Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Severus had been expecting several children to infiltrate the castle soon, but he hadn't anticipated an ambush all at once. After a moment, the children and staff went back to their previous conversations, and Severus moved into the room.

Severus' eyes glanced from one young child to the next. There had to be at least fifteen, all between the ages of just a few months—to sixteen years old. The children and most of the staff were all sitting around a round table set in the middle of the Great Hall. They were eating lunch and talking much more excitedly than he would have expected the young orphans to be talking. One face stuck out at him and almost made him chuckle. Poppy Pomfrey was looking at the younger children wearily.

Scanning the children's faces, Severus quickly found Jessica's. He noticed that she was not talking to any of the other children or the staff and that the seat next to hers was empty.

Severus sat next to the young girl. Jessica glanced up at him. Resisting the conflicting urges to sneer at her and smile at her, he noted that her eyes were eerily blank. It seemed as though the seven-year-old could feel no emotion. She reminded him painfully of himself.

They stared at each other, neither wanting to break contact.

"Are you Professor Snape?" she asked quietly, something he could not describe momentarily flashing in her eyes.

"Yes." His voice came out scratchy, and he cleared his throat. "Miss Augustus?"

A faint smile appeared on her face.

"I've never been called that before. Mummy always calls me Jessie—unless I’m in trouble—then she calls me Jessica Rae Augustus, but she only called me that once."

Severus hid a small smile. The little girl's eyes were dazed, as though lost in memory.

"Daddy always calls me baby, even after Maria was born." She pouted. "I miss my Maria. Do you know where she is?"

Hopeful eyes turned to his, and he felt a pang of guilt shoot through him. How could he ever have separated this charming little girl from the only family she had left?

He coughed slightly, then said, "No, I do not."

"Oh," she said softly, her eyes downcast. A moment later she looked back up at him. "Can we find her?"

"I do not know," he said uncomfortably. "Are you finished with your lunch?"

She nodded, but he noticed that she had only taken a few bites of her sandwich. Despite this, they both stood. Severus started toward the door, Jessica following him. He mentally told himself to slow down for the young girl. Jessica caught up to him and slipped her small hand into his larger one.

Shocked, he looked down at her, but did not pull his hand away. She was smiling tentatively at him, and he graced her with a rare—if not slightly forced—smile.

As the door to the Great Hall closed behind them, Severus and Jessica did not see the look that passed between the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress.

* * *

Severus could not understand the feelings this little girl caused him to feel. She did not even know him, yet she immediately trusted him, even seemed to like him. He could not understand the tugging at his heart at this realization. Jessica was innocent, and Severus felt as though he would only corrupt her.

He needed help.

His heart—many of his students would be shocked to discover that, yes, he did have one—began beating wildly in his chest at this realization. He almost stopped walking, but managed to only falter in his steps before continuing down the path to his rooms, which he would shortly be showing to the little girl holding his hand.

“Professor, you teach Potions, right?” The young girl looked up at him with surprisingly bright eyes.

“Yes, I do. Are you familiar with them?”

“What’s fa-meel-e-ar?”

Severus sighed. “If you are familiar with something, you really know what it is. Do you like Chocolate Frogs?”

Jessica smiled brightly. “I love ‘em! Wait; that means I am familiar with them?”

“Something like that.”

“But I don’t like potions. One time I had a really bad cough, and Mummy gave me this really yucky potion. I thought I was gunna be even sicker.”

Severus bit back a smirk.

The unusual pair soon reached the hidden entrance to Severus’ chambers (the whereabouts of which shall remain unnamed). Severus muttered the incantation (the words to which cannot be revealed) to expose the entrance door.

Severus stepped aside and motioned for the young girl to go in before him. She smiled and skipped in. Jessica seemed to stop mid-skip as her eyes fell upon his living space.

He watched as her eyes scanned his ceiling-to-floor bookcases filled with books, then the large fireplace, brought to life with roaring flames, and finally his black suede couch and chairs. His living room was simple, colors and all. The parts of the walls not covered with books looked to be ancient stone, but if one was to touch them, they would feel like pillows. Severus had searched for the spell, thinking it could come in handy if he were to ever get into fits—not that he ever had, of course.

Severus’ eyes followed Jessica’s small body as she jumped up on his couch and took off her shoes. She tucked her feet under her and watched the fire.

“I like it here.” Her soft voice surprised him.

“You haven’t seen your room yet.”

Her eyes turned to him, and she slid off the couch. Severus was still standing by the closed entry door. He started walking toward the hall and beckoned for her to follow him. The hallway was short—with three doors that looked like three insides of a cube. He stopped just short of them, and Jessica caught up to him.

“Where do these go?”

Severus pointed to the door on his left. “That one is your room—” then the right, “—and that one is mine.” He pointed to the door directly in front of them. “You are not allowed to go into that one.”

“Why? What’s in it?”

“That’s my private lab. There’s a lot of harmful stuff in there.”

“My daddy has a private lab, too. He lets me go in there with him sometimes.”

Severus’ lips curled in a slight smile.

“Would you like to see your room?” His hand was already turning the doorknob.

He pushed the door open and motioned for her to enter first. The short girl walked right under his arm, went into the room, and gasped. If he could have, Severus would have blushed, but it was a known fact that he couldn’t, so he didn’t.

Jessica ran over to the sleigh bed with a pink and silver canopy and jumped up onto it. She picked up the stuffed unicorn and hugged it to her chest.

“I love it, Professor. Thank you!” As she thanked him, she shot off the bed and ran to him, giving him as big a hug as a seven-year-old could.

* * *

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed this so far! Your comments are so very appreciated!

Chapter was polished up on January 29, 2010. There were so many silly things in this chapter, some of which I adjusted slightly, some which I left as they were. It's good to enjoy a bit of silliness once in a while.