Things were strained between Aliah and Snape. During her lessons, they wouldn't talk unless it was the last resort. At meal times they wouldn't look at each other nor acknowledge each other throughout the grounds.
Aliah sat at the Gryffindor table alone. Akilina swooped down with a gift without a note, but a parcel in its clutches. She opened the present and there was a photo in a frame. A beautiful woman sat on a lounge chair reading a book. Aliah looked closer at the photograph. The woman was at least seven months pregnant. The woman had short brown hair with sparkling brown eyes.
Aliah patted the owl's head and it flew away. She turned over the frame and took out the photo. On the back, it read,
"Serena Urquart, August 1981,"
Flipping back to the photograph, Aliah studied the features of the woman. The same coloured hair, the eye colour, they even shared the same slant of their eyes. "Mum?" Aliah whispered. She held her hand over mouth to stop herself from crying. She looked around the room. There was no staff at the table and only a dozen other students were in the Great Hall.
Aliah quickly grabbed her bag from the seat next to her and rushed to the Gryffindor tower. She past a few students who gave her a questioning look. Aliah nearly tripped over the portrait hole step.
She threw herself on the bed and held the photograph in her hands. Hot tears started to fall from her eyes. This was her mother. Her real mother. Aliah covered her mouth to muffle the sobs. She wasn't being paranoid. The photograph was proof of that.
Aliah studied the picture from top to bottom as well as the writing on the back. Aliah recognised the handwriting from the same person who had given her the opal. There was a scribble on the back where a name had been crossed out.
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The next morning Aliah was awoken to a knock at the door. "Who is it?" she yawned. She sat up and rested against the bedhead. Professor McGonagall entered the dormitory and took a seat on the edge of the bed.
"I came to see if you were alright Miss Holt. You haven't been at lunch or at dinner yesterday. I was getting worried,"
Aliah looked down and fumbled with the edges of the quilt. "I'm sorry to scare you, Professor, I lost my appetite that's all,"
"Are you sure? Your eyes tell another story," Aliah reached for her compact mirror in her bedside table drawer. She placed her fingertips on the bags under her eyes. McGonagall was right. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying last night. She kept having the same nightmare every time she closed her eyes.
"I received a photograph, yesterday Professor," Aliah sighed and returned the mirror
"A photograph?"
"Here," Aliah reached and pulled out the photo from under her pillow. She handed it to McGonagall. The Professor gasped and covered her mouth to hide the shock. It was her daughter.
"She was my mother. You knew her, didn't you?" Aliah moved to sit beside McGonagall.
"Yes, I knew her. She was a student here," A pause hovered over the two women.
"What was she like?"
"She was a bright young witch, just like you. She too was a Gryffindor. She was very active. She played Quidditch, captain actually. Though she liked to cause trouble, it was hard not to like her," McGonagall wiped a tear from her eye. "Come Miss Holt, you need to eat. Have a shower and change, if I do not see you there I will have you sit for a test for our next lesson."
"Give me ten minutes Professor," Aliah replied and ran to the bathroom.
McGonagall ran her finger over the picture with a sigh. She returned the picture back on Aliah's pillow and walked out to the great hall.
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As Professor McGonagall requested, Aliah made her way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. "Let it go, Minerva!" Aliah turned to the sound of a man yelling. Curious, she ran towards the sound and hid behind the wall. Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall were arguing, which was nothing new, but this time it seemed more serious than usual.
"You gave her a photograph! She will go to the library and search the name" McGonagall yelled.
"My photo?" Aliah thought.
"You should have seen her when she came asking about her Father Minerva, she was distraught! She may look up the name and find her grandfather but will not find your name. We made sure of that,"
"I still believe that we should tell her the truth, Aliah deserves it. If she does go to the library she will work it out. It will be better for her to hear it from us, than some book Severus. It is time," McGonagall roared.
Aliah was shocked. "What on earth were they talking about?"
"No. I am not putting her in danger,"
"It is too late for that! Severus, we decided fifteen years ago that we would not see her again and yet, look where we are,"
"My word still stands,"
"Don't play coy with me, Severus, you have been watching that girl since she was sent to the Holt family,"
"As if you can say different," Severus glared.
"I am her grandmother and I say tell her the truth!"
"I am her Father and my word is final!" Snape snapped. Aliah stumbled back and fell to the ground. Snape was her father? Both teachers turned to the thump.
"Aliah," Snape said almost in a whisper. Aliah stood up from the ground.
"Aliah, please listen," McGonagall called. Aliah felt her heartbreak. Her life had begun to settle and now this? She took a few steps backwards, she turned and ran.
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"I am her Father and my word is final!" Severus snapped at Minerva. Severus heard a thump and turned to find his daughter on the ground. The look of shock and betrayal was clear on her face. He took a step forward, an arm raised as if to reach out for her.
"Aliah," he called softly. After a second, Aliah stood up and ran down the empty corridor. Severus turned to McGonagall "now look at what you have done!"
"Severus -" The old woman didn't bother finishing her sentence. "We need to find her before she does something irrational. She is like her mother in that way," McGonagall picked up the skirts of her robe and followed the teenager.
McGonagall reached Aliah before Severus had. She slowly walked in the Gryffindor tower and the stairs to the girl's dormitory. Professor stood outside the door, she listened carefully. Her heart clenched when she could hear sobbing.
Taking a breath, McGonagall opened the door. She watched as Aliah was racing in her room, packing. Aliah stopped at the feeling of eyes on her. She turned and glared at her Professor - grandmother or whatever else the woman was to her.
Aliah pointed to the door, "GET OUT!" she screamed. The professor ignored Aliah. She walked closer to the girl and placed a hand on her shoulder. Aliah pushed it off and looked straight into McGonagall's eyes.
"Are you my Grandmother?" She snarled
"Aliah-" McGonagall started but was cut off by Aliah.
"Are you my Grandmother?"
"Yes. Serena was my daughter," McGonagall explained.
"Get out," McGonagall didn't leave. She looked at Aliah, her eyes were turning black and her hair was turning a fiery red.
"I said GET. OUT."
McGonagall knew there was no getting through to her. She bowed her head and left. Outside she was met with Severus was catching his breath. "There is no getting through to her Severus,"
"Let me," he walked past her, but McGonagall grabbed his shoulder.
"Give her time Severus. She is a Metamorphmagus, but I do not think she can control it," Severus looked up at the old womthenHe than backed off and rushed to his quarters.
Inside, he punched the wall which caused all of his potions to fall. He then stormed over to his desk and threw everything on the floor. He fell hard on the ground in tears, letting all his emotions out.
YOU ARE READING
Blood is Thicker Than Water (REWRITTEN)
Fanfiction#1 in Aliah Snape Series Before the war of Hogwarts, Severus Snape was married and had a daughter. To protect his daughter, he had to send her away, no matter how cold and distant it made him. Aliah now lives in a world where magic is just a fantasy...
