Secret Daughter (A Harry Potter FanFic)

Chapter 3

The doors opened into a large room with incredibly high ceilings. Elliana, Dumbledore, and Snape stepped into the room. Dumbledore moved to sit in the high-backed chair behind his ornate desk. Ellie slowly walked around the room trying to take in all the details. There were so many books, paintings, and little tchotchkes scattered around the magnificent office. Perhaps most amazing to her was the large, red and golden bird perched next to the desk. Ellie moved towards the creature. She tilted her head as she looked into the bird's eyes and the bird mirrored her. 

"That's Fawkes. He's a Phoenix." Dumbledore let her know as she reached out cautiously to pet the bird. Fawkes bent his head and allowed the girl to stroke his feathers gently.

Severus Snape watched this interaction, still standing in the doorway. He almost could not believe that this was the child he had lost eleven years ago, before he even got to know her. It was undeniable though, that she was his child. He saw many of his own features in the girl- all except her eyes. She had Lily's beautiful green eyes. She was Lily's child for sure. And his.

"Elliana," Dumbledore said, breaking her away from her moment with Fawkes, "I'd like to introduce you to your father, Severus Snape."

She turned to the imposing man in the doorway. He didn't look like a particularly fatherly figure. To be totally honest, he looked pretty scary. Nonetheless, she plucked up the courage and stuck out her hand to shake his. The man was taken aback by her gesture, but after a beat, grasped her hand with both of his. "I'm so sorry" was all that he could choke out.

Ellie could feel his large, cold hands on her own small one, squeezing almost a little too tight. She saw the sadness in his eyes, and Severus Snape did not look like a man who often cried. She pulled her hand from his grasp and took a step back so she didn't have to crane her neck quite so much to meet his gaze.

"Professor Dumbledore says you can tell me my story. Tell me; why did you give me away?" Her voice was strong, but her eyes were wet with tears that threatened to spill over. If he wasn't going to cry, she wasn't going to either. 

"Have a seat." His voice was gravelly and harsh, but not commanding. Ellie could tell that he was reluctant to share this story with her. She had the feeling that Professor Dumbledore had something to do with pushing her father to talk about this with her. He confirmed her suspicions when he said "I don't believe that this is a story for children, but Albus believes that you ought to know where you come from." he looked pointedly at Dumbledore as he said it.

Elliana did as she was asked and took a seat in one of the comfortable arm chairs situated in front of the professor's desk. Her father, Snape, began to pace slowly across the room as he began to speak.

"I loved your mother more than anything. But," his voice hitched, "she loved someone else." He looked at Dumbledore, who nodded encouragingly. "Your mother married a man by the name of James Potter, and they had a child together. They had been fighting, and one night, your mother came to me. James had hurt her, and she was seeking comfort. I took care of her and loved her. But, in the morning, she went back to Potter." He practically spat the name. "A few months later, she came to me and told me that she was pregnant, with you." He looked at Ellie sadly. "She didn't want to leave her husband, so she hid her pregnancy, hid you. When you were born, she handed you over to me." Snape looked at his daughter who he felt he had failed so miserably.

By now, Ellie's tears had spilled over and were silently running down her cheeks. "So she didn't want me?" She squeaked. 

"No. She didn't want ME. And keeping you would probably have ended her marriage." In that moment, Severus Snape looked completely dejected and as though he had almost been deflated. Elliana could tell that her father was hurt by her rejection more than he could say. He was hurt, but she was mad. The woman that was supposed to love her most gave her away like she was nothing, she loved her other child more, she loved her husband more. She didn't love Ellie. 

"What's her name?" Elliana asked quietly.

"Her name was Lily Evans." 

"Was?"

"She died. Only days after giving you up. She was murdered." Until this point, Snape had been pacing the room, but now he fell into the chair next to Elliana and put his head into his hands. He could not continue talking.

Ellie had no idea how to comfort this man. She had so many different emotions running through herself at that moment, and so many questions. She looked over to Professor Dumbledore, who had been sitting quietly behind his desk throughout the entire story. 

He spoke softly, "And that's why you had to be hidden Elliana. The man who murdered your mother was a very powerful dark wizard. He killed her and her husband, and attempted to kill their son. He didn't know you existed, and we decided to keep it that way. Your father and I knew he might come for you if he knew, and so we decided to keep your existence a secret until you were old enough to come to Hogwarts. Now that you are here, you can learn to protect yourself." 

"But why would he want to kill me? Why my mother?"

"There was a prophecy about your mother. It said that she would have powerful children. One of these children would have the power to kill him, his name was Voldemort."

"Albus!" Snape snapped suddenly as he said the last word. "That's enough for tonight." He glared at the old man who simply intertwined his fingers and placed them on his desk delicately. 

"Of course, my friend." He looked to Ellie, "Elliana, you must be famished. In all the commotion of our afternoon, you never got a chance to have dinner. Severus, why don't you take her down to the kitchen so she can eat, and then you can show her to your quarters for the evening." He raised an eyebrow at Snape who responded by immediately rising from his seat.

"Right. Come Elliana." He gestured for her to stand, and quickly swept her out of the office with a wave of his cloak.