Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
—————————————————————
Two years quickly melted away.
The arrival of Harriet's eleventh birthday brought her Hogwarts letter to the Snapes' humble cottage.
As the family walked down the busy street of Diagon Alley a week later, the air itself seemed full of bustling excitement.
Harriet chattered to Severus and Lily while Ellery followed quietly beside them all, too busy gazing around to contribute much to the conversation.
"Dad, I want a snake." Harriet said as she pulled on Severus's black robes and pointed towards the nearby pet store.
"A snake is not a permitted pet for students at Hogwarts." Severus replied while Ellery and Lily spoke briefly, "You can choose an owl, a cat, a toad, or a rat."
"I don't want a rat." Harriet frowned in disgust, "I'm not particularly fond of cats or toads either." She blinked up at Severus as she asked, "You're a professor, Dad! Can't you please talk to the headmaster and ask if I can have a snake?"
"Why do you want a snake so badly?" Severus sighed.
"So I can talk to it, of course!" Harriet exclaimed, "We can be the best of friends! It'll be loads of fun."
Severus glared down at Harriet with his black eyes glinting as he drawled in his low, slow voice, "You're not……allowed…...a snake."
Although Severus Snape intimidated many of his students with his imposing figure, clothed in his dark, draping robes, Harriet failed to be particularly impressed by her towering father as she glared back up at him and pouted, "One day, I'll have lots of snakes……You'll see, Dad."
"After you're grown with your own house and your own household, you can do as you please." Severus snapped, "Today, however, you can choose an owl, a toad, a rat, or a cat."
Harriet let out a heavy sigh as she stared into the window of the pet shop.
She kept her nose wrinkled as she scowled through the window at the rats while they scurried about in their cages.
Ellery and Lily continued their chat as they opened the door to the pet shop and went inside.
Severus and Harriet followed along, though they both wore solemn frowns.
Severus had noticed over the years that as Harriet aged, she seemed to display more and more of her mother's fiery, head-strong qualities.
He admired them in Lily, but in Harriet, he anticipated those traits would present obstacles.
Clearly unhappy with the discussion, Harriet browsed through the pet store as her frown stayed firmly planted on her fair face.
The rats weren't even a reasonable idea.
The cats didn't interest her either.
As she passed by the snake enclosures, her frown deepened.
Harriet paused in front of one cage as a rare, rainbow-coloured, baby python raised itself up to flick its tongue at her.
She smiled at the reptile as she opened her mouth and spoke in Parseltongue, "I'd like to be your friend, but my parents say I can't take you home with me."
The colourful snake flicked its tongue against the glass as it replied in a low hiss, "Perhapssss one day, then."
"Perhapssss." Harriet hissed before she sighed and moved on.
Most of the owls appeared outwardly hostile or disinterested, but as Harriet walked by the rounded cages, she eventually noticed a fluffy, chubby bird with snowy-white feathers who barely fit inside its round prison.
Harriet frowned at the snowy owl.
The snowy owl frowned back.
In a quiet cry of protest, the owl opened its yellow beak and made a sharp squeak, as if to express its displeasure about its restricted captivity.
Harriet glanced down at the nameplate on the owl's cage.
Hedwig
"Have you found a friend, sweetheart?" Lily's voice called out.
Harriet turned around to see her parents and brother standing behind her.
She blinked at Lily as she contemplated the owl's squeak and her mother's statement.
"A cat……a rat……a toad…or an owl…..ONLY." Severus reiterated to Harriet with a scowl.
Harriet glanced back at Hedwig, then at her family, before she nodded at Lily and said, "Yeah, Mum, I think I have."
—————————————————————
One week later, Hedwig's white feathers ruffled as the cart she rode on rattled down Platform Nine And Three-Quarters as Severus pushed the load of his daughter's school supplies, with Harriet, Ellery, and Lily walking alongside him.
The Snape family said little as they approached the red and black Hogwarts Express, though memories danced through Severus and Lily's minds.
While they gazed at the impressive train, Harriet and Ellery's thoughts were besieged by dreams of the adventures they would have during their own school years.
Severus came to a halt a short distance away from the boarding steps so that they could have a quiet moment to send Harriet off.
Ellery was the first to say goodbye.
He rushed forward and enveloped his older sister in a tight hug, which she gladly returned as he closed his eyes and whispered, "I'll miss you, sissy."
Severus and Lily held each other's hands as they watched their children embrace.
Harriet squeezed her younger brother back and answered with her voice muffled against his shoulder, "I'll miss you too, Ell."
On his pale face, Ellery wore a frown that greatly resembled his father's as he stepped back and blinked as his mother bent down to hug Harriet.
"I love you, my darling." Lily whispered as she kissed her little girl's cheek, "You're going to do brilliantly, alright? Just be yourself, smile, and you'll have loads of fun!"
"Alright, Mum!" Harriet smiled back as Lily pulled away once their hug ended.
As Lily stepped back, Severus moved forward.
Harriet blinked as he knelt down to look into her eyes, with his black robes swirling elegantly around his sides.
"Pay close attention to your studies." Severus instructed his daughter, "Waste no time on foolish shenanigans that will lead to ruin….and be certain to read your assignments twice……..You have an advantage over all of your classmates by my presence at the castle. Should you need anything, or if anyone should hurt you, you only have to alert me and I will do everything in my power to rectify the grievance."
"Thanks, Dad." Harriet nodded.
Severus frowned but his daughter smiled.
Before he could stand, Harriet caught him off guard as she lunged and threw her arms around him in a tight hug.
Severus started awkwardly at first as his hands raised in a flinch and his dark eyes widened.
Uncomfortable with receiving much affection from anyone besides Lily, he faltered for a moment before he glanced over and saw the happy tears in his beloved's eyes.
For a split second, Severus allowed himself to relax.
His dark eyes closed as he placed his hands on Harriet's back and gladly accepted the affection he felt he did not deserve.
The train whistle cruelly interrupted the Snape family's tender moment.
Harriet let go of Severus, grabbed her things, and hurried onto the Hogwarts Express.
Moments later, Severus, Lily, and Ellery waved at her through the window until the train carried her off.
All parents of first year students were nervous, but Severus and Lily harbored anxieties for their daughter that the other couples could not possibly comprehend.
—————————————————————
Harriet had inherited Lily's friendliness and natural aptitude for social skill.
By the time the Hogwarts Express pulled into the castle's station that evening, Harriet had already grown fond of a boy named Ron Weasley and a girl named Hermione Granger.
Harriet chatted excitedly with them both as they stepped off the train and began to make their way inside the school.
The trio had just walked up the stone steps when they practically crashed into Draco and his new friends.
"Hello, Snape." He sneered haughtily.
"Hello, Malfoy." Harriet frowned.
"Crabbe, Goyle…." Draco sniffed as he glanced at each of his new cronies, "This is Harriet Snape, my fiancé. Take off the glasses and she's not the worst-looking girl ever, I suppose."
Hermione and Ron seemed to consider intervening but Harriet angrily snapped, "Shut your mouth, Malfoy!"
"Or what, Snape?" Draco sneered.
"Or I'll shut it for you!" Harriet glowered.
"You can't do anything to me!" Draco scoffed, "It's against school rules!"
"Who's to say we'll be at school when it happens?" Harriet shot back as she narrowed her eyes.
A shadow of fear passed across Draco's pale face as his haughty sneer vanished into an incredulous frown, but before their exchange could escalate further, Mr. Filch came and ushered everyone towards the Great Hall.
As the crowd lurched forward, Draco made it a point to shove his shoulder roughly into Harriet.
He slyly used the confusion to hide his malicious action from plain view, but immediately after the impact, Harriet took great care to stomp on Draco's foot.
She laughed as she listened to the cry of pain that came from his mouth as she walked into the Great Hall with Ron and Hermione.
—————————————————————
Severus narrowed his dark eyes as he watched from his seat at the High Table while Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on Harriet's head.
"A tough one indeed……" The Sorting Hat mused as it wriggled its brim in thought while it leafed through Harriet's mind, "Ambition, I see, and courage, plenty of it……But what house? What house would be best for you?"
"Slytherin." Harriet whispered, "Put me in Slytherin!"
"Hmm……no." The Sorting Hat sighed, "No, I don't think you'd be well-suited there at all. Instead, let's try…..GRYFFINDOR!"
Severus scowled as he clapped with the rest of Hogwarts' faculty while everyone at the Gryffindor table rejoiced.
His eyes followed Harriet as she leapt from the stool and walked over to reluctantly join her new housemates.
Draco sneered at her triumphantly from Slytherin's table as he watched.
Harriet's only comfort in the Sorting Hat's disappointing decision was that her new acquaintances Ron and Hermione had also been placed into Gryffindor.
There was no assurance at all in the situation for Severus though.
As he watched his daughter, he already began contemplating ways to assuage Voldemort's coming anger.
—————————————————————
That evening, after Severus had returned home, he and Lily sat in bed and cuddled each other.
Their minds were too clouded with anxiety to exchange anything beyond gentle kisses and tender touches.
"He'll be furious she's been placed into Gryffindor!" Lily fretted as she knotted her fingers in Severus's nightshirt while she clung to him.
"Not if he believes the Potter child will one day come to the castle and join her there." Severus replied, "I've kept our charade up this long Lily, don't lose faith in me now."
"I'm counting on you, Sev." She confessed in a desperate sigh as she laid her head on his chest and closed her eyes, "Protect our little girl……Watch over Harriet."
"You have my word, Lily." Severus replied in his low drawl, "She'll be safe as long as I draw breath."
Severus's pale, nimble fingers combed through his beloved flower's scarlet hair as he pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead and whispered, "I will guard Harriet with my life."
"And in return, I will gladly give you mine." Lily smiled softly.
Severus bent down to nuzzle her gently and breathe in the pleasant, sweet scent of her hair.
"I love you, Sev." She added as she placed a hand over her husband's chest and kissed his beating heart.
Severus frowned as he clutched Lily more tightly against him.
He wished that things had been different.
In a perfect world, Severus imagined he would have been born to a loving, rich family, without the need to teach and spy to survive.
Harriet would have been his natural daughter and he and Lily would have spent their days tougher in a grand mansion, with their children as his only students.
Lily……..
Their children…….
Severus Snape's world was a largely dark and foreboding place, fractured by trauma, haunted by ghosts of terrible visions, horrific memories, and doused in glutinous, viscous amounts of self-doubt.
There were only three stars of shimmering brightness in that filthy darkness and Severus knew them well by name…….Lily, Harriet, Ellery.