A Ward of Hogwart\'s

Apologies: I do apologize for not updating this sooner, but I just was NOT happy with the chapters and did a rewrite. They are done now so sit back and enjoy. This chapter is dedicated to my ‘biggest fan’ Kristle aka Redsugg!!! Thanks for your continued interest in this story!

Red Writing Hood


Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. I do own Rebecca and other characters NOT associated with JKR and such. Thank you.


A Ward of Hogwart’s


Chapter Eight


Sweet Memories of Yesterday

~~~

It was late in the evening, Rebecca sat in her dormitory room reading, or studying, depending on whom you asked. Her roommate called it studying but in her opinion when you enjoy reading something, it’s more of a pleasure than a chore. This particular book of potions she was currently reading, Severus brought to her last weekend. It was a fascinating read. The title was simply entitled: ‘Variable Elements and their Cataclysmic Abilities’. It contained various elemenconcconcoctions that would normally blow her mind if she didn’t already know about some of the problematic devastation that could occur when you throw one unstable ingredients with some other…shall we say…less than desirable ones. After all, she didn’t study under the most feared Potions Master of all time for nothing. She did manage to learn a great deal from him in the few short years she lived under his roof.

Her mind drifted from the book she was reading and she found her gaze settling out the window where the moonlight drifted down to shine in the fountain just below her apartment window. The silvery threads of moonlight rippled in the stark darkness of the water but she didn’t take notice the beauty of it. Her mind was now on something else, someone else.

Severus

Gods, how she missed him. She missed his daily visits and nightly conversations when she was home. Stacia was a nice person to talk to but when one wanted to discuss something academic, her friend had a habit of suddenly finding something else she had to do. It was irritating.

She missed the intelligent conversations she used to have with Severus. If she had to do without his biweekly weekend visits, she would be afraid of her brain stagnating from misuse of verbal interaction. Now that isn’t to say that Stacia wasn’t intelligent, but she only had two things on her mind, namely, Greg and Bobby. Classes ranked third to the other two in importance. It chapped Becca to say the least. She needed, thrived on good intelligent conversation, which is why she looked forward to everher her weekend, for Severus’ visit. As it was, she had to wait for next weekend to slowly roll around, he had already been by last weekend, hence the book she was now reading.

She smiled recalling their visits. Most of them were over dinner somewhere extravagant and consisted of one tale after another. Somehow he always made her laugh even on her mosful ful days and she tried to put a smile on his face, which she managed to most of the time, as long as she kept her emotions to herself.

Their conversations always seemed to be about safe issues, potions, his classes, her classes, and the faculty of Hogwart’s. He even had a new position besides his regular classes. He was now a counselor for emotionally disturbed students. A profession that he was enjoying immensely being an ex-child with emotional baggage himself.

She had been a bit shocked to hear about this shift in his evenings. She discovered that Professor Dumbledore approached Severus, just after she had left school, about a new position being developed. Since Hogwart’s had never had a proper counselor, the staff immediately thought of him and of his work with her. It only seemed appropriate that since he was so successful in helping her in her crisis, they figured he could be of help to others. Which was true, he had helped her tremendously.

Rebecca flipped another page without thinking, letting her thoughts drift where they would. If it hadn’t been for Severus’s interference in her life, she would have probably been much worse off. If she had survived her parents at all, she would probably have ended up in Knockturn alley working on the street or if she was lucky, a Brothel. Her father would have pushed her into it. That was just the type of person he was. A sigh escaped her lips and she shut the book she was trying to read. She just couldn’t concentrate. Her mind refused to stonderndering without her permission. Her thoughts kept returning to her past and the day she learned of her parent’s death. She knew deep down that Severus had something to do wher her parent’s demise but he refused to speak of it, even after all these years, not that it mattered a bit to her. But she never pushed it.

She could tell that he was enjoying his work now, more than ever. After spending the last four years with her, he had found a new direction in life, one that seemed to work for him. He actually said to her last weekend that he was now taking pleasure in his work and she couldn’t have been more proud of him if she tried. He did seem more amiable and even his appearance seemed to be more appealing. Oh, he still dressed head to toe in black, but the clothing was more comfortable, less restrictive. He appeared to be more comfortable in his own skin now and that pleased her to no end.

She loved seeing him happy. She knew she could make him even happier, someday, if he would only let her in more. She had tried on more than one occasion to tell him how she felt, but somehow the conversation was either interrupted or he skillfully moved the topic on to something safer. It was like he didn’t want to hear it or didn’t want to acknowledge it. It was starting to irritate her. She wanted him and he was having nothing to do with it.

Rebecca sighed as her fingers absently rubbed at the scratched etchings on the old desktop. Years of abuse, from millennia of students, had marred the highly polished wood beyond any means of magical repair. It simply refused any attempts to clear the surface of its rugged appearance. In a moment of unadulterated childishness, she had even etched her name into it, next to someone called Milda Hilldare. She had even etched in a small heart with the initials, RR + SS just for amusement. However now as she ran her fingertips over the tiny heart, she sighed inwardly. She knew what was in her own heart. She just wished she knew what was in his. Her roommate, Stacia, had heard of the infamous Severus Snape from reputation and couldn’t understand her adoration of the man, but then, no one could. So, she didn’t bother to try to explain it much. No one could see what she saw in him. And, in a way, that pleased her. That simply meant that he would be hers when the time came.

Rather he wants to believe it or not.

The time ‘will’ come, she was bound and determined on that. Someday she will force him see her as something different than his ex-ward. She will make him take notice that she was now a woman and not the ‘Child’ he seemed to think of her.
Rebecca chuckled slightly at that. In her mind, she went over the possible ways of seduction. The book before her now forgotten as her imagination gave way to a more interesting form of chemical connections and variables of dangerous elements.

Maybe Stacia had a point in this. Too much studying and not enough of a love life weren’t a good way to live.

~~~

Severus silently closed the door behind the boy and shook his head sadly. The poor child, ever since he had discovered his powers his own mother had been completely terrified of him to the point of bringing in a priest to ‘bless’ him and to exorcise the ‘evil spirits’ from his frail old body. Of course, the act failed and the mother became more and more frightened of her own child.

Severus crossed to his personal chambers and quickly poured himself a healthy dosage of his favorite brandy, sitting in his favorite chair he let his thoughts go over the boy’s situation. In his opinion, a muggle with no imagination was one of the worst people to have a wizard for a son. They lacked spirit and any form of visualization and when confronted with something that they didn’t understand or worse, refused to understand, they grow wary and frightened of that thing or person. Poor Darryn’s mother was one of these people. She was terrified of her own son and it saddened the child so much that he had attempted suicide three times so far, twice before coming to Hogwart’s and once afterward. It was after this last attempt when he got his hands on the young boy to try to talk to him and get things out into the open. It was beginning to work. The boy was starting to trust him. Getting over the trust barrier was the hardest part of the counseling process. No one trusted the potion’s mater in the beginning, thanks to his past reputation, but things were beginning to pick up at least the boy was talking.

He took a deep drink from the crystal stemware letting his gaze fashion on the flames of the fireplace. Another thing bothered him about this Ellis family. Where in Merlin’s name had the boy’s wizard father hid his magical abilities during their marriage and why did he want to? Magic was such an essential part of a wizard’s life, to deny a wizard magic was like denying milk to an infant. It was cruel and unreasonable, yet this man, Darryn’s father, did it daily for over eleven years. Until his son received his Hogwart’s letter and the fact couldn’t be hid from his wife any longer.

In the short time he had taon ton the counseling sessions, some of the things he had learned from the students had shocked him about parents and the way they treat their children. He used to loath Muggleborns and their unexpected magical children, but now after listening to tales of woe and horror he had developed an understanding of them. It had to be hard on magical children of Muggle parents to discover powers that they couldn’t understand nor that their parents could explain. Listening to these chin’s n’s stories made him wonder if Muggles were fit to be parents to anyone, let alone magical children.

In this line of thinking, his thoughts drifted to a past student, one Hermione Granger. Miss Granger was lucky; her parents encouraged her and tried their best to understand. They were one in a million and if he could turn back the hands of time, literally and jus just with a time turner, he would do his best to change his relationship with Miss. Granger and her parents. He had an idea that Miss. Granger was going to be a very important witch in the wizarding world and he hoped that in the future they would work together in friendship.

He smiled at that and his thoughts turned back to the children he was helping. Whether it be Muggle or Magical, it wasn’t an easy task keeping the children on the straight and narrow. Parents have it hard. How in God’s name could they do it all the time, especially at such young ages?

He didn’t get Rebecca until she was fourteen, he couldn’t imagine how he would have handled it if she was younger. Rebecca was already approaching adulthood when she came to him, these children he was seeing was fresh into wizarding world and new to Hogwart’s. A brand new life awaited them and at such a tender young age. They were basically and unceremoniously, thrust into living in a drafty old castle with people that were older than dirt and ghosts that invaded any room that they wanted without a care or thought about who was in that room or what they were doing. Most children handled it with a fair amount of dignity. But there were those that had a hard time adjusting, those that saw him on a regular basis. Those, like Darryn, that needed the most help. He did his best and his best will have to do. He just hoped that it was enough.

He rose from the chair and wandered into his bedchambers to prepare for the evening, stopping before his armoire, he smiled at the picture of Rebecca that showed her smiling brightly and waving at him. He chuckled and waved back causing the photo to giggle and blow him a kiss. He loved this picture. It captured the best part of her, her smile.

He missed her more than he ever thought he would, maybe even more than he should.

He sighed and removed his cloak letting it fall to the ground, turning his back to avoid the smirk of the young lady in the photo. He consciously knew she couldn’t really see him, bometometimes wizarding photos seemed to real, even for him and his subconscious couldn’t allow him to undress before her. Photograph or not.

Perhaps he would give her an unexpected call this weekend, just to see how she was doing. True, he had already seen her last weekend but that wasn’t nearly enough. He wanted more. Seeing Rebecca only once, every other week was killing him slowly. Over the years, he grew used to her being around and the dungeon was too quiet with her gone. He hated the dungeon now, with its cold and unfeeling walls. He was longing for her company and intelligent conversation.

And this was only her first year away from him and he was already at wit’s end.

He dropped his trousers onto the floor and slipped into his black pajama bottoms. Leaving the clothing where they fell knowing that one of the elves would retrieve them later and launder them. He finally climbed into bed turning to his side to face her picture, who was settling down herself into her little sofa for the night, he smiled.

“Goodnight Rebecca.”

He smiled slightly as he saw her wave to him again and they both blew out their candles.


~~~


A/N’s: Thank you all for reading this. Let me know what you think!