Snape's Daughter

Serena crossed the disused and windswept grass to the door of number eight. Although it was early, Luke had promised to be up at this time to play with Serena. She rang the doorbell as the postman came into the square.

The door opened, and Luke was standing there in a new Manchester United T-shirt and a shiny new football in his hands.

"Happy birthday Luke!" said Serena, grinning back at him. Luke always seemed to be smiling, and it was very addictive.

"Hiya Serena. Wanna come inside for a bit? I haven't opened all my presents yet," he explained.

"Okay," said Serena, and entered the Muggle house for the first time. Luke had been adopted, and had moved into the area only recently. He got on well with his adoptive parents, and called them 'Mum' and 'Dad'.

"Mum, Dad, this is Serena," he announced, as she followed him slightly nervously into the room.

"Good morning, Mr and Mrs Tabina," she said, smiling hesitantly.

"Oh, call me Jill," said Luke's mother. "What did you get Luke then?"

"If I told you that, it wouldn't be a surprise," said Serena with a shrug of her shoulders. She handed her friend the strangely shaped parcel, and hoped that he wouldn't ask how it worked. It was, after all, a magical item.

Luke immediately began to tear at the wrapping. Soon the gyroscope inside could be revealed. Immediately, Luke set it up, and made it spin, pulling at the thin, white string. It began to spin, and being a magical item, it would not stop until it was touched again.

Meanwhile, Luke had gone back to his other items, chatting to Serena at the same time. They hadn't seen each other since last week, and in that time a lot had happened.

"Good final, wasn't it?" he asked her.

"Yeah, shame Germany won in the end. Still, we came close, the semi-final was quite good for us."

The pair was talking about the recent football championships that had taken place in England. The European Cup is a very difficult challenge, only outranked by the World Cup. The 'Euro Cup', as it is known, takes place every four years, in the years ending with an even number. The World Cup takes place in the even years that the Euro Cup doesn't.

"Hey, cool! A T-Shirt about the Cup!" exclaimed Luke, unwrapping it fully. There was the sound of letters falling on the floor in the doorway, and the letterbox closing again.

Jill stood up and went to fetch the letters. Luke began to unwrap his next present, wrapped in footballer wrapping paper, and Serena watched him.

"Four for you, Luke," said Jill, as she came back into the room. "One for me, and one for you, George."

She handed over the letters, and Luke stopped unwrapping what was clearly a watch to open them. The first was a birthday card, from one of his friends at his old school. The second was also a birthday card, from an American pen pal, and the third... was a Hogwarts letter!

"Oh my G- goodness!" said Serena, correcting herself.

"What?" asked Luke, opening the letter.

"You, you've got... bloody heck! I'd better go and get my dad," she said.

"Why?" asked Jill and Luke at the same time.

"You'll understand later," she said. "Just read the letter, okay? Don't worry, I'll explain everything."

She ran out of the house and across the square at top speed. She tapped her wand on the door and it swung open. Her mum looked up as she entered the kitchen, panting hard.

"What is it?" asked Katherine in confusion.

"Luke... just... got... a Hogwarts... letter," she said, breathing quickly.

"Okay, let me just finish this and I'll be over right away," said Katherine, drying the final cup on a tea towel and hanging it on the cup rack.

"Okay, let's go," said Katherine. She and Serena went back out of the house, making sure not to disturb Mrs Black, and rang the doorbell of number eight.

*~*~*

"So... this isn't just a joke then?" asked Luke, holding up the Hogwarts letter.

"It's true," said Katherine. "I am a witch. That gyroscope you have there is a magical one. As you can see, it is still spinning."

Luke looked in amazement at the spinning toy, as it continued to balance vertically on the stand as it spun about. "That... that's magic?"

Katherine nodded.

"Can you do some spells or something?" asked Luke, incredulously.

"Yes, I can. So can Serena," said Katherine. "It might be better if you saw it from her, while I talk to your parents," for indeed, Luke's adoptive parents were looking with sceptical expressions at what Katherine was saying.

"Go on then, show us some magic," begged Luke, looking at her pleadingly.

"Er, alright then. Erm, I'll show you this one I learnt yesterday. Alohomora!" she cried, pointing her wand at the door to the kitchen from the lounge. Although the houses looked similar from the outside, inside the Black house was much larger, and didn't have accurate proportions. The Muggle houses were much smaller.

"Wow!" exclaimed Luke as the door swung open. "Can I have a go?"

"It would be better if you had your own wand," said Serena, scratching her chin. "As a matter of fact, you need all your other stuff for school as well. Books, potions ingredients, an animal."

"An animal," said Luke excitedly. "Erm... can I write to Cyndi about this?" asked Luke, referring to his American pen pal.

"No!" said Serena. "There are laws that prevent you from doing that. The 'International Statute of Secrecy or some-such thing. Anyway, let me show you some more magic. It's actually easier than using a wand, but takes up more magical energy; I expect you'll find out about that later..."

She transformed into the snake, and slid along the floor. Once she had reached the sofa, she stopped and transformed back.

"Cool!" exclaimed Luke, but for some reason there was a distant look in his eyes.

"You haven't opened your last birthday card," said Serena, jerking him out of his daze. He bent down and picked it up, along with the discarded letter from Cyndi that had been in his birthday card.

"It's from another of my mates," he said, putting it on the shelf by the 'phone. Then the faraway look returned to his eyes.

"Is something the matter, Luke?" asked Serena, as she did whenever the grin vanished from his face.

"No, no, I'm fine," said the boy distractedly. "When can we go to this Diagon Alley place?"

"Just as soon as we owl Professor McGonagall to tell her you're coming," said Serena with a grin.

"If I'm allowed," muttered Luke, with a dark glance at Jill and George. Serena looked too, and saw Luke's mum shake her head firmly.

"He's not going!" she insisted. "I don't know what you're playing at, but it's a load of rubbish."

"No it's not!" said Luke, butting into the conversation. "I believe them. Show them your animal transformation thing, Serena."

Serena glanced at her mother, before repeating the animal transformation. She slithered under the table and into the kitchen, where she transformed back.

"How did you do that?" demanded Mrs Tabina.

"Magic, like I said," said Katherine. "I can do it, Serena can do it, and so can your son. We magical people call those who cannot do magic 'Muggles'. That's what you are."

Mr and Mrs Tabina still looked very unsure. "Mrs Lupin, are you sure about this?" asked George, who was definitely not the dominating partner in the relationship. Serena had kept her identity a secret from this family, and now she was glad that she had done so.

"Look, come with Serena and myself to Diagon Alley on Sunday, and we'll prove it to you. Luke, you are definitely coming. Anyway, Hogwarts will get very persistent if you do not reply. Serena, get Horace please."

"He's already here," said Serena, who was still in the kitchen. Horace was perched on her shoulder, an owl treat in his beak.

Soon, Katherine had sent Hogwarts a letter to confirm that Luke would be going this year. Then, she sat down to give the family a more detailed talk about Hogwarts. Serena took Luke back to number Twelve, with a note written by the current secret-keeper, Tonks.

*~*~*

Serena opened the door to her bedroom, and Luke gasped. Serena was surprised at his shock; to her, the four-poster bed, moving pictures and books were part of normal life. His eyes took in the desk, with its rolls of parchment, ink holder and quill left haphazardly there; the bookcase, with its strange titles like Practical Potions for Everyday Use by Arsenius Jigger, The Martin Miggs the Mad Muggle comics, and her schoolbooks; the four-poster-bed, with its green and blue hangings and large pillows; and the wide-open wardrobe, with robes and other unusual items of clothes inside.

"This is amazing!" he breathed.

"It's nothing special," said Serena, shrugging.

"Nothing special! Are you mad?" asked Luke, his eyes wide.

"If you like this, wait 'til you see Diagon Alley," said Serena, wondering how she was going to hide her dad's identity from Luke. Luckily, he was away on Death Eater business at the moment, but would be returning in the evening.

"Diagon Alley? How do we get there?" asked Luke.

"Well, we could go by floo powder, but it's very messy. We'll probably take the underground - slower, but safer."

Serena took her letter from Simone out of her pocket, and tucked it under one of her books. Then she decided to teach Luke how to use a quill and parchment. After all, no other writing means were allowed at Hogwarts, nothing Muggle.

Soon, he was attempting the alphabet, in hesitant strokes. As he reached 'm', the ink began to run out.

"Just dip it into the pot to fill it up again," said Serena, winking at him. He quickly got the hang of it, having used a fountain pen at his previous school.

"So, what sort of food do magical people eat?" asked Luke, grinning from ear to ear.

"Well, normally we just eat the same as you Muggles, but sometimes, we just go mad! And wait until you try the sweets..."

After about half-an-hour, Katherine returned home to say that she had convinced his parents to come and see what Diagon Alley was like, and would he please go home, as it was nearly lunchtime. She and her daughter went downstairs to see Luke across the square, and promised to meet up with him at the tube station at ten o'clock on Sunday.

*~*~*

After her own lunch, Serena wrote to Simone and told her all about her Muggle-born friend Luke, and what they were going to do. She grinned as she remembered his incredulous looks when she had told him. It must have been his best birthday ever, or weirdest!

So we're going shopping on Sunday too. I hope you enjoy yourself. About window-licking, in England we say 'window-shopping', which probably sounds as weird to you as window-licking does to us! See you at Christmas.

Serena Snape.

She folded up the parchment and put it in the envelope. Tonks had bought her some red wax for her to seal with, and her very own stamp, with an eagle on it. She melted some of it with her candle, another thing that Luke had noticed, onto the back of the envelope, and pressed in the wooden stamp. After waiting for it to cool, she turned it over and, in red ink, she wrote Simone's address.

Leaving it on her desk until Horace returned, she summoned her latest book to her. Recently, she had become interested in a new series of books by a Muggle author, Brian Jaques. Currently she was reading 'The Bellmaker', about a mouse named Joseph who created the bell for the Abbey. It was very good.

Laughing at the strange mole speech, and fascinated by the youngsters Mariel and Dandin, she eventually finished the book, just in time for tea. Today, it was pizza, one of Serena's favourite foods. Katherine was good at homemade pizzas, and so the young girl ate it all up as quickly as possible.

"Well, see you in the morning mum," said Serena, yawning widely as she stood up from her seat in the kitchen.

"Bit early for going to bed, isn't it?" asked Katherine; it was only six twenty-five.

"I'll listen to the radio for a bit first, the comedy'll be on in a minute, The News Quiz I believe. Then it's the Archers," she reminded her mother.

"Okay, I'll listen in later," said Katherine. "Night."

As Serena headed up the stairs, she heard the telltale 'pop' of someone Apparating. It was probably her father, and this was confirmed by his voice coming from the kitchen.

"So, what happened today?"

"Serena's friend Luke turned out to be a wizard," replied her mother's voice. "He got the letter when..."

*~*~*

Two days later, the two 'Lupins' and three Tabinas met up at Tufnell Park railway station. They would be catching the next train to Charring Cross, which travelled along the Northern Line. This was the black one in maps of the Tube. Charring Cross was the closest station to The Leaky Cauldron.

"How are you then?" asked Serena, stopping next to her friend.

"Bit nervous," admitted Luke, and indeed his grin was wavering a little.

"You'll be fine," said Serena, confidently. "Just stick with me and mum."

It was raining as they left the station, and they were all glad that they were wearing coats.

"So, where is it then?" asked Luke, starring at the shops as they walked past them. It was very busy, even on a Sunday, but this was the capital city of England.

"There it is," said Katherine, pointing. Luke and his parents looked wildly in the direction she was pointing, and then they saw it. Luke wrinkled his nose.

"Not much, is it?" he scoffed.

"Wait till you get inside," said Serena with a grin. They walked over to the entrance, and Katherine held the door open for the party.

"Drinks or shopping first?" asked Katherine.

'Drinks," said Luke, grinning and gaping at the same time, a thing that until now Serena had thought impossible.

"Very well. Morning Tom."

"Morning Mrs Jones," said Tom, with a wink at her.

"Lupin, actually," said Katherine, smiling. Tom looked sharply at her for a moment, and then relaxed.

"Sorry, must have mistaken you for someone else," he said, glossing over the fault. "What'll you be having then?"

"Two Butterbeers for these two, and a bottle of wine please," said Katherine. "Three glasses."

They sat down, and soon a waitress came over with their drinks.

"Thanks," said Luke to the young woman.

"Oh, zat is not problem, I do for everyone, ya?" she replied in a German accent. "You are new to Hogwarts, ya?"

"Yes," said Katherine. "Thank you," she added, pointedly. The waitress left, looking rather huffy.

George took a sip of the wine, and raised his eyebrows. "Wow! That's nice."

"Yes, it was created in the vinyardse of Magiville, France. You cannot get it in the Mug- in your world."

Meanwhile, Luke was enjoying Butterbeer. "Gorgeous! Best thing I ever tasted!"

"I dunno," said Serena. "That's what I said when I tried coke for the first time," she added, raising her eyebrows.

"So, what's Diagon Alley actually like?" asked Luke, curiously.

"Oh, it's huge! There are loads of shops, the Apothecary, the Menagerie, Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, Cauldron Shops, and Quality Quidditch Supplies."

"What's that?" asked Luke, who had no idea.

"You have really missed out, being a Muggle born! Quidditch is the sport in the magical world. It's as popular as football in our world, and just as good!" said Serena enthusiastically.

"And I bet the Americans have their own sport and play that instead," said Luke, doubtfully.

"Yep, it's called Quodpot, and I think that it's silly," said Serena.

"Okay, time to go into the Alley," said Katherine, after they had finished their drinks. The shop looked as though nothing had happened there over a month ago, now. The newspapers had gone back to reporting about Voldemort's activities elsewhere, and everything was peaceful.

"So, how do we get into Diagon Alley then?" asked Mrs Tabina. Katherine and Serena grinned.