Severus's Secrets

CHAPTER 2

Talena Riddle was not a part of anyone's life in the wizarding world. As far as her foster parents were concerned, she was another unpretentious, average American girl. However, she was not.

In fact, Talena was beyond extraordinary. She was suzerainty. Royalty in the world of magic for she was the daughter of Lord Voldemort. If her identity was truly known, wizards would fear her all over the entire world.

Nevertheless, she had not been found for 18 years. She knew sometimes weird accidents happened around her but never really thought twice about them. Never had she received a bad grade although she never studied. Her hair always grew when she wanted it to, and she fell out of her fourth floor bedroom window when she was five and escaped only with a small scour...

But a witch? Preposterous, there weren't such things, or was there?

*******

Meanwhile, back at Hogwarts Castle, Harry Potter was still pondering the letter he had just received from one of the people he loathed the most at Hogwarts--Severus Snape.

'Why does he have to be my uncle? Why can't he be Draco's or somebody?' Harry thought to himself. The thought of Snape being his uncle made him want to die. 'Why me?' he kept deliberating. Through all of this, another thought arose in his mind, why was he lying to his to very best friends. He had never really lied to Ron or Hermione very much before. Maybe a few white lies here or there, but nothing this big.

"The next chance I get, I'll tell Ron," Harry said aloud.

"Tell me what?" Ron replied. Harry was to wrapped up in his problems that he didn't notice Ron come in to the dorm room.

"Um...I um..." Harry began. "I have been lying to you about Snape," Harry said.

"You didn't think I knew that? Harry you're pitiful at lying, I knew from the first instant you told me he wasn't," Ron said. "I just thought maybe you wanted to keep it to yourself."

Harry was shocked how well Ron was taking all of this. He certainly thought he would be just a tad bit mad. "So you're not mad?"

"Me, no. Hermione's another story--she doesn't like to be told she's wrong, when she knows she's right, if that makes any sense," said Ron.

"Well, Hermione will be Hermione. But seriously Ron, I can't believe this." He handed Ron the letter that Snape had written him. Ron's mouth began to drop slightly as he reached the end of the letter.

"Harry, Snape grew up on Privet Drive!" Ron said.

"What? It doesn't say that," said Harry.

"Yes it does, look it says here he grew up with Mrs. Figg--Arabella Figg, your secret keeper who just happens to abide on Privet Drive!" said Ron.

"Oh my god. Snape grew up on Privet Drive...this day keeps getting weirder, and weirder," said Harry.

"It is rather strange, Snape being nice, Draco asking US for help, and you and him growing up on the same damn street! What are the odds?" said Ron.

"On a normal day, slim to none. But today--anything's possible. Watch Lord Voldemort come into the great hall tomorrow at lunch!" said Harry.

"Eh, that's a bit to out there for me," said Ron.

"I know, how about his kid or something! Ha! Like that will happen!" The two boys laughed for awhile coming up with other harebrained schemes. But, little did Harry know that maybe that one was true...

****

Although Talena was not known in the wizarding world or beyond her hometown, she was popular there. She was gorgeous; her dark brown hair, sparkling green eyes and a body that would not quit. (As the boys would say.) She turned heads wherever she went, which probably wasn't because she wore nice make-up or had a pretty face.

Talena knew that she possibly could have a special gift. Maybe she was like one of those psychics you saw on commercials between The Jerry Springer Show segments. On the other hand, maybe, just maybe she was one of the people who talked with the dead, a medium, yeah; maybe she was clairvoyantÂ…

"Mom! Mom! Where the hell is my green halter?" she shouted on a particularly dreary morning.

"The wash! Now get down here for breakfast!" a voice with a heavy New York accent said from down the stairs.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll be down," said Talena. She was still in her pajamas, when she needed to be at school in twenty minutes. She lay down on her bed, and lamented heavily. Nevertheless, just before she was about to get dressed, a dark figure appeared right before her eyes.

"Holy shit! Who the hell are you!"

"It does not matter. Come now," chattered a voice.

"No way! I'm not going anywhere with some creepy English guy in a hood!" said Talena.

"I am Wormtail. Happy? Let's go," the voice said again.

"Mom! Mom! There-" Talena began.

"No use. She's already dead, come now."

"Dead? What!" However, before she could continue protesting the man took out a long stick and shot rope around her ankles and hands. "Help! HELP ME! PLEASE!" She was now levitating off the floor and floating to the door.

The man garroted her. He made her float all the way down the stairs to the fireplace, where he threw some sort of a green powder in to the flames and yelled, "The Dark Lord's Lair."

Before her eyes, Talena was transported to a dark room, with heavy cherry wood furniture. "Finally, she has arrived," a intimate voice said. Talena felt a warmth when she heard the voice speak. The man in the hood (Wormtail) untied her ropes and removed the cloth from her mouth.

Wormtail, then gave Talena a goblet of a steaming purple potion, and said, "Drink."

"But-this is kidnap! I could have you arrested! And I am NOT excepting weird drinks from people I don't know," Talena avowed.

"Drink it damn it! I'll explain when you wake up," Wormtail bellowed.

"Like I will wake--" Talena said. However, before she could speak again she was interrupted. Wormtail had grabbed hold of her head and poured the potion down her throat. She choked slightly but after she finally swallowed the awful tasting potion, her body felt weightless, and carefree. Before Talena knew it she was sound asleep.

*******

"Mr. Potter will never change Dumbledore!" Severus Snape said. He was sitting in front of Dumbledore's highly polished mahogany desk, bewailing about Harry yet againÂ…

"You have to do what you have to do, and this includes you inviting him to spend the summer with you. It will make it so you two are not bickering and fighting constantly. Severus, you may actually have a few things in common," said Dumbledore.

"He just reminds me so much of James, his friends, his looks, his attitudes!" said Snape.

"If you want to be strong againstÂ…" Dumbledore began.

"Yes, yes the dark lord we need to unite," said Snape.

"Severus this is no laughing matter, you MUST become friendly with the boy. I can tell he does not trust you one bit," said Dumbledore.

"Trust me!" Snape shouted. "Trust me? Why in the world would he have to gain my trust? That boy has done so many things that would make me not trust him, I CANNOT EVEN COUNT!"

"Severus, you heard me. Dismissed," said Dumbledore.

Harry and Ron decided to go to bed early that evening. Yet, Harry kept awaking in a cold sweat, near dawn, he had a strange dreamÂ…

A young lady about 18, was sitting up in a bed. Wormtail was briefing her on something, the girls' mouth dropped slightly in awe. She was gorgeous. Her  hair was short, black and her eyes were a piercing blue and large. Her lips full and luxurious, Harry was oddly attracted to her. But as he kept looking at her, she resembled someoneÂ… someone he couldn't quite put his finger on. She then slipped the sleeve of her yellow shirt up, and Wormtail took out his wand and pressed the dark mark into her skin. A tear ran gracefully down her cheek, and then she changedÂ…

Right before his eyes, she became a vamp. Her eyes were now heavily penciled in black, and her lip blood red. Her hair was scattered artfully now, spiked in some places. Did the dark mark change a person? Then all of a sudden Harry's scar seared with painÂ…

Harry awoke with a start. His head was burning with pain. He knew what he had to do. Go see Dumbledore immediately.

He put on his dressing gown and slippers. He wrote Ron a quick note telling him about his scar hurting, and a brief description of his dream. He stepped out of the common room, and walked quickly to Dumbledore's office. He was stopped only briefly by Peeves, than he was on his way.

"Dumbledore! Let me up!" Harry shouted. "Dumbledore!"

"Mr. Potter, what seems to be the problem?" a voice said. Harry whirled around to see Severus Snape staring at him.

"My scar hurt," Harry said nonchalantly.

"Now really did it? Because I've heard you to be quite dramatic, and sometimes imagine these things," said Snape, "And we all know you hear voices, your father sometimes--"

"Fuck you. Just because I look like my dad does not mean I'm like him. You're pathetic. Beyond pathetic, you can't let go of the fact that maybe he was better than you were."

"HmmÂ… you have quite the dirty mouth," Snape began. "I wouldn't talk to a teacher like that,"

"Why the hell are you always breathing down my neck? It seems as if every time something important happens you hold me up! Do you want Lord Voldemort to take over? See me dead? Just so you can continue obsessing over my mum, although she was NEVER yours?" said Harry.

"I want nothing of the sort, I just want you to realize you're not always right! Even though you think you are," said Snape. Harry took out his wand and cast a jelly legs curse on Professor Snape; Snape retaliated by throwing an odd hex on Harry that made small thorns sprout out of his ears. The two cast childish hexes on each other until.

"What is going on here?" Dumbledore spoke out of the darkness. He approached the two fuming men, and put his hand on Harry's shoulder. Both began shouting at the same, until Dumbledore raised one of his long slender hands. "Now, one at a time. Harry you first."

"My scar hurt Professor, and I had an odd dream, I came to tell you. Professor Snape then appeared out of thin air, and started saying I was hallucinating, and talking about my parents again," Harry said calmly. "I suppose I got mad," he said, looking at Snape's hex-covered face.

"Is that how it happened Snape?" said Dumbledore. Snape didn't answer. He turned his back on Dumbledore and walked down the staircase to the Dungeons. "Always had a bad temper that one," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye. "So, are you up for telling me about that dream?"

"Yes, Professor," Harry said. Dumbledore led Harry up to his office; they both took a seat close to the fireplace.

"What was this dream about Potter?" said Dumbledore.

"Well, I was having trouble sleeping, and I suppose I went into a sort of a haze. There was this beautiful girl, with black hair and blue eyes, but they were so blue it was almost scary. Wormtail was there and he was telling her something, that she found shocking. She then shook her head meaning yes. Then, Wormtail took his wand out and burned the dark mark on her arm.

"The odd bit is, after she got the dark mark she changed. She had tons and tons of makeup on, and her hair was done. Right after she changed, I woke up and my scar hurt, worse than it has in awhile. Almost as bad as when I'm near Lord Voldemort."

Dumbledore muttered something that sounded like "talon" to Harry. He then asked Harry, "Was she familiar to you?"

"Yeah, almost as if I know her," said Harry.

"Mr. Potter, I believe your dream is about a very close relative of the Dark Lord. I have to ask you but one more question before you leave. Did she look like Tom Riddle? The Tom Riddle you saw in second year?"

Harry pondered this for a moment. Thinking about is she did look like him. They both had black hair and those piercing blue eyes. "Yes, she did look like him."

"You've just put a very valuable piece of information into my hands. I want to thank you greatly."

"You're welcome, Professor," said Harry. He walked out of the circular office down the staircase. What sort of relative was she? Was she his sister? Harry sure wanted to know. Harry walked up all the way to the common room, until none other than Professor Snape stopped him.

"Potter," Snape began, "I don't know what you're getting at attacking me."

"You're a softie now, you're a fucking milksop. Don't yell at me about my goddamned language, I don't give a flying fuck," Harry said. "Just cause my mum wouldn't screw you 'cuz you're a greasy oaf, isn't my issue."

"WHAT! YOU'RE A FUCKING LITTLE SHIT! DON'T YOU DARE SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT! YOU-YOU-WHY I OUGHTA!" Snape shouted. Before Harry could retaliate, Snape had his hands around Harry's neck, and was trying to strangle him. Harry thought, I'm going to die. This is it. It's all over.

"Help," Harry croaked. He could feel his head getting light, he began to try to remove Snape's hands until-he passed out.

Harry awoke in the hospital wing, feeling rather groggy. Madam Pomfrey came hurrying over to him, with a large goblet of what looked to be pepper-up potion.

"Drink up, you'll feel better," she said. Harry didn't really know what was going on, or how he got to the hospital wing. He did know his neck felt like hell. It felt like it was hit by a bludger-only worse.

"What happened?" Harry's voice was thin and weak. He struggled to get out those to words.

"Dumbledore will be down to explain," Madam Pomfrey said. "Drink up."

Harry did feel considerably better after he drank the potion. He laid his head back down to the pillow. He looked out the window - it looked around noon. It was a cheerful day late September day, without a single cloud in the sky. Like clockwork, Dumbledore came bustling in to the Hospital wing.

"Good Morning Harry, how are you?"

"Okay," Harry said in a very fragile voice.

"Yes, well Professor Snape does have some explaining to do. He handed me his letter of resignation this morning." Dumbledore gave Harry an odd look. He almost looked as if he was hinting something.

"What? I'm confused," said Harry.

"If you are feeling better, I suggest you come up to my office, where we can sort this all out."

Curious, Harry told Madam Pomfrey he felt better. (Even though he didn't.) He followed Dumbledore, but he wasn't being led to his officeÂ…

Harry looked at his surroundings, and realized he was in an unfamiliar part of the castle. He was being escorted down a handsome hallway. There were numerous doors around him, each bearing the name of a professor.

Dumbledore stopped, once he reached a door bearing the name Severus Snape. He said a password, and the door swung open. He looked inside, and saw a room furnished simply, with a bookcase, bed, couch, and a desk. Snape was sitting on the couch, with a trunk open in front of him. He was packing up books, and robes.

"Severus, Mr. Potter is here."

"Oh, yesÂ… if you don't mind may I speak to him alone?"

"No, I do not. I'll give you twenty minutes," said Dumbledore. Harry didn't want him to leave. He was scared Snape might have a repeat performance of what had happened last evening.

"Harry, I know you always thought I hated you. But truthfully, I never really have. My jealousy of your father had taken over my life, and I couldn't stand it any longer. Although I loved your mother, she never quite did love me back. Last night, when I tried to kill you, I realized I don't hate you. In fact, I wish for us to have more of a close relationship. That is why I am leaving Hogwarts. I have decided to just help Dumbledore with the situation of Lord Voldemort and take some time off from teaching.

"I am wondering, if you will come with me, and spend the rest of this year with me."

Harry gaped at Snape. Was what he just heard true? Of course he didn't really want to have to spend the summer with him. But something deep inside made him want to say yes.

Thinking about Snape, Harry realized he was kind of okay. He could sort of understand why he was so pissed off at everything. They both related on many levels.

Harry even thought he might in fact even like Snape. He was a pretty okay wizard, and he had gone through a lot of stuff in his life.

Yeah, Snape was okayÂ…