The Sound Of Silence

Steph opened her eyes to darkness. She looked around but there wasn\'t any light anywhere. She sat up, scared. She could feel her way to Mommy\'s room and see if the power was out. That would be good. Maybe there wouldn\'t be any school today and the kids couldn\'t make fun of her.

She stood up, the floor cold against her bare feet. That was odd. Her room had carpeting. She held her hands out, feeling for the wall. She found it, but it was cold too. She felt her way along, coming to a door. She shrugged, hoping it was Mommy\'s room. She pushed open the door. If she could have screamed, she would have.

***

It wasn\'t Mommy. It was a man. A tall, dark, scary man. He turned, seeing the child standing, looking up at him. He drew himself up to full height. \"What are you doing down here?\" Steph shook her head. The man spoke again. \"Speak child. Or are you such a dunderhead that you\'ve forgotten how?\"

Steph bit her lip. Everyone was making fun of her. She turned, tears starting to pool in her eyes and started to run. She didn\'t care where to, she just wanted to get away from everyone who made fun of her.

***

Severus Snape watched the child start running. He did not have time for this. He froze the experiment, heading after the curfew breaker. He saw her turn down a dead end hallway. Either she was lost or incredibly stupid.

Steph ran, tears running down her face. She came to the wall and stopped. She leaned against it and cried. Mommy had said she was special. Mommy didn\'t lie. Why was everyone making fun of her?

As Snape came up behind her, he cleared his throat. Another blubbering student. Maybe Minerva would be better to handle this than him. \"I\'ll ask you to get back to your room. Leave now and I might not take house points.\" He saw her physically jump and scramble away from him.

She looked back at him with tears in her eyes. She started making motions with her hands. Snape frowned. What was she doing? \"I\'ll assume your sporadic gestures are your attempt to communicate.\" The girl nodded, still motioning. He shook his head. \"You are not a student here.\" The girl nodded. He turned. \"Come with me. I\'ll take you to the headmaster.\"

Steph watched him walk away. He was the only person she had seen. Maybe he could get her back to Mommy. She scrambled after him, rushing to keep up.

He heard her coming behind him. He wasn\'t sure how she got here, nor did he care. He was going to put her off on someone else and get back to his lab. He stopped in front of the Headmaster\'s Office. He heard the girl stop behind him. He spoke the words, \"Mike and Ike\'s\" and watched as the statues moved.

Steph watched, her lip between her teeth. Mommy had told her about this place. How had she gotten to Hogwarts? How was she going to get back home? Was she going to see Mommy again? She followed the dark man up the stairs.

Dumbledore was sitting in a chair, reading. Snape cleared his throat. \"Sir, I found this child in the Dungeons. She is not a student here and she refuses to speak. I\'ll leave her with you.\" He motioned Stephanie forward.

She stepped up slowly. Dumbledore looked over his glasses at her. \"Why is it you refuse to speak child?\" She smiled slightly. There were pictures of this man. Mommy liked him. She pointed to her throat and shook her head. She signed her problem and waited.

Dumbledore leaned back in his chai"I s"I see. You do not refuse to talk, you are unable to, correct?\" Steph nodded. Dumbledore smiled. \"So the motions you make, they are some form of speech?\" She nodded again, signing. Dumbledore held up his hand. \"My dear, there are many things that I know, but unfortunately, this is not one of them. Please, have a seat. Can I offer you some tea?\" Steph shook her head as she sat down.

Snape watched the exchange, silently berating himself. She couldn\'t speak. It was little wonder she ran from him. He turned, starting to leave. Dumbledore called his name. \"Severus, I\'ll need to hear your side of this story. After I settle our guest of course.\" Snape nodded and left the room.

Steph looked around the office as she sat. Mommy had told her stories about Hogwarts. It was much better than the stories. She smiled at the man. Mommy was right, he was very nice.

He studied her. So familiar yet so different. \"Now, let\'s start at the beginning.\" He summoned a quill and parchment. \"You can use this to answer my questions.\" Steph took the items, nodding. Dumbledore began to ask his first question.

The door to the office opened. Minvera came in, followed by Ron, Harry and Hermione. Steph shrank back into the chair. \"Headmaster, I found these three sneaking around the castle. I brought them to you to deal with.\"

Steph peeked out at the new arrivals. It was Mommy\'s favorite teacher and her friends from school. She leaned forward to really look at them, and her eyes got wider. It was Mommy! She started to get up, but sat back in the chair. That wasn\'t really Mommy. Mommy was older. That girl didn\'t look much older than her. She bit her lip, lost in thought.

Ron nudged Harry in the ribs. Harry looked and then jerked his head so Hermione would look. She frowned and looked at the girl. She was young. Maybe she was a new student? Hermione bit her lip as she thought.

Dumbledore was sitting looking at them. \"I think I can deal with this. For punishment, you will all be charged with helping our new student around the school.\" He looked over to Steph.

She was sitting, clutching the quill and parchment. He smiled at her. \"I\'m sorry we were interrupted my dear. This is Professor McGonagall, Ronald Wesley, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.\"

Steph nodded, the pieces falling into place in her mind. If that was Mommy, and she was still in school, she must have went back in time somehow. She looked at the Headmaster. He has said something. Steph frowned, then shook her head.

He smiled. \"I asked for your name child.\" Steph looked at the paper. Slowly she printed, Stephanie and stopped. Her last name would cause problems. She thought for a minute and then wrote the last name of her next door neighbor: Vance. She handed the paper to Dumbledore.

He read it a loud. \"Stephanie Vance. Very good. Can you tell us where your from?\" Steph took the paper back and printed it on the paper. Dumbledore read it again. \"New York.\" He frowned slightly. Hermione cleared her throat. \"Sir. That\'s New York City. She\'s from the States.\"

He nodded as he handed the paper back to Steph. \"Can you tell us how you got here?\" She shook her head. Dumbledore smiled. \"That\'s all right child. We\'ll find something out. Now, you are going to be staying in Gryffindor Tower with Hermione, Harry and Ron. They will helping you while you\'re here.\" He waved his hand. \"Keep the quill and parchment to communicate. You will not need ink or fresh parchment.\" She nodded, standing up. He smiled. \"If you need me, have one of the students bring you back.\" She smiled, mouthing the words \"Thank you\" before turning, looking at the children.

Hermione smiled, offering her hand. \"Come on. I\'m way past sleepy. You can share my bed tonight.\" Steph grabbed her hand and grinned, grateful to be this close to her Mommy again. They left the office. Minerva sighed. \"What are we going to do with those three?\"

***

Steph held tight to Hermione\'s hand as they walked. The boys followed quietly. Hermione looked at her. \"How old are you Stephanie?\" Steph held up ten fingers as best she could with the paper in her hands. Hermione smiled. \"Ten. That\'s not quite old enough to be a first year, but we\'ll help you out. Don\'t worry about that.\" Steph smiled and looked back at the boys. Hermione smiled. \"Those are my best friends. We\'re sixth years here. We\'re all sixteen.\" Steph smiled, moving closer to Hermione.

Ron shook his head. \"I don\'t like it. She just appears out of no where and she\'s best friends with \'Mione? You don\'t think it\'s one of You-Know-Who\'s plans do you?\" Harry shook his head. \"My scar doesn\'t hurt. I guess we\'ll have to wait and see.\"

They stopped in front of the panting and spoke the password. Steph watched as the picture swung open. They stepped through into the Common Room. Steph looked around, her eyes wide. She wanted to touch and see everything in here. Hermione smiled as she watched her. She pulled her hand, making Steph look at her. \"It\'s ok. Go look around. I did the same thing the first time I was in here.\" Steph grinned and started exploring the room.

Ron pulled Hermione over to them. \"Mione, don\'t you think this is a little weird?\" She frowned. \"What do you mean?\" Harry looked at Steph. \"She just came out of no where and she\'s automatically attached to you. She doesn\'t even know you.\"

Hermione looked at the girl. Steph was enthralled by the huge fireplace. She smiled. \"Look at her guys. She\'s little. I don\'t think she\'s part of any plan. She\'s lost. She doesn\'t know how she got here. Maybe I just remind her of someone from home.\"

Harry shrugged. \"Maybe. I just think we need to keep a close eye on her.\"

Steph grinned and looked back at the trio. Her grin widened as she saw Mommy. She always wondered what Mommy was really like when she was younger. She looked at the boys. Could one of those boys be her Daddy? She smiled, glad to have some time with them to try to figure things out.

Hermione yawned. \"Come on Stephanie. I\'m exhausted and I know you must be tired. Why don\'t we go get some sleep?\" Steph nodded as she walked over and held Hermione\'s hand. Hermione told the boys good night and walked up the stairs to her room.

***

Hermione found a pair of old PJ\'s. She handed them to Steph and pointed to the bathroom. \"You can change in there. That\'s the bathroom if you nee use use it anytime else.\" Steph nodded and walked in to change.

When Steph came out, Hermione was laying in bed reading. She looked up and saw Steph holding the pants to keep them from falling. \"They are a little big aren\'t they? Well, I can fix that in a minute.\" Hermione picked up her wand and waved it. The pants shrunk to fit Steph.

Steph smiled, crawling onto the bed. Hermione closed the book and turned to look at her. \"Can I ask you some questions?\" Steph nodded. \"Does your Mommy have magic?\" Steph shook her head yes. \"Do you have any sort of powers?\" Steph shrugged and held up her thumb and forefinger close together. Hermione smiled. \"A little. Well, that\'s more than most. I wasn\'t even aware of it till I got my letter from Hogwarts. You\'re not eleven yet. I\'m sure the school in America will send your letter soon.\"

Steph pulled the covers around her. Hermione looked at her. \"Comfortable?\" Steph nodded. \"Do you need anything before I turn out the lights?\" A shake of the head. Hermione smiled and picke her her wand. \"Nox.\" The lights went out as they settled into bed.

Hermione was almost asleep when she felt her hair move slightly. She lay still, feeling her hair being twisted slightly. It didn\'t hurt but she still noticed it. She smiled. If it helped her to sleep, why not? She fell asleep with Steph twisting one curl around her finger.

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A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. Lfor for weekly updates! Thanks again to my beta Lily Malfoy!

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