The Daughter of the Snake

Whirling past other fireplaces, Serephine tried to grab onto something. Instead, she fell out a couple of fireplaces early. She landed face flat on a carpeted floor.

"Ow," she said, getting up, brushing herself off. "Where the hell am I?"

"You are in Twelve Grimmauld Place," said a very old man, pointing a wand at her. "Why are you here and what do you want?"

"Sorry, I was using Floo powder for the first time and kinda tried to grab onto something and fell out early," said Serephine, glancing around the room. It was filled with people, all looking at her with curiosity and alertness.

The man nodded and put his wand away into the many pockets of his robes, accepting the explanation. "Would you mind if I pestered you with a few questions?"

"Go ahead," nodded Serephine.

"Please, sit down," said the man, drawing a chair with his wand.

"Cheers," said Serephine, putting her bag on the floor as she sat down.

"What is your name, child?" asked a nearby man. He had sallow skin, a rather large and hooked nose and his shoulder-length black hair was dripping with grease.

"Serephine... Uh, well... Not sure of my second name any more," admitted Serephine.

"Serephine Riddle," said a voice from behind her. "You just had to get lost."

"It's my way," said Serephine, shrugging as she turned to see Draco. "How'd you find me?"

"Those wings are a tiny bit hard to miss," drawled Draco.

"Welcome, Mr. Malfoy," said the old man.

"Professor Dumbledore," said Draco, just noticing him. "I didn't see you there sir."

Dumbledore smiled at him, a twinkle in his old eyes. "Riddle, eh Serephine?"

"Don't look at me," said Serephine, pointing to Draco. "Blame him. And Riddle, Draco? Riddle me this, riddle me that!"

"That's what father said your second name was to be when he enrolled you into Hogwarts," said Draco, shrugging. "Don't ask me why."

"Perhaps it has something to do with her father's name," said Dumbledore, the mischievous twinkle draining from his eyes. "We will continue this meeting later. Please leave us. Severus, Alastor, please stay."

The people in the room grumbled and made their way out while a man with an electric blue eye and more scars than skin stepped forward.

"Hold on a minute... Severus? Why did you ask my name if you already knew it?" asked Serephine, eyeing the greasy haired man.

"I had to be sure," said the man, simply.

"This is his daughter? Are you sure, Severus?" asked Dumbledore, looking serious.

Severus nodded.

"Miss Riddle, do you know who your father is?" asked Dumbledore.

"More like what," growled Alastor, looking menacing.

"Draco told me he's a Dark Lord of sorts, but I kinda had that figured out already. What with the torturing his own followers and stuff. He also told me the deal with Harry Potter," said Serephine.

"What do you think of him?" asked Dumbledore. "And be very careful how you answer this, I will be able to know if you are lying."

Gulping, Serephine answered, "I want nothing to do with him. I, personally, want to go back to my safe little Muggle home where my biggest fear is if my internet stops working,"

"I will do everything in my power to keep you from him," said Dumbledore, nodding. "But you must come to Hogwarts as it will be the only place where you are out of his reach."

"Fair enough," said Serephine. "But what about Draco?"

"He will have a memory charm put on him so he won't remember this," growled Alastor, pulling out his wand menacingly.

"Do you try to be menacing or does it just come to you naturally?" asked Serephine, glaring at him.

Alastor growled back and said, "Why is it important to you that he does remember this? He'll just run and tell dear old daddy."

"Did it ever occur to any of you that Draco might not want to be another reject from 'The Phantom of the Opera'," said Serephine, glaring at them.

"It's ok Serephine," said Draco, smirking. "They don't care, so why should I?"

"Maybe they don't care, or, hell, maybe you don't even care, but I do!" said Serephine, glaring at him. "You're the only friend I've got in this world and you ain't leaving without me!"

"How ironic. The daughter of the Dark Lord on about friends and such when the Dark Lord is trying to destroy all of that," said Snape, looking down at Serephine, using his height to try and intimidate her.

"Three things, one; up yours, two; I know I'm the smallest here, I swear my mother must have been a Hobbit with wings, three; dear old daddy said I would be just as powerful as him, if not more powerful. I'll help you kick his ass and mosey on home and live the rest of my boring Muggle life. How's that for ya?"

"You have no magical training," stated Snape.

Serephine rolled her eyes. "Hence why I'm going to Mogwarts, or whatever it's called, dumbass."

"You do know, if you get into Slytherin, which is more than likely since you are now the Heir of Slytherin, Professor Snape will be the head of your house and teach you Potions," said Draco, trying to smother a grin.

"Tch," said Serephine.

"I'm not even going to ask," said Draco, shaking his head.

"So what's happening anyway? Am I going to go to... er... Fogwarts or what ever it is or not?"

"It would be a wonderful thought, but it is in no way possible for you to join us at Hogwarts. You do not have the time to catch up to sixth year," said Dumbledore, sadly.

"Then how was Luce going to get me into... Hogwarts?" asked Serephine.

"Luce?" repeated Snape, in disbelief.

"Luce called me 'child' which I despise so I gave him a name he despised," said Serephine, grinning. "Oh, and that reminds me. You called me child too, Sevvie."

Snape's eyes bulged and he scowled at Serephine. "Never call me that again," he grated out, his scowl deepening with each word.

"Whatever you say, Sevvie," said Serephine, grinning from ear to ear. "Anyway, how was Luce gonna get me into Dogwarts?"

"He said something about copying the knowledge from my head into yours then practicing it out," said Draco, shrugging. "He said it was some ancient spell."

"He lied," said Dumbledore simply. "It would have taken all the knowledge from your brain and put it in Serephine's. However, I do know of a way we could get all the information from your head into Serephine's without you losing it. I will just need to pop round to Hogwarts to get it. However, I suspect it will soon be lunchtime and that you will be hungry, so we will continue this after lunch."

"In other words; we're going nowhere anytime soon," muttered Serephine to Draco. "So what will we do since we don't know anyone here?"

"I daresay Mister Malfoy will know a number of people here," said Dumbledore, a twinkle in his bright blue eyes. "However, I will introduce you to some of the children here. I don't think they would mind you joining their party."

He started walking out of the room.

"What party?" asked Serephine, as she and Draco followed him through the house.

"It's Harry Potter's birthday," said Dumbledore, giving Serephine a look.

"Oh! That means it's the thirty first of July, yeah?" asked Serephine, looking at Dumbledore for confirmation. When he nodded she cried, "Whoo hoo! Bring on the party!"

"Your birthday too?" asked Draco, raising an eyebrow as they stopped outside a room with a lot of noise coming from inside it.

"Yep!" said Serephine, grinning. "Although I'm technically not sixteen until twenty-five minutes past eleven, bring on the party!"

Dumbledore smiled, as he opened the door. When they walked into the room there was absolute silence from all occupants.

"I like having this effect on people," said Serephine, grinning at Draco.

"I think it's more a combination of me, you and Professor Dumbledore," commented Draco.

"Nah, nothing has an effect on a room as a girl with wings walking into it," said Serephine, her grin getting wider.

Dumbledore smiled at the occupants, ignoring Draco and Serephine, and said, "This is Serephine Riddle, and, well you know Mister Malfoy. They will be staying here for a while and as they're a similar age to yours I thought you might enjoy their company."

A boy with a shock of red hair muttered, "Yeah, right."

"I will leave you to get acquainted," said Dumbledore, smiling knowingly, shutting the door behind him.

"So who's the birthday boy?" asked Serephine, grinning as she looked about the room.

"I am," said a boy, standing up. He had hair as black as Serephine's wings, although it was without their sparkle; it framed his skinny face and made the lightning bolt scar on his forehead stand out vividly. He was almost six feet tall, maybe an inch or two short of it, and was skinny like his face. "I'm Harry Potter," he said, holding out his hand.

"I'm Serephine Riddle, like as not you didn't hear that," said Serephine, grinning. "Pleased to meet you and happy birthday."

"Thanks," said Harry, making a feeble attempt to smile back, but failed.

"What's with the gloom and doom?" asked Serephine, her grin wavering.

"Are you related to anyone called Tom Marvolo Riddle?" asked Harry, frowning at her.

"I don't know, am I?" asked Serephine, looking at Draco.

He leaned forward and whispered something into her ear.

"Yeah, I'm his daughter," said Serephine, looking sad.