Chapter 1
Severus Sight-
No sooner had Neyla stood up than the Dark Mark began to burn. How much I hated this cursed life as a spy. The only positive thing about today was seeing her again after four years, even though I had never believed it. Neyla had always had a strong sense of justice, which is why I wasn't surprised that she expressed her wish to become an Auror as early as third grade. Draco had made her last year at school hell. He was bothered by the fact that a half-blood was the Slytherin Head Girl on top of that, and that's exactly what he made Neyla feel every day. That he had never summoned Lucius to the castle to read her the riot act surprised me to this day. Shortly before she left, she came back to my rooms to say goodbye.
-Review July 1991-
Relief spread through me as I closed the door to my rooms. Summer holidays at last! No annoying trio doing one nonsense after another. Finally peace and quiet! Finally I could devote myself to my research work. But it seemed I had rejoiced too soon when there was a timid knock at the door. In my best snapping manner I pulled it open. When I recognised Neyla, my anger about the uninvited guest vanished instantly.
"Sorry to disturb you sir, I just wanted to say goodbye. The letter from MACUSA arrived yesterday, I'm leaving tomorrow," Neyla said meekly. I raised my eyebrows in surprise.
"MACUSA?" Surely she couldn't just go to the USA? Here in England the training was at least as good.
"Yes, sir, my father thought it would be better for me to train as an Auror there," she replied with a pained smile and gave me a quick hug.
"Thank you. You were my favourite professor, even if you are the curmudgeon in person," she mumbled softly against my chest and broke away from the embrace. Before I could reply, she disappeared towards the stairs.
"Take care of yourself Neyla," I whispered softly, slamming the door behind me and letting myself slide to the floor by it.
-Retrospective End-
After a long time, Neyla was once again a person who didn't make you feel like you were just a means to an end. She listened and also took an interest in my research outside these damned walls of Hogwarts. Others would say it's a school or even her home, for me it was Azkaban with certain perks. The problem with Neyla was that after a few weeks I no longer saw her as my student, but as my friend, and shortly before her graduation I had to admit to myself that I felt more for this blonde angel.
"Severus." I barely noticeably flinched as the Dark Lord addressed me. I had to be careful that something like that didn't happen to me again.
"My Lord?"
"Yaxley has just informed me that the Order must have hired new people!" he hissed, literally piercing me with his gaze.
"His statement is correct," I replied in a neutral tone.
"Who?" he inquired.
"From what I overheard today, an Auror from the USA left the Ministry with Shaklebolt and Tonks. Neyla Glenn, you should know her Severus, she was in Slytherin." Yaxley you fucking asshole!
"A half-blood, with a strong sense of justice, I doubt Miss Glenn would join our cause," I replied coolly, praying to all the gods that this would be enough of an answer for the Dark Lord to stop caring about Neyla.
"Then we'll set Lucius on her," came a sardonic grin from the snakeface. Bloody dragon crap, it couldn't all be true, could it?! In hindsight, I understood why her father had sent her to the USA. Neyla had just arrived and the Dark Lord had her in his sights. Lucius nodded briefly and rose directly. Since when did he comply with his orders so quickly? I heard the rest only marginally and disappeared on the quickest way to Spinners End when the meeting ended.
-Neyla's view
Wrapped in what felt like twenty blankets, I lay on my sofa watching some nonsensical Muggle movie. Something I always did to turn my head off. Apparently I was not allowed the rest. Annoyed, I rolled my eyes and went to the door.
"Dad what..."
"Are you out of your fucking mind?!" he hissed angrily, pushing past me and walking ahead into the living room. What a greeting after four years. I shook my head briefly and sat down opposite him.
"Well, to what do I owe the honour of my father almost busting down my front door?", I asked politely.
"I thought I didn't hear right when they said Neyla Glenn had returned from the USA and had joined the Order! So without further ado I went to Glasgow to see your mother! She only knew you were back, but she didn't know you were so stupid as to join the Order of the Phoenix! And now you're going to explain to me how you came to oppose me in the first place?" he roared, his storm-grey eyes glittering with anger.
"Why shouldn't I! I want to protect mom! That's the only reason I came back! You're never home so stop blaming me!"
"The Order won't help you with that! The only thing these people care about is protecting Potter! They don't care about Cataleya and Ted!"
"Then why aren't you doing anything! Why do you just stand by and watch?! Aren't you afraid that something might happen to Mom?!", I screamed desperately, burying my face in my hands to hide my fear for my mother and my godfather from him. The next thing I felt were two strong arms hugging me.
"I'll take them away, both of them. Just promise me one thing," he whispered softly and gently stroked my head.
"What?"
"Stay in the background, they're already hunting you. Stay away from Cataleya and Ted until they are somewhere safe," he replied barely audible, pressed a kiss to my hairline and rose again.
"I love you my little one," he followed quietly, leaving me alone with my thoughts, especially with dozens of questions running through my mind. The knock on the window made me wince. What was this! A fucking owl knock or what!!! Still lost in thought, I let the owl in and took the letter from him.
'They've got Malfoy Senior on to you. He wants you on his side.
S.S.
Jesus Christ! If Malfoy Senior was as much of a puke as his precious son, then working at the Ministry was probably going to be pure hell. I quickly summoned a sheet of parchment and a quill to answer Severus. I had so many questions and if my father couldn't or wouldn't answer them, I had to ask my former professor. Apparently he knew something, at least that's what the letter suggested. As soon as I had released the owl back into the wild, I ran into my bedroom to change, I could rest another time, but for now I wanted to answer. I took a quick look in the mirror and sighed softly. I was the image of my father, only in a female version, something that actually bothered me a little, but there was nothing I could do about it. I quickly tied my hair into a bun, slipped into my high heels and put on my black leather jacket. If I was going to invite Snape to a Muggle pub, I should dress accordingly. Hopefully he would turn up and if he did, it wouldn't be in his teaching robes, that would make a funny picture. I stood nervously in front of the pub and looked out for the black-haired.
"A Muggle pub? Extremely imaginative, Miss Glenn," his deep sonorous voice reached my ear. Slightly startled by his sudden appearance, I turned around. His appearance actually intrigued me a little.
"Surprised that I own clothes other than my frock coat," he said mockingly.
"To be honest, I was afraid she...er you would show up here in just that, whereas I was afraid you wouldn't come at all." It was still a challenge to be on first name terms with him, which was probably due to my upbringing.
"I was puzzled by your answer. However, I can well understand that you have questions. Let's go inside before you get cold," he replied with a slight smile and offered me his arm. Hesitantly I hooked it. Snape had relatively quickly identified a free table where we could talk undisturbed. Two whiskeys later, he looked at me thoughtfully and stroked his face briefly.
"Before you start asking, there's something you should know. I don't want you to find out from the others and if I guess Black right, he would use this to drive a wedge between us. Four years in the US was enough, I'm glad you're back because to be honest I missed the conversations. I was young and beyond stupid. Maybe it was desperation that drove me to make a momentous decision. Draco's father is persuasive, however I can't blame him for me joining the Dark Lord, after all he was there for me when everyone else abandoned me. Only I regretted my decision when the Potters' lives were at stake and became Dumbledore's spy. I was summoned after the meeting at the Order, your name came up there. Your blood status is not enough to make you uninteresting to the Lord. I am a half-blood myself and in the inner circle," he began to tell me. Sheer horror ran through my body. I didn't know what to make of it and I was already panicking about running into Malfoy Senior. I had to write a letter to Mum saying I wouldn't be coming home any time soon until Dad gave me the go-ahead.
"Prof..."
"Severus," he corrected me immediately, looking at me questioningly.
"Who else are they chasing?", I asked quietly.
"Abraxas has an old score to settle. As far as I know, it involves a Muggleborn native. And the entire Order is on the list, but that's not surprising. Ted Tonks is on the Black sisters' graduation list, probably because he dared to seduce their sister," he answered honestly.
"Narcissa and Bellatrix, is it? Aunt Dromeda mentioned something once."
"Right. Narcissa is Lady Malfoy, by the way," he replied, grimacing.
"Seems like the perfect family," I hissed softly, shaking my head briefly.
"You think, the truth is another, but we're not here to talk about the Malfoy family."
"Do you know who the Muggleborn is?", I prodded cautiously. Snape pondered for quite a while.
"I only overheard this conversation between the two Malfoys in passing. There was a time when the Death Eaters were working down the list of prospective Hogwarts students. That is, they murdered all the Muggleborns to rid Hogwarts of them. Now Abraxas and the two Lestranges, as well as Lestrange Senior, torched half of Ceann Loch Lìobhann at the time, but the girl who was the target of this attack was not there. Abraxas found out years later by chance, what Lucius has to do with it I can't tell you, he keeps quiet about it." My head was rattling. Mum had said something about my grandparents dying in a fire, at least that's what my great-grandmother believed, until Mum found out the truth through my father.
"Does the name Cataleya mean anything to you?"
"Now that you mention it, the name did come up in that conversation."
"Cataleya Glenn is my mother, her parents died in a Death Eater attack. That night she was with my great grandmother. That's how she survived. My father told her the truth about the fire back in her seventh year at school. How he knew these, I do not know. He was in Slytherin, as we know there are some Death Eaters there," I said thoughtfully.
"Now I can understand your fear even better. You have questions?" he said and looked at me invitingly.
"Um yeah. How can I escape Malfoy?" I asked grudgingly, the name alone made my bile rise.
"You don't. He's not the Dark Lord's right-hand man for nothing. Always stay in the 'pack' if possible. He wouldn't dare address you in front of Nymphadora or Kingsley," he explained, slightly absentmindedly, waving the whiskey glass in his hand.
"Okay I will try. Next question, my father told me the same thing you did just before your letter arrived. I was told to stay in the background. You know the reason I joined the Order is because I thought they would help me protect Mom. Well Dad said the Order would only protect Potter and he didn't care about anyone else. Is that true?" Snape swallowed hard and stared at me, slightly puzzled.