Something About That Girl

Something About That Girl (9)

Elizabeth still felt miserable despite her reunion with Harry. The loss of her grandfather had been a terrible experience, especially because nobody actually knew where he was or exactly what had happened to him. Though Elizabeth had only known her grandfather for little more than six months, he had become very dear to her. Knowing that she was not the last member of her family had given her great consolation, but now that comfort had been taken away so abruptly.

In times like these it seems impossible to continue on with your life. Elizabeth had slipped into a state of complete apathy. She had spent the last three weeks in front of the TV Mr. Weasley had bought and Charmed for his Muggle studies, watching repeats of classic British comedies and eating whatever she could find in the kitchen. People frequently went to her and tried to cheer her up: Hermione had tried to make her interested in picking a career, Ron had spent an hour trying to watch Blackadder with her (he kept talking to the people on the screen and was insulted when they did not answer) and Harry had invited her for a ride on his Firebolt, which she gently refused. Despite their efforts, she felt completely empty inside. Mrs. Weasley had told them all to leave her alone and just give her time, for which Elizabeth was very grateful. Even though she loved Harry and the others, she could not cheer up and hated to disappoint them. She felt like an extinct volcano.

The Order still hadn't found out where Dumbledore was or what had happened to him and they were about to give up, but Lupin, who had become the new head of the Order (much to the chagrin of Snape), would not quit the search.

It was now the middle of August and the weather was still very hot and dry. Elizabeth had fallen asleep in front of the TV when she was woken by Lupin. Disgruntled, she sat up and wiped the biscuit crumbs off her t-shirt. Lupin looked her in the eyes, but she looked away. She was ashamed of her self. Harry, Ron and Hermione had been accepted as full members of the Order and were always away on missions as well as Draco, who had become Professor Snape's assistant, but she was lying on the couch, getting more and more miserable.

"Harry and the others are back," said Lupin. "They didn't find anything at the Hogs Head either."

"Right," she said dully and looked at her feet. She had not had a bath for several days.

"The weather outside is beautiful, though quite hot. Sure you don't want to get some fresh air?"

"No, I'm a little tired," she said.

"How about a nice bath then? Afterwards we could play chess if you like?" Lupin was obviously trying to drag her away from the screen and apathy, but it was so much easier to stay put.

"No thanks."

"Look, Eliza, we're going to find him. I promise you," said Lupin with a sigh.

"And what if you don't?" she said loudly and looked up. "What if he's held hostage by Voldemort and being used for some horrible experiments? Or if he's dead and dug down in a ditch somewhere?" She felt the tears burning in her eyes.

"Don't worry. Dumbledore is the greatest wizard of our time," Lupin gently said. He placed a hand on Elizabeth's shoulder. She wiped a tear away and they sat in silence for a few moments.

"Right," Elizabeth said quietly. "I suppose I can't stay here all my life. Perhaps I should take that bath." Lupin looked a little taken aback; he had obviously not expected her to change her mind that rapidly. She noticed his surprised look.

"Well, Well, Baldrick's kind of stupid," she said with a shrug.

Lupin smiled.

"My name is Amanda Stevenson," the girl said and handed Elizabeth a mug of tea. They were sitting in the room the girl shared with two others of her age. She was two years older than Elizabeth.

"I'm Elizabeth," she said and took a sip of her tea. The girl sat down next to her and looked out of the window.

"Things are calming down it seems. I think they explained the accident as a gas-leak. It's funny what Muggles will believe to be able to explain things," Amanda said with a small laugh. Elizabeth wrinkled her eyebrows at the foreign word in the sentence.

"Muggles?" she asked nonplussed.

"People who can't do magic. So, Elizabeth, how much do you know about your parents?"

"What do you mean? Their names?"

"No, I mean do you know if they were wizards?" Amanda said and smiled.

"Oh. Well, my mother showed me some kind of magic tricks when I was younger. She made a flower come up from the tabletop and stuff. But my father never did anything like that and he went berserk when he caught my mother in doing it."

"Right. Um, can I ask why you are here?" Amanda asked and looked a little nervous. On the orphanage, there was an unwritten rule never to ask directly about the circumstances of the death of someone's parents. Instead the phrase, "Why are you here?" was used.

"My mother drank herself to death. My father was killed by some men in dark clothes." A short silence followed. Amanda looked a little uncomfortable now.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you know who those men were?"

"No. But I think my mother knew. She sometimes sang this tune," Elizabeth said and started tapping her foot and humming, "It was something about, "When they come for you, you know just what to do, prepare to die - "

"- the Dark Lord will always know when you lie!" Amanda finished the tune, her eyes wide.

"Elizabeth! It was Death Eaters!"

"Death...What?" Elizabeth asked very confused. Why was Amanda looking so scared?

"The followers of You-Know-Who!" Amanda looked horrified. "The Dark Lord who has killed so many wizards and witches!" Elizabeth looked at Amanda for a moment. Then she understood. This was all a cruel joke and soon, Amanda's two friends would jump out from the closet and laugh her in her face about her alcoholic mother and the fact that for fully five minutes she believed that she was capable of doing magic. She felt like crying again.

"Right," she said sadly and bent her head. "Very funny."

"What do you mean?" Amanda sounded puzzled. "I'm telling you the truth, Elizabeth. I swear it!" Elizabeth looked up with tears in her eyes. But Amanda looked very sober and Elizabeth got confused. Was she telling the truth after all?

"W-what are you saying? That I can do magic tricks? That my father was killed by some evil wizards?" her voice was a little shaky.

"Yes, you're witch. And a powerful one for making all the windows explode."

Elizabeth sat for a moment and thought about all this. Could it be that her father knew about those Death Eaters and that was the reason he had been so against magic?

"Why does he kill people?" she asked Amanda.

"He kills Muggles and halfbloods. That is people who have one Muggle parent and one wizard parent. Like you."

"Oh. Then, am I in danger?"

"Not unless they know where you are."

"What if they hear about this accident and get suspicious? Isn't there a place I can hide?"

"Well, there is only one place in the country where you can be sure to be safe from You-Know-Who, and that's at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Being the youngest here is really a drag!" Ginny exclaimed to Hermione as she returned to their room. "I have just spent three hours getting rid of garden gnomes while you've been away on a cool mission! It's not fair!" She sat down on the bed and sulked as Ron and Harry entered.

"Complaining about your luxurious life again, are you?" said Ron. Ginny gave him an angry look.

Hermione was combing her hair and smiled to her. "Just one year left, Gin, and you'll be working with us."

"'Just' one year? It's a lifetime to me!"

"Well, it's not that exiting being on a mission anyway, we had Moody over us all the time, screaming, 'Constant Vigilance!' every time we stopped to take a breather," Ron said. Hermione suddenly put her brush down. She had an urgent look on her face.

"I just got an idea! You'll be here all day for the next month, right?"

"Yes, what a keen observation," Ginny said acidly. Hermione ignored the sarcasm.

"And who else is going to be around?" Hermione said quizzically.

"Elizabeth?"

"No, you daft fool! Well, yes she is, but that's not who I meant!" she said a little distracted.

"Just tell her, Hermione," Ron said tiredly.

"Draco, of course!" Hermione exclaimed. The others looked at her with their eyebrows lifted.

"What about Draco and me?" Ginny said and blushed slightly. Harry and Ron gave her a suspicious look, but Hermione was too preoccupied with her plan to notice.

"Don't you see? We could have her spying on him! Finding out what he is doing with Snape!"

Ron and Harry looked thoughtful for moment. Then Harry said:

"That's not a bad idea. And it's good training for when you become a real Order member."

"Oh no," Ginny said and held her hands up, "I don't want to have anything to do with him!"

"Why not?" Hermione asked, "I thought you wanted to be on a mission!"

"Yes, but he's... Malfoy!" she shrieked with her eyes fixed at the door. The others turned their head to see what it was. Draco had suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"Potter, you are wanted in the conference room," he said quite politely, to everyone's amazement. A ringing silence followed. As they all looked at him like he was a ghost, he wrinkled his eyebrows and tried hard not to look at Ginny. Draco wanted to show them all that he was well mannered.

"How much did you hear?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"What are you talking about?" he said. The others gave each other relieved looks and the tension left the room.

"Did they say why they want to see me?" Harry asked Draco. Ginny was happy to see that even though they obviously disliked each other, they were able to get along.

"Yeah, I think Lupin's going to give you a lecture about caution," Draco said. The others made sympathetic sounds as Harry reluctantly got to his feet.

"If he tells me to stay put and do nothing I am going to have a fit!" he said.

"Come on, mate. At least he's not sending you out of the country yet," Ron said and the others nodded. Draco knew nothing about it and asked with a wry smile:

"Tired of looking after you, are they?" Harry chuckled.

"Yeah, that must be it. Or they are tired of me having fits when they tell me to be cautious." The others snickered, remembering the first time Harry came to Grimmauld place and yelled at them.

"You'd better get downstairs, Potter," Draco said and Harry left with him.

"Someone has really improved these last weeks," Hermione said.

"Yeah, can't imagine why he's sucking up to us like that," Ron remarked.

"You can hardly call that 'sucking up', Ron. Maybe he's really trying to be friends with you," Ginny said.

Ron snorted. "Yeah right. People like Malfoy are only polite if there's something in it for them," he said. "And seeing the way he looks at you, Gin, I have an idea what that something is!" Ginny blushed.

"Rubbish, Ron," she said, addressing her feet. Ron and Hermione exchanged worried looks.

"Do you... have feelings for him?" Hermione asked. Ginny looked outraged.

"Of course not! Besides, Mum and Dad would be frantic if I dated him, he's a Malfoy!"

"He says he's a Black now," Hermione said with a wry smile. Ginny made a sound like an angry cat. Frustrated, she left the room.

Draco handed Snape the chamomile he needed to brew the Wolfsbane potion. The full moon was getting nearer and Snape had agreed to make the potion for Lupin. When Draco had asked him why, Snape had replied: "It's good to have someone owe you. It may well come in handy."

All in all, Draco was happy about his new life at Grimmauld place. Lupin and Snape saw to it that people treated him fairly and politely. Nevertheless, he knew that they all still resented him, but he did not mind; he resented them just as much.

He had written a letter to the Ministry of Magic, informing them that he no longer was a member of the Malfoy Family. He felt very satisfied when he sent the letter; he knew that it would definitely make Lucius angry.

Snape had become his mentor, teaching him how to make difficult potions. "Everybody can guard a person or look for clues, but a truly valuable wizard masters a rare field," Snape had said. Draco hoped that he would be skilled enough to take over for Snape should it ever be necessary. Potions had been his favourite subject at Hogwarts and even though that might have been more because of the teacher than the potions, he was not doing badly. Snape encouraged and praised him in his usual rough manner.

One thing bothered him, though. Even though he tried very hard to avoid her and not think about her, he had realized that he was falling more and more in love with Ginny Weasley. He was not accustomed to gentle feelings. His father and mother had always been very distant and the only person he truly had loved was his nanny, who had died when he was twelve. Lucius had never been gentle to his son. "Spare the rod and spoil the child" was a motto of his and Draco bore marks all over his body after his father's abuse.

Draco had had several girlfriends, but none of them ever managed to reach anything deep in him; he had only used them to kill the time. Pansy had been hard to get rid of, and he was relieved to know that he would never have to see her again. He had never really been in love.

But the red-haired, fierce-eyed girl had caught his attention at the end of his fifth year when she hit him with the Bat Bogey Hex and returned from the Ministry with a broken ankle.

Draco had admired her from afar ever since. He knew that he could never marry her because of her poverty, but he had asked her to the Farewell Ball a month earlier anyway, never doubting that she would say yes. He was simply astonished when she rejected him.

"Do you really think I would dream of going with you? You, who have insulted my best friends and me ever since you met us! You, who treat everyone with contempt just because they are halfbloods or simply poor! You, who have never spoken one polite word to me! You are the last person I would ever date!" she had spat and made him walk swiftly away, too afraid to stay and hear more.

At first, he had been certain that everything she had said was easily justified. But when he had come to think of it, he was not so sure anymore.

Yes, he hated Potter and his friends and nothing could change that. But perhaps some of the things he had done to them in the past years had been immature. For Ginny's sake he had decided to act, if not friendly, then at least neutral to them. Not that they had done anything to deserve it, but Draco felt sick in his heart remembering her words and was determined to change her mind.

"You are not paying attention!" Snape suddenly growled and made Draco start.

"Excuse me, Professor," he said a little ashamed.

Snape was satisfied with Draco's work. He was determined to make a good potions master out of him, because he knew that even the most unpopular people could be tolerated if they served a special purpose. He was a case in point

Severus Snape had many personality traits that made him unpopular, his severe reservation and vicious cunning being two of them, but nobody doubted that he was frightfully intelligent and a very useful ally. He was regarded with much respect, sometimes even with admiration by his fellow Order members. Nevertheless, none of them could be referred to as real "friends". But as he was such a private person, the general opinion was that he preferred it that way.

Snape knew all this and was satisfied. None of the Order members meant much to him, he always worked alone and never stayed for dinner. His knowledge about them was limited to names and fields. But ever since Sirius's death, he had noticed that one man seemed to be trying to gain access to him: Lupin. He had been chosen by the other Order members to succeed Dumbledore - not surprising, but highly annoying in Snape's opinion. However, instead of boasting about it, Lupin was all ease and friendliness, quiet and trustworthy as always without loosing his authority. He often went to Snape to get advice and second opinions and that was what bothered Snape. Lupin was supposed to be angry and bitter about Snape revealing his lycanthrophy, just as Snape was bitter about the past, but he was always aggravatingly polite and smooth. Snape repeatedly tried to get a response, something that told him that Lupin was human after all, but so far, without success. He knew perfectly that this was immature behaviour, but this was one of the very few persons who managed to make Snape lose self-control.

But Snape was soon going to learn that another person also could.

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Harry was sitting on his bed. He was feeling strangely cheerful. It seems, he thought to himself, that it is only possible to be sad for short periods. Either your mood improves or you become Moaning Myrtle. Harry was glad to be with Elizabeth. She made a tingling sensation spread through his entire body every time she touched him. He sat down on the bed thinking about the dance they had had back at Hogwarts. He was smiling blissfully, when Ginny suddenly entered.

"Hi Gin," he said and smiled to her. She had a strangely urgent look on her face and she was fiddling with her hands. Harry had not seen her this self-conscious since her third year when she still had a crush on him.

"Hi Harry. Um, can I talk to you?" Harry stopped smiling.

"Sure. What's the matter?" Ginny looked thoughtfully at him for a moment while biting her lip.

"This is kind of difficult for me to talk to you about, since it probably will cause you and others a little pain and only do me good, but I think I have to. Or I'll be stuck like this forever," she said rapidly. Harry got a little anxious. He did not have happy experiences with girl-talks: Usually he said or did something wrong. Hermione was typically the one who explained things for him, but in this case he seemed to be entirely on his own.

"Um, OK, fire away," he said with a small smile and tried to sound laid back.

"Well, no doubt, you've guessed, or shall we say, Hermione told you, that I had a... crush on you," Ginny began while avoiding his eyes, "And I am sure she also told you that in my fourth year I sort of gave up on you?" Harry had become a little uncomfortable, but he was curious to see where this was going.

"Well, yes, she did," he said gently. He had never given Ginny much thought as a romantic object, though he liked her very much and did not want to hurt her feelings, especially when she had such a hard time telling him this. He sensed that it was important to her.

"OK, but this is the tricky part: you see, I did try to forget you, I have dated a lot of guys, that I really liked, but for some reason, I just haven't been able to... get you off my mind. It seems no one compares to you," she said in a slightly shaking voice finally daring to reach his eyes. Harry's heart began beating a little faster: not because he recognised her feelings as his own, it was simply so heartbreaking to let her down if she would ask him out. Ginny was biting her lip again.

"Look, Ginny, I - " he began but was interrupted.

"Until now, that is," Ginny said. Harry looked baffled at her. "I mean I think I have found one who does compare to you. He actually exceeds you in some ways. He's not like you - not at all, in fact. But I don't think that is a bad thing. You see; I only went out with Michael Corner because he's exactly your height, and I only dated Dean because his voice is a little like yours, but this guy... Well, I can safely say that if I like him, and I think I do, it has nothing to do with you."

They looked at each other in total silence for a moment.

"That sounded really, really awful, I'm so sorry," she then said. Harry suddenly laughed.

"Don't be sorry! I'm flattered that I could inspire such emotions and I'm really sorry I have caused such pain, Gin. It was most unconsciously done," he said. Ginny smiled.

"I know that. I just have to ask you one thing before I give this guy a chance. If I don't get it out of my system, I'll end up ditching him for some idiot because he has a slight resemblance to you and that's not fair to either him or me."

"OK, ask me," Harry said.

"All right," she said and straightened her back, looking determined. "If you were not with Elizabeth, would you ever consider going out with me?" She ducked her head like she was expecting him to punch her. Harry sighed.

"You're like a sister to me, Gin, but the only thing I would never do was to ask you out for a date. I'm simply not good enough for you," he said gently and meant it. "Not even if I weren't with Elizabeth."

Ginny looked at him for a moment. Then she smiled and gave Harry a hug.

"Thank you Harry, now I can move on." Harry smiled.

"That's OK, Gin. So who is this guy?" he said and let her go.

"What's it to you?" Ginny said slyly and was suddenly her own mischievous self again.

"As your brother I demand that you tell me!" Harry said in a mock bossy voice.

"Okay then, but you can't tell it to anyone, OK?"

"OK." Ginny leaned in and whispered;

"It's Professor Flitwick!" And then she ran giggling out of the door.

"You won't be able to hear anything," a familiar voice sounded behind Draco. He turned around and looked right into her twinkling brown eyes.

"Sure," he said coldly. He did not know what else to say and put his ear to the door again. He hated to be surprised like this.

"I tried with these you see," Ginny said and held up a pair of George and Fred's now famous extendable ears. They were one of the most popular items in the Weasley brothers' shop.

"Oh," Draco said and straightened up. "I suppose that rules eavesdropping out."

"You give up too easily," Ginny said a little briskly and winked at him. Draco watched amazed as she took out her wand and muttered an incantation while pointing at the door. It shone blue for a second and then looked like before.

"Try again," she said and handed him an extendable ear. Draco took it a little mystified and listened again. Lupin's voice came clearly through this time. He looked at her and they smiled at each other.

"Pretty impressive, Ginny," he said and winced when he realized that he had spoken her name. He forgot why he was listening at the door and looked into her captivating eyes.

"Thanks... Draco," she said and smiled mischievously. Then she her expression became more serious. "Look, Draco, I want to talk to you." Draco was surprised.

"About what?" he said and did not dare to hope for the answer he wanted so badly.

"About you. And me," she said. Draco felt his heart beat faster. "Draco, when you asked me to that ball, I said some pretty cruel things."

"With all the right in the world," Draco said. Ginny looked surprised at him. Draco smiled a wry smile. "I haven't exactly been Mr. Nice guy to you or your friends either," he said. Ginny smiled.

"I like you, Draco. I like the new you, and I just hope it's the real you." Draco felt strange warmth spread through his body.

"I like you too, Ginny, ever since you hit me with that Bat Bogey Hex," he said grinning. Ginny laughed. They looked at each other for a long moment. Then they both leaned slowly in and met in a soft kiss. They pulled slightly away for a minute to look into each other's smouldering eyes and then their lips met again, this time in a more passionate kiss. Ginny weaved her fingers into Draco's as he moved his kisses down to her neck, when the door suddenly opened and Mr. Weasley appeared. Draco and Ginny pulled apart quickly, both with uncharacteristically red faces. Mr. Weasley stopped surprised and looked at them with his eyebrows wrinkled in disbelief. The other Order members were still discussing something behind him and had not noticed anything. Draco and Ginny swapped alarmed glances, but before they had a chance to cover up, Mr. Weasley walked past them, shaking his head mildly while muttering; "At least Molly and I picked better spots... Young people now a days!"

Draco and Ginny looked at each other and smiled.

"With Draco? Ginny, it's not funny to joke about something like that!" Hermione said and looked absolutely stunned at Ginny. Hermione knew that Ginny could be just as mischievous as her twin brothers, but the look she had now made Hermione doubt if she really was being insincere.

"I know it sounds strange, but we are together," Ginny said with a vague smile. She knew that Hermione would be less than enthusiastic but Ginny needed her to know, or else she would never get the nerve to tell her brothers. She wanted Hermione on her side, or her brothers - Ron especially, would kill Draco and lock Ginny in the Burrow forever. She told Hermione all that had happened between him and her, when somebody knocked on the door.

"Hi girls, mum says dinner's ready in about fifteen minutes," Ron said. Hermione and Ginny looked at each other. "Ron," Hermione said, "Ginny's got something to tell you."

Ron looked a little uncomfortable. "It's not girl stuff, is it?"

The girls laughed.

"No, Ron," Ginny said. Then she took a deep breath, not looking forward to experiencing Ron's inevitable fit. "I'm dating Draco," she said.

"About time you two got together, I could cut the air with knife every time you two where in the same room," Ron said. Now it was Ginny and Hermione's turn to look astonished.

"Ron," Hermione said, "You do realize she's talking about Draco Malfoy?"

"You to expected me to go berserk, didn't you?" Ron asked with a wry smile. "I may not seem the cleverest when it comes to these things, but I do have working eyes, you know. I have seen his looks, and I don't doubt that he likes you, Gin. I just hope that you're being honest about your own feelings. Do you really like him, or are you just doing this to forget, well, Harry?"

Ginny's face turned a little red. Hermione looked astounded about the insight Ron was showing.

"I have given it a lot of thought, and I know now that me liking him has nothing to do with Harry," Ginny said. "I talked to him about earlier. I feel I can move on now. I did not always like him; in fact, I have hated him ever since I first knew him, she said and they all chuckled. "But he has showed me that he can change. And if he has liked me since his fifth year, it must be for real. I don't have any money or status that he can use as compensation for his losing the Malfoy name," Ginny said.

Ron and Hermione looked at Ginny for a moment. Then they smiled.

"Mum is going to kill me," Ginny said. Hermione and Ron grinned.

"Yeah, well, at least you won't have the trouble of getting along with nosy in-laws," Ron said.

"Come on, let's go tell Harry and Eliza," Hermione said.

"Miss Parker, would you mind helping me in here?" Snape asked Elizabeth, who was watering plants in the hall where Snape's room and office were. She looked up, surprised. He had not uttered a word to her ever since he left Hogwarts many months ago.

"Sure," she said. She put the watering can down and entered his office. Elizabeth had volunteered to water plants because that would get her out of the kitchen where Ginny and Mrs. Weasley where bickering about Ginny's new relationship with Draco. It seemed that Molly had a hard time forgetting how the Malfoys had treated the Weasleys, unlike her husband who was much more tolerant. Mr Weasley had even snapped at his wife when she, in Draco's presence, said that all Malfoys were scum. Ginny was furious, Draco sad and the others uncomfortable.

In Snape's room, a large cauldron with a yellowish content was bobbling and boiling.

"I need you to stir in the cauldron while I add some ingredients," Snape said.

"OK," Elizabeth said and took a ladle. "If you don't mind me asking, what is this?"

"It's Wolfsbane, Miss Parker," he said off-handedly while cutting some kind of root in tidy pieces.

"That's not what I meant," Elizabeth said as she started stirring. Snape turned around quickly.

"What do you mean?" he asked without looking at her.

"Never mind," Elizabeth sighed and focused on stirring. She made neat figure-eights with her ladle and whistled a cheerful tune. She knew he had asked for her help because he wanted something. For months he had avoided her and Elizabeth wanted an explanation. Furthermore, she had a feeling what he was going to tell her.

"This is not a kitchen Miss Parker, I should prefer it if you stopped whistling and focused on stirring," Snape said sourly while adding the roots.

"Well, luckily, this is not a classroom either so I can do whatever I like," Elizabeth said sweetly. She knew she was provoking him and she enjoyed it immensely.

"Could you please repeat that, Miss Parker?" Snape said in his most deadly voice, the one that made the hairs stand on end on even the most hardy seventh years. Elizabeth hid a smile.

"Oh, I think you heard me - or perhaps you should turn up the volume of your hearing aid."

That was it; she had crossed the line. Snape hammered his fist into the table, causing some of the Wolfsbane to spill out on the tabletop and congeal rapidly.

"Watch your mouth!" he growled loudly and met her eyes. She returned his look sternly. For a moment they had a staringcontest.

"Were you the Death Eater who saved my life ten years ago?" Elizabeth then asked slowly and clearly. Snape snorted and turned his back on her. For a moment he stared bitterly out of the window.

"Meddling Lupin!" he said indignantly. "But I didn't save your life," he said in a lower voice, barely more than a hoarse whisper. "I just wasn't brave enough to take it. I was... weak." Elizabeth watched the black, contorted figure, illuminated by the light from the window. He looked like a giant bat, completely out of place in the sunlight. She felt sorry for him, but she was determined to get an explanation. He had been a DE, one of the creatures who had taken her father's life, but somehow she knew Snape was different. She believed in him.

"You can't blame Lupin, he didn't tell me anything; I simply remembered your eyes behind the mask. And you have been ignoring me for months now, so I figured you were hiding something." Snape stirred but did not turn. Elizabeth continued. "Look, I would never call you weak. There is a difference between being weak and being merciful, you know. If you hadn't showed that you do carry a heart beneath those black robes, I would have been dead today. So thank you, Professor Snape."

Snape slowly turned around. "I have never let anyone speak so openly to me before, Miss Parker," he said still in his deadly whisper. "Now, I can see that you like to exhibit your intelligence, so perhaps you would be so kind as to tell me if you can figure out why I did not kill you?" His narrowed, black eyes met Elizabeth's honest gaze.

"I'm sorry I can't Professor, but I'm sure you don't mind anyway, as you obviously like to illustrate how Slytherins are always superior to Gryffindors," Elizabeth answered in a voice almost as icy as Snape's. He made a funny noise, as if he had tried to hide a laugh behind a snort. Then he sat down at a chair and looked at Elizabeth, with a suddenly mild expression. His eyes were no longer narrowed, but open. Elizabeth was amazed to see that he was even capable at looking like that.

"You look so much like your mother," he said. Elizabeth was confused.

"What?" she simply said. Snape sighed.

"How much did Dumbledore tell you about your parents when you arrived at Hogwarts?"

"He only told me about my mum, that she was a seer and stuff. He didn't know my dad that well."

"Well, that's not entirely true. It is true that he didn't know Christopher Parker very well, but he does know your father. Quite well, I might say." Elizabeth's mind seemed to freeze. She watched the potions master's pale face and felt the blood leave her head.

"What are you telling me? That my dad... wasn't my dad?" She looked at Snape, horrified. Her horror turned into utter shock when he slowly nodded his head.

"No, he wasn't," he said gently. Elizabeth closed her eyes. I thousand thoughts and pictures about her father raced by in her mind. She saw his kind face and remembered his voice. This can't be happening.

"Then who is?" she finally managed to say. She met Snape's eloquent look. When comprehension hit her, she backed away from him and starred at him in complete astonishment. Her eyes were wide open and burning with tears.

"What? You? How?" she croaked. Her head was spinning. Snape sighed.

"I met your mother when I was very young. We fell in love, but obviously we couldn't be together as I was a Death Eater and she was Dumbledore's daughter. When Voldemort reached the peak of his power, Dumbledore persuaded Gwendolyn to marry a Muggle man because that would be safest for her. She would be excluded from the Magical Community. But we kept meeting in secret even though it was more than risky. She made me see her ways and persuaded me to spy on Voldemort for Dumbledore, until Harry Potter brought the Dark Lord down in 1981. The year after you were born," he said. Elizabeth felt someone had pulled the rug away from underneath her. This was not at all what she had expected.

"Even after Voldemort was 'gone', she had to stay undercover. There were still deadly enemies around, and Dumbledore was not convinced that The Dark Lord was truly gone. I only saw you a couple of times as a child. Then, when she suddenly died in 1995, I tried to stop thinking about you. But then fate made you come to Hogwarts and I could no longer ignore your existence."

Elizabeth was rubbing her temples.

"What about my... other dad?" she asked awkwardly.

"Parker never knew he wasn't your biological father," Snape said. Elizabeth turned her head and starred out of the window without seeing anything. She shook her head without knowing what to say. What does one say in situations like these? In a movie, the father and daughter might break out in peeling laughter and hug each other with tears of joy running down their cheeks. But this was Severus Snape and Elizabeth Parker. This was no soap opera; this was real.

"I know it's difficult," Snape said. "I'm not exactly what you'd expect from a father and I have no intention of stealing Christopher's place in your heart. But now you know. Nobody except for Dumbledore knows so it's up to you what you want to do with your new knowledge."

Elizabeth turned her head and looked at him. She nodded silently. Someone knocked on the door. Lupin entered with some papers and was about to speak when he saw the look on Elizabeth's face. He stopped abruptly. Then he turned to Snape to get an explanation, but he was looking at Elizabeth. She nodded at Snape again and looked up at Lupin. The room was very quiet, even the boiling cauldron seemed to hold its breath.

"It seems," she began and blinked to hold the tears back, "that Professor Snape and I are related. That he, and not Christopher Parker, is my dad." Then the first tears rolled from her eyes and splashed down at her thighs. Lupin turned to Snape with a look almost as astonished as Elizabeth's. Then he went to her and put an comforting arm around her shoulder.

"You're her father?" Lupin asked astounded. Snape nodded annoyed.

"Yes, I am. I realise how this must look to your righteous Gryffindor eyes, but please take into account what youth and love does to a man's senses," Snape said.

Lupin sighed. "I'm not judging you, Severus. Everything isn't black or white," he said gently. "I can only imagine how you must be feeling right now Elizabeth. Do you want to be alone?"

Elizabeth shook her head and stopped crying.

"I can't really tell anyone, can I? Wouldn't that blow your cover as a DE?" she said to Snape.

"Voldemort already knows where my loyalties lie by now, Lucius Malfoy must have made sure of that," he said not without bitterness. A long silence followed.

"There is nothing else, is there?" Elizabeth asked. To her surprise, Snape gave a genuine smile.

"No," he said. "No siblings, nothing else." Elizabeth smiled, a little surprised to see his transformation. The tension dissolved a little.

Elizabeth was drying her hair after she had taken a bath. Instead of wearing her usual jeans and a baggy t-shirt, she was dressed in a nice white skirt and a red top. She left her hair loose, thinking it might help to draw the attention away from her nose. She felt almost like a newborn. The news she had just received, felt much more distant and surreal now and she decided to forget them for a while and go out in Grimmauld Garden to get some fresh air. The garden was hidden just like the house; it had invisible borders and was shaped like a dome. The muggles living next door could not see into the garden, but the Elizabeth could look into theirs. A man was moulding his lawn. Elizabeth felt a little awkward being able to see him when he could not see her. He scratched his bum and Elizabeth giggled. She walked for and minute. The air was hot and dry. Harry came walking toward her; he had apparently just exited the conference room. He looked happy to see her up.

"Hi," he said and hugged her. "Feeling better?" he whispered while holding her close.

"I do now," she said and kissed him. He laughed gently. "How was your mission?" she asked.

"Well, actually it wasn't a real mission. It was more sort of a training mission. You know, we had to make sure none recognized us when we went to investigate the Hogs Head and now I've got my license to Apparate, it was quite easy. But Lupin sure is glad to have us back, I don't think he liked that I went away. He has been lecturing me about caution again just now. But I had to do something, I would have gone mad just sitting around here," he said.

Elizabeth felt a little awkward about that remark, but Harry did not seem to notice. She took his hand and they walked along the path that led to a great open lawn.

"Now you're up, would you like to go for a ride on the Firebolt?" Harry asked. Elizabeth blushed slightly; she had been dreading this.

"Um, to be honest, I'm not very comfortable with heights," she mumbled. Harry looked surprised.

"Oh," he said. Elizabeth saw his disappointment and felt terrible.

"But if you go with me, and promise me I won't fall, then I'm willing to try," she said very fast as if it had to be said before she changed her mind. Her stomach started aching.

"Sure!" he said and smiled. Then he took her hands and solemnly said, "I swear you won't fall."

He found his wand and pointed at the window to his room. "Accio Firebolt," he said and two seconds later, the window smashed and his broom came flying toward them at top speed.

"Oops," he said as Mrs. Weasley stuck her head out of the kitchen window and gave him a reproachful look. "Sorry!" he yelled while laughing along with Elizabeth. He fixed the window with a flick of his wand. Then he took a firm grip on the Firebolt and mounted it elegantly. Elizabeth had seen him play for Gryffindor and had heard people admire his talent, but when she saw him now, she really understood that he only felt perfectly confident on his broom.

Elizabeth got up behind him and placed her arms around his waist. Her knees trembled terribly.

"Oh, I'm not too sure about this," she said in a shaking voice, "promise me you won't make any Wronski Feints or whatever they are called!" she said. Harry laughed.

"Ready?" he said. Elizabeth felt a great jolt in her stomach when Harry kicked off. She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against his warm back as she felt her head started spinning. They soared up in the air, Harry looking back at Elizabeth with an affectionate smile that she did not see, because she had hidden her face. But after a minute, her curiosity conquered her fear and she managed to open one eye. What she saw made her open both. At her knees the top branches of the tallest trees of the garden, soared by. Harry made a turn and soon she was able to look in at all the windows at the top floor. A blackbird flew by with a worm in its beak and Elizabeth saw the little nest it went too. She could see miles away. The many rooftops of London could be just be made out in the horizon.

It was amazing! Elizabeth felt the whole world had disappeared and had left only a tingling sensation of excitement in her stomach. She did not dare to look down, but she had never felt magic so real.

"How do you like it?" Harry yelled.

"It's amazing, as long as I don't look down!" she yelled back. Harry laughed. Then he steered the broom upwards and landed on the roof. Elizabeth relaxed as she felt the ground beneath her feet. She got off and felt her pounding heart relaxing a little.

"Wow, I have never felt so..." Elizabeth hesitated.

"Free?" Harry suggested.

"Yes," she said. "It was wonderful." They had landed on the dome shaped part of the roof, exactly above the Ball Room. Harry and Elizabeth sat down while admiring the view. It was a funny feeling, knowing that they could see London, but no one could see them.

"Elizabeth?"

"Mmm?"

"What happened when you came to that orphanage?" Elizabeth turned and met Harry's gaze. Then she told him about the accident at the orphanage and how she had met Amanda.

"Amanda told me all she knew about the Wizarding world. It wasn't much because her parents had died when she was very young and she had lived in the Muggle world ever since. But she told me about Hogwarts and what she knew about getting there, so I sneaked out one morning, not really expecting to get anywhere, but I actually managed to slip inside a train going north. I fell asleep and when I woke up, I was in Dundee. I got off, carrying my only belongings: a bag off clothes, ten pounds and my mother's necklace. I was scared witless. For about three weeks, I lived as a homeless on the streets, along with Scotland's other street kids. They stole my money and most of my clothes but I managed to keep the necklace. I got into a great lot of fights over it but the kids got scared of me and left me alone when I made the rubbish bins in an alley shake and spit old carrot peelings at them. That must have been the reason Jack found me. He was an old squib with the biggest eyebrows in all Scotland, according to himself, and he liked reading the newspapers upside-down. But even though he was a little odd, he was at least the nicest man in all Dundee and he told me where to find Hogwarts. We stumbled through the Highlands together, but old Jack couldn't manage the entire trip so he sent me on my way and then he hitched back to Dundee. Late in the evening, I had lost all sense of direction and I was very cold and thirsty. I was so paranoid and scared that I thought I saw men in black clothes and white masks everywhere. At last, I sat down in the damp grass and just cried out of exhaustion. I had no idea what to do. I was all alone. But then, and this is going to sound strange," Elizabeth said and looked at Harry. "I suddenly felt the presence of something or someone who wanted to do me good. I closed my eyes and suddenly felt my body got filled with some sort of energy: I saw the path vividly before me. I got up and stumbled on in the darkness until I finally saw the magnificent castle right in front of me. But there were shadows everywhere and I was convinced that Death Eaters were after me. I was dehydrated and probably had a fever and when I thought the shadows where approaching me, I started screaming. Professor Snape came to me and tried to help me, but I thought he was a DE and I passed out."

She ended her story and looked at Harry.

"I don't understand about that energy you talk about. I mean is it the same that happened when you saw my past? Like mind reading?" Harry asked.

"Well, Dumbledore told me my mother had been a very powerful Seer, but when marrying my father, she gave up her talent along with her magical powers. Or at least she said to my dad. I have a suspicion that she didn't do it. That she passed some of it on to me." Harry looked at her with dawning comprehension. "Does this mean that you can predict the future?" Elizabeth looked puzzled. "I don't know. I never thought about it that way. I don't want to be the new Trelawney!" she said and they laughed. "I know it takes many years of training to be able to be... accurate, I don't think I can actually see anything yet."

"Try," Harry said, his eyes shining with excitement. Elizabeth looked at him with her eyebrows wrinkled.

"Harry I don't think it works that way, I can't force it to -" But Harry interrupted her.

"Please try! Try and see where Dumbledore is," he said and sounded determined. Elizabeth sighed.

"All right. But it won't work. The other times I had something helping me, your eyes for example, they told me your story."

"Then try and imagine Dumbledore's eyes before you. It's the same thing I do when I have to speak Parseltongue, only I imagine snakes," Harry said. Elizabeth looked surprised.

"You can talk to snakes?" Harry nodded. Elizabeth was impressed.

"You have got to show me that some day!"

"I'll tell you about it when you've tried looking for Dumbledore," Harry said.

"OK, I'll give it a try." Elizabeth sighed and closed her eyes, even though she knew it wasn't going to work. She felt ridiculous; nevertheless, she started breathing slowly and focused on Dumbledore's eyes. Blue and sharp. Blue. And. Sharp. Purple dots started moving on the inside of her eyelids, like dancing beetles. Distant whispers suddenly surrounded her. She had a vague feeling of leaving her body, but she was not afraid. The purple dots turned into moving persons, and she realized they were the ones whispering. Elizabeth watched amazed a dot turned into a familiar face. "The only reason you don't have You-Know-Who's powers, is because you are too decent to use them!" a purple version of Professor McGonagall said to Elizabeth. The professor disappeared and was replaced by another face, this time completely unfamiliar. "You are insane!" a man with a bowler hat said in an angry and scared voice. "He can't be back! Absurd!" Then a younger, purple Harry appeared, slowly revolving around himself. "He touched my face," he said in shaking voice. "He touched my face." And then the person Elizabeth had absolutely no wish of ever seeing again appeared. His face was as white as a skeleton's and his eyes dead like a shark's. "There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!" Lord Voldemort snarled in a voice that made Elizabeth's hair stand on end. He disappeared as a small purple dot came closer and closer. She realized it was crouching figure of a man. Her heart started beating faster. A white bearded man was resting his forehead on his knees. Elizabeth's heart skipped a beat when the man raised his head and she saw her grandfather stare back at her. He had a bad wound on his temple. His eyes widened, as if he felt her presence.

"Run!" he suddenly croaked, his eyes wide with panic. "He knows it all, Elizabeth! You have to get out of there! Get out of Grimmauld Place! Warn Snape! Get Lupin and Harry out! They are coming!"

Elizabeth opened her eyes swiftly. Every fibre of her being was shivering with fright and disbelief. Then she jumped up and pulled the confused Harry with her.

"Fly us down, NOW!" she yelled with dread on her face and tears streaming down her cheeks. Harry did not dare to disobey her.