Secret Daughter (A Harry Potter FanFic)

Chapter 6

Over the course of the next week, Severus Snape taught his daughter everything that she would need to know about the wizarding world to pass as someone who was raised within it. He taught her about Hogwarts and its houses, about the Ministry of Magic, and the history surrounding Lord Voldemort and his rise to power.

Perhaps most importantly, he taught her her backstory- the one that she would tell other students and professors in order to hide her true identity as the daughter of Lily Evans and sister of The Boy Who Lived. Her mother was a witch, but she died when she was just a baby- just close enough to the truth to be believable. According to his story, Elliana had lived with distant relatives during the school year as she couldn't come to Hogwarts with her father.

She was ready to start school when September 1st finally arrived. She had practiced some simple spells and potions with her father once she had her wand, but was incredibly eager to learn more.

The only thing that Elliana was nervous about was what house that she would be sorted into. She had learned that her father had been in Slytherin and was currently the Head of Slytherin House. She was afraid that she would disappoint him if she wasn't in Slytherin, and she wanted to desperately for this cold man who was her father to love her and be proud of her. A small part of her wanted this so that he would regret giving her up as a child. A little part of her wanted him to hurt the way she hurt over her abandonment. 

*           *           *

As the sun set over the lake, Elliana stood at the castle doors, watching her classmates arrive at Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore appeared in the doorway startling her. "Are you ready Elliana?"

She turned around and looked into his sparkling eyes. "I'm excited. And nervous. And terrified. What if I'm not in Slytherin?" the words tumbling out of her mouth at the invitation.

"Well then you aren't in Slytherin" he shrugged and chuckled lightly. "Your mother was a Gryffindor you know. And a top-notch one at that. She would be incredibly proud to see you in her house."

Elliana heart ached in her chest. She wanted to love her mother and feel connected to her, but all she felt was resentment. Her mother refused to even acknowledge her existence. Why would she care to make this woman proud? "I want to be in Slytherin." She said, reassuring herself as much as she was him.

"You'll do great things in whichever house you join. Don't worry yourself with labels." He nodded towards the students who were now closing in on the castle, led by Hagrid. "I believe it's time to join your class."

As the group of first-years entered the castle, Professor Dumbledore greeted them warmly. The other students were so shocked at the beauty and newness of the castle that none of them noticed when Elliana slipped into the crowd and disappeared amongst her peers. The group was led around to the side of the Great Hall where they were met by Professor McGonagall. Here she explained the sorting ceremony and the house system to the new students. Elliana only listened half-heartedly as she was busy looking around at all of her fellow students. This was the first time that she was able to spend any time around wizards her own age. The sum of her entire experience in the wizarding world revolved around fully-grown wizards who made her feel like an ignorant child. Now she probably knew more about her world than some of the muggle-born students, which made her proud. She smiled smugly to herself as she noticed the students around her begin to move into the hall.

Upon entering, Elliana saw the Great Hall in all its glory for the first time, filled with the buzzing voices of students, candles floating starkly against the starry ceiling- it was warm and inviting, far from the large, cold, and empty room where she shared meals with the professors over the last week.

The students filed towards the front of the hall where they were lined up in order to be sorted. A hush fell over the crowd as the Sorting Hat sang its song and the sorting began.  When Professor McGonagall reached the M's, Elliana's heart sped up, waiting to hear her name called, but before she heard 'McKean, Elliana' the professor had moved on to the N names. She began to panic, thinking she had been forgotten. She looked over to her father, but he was very pointedly not looking at her, but instead stared intently into the crowd of students.

Suddenly she heard "Snape, Elliana." She felt her stomach hit the floor. She had never even thought about her last name. She had obviously realized that she had been raised with the last name of her adoptive parents, but she hadn't thought of changing to match her fathers. She barely had time to process this thought as she walked timidly up to sit on the stool in front of McGonagall. In her anxiety, she hadn't noticed that the silence in the Hall had been broken by the whispers of the other students at the mention of her name.

"Snape as in professor Snape?" 

"He has a kid?"

"No way!"

The whispered stopped at a single pointed raise of an eyebrow from Professor Dumbledore.

The Sorting Hat was plopped on Elliana's head and it sunk down over her eyes and rested on her hooked nose.

"Hmmmm..." Elliana jumped at the voice of the hat. "A Snape eh? You come from a long line of Slytherins. I can see your ambition. You would be great in that house. But! You could also succeed in Gryffindor... Though you aren't as brave as I would expect."

She thought as hard as she could about how she wanted to be a Slytherin, crossing her fingers inside her robes.

The hat made a throat-clearing noise and loudly announced "Slytherin!"

The students at the Slytherin table all stood, cheering and clapping as Elliana made her way down to join. WIth a large smile on her face, she turned back to look up at her father who was clapping and gave her a small nod of approval. She spotted Draco at the table waving her over and she settled into the seat next to him while the hat finished sorting the rest of the first years.

After dinner, the Slytherin Prefects led them down to the dungeons where Snape had shown her the Slytherin common room was hidden. He had not let her see inside, insisting that she would only be allowed if she were sorted into Slytherin. The prefect knocked on the bricks and uttered the password "Salazar." They walked inside as Elliana took in the beautiful green glow of the common room. It was everything that her father's apartment was, with stone walls and beautiful emerald green furniture- but the room was also more alive and welcoming than his cold home.

Draco looked at Elliana, staring in awe at the magnificent common room. "Welcome to Slytherin."