An Unlikely Savior ~ (Edit) COMPLETED

Chapter 30 ~ More Problems, Some Solutions

Alsop was late to most of his classes because he went to every one of Eileen’s assigned classes and waited for her. He wanted to make sure she was all right. That had been a horrible way for her secret to come out. Although, Eileen didn’t seem upset about it as she stalked away through the crowd with an expected withering comment, he knew better. Eileen Snape had feelings just like anyone else, and as hard as she seemed to be, he knew she could use a friend right now.

But, Eileen didn’t show up to any of her classes, nor was she at lunch or supper. All day he had heard students discussing how Eileen could possibly be Rose’s and Hugo’s sister, with very bad things being said about his aunt Hermione, who he happened to adore. She was interesting to talk to and had helped him with difficult topics from time to time. She was also a port in the storm when he was at the Burrow with the rest of his gung ho Gryffindor family. She was always up for intelligent conversation. Sometimes he thought she was starved for it as much as he was.

He finally snapped in study class, which was taken with Hufflepuffs, so there were no Slytherins or Gryffindors to consider as the Ravenclaws debated the situation openly. One of his housemates had retrieved a “Which Wizard” reference book, which contained information about Severus Snape, Hermione Granger and their families, including when they were married and the names and birthdates of their children. Since they were heroes, they were also public figures. Information could be found on them practically anywhere.

”Well, it says here that Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley were married in 2000,” one seventh year said, tracing the information with her finger as the other students gathered around her. “Rose Weasley was born in June of 2006, and Hugo was born in 2008. And Eileen Snape—“

She turned the pages until she found the Snape section. Severus’ scowling visage graced the page. What a severe looking wizard. The girl’s finger followed the information.

”It says here, Snape married in 2002, a Muggle woman named Delores Puckish, and Eileen was born in 2003. He divorced his wife in 2005.”

Everyone looked at each other with rounded eyes.

”That means Eileen’s dad is an adulterer, too. He was married when she was born. I wonder how they hid it?”

”Probably with magic. There are slimming spells to hid pregnancy. Rose’s mum probably hid it from her husband and gave the baby to Snape when it was born in order to save her marriage.”

”Wow, just like a soap opera. Eileen’s parent’s are screwed up, aren’t they? Her mum’s a slut and her dad’s a whoremon—“

”Shut up!” Alsop yelled at the group, unable to take any more of their speculation and judgments. “None of you know what you’re talking about! It didn’t happen that way at all!”

Everyone fell silent and looked at the enraged Ravenclaw. They knew he hung around Eileen. Maybe he knew the real story.

”So, enlighten us, Alsop,” the girl who had been reading said. “What did happen?”

Alsop frowned at them. He was torn between Eileen’s and Hermione’s privacy and the truth. At least the truth would exonerate his aunt. He couldn’t bear the idea of her being labeled an adulterous slut. He made his decision. The truth was going to come out sooner or later.

”All right. Here it is. Eileen was magically conceived after the final battle, before Snape or my aunt was married to anyone. They were both single and my aunt had to repay Snape a life debt. He did some kind of fertility rite to make her pregnant, then took away her fertilized egg and kept it safe until he was ready to be a father. Then he married and used his wife as a surrogate mother and Eileen was born. No one cheated on any one. My aunt had no idea she had a daughter until Eileen became sick. So she’s not an adulteress or a slut. She was blindsided! So was Eileen!”

Everyone stared at Alsop, amazed by the story.

”That explains it!” a sixth year said, his face dark.

Everyone turned toward him.

”Explains what?” another Ravenclaw asked him.

”Why Eileen gets such good marks! She’s been magically enhanced! Fertility rites are usually targeted to utilize the best attributes of both parents. It’s like Eileen was engineered to be the best. Her mum had the highest marks in Hogwarts when she attended, and her father created spells and was a Potions master. We all know how dangerous Eileen is with spells, and her marks—she’d do well in Ravenclaw. She’s been beating us out for years. Now we know why!”

“That’s ridiculous!” Alsop hissed at them. “Eileen works hard to make her marks. There’s no magic involved. And her dad taught her a slew of spells from when she was very little. She’s had a wand since she was four. And it makes sense she’d be good at potions—her dad was a teacher and is an apothecary!”

”That’s really unfair,” another Ravenclaw said, latching on to the magical engineering idea. “She has a leg up. A magical leg up. That’s like—that’s like cheating!

The Ravenclaws began talking excitedly about Eileen’s academic abilities and how something should be done about them. Maybe they should be nullified or at least lowered because of her unfair advantage. The truth was they were all very competitive and the idea of a Slytherin getting highest marks year after year was upsetting. How could a Slytherin be smarter and more accomplished than a Ravenclaw?

“She’s the magical equivalent of a Muggle genetically altered human being,” one boy said, frowning. “She was designed to be smarter and more talented than an ordinary witch or wizard!”

”We should complain to the Headmistress. Maybe even the Board of Governors. I’m going to write my mum.”

”Me, too!”

”Yeah. Let’s all write our parents about this!”

”But, you don’t even know if that’s true! It’s not true!” Alsop said to them as they all sat down and pulled out parchments and quills.

One Ravenclaw looked up at him with narrowed eyes.

”True or not, Alsop, the possibility should at least be investigated,” she said to the wizard. “Maybe Eileen really is just smart, but if magic is involved, she has an unfair advantage and there has to be a way to level the Quidditch pitch so we can compete with her marks.”

“But how can anyone possibly decide that?” Alsop said. “How can they find out if her brilliance is because of the way she was conceived?”

The girl shrugged.

”I don’t know. It’s not really my problem, is it? Let the school figure it out.”

Alsop stared at his housemates as they wrote their parents. He was just trying to stop the rumors and speculation when he told the truth about Eileen’s conception and birth. He had no ideas they’d latch on to the idea that Eileen had some kind of magical advantage like a dragon latched on to fresh meat.

Alsop felt as if his heart had dropped into his stomach. He had just made a bad situation infinitely worse for Eileen.

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Eileen stayed in her rooms, doing some extra credit work and trying her best to keep her mind off the situation. She had received a note in the shape of a phoenix from the Headmistress notifying her that her mother had been contacted about the detentions and that they would begin tomorrow evening after supper. She was to report to the caretaker’s hut at exactly seven o’clock.

Eileen didn’t look forward to working with professor Hagrid. There was a reason she opted out of advanced courses with the half-giant, although she thought that he was rather gifted with animals and not as much of a clod as the other Slytherins thought. It was clear to see that professor Hagrid was a self-made expert on the Care of Magical Creatures and had worked his way up into his position the hard way. Sure, his speech was a bit unrefined, and he was overlarge and scruffy, but what did people expect? He was half giant. Eileen often wondered how his parents managed to—his father was a regular wizard after all, and giants were HUGE, as well as not very attractive.

But since his mother didn’t crush and eat the professor’s father, there had to be some mutual affection there. Oh, well. If there was one thing Eileen knew for certain, there was no accounting for taste. She wished her dad would find someone. He wasn’t even looking.

Maybe if things had been different for her father, he might have courted her mother in a more traditional manner. Maybe he could have married her and had a normal family dynamic. But, back then he was so cold and so bitter, Eileen couldn’t imagine her young mother being attracted to him at all. Her father didn’t seem to have any gentle emotions until he had her.

Eileen sighed. He didn’t seem to have any outside of her either.

She hoped he didn’t find out about the detentions, or her deception in having the Headmistress notify her mother. Eileen doubted if Hermione would give her a problem about it, because she didn’t even know her yet. It would be bad form to start their relationship out on a negative note.

Eileen was a manipulative little witch, but she was glad she was past bottom-reddening age. If her father found out, all he could do would be punish her in some non-physical manner.

Well, at least she hoped so. He still might turn her over his knee.

She sighed again, going back to her detention with Hagrid. Hopefully, it would be something like cleaning out the Thestral stables. She could see Thestrals from the first time she arrived at Hogwarts. She’d seen people die in Knockturn Alley after all. She saw the skeletal horses and stared at them, but didn’t say anything about their appearance because no one else seemed to care about it. She didn’t know not everyone could see them. It was when Hagrid brought one out and asked for a show of hands if the creature was seen when Eileen realized they were magical. Only one other student raised his hand.

”Only folks’ who’s seen death firs’ han’ kin see Thestrals,” the half-giant stated, looking at Eileen and her other classmate with sympathetic eyes.

Eileen didn’t mind the Thestrals. Or the Skrewts. Or the Hippogriffs. The creatures she did mind, however, were in great numbers. They were her secret fear. In fact, when the lesson covered them, Eileen faked illness and went to the infirmary rather than deal with them. She fervently hoped they wouldn’t be part of her detention. If they were, there’d definitely be problems.

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Rose, Albus, Lily and Hugo were all in James’ room. Rose was explaining how Eileen was their sister to her amazed cousins.

”Her dad took aunt Hermione's egg?” Lily asked, her green eyes rounded. “And didn’t tell her?”

”No, he didn’t, Lily,” Rose said, frowning slightly. “He raised her all by himself without letting my mum know about her. She just found out when Eileen got sick and needed blood from her real mother. Then he contacted her and told her the truth.”

”Poor aunt Hermione,” Lily said sympathetically. “And poor Eileen. She would’ve liked aunt Hermione. I do.”

”That’s just dirty Quidditch,” James growled. “He deserves his arse kicked for doing that.”

”Yeah,” Albus agreed. “Just like a Slytherin.”

”Eileen’s a Slytherin,” Hugo stated, his eyes hard. “You’re going to have to stop talking about them like that.”

”What? She’s just like that, too.” James spat. “You saw the dirty hex she hit me with.”

Arguing broke out, with Hugo saying Eileen had no choice, that there were too many people on her to act fairly. She needed to escape and did what she had to do.

”What would you have done?” Hugo challenged James.

James looked a little taken aback for a moment.

”I would have faced them and fought with honor,” he replied.

”And you would have been in the infirmary for weeks, James,” Rose said, Hugo looking at her with surprise. Was Rose defending Eileen?

James scowled at her.

”At least I would have stood up for myself like a wizard,” he muttered.

”Look, you have to admit that Eileen was outnumbered. She’s not a Gryffindor. She’s a Slytherin. They think of self-preservation before honor. And it’s stupid to try and duel a crowd of people, James,” Rose continued.

”Well, you’re the one who sent us after her, Rose. Don’t try and act all high and mighty now!” Albus cut in.

”I didn’t send you, you oaf. You both just decided to go after her. I tried to stop you but you wouldn’t listen,” Rose said in her own defense.

”Maybe if you hadn’t been so dramatic and said she kidnapped Hugo, we would have listened. It’s your fault we didn’t,” he shot back at her.

Rose knew he was right. She had instigated the attack, even if she hadn’t meant to do it.

”All right. This isn’t about what happened last night. This is about accepting the fact that Eileen Snape is my sister and Hugo’s sister, and you can’t target her. She’s your cousin, too.”

”Only by marriage,” Albus hissed. “She’s not really related to us.”

”She is!” Lily piped in. “Aunt Hermione is related to us by marriage and you don’t say anything about that! It’s the same thing with cousin Eileen.”

Albus and James looked at their little sister with astonishment. Cousin Eileen?

”I wonder if she likes tea parties. I’d serve real scones and biscuits,” the first year added thoughtfully.

Lily looked very much like her grandmother Lily, but she had the inclinations of Molly Weasley and enjoyed a good tea party although she was getting rather old for them.

Rose’s mouth quirked as she imagined Eileen’s dark visage seated at a small table surrounded by stuffed animals.

”I don’t know, Lily,” she said, trying not to smile. “Maybe.”

Hugo was smiling at his cousin. Lily was always okay, but just a little too girly for his tastes. He didn’t like tea parties, but found himself seated at her table anyway from time to time when he visited. Usually when he was peckish. She served real tea and cakes she made herself after all, and they were pretty good.

“Well,” James said slowly. “I suppose I could just ignore what she did to me, since she’s your sister, Rose, but don’t expect me to pal around with her. Once a Slytherin, always a Slytherin.”

”As long as you aren’t fighting with her, James, that’s fine. You don’t even have to talk to her if you don’t want to.”

”I’ll talk to her,” Lily said brightly. “There’s far too many boys in this family anyway. A witch needs other witches.”

Rose looked at Albus, who had his arms folded and a sullen look on his face.

”Albus?” she said to him.

He looked up, then around at the expectant faces.

“I’m with James. I won’t fight with her, but I’m not going to go out of my way to be nice to her, either.”

”That’s good enough,” Rose said with a smile, then she looked at Hugo.

”Is this okay with you?” she asked her brother, who nodded soberly.

”No more chasing her when we’re flying together, if she lets me fly with her anymore,” he said, glowering.

”If you tell her what everyone’s agreed to, she might, Hugo,” Rose said encouragingly. “And if she doesn’t, I’ll take you flying. I’ll even let you have a go on my—“

Rose stopped. She didn’t have her Firebolt.

”Well, I would have—“ she finished, looking at her brother sadly.

Still, Hugo smiled at her brightly.

”That’s all right, Rose. I can fly it when we go home on holiday,” he said excitedly. Rose had never let him use her broom before. Maybe she’d be a better sister now that Eileen was around.

”Yeah, you can. Someone’s going to have to put it through the paces since I’m not allowed to fly for the rest of the year,” she said, ruffling his hair affectionately.

So, it was settled. Whether they liked it or not, Eileen Hermione Snape was part of the family and therefore off the Potter radar for good.

Hugo couldn’t be happier.

It would be wonderful if only a simple pow-wow between siblings and cousins could bring an end to this mess once and for all. Unfortunately, life is never simple, especially when Severus Snape and Hermione Weasley were involved. This was just one issue out of many.

They weren’t out of the Forbidden Forest yet.

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A/N: Thanks for reading. ***