The Ties That Bind

The Ties That Bind

Part 1, The First Rise

By Laura ([email protected])

Chapter 5: Mighty Blood

Neutral:

Jim Jones (mc): A First Year student.

Brice Longbottom (mc): A First Year student. He is Frank Longbottom's younger brother.

Sarah Black (mc): A First Year student. She is Sirius Black's younger sister.

John Cliken (mc): The Head of the Unspeakables for the Ministry of Magic.

Good:

Stephen Medley (mc): The current professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. A former Auror, he is good friends with Marcus Potter. He attended school a few years after Marcus (Stephen was a Gryffindor as well). Stephen does occasional work for the Aurors, but his main job is teaching. He is highly suspicious of the unusually talented Jessica Ziners.

Gary Rum (mc): The current professor of Potions at Hogwarts and head of Slytherin House. His first year teaching was the first year of Jeffery Ziners, Madeline Ziners, and Tom Riddle. He doesn't appear to like anyone but still tends to be partial to his own house. He seems to know the secret of Jessica's unusual power, but the question is how he knows.

Molly Weasley: In my story, she is Jessica Ziners' Godmother. For those wondering, there is a story there that will be told eventually, just not today.

Bad:

Bellatrix Black: Narcissa's older sister. She is a Sixth Year Slytherin.

Have fun.........

"Far away," Jessica continued, "the eldest kids of Godric, Helga, Rowena, and Salazar, which happened to be all girls, were casting a spell of their own. Although, Celerina Slytherin did not necessarily agree with the handling of the situation with her dad, she did agree that the founders needed protection from each other. They were the four most powerful wizards in the world at the time. Celerina didn't want to think of a world where there was only one to keep the power. There needed to be a balance.

"The kids had no idea what Godric, Helga, and Rowena were doing. The parents had no idea what their kids were doing.

"Now, my uncle suspects it was the connection of the founders with each other, and with their kids, that made the magic flow as strongly as it did that night, bridging the gap between the two locations. What exactly went on, we can't be entirely certain, just to know that outside factor, the friend that had stepped in as the fourth element to protect the school, the something that made her the odd link in the chain, was key to that spell the kids cast.

"The only other things we know are the results."

"What were they?"

"A place of refuge needs a cloak to hold the horrors out, but it needs keys to control. One alone will defeat the purpose but four will cause three deaths. So impartial judge we have and we shall call her blood mighty for power now soars through her veins. She will be loyal beyond measure and intelligent will be her mind. Brave shall be her heart, but determination to do her duty will be her forte...and her curse," Casey recited. "Our great-great-great-a lot more greats I'm sure-grandfather wrote that soon after it happened," he explained.
"To put it in laymen's terms," Jessica said with a fond smile at her brother, "the Mighty Blood and the Protection Cloak for Hogwarts resulted. The Protection Cloak wasn't fully activated that first night. With the will of its casters, there is a cloak like spell cast over Hogwarts. It keeps one of the founders from entering the school unless they are specifically invited in."

"Successfully making Hogwarts a place of refuge from one of the heirs of Hogwarts if they were trying to become extremely powerful by deadly means," Severus responded.

"Exactly," Jessica nodded. "A place of refuge for the good and not a base of operations for the bad.

"But it has to be activated. To activate it, you need three of the heirs and a Mighty Blood. Whichever heir is missing is the one not allowed in.

"A Mighty Blood," Jessica continued, "is the protector of the heirs. It's always the eldest of the family. Ever since that fifth link, for some reason, in our family females have always been the eldest children. Don't know why, but Uncle Danny suspects it has something to do with the fact that the kids who cast the spell for a protector were all the eldest and all females."

"What makes a Mighty Blood different?" Severus asked.

Jessica smiled at him. She rather liked this inspective look on his face. It was cute to see him all ready to study and dissect this new information.

"A Mighty Blood is different in a number of ways. First is probably the most immediately obvious factor."

"Your eyes," Severus said, smiling at her. Jessica felt her heart give an odd flutter. She looked away embarrassed.

"Yeah," she nodded. "The eyes have no special power except that they really change colors with my mood. Another way we are different is our magic. While Casey and Uncle Danny don't have changing eyes, they do have a little of the different ability in their magic skill, though not as strong as the heir of the Mighty Blood line, the eldest of the family."

"What kind of things can you do differently?" Severus asked, seemingly quieter than before.

"There are some different things. One is, for example, no wand." Jessica held up her hand and said, "Accio Casey's pocket watch." The gold item flew out of his pocket but stopped halfway there as it was still attached to a belt loop. Casey growled at her and mumbled something she was sure she probably didn't want to understand as he stuffed the watch back in his pants pocket. Jessica chuckled at him before continuing. "The hand spells only can be mild or lighter spells. For example, I couldn't call something from the house right now." Jessica gestured behind her towards the big mansion. "Another thing a Mighty Blood can do is have a sort of silent communication with blood relatives that come from the Mighty Blood line. With brothers and sisters, it is clear and distinct. For example, I can silently speak to Casey in sentences, and he can understand every word I say perfect. And he can do the same to me."

Severus glanced between the two. "That explains a lot of what I've seen tonight."

"You noticed it?" Casey asked curiously.

Severus nodded. "The first time I noticed was when she was doing the Cruciatus to Lucius, then during supper, then when I walked up to you inside after supper, and lastly, just a few minutes ago when we were talking about...about whether or not I wanted to join Lord Voldemort.

"What else can a Mighty Blood do?" Severus looked back at Jessica.

"Well, when we do have wands or are acting as a normal witch or wizard would, our spells tend to react more strongly."

"Like your broom," Severus said.

She nodded. "Now all this doesn't make us more powerful but stronger. That's what Uncle Danny said, but I'm not too sure what he meant."

"What makes you guys any safer than Salazar Slytherin was?"

"Training I think," Jessica said on a shrug. "Something about self-control being the key to strength, Uncle Danny says."

"Do Mighty Bloods do anything else?"

Jessica nodded. "Of course. They protect the heirs. We have a sworn duty to protect them from each other. This duty comes with its privileges too. They can't kill us."

Severus looked at her quizzically. "What if they use the Killing Curse?"

Jessica shook her head. "Nothing happens. Now this doesn't mean they can't hurt us, but they can't kill us. Unfortunately, we can't kill them either."

Severus smirked. "If you are suppose to protect them then that is a good thing."

"Not necessarily, Severus."

Three gazes shot up and looked into the eyes of Tom Riddle.

But his gaze was only for one.

Jessica swallowed.

* * *

Stephen Medley needed some moonstone powder for a relaxing potion he was going to make for himself as he had not been able to fall asleep lately. And there was only one place close by to get that, Stephen thought on a sigh, and though the last thing he wanted to do today was go see that old croney many floors below, he really needed his sleep.

Stephen was almost to the Entrance Hall when he saw John Cliken, the Head of the Unspeakables at the Ministry of Magic, walking away from the dungeon doors as if he had just come from there. John was wearing a smile on his face and seemed to be chuckling as he shook his head.

"Mr. Cliken?" Stephen asked tentatively as he finished his way down the staircase. The Unspeakable turned around. John was a short, thin man with thinning black hair and had about 12 or 13 years on Stephen's age.

"Yes?" John asked curiously. He was still smiling.

Stephen walked up to him and held out a hand, which the man shook. "Stephen Medley. I use to work for the Ministry; now I teach here at Hogwarts. Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Oh, yes. Marcus Potter's mentioned you a few times. What can I do for you?"

"Sorry for being straight forward, but what are you doing about Hogwarts?"

John laughed. "That's alright. Every few years, I come ask Professor Rum to work for us at the Ministry. We like to have the dangerously smart to work as Unspeakables, you know? We like to have them working on our side, where we can keep an eye on them, you know?" John chuckled. "But, every year, Gary turns me down flat." John glanced up the stairway Stephen had just descended. Stephen glanced up there but saw no one. When he looked back to John, the man was smiling. "But as long as he's working for Albus Dumbledore, he's our man, right?"

John didn't wait for a response before giving another chuckle and going back towards the door. He nodded back at Stephen, "Bye, Professor," before leaving.

Stephen nodded aimlessly at the door before turning to go into the dungeons. He heard a grunt and groan come from the Potions classroom. Glancing in the classroom, Stephen found Gary working on a potion. This made Stephen give a small smile. It wasn't until he became a teacher that he noticed how much of Gary's time was devoted to making one potion after another. He did them for his own stores, he did them for Aurors around the globe, he did them for private parties, and Stephen was pretty sure he even did them for a number of Unspeakable agencies around the globe. Stephen stood a minute in the shadow of the partially open door to observe the man.

Stephen very well knew of Gary's career. He had been a Potions teacher at Hogwarts on the side when he first started in this profession. His main job, which had been his only job for a number of years prior, had been an Auror. He was known for being a loner and lurker. Lurkers, Stephen knew from personal experience, were a valuable resource to any government Aurors around the globe. They fit right in with the low life crowd that dark magic had a tendency to be practiced in. Even if their fame as an Auror had preceded them, they could still blend in with the very crowd that watched for the danger and knew his face brought that danger. He could blend in and never be seen. Gary knew the dark side, and sometimes Stephen wondered if he knew it intimately. But the man never talked about anything that had happened in his top Auror days.

It was only three or four years after Gary started teaching at Hogwarts that Dumbledore had joined the staff as the Transfiguration teacher. That had been Grindelwald's high days and both Gary and Albus had been asked by the Ministry to continue their Auror status during that time. It was 2 months before Albus Dumbledore had brought Grindelwald down that Gary had been nearly killed by the dark wizard. He survived the tortuous attack but not completely unscathed. The injury, Stephen had only learned during his training days and only by Marcus Potter (and only God knew how he got the information) that the injury was an uncontrollable shake when Gary least expected it. He apparently took a very heavy potion for it, but the Ministry asked him to retire afterwards when he was doing a very light spell and it became very misguided and ended up hurting another Auror.

"Are you going to lurk forever in the shadows, Stephen?" Gary suddenly asked, his back to the door.

Stephen ignored the question and walked forward. "I was wondering if you had moonstone, preferably crushed, and if I could have it."

Gary nodded. "Yes, I do. Why do you need it?"

"I'm going to make a relaxing potion. I've been having trouble sleeping lately," Stephen said the last part quietly.

Gary looked over his shoulder at Stephen, and Stephen saw something in his eyes that took him aback. Concern. But it was gone as quick as it came.

"I have some Sleeping Draught," he offered as he turned back to his cauldron.

"No. I want to be alert if I'm needed. I just want something to relax. Thank you anyway."

Gary nodded before turning the heat on his cauldron down and turning towards Stephen. "I have some crushed moonstone in my private stores," he informed as he moved past Stephen and out the door. Stephen followed him.

"I ran into John Cliken on the way down here," Stephen said conversationally as he followed Gary through his office. Gary didn't respond. "He said he offered you a job with the Unspeakables," Stephen added.

"And I said no...yet again," the last part was said so quietly Stephen had to strain to hear.

"Yeah, he said that too."

When Stephen didn't continue, Gary glanced away from the shelf to him. "Did you have anything else you felt the need to say to me?"
That tone would have made Stephen mad or scared during his school years or his first year teaching, but Stephen realized he was starting to get use to it. "Why didn't you take the job? You always complain about being a teacher."

Gary turned back to the shelf only to immediately reach out to grab a small bottle half filled with a blue powder. As he handed it to Stephen, he said, "I didn't take the job because I'm still needed here."

With that, he walked back into his offices. When Stephen didn't follow, Gary turned and looked at him through the doorway. "Are you coming?"

Stephen nodded and followed him out.

* * *

"You must really like Severus to be explaining to him about your power." His eyes bore into Jessica. She forced herself to stare back and not be afraid. She was only able to strongly control the former.

When she didn't respond, Tom chuckled. "I have to keep this in mind. Sneaking up on you renders you speechless."

"I'm not speechless," she said, finding her courage finally. "I just chose not to speak." She motioned for Casey and Severus to follow her back up to the house. Tom followed them. It made Jessica nervous that he chose to follow rather than lead. She didn't like the fact that she couldn't see him. He was more dangerous that way.

"Always the last word," he said quietly.

"Me?" She glanced back at him with a raise of her eyebrows. "The last word? You should check yourself in that area, Riddle."

He smiled at her but said nothing. That bothered her, and she knew that he knew that it did.

She turned her face forward and finished her walk to the house. It wasn't until they entered the house and were back with the other kids that Tom finally left them. He walked back into the room with the adults. They were all sitting and talking about the upcoming plans for the Death Eaters.

"Master," Alodie Malfoy said, quickly getting to her knees and kissing the edge of his robe.

"Up," Tom said impatiently. She came up.

"Did you find the children?" Rebella Snape asked.

He nodded as he looked over to her. She was giving him a provocative look, one his body gave a little response to. She wasn't pretty by any means, but she was always an easy one. And she wasn't too bad either. Just close your eyes and imagine someone else.

"Rebella, I want you to bring your son to every one of these gatherings from now on," after a pause, Tom clarified, "Not that nitwit Salazar...the older one, Severus."

She bowed her head. "Yes, Master."

Tom turned to Jeffery. He was giving his master a very curious look. "I think I have found an answer to our problems." Tom didn't need to say more. Jeffery knew that they needed to get Jessica and Casey more compliant with their cause. Using Jeffery's wayward children against each other could and had in the past only worked to a point. They needed to attach them emotionally to someone that Tom may be able to pull into his fold, someone that would follow Tom into the darkness. He believed that Severus Snape could be that link.

* * *

"I'm so glad you guys could make it here, even if it's only for an hour," Lily said once they were up in her room. "Why were you guys in England to began with?" Lily looked Jessica straight in the eye. Her friend had been...somewhat shifty since arriving at their house.

"Dad was...visiting a friend," Jessica answered quietly.

Lily eyed her friend carefully. She seemed drained and tired.

"Is everything alright, Jessica?"

Jessica glanced away. "Yeah, it's okay. I'm just tired."

Lily sighed but decided not to push it. "Have you gotten your work done yet?" Lily plopped on her bed with a smile.

Jessica just nodded as she sat down on the bed next to Lily. "Sorry I haven't written you a lot this summer. I've been busy," Jessica said quietly.

Lily nodded, trying not to let Jessica know that she was worried. "I understand. Thank you for the birthday present by the way."

Jessica nodded. "Yeah, I got your note. I thought since you wanted to try out to be the Seeker that you might like Quidditch Through the Ages."

Lily nodded. "I'm almost done reading it."

Jessica laughed and gave her friend a playful shove in the shoulder. "With you, I should've expected."

"Argh!" Casey said as he tripped into Lily's room, still holding onto the doorknob. His grip on that was the only thing keeping him from falling flat on his face. Casey growled back out the door. "You're a brat, Petunia Evans! That's all you are!"
Casey shut the door and looked at Lily. "What is her problem, anyway? She's always tripping me when I come. Then," Casey said dramatically as he plopped on to Lily's desk chair, "she pretends like she did nothing wrong."

"She doesn't try to bother to hide it with me," Jessica said.

Lily sighed. "I don't know. She's gotten worse since I went to Hogwarts though."

There were sighs from the other two.

"Are you nervous for starting school?" Lily suddenly asked Casey.

Casey shrugged. "Not really, I guess."

"I was terrified myself," Lily said. She couldn't get Casey to even look at her that time either. He seemed as withdrawn as Jessica did.

When they lapsed into silence again, Lily remembered something. "Oh, your birthday presents!" Lily jumped up then ducked to look underneath her bed. Both Jessica's and Casey's birthdays were, ironically, on the same day: August 6. When Jessica had owled that they would come over a week after their birthdays, Lily decided to wait to give them their presents then.

"For you," Lily handed Jessica a package wrapped in brown wrapping. "And for you," Lily handed Casey another brown wrapped package.

Jessica opened her present to reveal a Broom Servicing Kit. "I thought you'd like that for your broom especially since I know you'll become Slytherin's new Seeker," Lily smiled.

"You have more confidence than I do," Jessica chuckled.

Casey ripped off the wrapping to reveal a large, leather bound book titled The Ultimate Guide to the Dark Arts.

"It's the newest version," Lily said quickly. "Knowing you, you probably have all the other versions."

Casey laughed. "I do actually. I was just going to buy the new version when we go to Diagon Alley to pick up our supplies," Casey said, grinning silly as he started paging through the text. "Now I don't have to."

Lily smiled as she sat and looked back to Jessica to see her glancing through the products of her servicing kit. Suddenly, her friend looked up and smiled at Lily. "Thanks, Lil. I needed a new one of these."

"Oh, yeah," Casey said, looking up quickly. "Thanks, Lil." He looked back at the text but asked as he did so, "Did you like the Broom Servicing Kit I got you for your birthday?"

Lily smiled. "Yeah. It actually gave me the perfect idea for Jessica's present." Jessica laughed.

"Oh, yeah, speaking of Diagon," Casey said, his eyes making the great effort to look away from the book again. "Dad said he's going to drop us off at the entrances because he's got to...he's got that one meeting with that...friend of his...you know, that one guy from a week ago?"

Jessica nodded.

"Anyway, he said that Molly wanted us to visit us again, but Dad needs us back in the States before the start of school. He agreed to let Molly have us for a night. She'll pick us up at 1 p.m. from Diagon, the Ice Cream Parlor like usual."

Casey looked back at his book intently, and, if Lily didn't know better, it seemed it was to avoid looking at her rather than reading his book. Lily had always kind of wondered about the changes she had seen in Casey. He would go from happy and light-hearted one second to nervous and scared the next. Lily looked between the brother and sister and noticed that both seemed pale and worn-out. Again, she recalled to herself those times Jessica had shown up with injuries that she had pushed off as getting hurt at the ranch. Lily use to believe that because Jessica was always something of a daredevil, but it was the fact every time she answered Lily as to what she did, Jessica would look away. Jessica always looked people in the eye when she spoke, except when she was lying.

And, again, Lily recalled the rumors she had heard about Jeffery Ziners. He was a powerful man in the magic world and though his business never seemed to be illegal, people wondered about him. And then there were the rumors that he was following this Voldemort character that was slowly appearing from the darkness, seemingly with a mission that the ministry was sure was not a good one. Jeffery Ziners, some had said, had had a weird fascination with the dark arts in school. He had been Slytherin and had always had this greed for power and money. And then James Potter had made a quiet comment under his breath that one night in the common room, one that had started a thought that had festered insistently in Lily's brain since then.

The comment had followed a particularly cruel defeat of the Gryffindors by the Slytherins. Many had spent the night in the common room ragging on the Slytherins, Quidditch and non-Quidditch players alike. Lily had been barely able to shut her mouth when the topic had turned to Jessica Ziners. She had decided to stop trying to do her homework in the Common Room and had been on her way upstairs, when she passed by James. He didn't seem to see her, and he didn't seem to think anyone had heard him when he muttered: "Maybe if your father curses you for fun, you would be a little angry with everyone else." Lily had to force herself to continue to the dorm.

Lily looked between Jessica and Casey again only to see that both were absorbed

in their presents. She looked at their weariness and recalled how down both had seemed since arriving. That's when Lily decided she could keep quiet no longer.

* * *

"Three miniscule drops..." Gary murmured as he held a vial close to his face. Steam rose instantly. He poured the vial into the cauldron.

"You can now speak, Mr. Potter," Gary said as he turned back to the teacher's desk.

The man leaning casually against the doorframe laughed. "I figured that you saw me."

Gary didn't acknowledge him.

"I was wondering if I could discuss Slytherin with you, Professor," Marcus said quietly.

"Salazar or the house I currently reside over?" Gary grabbed some dittany and started cutting it up.

"The house," Marcus said as he finally strode in the room. He took a seat two tables from the front where Gary was working. "You know pretty well what goes on in there."

"No," Gary said distractedly, "I do not."

Of all the answers Marcus had been expecting, that wasn't one of them. "You sort of blew that up on me there, Professor."

"I did not mean to, Mr. Potter. Ask your question anyhow. I may surprise you."

"How much do they know about Voldemort?"
"More than you I am sure."

"Why won't they say anything?"

"The code of the house."

This made Marcus give a confused pause before he asked, "The code of the house?"
Gary nodded. "Yes. What happens in Slytherin stays in Slytherin. You do not show anyone else your weakness if you do not talk about what happens with yourself; likewise, you do not show a weakness of the house if you do not talk about what happens within it."

"Why would this keep one from talking about Voldemort?"

"Because the code also applies to your family. You do not talk about a disagreement, though that rarely happens. Disagreeing with your parents can be a very dangerous thing.

"Anyway, if both your parents or one of them, as the case may happen to be from time to time, follow Voldemort, you do to." When Marcus remained quiet for a long time, Gary stopped what he was doing and looked at Marcus. "My answer does not satisfy you?"
"No, because it doesn't sound like a Slytherin."

Gary walked over and leaned against his desk, crossing his arms. "I am sure, Mr. Potter, that there are a great many things that would surprise you about Slytherin, but I will explain only this one. You follow your family no matter. You do as they do. You have no choice in the matter."

"Yes, you do," Marcus protested.

"No, you do not. Your parents raise you that way. The only people you generally associate with when you are younger are others like you. You learn no different until you are 11-years old and start attending school, but, by then, you know only one way, and you firmly believe what you were taught growing up. Your way is the right way." Gary looked down for a minute before uncrossing his arms and straightening. As he walked back to his potion, he said, "There is only one boy I have run across in my entire teaching career that has not been influenced by such a family creed."

"Who was that?" Marcus asked, mildly curious.

"That insolent little boy that works for you now."

"Tom?" Gary nodded. "Insolent? I thought he was suppose to have been one of the best students that ever attended Hogwarts, second only to Albus Dumbledore."

"Just my opinion. Take it or leave it. I do not care."

Marcus slowly nodded as he stood up. "Well, I guess I found what I came to look for."

Gary watched Marcus walk to the door before he said anything. "You have found the box that holds all the secrets you want to know."

"But I have no idea how to get into it."

"Precisely."

Marcus looked at the old man for a long moment before he gave him a knowing smile. Growing up, he had highly disliked this professor. He never thought it was going to ever happen, but Marcus thought he might just have understood him. "Thanks for your time, Professor."

Gary had already gone back to his potion. Marcus chuckled and left.

* * *

"Hey, Dad," James said, walking in from playing over at the Black's house.

"Hm?" Marcus asked over the memo that the Ministry had just sent out.

"Can Sirius and another friend spend the night tomorrow, and then can they come with us to Diagon the next day?"

Marcus nodded. "Sure."

"What's that?" James asked as he pulled off his muddy cloak.

"Oh, it's..." Suddenly Marcus' attention was caught by a barn owl aiming towards the open window of their house. James stepped out of the way to let the owl fly over Marcus and drop a letter into Marcus' stunned hands.

The bird perched on the statue of Godric Gryffindor by the entrance to the Sitting Room. "What's that, Dad?" James asked as Marcus opened the envelope.

"I don't know," he murmured as he unfolded the letter. It was neatly scrolled in a female's handwriting:

Mr. Potter,

Hello, Mr. Potter. My name is Lily Evans. I attend school with your son, James. I have a problem. The reason I am writing you is because I am told you have a high position at the Ministry and you know the Ziners'. I don't know who else to turn do.

I am good friends with Jessica Ziners. I know her, her brother, and her father. Lately, I have had some concerns about what may be happening to Jessica and Casey at their home. I think that their father might be hurting them. Jessica sometimes shows up with unusual injuries, but she blames them on being daring at home. I think she is lying to me. (She looks away when she lies to me, and she looks away when she tells me she got hurt at home at the ranch.) Today, her and her brother showed up at my house for a visit. Both were acting extremely depressed and were fidgeting a lot. They also looked very sick. I know that this is not a lot of evidence, but I had to say something. I could never forgive myself otherwise.

I don't know if you can do anything. Since you are an Auror and Jessica's uncle is one too, maybe you could talk to him. I don't know. Maybe you know whom I should write to.

Please, don't tell anyone that I told you. I just want to protect Jessica.

I told my owl to wait for your response.

Respectfully Yours,

Lily Evans

"What is it, Dad?" James asked, reminding Marcus that his son was still in the room.

Marcus started into the other room, beckoning the bird to follow. "Nothing, James," Marcus finally called back.

* * *

Lily was surprised when her bird returned that night. She opened the envelope quickly.

Miss Evans,

I received your note. I wanted to assure you I am looking into this matter. I hate to say it, but these matters are very tricky. Things have to be proceeded about just right in order to ensure the safety of Jessica and Casey. You may trust that I am doing everything I can in order to make sure your two friends have a safe home.

Thank you very much for your note, and please keep me informed if you

notice anything else.

Sincerely,

Marcus Potter

Lily sighed and looked out at the starry night, praying that something wouldn't happen to Jessica and Casey in the meantime.

* * *

"He's probably down in the dungeons," Gary heard as the dungeon doors opened.

"Isn't he always?" The other asked.

"What are you children doing?" Minerva McGonagall suddenly enquired sharply.

"Sorry, Professor McGonagall," Jessica Ziners said. "My father told my brother and myself to meet him up here. We thought we would visit Professor Rum while we wait."

A pause, "Okay. Fine then."

"Bye, Professor," Gary heard Jessica then both started into the dungeons again. Gary smiled as he stood in his private stores. Hopefully that interaction, however brief, would start to get to Minerva on proving that Miss Ziners was not all that bad. Goodness knows that Gary hadn't been getting anywhere himself.

"Not in here," Jessica said. There was a knock then on his office door.

"Come in!" Gary called. When he heard the door creak open, he added, "I'm in the private stores!"

"Wicked," Gary heard a second later. He glanced over his shoulder to see Casey glancing around the room...or, should he say, more specifically glancing at the Auror tools that Gary still kept in here?

"Whatcha stocking?" Jessica asked, coming over to look at the jars he had just placed on the shelf, but she answered her own question as she looked at the different jars. "Jobberknoll feathers...they're for truth serum and memory potions...Alihotsy leaves...causes hysteria...wormwood...and asphodel," she pointed to the very next jar as she said, "both ingredients of the Draught of the Living Death...lovage, scurvy-grass, and sneezewort," she said, pointing to the last three ingredients in quick succession. "All ingredients in Confusing and Befuddlement Draughts." She looked back up at him.

"Very good, Miss Ziners. But I can't give you any house points as school's not in session." He meant it as a joke but regretted it when she looked away.

"I wasn't looking for points, Sir," she murmured.

"Hey, Jess, look! A Foe Glass," Casey said suddenly. Both kids examined it closely. "Just like Uncle Danny's Foe Glass," Jess said, and then suddenly looked at Gary. "Don't tell anyone we've seen Uncle Danny's Foe Glass. It's hidden in a false wall of his apartment. He doesn't know we found the wall."

Gary smiled lightly and shook his head. "You two and your sneaking around."

Gary looked at them as they continued looking at the Foe Glass then moved on to the Sneakoscope. "Jessica," he said quietly, "that reminds me of something I've been meaning to ask you."

She glanced at him a second before going back to the Sneakoscope. "Yeah?"

"This last school year, when you sneaked out of the House at night, what were you doing?"

Jessica stilled but didn't look at him.

"One night, I saw you...and you appeared to be in search of something, asking many of the portraits questions," Gary added quietly.

Jessica didn't answer that time, and Gary found out a second later why when Casey looked at her. They were talking in their minds. Suddenly, Casey shrugged, and then gave a half-hearted nod.

Jessica looked at Gary. She couldn't hold his gaze and looked away. "There is a lot of stuff we don't know about the Mighty Bloods. One of the things we know for sure though is that there is a portrait of an old relative that has the answers to many of the questions, including the reverse cloak spell."

In that sentence, Gary knew something that shocked him. He didn't think Jessica had meant to tell him this, but he suddenly knew it nonetheless.

The magical cloak that the heirs had invented to protect Hogwarts should the need arise...had been activated...which meant that either Jessica or her mother had perceived a deadly threat by an heir of Hogwarts...

Gary took a deep, almost shaky breath.

Lord Voldemort. Was he an heir?

They cannot reveal their names, Gary remembered reading. The Mighty Bloods cannot reveal the names of the heirs for it is part of protecting them, even if the heirs don't deserve this protection. It isn't until the heirs reveal themselves to the world and open themselves to attack that they could be hurt. He thought that Jessica wasn't speaking about Voldemort's identity because of fear. But maybe there was another reason...

Gary glanced at Casey. But why wasn't the boy speaking? Fear?

Whatever it truly was, Gary knew that why ever the boy kept quiet, it was for a good reason. He just wished that it was a reason that would eventually become invalid...before Lord Voldemort started whatever it was he had planned...

But, before Gary went back to the kids, the memory of a bloody wall and a dead girl floated through his head...and the memory of a chamber...but all Gary was left to do was wonder...

* * *

"Supper's about ready, boys, so get ready to come in," Brittany Potter yelled out the back door. James, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin were in the backyard playing with a Quaffle on their brooms.

"Okay, Mum!" James called after making a particularly daring capture. Brittany gave him a disapproving look, to which he smiled. She shook her head with a small grin before going back into the house.

The three boys landed then dismounted their brooms.

"The Gryffindor Quidditch team is going to be short a Seeker when school starts again," Sirius said. "You gonna try out, James?"

James nodded.

"Lily Evans is thinking about trying out for Seeker too," Remus said quietly, causing his friends to halt and looked questioningly at him.

"What?" James was the first to speak.

"Lily Evans was talking about maybe trying out for Seeker too," Remus repeated.

Sirius suddenly snickered. It quickly turned to outright laughter. "James..." he sniggered, "James...is going to compete against his..." Sirius gave a good, hearty laughter, "his girlfriend!" He finally finished.

James whacked Sirius across the chest. "She is not my girlfriend. I was asked to watch out for her."

Suddenly James realized what he said. He took off towards the house again, but Sirius and Remus caught up with him easily. Both boys grabbed his shirtsleeves, successfully causing him to stop.

"What?" Sirius asked. "Who asked you to do that?"

"Just a friend of hers," James said after a second's hesitation. "When she found out about Lily having magical powers, she asked me to keep an eye on her while she attended Hogwarts."

Satisfied with that answer, the two gave up and the boys started towards the house again.

"The Slytherin team is going to be short a Beater and a Seeker as well," Sirius revealed. "Who do you think is going to try out for those positions?"
"Malfoy," James said with disgust.

Sirius and Remus both nodded.

"And Ziners," Sirius said, an equal amount of disgust in his voice.

James rolled his eyes at Sirius. "Lay off her a bit, will yeah?" He said.

Remus gave James a surprised look. "What happened to 'all Slytherins are bad blokes'?" the shy 12-year old asked.

Sirius threw James a pitiful look before looking at Remus. "Didn't you hear Remus? James is soft for the little maggot."

"She is not a maggot, and all we are is...kind of friends."

"Oh, yeah, I know," Sirius dismissed with a dismissive gesture of his hand and a roll of his eyes. "Her uncle and your dad know each other and you and her got to play as little kids. You tell me a thousand times. But she still is what she is."

James shook his head. "She is not as bad as the rest of them. Just had some bad luck with who her dad is. Sometimes we can't help with that kind of bad luck in life." Neither noticed that their brown-haired companion turned a little red and looked away.

"Oh, come on, James!" Sirius said as they entered the kitchen to wash their hands. "Her dad's a bad bloke, and that's what she is too. You know all those Slytherins do is follow their parents."

"Sometimes that's the case, and sometimes that's not. You'd be surprised who grows up and ends up following a darker path, Sirius."

All three boys turned in surprise to see Marcus Potter leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen, his arms crossed.

"Hi, Dad."

"Hi, Mr. Potter," Sirius said, seemingly a little ashamed.

"Hi, Mr. Potter. My name is Remus Lupin."

Marcus gave Remus a kind smile. "Hello, Remus. Glad you could join us this evening."

Remus returned the smile before quickly returning to washing his hands.

"Who were you specifically talking about?" Marcus asked as he followed the boys to the smaller dining room.

"Jessica Ziners," James informed him.

"But you always fight with her, James," Remus said. "Why do you fight with her if you're friends?"

"Because we don't actually get along all the time. She's a Slytherin and thinks like one," James answered him as he took his place next to Sirius. Remus sat across from them, with Marcus and Brittany sitting at the ends. All five started into the food.

Marcus snorted at the comment.

"She does too," James pointed out with a look at his father.

"James!" Brittany said. "She does not." His mother was trying not to smile at the adamant look on James' face.

"Ah, come on!" James said. "She cheats at Quidditch all the time!"
"She does not!" Marcus said on a snort of laughter.

"Does too," James said, but before more could be said, Sirius spoke up.

"She uses that word," he pointed out.

"What word?" Marcus asked.

"Pardon my language," Sirius said. "Mudblood."

"She does not!" Brittany said, shocked. She looked at James for a confirmation, which he grudgingly gave. Brittany looked across the table at Marcus.

"Don't look at me like that," Marcus complained. "Both sides of her family are pure bloods. You don't expect her not to know the word."

"Doesn't excuse her using it," Sirius said. "Both sides of my family are pure blood, as well as yours too, Mr. and Mrs. Potter. I've never called someone that before in my life, and I don't recall anyone here saying it either."

"Well you didn't grow up around a father that probably uses it more than he should," Marcus said in a quiet voice.

"See," Sirius turned to James. "She's already starting to follow in his footsteps."

Both Marcus' and James' heads banged backwards until they were looking up at the ceiling. Both males groaned causing Brittany to laugh at the twin imagery.

"Doesn't mean anything," James said.

"Just because she picks up on things she hears, doesn't mean that she will follow in anyone's footsteps but her own," Marcus added.

"I heard," Remus spoke up, "that her mom was really nice."

"Her mom was a doll," Brittany added. "Nicest creature you could have ever met."

"No kidding?" Sirius asked. "I heard she was a Slytherin."

"Being evil is not a requirement for being a Slytherin," Marcus said. "Daniel Montgomery is a perfect example. He was a Slytherin when he attended Hogwarts, and now he's an Auror for the American Department of Magic. He goes after evil and puts them away in the name of good."

"Slytherins will do anything to get on top," Sirius dismissed. "Even if that includes going under cover as an Auror so you can lock up all your competition. It also helps them to learn how the good guy works so they can find any weaknesses."

"You know what, Black," Marcus said. "You've got," Marcus held up his forefinger and thumb and held them apart about 3 inches, "a hide this thick."

Sirius swallowed the chicken in his mouth before giving Marcus a devilish smirk. "Thank you, Sir," he said, causing the table to erupt into laughter.

* * *

Jessica and Casey both scanned over their school lists before going to Gringotts to get their money.

It was the second they walked out of the bank and looked across the alley that their plans changed. It was a quick but distinct glimpse they had, and it caused the siblings to look curiously at each other.

"Didn't have to go far for that meeting, did he?" Casey asked.

"Only out of the Leaky Cauldron then back in," Jessica said turning back to Knockturn Alley, the alley in which they had just witnessed their father walking into. "Come on," Jessica said, walking forward. "Let's follow him."

As they picked their way across the Diagon Alley, Casey said one last thing before they hid themselves.

"Jess, he doesn't usually lie to us about his meetings. Why lie now?"

"Because they're planning something big, and Dad's worried that we'll blow the whistle."

"But we can't." On Tom Riddle, was the unspoken end of his sentence.

"But we can on Dad," Jess said before pulling up the hood of her cloak. "Come on," she said irritably before leading her brother down the dark alley.

Jessica hated this alley because it always made her skin crawl. It was like the life had been sucked out of this place and all that was left were dead hearts and sallow, sunken skins. As they walked past witches and wizards whose time had come and gone, they were touched and felt, recognized as kids by their heights. Jessica wasn't that afraid because she knew how to defend herself against these people. But she knew that these people would probably do no more than touch her in an attempt to coax her to stop, something both her and Casey knew not to do. You see, in Knockturn Alley, you had to know the walk, the one that signified you were one of them. The hidden face, the purpose. You could not show fear. No matter how terrified you ever got in here, you should never show fear, Jessica knew. And you should never stop until you reach your destination.

Jessica saw their father when they turned the next curve. They were at the end of the alley now. Her and Casey huddled near a barrel across the street from their dad and seemed to be looking in the window of a store. In reality, they listened intently to their father's mutterings.

"Where is he?" Their father said in a low growl. "That stupid ass bastard. Where the hell is he?"

Suddenly, they heard some distinct crunch of gravel and saw out of the corner of the other side of their eyes that people parted for a new comer. This had to be someone important, Jessica thought, but when she gave a casual, curious glance over her shoulder, the man had a hood in place. Jessica moved casually to the other side of the barrel. The merchandise in the window was to her left and Casey to her right. But, here, she had a perfect spot to see their father and this new comer with still having the window as her alibi.

The man glanced around before pulling down his hood. Ignatius Malfoy.

"What took you so long," their dad demanded.

"Don't you dare question me, Ziners," Ignatius responded sharply.

"It'll be Lord Voldemort next, so you better have a fucking good explanation, Malfoy," Father snarled.

Malfoy shook his head before looking away. It was but a second, and he was on their dad again. "What is this meeting suppose to be about anyway? I have to be careful. I'm starting to think Potter's suspecting me of something."

Jeffery gave a slow smile, causing shivers of fear to race up Jessica's spine. She had only seen that smile once before. It was right after her mother's death, and Jessica had through her tears asked him angrily whom he expected to take care of her and Casey now. The smile had crept up on his face before he responded, "Why, your Godfather will."

But now, he responded to Ignatius's question and remarks with, "Just you wait and see."

What do you think that meant? Casey asked.

I don't know, Jessica replied.

* * *

Severus was sitting on his trunk on Platform 9 and ¾. He was 20 minutes early. His dad had dropped him and Salazar off. When Salazar ran off to entertain himself, Michael talked briefly with Severus before he had to go back to work. Severus had wished he had stayed longer, and his father had even offered, but Severus knew how important his job was, so he told his father to go. He was fine here.

Currently Severus had parked himself far from the crowds of families parting. He watched his feet instead of the people, but he glanced up when some more people entered. It was Jessica and her brother. Severus smiled but quickly hid it, in part because he didn't want Jessica know he was beginning to like her, and in part because of the person that followed them onto the platform. Jeffery Ziners.

Severus looked curiously at Jessica and Casey. They seemed to mean to walk past him, but their father stopped them with, "Children, don't be so impolite to your friend." Jeffery smiled at Severus, making Severus nervous.

Jessica and Casey almost grudgingly pulled their trolleys back and next to Severus. "Bye, Father," Jessica said quietly.

"Bye, Father," Casey repeated but in a scratchy voice.

Jeffery nodded to both of them. "Be good children and do as you were told," he specifically looked at Jessica.

Jessica looked up and into his eyes at the tone of voice. She nodded grimly.

Satisfied, he took his leave. "Farewell, children. Good day to you, Severus," he said before departing.

Once he was on the other side of the barrier, Jessica and Casey sat on their trunks with two plops before propping their chins in their hands. After a moment of silence, Jessica looked across Severus to Casey. "You alright?" She asked.

"I got the bleeding to stop," he said in that painful sounding voice. "But not for long, I'm guessing."

"Severus, can you fix Casey's ankle? Dad was up to his old tricks," she finished the last part off in a whisper.

Severus nodded but before Casey let him do anything, Casey added, "And Jessica's wrist is hurt as well."

"I'm fine," she groaned.

"No, you're not," Casey argued. "You could barely push the trolley, and once you finally got it going, you could barely keep control of it."

Severus smiled softly at her second groan but hid it with a duck of his head. "Here, let me see the wrist first," he said, reaching for her arm. She sighed and handed it over.

While Severus was inspecting the wrist, Casey asked in a quiet whisper. "Did you get one, Severus?"

Severus looked curiously at him before realizing what he meant. The Death Eater's uniform. "Yes. I left it home for safekeeping. I was surprised to even get one," he finished off quietly.

"Well, you're friends with us now," Casey said, almost bitterly. "Expect a lot of things to be going your way now."

"What do you mean?" Severus glanced at Casey, still holding Jessica's arm tenderly as he had been when inspecting it.

Jessica answered his question though. "Hate to break it to you, Severus, but you're a means to an end."

"I'm always a means to an end or something equally less important," he said his natural response before asking, "But what is the end in this case?"

"Us. We've been trying to get you off the hook since the party. That's why we tried to walk past you now. We thought if we didn't sit with you, that he might think we really weren't friends with you. Didn't work though," Jessica said quietly before looking at her arm. "What's the diagnosis, doc?" She asked with a smirk.

Severus ducked his head to hide another smile.

* * *

Stephen Medley slowly walked down Platform 9 and ¾. The kids were bustling and excited.

He had stopped at the Ministry last night to give his thoughts to a fellow Auror on a case that had been puzzling him and ended up staying overnight. Instead of Apparating back this morning, Stephen decided to go back on the Hogwarts Express.

As he zigzagged down and around the pillar that beheld the magical barrier onto the platform, Stephen slowed as he noticed three trolleys and three students sitting back in the shadows. If you went through the barrier, you probably wouldn't notice them on your way by. As a matter of fact, you probably wouldn't notice them at all unless you were looking directly at them. This got Stephen curious of course. It just spelled scheming trouble. He decided to wait, watch, and, of course, listen in a bit.

"Let me look at your ankle, Casey."

That sounded like Severus Snape. Sure enough, when the middle one leaned forward and the light cast across his face, it was the stern but shy little boy that spoke little in class but definitely knew more than the average student.

The third student leaned forward to watch Severus examine the other's ankle. When Severus leaned forward more to get a closer look at the ankle the other was holding up as best he could, the light similarly caught the third's face. It was Jessica Ziners. Casey...yes, now Stephen remembered. It was her little brother who seemed to have hurt his ankle.

Severus examined the ankle. "It's pretty deep," he finally murmured. "What did he do exactly?" Here, Severus looked up and into the boy's face.

"Set a Bluebell flame to my ankle, and I don't know what he did to it, but it stayed around my ankle until it gave me a good burn before he called it off, and then he slapped a few Strickiomus' on the burn. Not quite sure what I did to deserve it..." Casey finished off in a murmur, looking away.

Jessica spoke up during Casey's pause. "Strickiomus' break through the skin something easy, as you know, but with--"

"The burn already..." Severus finished, interrupting Jessica.

"Yeah," Casey grunted in agreement.

"Well, this is going to take some ointment or something," Severus said, looking at it, "but we can get that..." he trailed off, his eyes finding something beyond Casey.

Severus had spotted Stephen looking at them, so Stephen thought it was probably a good time to walk up. He dropped his knapsack and kneeled in front of Casey. "Lemme have a look," he said.

Casey slowly moved his ankle over to him. Stephen glanced up to see clear apprehension written on every feature of the boy's face. However, Stephen didn't take the time to examine that and looked at the ankle.

"Yeah, Severus is right," Stephen agreed a minute later, after examining the ankle he knew that had to be hurting like hell. "You'll have to get some burn-healing paste for sure. I don't know what could be used for the cuts, but Madam Promphey could probably decide..."

Stephen looked up to notice Casey shaking his head. "I'll just go to Professor Rum when I get there," he said, his voice giving an almost painful crack at the end.

Stephen's eyes went to Severus. The boy was leaning back, and he was looking to a spot on the ground to Stephen's left. Jessica on the other hand was giving Stephen a deeply suspicious look. "We'll go to Professor Rum when we get there," she said, almost angrily. "You can even check up with Rum afterwards to make sure we did."

Stephen moved his gaze back to Casey's ankle, but he noticed on his way back that Severus had looked up at him for a split second before going back to the ground, almost as if he was trying to gage Stephen's reaction to the girl. Stephen looked back at Casey's ankle. "Can you walk on this?" He asked, not looking up at the boy.

"Survived so far," Casey answered sharply.

That caused Stephen to look back up into the boy's hazel eyes to see his resolve heighten. But Stephen wondered if it was the resolve not to go to Madam Promphey or a resolve to count Stephen as the enemy.

Stephen decided he was going to help temporarily, even if they didn't want him to. He reached into his knapsack and grabbed his t-shirt from yesterday. It was an old one he had been meaning to replace for some time now. Stephen brought the worn bottom edge of the t-shirt up to his mouth and started a tear with his teeth.

"What are you doing?" Jessica asked worriedly as he tore all the way around the bottom part of the shirt.

"I remember well the boats the first years take across the lake," he said, almost dismissively as he worked at the makeshift binding. As he set the boy's small ankle in the center of the strip and wrapped the opposite ways with the two sides so the ends ended up in front, where he tied them, he added, "You don't want a wound like this to get infected." He looked up at Jessica. She had leaned forward to watch his progress, and it was almost as if she had expected him to hurt her brother further. Stephen recalled the protectiveness he had heard in Jessica's voice last year during that first detention, when she had spoken of her brother.

"Go to Professor Rum first thing you get there, Jessica. Tell him what Casey's injuries are exactly, so he can get the necessary items to help heal him before the Sorting."

Jessica nodded dumbly, her jaw hanging slightly open. Stephen grabbed his knapsack and stood up. As he started to walk off, he nodded at each child. "I'll see you at Hogwarts," he said before leaving to board the train, not sure if he just hurt his relationship with those three or improved it.

* * *

Gary eyed the children as they bustled and grew overexcited at the sight of their friends. Another year of Hogwarts. Gary sighed.

"I just love the Welcoming Feast," Filius Flitwick said eagerly.

"Good for you," Gary murmured.

Pomona Sprout, who sat between the Potions Master and the Charms Professor, nudged Gary. "Now, Gary, get in a better mood," she admonished.

"He's never been in a good mood," Filius pointed out. Gary glanced at the professor to see Filius smiling teasingly at him. Gary didn't smile back.

"Professor Rum?"
Gary looked ahead of himself, startled. It was Jessica. "Yes, Miss Ziners?"

She glanced nervously at Pomona and Filius and then looked at the other side of Dumbledore. She looked that way for so long, that Gary glanced down there too. Stephen Medley had stopped in his conversation with Hagrid and was looking at Jessica. It was not a curious look his face bore, which made Gary himself curious. It was one that seemed to tell Jessica he was watching to make sure she did something.

Gary looked back at the girl the same time she looked back at him. "Can I talk to you out in the hall?" She said quickly.

Gary nodded and got up. They walked out the front doors of the Great Hall and into a quieter Entrance Hall. Gary waited for Jessica. She stopped before deciding to follow the wall down a bit before stopping again. Gary followed her, and then waited expectantly for her to speak.

She waited a minute, her eyes skittering everywhere else but Gary, before saying, "Casey's ankle was hurt. Severus...and...Professor Medley both think that he needs some sort of ointment to heal rather than a spell."

"Professor Medley?" was Gary's first reaction.

"Yeah. He saw Severus looking at Case's ankle while we waited to board the Hogwarts Express. Severus," here she looked Gary straight in the eyes, "is good with the healing." She smiled softly, glancing away. "He's good at a lot of stuff."

Gary ignored her comment about Severus and asked, "How are you injured?"

Her gaze shot back to Gary's.

"How are you injured?" He asked again.

"I'm not," she said, her eyes looking away immediately.

"Miss Ziners," he said sternly.

"Severus healed it," she mumbled finally.

Gary sighed before asking, "How did Casey get hurt?"

"Bluebell flame that burned his skin pretty bad, then a few Strickiomus' on top of that. It's pretty deep."

Gary nodded. "And your brother's coming over on the boats?" Gary asked, disapprovingly.

"Medley bound the ankle for him. He wanted Casey to go to Promphey when he got here (I'm assuming he was planning to have him skip the train and come straight here with him), but we convinced Medley to let us come see you about it when we arrived. Medley probably figured we wouldn't let him take Casey to skip the train then."

Stephen being nice to the children was an oddity on the one hand, but even odder was the face that Stephen hadn't confronted Gary the second he arrived at the school. Something to ponder later.

"Okay, Jessica...Miss Ziners, go back into the Great Hall. I'll take care of your brother before the Sorting."

Jessica nodded and took off.

* * *

"Are you okay, Jessica?" Severus asked.

"I just have a bad feeling."

"Because we've contracted a plague that the other Slytherins are afraid they're going to catch if they look at us?" Severus asked.

Jessica gave him a surprised look. "You just made a joke."

"I've been known to do that," he answered dryly.

Jessica smiled before answering his question. "No. That'll wear off eventually. I'll see if I can make some headway later on.

"But, about my bad feeling. I just have a bad feeling that something bad is going to happen."

"Well, you usually don't get a bad feeling when something good is going to happen."

Jessica swung her gaze from the doors back at him again. "Two jokes, Sev. Be careful or you're going to make it a habit."

Severus shook his head at her but seemed to refuse to smile.

"You think the little brat masquerading as your brother is going to get into Slytherin House too?" She asked after a minute of silence between them.

"Little brat? Masquerading as my brother?" Severus repeated back curiously.

She looked back at him. "Yeah, that sniveling thing that kept following me around. You know, at that dinner party at Malfoy's...after I told you..."

Severus nodded. "You don't appear to like my brother," he observed.

"The fact that anybody does amazes me."

When Severus didn't responded, Jessica looked at him. "What?" She asked.

"You don't like my brother?" He asked again.

"No," Jessica repeated, almost irritably. She glanced at the door again before looking back at Severus. Seeing the look on his face, she said, "Sev, here's the deal. I'm generally liked and given attention to for two reasons. My eyes and my power. That's why the little snot was following me around that night. (And trust me. I may be 12, but I know the signs.) Anyway, the eyes and the power are not all of who I am. The problem," she said, her voice getting lower as she looked away, "no one generally sees who I really am. And when they do," Jessica looked at the ground, "they don't like it."

"Well," Severus responded quietly after a minute, looking at an indiscriminate spot on the table, "At least there's a part of you that they like."

Jessica's gaze swung back to Severus. He just glanced at her. She didn't get a chance to respond though because the First Years finally walked in.

Both Jessica and Severus looked for and found Casey near the back of the pack. He was by far the smallest First Year. Both Jessica and Severus glanced at each other and each knew the other had made that same observation. Then, as though by silent agreement, they searched out the young Salazar. Salazar wasn't the tallest, but he was a good height, probably half an inch shorter than his taller older brother was. Salazar's hair was as black as Severus' was but held a shinier, healthier quality, whereas Severus' hair, though shiny, didn't appear as healthy. Jessica wondered about that. She also wondered about the fact that while both boys' skin was pale, Severus usually looked kind of sick. Salazar just looked like all the other noble lazy boys.

She didn't get time to ponder these differences though as Professor McGonagall did her business and put the stool and Sorting Hat up. Jessica listened to the song with amusement until she noticed Casey doing something. His left hand was clenching and unclenching. Oh no...

Jessica calmed her mind before saying, Case, calm down.

Her brother's hazel eyes shot quickly to his left and spotted her.

Speak for yourself, came the angry reply.

If you don't calm down, Case...

Your talking is making more nervous, he bit back angrily before looking straight ahead.

"Oh no..." Jessica murmured aloud.

Severus looked at her. "What's wrong?"

Jessica started to nod at Casey's hand but stopped herself. She stopped looking at him because she didn't want to make him more nervous than he already was.

"Case is a natural klutz. He's works hard not to be, and he's mastered the skill of controlling his problem. There are times he can't though, and it's usually when he's emotional or just basically not focusing his energy at not being a klutz.

"Anyway, one of the things that he starts doing before a major klutz disaster is clenching and unclenching his fist."

As the first name was called, Severus sought and found the fist and observed the movement. "Your bad feeling..." Severus muttered before giving her a glance.

"I know," she said tensely.

"Can you talk to him? You know," Severus tapped a long finger to the side of his head, "in your head."

"I tried, but he got pissy with me. I'm not going to push it or he'll get more pissy with me and be more apt to...be klutzy." She sighed.

"Black, Sarah!" Professor McGonagall called. It was the third name...or was it the fourth? Jessica didn't know.

"That's Sirius' sister," Jessica whispered to Severus. "Narcissa's and Bellatrix's cousin."

Bellatrix Black, Narcissa's sister, sat down the table from them. She was a tall girl in her Sixth Year and thoroughly mean to everyone and everything. She had taken up to being nice to Jessica since the party at the Malfoy's though. Jessica had pretty much been getting a mixed reaction out sum lot of them. Either hate or love. Jessica wasn't horribly surprised at either reaction. It had been mostly hate though.

"GRYFFINDOR!!!" The Sorting Hat suddenly shouted, pulling Jessica from her thoughts.

"He's flexing his fingers now," Severus whispered, startling Jessica. She looked back at Casey to see that his small hand indeed was now stretching out.

"Give him about 3 seconds," she murmured as they watched. Sure enough, he went back to the fist exercise.

Both kids sighed.

They watched the kids being sorted for a bit, the names sort of blurring together in Jessica's head until her eyes caught a boy at the side of the group. His hair blonde and quite shaggy, he was probably the next smallest to Casey. His eyes were staring at the ground.

"Hey, Sev," Jessica said quietly. "Isn't that that Unspeakable...uh...Sally Jones' son? That one that the Unspeakables wanted to train separately from Hogwarts 'cause he's so smart? Then they wanted to hire him and all that crap."

Severus gave her curious look. He had heard about the boy from his father bringing it up in a dinner conversation earlier this summer. But how did she know?

"Yes, he is," Severus answered her quietly. "But how do you know about him?"

Her eyes found the table before looking up at him. "From you know who," she said quietly.

Severus frowned, suddenly understanding. His mother must have informed the Dark Lord. Why would that make him sad, Severus abruptly wondered then. If the Dark Lord could have the boy, then that would mean more power for him and not for...the other side. Severus shook himself and looked back up as the boy's name was called.

"Jones, Jim!"

The boy looked up startled, as though he hadn't been paying attention. When McGonagall nodded at him, the boy went forward and sat on the stool. The hat was on his head for an incredibly long time before it seemed to reach its conclusion with a satisfied smile.

"SLYTHERIN!!!"

Jessica gave a defeated sigh.

"What?" Severus asked as he gave a half-hearted clap for their new entry, who walked meekly over, his eyes finding the ground again.

"More likely that he'll get him then," Jessica whispered, "if he's in Slytherin and all."

Severus didn't know what to say to that, so he went back to watching the Sorting.

"Longbottom, Brice!"

"GRYFFINDOR!!!"

He wanted to be a Death Eater, Severus said to himself. Lord Voldemort promised better things. Severus glanced over at James Potter and Sirius Black at the Gryffindor table. They had a small group of girls giggling at something they said or did. Severus glanced at Jessica. Originally, he thought that the fact that he had gotten a Death Eater cloak would have impressed her, but both her and her brother seemed angry about it. Severus glanced back at Potter and Black. What would it take to make Jessica like him?

Severus shook his head and looked back at the Sorting. He wasn't going to let his

head go down that path because it was utterly pointless. Jessica wasn't about to like him...in that respect at least.

After about two or three more names, his brother was called.

"Snape, Salazar!"

Salazar walked up with the confident gait he always used and sat on the stool with a smile. Severus' only satisfaction after hearing the murmurs of pleasure ringing up and down the Slytherin table was when McGonagall glared at the cocky boy and Dumbledore sighed patiently. Severus' eyes searched for Professor Rum's reaction to see that the Potions Master didn't even seem to be paying attention. Severus gave a small smile at that. The event seemed to be boring the Potions Master tremendously, and he shoved off in waves to everyone around him that he thought he had better things to do with his time.

The hat had barely grazed Salazar's perfect head before it shouted, almost angrily, "SLYTHERIN!!!!!"

Salazar walked to his table then and strolled down the side Severus sat. He gave a smile and nod to everyone who congratulated him. When he got to Jessica, he stopped as though expecting her to say something. When she didn't even look at him, he started to reach a hand to tap her on the shoulder. His hand stopped halfway there however.

"Touch me and I'll break every bone in your right hand," she growled

Salazar moved on as though she had said nothing to him.

Severus didn't look anywhere but his plate. He wasn't quite sure whether he wanted to laugh or gasp in horror.

But all those feelings left him four names later and the last child was called.

"Ziners, Casey!"

Casey remained rooted in the spot he had occupied in the back of the once crowd. When he heard his name, he stared at McGonagall for a second. She nodded, and as Casey started forward, Jessica took a deep breath and held it. Severus did as well.

But they didn't have to wait long. Casey tripped over his own feet. And his shoes weren't even untied.

The group erupted in his laughter. There were only three students that held their mirth, and all three closed their eyes slowly before looking back at the boy on all fours. Casey, though red crawling up his neck and onto his face, pushed himself back up and walked to the stool as though no one was laughing in the Great Hall. Dumbledore got the crowd hushed with a few loud words and a spark from his wand. Dumbledore then tried smiling at the boy, but Casey, in the determined intent that so defined his strength, never saw it. He also missed McGonagall's admiring smile.

* * *

Casey breathed a sigh of relief when the hat covered his eyes, and he didn't have to see the crowd.

Ahhhhh, the hat said. The other one. Your sister told me about you last year. Mighty Blood goes to Slytherin. Yes, yes, I can see it all here. But you are an unusual one, the hat said, a curious note in its voice. Determination to help your sibling perform her duty. Yes, yes, as it was with your uncle. But there is another determination here. To prove your worth...interesting...

Yes, I have that, Casey growled at the hat. It's a determination to prove to my father that I am as worthy an opponent as Jessica. But that's not bad...

Sometimes not...sometimes it is.

I'll never work for Lord Voldemort. Never, Casey responded vehemently.

Many say that now, but many will not succeed in fighting the temptation.

Casey pictured his mother in his mind, times when she had played with Jessica and him, her smile and her laughter, and then he pictured her as he had last seen, tied to that table, her head lulled to the side, looking at him with black empty eyes, her face and arms grotesquely cracked, the blood still damp...

When he spoke again to the hat, his voice was dark. But not everyone has the motivation I do.

I imagine so, young Mighty Blood. I imagine so. The hat's voice didn't hold any humor or lightness though.

Casey sighed. Would he succumb to the darkness Lord Voldemort offered, would he become one of his damned? Or would he succumb to another darkness, one that went by a name other than Voldemort? Or would he be able to hold onto the light that had shone from his mother?

Time will tell, the hat responded, reminding Casey it could read every thought, not just the ones directed at it.

It's time, the hat sighed.

And Casey knew it was.

"SLYTHERIN!!!"

Casey slid the hat off carefully, handing it to a curious McGonagall. Casey deliberately turned around the long way to the Slytherin table. He wanted to eye two kids, two last names that he knew so well from a diary kept not that long ago. He spotted them looking at him curiously. Casey didn't smile but rather kept turning to spot the third name, one that had slipped his mind until not so long ago. His sister received his last eye contact as Casey said in his head Four, a year, a line, a wall. This was it.

Casey sighed before starting towards the Slytherin table like a man condemned.

To be continued...