Little Miss Snape

Disclaimer: Don\'t own Harry Potter persons and things, just borrowing, not making money. I own Mashka and nothing else. This is AU set after the Trio (Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger) have graduated.

Warning: Contains spanking of a minor in several chapters (not all of them). Not for kink or anything nasty like that; for loving family discipline. There is some mentioning of abuse (physical--not sexual) as well, not too graphic.

The charms and barriers that usually surrounded Hogwarts, preventing
anyone from apparating to the school or arriving by floo powder, were
lifted on this warm day in late August. It was a week and a half
before the students would arrive for the start of the new school
year, but the teachers were back at the school getting things ready.
It was rare to see the surly Potions Master, Professor Severus Snape,
standing outside. His very pale skin lead most people to believe that
he never even left his dungeons, let alone go anywhere near sunlight.
But today was different; Severus was standing just outside the
Hogwarts gates, waiting for his niece to apparate. He had been
contacted just three days ago and told that his brother Stefan and
his wife Natalya had been killed. He was given no real information as
to the deaths, other then that they were being investigated and their
surviving child was to be entrusted to his care, according to their
will. Severus had met Natalya at the wedding, nearly ten years ago
and hadn\'t seen them since. He had never been close with his older
brother; the last thing he had heard was that Stefan was teaching at
Durmstrang. He never even knew he had a niece and here the child was
about to be dumped on his doorstep. The owl had said she was five-
years-old and that her name was Maria.

Suddenly there was a loud pop and a woman and little girl appeared
before him, surrounded by trunks and bags. \"Mr. Snape?\" the woman
asked. Severus nodded. \"I\'m Felicia Tremayne. Pleased to meet you.\"
The woman extended her hand and Severus rather reluctantly shook it.
His attention was mostly on the little girl, standing slightly behind
the woman. Maria had dark hair, like his and Stefan\'s, neatly braided
and tied with a blue ribbon. Her eyes were a vivid clear blue;
compared to most children her age, Maria was short, like her mother.
She was crumpling her black robe in her small hands, nervously
looking between Snape and Miss Tremayne. Miss Tremayne turned to the
little girl and spoke in a foreign language. The little girl nodded
in response, not saying a word. \"She does speak English?\" Severus
questioned. Miss Tremayne nodded. \"When she wants to; Natalya was
always more comfortable speaking her native Russian and taught Maria
to speak it fluently. She prefers it to English, it\'s more comforting
to her, but English is actually her first language.\" Snape nodded and
turned to the little girl. \"I can take those bags for you,\" he told
her gruffly. He hated children, but she looked terrified and she was
his niece, so he tried to not speak too harshly. \"Oh, one last hint
Mr. Snape; she\'s rarely called Maria. It was shortened to May.\"

May silently handed her bags to Snape, who levitated the trunks, and
followed him into the school. He led her down to his dungeon quarters
to the second bedroom, which besides containing a bed was empty. He
set her belongings down and stepped towards her; he was surprised to her her step back. \"I\'m very sorry about your parents; I am sure that
you feel very frightened being in a new place with new people,\" he
stated. May nodded. \"I thought we\'d decorate your room later on; its
lunch time now. Are you hungry May?\" She nodded again and took off
her robe, revealing a long sleeved black shirt and navy blue
pants. `Much too hot for August,\' Severus thought to himself. She
silently followed him, walking slightly behind him, to the Great
Hall, where the rest of the staff was seated, talking and eating. The
headmaster, Albus Dumbledore looked up as they entered the room and
smiled at the little girl. \"Severus, why don\'t you introduce us to
your niece?\" he asked. Snape nodded and introduced each of the
teachers in turn. \"This is Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor
McGonagall, Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick, Madame Hooch,
Hagrid and Madame Pomfrey, the school\'s nurse.\" May nodded. \"And this
is Maria.\" The teachers all said hello and welcomed her, but again
she only nodded in response. A chair was brought to the table, placed
beside Snape\'s and the little girl tentatively sat down, not looking
at anyone; she ate slowly and silently, glancing suspiciously at the
adults at the table, ducking her head whenever one of them looked at
her.

After lunch Snape brought May back to his quarters. May entered the
room he had given her and shut the door behind her and Snape could
hear the lock click. His eyebrow rose and he wondered why she wanted
to lock the door. He shrugged his shoulders and began to organize his
lesson plans and the files he kept on each student. Several minutes
later, he heard the lock click again and May cautiously entered the
sitting room/office and looked around. \"What do you need child?\" he
snapped, without meaning to. He made a mental note to work on being a
little nicer to her. May\'s eyes shifted downward and he saw her
whisper something he couldn\'t hear. \"Speak up girl!\" he snapped. She
flinched, making Snape somewhat regret his usual harsh tone. He
reminded himself that she was only five and he shoulder perhaps speak
more quietly around her. \"I need to go to the bathroom,\" she said
slightly louder. Her English was quite good, with no hint of the
accent that her mother had. He pointed to a door and she quickly
entered the bathroom.

\"Come here child,\" he said when she came out. May slowly shuffled
towards him and stopped an arm\'s length away. \"Do you know that\'s the
first thing you\'ve said to me since your arrival this morning?\" She
nodded, and then quietly said something in Russian. \"English child!\"
he snapped again. She ducked her head, looking at the floor. \"Sorry,\"
she whispered. \"What were you saying child?\" Snape prompted, a little
bit softer this time. \"I don\'t talk too much,\" she whispered,
fidgeting as he looked at her. \"Can we make my room now?\" she asked.
Snape nodded and they entered the room that he had given her. \"Can I
do the spells?\" she asked hopefully as he grabbed his wand. \"NO!\" he
shouted, frowning at her. She jumped at his yell, and then again
looked at the floor. \"You are too young to be playing with wands; I
don\'t ever want to see you with one,\" Snape sternly told her. She
nodded. \"I expect a verbal answer,\" he instructed. She looked up at
him, a confused look on her face. \"Huh?\" she asked. \"I want you to
answer out loud.\" \"Yes sir,\" she replied softly. \"But mama teached me
spells,\" she pointed out. \"I don\'t care,\" he said, still
frowning. \"Now what color do you want your room?\"

The room became a sunshine yellow, May\'s favorite color, a color that
Snape rather despised. He moved in a chest of drawers and a desk,
then began to open her trunks, intending on helping her put things
away. May rushed over to him, a strained look on her little face. \"I
can do it,\" she told him anxiously. \"Then I shall leave you to put
away your things,\" he told her, turning and leaving the room.