Secrets and Protection

Chapter 8- The Hatred Spreads

Fall began to slowly creep over Hogwarts' grounds, and the weather was not the only thing causing a chill in the air. Everyone in the castle was on edge as word came every day of yet more killings at the hands of He- Who- Must- Not-Be- Named and his followers. Unfortunately, this caused an increase in the tension between Raven and her parents, more than there already was. This put the two professors in foul moods all the time. Raven dealt with things by alternating between anger and withdrawing from everything. One day Hermione had to hold Raven's arm back to stop her from throwing a vial at Snape's head when his back was turned. Harry wasn't faring well either in Potions due to this. Snape had even given him detention once for sneezing in class. Ron, quick to defend his friend, had barely opened his mouth to protest when Snape cut him off, serving him a detention as well.

Then the announcement came Halloween morning at breakfast; the parents of Stewart Ackerley, a second year Ravenclaw, were the latest victims of the Death Eaters' reign of terror. The news hit the school hard. This was the first time that the deaths had hit close to the school. There was an eerie silence that fell over the school in the following week as everyone wondered who would be next. A small part of the Slytherins were not scared-- they in fact had pleased grins on their faces. The grins were wiped from their faces two weeks later when Dumbledore made an announcement at breakfast.

"Last night Millicent Bulstrode's family was attacked and killed in middle of a market they were shopping in," Dumbledore stated simply and solemnly. "These attacks are more frequent and more out in the open, but I assure you and all your families that Hogwarts still remains safe," the headmaster finished as he quietly took his seat and began to eat his breakfast. It was important to show the students that life needed to go on normally at Hogwarts.

"Didn't Millicent have a brother who was a few months old?" Ron asked in a whisper, disgusted that they would kill such a small child, although it did not surprise him.

"Yes, he was five months I think. I heard Millicent and Pansy talking in potions the other day. She also had a sister who was ten," Hermione answered so only the people nearest her could hear her. She then looked over at Raven whose gaze was on the head table.

Raven's gaze had been locked with her mother's. The two of them needed no words to communicate the fear that they both felt. The problems the mother and daughter had experienced in the past months were forgotten for the brief second as Kylean gave her daughter a reassuring smile that only a mother could give. Raven quickly turned back to picking at her breakfast her stomach in knots. She was too young to worry about dying. But curse her father for putting her in a position like this. Why did he have to ever have to become a Death Eater in the first place and then turn against them? Life was much simpler when Voldemort was without his powers.

"Come on Raven, time to go to Potions," Hermione said as she gently shook her fellow student lightly.

"Oh! My favorite time of day," Raven rolled her eyes as her voice oozed with sarcasm. Without much thought Raven collected her bag and headed down to another game of trying her best not to wring her father's neck. The distressed witch was so engrossed in her thoughts that she did not notice Ron tugging at the sleeve of her robes.

"Hello, anybody home Raven?" Ron snapped his fingers in front of Ravens face.

"Huh? What? Did you say something?" Raven looked rather perturbed at being disturbed from her thoughts.

The youngest Weasley son sighed, "The homework? Do you have our part of it?"

"Oh yeah," Raven said reaching into her bag and pulling out the rolled up piece of parchment. "All done," she sighed dropping the paper onto the desk.

Raven let out a loud yawn and stretched out her feet to shake any excess sleepiness out from her body. What she did not notice was that her father had some into the room and when her foot out stretched a bit into the aisle Snape just happened to walk into it, resulting in his ending up sprawled out into the isle. "Woops, sorry about that sir," the child tried her best to sound sorry without bursting out into a fit of laughter

Snape gathered himself up and whipped around to face the student that had tripped him. His face grew even colder when he saw it was his own daughter. "That was no accident Miss Makowitz. Forty points from Gryffindor-- AND you just earned yourself two weeks in detention!!"

Raven just sat there, shock written all over her face, "Two weeks!?! Don't you think that is a bit harsh? Two days would suffice. And it was an accident," the junior Snape narrowed her eyes to match her teacher's sneer exactly, freaking Ron out when he noticed for the first time how much they looked alike.

"Make that three weeks and that is final young lady," the potions master growled before finishing his journey up to his desk.

"Big mistake angering him like that," Harry leaned over to whisper to the sources of Gryffindors latest point loss.

"He deserves it," Raven sighed as she switched her attention to the book in front of her. She needed to calm her anger before she did anything she would seriously regret.

The anger hung in the air between the father and the daughter like a thick fog. It did not help the stressful situation that every few days news came of more killings and Raven's nightmares were becoming more vivid and terrifying. Finally things came to a boiling point the day before Christmas break. All hell was about to break loose in the Snape family in a very big way. The scene was quite hilarious to one who did not know the gravity of the situation between the two. Snape was fuming that his normally slick shiny straight hair was now a frizzed up into an afro compliments of his only child. He had pushed Raven to far that day by inquiring after her falling grades and inabilities to concentrate in class. Raven had snapped after all this time privately threatening to disown him.

"I hate you."

"Do not be so childish."

"You are a slimy git. Go to hell."

"Do not talk that way to me. I am still your father"

"No. I hate you. My father is dead and I'm stuck with a freak like you in his place," Raven stormed off from her father's office tears streaming down her face.