Black and White

26

When I wake up, still on the Weasley's couch, it's to see Fred and George asleep on the floor, in a pile of blankets and pillows. The lack of noise and light tells me it's the middle of the night. I lay awake for a long time. As light begins coming through the windows, I sit up, pulling the blankets closer around me. Just pushing myself up took most of my energy. I'm weak, and somehow still exhausted. Merlin repositions himself at my side, purring softly.

"Ah, I was beginning to worry I'd have to wake you," Mrs. Weasley says softly as she enters the room. "Stay there, I'll warm up some soup for you."

She's only gone a moment, before coming back with a steaming bowl. As she passes it to me, however, she steps on the pile of blankets.

"Ouch!" George shouts, jerking and banging his head against Fred's.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Mrs. Weasley exclaims. "Got your finger, didn't I?"

"Just a bit," George grumbles, shaking out his hand as Fred rubs his head.

"How's your fever, Lucy?" she asks, placing a hand to my forehead.

"Getting better, I think," I answer, and she nods. "I'm still cold, though."

"Well, that's to be expected," she answers. "Your immune system needs time to build itself back up."

That's when the front door opens, and Lupin and Tonks walk in.

"We brought a friend!" Tonks announces, before she sees me. She rushes to me, throwing her arms around me, nearly making me spill the hot soup.

"Oh, Lucy, we thought you were dead!" she exclaims.

Hermione, apparently the friend they had brought, joins us. "Lucy, how did you get here? You look sick. Are you alright?"

"Give her some breathing room," Fred smiles softly, and they back off a little.

"Snape brought her here yesterday," George begins as Lupin sits in a chair across from us, watching me carefully. George tells them everything I said the day before.

"I'm surprised he didn't get you out sooner," Lupin muses.

"He had to have permission," I answer, coughing again.

"Right, right," Lupin agrees. "We can't afford to lose his insight with the Death Eaters' plans. Still, though, with who you are..."

"Who am I?" I ask when it becomes clear he doesn't intend to finish.

"He hasn't told you?" Lupin questions, shocked.

"He hasn't told me much of anything, besides how to brew potions," I reply. "What is it?"

Lupin sighs. "I'm not sure I should be the one to tell you this, but it looks like you might never know otherwise," he says. "Your mother, before she married Sirius, was Marie Snape. Severus Snape's twin."

We all stare at him in complete shock.

"Professor Snape is a twin?" Fred and George ask together.

"He's my uncle?" I ask.

"Your uncle, and your godfather," Lupin says.

"It does sort of make sense," Hermione admits, taking my hand. "He doesn't seem to hate you nearly as much as other students, even though he despised your dad."

"Then why didn't he stop Bellatrix from taking me?" I ask, suddenly angry and confused. "He's been around all my life, and he never said anything." I have more to say, but I'm cut off by a coughing fit.

"I'm sorry, Lucy," Lupin tells me sincerely. "I have no clue why, but my only guess would be that he believed he was doing all he could. Don't think he didn't care about you. The only time I ever saw him smile, genuinely smile, was the day you were born, when your mother asked him to hold you."