TOXIC LITTLE BITCH. (DM)

Twenty Three

Another three weeks had passed, Effie was still staying at Malfoy manor along with her mother who had been trying for the past week to convince Effie to come back and live with her, but of course that meant living with the Dark Lord, even though her mother assured that he was hardly ever there, it was still a major downfall in the situation, but still, she knew she couldn't stay here with Draco forever as much as she wished she could.

Today while sitting in the lounge area, sipping her tea and reading a book, there was a loud knock at the front door of the manor, there was no one else downstairs other than Effie, so she made her way to answer it cautiously.

She barely got two seconds to say anything when she opened the door, she was swept off her feet and engulfed in a large black cloak, at first she panicked thinking someone was going to grab her but she recognised the scent anywhere. It was Snape.

Effie instantly felt horrible, she hadn't even taken two minutes to write to Snape and let him know she was okay, she'd just left him worrying about her for three weeks.

"Elizabeth what are you playing at, don't you remember there are people out to kill—"

"Severus. I'm fine. It's okay. No ones going to kill me." She attempted to calm him down.

"It is not fine Elizabeth, you've just disappeared for almost a month and you think it's fine. I mean what were you thinking? You don't write to me, you know what's been—"

"What's going on down there, what's all the shouting?" The sound of a familiar females voice uttered from the top of the stairs.

"Rosalie?" Snape looked up in pure shock at the sister who he thought he lost so many years ago.

Effie hadn't ever thought this moment through in her mind, why would she? She never imagined her mother was ever going to come back from the dead, it was never a scenario she thought about at all.

"Hello Severus." Her mother walked downstairs not breaking eye contact with her brother, who had still said nothing and didn't seem as if he was going to anytime soon.

"But— but how? Your dead, you can't be here." He stuttered, literally looking as if he had seen a ghost.

"Quite clearly not." Rosalie chuckled, earning a sour look from Snape.

"You think this is funny?" He protested. "You think that leaving us all thinking you were dead is some sort of joke? How could you do this? To us— to me. Your own brother. Didn't you ever take a second to think what you would do to me." There was pain in his voice, it was the first time Effie had ever properly saw Snape show any sort of emotion and he was breaking her heart.

"Severus, please can we talk about this—"

"Absolutely not. I have nothing to say to you. Just stay away from me." He cut Rosalie off, a single tear escaping from his eye. He darted back towards the front door of the manor and exited.

Effie ran after her beloved uncle, not wanting to lose him when she's just got her mother back. She couldn't help but desire them to be an actual family. Surely there was a part of Snape that was happy to see his sister underneath all the anger.

"Severus. Wait." She shouted, he was quite a bit a head of her, speed walking, acting as if he couldn't hear her, his black cape blew wild in the wind at the pace he was walking.

"Severus will you just stop for a minute please." Her tone was more impatient this time, prompting him to stop in his tracks and turn to face the young girl who he had grown to care about so much.