secret

Vanessa's heart feels as if it could jump out of her chest, listening to the crowd around her, paying attention to every person that passes her. Severus had given her a description of the boy she's looking for, Draco, this morning before she left to get on the train.

She's made a sketch of him in her mind, the blonde hair, the grey eyes, the dark look. She expects him to be arrogant, stuck up, wealthy. From the description her father gave of Lucius, Draco's father, Vanessa is almost certain she won't get along with this boy. Isn't that for the better though? She does have to kill him after all.

"Miss, you have to get on the train now, we're leaving" a taller man looks down at Vanessa with a smile on his face, snapping out of her search.

"Oh, yeah, sorry" she lets out a little laugh, the man nods gesturing towards the door of the train. Vanessa takes a deep breath as she steps onto the train, the heat from the group of other passengers makes her regret the long sleeves, but she knows she has to keep the mark hidden.

Vanessa walks slowly down the long aisle, looking into every corridor, still searching for the boy. After walking for what feels like a mile, she gives up, reaching an empty place to sit. Vanessa lets out a breath as she sits down, the commotion of the crowd makes her nervous. She didn't realize that finally getting to go out would be so stressful.

She looks around, making sure nobody is around, before pulling up her sleeve to admire the mark. Her father still hadn't told her he was proud of her, Vanessa just knew this would be what got him to say it. Though, she likes to think that in his mind he is proud and that maybe he just has a hard time saying it.

"Is this seat taken?" Vanessa quickly pulls her sleeve down, looking at the girl that just entered the corridor. The girl's long blonde hair is pulled back into a ponytail on the back of her head, her clothes are...bright.

"No" Vanessa answers, worried that this girl has already figured out her secret. Her father would be so disappointed.

"I'm Luna, Luna Lovegood" the girl sticks out her hand, Vanessa looks at it then back up at the girl, still wondering if she knows.

"Vanessa Snape" she sticks her hand out to shake Luna's hand.

"As in professor Snape's daughter?" the girl asks, Vanessa nods.

"How? He never told anyone about you. It's so nice to meet you" Luna smiles as she plops in front of Vanessa. Vanessa starts to relax, realizing this girl has no idea about the mark. Perhaps this could be her first…friend. Though, the girl seems a little too--well happy--to be Vanessa's friend.

"Yeah, he didn't really want me going out yet. But now I get to." Vanessa explains, the girl nods, "professor Snape is such a good teacher, I feel like I learn so much from him. You have a great father."

Vanessa almost laughs at the positive description of her father. Sure, she's always wanted his praise, worked for his approval, but she knows he isn't perfect. But with him being the only parent figure in her life, who else would she get praise from?

"So if Snape is your father, who's your mother?" Luna asks with an excited look on her face, looking eager to learn all she can about Vanessa.

But the truth is, Vanessa doesn't know. She has no memories of her mother, no pictures, no stories, nothing. Her father tells her not to worry about it every time she asks, so after a while, she stopped asking. And once she stopped asking, the thought of having a mother slipped away. She no longer wished to have another woman in the house or somebody to teach her things her father couldn't.

"I don't know." Vanessa shrugs causing Luna to laugh, "How do you not know? Everyone knows their mother, right?"

Vanessa can feel a sort of embarrassment washing over her, should she have lied? What would she have said? She feels as if Luna is mocking her in some way, making fun of her for having no clue. I mean Vanessa has a clue, just not about WHO her mother is. She's pretty sure that her mother has been obliviated from her memory. She learned all about the forgetfulness charm when she was around eleven, after that she just figured that's what happened with her mother.

"Long story." Vanessa's sentences are short but they get right to the point, not wasting any time to answer the question.

"Do you know what house you're in?" Vanessa asks, she researched Hogwarts when she was younger. With her father working there she wanted to know everything about what he did. She's heard hundreds of stories about the well-known Harry Potter that attends the school. She's envied him for so long, mostly because her father speaks of him all of the time.

"Ravenclaw. I'm sure you don't know yet, you'll most likely get sorted when we get to school." Luna answers and Vanessa looks at her, she's heard all about the houses but never how you were sorted into your own.

"What do you mean, 'sorted'?" Vanessa asks and Luna chuckles, "You'll find out soon, we're here."

Vanessa can feel her heart rate speed up, excitement flowing through her veins. 'Finally' she thinks, finally, she can meet people, spend the day with her father, spend the day with people. She stands up excitedly, grabbing the small bag she brought on the train.

"It was nice meeting you." Luna calls out as Vanessa steps out of the corridor, on the search again for the boy, Draco. She walks down the long aisle again but this time slower because of the crowd in front of her.

Finally, she makes it off of the train, her eyes scanning the crowd looking for a blonde boy.

"Vanessa, Vanessa Snape'' an older woman calls out, she looks familiar. Vanessa tries to think back on all of the old pictures of her father with people he works with. McGonagall.

"Professor McGonagall, nice to meet you." Vanessa puts on her most welcoming smile, 'always welcome the guests with a smile' her father likes to say. The woman looks at her, Vanessa assumes she's surprised she knows her name.

"I've heard of you before, professor." Vanessa explains, the woman nods, "Very well then. Follow me and we can get you sorted before the first years. When your father first told me you would be joining the school I was surprised, I had never heard a word about you. But then I was so ecstatic to finally get to meet someone that Severus created" she chuckles.

Vanessa nods as McGonagall sets her hand on her shoulder, leading her through the crowd of students. She leads her to a large room, filled with long tables and children of all ages.

"Go along to the front with the first years, the ceremony will begin soon." McGonagall pushes Vanessa towards the front before walking away. Vanessa lets out a breath before raising her head and making her way towards the stage.

******

Draco watches Mcgonagall push a girl through the Great Hall. She's too put together to be a first year. Her head is held high instead of hanging low like the first years. He looks at the way she pushes her way to the front of the crowd, confident. He checks out the way her body fills her clothes perfectly, the way her hair falls just below her shoulder blades, the way she would look perfect in bed with him.

He shakes his head, disciplining himself for letting that be the first thing he thinks of.

"Settle down everyone, let us begin the sorting ceremony" McGonagall booms out over the crowd, everyone silences. "First, let us welcome our newest fifth year, Vanessa Snape" the crowd erupts with people all wondering the same thing, Snape's daughter?

******

Vanessa sits on the stool, practically everyone staring at her, she loves it. She loves the attention she gets for just being his daughter, the attention she deserves. Hell, she is one of the most powerful witches, and one of the youngest to have a dark mark, she deserves every ounce of attention she can receive.

McGonagall sets a hat on Vanessa's head, the dusty smell making her want to sneeze. It hums, which at first freaks her out but then she remembers where she is.

"Another Snape, hmm I was wondering when I would see you here." the hat whispers out, Vanessa looks up at it wondering how it knows so much. There is no way her father would just randomly tell a hat about her.

"I see you're a quiet one, but you have your father's personality, and your mother's looks" Vanessa freezes, this--this thing--knows about her mother, how is that even possible? "SLYTHERIN" the hat yells out, Vanessa breathes out a sigh of relief knowing that's also what her father is.

A table, themed with dark green, erupts with cheering, people standing and clapping. Vanessa glances at her father, still the same look as always planted on his face. She stands up and looks back at Professor McGonagall.

"Go ahead to that table over there, I'm sure someone will help you learn the ways around Hogwarts" she gives a sweet smile, Vanessa nods as she steps off of the stage. She replaces the nervous look she had on the stool with her straight face, head held high, as she makes her way to the Slytherin table.

That's when she sees him, she notices the blond-haired boy watching her walk, his eyes staring at every part of her. Vanessa keeps her straight face though, even when his eyes burning into her body makes her knees weak. The image she had sketched in her head doesn't even compare to the boy in front of her. His blond hair is pushed to the side, his grey eyes are bright, not dull like she had imagined, his face is defined, and the suit he wears fits him nicely.

"Over here." the voice that comes out of him makes her mouth open slightly, but still she sits in front of him. Why, Vanessa? This is the guy you have to kill, don't befriend him. She glances back at her father, he nods signaling that's the guy she's looking for.

Vanessa lets out a breath as she turns back to Draco, "So, Vanessa" her name rolls off his tongue. "You're Snape's daughter" he does a cocky little eyebrow raise and that's when she realizes the personality she sketched is exactly right.

"Yes, and who are you?" she asks even though she already knows exactly who he is. "Malfoy" he speaks while making direct eye contact, giving her all of his attention.

"If that's your first name then tell your father I'm disappointed in his creativity." Vanessa remarks, the hat was right...her father's attitude. The two boys beside Draco laugh but he quickly nudges them, silencing the two.

"Draco Malfoy" Draco seethes out, Vanessa nods, "Never heard of you, usually my father speaks all about his students, his favorite has to be Harry. Do you know Harry, Harry Potter?" Vanessa wants to make his blood boil, wants to make him hate her, so it's easier for her to kill him.

"Ah yes, the delightful Harry Potter" the sarcasm practically burning out of him, his jaw clenched and his eyes narrow. Vanessa wants the image tattooed into her mind forever.

"Anyways, Vanessa, just call me Malfoy and we can get along" Draco nods towards her, Vanessa laughs, "What makes you think I want to get along, Draco?"

Vanessa can't hold back the smirk that grows on her face as the boy glares at her. Soon, the smirk turns into a small smile, a habit of her humor.

"Vanessa, how is everything going?" her father's voice makes her straighten up, and the smile fades as she looks up at him. His narrow eyes move between her and Draco.

"Everything's alright, just getting to know everybody." Vanessa assures her father, "Good. Make sure you keep your robe on, don't want you getting cold" Severus warns, Vanessa nods as she pulls her sleeve down even farther.

******

Snape walks away and Draco's gaze goes back to the girl in front of him. He's already gained a liking for her snooty attitude. Usually, he wouldn't enjoy someone thinking they were better than him, but he can tell Vanessa only jokes. He can see it by the way her straight face turns into a smile. He almost can't believe someone like Vanessa could come from someone like Snape.

After all of the first years are sorted into their houses and Dumbledore finishes his speech, the large feast appears on the table. Draco watches and Vanessa analyzes the food in front of her. He wants to wait for her to get her food, curious to what she'll choose out of the variety. But she just sits, waiting, watching.

Vanessa waits until Draco to get his food, because now he is the head of the table, being the only man in front of her.

As soon as Draco sets food on his plate, Vanessa starts to make hers. He stops for a moment, to see if she stops, to see if she's just playing a weird copying game. But she doesn't stop, she just continues. He's heard in some households the head of the table must make their plate before the guests, then after the guests come the women, but he didn't think Snape would have such a rule in his home.

Draco watches as Vanessa eats, not saying a word, not cracking a joke. "Enjoying the food?" he asks, wanting to break the silence, wanting to know the mystery in front of him. You have to admit, Vanessa is a mystery. Stowed away for fifteen years, never spoken of, never heard from. Nobody knows her. Nobody knows her past, her secrets, or even her favorite color. And Draco wants to be the one to know it all, just by looking at her.