A Circle Broken

Disclaimer-I own nothing, including characters from Charmed which belong to the WB, but I do own Ciaran AKA Samantha. R&R!

And I forgot to say in the last chapter, this is set in AU Book 5. Certain elements will be used, but it will on the whole be a new story.

Chapter Two- A Touch of Insanity

For a moment Halliwell manor was completely silent, even the Grandfather clock in the corner that took oh so much abuse seemed to have lost the will to tick.

And then the giggles started. But unlike what most people imagine when they hear giggles, these were bitter and angry. Both adults looked at the source of the laughter, and weren't sure what to say. Samantha was staring at the parchment in her hands like it was alien, giggling like she wouldn't start. Snape kept his mouth shut, instinctively feeling, undoubtedly through his many years of torture at the wand of a madman, that things were not right.

But Piper didn't have that experience and immediately stepped into her outraged mother persona.

"And just what is so funny young lady? Is this family being split up just one big joke to you?" She placed her hands on her hips, a pose that seemed to be a well-used one between mother and daughter. Samantha just snorted and sneered, making Snape snort. It was such a...Snape thing for her to do. She was his daughter alright, there was no doubt about it.

"And since when have we," She motioned between Piper and herself with a mocking grin, "ever been a family? Huh? All my life you've treated me differently than Chris and Wyatt, and I could never quite figure out why. At first I thought that it was because I practiced a different type of magic, and you just felt closer to them because of that, but now, now I realize it's because you were ashamed of me. After all, if you weren't ashamed, you would have just told me the truth about who I was." Piper almost snarled in rage, and the vase next to the stairs blew up with a bang. Samantha barely even flinched.

"Excuse me?! I have NEVER treated you any differently than your brothers! Never! Is it my fault that you feel like an outcast? We've tried to bring you into the family, but you never go along! Its always 'I can't, I have Quidditch. Or I have potions homework, or some other lame excuse! Young Lady, you are not going to stand there and say that I was ever a bad mother. After all, you didn't go dark, did you?" As soon as the words were out, Piper clamped a hand to her mouth. It was obvious that she hadn't meant to say what she had, but the room knew that there was no way that it could be taken back. What was said was said.

Snape narrowed his eyes, and Samantha looked like she had been hit in the face with a bludger. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, and finally managed to get words out.

"Gone dark? Is that what you were afraid of? I spent my life never really feeling like my family wanted me, and I find out it's because you thought I was EVIL? That's bullshit mom and you know it!" Piper had gotten over her upset at letting something out that she clearly never wanted her daughter to know, and retaliated.

"Language young lady. And if it's such 'bullshit', then how come I get notes from that school of yours every few weeks saying that you've cursed, hexed, or otherwise injured another student? For apparently no reason other than you enjoy it? How come you always use your powers for your own personal gain, when you know that Halliwell witches, GOOD witches, only use them protecting the innocent? Huh? What was I supposed to think? Especially given who your father is? Tell me, just what was I supposed to expect? Was I supposed to expect that you would be normal?" Snape decided that it was time for him to step in before either woman became violent. He wouldn't mind seeing Piper hurt, after all from what he had heard she deserved it, but he wanted to get his daughter out of the house without injury.

Using years of practice disarming fights between students, he stepped in between the two Halliwells and put his back to his daughter, staring down at Piper. He had never been happier that she stood almost a foot shorter than he did, it made intimidation easier.

"What you could have believed, Ms. Halliwell," He sneered her last name, reminding himself mentally that they had to change Samantha's name as soon as possible, it wasn't suitable for a witch of her status. "was that your daughter was a child and that her parentage did not in anyway decide what type of witch or person she would be. You could have taught her your rules and why they were important instead of just insisting that they be followed with no explanation as to why." It didn't cross his mind that he could often be accused of the same crimes that he was condemning Piper for. Snape had never claimed that he wasn't hypocritical. "Or, and I know that this might be difficult for someone of your brain power to comprehend, you could have just accepted that her magic was not the same as yours, and that she was supposed to use her magic to her advantage in everyday life. That is one way that Wizards are ahead of you Wiccans." He knew that he could have been a lot harsher on the wiccan (he refused to call her a witch on principle alone), and in fact he had been harsher on students half her age, but he thought that it would be best to stay relatively calm.

After all, he could use this one moment when he knew that Samantha was off balance to secure her loyalty to him. After all, no one could be perfectly fine after finding out that their mother thought they were going to turn evil their entire lives, and ignored them accordingly.

Not that evil was necessarily a bad thing.

He didn't have time to contemplate anymore, because Piper chose that moment to contend every statement that he had made. It was going to be a long day.

~*~*~*~*~

Samantha didn't know what to think. Her entire life had been a lie. Her family, not that any of them had actually ever treated her like family...well, that wasn't exactly true. Leo had always treated her like his child, even though he must have known that she wasn't.

That hurt the most. The one person that she would have trusted her life and sanity with, the one person who knew everything about her and who never judged, had lied to her, her entire life.

It was in that moment that Samantha made a decision. Her family, the people that she was supposed to trust most in the world, had betrayed her. Even after everything that they had done, she still felt it like a knife to the heart. Sam had never liked feeling pain, it was weak in her mind and after everything that she had been through in that school that her mother had sent her to, she never wanted to be weak again.

So she just wouldn't feel.

In that one moment, Samantha locked away everything that she had ever felt for those that she called family.

Except her anger, her anger could stay. Anger was a friend, always had been, and it would get her through this just like it had gotten her through every other crisis in her life, from her first year at NCALMA, to her mother's neglect.

Finding that she had a father that she had never known, and who apparently never known about her, would be no different than those incidents.

And she would be the stronger for it.

Strong enough to prove to her mother that she was as much a Halliwell as Chris and Wyatt were, and that she was as deserving of the family magic as they were.

Those thoughts kept her occupied through her 'parents' fighting, her father grabbing her elbow in a surprisingly gentle grip, and propelling her out the door. She made a token attempt to fight, though she didn't want to spend anymore time in the Manor than she had to, but he easily ignored that.

"But, my stuff! I don't have anything; my broom, my books..." He stopped in the doorway and looked at her seriously, eyes identical to her own boring into her.

"Do you have your wand?" Samantha nodded, sliding it out of the sleeve of the shirt she was wearing. He smiled slightly. "That is all you require. We will replace everything when we return to England. I daresay that your wardrobe could use replenishing."

"Al...Alright." He shook his head as they stepped onto the driveway.

"Do not stutter. Even if you have no idea what you are doing, Snapes do not show it. You are always in control." That one simple line struck a cord deep in Samantha, and she smiled up at him, hesitantly. He smiled, well, smirked back and her, and pulled her close.

With a pop they were gone.

And Samantha was off to a new life.