It was in Severus Snape that she found someone to stay the summer with, as he asked if he could still be her godfather and she liked his sarcastic humor enough to say yes (which was good with Magic), so they went to the Goblins first thing after leaving Hogwarts.

Snape moved to a teller, putting a clenched fist over his heart. "I am here to make sure the right paperwork has been filed for my guardianship of Lena Farland."

The goblin grunted, then moved to write something on a black stone, a file appearing before him. Looking through it, glancing at her from time to time, the man nodded. "The paperwork is up to date. Though Heiress Slytherin-Farland has yet to take up her heirships."

"Ah. Right." Recalling the tradition that heirs to houses would get rings to protect them from harm at the age of thirteen, she looked to the teller with a sharp smile. "If I may collect my heirship rings now, I would appreciate it if I could take any paperwork or information with me to send in later."

With a nod, as if she was right in asking for that, another file was sent for, and then she was handed a folder that she carefully tucked in her bag.

Two boxes were set on the edge of the teller's desk and she sighed slightly.

She got the feeling that this would help a bit with the idiot purebloods, but as for the rest of Hogwarts...

Opening the first one to see a silver ring with two snakes wrapped around an emerald, she looked to Snape, who pointed to his right ring finger. Slipping it on, she felt a soft warm sensation and then opened the other box to see a simple gold band bearing a sword on it. The dark-haired potions master pointed to his left pinky finger and she slipped it on her left hand.

"Great." She smiled at the goblin toothily. "My vaults?"

With a grin back the goblin nodded. "The investment you made into Hogsmeade paid off- the small chocolate shop is doing quite well, as they import very cheap thanks to you, and as for the… potion ingredients you sent us- they were quite lucrative. The Farland vault is doing quite well."

"Cancel the scholarship then and mail me a statement on my vaults so I can go over them at a later time. Good day."

The goblin nodded to her. "You as well, Heiress."

Snape side-eyed her as they picked up a few things in the apothecary, portkeying to his smaller townhouse so she could get through the wards. "You know that the Slytherin Heirship will come with problems… right?"

"And I will meet them as they come. Do you mind if I take a nap?" She padded into the house and looked back so she could see the man point to a room. "Thanks. I'll be up to make dinner, as I usually don't sleep that long."

Lena and Snape (he'd told her to call him Severus, but she wasn't sure about that for now) had a process. She'd do most of the cooking, as she liked the process when it wasn't for the Orphanage, going grocery shopping nearby every week and occupying herself when she was bored. Snape made potions over the summer that he then sold to various apothecaries, so she had picked up a part-time job at a large bookstore just a few bus stops away so she could read and be out of the house while the man was brewing.

She was shelving books, listening to her walkman with headphones- having gotten the muggle technology after an older teenager working at the shop had suggested she listen to music while working- when a hand tapped her shoulder.

Purposefully suppressing her instincts to throw whoever it was across the room, as she'd already almost broken some kid's wrist for startling her, she turned to blink at where Draco Malfoy was standing. Slipping off her headphones, she blinked at seeing Narcissa Malfoy standing behind the boy staring at her. "Um… what's up person I definitely don't know?"

"Lena? Why- I thought you lived in London?" Draco seemed just as confused to see her as she was.

"Snape's my godfather. We came to a deal for me to stay with him, though I picked up a job here to get out of the house." Lena tilted her head. "Why are you and your mom here?"

Draco smirked. "I had Mother read Fahrenheit 451 and since Father's in some meeting with a muggle, we decided to check this place out." The boy then looked at her walkman like it was an acromantula. "What were you doing, dancing around like that?"

Rolling her eyes, she pulled the headphones off her neck and put them over the boy's ears. Pressing play, she snickered when his eyes went wide.

"THAT'S AWE-" She pulled the headphones off and he immediately flushed and quieted down. "That's awesome! Is that some muggle invention?"

Lena nodded, putting the headphones back around her neck once more as she moved the cart full of books down the aisle slightly, putting away a few books. "I have shelving to do, but have fun with your browsing and tell me if you need help finding anything."

Grinning at her, the boy nodded and moved back to where Lady Malfoy was standing, talking with his mother quietly.

She ignored them and continued as she was, blinking when Narcissa Malfoy moved to hold out a hand to her. "Miss Farland… If you would like, we would be more than happy to ask Severus if you could come to Draco's birthday party this year."

"Sure. It might be fun to go, as I've never been to one before… Will there be many people?"

The woman seemed to freeze, before licking her lips and looking to Draco, who nodded. "If I may ask..." The woman was eyeing at her in a strange sort of concern. "Have you ever celebrated your birthday?"

Lena shrugged. "Jack used to get me out of chores for a day sometime in the summer and buy me a candy bar… and at the coffee shop, Miss Stacy made me a big quiche and put a small candle in it." She tilted her head. "Matron didn't care enough and I was fine with that because it meant she wasn't paying attention to me."

Lady Malfoy looked to Draco again, both having the same pinched expression Blaise or Theo did when she talked of the Orphanage. "Miss Farland, would you like to celebrate your birthday with Draco? We could easily have a joint party and invite anyone you wanted..."

"Oh… Really?" She glanced at Draco, who nodded. "Janus and Dumbledore would be who I would want to invite then, as I assume most of the other Slytherins are coming."

The woman blinked slowly. "Dumbledore?"

"He's my honorary grandfather, but it's most definitely unspoken. He has good advice and even better lemon drops." Lena chuckled to herself and then shelved a few more books.

"Well… I suppose we could make up an invitation for him, as he probably won't stay long…" The woman peered at her son. "Not a word to your father or he'll combust."

Lena smirked as the two said their goodbyes, disappearing further into the shop.

A birthday party… sounded fun.

Maybe Snape would say yes?

"No."

Lena glared across the table at the man, stabbing her homemade pot pie with a scowl. "Why not! Miss Malfoy said it was okay! Janus and Blaise and Theo and Daphne will all be there- hell she even said she'd send a secret invitation to Dumbledore!"

"What?" The man blinked. "She what? "

"Mrs. Malfoy's going to send a secret invitation to Dumbledore, as I requested he is invited because he's a lonely old man like Jack and he needs a bit of social interaction once and a while!" Her voice was raised as she glared at the man.

Snape stared at her before bursting into loud laughter.

Lena stabbed her pot pie again, shoving a piece in her mouth grumpily. "I hate you."

"You-" He was still laughing slightly. "You talk about Albus as if he's some senile old man! If he ever heard you say that…"

She smirked. "You've never had one of his Lemon Drops, have you?" Then she leaned in with a conspiratorial whisper. "Guess what? They're laced with some pretty strong stuff that's probably like muggle Marijuana."

The man choked on his tea. "What?"

"Now tell me who's so old he needs something with such strong pain relief that he's basically high all the time?" Sitting back in her chair with a smug grin, she took another bite of pot pie and watched the man try to process that.

"Fine." Snape sighed. "You can go… but I'm going to curse anyone you don't know that tries to talk to you."

She gave him a weird look, but shrugged it off and just smiled. "Whatever."

"And Narcissa will want you to wear some type of dress."

Lena groaned softly.

So much for jeans and a t-shirt.

Lena and Snape had argued for at least an hour about the few dresses she had, finally showing up ten minutes late, with Lena wearing a white dress shirt tucked into a knee-length blue and gold high-waisted skirt that had taken more than a few minutes doing up complicated laces on the back.

Scowling at the man, who scowled back, she moved down the stairs away from him faster than usual, looking around and letting a smile overtake her face when she found Janus in the crowd. Immediately heading his way, she gave him a crooked smile when he noticed her. "Hey, Carr-mel."

"Lena Bean, look how tall you've gotten!" The boy went to mess with her hair, smiling widely when she bared her teeth in a dare to mess with her hair.

It had taken her almost ten minutes to wrestle her long hair into the high-ponytail and if he messed it up she would kill him.

"Happy birthday Lean-Bean-Lena-Machine!"

Looking over to where Blasie sauntered over with Daphne and Draco by him, she smiled widely, making it a bit threatening. "Zucchini… what did I tell you about that nickname?"

The boy raised an eyebrow and put a hand to his chin as if thinking. "I think it was… that you like it?"

"You, my green vegetable, are replaceable." Flicking his nose lightly, she looked around the room. The fancy ballroom was decorated in Slytherin colors, a whole bunch of fancy Lords and Ladies milling about and pretending not to be watching them. "It's beautiful, Draco. I'll have to do something nice for your mom… Are there any others our age coming?"

The group shared looks.

"Well, I'm here, thanks for noticing." Theo stalked over, hands in the pockets of his black slacks.

Lena smiled, patting his shoulder. "I knew you'd be late, as you seem to always be a few steps behind me." She then twirled out of the way of his hex, chuckling as the boy scowled at her. Spotting Marcus and a few of the Quidditch team coming down the stairs, she waved to them, smirking when they headed over. "My crownless ex-King and Princes. How does this day fare with you?"

With few shrugs and a grunt from Warrington, Marcus scowled as he pulled at his bowtie agitatedly like a cat trying to get out of its collar. "I'm not staying long. I hate dressing up in these stupid outfits."

Bletchly and Montague nodded in agreement.

"That's fine." She waved it off, grinning toothily. "I'm just excited to see a few of my snakes outside of school. And I have a surprise guest coming too that'll really make this party great..."

"I hate your surprises sometimes Lena. My father's going to have a heart attack." Draco sounded as if he was dreading her 'surprise guest' more than anything else.

She tilted her head with a smile. "That, Draco, was the point."

Daphne snickered- probably already having heard the boy whine about it- but Janus raised an eyebrow. "What did you do this time Lena? I leave and you not only decide to claim the Slytherin heirship but you turn out to be related to the Boy-Who-Lived and catch Peter Pettigrew- which is making the Auror department think about recruiting you, by the way."

"You- wait you have what heirship?"

Holding up her hand to Marcus, she frowned at Janus. "Why would they recruit me ?" She raised an eyebrow. "Have I ever, in the time you've known me, commended the Ministry?"

The older boy smirked. "We all know the answer to that, but as there are more than a few Ministry officials here- including me… I will refrain from commenting."

"Theodore." The older man with the judging eyes who she knew was Theo's grandfather, moved to the side of their group. "You and your friends will converse later. I want to introduce you to a gentleman I know."

Janus leaned over to her, voice quiet. "The parents are going to call everyone away to mingle, trying to make connections."

And just as the boy said, Lucius Malfoy waved at Draco like some dog, Lady Greengrass smiling thinly at her as she put a hand on Daphne's shoulder, Madame Zabini moving their way in an elegant dress.

With a nod, she sighed. "Go. I would rather not ruin my clothes dueling any of your parents for control of your time." Sending a look at Lord Nott that had the man sneering, she took Janus' arm and steered them away. "So... where are the drinks in this place?"

"You're not drinking." Janus narrowed his eyes at her, then smirked. "Want to meet my boss?"

"You're no fun." Lena scowled, tugging her arm away from him. "You go do your adult things too, I guess. I'll go find something to do- something that doesn't involve drinking." She added on when he raised an eyebrow.

Nodding, Janus left her for his 'boss'.

With a small sigh, she moved around the room, trying to find someone she knew- like Snape- but instead, she was without sight of anyone she knew while getting stared at.

Wonderful.

"Need someone to talk to, my dear girl?" The old Headmaster appeared by her side as if he'd always been there, smiling at her with twinkly blue eyes from behind his half-moon spectacles. "I don't recall awarding Slytherin the House Cup this last year, but it sure looks like it…"

Chuckling, she beamed and held out a peppermint that she'd bought especially for the man, as little else could fit in the small breast pocket of her dress-shirt. "Trade?" When he did so, she relaxed just a bit, reassured by the man's gentle presence. Putting the lemon drop in her mouth, she smirked at where Snape was striding her way with narrowed eyes.

The Headmaster looked at her over his glasses, amused. "You told Severus?"

"It was for a good cause." Lena shrugged.

"What are you doing here!" Lucius Malfoy beat Snape to being red with indignation, pointing his cane at Dumbledore.

Glancing at her for just a second when she looked away innocently, Dumbledore pulled out a fancy invitation from his bright yellow robes, humming. "Well, Mr. Malfoy… I suspect that the invitation to Lena's birthday was part of it. She did give me a very nice present for my birthday this year, after all, even if it was unfortunately lost in transit."

"Next time I'll just give you his head and be done with it." Lena smiled sweetly at the old man, who chuckled.

"Have I ever told you that you remind me of my old friend, Gellert Grindelwald?" The man looked down at her with a fond smile, ignoring Malfoy. "He was just like you as a boy. Same witty humor too… though I sometimes suspected he wasn't joking."

Lena smiled. She wasn't joking either. "Oh, was he the one you were forced to fight? I remember that story, though it was a bit different in the history books I have."

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, well I refuse to read such books, as they paint Gellert and me as opposites when we were very close- well- up until he killed my fiancee in a jealous rage."

"That'd do it." She snickered.

Snape huffed as he got to them, putting his hand on his hips like McGonagall when she was irritated. "Lena, spit that out this instant or so help me, I will drag you home."

Lena looked up to Dumbledore. "Oh, did you poison it?"

"Not this time, my dear… You?"

"Always. You must be immune to this poison too."

The man in all black threw up his hands with a noise of frustration. "You two are impossible! I don't understand why you get along so well- you're literally opposites!"

"Well, that's a good story." Dumbledore smiled at the man brightly and Lena wondered how many lemon drops he'd had. "Lena here destroyed a diary possessing a young girl to open the Chamber of Secrets and claimed the Slytherin heirship to stop Salazar's familiar from attacking the school. Though I never really got an answer as to why she did it." The man looked to her as if waiting for a reason.

"Spite."

Nodding as if that explained everything, the man patted her shoulder and then handed her a small package that he'd pulled out of his bright robes. "Happy Birthday, my dear."

Smiling, she carefully opened the wrapping paper, glancing at the man when there was a small jewelry box inside. Slowly cracking it open, she stared at the metal bracelet that she'd sold when she'd been nine and starving. Holding it out without a single word, she let the man put it on her wrist before giving him a real smile full of happiness and unrestrained joy. "It's horrible, but I'm getting the urge to pawn it for a bag of peppermints."

Dumbledore laughed brightly, eyes sparkling. "Thank you for your trust, my dear."

"And thanks for your patience, as always, old man." She watched the man start up the stairs, before turning to Snape. "I bet you a weeks worth my choice of dinner that you won't dance with me."

"You always make dinner anyway. Why in Merlin's name would I take that bet?" The man glowered at her.

She glared back. "I've seen a lot of cactuses, but out of all of them, you're definitely the biggest prick." Laughing as she danced out of the way of his snarling hex, she flicked her wrist to buckle his knees, and then smirked and moved to stand over where the man had fallen to the ground. "What happened to not casting at me? I thought that making you wash your hair would be enough punishment for silencing me last time I tried to ask about your day?"

Snape glared up at her. "Insolent brat."

"Maybe." She held out her hand. "But really, I'm not a fan of having spells cast in my general direction." Pulling him up, she flicked her wand to clean him off just in case. "The last person to hex me ended up in the hospital wing."

Two hands moved to rest on her shoulders, Janus smiling down on her. "I think I apologized for that, didn't I?" Then he made a face as if thinking about it. "I might not have thought about it. So... sorry."

Lena waved his apology aside. "Bygones."

"Queenie!" Blaise waved her down from where he was sitting on the arm of an armchair in a group of sofas. "Presents!"

Janus moved his arms, letting her move over to the group, following close behind. She blinked. "Dumbledore gave me my present." She shook her wrist, letting the silver bracelet jingle.

"And you say I'm slow." Theo snorted. "You have one from each of us. Like Yule."

Moving to sit in the empty armchair the group was sitting near, she sat down and blinked at the small pile of presents in front of her. "But I don't have anything in return. And that's… oddly distressing." She ignored their looks, frowning slightly as she tried to sort out why that distressed her before shrugging. "I blame the orphanage."

The Slytherins all made soft huffing sounds, used to her dark humor.

Taking out a carefully wrapped package, she threw it at Draco. "Switch off? You open two, I open one?" His pile was much bigger, but she was happy with her presents.

"Sure." Draco started ripping open his presents, getting a set of nice journals and a fine cloak she was probably going to end up stealing from him later to sew runes into.

Picking one she could guess was from Daphne, she opened it carefully, blinking when she found a pair of long socks, holding them up and raising an eyebrow.

The girl just winked at her. "They're charmed to change based on the rest of your outfit. Dead useful when wearing the bright colors that you don't have socks for… hint hint."

"Your hint was taken under consideration." She smiled when the girl rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Daph."

Draco opened two more presents, getting a book on curses that looked very old with dragon scale bindings and a thick winter cloak, giving fake smiles and platitudes to the people who gave them.

"Let's see here…" Opening Theo's gift, she found a small charm in the shape of a heart. Reaching out with her magic, she looked at the boy. "Anti-love potion charm? Useful, though I would like to find an idiot with enough of a death wish to try to dose me with a love potion… for science, of course." Grinning toothily, she clipped the charm to the bracelet Theo had gotten her first year. "Thank you for the new science project."

Theo rolled his eyes at her talking about such things, ignoring it as always. "Who knows. It might come in useful." He shared a look with Blaise and Janus that she didn't feel like questioning at the moment.

Blaise had got Draco a sketchbook made to look like a textbook, Theo a vial of Felix Felicis.

Lena smiled at the two boys, taking a present in hand and looking up at Janus. "Yours now Carr-mel." Chuckling softly when the boy wrinkled his nose at her, she opened the wrapping to find a heavy cloak that felt like it was made from the softest material on earth. "Oh, it's lovely."

"Look on the inside." The boy leaned on the back of her chair and reached forward to flip it over. "It's your rune sequence, exactly matching my cloak."

Smiling up at him, she chuckled softly. "Is this your way of telling me that you think I need to be scarier?"

"No, but I never took runes as advanced as you did, so I didn't have anything else to do."

"It'll keep me warm. In fact, I might just never take it off." She looked up at him. "I'll treat it well, because as you know-"

""You take care of what's yours."" Blaise and Janus both deadpanned the saying at the same time, giving each other dead stares that had the others snickering to each other, Marcus' guffawing laugh echoing around them.

Lena just smiled, patting Janus' arm. "Don't forget it anytime soon."

Draco snorted, moving to open Daphne's gift of cologne and a gift with another cloak, giving her a pained look before thanking the woman who had gifted it to him with a hollow smile.

Shaking her head slightly, she picked up a long package from the Quidditch team shaped like a broom, eyeing the smirking boys with a raised eyebrow. "Hmmm… I wonder what it could be…" Opening it, she blinked at the fancy stylized broom. "This is the one Charles has. The fastest broom in the world, if I remember correctly?"

"You should try out for seeker, as Draco's moving to Chaser because his frame's too big for-" Marcus twitched under her suddenly poisonous glare. "I swear I'm not making fun of you. I think that with your quick eyes and- well- you'd be a great Seeker!"

"I'll think about it." She eyed the broom before glancing at where Snape was frowning. "I'm flying back to the house."

The man glowered at her. "You are not."

Rolling her eyes, she put the present aside and watched Draco get more meaningless gifts from the men and women standing around watching them.

She felt like a circus act.

Looking to Blaise, she slowly opened his present to find a black metal crown with small green gems glittering in the light. Looking at him, she stared at him blankly. "Why?"

"Every Queen needs a crown. And Slytherin's mascot got one too." The boy pointed at the paper and she looked down to see a tiny crown.

"I- she is not wearing that."

Daphne smiled widely. "If she wears it and lets that one Gryffindor take a picture I'll let you wear jeans for three weekend days~"

Lena sighed, as the girl was intense about wearing Magical clothing all the time as it was 'reflective of her status'. "Deal." Shaking her head, she put the crown on her head and then looked over her raised nose at the group haughtily. "I expect you to do well on your exams… or a public execution in the Great Hall!"

"You better not," Snape growled.

She frowned. "Fine… Instead, I'll have the Quidditch team tickle you to death." Looking at Snape dryly, she raised an eyebrow. "Better?"

"I will not hesitate to poison your garden."

"I won't hesitate to brew potions in your lab and give you an aneurysm by trying to create a potion that'll make your nose not as big." They stared each other down, the man's eye twitching at the backhanded insult.

Janus snorted softly. "I have no idea how you two haven't killed each other… but whatever works, I guess." He shook his head and then nudged her. "Come on then. Open another present Lena."

Huffing at Snape, she turned back to pick up Draco's present which she'd saved for last. Untying the ribbon and opening the box, she looked at a simple gold ring with a black stone in the shape of a diamond (like on the playing cards). Moving to pick it up, she almost dropped it when it came in contact with her skin.

The ring was as warm to the touch, just as the diadem had been.

Looking to Draco with critical eyes, she noticed the boy glance at his father, as if to tell her, 'it was his idea.' Looking under the ring, she found a miniature package and smiled at the boy. "Thanks, Draco. It's stunning and will make Daphne happy, as I still don't have enough jewelry to satisfy her."

Daphne grinned. "You never will."

Taking her present, Draco opened it, turning the simple silver band over in his hands. "What is…" Putting it on, his eyes widened and he covered it with his hand. "What did you do Lena?"

"No one but the court and you will be able to read it, as you are officially part of our ranks." She looked to him with a half-smile. "Your title?"

"I… I am going to have to go with the position of 'Exasperated Prince', thank you very much."

The group laughed and she leaned forward in her chair, holding her hand out. "May I?" Slowly the boy put his palm up in her hand, the band resting on the inside of his wrist, reading: You are worth more than empty gifts. Nodding, she patted the boy's hand and sat back again. "It only says the truth, but if ever you need confirmation, any of the court will be happy to remind you of that."

Lena could see his masks working to hide the emotions under the surface, Draco ducking his head for a second and she flicked her finger to dry his face so no one would see the tear that slipped down his cheek.

Looking back up, the boy didn't smile, but his eyes were gleaming with emotion. "Thank you, Lena. I love it."

"That's why I gave it to you, silly boy." Letting go, she sat back in her seat with a sharp grin, eyes sliding to Lucius Malfoy. "Oh, and if anyone tried to take it from you… it might have some nasty side effects for their health."

Janus leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Never let it be said you don't take care of what's yours… and when something's yours, that never changes."

Her grin spread wider. "Exactly."

And as she was Heir of Slytherin, every one of the snakes was hers- her favorites were just invited to stay… closer to her.