Iuga Sortis (Bound By Destiny)

Sixteen

Severus looked at the students during dinner from his position at the Head Table. He was under much stress--between Harry's Occlumency lessons, Death Eater meetings, classes, and Nia's unwillingness to speak to him, he barely had enough energy to chew. He sighed, running his palm over his face.

"Are you well, Professor?" Dumbledore asked, concern in his voice.

"That's a fine question," he replied sarcastically. "How would you feel if the child you raised refused to speak to you for a month?"

"Helpless, dejected, and rejected?" Dumbledore suggested with a wry smile.

Severus closed his eyes and could not help but let out a slight chuckle. "I guess you do know, then?"

"I raised my daughter by myself, Severus. She ran off with someone I did not approve of, and she refused to speak for me for months. Of course I know how you feel."

"Forgive me, Headmaster."

Dumbledore put a kindly hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "She needs space. After receiving that letter, Nia is going through a whole gamut of emotions she probably needs to sort out by herself."

"I wish I could help her; I wish I could explain . . ." Severus trailed off, his fork hovering over his plate.

"I know. There is a reason Malika is doing it like this. The less Nia knows, the safer she is."

"But we don't even know who Set 'is' now. He could be anyone! How do we know it's not Voldemort himself?" Severus whispered, noticing Umbridge looking pointedly in their direction.

"We definitely cannot talk about this now," Dumbledore said, following Severus's gaze. "But I suggest you request an audience with Mr. Malfoy and Miss Johnson. Maybe they can help you reach out to Nia."

Severus nodded in compliance. "That is a good idea, Headmaster. I will do so immediately."

He stood from the table, leaving his half-eaten dinner on his plate. As he walked to the Gryffindor table, the Hall became quiet.

Nosy students!

"Miss Johnson, a word, if you please?"

"What did I do?" she asked with a frown. He noticed her surrounding housemates tense at his presence, one of the Weasley twins putting a protective arm around her shoulders.

Dear goodness, I'm not going to eat the girl!

"You did nothing wrong. But I must speak with you . . ." he trailed off, not knowing how to put this delicately. He finally settled on bluntness. "This is about your sister." There were gasps all around them; the Weasley boy glared at the other students.

Johnson looked concern. "Is she all right?"

"This is not the place to discuss it," he said frankly. "After dinner, meet me in the dungeons. Pass this message on to Mr. Malfoy as well."

He left the table and began to walk out, not before sparing a glance at Nia. When he caught her eye, she immediately turned her attention to her plate. His heart broke; there was the time when she would smile at him when their eyes met.

Oh Malika! Surely there was another way to do this!

"You have a sister!" Alicia hissed, once Snape left.

Angelina rolled her eyes, wishing Professor Snape never showed up at the table.

"Let her alone, Alicia." Fred bent close to Angelina's ear. "Are you all right?"

"Peachy."

"I cannot believe you didn't tell us you had a sister!" Alicia said, hurt.

"I can't very well tell you what I don't know," Angelina snapped.

"How could you not know you have a sister? Is she older?" George asked.

"Parents lie," she said simply, stabbing her fork in her pork chop.

"Your parents don't lie; they're perfect," Lee quipped.

"I said drop it!" Fred seethed, looking pointedly at them.

"You're not the least bit surprised?" Katie asked, then her eyes widened.

"You told Fred?" Alicia gasped. "Fred knows, and he didn't say anything?" She turned to Katie and bent to her ear. "Boy, he's whipped."

"Don't think I didn't hear that, Spinnet; I'm not deaf!"

"Don't attack her! I thought we tell each other everything," George said.

"This had nothing to do with me! This is Angelina and her life, and if she wanted to tell you guys sooner, she would've!" Fred all but shouted.

"And what does Malfoy have to do with any of--ooh!" Lee said, putting two and two together. "Oh dear Merlin. She's your sister?"

Angelina stared at her plate, but her voice belied her seriousness. "I swear to God, Lee, you say one thing outside her name, and I will hex you into the middle of next week."

Katie frowned in confusion. "I thought she was your cousin?"

"She's both."

Four pairs of eyes went wide.

"Damn, that's heavy stuff. How did you find out?" George asked, actually concerned.

"I don't want to talk about it," Angelina mumbled.

"Just like a Slytherin--pretending to be one thing when they're really another. No wonder their house mascot is a snake," Lee sneered.

Angelina's hand shot across the table, goblets knocked over as her hand grabbed the collar of Lee's robes.

"Angelina!" Katie screamed, trying to remove the other Chaser's hands from him.

"Don't. Talk. About. Her. Like. That!" she seethed through clenched teeth. "You have no idea what it's been like for her! She didn't know any sooner than I did! Her entire life has been a lie, and all you can do is sit there and think about her House affiliation!"

"Angel, love, you're creating a scene," Fred whispered, trying to pull her back down. She looked around and noticed everyone was staring at her.

"I'm not hungry anymore," she announced. She let go of Lee's robes slowly and left the Gryffindor table, making her way to the Slytherin one. She tried to lock eyes with Nia, but hers were downcast. Angelina closed her eyes briefly, before turning her attention to Malfoy.

"Snape wants to speak with us," she said flatly. She watched Malfoy's eyes flit from her to Nia.

"Are you going to be all right?" he asked the younger girl.

Nia nodded her head.

"Let's go," he said, standing from his place and walking before her out the Hall. Angelina was well aware of the stares they were receiving, but she did not care. They walked in silence for a few moments.

"What happened between you and Nia over the holiday?" he asked point blank.

"Don't waste any time, do you?"

"Look, my friend is moping around and not talking to anyone, and I know she spent the holiday with you. What happened?" he asked again. She stopped walking. "What?"

"You really care about her, don't you?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "They never said Gryffindors had to be bright."

"I'm glad you're her friend, Draco."

He stopped walking and turned back to face her.

"I never thought I'd hear you say anything remotely nice to me," he said honestly.

Angelina grinned and started to walk again. Draco waited until she caught up with him and fell into step with her. "Never thought I'd hear me say anything nice to you, either, but never say never, hmm?"

Draco frowned. "I don't like her so quiet. We're usually in a battle of wits, or she's teaching me about Muggle America. Now she just walks around like a zombie, and I hate it."

"She received some heavy news, and she's dealing with it this way," Angelina said cryptically.

"You think this is why Snape wants to see us?"

Angelina nodded.

"How heavy could this news be?" he asked, as they walked into Snape's office. They found Severus flipping through some sort of book; as they walked closer, they realized it was a photo album. They approached the desk, and saw the pictures upside down.

"Who is she?" Draco asked, watching the woman who looked eerily like Nia.

"That's Cousin Malika, Nia's mum," Angelina said softly, moving around the desk to look at the photos upright. "How is it you have these pictures, Professor?"

Malika was smiling and waving happily at the camera. As Snape flipped through the book, Angelina realized some of the pictures showed both Malika and Snape with their arms around each other--in some, they were even kissing.

"We were married," Severus said quietly, looking at Angelina as she ran her fingers over the photos.

Angelina's mouth dropped open in surprise. "Has Nia seen these?" She scanned the pages in wonder.

"Not yet. I don't know if she'd want to see them now."

"I didn't know you and Cousin Malika were married," Angelina murmured. "I never saw you when we visited."

"You always came when I had to be back at Hogwarts," Severus explained.

"Why couldn't Nia take your last name, then? You were married to her mother, and you're her father, aren't you?" Draco asked.

Angelina looked at Snape, before turning to Draco. "She's my sister."

"I don't understand . . ."

"I am not her biological father, Mr. Malfoy," Snape said lowly.

Draco felt he'd been slapped. "Oh shit!"

"Language, Mr. Malfoy."

"That's why she's so sad! How could her mother do such a thing!?" Draco said angrily.

"Do not speak of my late wife that way, Mr. Malfoy."

"She cheated on you, tried to pass off the kid as yours, and you're defending her?" Draco asked, incredulous. "I'd be cheesed off!"

"I knew from the beginning Nia wasn't my biological daughter, but I've adopted her, and I've raised her as my child. She is mine--lack of blood relation is of no consequence," Snape said silkily.

"I understand, Professor."

"Now, what I would like you to do is try to talk to her, reach out to her. She shouldn't be moping around like she is; I know her mother wouldn't want her to do that."

"Professor, why did Malika do this? Why did all of you keep the secret for so long?" Angelina asked, an expression of hurt on her face.

Snape took her hand and patted it gently. "We had to do it to keep her safe--both of them."

"Keep her safe from what?" Malfoy asked, panic in his voice.

"Forces you couldn't even begin to understand."

"You mean . . .You-Know-Who?" Angelina gasped.

"She'd be lucky if she had Potter's problem, but hers is far worse. He knows she exists now; I think he always did, but he had to wait," Snape murmured, seemingly to himself.

"He who?" Angelina asked.

"Wait for what?" Malfoy asked at the same time.

"I must go. The Headmaster should know of this." Snape stood and left quickly.

Angelina glanced at Malfoy, fear on her face, and sank into the chair Snape just vacated. She looked in the photo album again where one photo caught her eye. It was a photo of the Order. Malika was in it, standing next to her parents and Snape.

"They were in the Order," Angelina murmured.

"What did you say?" Malfoy asked.

"Nothing, nothing," she stuttered, closing the album hurriedly.

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "You Gryffindors can be so absent-minded at times."

Angelina sighed, placing her elbow on the table and resting her forehead in her hand. "This is a bigger problem that mixed paternity."

"You think? Snape said Nia needed to be kept safe!"

"But he wouldn't tell us from what . . ."

"Do you think that's the reason Nia won't speak to us? She doesn't want to endanger us with her problems?"

Angelina shrugged. "It's a possibility, but then why wouldn't she talk to Snape about it?"

"Well, how do you address someone you thought was your father for twelve years, then find out he really isn't?" Malfoy asked sardonically.

Angelina nodded in understanding. "Okay, this is what we should do. You work on Nia and find out anything at all--I think she'd be more inclined to talk to you now anyway. I'll ask my parents if they can tell me anything else."

"You actually trust a Slytherin?" he asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"I know you care about her, and she cares about you. You'll do anything to help her," she said surely.

"She's like a sister to me."

"And she is a sister to me. I'll do anything I can to keep her safe, even if it makes her not speak to me for the rest of my life."