Armilla

Chapter 23

I spent most of Saturday in a dreamy state. In the morning I finished off all my homework with Lisa and Terry in the library. I knew I was quiet, and Lisa and Terry didn't have to ask why. I would officially became Armilla Lucia Kemp Snape that day. Out of habit I still signed my name as Armilla Kemp on all my homework. I didn't really want to start using the name until the staff had acknowledged it.

By the time we stacked up our books and headed back to the common room, Terry had already suffered several playful punches from me. He had insisted on calling me "Miss Snape" all morning as practice.

"Hey Mill, with you being Snape's sister and all, does that mean he won't act like a git to Lisa and I?" Terry asked, as we went into the common room.

"Don't count on it," I laughed. "He's already made it perfectly clear to me that once I'm a Snape my marks aren't allowed to drop."

"Oh, what will he do?" Lisa said, smirking, "give you detention? Imagine that. Snape putting his own sister in detention."

"Well, I don't think he'd call it detention," I said thoughtfully, sitting down in a chair by the fire. "But he wouldn't hesitate in giving me extra lessons to make sure his family name looks good."

"You know, out of all the people who could have turned out to be Snape's long lost sibling, it's kind of a shame it had to be you," said Terry, taking the chair next to me, while Lisa sat down opposite us.

"Why's that?"

"Well, you're such a good student. You rarely do anything wrong. You're respectable. I wouldn't say you're that fearful of Snape - I mean some students actually quiver and tremble in his presence-"

"Like you in first year?" Lisa interrupted, laughing.

"Shut up. Like I was saying...you have guts, Mill. You won't be an embarrassment to Snape. It's a shame because it would have been so much fun for us if say Crabbe or Goyle or even Longbottom had turned out to be Snape's sibling. Snape would have died."

I laughed. "You're right," I admitted. "But I can beat that. Imagine if it had turned out to be Harry Potter!"

Lisa made a face. "Well they both wouldn't be here, would they?"

"Why not?" Terry and I asked.

"Because they would have killed themselves, of course!"

"Of course," I agreed.

"Well come on," said Terry, jumping up again. "Let's go have lunch. I'm starving."

We left the common room again and made our way down to the Great Hall. As we approached the entrance, Malfoy and his friends came up from the dungeons.

"Hey, Kemp," he called, grinning. "Enjoy your detention with Snape?"

I didn't answer. I moved to pass through the doorway, but Malfoy got there before me.

"Snape seemed pretty mad at us," he said, still grinning. "Or was he defending you?" He folded his arms.

"Why would Snape defend me?" I asked nonchalantly, as Malfoy's friends gathered behind him. I saw Terry clenching his fists out of the corner of my eye. Lisa had also folded her arms, glaring at Malfoy.

Malfoy put a mock puzzled expression on his face.

"Oh, I don't know," he drawled. "Perhaps it's a loyalty thing, even if you are a Ravenclaw."

I froze. He knew.

"Still, it's better than being a Gryffindor or Hufflepuff," Malfoy went on. "I don't think Snape would have liked that." He smirked.

"Oy! What's the hold-up? Who's blocking the doorway?"

I turned around to see that a bunch of first and second years from all four houses had queued up behind us, evidently too scared to ask Malfoy and his friends to get out of the way. They had clearly heard the whole conversation because their eyes were darting from Malfoy to me.

The person who had spoken was a tall seventh year Gryffindor. He was moving through the crowd, looking annoyed.

"Oh, it's you, Malfoy," he sneered as he reached us. "Clear off and stop blocking the way in."

Malfoy ignored him. He turned back to me. "You know, Armilla. You're kind of related to Slytherin House now. We had better be careful how we treat our Head's little sister." He smirked and sauntered off to the Slytherin table with his cronies following in his wake.

"You're what?" said the Gryffindor, looking at me in confusion.

I didn't have time to answer. Lisa had already grabbed my arm and pulled me into the hall. She let go once we had sat down. Terry sat down opposite us, staring at his watch.

"How long does it take to tell the time?" Lisa asked crossly, picking up a sandwich and putting it on my plate.

Terry didn't answer. He stopped looking at his watch and instead of eating, he turned around and stared at all the other students.

"What are you doing?" I asked, picking up my sandwich.

Terry turned around to face us. "Timing how long it takes for this bit of news to spread," he whispered. "Watch."

I looked across at the other tables. Sure enough, many people seemed to be engaged in quiet conversation, but their eyes were wide as if shocked about something. Before long, I had to look away because so many pairs of eyes were resting upon me. The last pair of eyes I had looked at was the bright green ones of Harry Potter. He looked completely disconcerted.

"That was about forty seconds," said Terry, looking at his watch again. "New record, I believe."

"This should be interesting," I muttered.

"Maybe we should have eaten in the common room," said Terry, picking up three sandwiches.

"Nah," I whispered. "I would have to have shown my face sooner or later. It's not that bad. I could have been related to someone worse than Snape."

"Like the Dark Lord?" said Lisa, taking a bite.

"That is sick," I said, grimacing.

"Hey, Armilla!" called Padma Patil, as she strode towards the Ravenclaw table. "Parvati and the Gryffindors have just been asking me the strangest thing. They wanted to know if you were related to Snape! Fancy that!"

I laughed.

"Fancy that," said Lisa.

"Yeah, I told them to pull their heads in. Ha! Related to Snape...bit of a sick rumour don't you think?" Padma had sat down and was staring at me. I noticed all the other Ravenclaws within hearing distance had paused in mid conversation and had turned their heads slightly.

"Ah..." I began...how could I find the best way to say that yes, Snape was indeed my brother?

Padma's smile had vanished. "It's true?" she whispered, her eyes as wide as the other students who were still looking at me.

I gave a small nod.

The other Ravenclaws who had pretended not to be listening suddenly gave either gasps or exclaimed "Oh my God!"

Padma had covered her mouth with her hand. Anthony Goldstein, who was sitting opposite her, looked at me gravely. "How long have you known?" he asked.

"A little while," I replied.

Padma seemed to recover from her shock. She opened her mouth to speak but I spoke before she could.

"Look, it's enough that I've told you," I said. "But I'm not going to be giving away all my private business. Rumours will cover that anyway and I'm sure they'll be creative."

A large number of Ravenclaws were still watching me, some with their mouths hanging open.

"Well, that's just lovely," said Luna Lovegood, dreamily.

"Yes, it is lovely," Lisa piped up, an expression of determination covering her face. She spoke a bit louder. "And we're all here for Armilla, aren't we? She's still the same person after all."

"Hear, hear," said Terry raising his glass. "To our Armilla!"

A few people laughed. All the Ravenclaws nearby raised their glasses too. A few students down the table still looked too shocked to say or do anything.

The fast beating of my heart seemed to slow down to its normal rate again as the Ravenclaws around me smiled as they drank. As I expected, they still couldn't hide their shock and confusion.

The students at the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables looked either absolutely devastated or scared stiff. They weren't looking at me as much anymore but they couldn't hide the way the news had affected them. Over at the Slytherin table, Malfoy looked thoroughly pleased with himself and Pansy looked frustrated that he wasn't paying her any attention. If the rest of the Slytherins were shocked, they were good at hiding it. Those who were looking at me had curious expressions on their faces.

The rest on lunch went on much the same, with many of the Ravenclaws up and down the table sneaking glances every now and then. I drew more attention when Lisa, Terry and I made our way out of the hall. Heads turned in our direction and we walked the length of the table.

We met Fred and George Weasley at the doorway, both of whom were leaving as well. They both bowed to me and Fred took my hand and shook it.

"I'm very sorry," he said, as if someone had just died. I was just about to say so when George spoke.

"I'm afraid this means neither of us will ever be able to date you now," he said grinning.

"Yep," said Fred, letting go of my hand. "No boy in his right mind will come near you now, no matter how much he fancies you. We all reckon Snape will murder any guy who so much as looks in your direction."

"Oh, thanks," I said, rolling my eyes. Terry and Lisa laughed.

We went outside for the afternoon, basking in the October sunlight. As the day drew on, the knot in my stomach tightened. This time tomorrow, I would have met my father. I kept telling myself to stay calm. I did not want to appear weak and nervous in front of my father or Snape...Severus...whatever. I would have to train myself to mask my fear.

I didn't see Snape at dinner, but when I went to bed that night I found a sealed envelope under my pillow. Opening it, a bit of parchment fell out. Picking it up, I read it.

Armilla,

Everything was finalised today at the Ministry. You are now Armilla Snape, heiress to the Snape Manor and fortune.

We are meeting Father for morning tea at Snape Manor tomorrow, so make sure you are at my office by ten o' clock. Tell no one what you are doing. I will give you further instructions in the morning as to how we will get there.

Make sure you burn this letter.

S.S.

Lovely. I stood up and threw the letter in the fire. None of the others had come up to bed yet, so no one would know anyway.

I got back into bed and stared at the canopy above me. Armilla Snape. A wave of fear threatened to plunge into my stomach again, but I mentally tried to push it away. No! I was not going to let myself be fearful anymore. I would mask it. But how on earth was I going to sleep tonight?