Armilla

Chapter 20

I didn't really remember how exactly I made my way from the dungeons to my dormitory. My head was spinning with Snape, Dumbledore, my father, Merle, my mother and my friends.

My friends. How were they going to react to this? I tried to imagine saying to Lisa, "Oh, by the way, did I mention Professor Snape is actually my brother? Yep, sure is. We're both so thrilled about it too."

Lisa and Terry were both lovely people - I really couldn't have asked for better friends. But I didn't want to convince myself that they would be understanding and supportive...in case they weren't. I wouldn't be able to read their thoughts. I was not skilled at Occlumency and Legilimency (I knew a little bit about it - Merle was an excellent Occlumens).

I couldn't be sure that in their eyes they would see only Snape's sister. I mean, if Lisa told me she was Snape's sister, I would still support her and be a friend, but it would be so weird thinking she had the same blood running through her veins as the Potions Master, the man who enjoyed making his students suffer.

Then there was the rest of the school. The Hufflepuffs would fear me, the Gryffindors would loathe me and the Slytherins - well, I had no idea how the Slytherins would react - but I would rather have no attention from them at all.

The whole situation was really freaking me out. At first, I didn't even notice when Lisa and Terry called out to me as I passed them in the common room. I turned around and went to sit with them though. They were doing homework. I sat and watched them, too exhausted to do anything.

"Man, this is hard," Terry said irritably, throwing his quill down. "It's not worth the effort. Snape never likes anything I hand in."

"You never get bad marks though," Lisa pointed out, looking up from her half-finished Potions essay.

"No, but he always takes the opportunity to rant on about something. Your writing is too messy, Boot, Your writing is too small, Boot, this was an exceptionally boring piece of work, Boot...I hate the git." Terry scowled down at his essay.

"He just has high standards," said Lisa, picking up a textbook to look for a particular ingredient.

Terry snorted. "High standards? Ha! He knows what he's going to say before we even hand our homework in. I'd hate to be Harry Potter. Imagine what sort of comments he receives on returned homework."

"I'd be in counselling," Lisa laughed. "Poor Harry. He has a nasty temper though. He's attacked Umbridge about the return of You-Know-Who...are you okay, Mill?" Lisa gazed over the top of her book at me. "You're very quiet."

I gave a small smile. "I'm just tired," I said. "I think I'll go to bed. Night." I got up and left as they said their goodnights.

I laid awake again for hours that night. I wondered how soon I was going to meet my father. I wondered if he was going to make me call him Father. I shuddered every time I thought of it.

It also felt weird to think of Snape calling me by my Christian name - I supposed he would only call me Armilla in private. Not that he had granted me permission, but the thought of calling him Severus put a whole new weird feeling in my stomach.

I got up the next morning feeling groggy and out of sorts. Lisa and Terry kept glancing sideways at me and then at each other. I hated that, but I was keeping them in the dark about something. Generally we always told each other everything.

I had Potions with the Hufflepuffs in the last two periods. This was usually a stressful time for both houses because the Hufflepuffs would make mistakes from nervousness and then the Ravenclaws would be on edge after Snape lectured the Hufflepuffs on their increasing stupidity and why he wouldn't allow it in his class.

Snape didn't pay me much notice at all and for that I was grateful. When I produced a perfect potion, he just nodded slightly as he passed and moved on without comment. The last ten minutes flew by when a Hufflepuff girl dropped way too much gillyweed into her cauldron and it spilled out all over the floor. We all stood on our stools (for fear we would sprout something unsightly if we came into contact with the potion) as Snape banished it. Utterly furious, he gave the "idiot girl" detention and deducted 20 points from Hufflepuff.

After dinner that night I made my way down to the dungeons again. I didn't like having to brew potions alone. It was kind of lonely without Lisa's chatter and Terry's sarcastic remarks. But I had to know I could properly brew the potions I had missed in class in case they came up in the OWLs. Having Snape as my brother made me all the more determined to receive a good mark in Potions.

The night went by in pretty much the same way as the night before had. I sat and brewed my potion in silence and Snape worked at his desk, rarely glancing up at me.

I was just bottling my potion when there was a knock at the door.

Snape waved his hand and the door flew open. Dumbledore entered looking as grave as the night before.

"Good evening, Severus, Armilla," he said, as he settled on a stool near my desk.

"Headmaster." Snape nodded, looking pale. "You met with the Family Services department today?"

Dumbledore nodded. "I did. It seems everything has been finalised. All that is needed is the signatures of those who will be taking care of Armilla."

"Those?" Snape repeated, a hint of relief spreading across his face. "So not just my father then?"

"You will be sharing custody of Armilla with your father, Severus." Dumbledore turned to me. "That was the best I could do for you, Armilla."

I nodded. I couldn't accurately describe my feelings...numb maybe. "Thankyou, sir."

Dumbledore shook his head. "No, don't thank me, child. If I had my way I wouldn't have you anywhere near your father. You are to live with him for part of the summer and your brother and I will need to prepare you for that. I will not lie; Aurelius can be a dangerous man."

Smash!

The bottle containing the potion I had been holding slipped from my grasp. My hands had gotten sweaty. Alarmed, I got up to clean up my mess before the potion burnt a hole through the floor or something.

"Sit down," said Snape briskly, striding forward and waving his wand to clean up the potion.

I sat down again, my heart pounding. The alarm I felt had not subsided. I knew that Aurelius Snape was not a good man, but hearing Dumbledore say I had to be prepared to live with him was too overwhelming. What would the man do?

"Severus and I will support you, Armilla. You may feel alone in this, but I assure you that you are not." Dumbledore scratched his forehead. "Severus has been granted the right to make most major decisions regarding school since he is your teacher as well. Extended weekends are also to be spent wherever Severus is. Where you spend Christmas and other extended holidays during the school year is a decision to be made by the three of you-"

"-Though it would be best if you spent as little time with him as possible," said Snape, leaning back on his desk, arms folded, watching me carefully.

I nodded at him. I would rather spend all my holidays with Snape than my father, who I hadn't even met. "When will it all be finalised?" I asked, quietly.

"Well, in two days time, I suppose," Dumbledore replied, stroking his beard. "Being Saturday, Severus will be free to go to London with me and sign the papers with Aurelius. I daresay Severus will have to take you to meet your father on Sunday."

Wonderful. In three days I would be meeting the appalling man who claimed responsibility for my wellbeing...with Snape of course.

Obviously sensing my unease, Dumbledore kept talking. "Severus will be there with you the whole time, of course...er...if that makes you feel a bit easier about this." He glanced at Snape, who shot a glare right back at him.

"It does", I said without thinking. Snape stared at me with his unfathomable black eyes. His expression gave nothing away.

"Um...I meant," I hastened to add, "that I would rather not be alone."

"Of course," said Dumbledore brightly, a newly found twinkle in his eye.

"Any other issues?" asked Snape, obviously wanting to move things along.

Dumbledore paused, as if weighing up his words. "Well, yes. There is the issue of name."

"Name?" I repeated. Uh-oh...

"Your father and the ministry wish Snape to become your surname," Dumbledore explained. "Upon signing the papers on Saturday, you will become heiress to the Snape fortune and your father insists that the inheritance only go to a Snape."

I wasn't sure what made me more uncomfortable - becoming a Snape or knowing that I would inherit what Snape would have if he hadn't been disowned. If he cared, Snape didn't show it. He kept his gaze fixed on Dumbledore.

"I fought for you to retain 'Kemp' however," Dumbledore continued, "since Merle played such an important part in your life. I lost. Then there was the question of whether your name was Lucia or Armilla."

I opened my mouth to say 'Armilla', but Snape spoke first.

"Armilla," he said firmly. "Her name is Armilla. It cannot be changed back to Lucia now. The idea of it is ludicrous." He scowled at Dumbledore.

"That is what I said, Severus. However, a name was agreed upon by Aurelius and as long as neither of you object," Dumbledore paused to look at both of us, "your name, Armilla, will be Armilla Lucia Kemp Snape in formal terms, otherwise known as Armilla Snape."

I stared at him. Armilla Snape? I had never even considered the possibility that my name would be changed. I supposed Snape was the surname of my blood, but I was a Kemp. It would be strange going by the new name at Hogwarts, being called 'Miss Snape' by my brother and other teachers. What would the other students say? What would Lisa and Terry say?

"What do you think of that Armilla?" asked Dumbledore, surveying me over his half-moon spectacles.

"It doesn't matter what I think," I said. "It is something I'll have to get used to."

"Yes," said Snape, staring at Dumbledore. "It will certainly be another thing to get used to."

"I dare say," said Dumbledore. "You approve of the name change then, Severus?"

Snape walked back around his desk looking at neither of us. "It doesn't matter," he said finally. "It is inevitable if she is to be heiress."

My heart skipped a beat. Heiress. I suddenly knew what it was like to be a wealthy pureblood. I didn't want to inherit my father's property and whatever else he had. I had inherited a large sum of money from the sale of Merle's house and the savings she had kept for me. I didn't want anything from my father.

Dumbledore stood up. "Very well. I have other school business to attend to. Severus, I'll arrange with you tomorrow the details of our trip to London on Saturday."

Snape nodded, walking around in front of his desk again.

Dumbledore turned to me. "I know all this information is overwhelming, Armilla. Remember that I am here to talk to at any time, as is your brother," he shot Snape a significant look, which was replied to with an indifferent one. "I will give you permission to tell Miss Turpin and Mr Boot about this discovery. You may now need your friends to talk to as well."

I looked away. I dreaded telling my friends that in a few days I would be Armilla Snape.

Dumbledore gave a small smile. "I think they'll be supportive, Armilla."

I didn't answer. No one knew.

"Goodnight then." Dumbledore gave one last smile and swept from the room, closing the door behind him.

I remained seated and got my ingredients out again, preparing to start over my potion since I didn't have a bottle of it to hand in.

Snape came to stand beside me. I didn't say anything. I picked up a scalpel to slice some roots again, but Snape caught my hand before I sliced anything. I looked up at him in surprise.

"What are you doing?" he asked softly.

"Brewing the potion again, sir. I don't have one to hand in to you." The last thing I felt like doing was brewing another potion, but I didn't want to receive zero marks.

"Don't bother," said Snape, staring at me. "Pack up."

I continued to look at him, utterly bewildered.

"I'm a Potions Master, Armilla. I could see from my desk that your potion was fine." He let go of my hand and went back to his desk.

Huh? I was shocked. If I had been anyone else, I'd had been given detention and zero marks for being careless. And it was weird to hear Snape call me by my first name.

I packed up and got ready to leave, while Snape cleared up the papers on his desk. I stood by my desk, waiting to be dismissed.

Snape came to lean on his desk again. "Tomorrow, you will come here straight after dinner, but you will not be brewing potions. If I am to take you to see our father on Sunday, we will have to...have a talk about him." He scowled. "I will need to start teaching you new skills to make your future time with him more...bearable. Are you familiar with Occlumency?"

"Yes," I answered. "Merle told me about it."

Snape nodded. "I thought she might have. Our father is not a skilled Occlumens. It was actually our mother who was gifted in that area."

Oh. That was certainly a surprise...

"It would be wise for you to be competent all the same. I will need to teach you more than that however," Snape went on, his black eyes never leaving mine. "I'll have to arrange sessions on weekends to teach you. Obviously you have other studies to attend to during the week, so I would hope you organise your time well."

I nodded. "Yes, sir."

He nodded. "I will see you tomorrow night, then."

"Yes, sir." I gathered up my things and headed to the door.

"Armilla?"

I turned around. "Yes, sir?"

Snape was wearing a slightly perturbed expression. "The Headmaster is correct. If you have a question or need to discuss something, I would prefer it if you didn't keep it to yourself. Things become bigger in the mind if they are not put out in the open." He was watching me carefully.

I nodded.

"Goodnight, then."

"Goodnight, sir."