Little Lupin

Chapter Eight: Safety

The food at the feast was spectacular, in Alyssa's opinion. He sat at her usual spot between Snape and her father, who was talking animatedly with Professor Flitwick, and she occasionally added to the conversation when someone asked her a question. She was becoming much more comfortable around so many people, but she had her moments of shyness. For instance, she had been very hesitant to stay with Hagrid when her father was teaching one of his seventh-year classes about a topic he didn't want her to know about yet. At first, she was very quiet around the half-giant, but after talking with him and petting his dog, Fang, they became fast friends. He even showed her some of the creatures he took care of.

"Professor Snape? Are you okay?" Alyssa whispered to the man on her left.

"I'm fine," he answered shortly.

"You know, a lot of people say they are fine but they don't really mean it," she said knowingly. "Daddy says that you aren't weak for admitting when you are sad, that it's a natural human emotion."

Snape bit back his retort of, 'How would he know? He isn't human,' for something less scathing towards the small girl. "Pray tell, then, how could you tell how I'm feeling?" he said only slightly sarcastically. There. It contained less of his usual bite but just enough for her to hopefully leave him alone. Unfortunately, she wasn't deterred, or maybe she was just oblivious to his sarcasm.

"You hide it very well, but I can see it in your eyes. You are upset about something," she said.

Snape snorted. "You are being ridiculous. Nobody can tell emotions from just looking at someone's eyes," he argued, but he didn't fully believe his words. The girl was smarter than she let on. Or maybe she was secretly a Legillimens. He didn't know. "Okay, I'm sad," he mumbled quickly. "Happy?"

"No, but I am happy that you finally admitted it to yourself," Alyssa said, turning back to her food. Severus shook his head at the girl. She had somehow managed to figure him out, something only two other people in his life had been able to do, and the feeling didn't sit well with him.

After the feast, Remus and Alyssa were walking back to their quarters when Professor McGonagall came running up to them.

"Remus, you are needed at the entrance to Gryffindor Tower. There's no time to explain," she said hurriedly. Remus nodded and ran after her, Alyssa at their heels, not wanting to be left behind. All of Gryffindor was surrounding the entrance hole, trying to get a glimpse of what had happened. Dumbledore was there, inspecting the damage done to the Fat Lady's portrait. Remus, McGonagall, and Snape came hurrying towards the painting. Alyssa tried to keep up with her father, but since she was much smaller than everyone else, hardly anyone noticed her and she kept getting shoved around and nearly stepped on a few times. Finally, she realized that it was stupid to try to get through the sea of students and went to stand in a nearby empty corridor to wait on her father.

A large black dog came up to her and sniffed her hand. Alyssa smiled.

"Hello, doggy," she said, petting its head. "You're probably wondering what I'm doing here by myself."

The dog moved its shoulders almost like it was shrugging.

"Everyone's crowded around the entrance to Gryffindor Tower and Daddy and the rest of the professors are trying to figure out what happened. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you, doggy?"

The dog just looked at her happily.

"Anyway, I kept almost getting knocked over by the students so I came to wait for Daddy out here. I hope he doesn't mind. I tried to obey him, but it was impossible with everyone in the way."

The dog licked her cheek affectionately which made her giggle.

"Alyssa!" said a voice from behind her. The dog suddenly started running away in the opposite direction. She watched as the dog turned the corner and disappeared. She turned back to her father, who was looking at where the dog was with a confused look on his face.

Remus turned around, expecting Alyssa to be behind him, but she was nowhere to be seen. He could have slapped himself. Of course, she wouldn't be able to keep up with him, and for a small child such as herself to navigate through a crowd of students twice her age and size was like asking her to navigate a minefield. He weaved his way through the mob and began searching nearby corridors for his cub. He eventually found her with a large black dog that looked all too familiar. What are you doing, Sirius?

"Alyssa!" he shouted. The dog ran away so fast, he barely had time to register its presence.

"Cub, why did you run off? You were supposed to stay close to me," he asked urgently.

"I'm sorry, Daddy," she said looking down. "But I had to move! They were squishing me and kept stepping on my toes!" she exclaimed.

"Alright, cub. I believe you. I'm sorry if I sounded angry. I was just worried about you," he said, hugging Alyssa.

"So you aren't mad at me for running off?"

"No, I know you didn't do it to disobey me. You did it to protect yourself. Your safety is more important to me than anything else," Remus said.

Sirius watched the exchange from afar. He now knew why the little girl looked so familiar. She was the spitting image of his old friend. He did not doubt that Remus was an excellent father, the way he cared for his daughter. He hoped that maybe one day, he could meet the girl properly.

The Gryffindors were sent by Dumbledore to the Great Hall, where they were soon joined by the rest of the houses. The teachers were going to search the castle for Sirius Black, who had attempted a break-in, but since he didn't have the password, he was unsuccessful. In a fit of anger, he had ripped up the Fat Lady's portrait into shreds.

"Professor, I need to get Alyssa to bed, then I'll come help search for Black," Remus told Dumbledore.

"That's alright, Remus. You need to stay with her tonight," Dumbledore said.
"Are you sure?"

"I'm very sure. Sleep well, you two," Dumbledore said and walked off.

"Come on, time for bed," Remus said and the two Lupins walked back to their quarters. Tonight, they decided, was one of those nights where Alyssa was to sleep curled up next to Remus. These nights were fewer nowadays, and Alyssa would sleep in her own bed, but some nights, like after a nightmare, she wanted to be as close to her father as possible. Just before Remus drifted off to sleep, Alyssa tapped his shoulder.

"What?" he asked sleepily.

"Did Sirius Black break into the castle?" she asked.

"Yes, but he didn't get very far," he mumbled.

"Why do you think he did it, Daddy?" she pressed.

"Cub, that's not for you to worry about. What you need to worry about is getting to sleep. So do I, the full moon is tomorrow," he said, yawning.

"I remember. Don't forget to take your potion tomorrow," she said warningly, though she knew her father was very careful about taking his Wolfsbane on time.

"Yes, mum," he said rolling his eyes and finally going to sleep. Alyssa curled into his side and promptly fell asleep as well.

A/N: Aww, has Snape got soft? "Now, I don't want any of you, youngsters, to worry. You'll still have your Potions Master when I'm through with him! Never fear." Does anyone know who that quote came from? Ol' Knockfart himself. Hope you liked the chapter!