A Switch

Disclaimer: Anything that doesn't belong to me is not mine.

Had Justine Snape not run into Hermione Granger in the woods that day, her day would have been a rather unremarkable one. She woke up early--at the insistence of her personal house-elf Kitty--and was forced into taking a bath, which she hated. After the bath, Kitty helped her get dressed in a robe of a particular shade of yellow that Justine hated, but Kitty thought it made her young missus look very sweet and girlish as all little ladies should. Once her hair had been brushed and pulled back with a yellow ribbon, she was sent downstairs to have breakfast with her father.

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Justine had taken a seat at the table before casting a glance in her father's direction. He sat at the opposite end, a newspaper hiding his face. Kitty put a plate of toast and eggs in front of Justine before clearing her throat. "The young missus is here for breakfast, Master Snape. Isn't she looking quite sweet in yellow?"

"I have told you before, Kitty, yellow makes the young missus look like a duck." He flipped through the pages without so much as looking at Justine.

Justine's face had reddened at her father's careless remark. Although she knew it was true, she did not like to hear it from him.

"Besides, it is pointless to don her in such finery, as she will be caked in mud before the day is out. Why not allow her to wear those play-robes my sister is always sending?"

Kitty gave him a mortified look. "So boyish! Young missus is not a little boy. When old missus was a girl--"

"Tread carefully, Kitty." Severus warned in a soft voice. Kitty was a good house-elf and immediately silenced her protests.

Justine never understood why talking about her mother was such a taboo subject. She did understand, however, that whatever her mother had done, it had to have been quite bad. There was no other explanation as to why her father seemed to dislike his own daughter so much. From all the books she had read, she knew that a father ought not hate his children. Storybook fathers were all loving, kind, and attractive in general. Justine felt that Severus was none of these things.

"I do not like the yellow either, Father," Justine stated timidly. He gave a non-committal grunt and turned the page. Justine sighed sadly at this. She was quite sure that she had to be the loneliest girl in the world.

"Do not sigh, Justine. Sighing is for silly, ignorant girls, and I will be damned if I will allow you to become one."

Justine responded by glaring down at her plate and viciously stabbing the eggs with her fork. Breakfast time was her least favourite time of the day. Sometimes she felt as if the wrong parent had died.

"Miss Temple will be arriving soon; I expect you to be on your best behaviour this time."

Justine looked up from her breakfast with a look of terror on her face. Miss Temple was Justine's newest tutor and--in Justine's humble opinion--an evil harpy. She had been hired on several weeks ago after Justine had overheard her father complaining about what a trial home-educating her had become. He was in the privacy of his study--a place Justine had been forbidden from entering--so she had merely listened at the door. A soft, feminine voice had suggested sending her away, and he had immediately dismissed the idea as being too costly. The woman on the other side of the door then told him of a woman she had used before her son was old enough to attend wizarding school, and that had been the end of that. Miss Temple arrived, and with her she brought harsh words and a ready hand to smack with; whereas Severus had never raised a hand towards his daughter during his teachings, no matter how much she tried his patience.

"But she--" Severus silenced her with a mere gesture of his hand, his eyes never leaving the newspaper.

"I mean it, Justine. She told me how you are prone to run off in the middle of her lessons."

"She makes it easy by falling asleep in the middle of the lesson," Justine muttered under her breath.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I said: May I be excused?"

He nodded. "Go wait for Miss Temple in the school-room." Justine started to get up from her chair before he spoke again:

"Straight to the school-room, Justine."

"Yes, Father."

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Justine obeyed her father's request and was sitting primly at her desk when Miss Temple hobbled into the school-room. She was a slight, hunched creature of about a hundred odd years with a puff of thin, white hair on top of her wrinkled head, shrewd blue eyes, and a hard little mouth. She walked with a cane that she had no reservations about wielding when she felt the situation called for it and scolded in a harsh, shrill voice that resembled a small, angry lapdog.

"You should not wear yellow; it makes you look like you have malaria," Miss Temple said by way of greeting. Justine did not reply, but narrowed her eyes and stared at the floor. She gave a start when Miss Temple brought her cane down on the top of Justine's desk with force that belied her considerable years.

"Don't glare at your betters, girl!"

Justine looked up at her, eyes wide and innocent. "I was glaring at the floor."

"Precisely."

Justine sat through the rest of the lesson with forced patience, waiting for the moment when Miss Temple would inevitably nod off in the middle of a grammar exercise. She smiled triumphantly when that moment came, the old woman's gnarled and hairy chin resting upon her thin bird-like chest. Justine stood up and started to sneak out of the class-room, but stopped when a brilliant thought crossed her mind. She walked over to the rocking-chair where Miss Temple was napping and snatched the cane that rested at the old woman's side.

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Justine managed to sneak out of the house without being noticed. Her father was in his study doing whatever fathers did, and Kitty was busy with tidying up Justine's bedroom. Justine felt a pang of guilt over the fact that Kitty would also soon be preparing to bring up a lunch that Justine would not be around to enjoy. She did not like vexing poor Kitty, but escaping Miss Temple was an absolute necessity.

Before heading towards the path that lead to the woods, Justine decided to visit the duck pond nearby. She waded into the middle of the shallow pond--upsetting the ducks along the way--and dropped the cane into the water. It was quite heavy and sank to the bottom. Justine smiled in self-satisfaction and waded out of the pond, heedless of the fact that the water had ruined her yellow-silk robe.

"Nasty old woman," she muttered, pulling the ribbon from her hair and casting it to the ground. The woods awaited, as did her few hours of freedom before the rest of the house caught on to the fact that she was missing. It did not matter that her father would be very angry, not when it was such a beautiful day.

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As Justine walked, she found herself thinking about her small family's current situation. She had not minded living in the small house in Spinner's End with her father. It had been a very shabby existence, but at least there had been other children to play with. Not that her father actually wanted her associating with the children from Spinner's End. They were Muggles--he had told her--and basically a pretty bad lot. They had been the ones who taught her the subtle art of sneaking off unnoticed.

During the fall, she traveled with her father to Hogwarts, where she was restricted to her own private quarters. It was rare that her father would visit her during the year, but the visits from Albus Dumbledore more than made up for her absent father. Dumbledore would often sit with her in the small library connected to her rooms, and they would take tea together. He was always interested in what she had to say, as if she was an adult and not a bothersome child. He did not find her restless chatter annoying and treated her stories with sweets from Honeydukes. If not for Dumbledore, Justine probably would have retreated into herself long ago, as neglected children often do.

Justine was still quite bereft that her only friend was gone and just a little miffed that he saw fit to send her to the big house before he had died. It was a nice house, and her father had more money now, but it was a lonely, isolated place. Kitty was only a house-elf and only felt affection for Justine because she had to; her father hated her, and he had his research to keep him company; Miss Temple was just plain sadistic and would probably be quitting after this little incident. It was quite fair to say that Justine felt a little cheated.

Justine took a break from her pondering when she reached her favorite part of the woods. It was a little clearing off the beaten path, and in the middle of the clearing was a grand willow tree. Justine fancied that the willow was a fairy castle and would often play underneath its shady branches, pretending that she was queen of the fairies. It did not matter that she was too tall, too gangly, and altogether too homely to be a fairy; she was merely in her human disguise. Her fairy-form was exquisite: silvery blond hair, soft floating robes of gentle blue, and grand translucent wings. Her eye colour she would keep because she had no issue with her eyes. They were the one thing she was vain about, as they were her mother's eyes.

She played pretend for several hours, not taking note of the fact that her robes were now muddied and torn or that her hair was a fright. Once she tired of her game, she decided to stay on the path, as her current rebellion was making her bold. She had never ventured further than the clearing.

She walked for several minutes before she came upon a curious sight. A young woman she had never seen before was kneeling on the ground in the middle of the path, crying and cursing quite pitifully. Justine imagined the woman must be having a very horrible day. To her shock, the woman yelled at her! There must have been a mistake, and Justine endeavoured to correct it.

The day was about to become quite a remarkable one.

End of Chapter.

A/N: I would like to thank my newest beta in the fuchsiasteerpike creative team, Megan. Thank you!