Brave { Neville Longbottom}

Chapter Fifty Two

The Walsh household held a warm, inviting air about it the first time Severus arrived to it to deliver Kefira's Hogwarts letter. However, when he arrived one morning to speak with the parental units of the household, he was greeted coldly at the door by the girl's father.

Much like Kefira, Cardel was able to express every emotion he felt through his eyes and Severus knew it was going to be a long dreadful visit, full of yelling and possible crying.

"Mr. W-" he tried to start off politely, but Cardel was not about to welcome him into the household.

"Where is my daughter?!" the father demanded to know. "The only reason you should be here is to be bringing Kefira home where she belongs."

"With all due respect, Mr. Walsh, but Kefira does not belong in this environment-"

"Excuse me?! This is her home, this where she was born and raised, don't you go standing there and telling me-"

"I'm afraid you misinterpreted my words." Severus said with a heavy sigh. He could see where the young one got her tendency to rudely interrupt.

"My daughter belongs home."

"If your daughter returns home right now, there is nothing that you are capable of doing for her. Those at the school are knowledgeable, myself included."

"Well if you're so damn knowledgeable, then why in the hell is my daughter still in the hospital?"

"As I've explained in the letters-"

"Those letters don't mean anything! I don't understand any of that magic stuff, what I want to know is how soon before my daughter can come home?"

"It'll be a little longer." Severus answered, but that's all the information he provided to the man.

Kefira's mother came to the door and gently placed her hands on her husband's arms, pulling him back inside. When she returned from bringing him in, she faced the professor, with her arms folded across her chest.

"Professor Snape, before I allowed my daughter to go with you to get her school supplies back in her first year, I asked you to keep her safe. Do you remember that?"

Severus just stared at the woman, as Alana waited for an answer.

"You told me that you would keep her safe. You said she would be in one of the safest places in the world." Alana said. "And I know Kefira has a tendency to get in trouble and I can't tell you how many times she's gotten hurt through her young life, however, she has never ever gotten hurt like this."

"Technically, she's not hurt, she's only petrified." Severus corrected her.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?! Because it doesn't. My youngest child has been in a hospital bed for weeks when she is supposed to be at that school learning!"

"And she has learned." Severus said. "She has been learning because I have been teaching her. Unlike the other professors that allow her to roam the halls or do as Kefira pleases, I teach her. I make her sit down and focus on the task at hand. By doing so, she has learned quite a bit or at least a lot more compared to when I first met her."

Alana narrowed her eyes at her. "Are you saying something about how I let her get up doing her work and move a bit? You think that's a bad thing?" The mother growled.

"Your daughter needs discipline. Allowing her to do what she wants at all times does not help that child-"

"I'm sorry, do you have children, Professor?" Alana asked him harshly.

"No." he said through gritted teeth.

"Well I do. I have four girls. Each of them, my husband and I raised them. Each of them different from the other with their personalities and how they learn. I can have Rosemary sit for hours with a book, but Kefira is more active. That does not mean that she needs discipline, she's just different. Perhaps you should broaden your outlook on students. Just because one struggles to sit at a desk doesn't make them any less smart than the student next to them."

"I never questioned your child's intelligence." Severus huffed. "But she wastes valuable time by getting into trouble."

"She's twelve years old. She is a child. Children tend to get into trouble. They cause mischief.It's what they do."

"Not all of them."

"But the majority of them do!" Alana said. " And if children being children is that big of a problem for you, I think you chose the wrong career. If Kefira has to deal with people like you passing judgement on her, then I want her nowhere near that school."

"So you'll hide her away here. Ignore the fact that she is a witch? So that when she comes of age, she will have little knowledge and control of her magic. That sounds like a fantastic idea. That will get her into more trouble and you will find yourself unable to handle it. Because allowing her to walk around or go outside will not solve the problem. There are laws that she must abide to whether she's in school or not and if she breaks any of them, she will find herself in a great deal of trouble. Perhaps the first time they will overlook it, but the more trouble she gets into, the Ministry of Magic will not look kindly upon her. Whether she is a child or not, it makes no difference."

Alana remained quiet as she scowled at the man, she had no knowledge of all the wizarding laws or what trouble Kefira could get into.

"You asked me to keep your daughter safe." Severus said. "And I have been doing just that, by not sheltering her like everyone else has. It's called reality and if Kefira wants to survive in this world, shes going to have  start experiencing it."