Blood (thicker than) Water (but what about) Lemonade?

The Nightmare (the best thing that's happened all week.)

Avril piled her bags and empty owl cage (she'd set Athena free in the Entrance Hall before following her uncle downstairs into the dungeon corridor) at the little space at the end of her bed in her dark dungeons room.

Until September first, according to Snape, she would be sleeping in the extra room in his dormitory. There was still about five days left before the other students arrived at the castle, and Avril assumed she ought to get some exploring in before then so she wouldn't look like an idiot when school rolled around, but she really didn't feel like it. After all, it had only been two days ago when she had found out that her parents had been killed, and since then there had been a sort of dead feeling in the pit of her stomach.

So instead, she just opened the parcels of school supplies that her Uncle Severus had so generously purchased for her and, not usually being one to cry from sadness, settled down with Standard book of Spells, grade 5 to take her mind off things.

A few hours later, there was a knock on her door. Severus Snape stood outside the door, debating what to do. She hadn't answered-did that mean she wanted to be left alone? Nevertheless, it was tea time in the Great Hall and he thought she ought to come out. He knocked again. No answer. Maybe she wasn't in there, he thought, not really knowing what to do. Finally, deciding that he'd rather not be any more late for tea than he already was, Snape quietly opened the door to his niece's room. When he saw what was inside, the Potion's Master, the cold, even cruel Hogwarts Professor, loathed by and loather of so many, stopped dead.

Lying on the bed, using her enormous spell book for a pillow, Avril was fast asleep. She and Mrs. Walker had had to rise at four a.m. in order to catch the apparating ride to England, and even then it had been delayed quite a few hours.

By the time Avril reached Britain, then Hogwarts, it was already around nine a.m. B.C time, and by now Avril was catching up on some missed 'Z's'.

Snape stood for a moment, watching her. Avril's face was buried under her dark brown hair, and a wisp of it fluttered slightly with every breath. It was utterly angelic, though the thought didn't occur to Snape at the time. He was spellbound by the innocence of it. If this was how taking care of a teenage girl was like, it shouldn't be a problem.

Slowly, Snape stepped up to his sleeping niece and cleared his throat. Nothing. He repeated, a little louder this time. Avril stirred. "It's time for tea," Snape told her curtly, trying his hardest to glare down at his burden. Lifting her head slightly, Avril yawned. "Wha?" she sat up and looked around, puzzled. "I said," repeated Snape, now trying to sound irritated, "that it is time for tea. Are you planning on attending?" Avril rubbed her eyes. It felt like she hadn't slept in days. "Yeah, I'd love to come-I'm starving," she muttered thickly. Snape nodded. "I'll wait for you outside and escort you to the Great Hall. I don't presume you know your own way yet?"

Avril shook her head. Her eyes looked large with fatigue and considerably gray.

"Very well," her uncle said, before striding from the little room.

Avril sat up and stifled a yawn. Pulling on dark blue wizard's robes, Avril hurried out to the main living area of her uncle's dormitory.

Snape began to walk as soon as Avril shut the door. Struggling to pull on her shoes while keeping up with Snape, Avril followed him down the long dark and cold corridor towards a set of stone steps leading to the Entrance Hall.

They entered the Great Hall and sat at the head table where a group of teachers were eating and chatting easily. They stopped, however, when Avril and Snape sat down, and stared for a moment at the girl they hoped would change the potions master and create a better, easier colleague for the rest.

Avril glanced around nervously at the staring professors and managed a feeble smile. "H-hi," She tried weakly.

The Professors smiled down the table. "Hullo," most of them said.

Professor McGonagall, who sat across from Avril, stretched out her hand with a thin smile, trying to promote friendliness. "Professor McGonagall Miss Ardree. I instruct the art of transfiguration here at Hogwarts. I trust you learned transfiguration at your old school?"

Avril shook the elderly professor's hand. "Yes. Er, one of my favorites, actually."

McGonagall almost smiled. Good. Perhaps this one would be up to scratch. It'd be nice if she were in Gryffindor; the only Gryffindor witch truly dedicated to her studies at the moment was Hermione Granger.

A few more professors introduced themselves to Avril over dinner, and after finding that she appreciated all magical subjects and liked the Hogwarts castle very much, jokingly asked Snape if the girl was really related to him. Snape, however, reacted quite sourly to this and the others deceased.

After dinner, Avril bid the other teachers goodnight and followed her uncle back to the dungeons. She too, bid him goodnight (and was returned a look of slight irritation) and climbed into her pajamas, Avril felt little more comfortable than she had been an hour ago and gave her reflection a small smile. Despite Severus Snape's less-than-welcome disposition towards her, things would be all right; everyone just needed a little more time to adjust. Everything had come on so quickly, she thought, as she climbed into her lumpy bed.

Quickly enough that she could still feel the heavy weight of mournfulness in the pit of her stomach and see it in her stone-gray eyes.

****

Avril opened her eyes. She wasn't in bed anymore. Instead, she was standing on a busy street. She couldn't quite see the busy people and cars zooming by; everything was quite blurred. She could, however, see three people in perfect focus. A man, in a dark cloak and mask, was running fast, toward Avril. He was clutching his wand and sending different colored sparks and what looked like hexes at two other people, who seemed to be chasing after him. A woman, with long black hair billowing out behind her and dark red robes was running beside a blonde man in green, and they were both waving sparks and hexes back at the masked man. He turned into an alley, followed closely by the other two, and Avril followed them. Standing at the end of the alley, Avril watched the three wizards.

"Give it up Lastrange," the man shouted angrily. There was something very familiar about his voice, and Avril stepped closer, overcome by curiosity.

"It's over, just drop your wand," the woman commanded, panting slightly.

The masked man smiled. "You're the ones who should give up, Aurors! You're no match for the all powerful Lord Voldemort!"

"I'd wager on that," the blonde man replied angrily, stepping forward. "You don't stand a chance! Give up now and perhaps we can get you less than death-perhaps a lifetime in Azkaban at the very least!"

Avril grinned. The Aurors, who were very familiar though not totally recognizable, were winning. They'd catch this deranged lunatic, put him into a wizard prison. They were so confident, in fact, that there was time for a little dry humor. It reminded Avril of her father, who had been very brave and secure when it came to capturing death eaters.

The woman in the red robes stepped forward too. "That's enough Lastrange! Give up your wand and don't even think about disapparating. Drop your wand or-NOW!"

Avril watched in surprise as the two wizards raised their wands threateningly. "Expellia-" the blonde wizard cried, but before the spell could be cast, there was a sudden wind. Avril shivered and whirled around. Four men in black robes and masks similar to Lastrange's had apparated. Their wands were directed at the Aurors and the witch and wizard froze. Another cold wind froze the air around them and another dark figure appeared, but didn't converge. Avril didn't need to see it to know whether or not it was help. The witch in the red robes gave a gasp and grabbed her fellow wizard's arm. "Oh my God," she whispered.

There was a sudden high laughter and Avril felt her blood run cold. Somehow, though she'd never been to this place, never seen these masked men, she knew what would happen next. And she had to help the Aurors. Had to warn them. But before Avril could even yell "lookout!" there was a flash of green light, a scream of pain and then silence. Then figure and masked men (including Lastrange) disapparated, all laughing evilly. Avril was left with the two Aurors. They were lying on their backs, stiff as boards, their eyes wide and staring with a look of terror on their faces. Slowly, Avril approached the two. As she neared, an awful realization dawned upon her. She knew who the Aurors were.

Suddenly, the high, cold laughter was back. The painful screaming started up again and Avril found herself lost in a whirl of color, unable to see or think straight, and only aware of the perpetual screaming, merged with the cruel laughter of an unknown killer.

Avril woke up screaming. There was a pain behind her eyes, just below her temple, that made her teeth chatter. In one second, Avril bolted from the bed of horrors. Half asleep, fully terrified, she threw the door to her room open, intending to run as far away as she could, and found herself face to face with Severus Snape.

"What on earth-" said Snape angrily. He was still in his black wizard's robes, and hadn't yet retired to his own bed. "What happened? What are you screaming about?"

Glaring angrily at Avril, he noticed her eyes were such a blue that one might think she were blind.

Avril opened her mouth, and closed it again. "I-I-" her eyes filling with tears of frustration, Avril hung her head. Why couldn't she say? Why?

Snape studied her more closely. He wasn't a complete and utter stone, despite popular belief, and realized she was in considerable distress.

"Sit," he ordered. Avril sank into the nearest chair, and rested her elbow on the table.

Snape opened a number of cabinets, pulled out a variety of different bottles and began pouring them into a small cauldron. He worked in silence, and Avril watched him as he brewed quickly, then ladled a cupful into a mug.

"Now," he said, handing her the mug and controlling the level of coldness in his voice, "what has happened?"

Avril accepted the cup, and swirled it around halfheartedly. "I had a nightmare," she mumbled, afraid of the retaliation. Somehow, Severus Snape didn't seem the type of person to sympathize over a nightmare.

"So I surmised," he replied dryly. Slowly, the potions master began to put the bottles and jars away.

"I saw them die," Avril whispered, her hands shaking slightly.

Snape froze. "What did you say?"

"M-mom and Dad. I saw them die. He killed them," Avril was definitely trembling now, and put her cup down on the table, lest she loose control and drop it.

Snape's body grew rigid. "Who? Who killed them?" His throat was constricted.

"I-I don't know. He was in the shadows."

Avril told her uncle in a low, shaky voice about the nightmare, while Snape watched and listened, growing paler and paler.

When she finished, Avril was drained and tired. She wanted to sleep, but was frightened as to what was waiting for her when she did. She picked up her mug and began to swirl again. "You know," she sighed, gazing sadly into the mug of steaming orange liquid, "you don't realize how lucky you are until the things that made your life bearable are gone forever. Then you see that they are what made you a good person-they made you happy- and you would give anything to have them back... keep them safe." Avril drained her potion, trusting that it would bring sleep, and rose from her chair.

"Thanks," she sighed. Snape, who had sat down beside her and had said nothing for the entire time, glanced up immediately. "For what?"

Avril shrugged. "Everything from the potion to the school supplies. But most of all, for... having me here. It's just that everything's happened so fast and..." She bit her lip, made a movement towards Snape, but stopped. "I'd hug you," she said with a bitter smile, "but I think I've scared you enough already. 'Night," Avril turned, walked slowly into her room and closed the door, leaving Snape very confused, but with a new impression of his 'burden'. He too rose a few moments later, and began to prepare for bed. Strange, he thought as he climbed into his bed, feeling very much awake, her eyes are so blue... I've never seen such eyes. Snape suddenly shot straight up in bed. Blue? He was ready to bet a thousand galleons that Avril's eyes had been gray a few hours ago. He was sure! "Blue," he muttered, his mind now positively whirling, "blue?"

5

Blew Her Cover

By morning, Avril's eyes had resumed their stone-gray color and Snape decided (with some reluctance) that he had imagined the blue.

For the rest of the week, the professors began to see some of the much anticipated mood changes occurring in Snape. He was just as dry and bitter as ever, but acted somewhat differently towards Avril. Rather than avoid speaking and all in all acknowledging her, Snape listened to Avril with an attentiveness that took everyone by surprise. His eyes softened considerably when they were on Avril, and whenever she were to say something, the corner of his mouth twitched as if he were fighting hard not to smile. The night of the dream, Snape hadn't slept. His mind had been filled with thoughts and theories, memories and regrets. What Avril had said had made him think, and though Snape was determined to retain his cold, callous reputation, he found that it was difficult to do so with Avril. She possessed a sort of gift of charm where he was concerned, and had somehow managed to infiltrate and hold a place in Snape's heart; a place where very few people were admitted. This proved a good thing, for within a few days, Avril began to feel a little more at ease at Hogwarts. She did not, however, attach herself to Snape's hip, per say. She took to exploring the castle, visiting the library, and walking round the grounds, deciding that she wanted to have a good scope of what the castle looked like for when the students arrived. Her uncle Severus tended to disappear for most the day anyway.

Saturday afternoon, Avril went down to visit Hagrid in his hut. When she reached the shack at the edge of the Dark Forest, which she had been told never to go, Hagrid was peeling some potatoes outside. His boar hound Fang was gnawing on a stick at his feet. "Mornin' Avril. Wha' brings yeh down 'ere?"

Avril smiled in a sad sort of way but shrugged. "Oh, I just thought I'd come visit you. You're hardly ever up at the castle." Hagrid grinned under his obstreperous beard. "Yeah? Well, yeh won't notice once the o'er students arrive. Yeh'll have so many friends, th' on'y time yeh'll see me is when yeh come down fer classes."

Avril bent down to ruffle up Fang's ears. She didn't want to object to the statement that she'd have friends, as that was probably what Hagrid would expect her to say. But secretly, as a teenager, she instinctively had her doubts. Her mind was full of 'what if's', each more ridiculous than the next. What if the other students thought she spoke funny? What if they were snobby-like in the movies? What if they had a problem with North Americans? What if they wouldn't let her play Quidditch (she'd seen the pitch, and Madam Hooch had engaged her in a chat about the house teams during tea one evening)? What if they turned the teachers against her too? What if?

"I promise I won't forget about you Hagrid," she assured, stooping to pick up the stick and hurling it into the forest. Fang ran after it, barking.

"Sure, sure," Hagrid replied, grinning even wider. "Hey, I'm goin' inter the forest ter do some huntin. Fancy comin along?"

Avril raised an eyebrow. "What are you hunting for?"

Hagrid put his potato bowl away inside and returned with a net and crossbow. "Knarls. Fer me thir' year class. Yeh comin?"

"I don't know... Is it all right? If I go with you? Uncle Severus told me not to go in there. Students aren't allowed," Avril said.

"S'alright if yeh come with me. I'm a teacher, remember?"

Avril grinned. "Yeah, alright!" she whistled for Fang, who came bounding toward them, drool flying from the corner of his mouth. "Uh, Hagrid? If you're hunting for Knarls, why do you need a crossbow? Aren't they the size of like, hedgehogs?"

"Avril, 'ere's more 'an Knarls in that forest," Hagrid replied flatly. Avril nodded understandingly and followed the games keeper into the Dark Forest.

****

"So, I take it you come here often?" Avril asked around three hours later, pulling a net full of Knarls, who were struggling and squeaking valiantly. Hagrid had just successfully led them round the forest twice, bagging Knarls left and right, then out again, towards his hut.

"Most er'y day!" Hagrid answered proudly. He had to admit he'd flaunted a little; taking a couple more Knarls than he'd need-he hadn't been able to resist showing Avril all the secret holes he knew.

"That's cool Hagrid."

Avril had had a pretty good afternoon. The walk had taken her mind off a lot of things she preferred not to think about-like her dream for instance. She'd also learned things about Knarls she hadn't learned in third year.

She and Hagrid spent the next quarter of an hour putting the Knarls into crates for later and by the time they had finished, it was time for tea. "Yeh can stay here if yeh want. I'll send an owl," Hagrid offered. Avril took off the extra large dragon-hide gloves Hagrid had lent her and handed them to him. "Sure!" Hagrid showed her in, and indicated for her to sit down while he scribbled on a scrap piece of parchment. After sending the owl, Hagrid made tea and opened a tin of biscuits. "So-all ready for school on Monday?"

****

Snape entered the library. Madam Pince, who was busy re-shelving books, looked up. "Can I help you Professor?"

Snape nodded and approached her. "Have you, by any chance, seen Miss Ardree at all today?"

Madam Pince shook her head. "Only once in the morning. She came in here, took out a few books and left. Haven't seen her at all since then."

Snape nodded his thanks and left the library quickly. He had been everywhere. The Great Hall, every corridor she had been to, the Charms classroom, and even his own Potions room. Where was she?

He decided to check the Great Hall once more, seeing as it was around tea time, and found a large gray owl waiting for him. The note attached to it's leg read, in hardly eligible scrawl: Avril's eating at my hut this evening. No worries- Hagrid.

Feeling irritated and rather stupid for worrying, Snape didn't bother to write back. Instead he crumpled up the parchment and sat down. Soon after, more and more teachers joined him and he was met with the same question each time: "Where's Avril, Severus? Isn't she feeling well?" Before long Snape was pretending not to hear them, having had explained the note to his colleagues fifteen or so more times.

"If I may have your attention, please," said Dumbledore, tapping a tiny spoon on his golden goblet. Everyone looked up.

"Tomorrow the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher will be arriving for the new term. She is not of this origin and I trust you will make her feel comfortable.

"Honestly Albus, we're not children!" Minerva McGonagall said indignantly.

"Of course not Minerva," but Dumbledore wasn't looking at her. He was gazing pointedly at Snape, who pretended not to hear.

With a twinkle in his eye, Dumbledore leaned forward as to speak more clearly down the table. "Where is Avril, Severus? Isn't she well?"

"She's dining with Hagrid tonight Professor. I'm sorry you've missed her," Snape returned dully.

****

Avril returned to the castle about an hour and a half later, hoping and praying that dinner would still be about. She'd been served what Hagrid called pea soup, but rather lost her appetite when her spoon revealed not a pea, or piece of ham, but what looked suspiciously like a slippery little newt's eye.

She peeked round the corner, into the Hall, and saw with a sinking heart that the tables were bare, and so were the chairs at the high table.

Avril backed out into the Entrance Hall and turned down a stone stairway leading to the dungeons corridor. She walked down the freezing cold corridor and opened the third last door on the left. Empty (like her stomach-boy, had she learned her lesson!).

Sighing heavily, Avril went into her room and dug out a book she'd checked out from the library. Though it looked halfway interesting, it was far too large to be for sit-back-and-enjoy reading. It was more likely to be used for reference. Avril had taken it out with the idea of finding perhaps an outline of the castle inside, or some useful info that might make her feel a little more at home.

Settling into one of the dusty and unused armchairs in front of the equally dusty fireplace, Avril opened Hogwarts, A History.

It was a bore. Well, not necessarily. There were some interesting things, but basically nothing Avril was in the mood for. Shivering, she settled her gaze on the fireplace. Grabbing her wand, which she had taken to keeping conveniently inside her robes-yes, she had met Peeves- she muttered a few words, and the fireplace ignited. That was better. Avril opened the book again and attempted to read about the many ways the castle used to protect itself.

About a half-hour later, the door opened. Avril had long abandoned Hogwarts, A History and was now sprawled out on the rug, playing Exploding Snap Solitaire. "Hi!" she said brightly when she saw Snape enter his dormitory, his arms loaded with books.

"Evening," he replied, trying to keep his coldness to a minimum. God, this had been a long day. There were certain things expected of him, and Snape knew that Dumbledore depended on him as much as on Hagrid to do his part in the plans, but it was difficult to concentrate when school was due to begin Monday and there was a teenager living in his dormitory.

"Need help?" Avril offered, jumping up and hurrying over. Snape moved away. "No, thank-you," he answered icily.

Avril's smile faltered. "So... how was your day?"

Goddamn awful, thanks!

"Fine."

"Mine was too-thanks for asking!" said Avril, sarcastically, grinning. "OK. You don't want to talk-we won't talk."

She longed to play chess or gobstones with someone, but knew better then to ask. Snape set the books on his desk and opened one labeled lessons. He set up a bottle of ink and a quill.

Avril watched intently. Suddenly she recognized the quill. Her mother had had one. She had used for writing owls. It was long, and very black, with strange, gold-like wisps running through it.

"Hey! My mom-oh!" She had reached for the quill, but in her excitement, knocked the ink bottle over. The thick, dark liquid began to spread, all over Snape's notes and lesson plans.

Snape stood quickly, knocking his chair over. He reached for his wand, to stop the ink before it ruined the rest of his carefully planned notes and lessons, but stopped. The ink had begun to seep back into its bottle, leaving no trace of the spill-only the lessons. Once it had refilled the bottle and the cap was on securely, the bottle, now as it had been before, tipped up to rest in its previous position. Snape turned to stare at Avril, who looked horrified. Her eyes were flashing wildly-violet, gray, blue, green, violet, gray, blue, green.

Suddenly, the snap cards on the floor exploded with a BANG. Her hand flew to her temple, and Avril glanced up at Snape. Her eyes now a vibrant blue.

"It must be that... ink that... does stuff... when you spill it... unspillable ink...I'm going to bed now. Night." Without pausing to scoop up her snap cards, Avril dashed into her room and shut the door.

Snape stared after her. What had just happened? Snape picked up his chair and sat down, trying to collect his thoughts. Indeed, he would have to see Dumbledore in the morning. Unless... unless the ink was non-spillable? Perhaps. Yes. That's it. Unspillable. There was no cause for alarm. Not unless he could be sure...

Avril climbed into her pajamas and crawled into bed. Drawing her knees to her chest, she struggled to swallow the enormous lump in her throat. What had just happened? How could she have been so careless? Pulling the blankets up and around her, Avril tried to collect her thoughts. A large quantity of 'what-if's', all too familiar, all too recognizable, formed in her throbbing head. What if Hogwarts didn't tolerate this kind of peculiarity? What if, in Britain, where they didn't know her well enough to consider it normal, things like this were considered freakish? The students came tomorrow, what if she slipped again-in front of them? What if? What if?

After what seemed like hours of worrying and thinking, Avril felt her eyelids begin to droop. Laying back, she succumbed to the luxury of sleep-something that hadn't come all too easily lately.