at my feet, either by my own hand or by one of the boys, usually Theo, who was very protective.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, but I think I'm going to bed." I stepped around him and opened the door to my room.

"Goodnight, Tessa."