You know it, I don't own it.
Beginning To Understand.
She had straight black hair, black eyes and pale skin, but that was where the similarities with her father ended. Other than her colouring, Selena was the spitting image of her mother and when you recognized these features you would know this little girl was something special. Narcissa Malfoy nee Black may have mostly been mostly known as the wife of Lucius Malfoy, but that was not all there was to her. Yes, she was his wife, but had she been a weak woman, Claudius Malfoy would never have chosen her for his son. She was a Black, and the Blacks are a very old and powerful Pureblood family in their own right.
The Snapes were of similar ancestry, even if their bloodlines had always been a bit more obscure than both the Malfoys and the Blacks. Though nobody could deny their power and talent in often unusual or unique abilities. It seemed that Selena had gotten the best of both her parents and that was something the Dark Lord wanted.
The fact that she had been able to open a heavily warded door by just asking was troubling to say the least. Add to that the simple fact that the Dark Lord wanted her at all - he would indeed place her above all others - and her father knew he needed to find out all he could.
Severus had been summoned again the night before, not long after Draco and Hermione had gone back to their respective dormitories. The Dark Lord had spoken, again, of his plans to strike against Harry Potter. This time, however, he was more specific, outlining which tactics he wanted to use and where. The attack would be during the seventh year graduation ceremony, which was scheduled for the following Thursday. It seemed that the Dark Lord himself would not appear until the end of the battle, letting Harry wear himself out fighting and protecting others. In this way Harry would offer as little resistance as possible when the Dark Lord was ready to finish him.
It seemed that in his arrogance the Dark Lord had also become confident that no one could betray him and was even planning beyond the battle that would take place on Thursday. Severus kept his ears and eyes open and was ‘delighted’ when offered the chance to stay and discuss certain subjects with his master more personally. Though, for a moment, his breath left him when the subject turned out to be his Selena.
“Severus.”
“Yes, my Lord.” His reply was swift and with just the right amount of arrogance. He might be a servant to his Lord, but his Lord expected his servants to be proud of their position, even more so when so few of them were around. Right now it was just Lucius and himself with the Dark Lord.
“Tell me, Severus, what does Dumbledore know about the girl?”
“My Lord, it seems that Order members found her in Paris and took her to Hogwarts. Dumbledore knows where she is, though she no longer resides with him, or in the Order Headquarters. No one has seen the girl, nor will he tell anyone about her, but I know he believes her special in some way, though I do not know why. What I have heard is that she seems to be powerful for her age, and has a level of control over her magic that I have never heard of before in a child.” Severus had to take a moment to recompose himself, knowing what he had to disclose next scared him; the anger of Lucius Malfoy was not something you could take lightly.
“I did find some of her background, my Lord. Her father is a wizard unknown but it seems that her mother…” He couldn’t say it, though he knew that hesitation was punishable. He waged an internal battle, for he did not want the anger of Lucius or the Dark Lord coming down on him, nor did he want to diminish the memory of Narcissa. “Her mother…” he repeated, trailing off again.
“Was the late Narcissa Malfoy, I know.” The smile was just as sinister as it had been when Severus first heard about his daughter a week ago. He ignored it. The angry gasp from Lucius took his attention away from his Lord in time to see the blond man struggling to keep his own composure.
“My lord, are you sure? My Narcissa, my WIFE, had a child with another MAN! Even if this were true… how… how could you want this child, a bastard, a…”
It was eerie to see how calm the Dark Lord stayed, though it was often more dangerous to see him calm than completely angry. When he was angry he was predictable, screaming and punishments for those around would ensue, but when he was calm, it was a deceptive calm.
“Did you not know, Lucius, that your wife kept her own place in Paris? Did you not know that she spend almost seven months there about four years ago, disobeying your orders while she did? Did you not realise why she became a Secret Keeper for that apartment? Did you not know everything your wife did? Do you… doubt my knowledge about this child and her usefulness to our cause, Lucius?”
The calm of that quiet voice send a chill down Severus’ spine and he could see that, though he was angry, Lucius tried to find the right way to answer his Lord’s questions. Strangely enough he did not even get a chance to answer.
“She is powerful, Lucius, and she is Pureblood. She will be mine and you will accept that. Be glad that she shares blood with your son, for that will allow Severus to find her.”
With that the Dark Lord had send him away, though Lucius had to remain behind. If what Potter had just told them when they had been in his office earlier this morning was true, he had been punished severely. Now he was sitting in his private chambers again with the Headmaster, his daughter, Draco and Hermione and he knew he would have to tell them all the information he had.
“I was summoned last night,” he said with a look at Dumbledore.
Hermione and Draco, who’s attention had been on Selena, now suddenly looked to Severus and the Headmaster. What was going on?
“Ah, yes, Severus, perhaps you are right to bring this up now.” The Headmaster knew, of course, what Severus was getting at. “There are certain things that were discussed last night that you two should be made aware of. Tom plans to attack Hogwarts in the chaos that always ensues right after the graduation ceremony. It is a moment when everybody tries to find their friends and family. They don’t tend to notice their surroundings. Tom knows this and wishes to take advantage of it.”
“What will we do?” Hermione asked. Though she had had many adventures, knowing about them before hand made Hermione nervous. Looking between everybody involved, she knew they were all tense, but resigned. “Does Harry know? What are the plans to keep the other students safe?” These were just a few of the questions that came to her mind, and when she felt Draco holding her hand for comfort again, another more important question came up.
“Sir, will he… that is, does he wish to… to mark his new…” She couldn’t say it and felt the tension in Draco when he too came to the same point.
Dumbledore was quick to answer them. “Yes, he does wish to mark his new recruits, but he is planning to do this on Wednesday evening, hoping we will not miss the students' absences. This means there will be very little time between Mr. Malfoy’s refusal and the attack, leaving hardly any chance for retaliation from others.”
Draco squeezed Hermione’s hand again. Looking at her worried face, he gave her a small smirk and reassured her. “I will be alright.” They were all very aware that they could only hope he would be.
“As for your other questions, Miss Granger...” This was Severus. “Yes, we have been planning for this eventuality for a long time, and your friend, Mr. Potter, has been forewarned. I, however, am more concerned about my daughter. The Dark Lord has requested I brew the Vinden Potion.”
It didn’t take long for the intellectual among them to speak up. “The locater Potion, leading the drinker to the precise position to close relatives of the donor. A not-quite-legal potion.” Hermione was thinking out loud before asking her question. “Sir, don’t you need the blood of a close relative for that potion to work? How do they expect you to brew that? How much does he know?” Hermione was very aware that two close relatives of Selena were at hand, but she was more worried about how much the Dark Lord knew about Selena. She and Draco might have decided not to become involved just yet, but the two siblings were both very dear to her already. If she was forced to admit it, the father was becoming more important to her as well.
Severus gave a grim little smile in return. “You are right, of course. It seems that the Dark Lord is very much aware of who her mother, and therefore her brother, is.” Changing his focus towards his Godson, he continued, “He also made Lucius aware of this fact, though he forbade him to harm my daughter when she is ‘found’.”
“Which brings us back to why he wants Selena in the first place. Does he know who her father is, Uncle?” Draco couldn’t help his growing Gryffindor tendencies; he was worried and wanted to protect his little sister more than anything else.
“No, Mr. Malfoy, Tom doesn’t know who her father is. We suspect that at one point he used Leglimency on your mother and found her thoughts and worries about your sister. He didn’t find anything else because soon afterwards she used the Fidelius Charm to protect Selena. He is, however, aware that she has an unusual power.”
Albus looked at the girl who was now silently lying in her father’s lap, playing with her father’s and her own hair. Maybe it was time for them to find out about this unusual ability, to unravel the mystery of the opening door.
AN: The Snape bloodline being obscure is my only concession to HBP, though I’m keeping the whole vampire and Roman decent ideas in mind as well. Furthermore, Tom called Selena a Pureblood in chapter 9, and to me she is.
The Vinden Potion is my own creation. Vinden is Dutch for ‘to find’, which is essentially what it is supposed to do. In my opinion it is an almost, but not quite, Dark Potion, since it will allow you to find others even when they don’t want to be found. Add to that the usage of a person’s blood…