Snape's Daughter

Snape's Daughter-8

Serena was walking down the stairs of number twelve, with her latest letter from Simone in one hand. She reached the bottom, and headed for the kitchen, where her father and Tonks were talking quietly.

"Hi!" she said to introduce herself to them.

The pair ignored her. Unperturbed, she moved further into the room, and sat down next to her father. When he still ignored her, she tapped him on the shoulder. Still he ignored her.

"Hello!" she yelled into his ear. He blinked, waspishly, and rubbed his ear.

"Are you all right, Severus?" she heard Tonks say, as if from a far distance. What was happening?

"Ear playing up again," he said, sounding as distant as Tonks. He looked distraught over something, as he had never done, even with Serena's House-Elf.

"Do you hear them still?" asked Tonks, still in the strange voice. Serena strained her ears to hear better. Then she noticed that all the usual sounds of the kitchen were still.

Severus nodded.

"I wish... I wish that I had not been the one..." he said, a tear running down his cheek. Tonks patted his arm.

"You must go on, Severus. I am sure that they would understand why you did it. If you had not done, then you would be dead too."

"Better then that I had died!" shouted Severus, and Serena clearly heard it, even though their voices were so odd. Then Tonks mouthed something, which Serena could not hear.

"You're right, Tonks. You are lucky not to have suffered such personal loss. But I miss Serena and Katherine so much..."

Serena froze, and then screamed, a scream so loud that both people in the room looked around them in curiosity.

Then, Serena felt a hand on her shoulder, and her father's voice spoke. "Serena, wake up!"

*~*~*

"Wh- what?" she gasped.

"You were having a nightmare," said Severus. "Are you alright?"

Breathing heavily, she looked at her father. "I was dead! And you, you..."

Severus squeezed Serena's shoulder gently, and she relaxed slightly, her heart still beating fast. Her face was deathly white.

"What happened?" he asked, placatingly.

Serena described her dream, and Severus smiled at his daughter.

"I would never do that to you," he said, "or your mother. You know that I love you too much for that. I could never, even were You-Know-Who threatening me. I would rather die."

He put his arms around his daughter's upper body and hugged her tightly. Her breathing had steadied now, and she had regained some of her colour.

"Thanks dad," she said, smiling.

"Anyway, it's time for tea. Guess what it is."

"How many guesses?" demanded Serena.

"Three."

"Lasagne, shepherd's pie or spag bol," she said, grinning. Severus nodded, and with a laugh she stood up.

"And which one would it be?" she queried.

"Wait and see."

"How's... how's uncle Remus?" she asked delicately.

"Fine," said Severus shortly, and with finality. They went down to the dining room together, and entered the kitchen.

*~*~*

It appeared that Remus and Katherine had finished telling the tale of what had happened after his arrest. Tonks told Serena a shortened version of it; basically, Katherine had gone down to the cells to find that they had taken Remus into the courtroom. She met Kingsley down there, and he had explained a lot of things.

Then she had gone straight into the courtroom, revealed who she was, and Remus had gone free, still stunned by his sister. They had stopped for a snack at Florean Fortescue's, where they caught up with news, and where Remus found out about Katherine's husband. He was, obviously, stunned. Then they had returned to Grimmauld Place.

After their meal, which was Shepherd's Pie, they went into the Drawing Room and sat down. Kreacher, the House-Elf, was now dead, after Tonks had stunned him in a rage one day. The shock proved to be too much for the Elf, and one death occurred that Serena didn't much care about, especially as she had been at school when it happened.

"So, Severus, what's this about me becoming Defence Against the Dark Arts professor?" asked Katherine curiously.

Severus hesitated, and took a deep breath. "Well, it's like this. Dumbledore was looking for one, and when he found out that you had managed to fool everyone except me for ages about your identity, he chose you. He decided almost on the spot, in fact. You'd have to agree, of course, but Albus promises that you will go under the name of 'Professor Lupin'."

"That'll fool them," muttered Remus, who was chatting to Tonks but listening to the conversation as well.

"And you'll be the best Professor Lupin of them all!" encouraged Serena. "Go on, say yes!"

"Only on one condition," said Katherine, in complete seriousness.

"What's that?" asked Serena.

"You go under the name of Serena Lupin. We'll have to decide on a story for you, about what you can tell other students..."

"And teachers," added Severus pointedly.

"...And teachers, except your dad," said Katherine. She paused, and then looked at Severus. "What do you think?"

"Excellent idea!" came a voice from the fireplace. All heads turned to see Albus Dumbledore's head resting in the coals. Only part of his beard was showing, the rest most likely back in his office.

"Albus!" exclaimed the voices of Tonks, Remus, Dung, Severus and Katherine at once.

"Ah, Remus! I see you have returned," said the man, with a twinkle in his eyes.

"I have," acknowledged Remus, nodding.

"Severus, Katherine, can I talk to you alone?"

"Of course, headmaster," said Severus, and Katherine bowed her head in agreement.

Tonks and Dung left the room, muttering something about 'food', Remus headed for the kitchen behind them, and Serena went to her room to finish her letter to Simone. Tonks had not been at work that day, as she had been on her day off. She had one every Wednesday, but didn't usually spend it as she had recently done.

Up in her bedroom, Serena decided to see if she could finish the letter to Simone. She took the latest draft of the letter, where she had given up trying to make Kayley's death light-hearted, and began to write again. This time, she didn't bother to try and make things seem better than they were, but told the truth.

...Well, as you can see, I've had a busy few days, Finished Serena after three pages and almost an hour of writing. What have you been up to? How is your dad getting on with his work for the Order (sssssh!)? I hope you enjoy your last few days of school. Write again soon.

Serena Snape.

For some reason, Serena had never seen a need to deny her real name to Simone. Perhaps it was because she was French, and had no grudges against her father, but Serena trusted Simone to keep her secret. The girls had never actually met each other, but had begun to write when Severus had heard Bill Weasley talking in a meeting. Bill was speaking about his work in Gringotts to convince others to join the Order, and Simone's dad, had been one of them. In fact, Simone's father was a medi-wizard, and it had been Simone's brother's friend's father who worked for Gringotts. This was the friend that Simone had a crush on, Pruet Gaspard.

Severus had told Serena about this girl, who according to Bill was very lonely and went to a Muggle school, and Serena had immediately volunteered to become her pen pal. She had written, and the pair had hit it off immediately. They exchanged photos regularly, and kept up-to-date with news. Their parents performed the translation charms when the letters arrived at the recipient's house.

Then, Serena added a PS:

The owl is my own, finally I have one! His name is Horace. I'm going to have to learn French, if you're coming to visit. I'm not looking forward to it. When you come to visit at Christmas, please call me Serena Lupin, because of my dad's secret and what my mum said. ;)

Serena yawned tiredly, as she folded up the parchment and stood up. She was about to go downstairs and find a parchment envelope, when she remembered that she could simply summon one to her.

"Accio, envelope!" she said, waving her wand. After a few seconds, one skimmed through the crack under her closed door and landed by her feet. She picked it up and slipped in the envelope.

She was about to summon some wax and a seal to her, when she remembered that she no longer had a family seal since they had moved out. Also, the wax would never fit under the crack in the door. For a minute, she pondered whether to get up and find some, but then decided to try a different way.

"Alohomora!" she commanded, pointing her wand at the door. A blue light shot from her wand and hit the door at a very fast speed, but nothing happened.

"Alohomora! Alohomora! ALOHOMORA!!!" she yelled. The door burst open, and Serena grinned. But then she saw Tonks in the doorway.

"Wotcher Serena," she said. "What's all this yelling for?"

"Hiya Tonks, I'm trying to do Alohomora, if you must know."

"Isn't it working?" asked Tonks, a frown on her face.

"No," said Serena miserably.

"Let's see what you're doing," said Tonks. "I might be able to help."

She closed the door behind her, and went to sit on Serena's bed. Serena performed the charm again, and Tonks nodded thoughtfully.

"You're moving your wand wrong. It's left right, not right left. You're getting the word fine, that's why the blue light came out of your wand."

Serena smiled gratefully at Tonks, and then attempted the spell again. This time, the door shot open, banging into the wall behind. Serena grinned guiltily as she heard the yells of Mrs Black below them. Although they had managed to avoid her when entering the house, it appeared that she was still alive and kicking.

"Thanks Tonks," said Serena. "Accio wax!"

"Serena, you idiot!" said Tonks, "That's not a..."

But she was too late. There was a banging sound from downstairs, and the yells of Mrs Black increased. Serena winced, and tried to remember the spell that her father had told her, about finishing the last spell you did if it was still going.

"Finite Priori Incantatem!" she shouted, moving her wand in a backward 'z' shape. To Tonks, who was facing her, it looked like a correct 'z' shape. There was a loud 'thud' from downstairs, and the banging stopped. Mrs Black continued to yell, until they heard an irritated 'silencio' from the hallway.

"Why didn't we think of that before?" grumbled Tonks, but she was grinning.

"Okay, thanks anyway Tonks. I'll seal this tomorrow and send it off to Simone then."

"Okay, night Serena."

"Night Tonks."

*~*~*

Serena had a peaceful night, and the next few weeks simply zoomed by. It seemed like no time at all before her Hogwarts letter arrived, along with an owl from Simone to say that she had received her Beauxbatons letter as well. It appeared that the Beauxbatons letters had gone out before the Hogwarts ones this year.

She began to read it, sitting down at the kitchen table to do so.

Dear Serena,

Maman will be taking me to Saen Allée this Sunday. I hope that I can buy all of my necessary items for Beauxbatons, as well as lick windows.

"What?" exclaimed Serena out loud, confused.

"Is something the matter?" asked her mother, who was washing dishes at the sink behind her. It was Friday the third of August, and one week before the teachers had to return to Hogwarts.

"Simone put something about licking windows in her letter," said the puzzled girl.

"Ah!" said Katherine, who was quite good at French. "That's because the translation is literal. What she means, is window-shopping."

"Oh!" said Serena, blinking. "I think I undestand, sorta..." She continued to read the exciting letter.

There are many shops in Saen Allée. My favourite is the Magical Menagerie, where they have all sorts of animals. I got Mirabella, my Kneazle, from there. Maman prefers 'Robes by Pierre', but I don't really like shopping. Papa prefers the Quidditch shop, but I think that he is mad! Animals are far better than robes or sports.

I am going to get my wand from 'Batonimeaux' as well. That's the wand shop in Sean Allée. It is going to be very fun! We are meeting Mr Weasley, from the Order of the Phoenix, in Gringotts. Pruet will also be there; I'm so excited!

The Beauxbatons uniform is a light blue robe, very thin, with a sash to tie about the waist. In the winter, or when it is cold, we wear black robes over these. They are sleeveless, and don't have hoods, unlike the other robes. Underneath these, girls wear white blouses, which are either long-sleeved in winter, or short-sleeved in summer. We will be given a tie with our house colour on when we arrive at Beauxbatons, and I'm really not sure what house I want.

Like I said before, I would like to be in either Flleurs or Lautrec. I am finding it difficult to decide which I would prefer. I do not know how our houses are chosen for us, but if I have a choice then I would like one of those two. Papa would like me to be in Failleurs, as he was, and so was Grandpére. Grandmére was in Lautrec though, and Maman, who is a Muggle as you know, says that I share many qualities with her. It is a good thing that Muggles are allowed into Saen Allée.

The rest of our uniform is a dark-grey dress on top of this. I wish that I were a boy, for then I would be allowed to wear trousers! Our dresses will have the house letter on it when we are sorted. If we wish, we can also wear a badge with our year number on it, but I am not sure that I want to.

I must go now. Maman requires me in the kitchen. Please write back.

Simone R Niege

Serena folded up the letter, and put it in her pocket. She was wearing jeans and a red T-shirt, but because it was very hot she had no jumper on. Her hair was tied back behind her ears, so that it stayed out of her eyes. She would reply to the letter later, after she had been to the park with the Muggle boy who lived near to .

One day she had been playing in the green outside the houses with an old football, when the boy had come out of number eight and asked to play with her. His name was Luke Edwards, and he had black hair that regularly fell into his eyes, no matter how much he swept it back. His eyes were black, and seemed to glint with a strange light. Because of the Fidelius Charm, she always called round for him.

Unlike Simone, Serena enjoyed sport, especially football, or soccer as Americans called it. Luke was also into the enthralling and confusing sport. Both supported the northern team Manchester United. They were a world-renowned team, with excellent players, often competing in the Champions League and winning the Premiership, the top division. They had not won the Champions League since the days of Matt Busby, one of the greatest managers of the team.

She stood up, and said farewell to her mother. Then she left the house and went over to the door of number eight, kicking the ball along in front of her.