rinphantom1718

[rinphantom1718]

Resting on the table ~

[rinphantom1718]

Potions ~

[rinphantom1718]

Another portrait of Alan Rickman, this time is much better and with a bright background ~

[rinphantom1718]

Chapter 10

Our days.

The day had come when the students were due to go home for the Christmas holidays. The girls' room of the Slytherin dormitory was in turmoil as the students were finishing packing, excitedly looking around the beds and bedside tables to see if they had forgotten anything important. Rachel at this point sat quietly on the bed, watching this little chaos.

When the packing was over, Rachel went down to the living room with her classmates to say goodbye to her friends, and after that, she headed into Severus' office. He was sitting at his desk, contemplating the order on it with satisfaction: no tests, no essays, no unfinished potions. Great.

“Oh, you're here already?” Snape remarked, hearing the creak of his office door. Rachel nodded and walked over to him with a satisfied look. She always liked it when Hogwarts was left empty and free of students and Severus was briefly relieved of his work. As she approached her brother, she put her arms around his neck, looking at the table as well. “Did you see everyone off?”

“Yep.”

“What are you planning to do over the holidays?”

“Anything with you. You also promised to teach me how to defend myself.”

Severus hummed contentedly, stroking his sister's head.

“I remember, I remember. We can start tomorrow.”

Rachel smiled happily.

“Yay! Can I sleep at your place? It's the holidays, what would I do in an empty dormitory?”

“Okay, you can. Do you want to make marshmallow hot chocolate? I've got some on hand.”

“Sure. You don't even have to ask!”

Rachel and Severus made hot chocolate every night before Christmas, and then sat by the fireplace reading books, talking or playing word games. It was a tradition they had started since the girl was old enough to start eating sweet and salty things. Snape, of course, was careful not to go overboard with the abundance of flavours, but sometimes he spoiled his sister a little with things he himself had been deprived of as a child. Hot chocolate was little Rachel's first treat, though at first it wasn't as hot and thick as it should be. Later, when he got into the habit, Severus learnt to make lemon pie, which would later appear on their table on holidays or when the professor was in a good mood and had enough energy for the kitchen.

Rachel had been helping her brother cook since she was five, so she knew the whole process by heart; Severus didn't even have to tell her what to pour, how much to pour, or how much to stir.

Now, madly happy that she could finally use magic to cook for herself, she stood at the cooker, watching carefully as the milk heated in the pot. Severus was chopping chocolate at the same time, casting occasional glances at the milk as well.

“Remember, no boiling.”

“Mm-hmm,” Rachel nodded concentratingly. When the milk was hot enough and ready to boil, she carefully removed it from the cooker and poured it into the pot, which already contained Severus's chopped chocolate. The first batch was ready. After doing the same with the second, they settled down in the living room by the fireplace, enjoying the treat and chatting about many things.

The next morning Rachel woke up a little later than usual, allowing herself to sleep longer. Lifting her head, she assessed whether she could get out of bed unnoticed. Severus slept on his side with his back to her, he usually occupied the edge of the bed and his sister was positioned against the wall, but for the most part it didn't prevent her from getting out of bed if necessary. Carefully sitting up, Rachel climbed over her brother's legs and down to the floor. Task accomplished. Powell took a few minutes to change and tidy up, then lay back under her brother's side, deciding not to wake him. They would make it in time for the celebratory breakfast anyway, as Severus had grown accustomed to getting up early in the meantime, so closer to nine o'clock he would be up even without an alarm clock.

And, indeed, an hour and a half later Severus stirred and opened his eyes. He was surprised to see his sister snoozing beside him at this hour. The potionist wanted to rise slightly to look at the time, but as soon as he stirred, Rachel immediately opened her eyes.

“I thought you were asleep,” Snape said with a smirk, sitting up.

“No, I just thought I'd lie down a bit longer,” Powell stood up and hugged her brother around the neck. “Merry Christmas to you!”

Severus hugged her back, stroking her head.

“You too.”

They didn't exchange gifts; Severus hadn't instilled that tradition in his sister because he wasn't used to it himself - his family barely had enough money for clothes when he was a child, let alone gifts for holidays. And brother and sister often gave each other something for no reason. On the girl's part, it was always cute cards or drawings that Severus kept carefully in his notebook, and he often supplied her with books or other useful things.

It was the same with birthdays. Brother and sister would congratulate each other verbally and just have a nice time together afterwards. Severus, of course, wasn't thrilled about his birthday, but kept up the tradition with congratulations just for Rachel's sake.

After Severus had changed, brother and sister headed through the cold corridors to the Great Hall. Only the professors were in full attendance, the student tables were depleted, only some of the older classes had stayed for the holidays, almost all of the younger had gone home. The Slytherin table was almost empty too, so Rachel settled closer to the remaining students so she wouldn't have to sit alone.

“Have you decided to stay this year, Kayam?” She asked, seeing the older brother of her friends amongst everyone.

“Yes, I have decided to study for my exams here. The little ones at home won't let me,” the young man replied with a smirk.

After breakfast, Severus took Rachel to the castle courtyard, where he was going to give her her first self-defence lesson.

“Let's start with defence,” Snape began in a teacher's tone. “Protego is a spell that forms a shield that can protect a wizard from most spells. Let's practice with this spell. I'll give you a minute to perfect your pronunciation.”

Rachel, who was standing opposite her brother, nodded and concentrated on pronouncing the shield charms correctly and clearly.

“Ready!”

“Well, well....” Severus grabbed a handful of snow and formed a snowball from it. “Defence!”

The snowball flew swiftly at Rachel, but instead of casting a spell, she dodged it.

“Focus. You don't have to dodge, you have to protect yourself.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Powell assumed a ready stance, holding her wand in front of her. Snape threw the next snowball at her, and it hit the weak shield.

“Not bad,” a faintly satisfied smirk played on Severus' lips. “But not quite enough yet.”

The potionist trained his sister again and again until the shield began to grow stronger. When Rachel had sufficiently mastered the use of shield charms, Snape resorted to one last method. Using his wand, he formed and raised a dozen snowballs into the air, then launched them at his sister at once.

“Protego!” Rachel shrieked, waving her wand. This time she managed to create a shield strong enough to hold all the snowballs.

“That's better,” the approval on Severus' face was clear now. Of course, snowballs were the most harmless thing Rachel would encounter in her life, but the groundwork had been laid and her shielding abilities would grow over the years, but for now, it was enough for a first-year student.

[rinphantom1718]

Just look at him~

He's almost a sunshine, but a little bit tired

[rinphantom1718]

Chapter 9

Memory.

Hogwarts, 1985. Christmas Eve.

That evening, the day all the students had gone home, Severus had taken the now grown-up Rachel to the Great Hall for dinner. Now that the corridors were empty, he could safely let his sister walk around the castle and explore its surroundings, something he had never been able to do before, as the girl might get lost in the crowd of young wizards.

Little Rachel looked around the corridor with interest, wondering what she was seeing, even though it all seemed vaguely familiar to her. Usually, when the castle was full of students, she didn't have time to look at the interior, it was important for her to watch her step and make sure she didn't run into a clumsy first-year, or she into him.

“Why is it so empty in here?” She asked, looking at her brother with interest as he walked leisurely behind her.

“All the students had gone home.”

“Why?”

“There's a holiday tomorrow. Christmas,” Severus answered, keeping his eyes on his sister to make sure she didn't crash into anything or fall into any of the hidden traps scattered around the castle.

“What is this holiday?” The girl was still curious, looking at the gargoyles and the burning torches.

“This holiday signifies the beginning of a new year. It is used to count the years and centuries.” The potionist explained, trying to make his explanation simpler by omitting the religious version of the holiday. “For example, now it's 1985, but next morning it will be 1986, got it?”

“And how do you know when the year is over?”

Severus sighed quietly, but answered anyway:

“There are twelve months in a year, and they repeat from year to year, alternating with each other. As soon as the end of December, the first winter month, comes, it's the end of the year.”

“What year is it?” Rachel asked, looking away from her surroundings and frowning slightly.

“1985,” Severus repeated calmly.

“And I'm five years old. Why is that?”

“Because you were born in 1980. Five years have passed since then, and it's 1985. It is by counting by the date that you can determine your age.”

“I was born in April, wasn't I?”

Severus nodded.

“Yes, on the eighteenth of April, 1980.”

“And you?”

“And me,” the potionist sighed again, thinking for a moment to remember a date he hadn't paid much attention to in years, “ninth January 1960.”

“So how old are you, then?”

“Twenty-five years old. Next month, January, I'll be twenty-six.”

“Is that a lot?”

“Not for a wizard,” the brother and sister reached the doors of the Great Hall and stepped inside. Severus had not allowed his sister to talk at the table, so this short period of time he was finally able to spend in silence.

After dinner, brother and sister spent time in the living room. The stream of curious Rachel's questions resumed again, which Severus had already resigned himself to and just endlessly answered something.

“What do they do at home at Christmas?” The girl asked with interest, sitting on her brother's lap as he tried to read a book while resting in an armchair.

“Spend time with family, decorate the house, like our Great Hall, cook a festive meal,” Severus listed, not taking his eyes off his reading.

“What's family?”

“The people closest to you.”

“Like you and me?”

The young professor put the book down slightly, looking at his sister thoughtfully, deciding whether or not to tell her about her original family. Making up his mind, he nodded slightly.

“Yes, but not only. In general, a family is made up of children and their parents and their relatives. You and I are brother and sister... third cousins. You and I have different parents, but they're related to each other.”

Rachel rounded her eyes in surprise.

“But it's just the two of us. Where are our parents?”

“They...” Severus swallowed, frantically trying to find the right words. It was still a sensitive issue for him; he felt responsible for the deaths of people he knew and cared about, not to mention his relatives, even if he didn't know them. He wasn't responsible for their deaths, but still, that didn't exempt him from the feeling of involvement and the constant thoughts that he could have saved them, if only he had known how. “They're gone. They died when you were just a baby.”

“Will I never see them again?”

“Sadly, no. But you look a lot like your mum. I think when you grow up, you'll realise what she looked like.”

“Was she a witch, too?” Rachel's interest lit up as she gazed into her brother's face, waiting for more information.

“Yes.”

“Mum... and who else is in the family?”

“Dad, but I don't know anything about him. Mum and Dad are the parents of the children. There can be more than one child, and they're siblings to each other. Mum and Dad's parents are grandparents to the children...” Severus was suddenly silent, thinking that Rachel wouldn't understand anything by ear, so, holding his sister, he reached for a quill and a sheet of parchment on the coffee table, then closed the book, put it under the sheet and began to draw a diagram on it. “This is what a standard family looks like, there can be many branches, all parents have their parents and siblings, see how big the family is?” Rachel nodded, looking at the standard family tree with particular interest. “And here's ours. You see, we're from two different families, Prince and Powell, but we're related because these two different families come from the same family,” Severus drew two known beginnings of the two families and a common one. The relatives he didn't know he labelled simply by surname or family status. “As you can see, you belong to the Powell family, your mum, Alice Powell gave you her surname, so your surname is also Powell,” Snape marked Rachel's father with a question mark. “And I belong to the Prince family, but since my father's last name is Snape, I'm Snape too.”

“Does mum and dad give children a surname?” The girl turned her head to her brother, looking at him with her curious grey eyes.

“Look, mum and dad are strangers to each other from the beginning, they come from completely different families, but they are united by marriage, that is, they create a new family. In marriage they are called husband and wife,” the potionist drew a new diagram. “So, when they marry, the wife takes her husband's surname, it's always like that, well, only sometimes she doesn't. Children born into the marriage inherit their father's surname.”

“Then why do I have my mum's name?”

“Because your father and mother didn't become husband and wife. Your father left your mum before you were born. That's why your mum gave you her family's surname, since no new family was formed.” Severus circled the question mark in place of Rachel's father in a circle. “That was the end of the lineage, you might say.”

“But it can be continued?”

“Yes, if you get a husband”

“Then where is your wife?” The curious child's careless question struck something inside Severus, and he clenched his teeth tightly, trying to block out the memories that flashed into his mind.

“She doesn't exist and she won't,” the potionist replied quietly, staring blankly before him.

***

1987.

Long before the Christmas holidays, Severus took Rachel out for a walk. It was on a Saturday afternoon. All the students were outside playing snowballs or just goofing around.

“Good evening, Professor Snape!”

“Hi Rachel!” greetings rang out, mostly only from the Slytherins, the rest of the houses greeted Snape gingerly.

Eager to get away from the children's eyes, Severus led his sister deeper into the neighbourhood of the castle. There, Hagrid came out to meet them, and with him his dog named Fang, who, upon seeing the Potions Master and Rachel, ran happily towards them.

“Hey, Hagrid, call your dog off!” shouted Snape, hiding his sister behind his back. Fang stopped abruptly and cautiously approached the professor, sniffing the space around him in search of the girl. Rachel peeked out from behind her brother's leg slightly with curiosity. She had seen Fang before, but her brother had only recently started letting her get close to him because he was afraid the dog would carelessly hurt her.

“But you know Fang, Professor Snape! He won't eat her!” Hagrid replied, surprised and a little offended, as he stepped closer to them and lured the dog to him with a whistle.

“He might not eat her, but he'll run her over,” making sure the dog was a safe distance away from Rachel, the potionist let go of his sister, allowing her to step out from behind him.

“Hello, Rachel!” Hagrid greeted her, stroking the Fang's head.

“Hello, Hagrid!” The girl smiled at the ranger and then looked at the dog. “Hello, Fang!” The wolfhound cautiously approached her and sniffed her, then almost licked her face if she hadn't dodged in time. “Don't, Fang, or my face will get icy from your drool!” Rachel laughed and patted the dog on the head.

“Come on, Fang, we've got a lot to do. Bye Rachel, Professor Snape!” The woodsman turned and strode towards his cabin, patting himself on the hip for the dog to follow him. Rachel waved after them.

“Bye Hagrid! Bye Fang!”

Severus gave a playfully irritated sigh and led his sister onwards.

“Let's play snowballs, shall we?” Rachel suddenly asked, remembering that she'd seen students playing such a fun game during the walk.

“Snowballs?” The potionist looked around and, not seeing any prying eyes, reluctantly agreed. “Well, all right. But there are rules: no throwing at the head or face.”

“Okay!” The girl exclaimed happily, hopping a few steps away from her brother.

“Get ready!” Severus shouted, bending down to pick up a handful of snow. Rachel repeated after him and then, a second later, they began throwing snowballs at each other, laughing and dodging. Snape felt surprisingly light and happy, as if he had no problems, no sleepless nights, no heavy bitterness on his heart and no terrible mistakes on his conscience. He hadn't felt like this in years and thought he never would, but thankfully he was wrong. As long as Rachel was around, he was still able to get a second wind and forget about the past, if only for a short time.

[rinphantom1718]

Chapter 8

Rachel spent the entire weekend with Severus. During the day, she stayed practically at his side, keeping him occupied with conversations, listening to lectures, snuggling under his side, running some of his errands, which he gave very reluctantly and rarely. Dinner on those two days they made their own, frying eggs or toast. There were two advantages to this: Rachel could practice cooking on her own, and Severus could watch her and correct some things. It was time for the girl to learn to be independent; she wouldn't always be at Hogwarts, where the elves did all the housework, and she wouldn't always have Severus around to help her.

Over the weekend, the still weak crust on Severus' wounds had grown stronger, the bite healing rapidly and not bleeding at the slightest exertion as it had before, which Snape himself couldn't help but be pleased about.

Monday morning, Rachel once again woke Severus on her own, but at his insistence, for the last time. He was actually feeling much better by now, so he could already manage his little morning routine on his own. Besides, the professor should get back into an active rhythm of life again after a rather relaxed weekend.

Between classes, Rachel met up with Hermione again in the courtyard. They hadn't left the habit yet, despite the fact that Granger had recently become quite close friends with Harry and Ron, the boys who had saved them from the troll on Halloween.

“Did you see what was going on at the match?” Hermione whispered excitedly. Rachel nodded.

“Of course, it was hard not to see it.”

“Who do you think needed Harry to fall off his broom?”

Powell shrugged her shoulders. What could she say? Her brother hadn't given her a definite identity, but he claimed there was such a person. By Rachel's own reckoning, it was someone grown up, which was what she had informed her friend.

“It must be someone skilled in the Dark Arts,” Granger suggested.

Powell remained silent. Of all the professors, only Quirrell and Snape could really know the Dark Arts well by sight. About the others, the girl wasn't so sure. But she also knew for sure that her brother had nothing to do with what had happened; he was trying to stop someone. Quirrell, then? No, he seemed too weak-willed for that.

“Listen, I've noticed something here...”

Rachel looked at her friend with mild curiosity.

“And what's that?”

“Your interaction with Professor Snape, it's kind of... unusual,” Powell arched an intrigued eyebrow. Had she really guessed? “You're in frequent contact, and he was somehow very worried about you that Halloween, even checked to see if you were hurt, though Professor McGonagall didn't even touch us. You know all the Slytherins, you know Hogwarts well, you know Hagrid...”

Hermione glanced at Rachel, expecting her to summarise it for her and confess her ‘secret’, but Powell was in no hurry to speak and waited with an interested smirk for her friend to say it out loud.

“Is that him...your brother?”

“Yeah.”

“But why didn't you tell me that?”

“My brother has a reputation,” Rachel shrugged. “It wouldn't have been right for you and Neville to find out from the start.”

“I see... And you actually grew up at Hogwarts?”

“Yes, in a way.”

“How is he, by the way? I saw him limping,” Hermione asked as if in between.

“He's fine, he's recovering fast.”

“Do you happen to know what happened to him?”

“I know, he fell down the stairs,” Rachel lied without even blinking, having thought of that option over the weekend, knowing that the Slytherins would definitely ask her about Severus's injury. Hermione nodded. For a moment she was actually confused at her and the boys' version of it, but then she thought Rachel was just covering for the professor. “Do you know who set him on fire at Quidditch?”

Granger flinched, caught off guard. Rachel's tone when she asked the question had changed, becoming ingratiating and suspicious. Powell eyed her friend carefully, waiting for her to answer.

“Did you...did you see that?”

Rachel nodded.

“It's just... I saw him whisper something, looking intently at Harry, and I thought...”

Powell raised her eyebrows in indignation.

“He wouldn't use Dark magic against a student! It was a counterspell,” she countered, knowing full well that Severus was trying to hold back Harry's broom. Rachel had asked him directly about it, trying to figure out what his brother had been so ‘something else’ busy doing that he hadn't noticed he'd been set on fire.

“But no one else was looking at Harry so intently but him.”

“How do you know? Everyone was looking at him at that moment. Maybe someone wasn't mumbling like brother, but it clearly wasn't him.”

“I know you believe him, but...”

“Are you saying he's lying to me?” Hermione's insistence pissed Rachel off so much that her fringes stood up in anger, as if it were electrified. “Why him? Just because it just so happened that he was the only one muttering at the moment Harry's broom rebelled?”

“You're lying to me. He didn't fall down the stairs, he was bitten by a guard dog!” Granger whispered back, then looked around to see if they were drawing attention to themselves.

“How do you know?”

“Harry saw his wound when he looked into the teachers' lounge... long story.”

Rachel breathed deeply, trying to calm her fervour. She wasn't getting past Granger's arguments yet, but she wasn't going to give up. She believed her brother. The girl exhaled slowly and covered her eyes, calming down, her fringes slowly lowering.

“He is responsible for the safety of what the dog is guarding. He has no reason to steal it!”

“Then why did the dog bite him?”

“Because it doesn't care who it bites!”

Hermione remained silent, deciding it was useless to insist. Snape had apparently concocted a believable fairy tale for his sister, and she would only believe him.

“Well, let's drop it.”

“That's right, we should stay out of it.”

[rinphantom1718]

Briefly on how Rachel sees Severus~

[rinphantom1718]

Chapter 7

The next morning, Rachel was determined to visit Severus to help him in whatever way she could with his morning routine. Snape would certainly not be happy about it, as he did not like to show weakness even in front of his sister, but nevertheless she was not about to back down.

Walking into their room, Powell sat down quietly on the edge of the bed, waiting for rise time. She knew for a fact that her brother had set the alarm clock, so she prepared to switch it off as soon as it rang. The hands on the clock read five to seven. Rachel watched the hands carefully, leaning forward. When there was one minute left before the alarm, she put her palm to the alarm clock. Three, two, one... The alarm clock only managed to emit the first two shrill ringing notes before Powell slammed it down, knocking out the mechanism. Severus frowned and slowly opened his eyes. His sleepy gaze didn't immediately recognise his sister in the semi-darkness of the room, so he reached for the clock to check the time. It was only as he set the alarm clock back down that the professor noticed Rachel watching him.

“Is something wrong?” Snape asked hoarsely, wiping his face with his hands.

“No, I just wanted to wake you up.”

“Why?”

“You usually get up abruptly when the alarm goes off, and Madam Pomfrey always said you shouldn't get up abruptly when you're injured.”

Severus arched an eyebrow at first, looking at his sister. When had she ever picked up Madam Pomfrey's healer stuff? Then his sleepy mind remembered that he himself had personally left Rachel in the healer's care a few times when he'd gone into the Dark Forest to get some potion ingredients.

“When injured?” The potionist repeated in a still sleepy voice, sitting up.  His leg immediately protested, causing a sharp pain in every wound from Fluffy's teeth and every bruise. Severus gritted his teeth tightly, trying not to make a sound. “I see...”

Snape rubbed his face with his hands again, chasing away the remnants of sleep. Rachel, meanwhile, got out of bed and went to the wardrobe, thinking she would get her brother a robe, but was surprised to see that it wasn't there. Severus hadn't had the energy to change last night, so he'd just thrown his cloak on the chair and gone to bed in his clothes, freezing in the same position all night.

“I'm in my clothes,” the potionist said hoarsely, seeing his sister's confusion.

“Oh, I hadn't noticed. Where's your cloak?”

“On the chair.” Severus waved his hand. “Let it stay there, I'll grab it on the way.”

Well, Rachel couldn't help her brother with his clothes. The only thing left was getting the class ready for their lesson.

“Do we have practice today?”

Snape nodded.

“Can I try to write potion recipe on my own?”

Severus arched an eyebrow curiously, looking at his sister.

“Today we have a Sleeping Potion, are you sure you remember the whole recipe?”

Rachel nodded readily.

“Yes.”

After thinking for a bit, the professor accepted his sister's suggestion.

“Good. I'll check in five minutes.”

Powell nodded and left the room. Five minutes later, Severus came out to the lab as well. He was limping badly, but tried to hide it by forcing himself to walk straighter. He didn't want his students to see it.

“How's it going?” He asked, coming up to the board. Rachel was already finishing the recipe, writing the letters as neatly and nicely as she could on the unfamiliar surface. Severus scanned her notes carefully, looking for mistakes, but found none.

“Well done,” the potionist said with a note of pride in his voice, stroking his sister's head. “Well, run to the common room. I'll get to the Great Hall somehow.”

At break between classes, Rachel met up with Hermione. Granger was very disturbed by what had happened yesterday and was worried about her friend.

“Professor Snape didn't scold you too much, did he?”

Rachel almost acted surprised to hear her question, but then remembered in time that Hermione still didn't know they were related.

“No,” Powell shook her head. “I just don't understand why you lied.”

Hermione rounded her eyes in surprise and looked round anxiously.

“If the boys had taken the blame, it would have been theirs alone. But they saved us,” she whispered, afraid of being overheard. “Professor Snape... Does he know?”

“Yes, he didn't believe you. I had to tell him. But you've already been punished, nothing will change, I guess.”

“I really hope so...”

***

Saturday morning Rachel also woke Severus up, and then after breakfast the two of them went to the first Quidditch match of the year. After the game was over rather quickly, Powell stayed in the dormitory for a while, finishing up her assignments for Monday. Snape, in the meantime, decided to treat his leg with some dittany. Just that would help him take his mind off what was going on at the match for a bit. Quirrell had pissed him off: how dare he try to kill Harry Potter in front of so many witnesses? On top of that, someone needed to set the Potions Master's cloak on fire. If Quirrell hadn't fallen off the bench at that moment, the boy would have been finished.

Taking a pre-prepared vial of dittany, Severus retreated to his room and began this extremely unpleasant procedure. The searing pain instantly erased any thoughts of Quidditch from his mind, leaving only a couple of curses, which the potionist happily used to recall Fluffy and Quirrell with.

Finished with his treatment, Snape put everything unnecessary away on the bedside table and lay down, freezing in one position. Gradually he got used to the burning throbbing from his wounds and felt himself slowly falling into sleep.

He woke up in time for lunch. Rachel had been in the room for a while and was quietly waiting for him to wake up.

“What are you doing here?” He asked sleepily, wiping his face.

“I'm going to be with you all day.”

“Why?” Severus raised himself up on his elbows and then tried to sit up carefully, clenching his teeth tightly.

“To help you. You need to rest at least for tonight and tomorrow. Especially if you're under the influence of the dittany.”

Sitting up comfortably enough, the professor glanced at the bedside table where he'd left the bandages, cotton wool and potion bottle, but none of it was there. Rachel had put everything away as soon as she'd entered the room, knowing full well that it would get in the way and that her brother would certainly make an attempt to put it all away himself.

Severus knew well enough that Rachel was right: rest was a must when using dittany on serious wounds, for the potion itself was very painful, and to be on one's feet with such pain was nothing short of torture. On top of that, the crusts on the professor's wounds were still tender and fragile and would start to bleed and burst as soon as he put his foot down, so it was really smart of him not to be stubborn and let himself recover a little.

Sighing, the potionist reluctantly nodded.

“Alright, you're right. But don't get too carried away with it, you know my attitude towards that sort of thing.”

Rachel nodded. Naturally, she knew. Her brother only allowed her to help him with some things for her development, and at times when he needed help due to weakness or illness, he stubbornly wouldn't let her do anything and grumbled. Rachel had never been able to guess the reasons for Severus' behaviour, but she hoped that sooner or later she would find the answer, well, or train her brother to rely on her for help.

“You saw what happened at the match, didn't you? What was it?” Powell asked, deciding to change the subject.

The potionist ran a hand through his hair, tucking the strands away from his eyes as he thought about how he should explain what had happened at Quidditch to his sister. The story was too long to tell all at once, and there were some things she wasn't supposed to know yet.

“The man who wanted to steal the important thing on Thursday put a curse on Potter's broom, so it rebelled,” Severus finally answered, choosing his words carefully.

“But why?” Rachel tilted her head to the side curiously, waiting patiently for more details. But she wasn't likely to get them.

“I don't know yet.”

Rachel frowned.

“This is dark magic, isn't it? Why is this man still here if he's so dangerous? You know his identity.”

“I have no evidence against him.”

“But you saw him! Professor Dumbledore isn't going to say you imagined it.”

Severus snorted. Indeed he wouldn't. He's the one who gave him the task of keeping an eye on Quirrell, but I don't know why he's delaying. He almost killed Potter, and isn't that reason enough to kick him out of the school?

“He won't,” Snape shook his head. “But it's not proof.”

Rachel raised her eyebrows in bewilderment at the strange logic of the adults, but she didn't insist; it wouldn't make any difference anyway. In fact, Severus surmised the reason for the Headmaster's inaction: Quirinus would most likely leave Hogwarts one way or another, dead or alive, since it was all about the curse that had been in place for years for the position of Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts. None of the previous teachers had stayed in that position for more than a year. So, getting rid of Quirrell now and putting someone else under the curse made no sense. The main thing was to make sure that bloody stutterer didn't kill Potter before the end of the year.

“One more thing,” Rachel suddenly remembered, “I thought there was smoke coming from your podium, or was I imagining it?”

Snape didn't know if it was real or imagined either. One second he thought he was on fire, and then the flames were suddenly gone. Either he was being pranked or Quirinus had decided to set him on fire after noticing that he was preventing Potter from falling off his broom.

“I don't know, I could kind of smell smoke too, but I never saw the flame.”

Rachel tilted her head thoughtfully, running that moment through her mind. Seeing the smoke, she decided to look through her binoculars to see what was burning. Eventually she noticed that the fire was somewhere near Severus, but then it all disappeared, and after a while one of the students came out from under the bench. She could even make out who.

“But the burning was right next to you.”

“I was focused on something else,” the potionist shrugged. “Okay, let's forget about it for now.”

[rinphantom1718]

A very disgruntled bitten Sev

[rinphantom1718]

Chapter 6

Our days.

On Saturday, after working on the rest of her homework and an afternoon walk with her friends in the courtyard, Rachel made her way to Severus' office. They hadn't been able to have a long talk on Friday, so Powell was eager to continue the conversation. Especially since she had one question left.

“Well?” Snape set aside his quill and rested his chin on his clenched palms, looking at his sister with interest. Rachel squirmed a little in her seat.

“I... made friends with one girl from Gryffindor...” she began uncertainly, watching carefully to see how her brother would react. Severus raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“And?”

“Her name is Hermione Granger,” Snape almost rolled his eyes, but stopped himself in time. The girl hadn't made a particularly favourable impression on him so far, but he wasn't going to give up on her completely. Granger was the second brightest of all the first-years after Rachel, so let them be friends if they could, it wouldn't hurt his sister much. “Not that I want to snitch, but Malfoy called her some weird word, and I'm just wondering what it means. It's a mudbl...”

“Stop, don't say it. I get it,” Severus interrupted his sister abruptly, frowning.

“What does that mean? Is it a bad word?”

“It's... a very offensive word for Muggle-born wizards.”

“Muggle-born? Is there such a thing?” Severus nodded.

“There are three types of wizards nowadays: purebloods - those who have no Muggles in their lineage; half-bloods - those born of a Muggle and a wizard; and Muggleborns - wizards from a Muggle family. As a rule, muggle-born wizards come from families descended from a squib - a person from a pureblood wizarding family who does not possess magic.”

“Does that have any effect on a wizard's abilities?” Rachel frowned slightly, digesting the new information.

“No. A wizard's abilities don't depend on blood purity,” Severus shook his head. “It's just a prerogative of purebloods to divide wizards into higher and lower classes, though there's really no difference. The main thing is to have the right brains.”

“What are we like?”

“Both half-bloods. You and I both had witch mothers and Muggle fathers. But you'd better not spread that among your fellow students.”

Rachel nodded, then arched an eyebrow in interest.

“You said you didn't know anything about my father.”

“I really didn't until I found your mother's diary one day. That was a long time ago, when you were a little girl. Then I decided to tell you little by little everything I learnt.”

“Will you show it to me?”

“Yes, of course. In the summer. I left it at home.”

***

Two months gradually passed. Halloween came. Rachel continued to make progress in her studies, and Severus tried to get through his boring professor routine as usual. And the further the time went on, the more tired he looked, though he tried not to stay up late. For the most part, he was successful, since Rachel had caused him to develop a new sleep habit over the past ten years, but sometimes, when work demanded it, he had to stay up late to get things done.

In those two months, Rachel had almost completely managed to come to terms with her brother's constant absence from her side and had become accustomed to the hectic student life. But she didn't stop staying late on Fridays after Potions class, and she still visited Severus on weekends.

“Can you imagine how jealous a lot of the students are of you, because they miss their parents too,” Severus remarked one day during a conversation with his sister on a day off.

“Yes, it's sad. But I wouldn't trade our meetings for anything,” Snape hummed, ruffling his sister's hair.

“Of course you wouldn't.”

On Halloween night, Rachel was heading to the bathroom after her herbology class to wash her hands before dinner. When she was done, she closed the tap and was about to leave when she heard some strange noises.

“Who's there?” she asked, leaning over slightly to see if anyone was in the stalls, but the girl was sure that there was no one else here besides her. There was silence in response. Deciding that she had imagined it, Rachel walked towards the door, but then she heard the rustle of a robe and a quiet sniffle. “Answer me! I know someone's in here!”

“Go away! I want to be alone!” Someone answered her with a sob.

“Hermione? What are you doing here?” Rachel headed for the stalls.

“I told you...”

“Are you crying? Let's talk. I'm not leaving, you know that.”

There was silence. Rachel waited patiently for her friend's decision and then, after a few moments, one of the stalls opened.

“Well, tell me.”

After a very long conversation Hermione finally calmed down.

“That's better,” Rachel smiled encouragingly at her friend. “Let's go to the Great Hall, there's sure to be lots of Halloween goodies!”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Well, it's a holiday,” Hermione nodded and turned the latch of the stall. Suddenly they heard the door open abruptly and someone stomped into the bathroom. The room was filled with a disgusting odour. The door slammed shut and the click of the keyhole was heard. Through the crack the girls saw a huge troll approaching them.

***

Severus was flying up the stairs to the third floor at that moment. That Quirrell is clearly up to something! The stone is in danger. When he reached the right floor, the potionist moved along the right wing, aiming for the room where the huge three-headed dog with the inappropriately cute name of Fluffy lived. Cautiously opening the door, he realised that no one was inside. Quirrell hadn't made it to the room yet. Well, that was even better. Snape stepped carefully into the room, careful not to wake the dog, and then stood facing the door so that he could see both the beast's head and whoever came inside. A couple of minutes later, cautious but quick footsteps were heard in the corridor. Quirinus was rapidly approaching the room and finally opened the door cautiously.

“I knew it,” Severus muttered with a triumphant grin as he stepped out of the shadows. Quirrell flinched, not immediately recognising the potions professor against the huge dog, and then slammed the door shut with a look of fear and bewilderment. “Oh you...”

Snape was about to chase after him, but suddenly he felt someone's powerful jaws digging into his shin and pulling him backwards. Collapsing to the floor, the professor realised with horror that the dog had woken up to the slamming of the door and had mistaken him for his captor. Thinking quickly, the potionist stunned the beast with a Stunning spell and broke free from its steely grip. Immediately on his feet, he flew out of the room and rushed towards the stairs to catch the fleeing Quirrell.

Quirinus had already reached the stairs and was trotting down. Severus swiftly caught up with him, leaping over the steps. By the end of the last flight he had almost managed to grab him by the collar of his robes, but Professor McGonagall stood in their way.

“There you are,” she exhaled with relief. “There is no troll in the dungeons, you've made a mistake, Professor Quirrell. But it's here somewhere.”

Severus was about to say something, to turn Quirrell in, but then they heard shouting and rumbling coming from somewhere outside the ladies' room. Without thinking long, the three professors rushed in. When they entered the lavatory, they found that the room was almost completely destroyed, construction dust flying everywhere, and water gushing from broken taps. Four children, three of them Gryffindors, were staring in amazement at the troll lying there, its head crushed by its own club. Quirrell, seeing the troll, clutched at his heart and settled to the floor, while Snape examined the creature carefully, deciding to make sure it was indeed unconscious. Professor McGonagall, meanwhile, was glaring at the children.

“What were you thinking? You're lucky to be alive. And why aren't you in your dormitories?”

Snape looked up from his study of the troll and noticed with horror that his sister was here in addition to the Gryffindors. His face reflected surprise, fright, and excitement all in one second, but then he successfully masked it all with a more neutral expression. Disregarding the presence of unnecessary witnesses, the professor immediately approached Rachel, scrutinised her face and palms for scratches, felt her arms for fractures.

“Is everything all right?”

Rachel nodded.

“Yes.”

“Then wait for me in my office,” Severus ordered in a calm voice. Powell obeyed and left the ladies' room. The three Gryffindors looked at each other in surprise, not understanding why the usually stern Professor Snape was now being so gentle with Rachel. Professor McGonagall, on the other hand, ignored it completely, since, unlike her students, she was aware of the reason for her colleague's behaviour.

“So, now you,” she said coldly when only her charges were left in the room. Harry and Ron looked at each other confused.

Rachel spent about fifteen minutes in her brother's office. She paced restlessly along Severus' desk, gathering her thoughts to explain herself. Finally, the door swung open. Snape stepped into the office and headed straight for Rachel. Powell rushed to him, hugging him tightly.

“Scared?” Severus said quietly, hugging his sister back. His cloak covered her as if its large wings hid a small and defenceless sparrow from a dangerous world.

“Very much.”

“How did you end up there in the first place?”

“Hermione and I were in the bathroom when suddenly we heard stomping and smelled a stench. Someone slammed the door shut, we were trapped. We screamed. The boys came to our scream and tried to save us from the troll.”

“Is that so? So you didn't go after the troll?”

“What?” Rachel raised her head in surprise, still not letting go of her brother's embrace. “No. Why would you think that?”

“That's what Miss Granger said.”

Hermione lied?

Rachel's eyes grew even wider with surprise. She shook her head.

“No, we didn't know.”

“I believe you," Severus stroked his sister's head soothingly. He was beginning to come round to his senses, too. “I should teach you how to defend yourself...” The potionist stopped talking, suddenly dizzy and nauseous. Then a sharp pain shot through his leg, so sudden that he almost lost his balance, but managed to grab the nearest desk in time.

“Severus?!” Rachel gripped her brother tighter, trying to keep him off balance. “What’s the matter with you?”

Snape didn't answer. With a shake of his head, he gripped his desk tighter and pushed back his chair, then sank heavily onto it, letting out a painful hiss. He had completely forgotten that he had been injured. Chasing Quirrell and the ensuing worry for the students had crowded out his own needs, pushed the pain to the back of his mind. And now he could feel everything again. The wound throbbed frantically, his eyes dark with blood loss. Rachel stood in a stupor, not knowing what to do.

“I'll... I'll get Madam Pomfrey!” Powell exclaimed excitedly and was about to dash for the door when Severus grabbed her arm, stopping her.

“Don't,” he wheezed. “Better find some medical alcohol, bandages and cotton wool in the desk.”

Rachel nodded and rushed to the desk, her hands shaking with excitement as she rummaged through the drawers. When she found everything she needed, she walked over to the desk where her brother was sitting, opened the alcohol, and dabbed the cotton wool with it. The air was immediately filled with a pungent, sweet-smelling odour. Severus pulled the boot off his foot at that moment, and it looked terrible: his pale skin was stained purple and red, the wounds, large holes stretching across his shin and ankle, were bleeding profusely. Rachel aghast when she saw it all.

“Who did this to you?” she asked quietly, holding out alcohol-soaked cotton wool to Severus.

“A dog. You won't believe it, it's called Fluffy,” Snape bent down, carefully treating the wounds Fluffy had left behind. Each movement was accompanied by his quiet hiss.

“But how?”

“I'll tell you when I'm done, okay?”

Rachel wetted cotton wool after cotton wool, watching as her brother gradually stopped the blood and washed it off her leg. When the bleeding stopped, the girl handed Severus a bandage. Tightly bandaging the wound, the potionist tore the bandage and fastened it securely around his leg.

“I don't have to tell you this, and no one can know about it,” Snape began. He ran a hand over his face, sighing heavily and then turned a serious look at his sister. “But. The dog is guarding an important item, and someone tried to steal it today. I'm responsible for the safety of that item too, so I went to the dog to see if everything was okay. The alleged thief set me up, so Fluffy grabbed me instead of him.”

“Do you know who it was?”

Severus remained silent, staring thoughtfully at the floor. He knew, but he had no proof against the man.

“I can't catch him at the moment. No proof.”

Rachel frowned, picking up bloody cotton wool and the remains of bandages from the desk.

“When did all this happen?”

“Before we found you in the bathroom.”

Rachel raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“But you weren't even limping,” Powell returned to her brother, putting the bandages and alcohol back in the table. “And when you walked in here, neither did you. How's that?”

“It's all about the adrenaline hormone. When I was attacked by the dog, adrenaline was released, causing my body to fight for self-preservation. The pain was muted and didn't let up until I was calm and in a safe place to help myself. This hormone is always released in stressful situations.”

Rachel nodded slowly, taking in the new information.

“Well,” Severus wiped his face with his hands, trying to chase away the fatigue that had suddenly come over him, “we should cook something. You haven't had any supper.”

“Can I do it?”

Snape was silent for a few seconds, considering his sister's suggestion. With his habit of doing everything himself, he was ready to get up right now and go fix dinner, regardless of the fact that he was tired and that his leg hurt like hell, but at the same time he was obliged to give his sister a chance to be independent, so he nodded slowly.

“Okay, give it a shot. What do we have in there anyway?”

Powell entered her and her brother's room and headed towards the kitchen area. Opening the cabinet of edibles, all she saw was a can of oatmeal and bread.

“Oatmeal and bread.”

“That's great. Grab a pot, put the water on to boil.”

So, with Severus' occasional prompting, Rachel was able to make their dinner on her own. Oatmeal, of course, would not restore blood, but it would help brother and sister to replenish their strength.

“How long will your wound take to heal?” Rachel asked curiously after their modest dinner.

“Not long, I hope,” Severus replied thoughtfully. He'd already convinced himself that he'd have to resort to dittany to speed up the process, otherwise, with his habit of bearing all illnesses on his feet, it would take a month or more to heal. “I'm going to use the dittany this weekend and then we'll see.”

“Are you sure you don't want to see Madam Pomfrey?”

“I’m sure.”

Later, Snape insisted that his sister return to the dormitory as curfew was approaching.

“And remember, what I told you is strictly between you and me. No one can know,” he warned, before Rachel could leave.

“No one will know, I promise.”

[rinphantom1718]

Some coloured pencil drawings.

While I was drawing the sleep scene, I was reminded of this song:

https://youtu.be/mnoLQEVifgI?si=yodOXo7Wcu3IPE0H

She'll Never Know (Encanto AU fansong)

[rinphantom1718]

And a little picture of their little morning routine~

[rinphantom1718]

Chapter 5

Memory.

10 November 1981, Hogwarts.

Severus awoke this morning to the sharp ringing of his alarm clock. Blindly fumbling for his alarm clock, he tapped it, and it stopped ringing. Today was the first time in his week-long ‘probation’ that he was to spend the entire day with Rachel. With that in mind, the young professor sat up in bed and rubbed his face intensely with his hands. He need to get her now, before everyone woke up. Sighing heavily, the potionist got off the bed and walked over to the wardrobe to change.

There he was already walking up the stairs, traversing flight after flight. Reaching the fifth floor, the young man walked along the corridor before reaching the very door through which he had been getting to his sister's room for the past week. Entering the room, Severus noticed that neither his sister nor Madam Pomfrey were asleep. The girl was sitting quietly on the healer's lap as she brushed her short hair. When she heard the door creak open, she turned her head with interest and immediately recognised her brother.

“Se-u-us,” she said cheerfully, pulling her hand towards the Potions Master.

“Good morning, Madam Pomfrey,” the young man stood nearby, waiting patiently for Madam Pomfrey to stop fiddling with his sister's already perfectly smooth hair. “Hi, Rachel.”

“Good morning, Professor Snape,” the healer finally put the comb aside and tucked it into the small bag that held all of Rachel's things. She then handed the child to the professor. “She had only recently woken up, so she hadn't eaten yet.”

The potionist nodded, taking his sister in his arms.

“I'll take care of it. Thank you for looking after her.”

“You're welcome, if there are any complications, you know where to find me.”

Severus nodded again, then took Rachel's things and went out into the corridor. The castle was still empty - everyone was asleep. There were still two hours until breakfast, just enough time to attend to his sister. Wrapping the girl in his cloak, Snape slowly followed the corridor to the stairs to return to his office. Once inside, he locked the door securely behind him and moved towards his desk, near which was a hidden passageway to his small bedroom and sitting room. The little girl looked round the unfamiliar room with interest.

“What is this?” she asked inarticulately, pointing a finger at the space around her.

“My office,” Severus opened the secret door and stepped into the smaller room.

“And this?”

“The bedroom.”

Still holding his sister in his arms, Snape placed the bag of her belongings on the armchair and untied it, then used his wand to arrange everything in its place. Then he took Rachel to the snack area, where there was a small tabletop with room for a kettle and a small pan for, say, frying bread, and an equally small pot.

“I'm hungry,” the girl said excitedly when she saw that her brother was going to make her porridge.

“Yes, yes, right away,” Severus murmured quietly, stirring the porridge in the already boiling water.

After breakfast, the potionist busied himself with setting up a safe zone for Rachel in his office. She was still too young to be left alone unattended for forty minutes, so the young professor would have to keep her close to him. It's terribly uncomfortable, perhaps even humiliating, but he has no choice. In the end, he organised a small space for her at his desk, away from the students' eyes, consisting of a mat and high enough mesh fences to keep her from crawling away. Piling all sorts of toys there, Severus set his sister down on the mat to get her used to the new place. Rachel stood up and clumsily walked around the perimeter of her new play area, exploring every corner with interest. Not hearing any crying or tantrums from her, Snape realised she liked the place and sighed with relief.

A couple of hours later, the first class began. While Severus was marking the class, the students were glancing at the little girl's glimpsed figure behind the mesh fence and whispering amongst themselves. When he was done with the list, the potionist looked round the class with a wry glance.

“Now I want you to hear me. I won't say it a second time,” he began in a cold tone, standing up from the table and walking to the centre between the rows. “The child, who of course you have already noticed, will be here forever. Why she is here and who she is is none of your business. But,” the professor paused for a second, looking round the classroom with a stern gaze, “if your noise or naughtiness scares her and makes her cry, I'll take ten points off each of you without a second thought. Do you understand?”

The young wizards and witches nodded.

“Good, now we're working.”

Severus didn't have to explain the rule again to the next class. The news of a small child in the professor's office had spread faster than he'd anticipated. But that was even better: he didn't need to repeat the same thing to every class like a broken record. Rachel, on the other hand, was fairly quiet in class, at first gawking at the new faces and then engrossed in her toys.

When dinner time came, Snape had to take his sister with him to the Great Hall. He would have preferred not to leave his office with Rachel, but he still couldn't go without eating all day. The Potions Master thought long and hard about what he should do, but in the end he found no other option. The students, of course, were staring at him in surprise, and it pissed him off. His colleagues refrained from commenting, though none of them knew of Rachel's existence. Dumbledore paid little attention to it, though Snape could have sworn he saw a strange smirk on the Headmaster's lips on the way to the teacher's table.

Taking his seat next to Professor Quirrell, accompanied by his surprised look, he placed Rachel on his lap, pushed his plate away and set down another - with special food for Rachel - and gave the girl a spoon. When she began to eat contentedly, Snape took his own plate in his hands and began to eat his dinner as well.

“Where did you get a child from, Severus?” Quirrell asked with interest. Professor Sprout, sitting nearby was looking at them fascinated, listening to the conversation.

“She's my third cousin,” Severus said, stifling a sigh as he looked at Rachel's shaggy head. - She lost her mother, so now I'm looking after her.

“What's her name?” Professor Flitwick intervened.

“Rachel Powell.”

After dinner, Snape was sitting in his office checking out a pile of potions samples and written work. Rachel was in her play area at the time, playing with cubes and other interesting toys. At some point she got bored, so she clumsily stood up and walked over to the mesh fence.

“Se-u-us,” she called out to her brother, who was head over heels in his work.

“Severus,” the young professor corrected his sister, turning back to her. “What?”

“Up,” the girl reached for the potions master with both hands. He took her and sat her on his lap without much objection. Rachel looked at her brother's desk with interest, piled with books and parchment. “What's this?” she pointed a finger at the writing.

“Parchment.”

“This?” The girl poked towards the potions samples.

“Potions,” Rachel silently shifted her gaze to the quill in Snape's hand, but before she could say a word, he answered. “The quill.”

That was how they spent the rest of the evening. Contrary to his habits, the Potions Master didn't stay up late into the night so as not to disrupt his sister's regime. Walking into the bedroom with Rachel in his arms, he suddenly felt incredibly tired and, unable to find the energy to even change his clothes, lay down on the bed, placing the girl beside him, having no other place for her to sleep. Rachel crawled under her brother's side and snuggled against him, falling asleep immediately. Severus followed his sister into sleep, cuddling her in his arms.

[rinphantom1718]

Chapter 4

Rachel, being a morning person, woke up before everyone else the next morning. She looked around the room with a sleepy gaze, trying for a few seconds to get her bearings, trying to figure out where she was and why she wasn't in her and her brother's room. Then, remembering that she was now a first year student, she ran her hands over her face and threw off her blanket. There was still an hour to go before rising. Slipping quietly out of bed, Powell changed her clothes and made her bed. What was she going to do next? Normally, she would grab a book and wait quietly until it was time to rise so she could wake Severus. But right now, she wasn't with him. Of course, Rachel might as well stay in the dormitory and wait for her friends, but the very thought of cancelling her usual ritual disturbed her. After some more thought, the girl made up her mind and left the dormitory. After crossing the Slytherin common room, Rachel walked through the empty and dark corridor of the dungeons, and then headed for her brother's office from memory.

When she reached the right door, Rachel easily unlocked the door with a well-learned counterspell and entered quietly. Then she had to walk across the lab to Severus' desk, where there was a row of shelves with books and potion ingredients. Whispering a second spell, the girl activated the secret passage and the shelving unit moved aside. Severus had not allowed Rachel to learn such complicated spells right away, but only at the age of nine, and that was so that she could come to him unhindered after admission if she needed to. On her way to the bedroom area, Rachel picked up one of her books from a small bookcase in the living room area. Walking over to the bed, she quietly lowered herself to the edge of it as she usually did and silently opened the book. Severus had been sleeping soundly the whole time, having grown accustomed to the sensation of her presence over the years of living with Rachel.

Rachel had spent the entire hour reading, and when there was no time left before rising, she put the book down and prepared to wake her brother when the alarm clock rang loudly. Severus sat up abruptly, found the ringing mechanism with his gaze, slammed it down, and lay back down, taking a deep breath. After a couple of seconds, he realised someone else was sitting on the mattress and looked warily in the direction where he could feel the sagging. Seeing his sister Snape snorted, laughing at his confusion. Well, who else did he expect to see in his own room?

“I didn't expect you to come,” the potionist finally said, sitting up.

“I wanted to wake you.”

“I should have known,” Severus ran a hand through his hair, tucking the greasy strands back. “But I thought you'd decide to stay in the dormitory.”

Rachel shook her head.

“I couldn't find anything to do there. That's why I came to you.”

Severus nodded slightly, realising that his sister just wasn't used to the new circumstances yet, so she was clinging to old habits.

“Let's just agree that this is the last time. You're starting a new period in your life now, and you need to get used to it. Sooner or later you're going to have to accept that I won't be around forever. You'll have your own life, your own worries, your own family and you won't have me to worry about.”

“What about you?”

“I will live in our house, I will lead a solitary life. I'm used to it,” Snape replied in a calm, casual tone. But it was a lie. Over the years he had grown accustomed to living alone and had long ago accepted Rachel's presence in his life. But, as Dumbledore liked to remind him, she was not his property, and he couldn't keep her with him forever.

“You still haven't explained to me why I should have a family and you shouldn't,” Rachel reminded him, arching an eyebrow as Severus sometimes did when he was trying to bring her out into the open in a not-so-serious way.

The professor paused for a moment, looking down at his hands, and then replied:

“I already told you it's too early for you to know that,” he exhaled heavily and then threw back the blanket and moved to the edge of the bed. “Now, wait for me in the lab.”

Rachel nodded and left the room, giving her brother a chance to change. Severus joined her in the lab five minutes later, circling the room with an already tired look.

“Severus, are we going to have your lesson today?” Powell asked, walking over to the blackboard with her brother and watching him quietly as he typed out the fifth year potion recipe on it.

“No.”

“When will it be?”

“On Friday,” the potionist smiled slightly, glancing at his sister. “Can't wait already?”

Rachel nodded.

“Yes, to be honest,” Powell watched her brother write the recipe thoughtfully for a few more minutes, then asked again. “Severus, if I don't have to come to you in the mornings, can I come to you when I really need to?”

“Of course,” the potionist nodded, setting aside the chalk, he covered up the notes with a wave of his wand and turned back to his sister. “I'm not forbidding you to come to me. You just don't need to wake me up.”

“Okay,” the girl smiled, encouraged by the news.

Five minutes later Rachel was walking back to the dormitory to meet her friends and go to the Great Hall with them.

“Where have you been, Rachel? We lost you,” Pansy Parkinson asked indignantly when she saw her new friend in the common room.

“Sorry, I'm just getting up early and thought I'd stretch a bit,” Rachel smiled awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Did you leave the dormitory before rising?” Alhena, who Powell had been talking to the whole time, asked in surprise.

“Yeah, but that's the last time, honestly.”

During breakfast in the Great Hall, the Heads of Houses walked along the tables of their students, handing out their schedules.

“Well? What's your schedule?” Castor looked curiously over Rachel's shoulder to see the class schedule his friend would be following all year.

“It's almost identical to what we had last year. It's just a little different,” Alchena said, looking at the parchment as well.

“What about you?” Rachel took the schedule from Castor and looked at it carefully. Almost no difference.

“Ours isn't much different from yours.”

“Yes, you'd better look at mine,” the hand of a tall senior student reached out to Rachel, his face something like the twins’, but his eyes were brown instead of blue like theirs. It was their older brother Kayam, now in his sixth year. The three boys started looking at his schedule with interest.

“Wow, there are so many interesting subjects here!” Rachel raised her enthusiastic eyes to Kayam. “They're really interesting, aren't they?”

“Of course they are!” The young man winked. “I won't tell you in advance what's in them, but you guys take a closer look. At the end of the year, you'll have to choose at least two extra subjects.”

“Oh, right. The programme should increase from third year onwards,” Rachel nodded understandingly. “Well, good luck with your choices.”

After breakfast, all the students hurried to their first classes of the year. Rachel's first week of school had been quite busy and interesting. She was already showing a good command of spells in her first spellcasting class, as well as in Transfiguration, although she was feeling the difference in difficulty levels between the two disciplines. In Defence Against the Dark Arts, while a stammering and timid Professor Quirrell tried to explain a new topic to them, Powell would often whisper additions and interesting information to his lecture to her friends. Astronomy and Herbology were a pure delight to Rachel, and Potions and broom flying were something she looked forward to with frenzied anticipation.

In the breaks between classes, Rachel often met Hermione, sharing her impressions of the lessons. Often they would go away from their Houses so that they wouldn't be disturbed, or they would spend time in the closed courtyard of the school.

“Have you made friends with the guys from your House?” Rachel asked with interest, sitting down next to Hermione on the edge of the fountain in the centre of the courtyard.

“Well, not really,” Granger said uncertainly, looking away. “I'm more involved in lessons than socialising with anyone.”

“And those boys you were talking about? Aren't you friends?”

“No, I just happen to sit around them a lot.”

“Well, I think you're bound to connect with them sooner or later.”

Gradually the end of the week approached. Friday had arrived. Gryffindors and Slytherins crowded around Professor Snape's office, standing hostilely against opposite walls, sensing and accepting the rivalry that had long reigned between the two faculties. But let's be honest, it wasn't just Gryffindors who disliked Slytherin. The faculty of the ambitious and resourceful had always been one against all. However, that didn't stop Rachel and Hermione, who were standing across from each other, from exchanging welcoming smiles and moving closer to have a little chat before class.

“First potions lesson,” the Gryffindor whispered excitedly, her eyes glistening with anticipation as she looked at her friend.

“Yeah, I can't wait!”

“Hey, Powell,” Draco suddenly called out to the girl, looking out from the crowd of Slytherins, “don't embarrass yourself and get away from her!”

Krebb and Goyle giggled, and Rachel raised her eyebrows in bewilderment.

“Why?”

“You don't know?” Malfoy glanced conspiratorially at his mates. “She's a mudblood, after all.”

But he didn't get a chance to enjoy the Gryffindors' reactions and observe his classmate's behaviour: everyone fell abruptly silent when they heard the office door creak open. Professor Snape's dark silhouette appeared from the doorway.

“Come in,” he said coldly, casting a stern glance at the crowd of students.

The Slytherins were the first to enter, of course, taking the nearest place to the door.

Once in a familiar office, Rachel immediately took the first desk on the front row, which was right in front of the teacher's desk. Draco sat next to her, and the rest of the Slytherins took their seats behind them. The Gryffindors sat on the second row, looking around the room warily, especially the rack of small animals and insects soaked in alcohol.

“You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making…” Severus began after roll call. Rachel listened to him as if for the first time, paying attention to every word. “…I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – if you aren’t as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach.”

The professor held his gaze on his sister for a second, grinning with one eye. Rachel, who had been staring at him the whole time, caught the subtle hint in his gaze. Of course, he didn't think she was a dunderhead, she knew that, so she twitched the corners of her lips slightly, widening her interested smile a little for a moment, reacting to the message.

The lesson had been rather unusual. Rachel had in no way expected the little conflict that had arisen from the first seconds of the lesson between her brother and Harry Potter, who was being persistently questioned by the latter, testing the local celebrity's level of knowledge in magic. Nor was Powell prepared for the breakdown of Neville's cauldron. The caustic liquid had splashed the boy from head to toe and nearly scorched the school boots of all the students. Of course, Neville got a smack from Severus for a safety breach, but not much, as he was seriously injured and sent to the infirmary.

After class, having collected her things and carefully stacked them on her desk, Rachel waited patiently for all the students to leave the room so she could talk to her brother. Severus noticed this and waited too, erasing old notes from the blackboard and preparing new ones.

“Well, what do you think?” The professor finally asked when the lab was empty.

Rachel walked over to Severus and stood beside him.

“Marvellous!”

“Really?” Snape raised an eyebrow playfully, turning his gaze to his sister. “I thought you'd be spoilt by Mr Longbottom's unfortunate potion.”

“No, it's just... expected, isn't it? Lots of people make some mistakes in potions.”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Severus frowned, setting the chalk aside. “A lot of knuckleheads can't even follow instructions properly.”

“But they'll learn,” Rachel tried to encourage her brother. Severus snorted sarcastically. “Well... at best,” the girl smiled encouragingly at Severus and then hugged him, missing him terribly. With another disgruntled, quiet snort, the professor hugged his sister back, covering her with the hem of his cloak like a large raven's wings.

“What are your impressions of the first week?”

“It's great!” Rachel exclaimed excitedly. “All the classes are very interesting, well... except Defence Against the Dark Arts, unfortunately.”

“I'm not surprised,” Severus said, a smirk appearing on his face. “You don't get too bored in Professor Quirrell's classes, do you?”

“Not really. While he's awkwardly answering our questions, I'm whispering to my friends what you've been telling me.”

Snape's grin grew even more satisfied, and a sparkle of pride glittered in his eyes.

“Just make sure he doesn't reprimand you for it.”

“I will!”

[rinphantom1718]

Chapter 3 First Year

The train started to pick up speed, while Rachel dragged her suitcase through the carriages, looking for an empty compartment. She stopped at the first one, which was sparsely populated, knocked and opened the door:

“Hi, do you mind if I sit with you?” There were only two people in the compartment: a brown-eyed girl with thick dark hair and for some reason a very sad boy.

“Hi, yes, come in,” the young witch answered her affably. “I'm Hermione Granger, nice to meet you!”

“I'm Rachel Powell, nice to meet you too,” the girl hid her suitcase in the seat and then sat down next to Hermione, looking questioningly at the sad boy. “What's wrong with you?”

“I have lost my toad. It often runs away from me,” the young wizard said dejectedly, sniffling.

“Well, we could look for it,” Rachel suggested, glancing uncertainly at Hermione. She nodded approvingly.

“Yes, we can start now.”

The boy, who was Neville Longbottom, visibly cheered up when he heard that they wanted to help him. They left the compartment and started their way along the carriages, asking students of various ages if they had seen a toad. Rachel met some familiar faces along the way and stayed a little longer to talk to old friends. Among them were twin sophomores Alhena and Castor Elliot, whom she had met last year. They were the ones Rachel had developed a closer bond with, as they matched her age more than the other students she knew. On top of that, they had quite similar interests, so they became fast friends.

Half an hour later they returned to their compartment. They hadn't found the toad, which upset Neville. The girls tried to cheer him up, but nothing helped, so they decided to distract the boy by talking.

“Can you believe I saw Harry Potter!” Hermione boasted as they settled back into their seats.

“The same one? How was he?” Rachel looked at Granger with interest. Powell had heard about Harry Potter, if not through Severus' stories, then at least through rumours, books and newspapers, which were always discussing the boy's current life and fate.

“He's all right, a scar, green eyes and unruly hair, just like in the papers,” the girl with the thick hair shrugged, then looked out the window. A few more hours and they would be at Hogwarts. “Are you ready for your sorting?” She asked suddenly.

“Basically, yes,” Rachel said calmly. She wasn't worried about the sorting at all, because her brother had filled her with all sorts of knowledge and skills since she was a child, so she was sure that she would pass any entrance exam.

“I'm not so sure,” Neville replied anxiously, his eyes rounded with worry. “I didn't even get my magical abilities until late.”

“What about you?”

“I read a lot of books over the summer, so I'm ready, I guess,” Hermione shivered uncertainly.

“My brother said it wouldn't be anything difficult. It's a shame they can't tell us for sure,” Hermione and Neville nodded in agreement.

“Is your brother a wizard too?” Granger tilted her head to the side interestedly. Rachel nodded.

“Yeah, and my mum, too... was. Anyway, I come from a family of wizards, if that's what you mean.”

“Was? What happened to her?”

“She died at the hands of Death Eaters when I was little, so my brother raised me all my life,” Powell shrugged, saying the words calmly, casual, used to saying the same thing to her Slytherin friends over the years. The girl's bluntness made Hermione cringe, trying to find the right words.

“I'm sorry, you probably wouldn't want to talk about it.”

“I'm used to it. You're not the first, you're not the last. So it's okay.”

“You're right... how do you know those older students?” Hermione asked, trying to change the subject.

“Oh, it's a long story,” Powell waved off, deciding not to go into the details of her life with Severus just yet. It might shock her new friends, and Rachel didn't want to talk about their relationship, because she knew her brother held a certain reputation in front of the students, so they shouldn't have the slightest idea of the other side of his personality. “Have you... have you thought about what House you want to go to? I was thinking Slytherin.”

“I'd like to go to Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. What about you, Neville?”

“My grandmother would have wanted me to go to Gryffindor.”

The hours flew by as they talked on and on. The train was gradually approaching Hogsmeade station, and all the young wizards were hurrying to put on their school robes. When the train stopped, Rachel, Neville and Hermione grabbed their things and began to slowly push their way to the exit. It was Powell's first time at the station, so she looked at the houses along it with interest.

“Firs' years! Firs' years, over here!” came a familiar voice, to which the girl immediately responded.

“Oh, Hagrid!” she turned around, her eyes searching for the half-giant who was gathering the newcomers around him. He noticed her and waved hello, and she waved back, then saw him say hello to someone else.

“Do you know him?” Hermione exclaimed in surprise, and then Rachel realised that she had given herself away.

“Er... yeah, I've seen him a couple of times in London,” she mumbled with an uncertain smile. “Come on, he's waiting,” Rachel headed straight for Hagrid, and Hermione and Neville followed her with a surprised look on their faces.

The half-giant led the children to the lake and ordered them to get into the boats. As it happened, Rachel was in a separate boat from Hermione and Neville, so she was making her way across the lake with boys she didn't know. Although one of them, the blond-haired one, she had seen somewhere before.

“I'm Draco Malfoy, and this is Krebb and Goyle,” the boy introduced himself suddenly, smiling smugly. Rachel remembered now that she had seen him on the platform and it was his father that Severus had greeted.

“I'm Rachel Powell, pleased to meet you.”

“So you're Professor Snape's daughter?”

“No, I'm his sister.”

“Yes, that's right,” Draco snapped his fingers, pretending to be confused. “I hope we'll meet at Slytherin.”

“We will.”

The young wizards  made their way across the lake to a small dock hidden inside the castle, then they climbed the stairs and reached the massive doors. Hagrid knocked and the castle doors were opened to him by a woman with black hair gathered in a bun and wearing a chequered robe.

“Professor McGonagall,” Rachel identified her unmistakably, for she had often seen the woman in the Great Hall and the principle in the castle. She also knew that McGonagall was the Head of Gryffindor, but she got along well with Snape. Powell had noticed more than once that the professors liked to tease each other purely for competitive purposes, but never feud.

Professor McGonagall led the students inside the castle and gathered them in a special little room in which they must wait for The Sorting Ceremony to begin, instructing them to stand quietly. But as soon as she disappeared, an excited clamour immediately ran through the room. In the crowd, Rachel found Hermione talking to a tall red-haired boy and another with dishevelled black hair. Was it Harry Potter?

Powell was distracted by the sudden uproar over some freshman shouting. Trying to find out what was causing the commotion, the girl looked round and saw a bunch of ghosts hovering over their heads. Rachel grinned, remembering her first time seeing a ghost. Severus had nearly suffered a micro-stroke that day from her deafening scream in the middle of their walk through the castle.

No sooner had the ghosts spoken to the students than Professor McGonagall came in and dispersed them. It was time to go to The Sorting Ceremony. The witch led the crowd of excited children straight to the Great Hall. When the massive doors opened, a murmur of delight swept through the children. Professor McGonagall ceremoniously led them along the hall and lined them up in a line in front of the teacher's table, facing the older students. Rachel was no less excited than the others. Something was about to happen. On her way to the teacher's table, she searched her eyes for Severus and when she saw him watching her closely, she felt lighter. The important thing was to get into Slytherin.

While the students were excitedly waiting for the start of The Sorting Ceremony and wondering what trials awaited them, Professor McGonagall brought a stool with an old patched hat into the hall. The young wizards looked in surprise at the artefact, which a moment later suddenly stirred and began to sing. The young wizards almost opened their mouths when they saw such a sight. They learnt from the song that it was this hat, which had once belonged to Godric Gryffindor, that would assign them to faculties, and that it would determine their membership not by their skills, but by their character traits.

When the hat stopped singing, Professor McGonagall pulled out a long roll of parchment and unfolded it.

“When I call your name, you will put on the Hat and sit on the stool,” she said. “Let's begin. Abbot, Hannah!”

Thus began The Sorting Ceremony. One by one the students found their House. Hermione and Neville got Gryffindor, Draco and two of his mates got Slytherin. Gradually, it was Rachel's turn as well.

“Powell, Rachel!” shouted Professor McGonagall, holding the hat in her hand. Feeling her pulse quicken, the girl walked over to a stool and sat down. The teacher lowered the hat onto her head.

A few seconds passed, seeming like an eternity to Rachel before the hat shouted out:

“Slytherin!”

With a relieved exhale, Powell got up from her stool and walked towards the Slytherin table, glancing furtively at Severus on the way. He looked at her with approval.

As soon as she lowered herself to the table, the excitement left her body completely and was replaced by joy.

“Congratulations!”

“It's good to see you here!”

“You are now officially a snake!” the students took turns shouting as Alhena and Castor squeezed their friend, happy for her.

“You're going to love it here, we guarantee it!”

The Sorting Ceremony was over and it was the turn of the Headmaster's speech. Rachel watched him carefully. She had seen the Headmaster as often as she had seen other professors in her life at Hogwarts, and yet he seemed the most mysterious of them all, and not only to her. Many of the students didn't have a definite opinion of the Headmaster either. The Slytherins, for example, didn't like him much, but the other Houses, on the contrary, admired his power and kindness. Severus, on the other hand, had never expressed a particular position.

After a few unrelated words, the Headmaster announced the start of the feast, and the students, hungry from the journey, pounced on the skilfully prepared dinner.

The whole dinner was accompanied by lively conversations: newcomers were getting acquainted, making friends and older companions, and older students were eager to participate and discuss events from the world of magic that interested them. When all the students had had enough, Professor Dumbledore gave a second, already informative speech about the rules and safety measures in the castle. After the speech was over and the anthem was sung, all the Houses went to their towers.

The Slytherin Prefects gave a short tour of the dungeons and showed the newcomers where the entrance to the dormitory was. After a brief look around the common living room, the tired students dispersed to their rooms. Rachel, Pansy, Milicenta, Tracy, and Daphne took their beds and immediately went to sleep, sleepy from the hearty meal and the long train ride. 

[rinphantom1718]

Chapter 2

The evening of the next day.

Severus was finishing checking the last of his students' potion samples and tests. Putting aside his quill, he wiped his face with his hands and glanced at his scales. It was ten to six. Soon he would have to take his sister back to his place. The thought of raising a small child had unnerved him since last night throughout the day. Snape hadn't slept well and was very tired and depressed.

Gathering all his strength, the young professor rose from his seat and headed for the exit. After a few minutes, he reached the very room that had become Rachel's temporary refuge. Quietly opening the door, the man stepped inside, and was surprised to see Madam Pomfrey there.

“... Good evening, Madam Pomfrey,” he said quietly, looking confused and searching for the little girl. He found her sitting on the mat, concentrating on picking up the cubes.

The healer raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“What are you doing here, Professor Snape?”

Severus hesitated, wondering what he should answer. He hated how helpless and stupid he looked right now.

“I've come for Rachel... she's my third cousin...”

The surprise on the healer's face remained as she slowly placed her hand over her heart and then looked worriedly at the girl, who, noticing the stranger, looked at him intently with her large grey eyes. It was only now that Severus noticed how much she looked like her mother and was finally able to remember what Alice had looked like.

“Why didn't you pick her up sooner, then?” - Madam Pomfrey asked reproachfully, frowning slightly.

“I only found out about it last night from Professor Dumbledore, I didn't know before that.”

“I see,” the witch looked at the child thoughtfully, wondering what to do. She was not going to give the girl into the hands of an inexperienced wizard. “Let's do this: play with her for now, and I'll make her porridge, then see how and what to feed her with.”

“Play?” Severus eyed the mat of toys warily. “How do you envisage it?”

“Very simple: talk to her, try to connect with her. Children don't like strangers at this age, but she needs to get used to you if you're going to raise her. Well, sit down,” Madam Pomfrey pointed eloquently at the mat and went to the other side of the room to prepare food for the child.

With no other choice, Severus approached the mat. Rachel looked at him warily, but with a small glint of curiosity in her eyes.

“Er... hello...?” the young professor knelt down next to the girl, looking at her confused, not knowing what he should do. The child stared back at him, studying him intently. Feeling terribly awkward, the potionist examined the toys on the mat, trying to find a clue at least in them. He picked up a plush fox cub and held it out to Rachel. “Here you go. Do you want to play with it?”

The girl eyed the stranger warily, not accepting the toy from his hands. Feeling a little disappointed and desperate, Severus sighed quietly and put the fox cub down. Having lost interest in him, Rachel went back to assembling a pyramid of cubes, and the professor decided to just watch her without interfering.

After a few moments of silence, Snape noticed a small hand reaching for him with a cube.

“Here,” the child persistently held it out to him, and he took it gingerly, determined not to miss the chance.

“Thank you,” he said quietly and uncertainly, watching the girl's reaction carefully. “Let's put it right here, shall we?” With a slightly trembling hand, the wizard placed the cube on top of the tower. He was relieved to see that Rachel didn't protest his actions, and even more so, she smiled and clapped her hands ineptly, and then held out the next cube to the professor.

***

Our days.

The morning of the 1st of September 1991. Cokeworth, Spinners End.

“Severus, get up,” Rachel shook the professor lightly by the shoulder. She had deliberately snuck into his room to wake him up. “Severus, Severus.”

The Potions Master stirred in his sleep and frowned, then slowly opened his eyes. Rachel had grown up a lark and he disliked getting up early a great deal, so they had an agreement to have the girl wake him no earlier than nine. But today was a special day and Severus had to get up an hour early.

“Get up,” the girl was almost bouncing on the bed with happiness, “I'm going to Hogwarts today!”

Snape groaned quietly and reluctantly sat up in bed, actively rubbing his face with his hands to wake up.

“That's not news to me, you go there every year,” he muttered quietly.

“Yes, but now I'm going to study there!” Rachel got off the bed, adjusting her clothes in a familiar gesture. “Let's go to the kitchen, I've already cut everything I need, I just need to fry it. Eh, it's a shame I can't do magic....”

With a heavy sigh, Severus threw off the blanket and sat on the edge of the bed, still trying to wake up. This Hell was about to begin. Again, he thought with frustration.

“Go downstairs, I need to change.”

“Okay!” The girl nodded cheerfully and then left the room. Snape heard her coming down the stairs a couple of moments later and then sighed heavily again, wiping his face one last time.

He came down to the kitchen five minutes later, dressed as always in black clothes, but not his usual robe. They were going to be in a place swarming with Muggles today, so Snape had warned his sister last night to dress appropriately. Luckily, he'd been able to teach her how to pick out Muggle clothes properly, so she looked quite natural in hers.

The girl was fidgeting impatiently around the tabletop, checking to see if she had forgotten to get or cut anything. The potionist joined her and looked carefully at all the food items. Today, by the looks of it, they would have scrambled eggs and bacon and toast for breakfast. Using magic, Severus heated a frying pan on the cooker and got a kettle of water to boil. Rachel watched his every move with great interest, having long since wished she could do such things herself.

“Sit down at the table already, you've seen it a great many times,” Snape muttered, ruffling his sister's hair lightly.

“Yes, but it's always interesting to watch.”

The girl obeyed, knowing her brother's patience was not to be tested, so she continued to watch the cooking from her seat at the table.

After breakfast, Severus sent his sister packing and began to prepare himself. Taking everything he needed, he went down to Rachel's room, who was already fully equipped.

“Did you forget anything?” He asked, looking round the room carefully.

“No, it's all here,” Powell replied confidently, patting the suitcase.

“Good,” the professor nodded approvingly and took the suitcase, then, looking round the room again, waved his head towards the exit. “Let's go.”

They walked into the living room and stood by the fireplace.

“Our destination?” Severus asked in a teacher's tone, pulling a pouch of flying powder from his pocket.

“The Leaky Cauldron!” Rachel exclaimed, with a sparkle in her eyes. The man nodded satisfactorily and poured some powder into his sister's palm.

“Go on, then,” the girl eagerly entered the fireplace, pronounced the name of the place, and poured the powder over herself. She was instantly enveloped in emerald flames. Throwing one last glance around the living room, the professor set off after her.

Seconds later, he found himself in a wizard-infested pub. Rachel was already waiting for him by the fireplace, staring impatiently into the hearth. Severus shivered involuntarily, feeling uncomfortable in such a crowded place and then, responding briefly to the greetings of those who recognised him, led his sister towards the exit.

“What a lovely daughter you have,” shouted some wizard who had never seen Snape and his sister in this place before.

“She's my sister,” the potionist muttered irritably, pushing Powell forward.

At last they were on a busy London street, with Muggles bustling about. Severus exhaled, glad to be free, and led the girl towards the station.

“So, what rules do you have to follow at Hogwarts?”

“Study hard, stay out of trouble, be careful, and I should call you Professor Snape, not Severus,” the girl said, almost without thinking as she looked around the bustling streets of the city.

“Right,” Snape looked at his sister with a small spark of pride in his eyes, but then grew serious. “And another thing: don't brag to the other Houses about me being your brother. That would be unseemly.”

“Okay!” Rachel nodded, twirling happily around Severus. The Slytherins, on the other hand, were not concerned for the reason that they had all been aware of it for a long time. Ever since his sister had turned seven, the wizard had been serious about socialising her to make it easier for her to make friends at school. So since that age, Rachel had always eaten breakfast and dinner at the Slytherin table, and even took frequent walks with the upperclassmen during the week, as Madam Pomfrey insisted that the girl spend more time outdoors. Snape, of course, wasn't particularly sure or convinced that his sister would end up in his House, but he couldn't trust her to other students, nor did he particularly intend to. As it happened, every Slytherin student knew about her, from the oldest to the youngest.

They reached the station. Severus took the cart and put the suitcase on it, and Rachel immediately volunteered to drive it, which the professor did not resist.

“Look for platforms nine and ten.”

The girl resolutely rolled the cart forward, looking carefully at the signs. When she reached the middle between platforms nine and ten, she stopped.

“Which one do we need?” Powell raised her eyes questioningly to her brother. Snape grinned slyly.

“Neither one, but nine and three quarters.”

“And how do we get there?” The potionist silently directed his sister towards the barrier between platforms nine and ten.

“Think what we can do about it.”

Rachel stared at the brick wall, trying to guess their next move.

“Dial a combination of bricks, say the code word, walk through it?” she arched an eyebrow questioningly. Snape nodded.

“The latter is correct. We need to look around first. We can't let the Muggles see us at this point,” Severus and Rachel looked around together. “Now let's go,” the potionist grasped the handle of the cart firmly and steered his sister straight for the barrier, then they walked calmly through it. The girl reflexively squeezed her eyes shut as the wall came close to her face, but feeling nothing, she opened her eyes again.

They were now standing on a completely different platform, completely packed with wizards and their children. Turning round, Rachel saw a sign on the barrier with the number nine and three quarters on it.

“Wow!” Rachel exclaimed delightedly, looking around curiously. She was especially surprised by the red train that was already waiting for its young passengers.

Severus looked around warily. All his students, future and current, as well as their parents, were gathered here. He didn't like being here, but for the next seven years it would be his responsibility. Suddenly he saw a familiar thin silhouette of a man with white hair in the crowd, and two others beside him: his wife and son. The wizard, as if sensing his gaze, nodded briefly, and Snape returned the favour.

“Who did you see there?” Rachel asked with interest, looking through the crowd.

“An old acquaintance,” Severus dismissed, steering the cart closer to the train. “Get in the carriage.”

Rachel obediently climbed up the steps and then turned around to grab her suitcase and drag it upstairs, her brother helping her by pushing the luggage from below.

“Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts,” he said when the suitcase was successfully pushed into the carriage. “Have a good trip.”

“Thank you!” Rachel smiled, and then looked around the platform again, eager to get off. She was eager to make new friends and get to Hogwarts as soon as possible.