Professor Snape stalked down the corridor of Hogwarts, his black cloak trailing behind him like a huge dark shadow, as he made his way towards Headmaster Albus Dumbledore’s office.

“Peppermint drop,” he muttered the password quickly, making his way into the headmaster’s inner sanctum.

“Where is she? Is she here?” Snape demanded as he threw open the door to Dumbledore’s office. “What does she know?”

Albus Dumbledore sat behind his massive desk, a tired expression on his face.

“Calm down my dear Severus. She is here, resting, and she is, or I might say, was, completely oblivious to any of this. She has lived as a Muggle for half of her life, not knowing about our world, or the part she is to play in it. She needs some time. Madam Pomfrey has given her something to help her sleep and to rest while she coincides herself to this.”

“I want to see her. I found out about her, I got the information from Voldemort and I want to talk to her, to see her. She’s mine.” Snape’s black eyes glistened as he paced the room, unable to stand still. “Is she really-?”

Dumbledore held up his hand to stop him.

“Yes, we believe she is Lily Evan’s sister. The good news is that you found her before Voldemort did. I can’t imagine what kind of horror and torture he would have put her through, knowing she was related to Harry Potter. I believe he would have used her to get to Harry,” Dumbledore sighed.

Running his hand over his eyes, Professor Snape sat down heavily and exhaled slowly.

“I do want to see her, Headmaster. I feel a sort of, responsibility for her. I...knew Lily at school,” he finished slowly.

“Yes, yes Severus, all in good time. But realize, Rose is not Lily. She has not had information regarding our world and is completely ignorant of the extent of the danger she is in.”

Rose awoke slowly...where was she? She looked around; she felt rested, as if she had just finished a long nap out in the spring sunshine. She looked to be in some sort of castle. Castle! She thought to herself, what in the world? Then it hit her: the two strangers that had shown up at her door yesterday with some crazy story of her being a witch. Well, not so crazy, she reminded herself. She was here, wasn't she? She didn’t really remember all of what Dumbledore and McGonagall had told her, but she believed them. She didn’t know why – maybe they had bewitched her, but she did believe them. All of a sudden, she had a nephew, and she found out she was a witch and that somebody named Voldemort wanted both of them dead. She closed her eyes again and shivered as a cold ripple of fear snaked its way down her spine, unaware of the dark shadow that approached her.

Severus Snape approached Rose’s bed in the hospital wing and saw her shiver – he reached out a hand to brush the red-gold hair from her cheek and stopped himself. She looked so much like his beloved Lily at first glance, but on closer inspection he could see the differences. Her small nose tilted up just a little too much, and her eyes were more cat shaped. Her pink lips were lusher and more full than Lily’s had been, especially the bottom one, which was thrust out in a semi-pout as she slept.

He sat down in the chair, murmuring, “I’m right here Lily, I won’t let anything happen to you. You are safe with me.” Closing his eyes, he leaned back in the chair, totally unaware that he had just called her by his dead love’s name.