My Father's Only Rule

Chapter One: A Visit

August 1996 - Spinner's End, Cokeworth

My dad wouldn't tell me where he had gone. But after a good few days of me living alone at home, he finally turned up and laid out the schedule for how I would spend my summer- a schedule designed to keep me out of the house. I was hoping he'd send me to Malfoy Manor, although I never expressed that I was. If I could stay with the Malfoys, maybe I could win Draco over again. But he sent me to live with Jane for most of the summer. I stayed with Jane for weeks at a time. Every now and then I came home for a weekend. And the first time I came home, I was shocked to find that a small rat-like man was living in my house. My dad told me to ignore him. Dad called him Wormtail, and he seemed terrified to talk to me. He kept to himself, and so did I. I thought it was redundant to bring me home for such a small amount of time. But I kept what Dumbledore said in my mind. I knew my dad saw much more than I did.

Harry and I wrote to each other. Not nearly as much as we did the previous summer, but we wrote. He seemed distant. His letters weren't nearly as detailed. He told me he spent a lot of time on trains to keep his mind off things. Given that I spent most of the summer in London, and Harry lived in London, you would think we would have spent a lot of time together. But we didn't. We met up every now and then, but something was missing between us. The excitement was fading. And it seemed like the interest was going away. On both ends. But either way, until he called it off, I wasn't going to leave him like that. Until he told me he was done, we weren't done.

The daily prophet was constantly putting out negative news. It was the only news there was. The death eaters had stormed many corners of the wizarding world. The streets of Diagon Alley had been raided. Even in the muggle world, a bridge in London fell apart while muggles were still on it.

I enjoyed staying with Jane. She came from a pureblood family, a long line of Slytherins, yet they seemed more uninterested in the affair than anyone. They didn't know much about Voldemort because they chose not to know much about Voldemort. They chose peace. And they were lovely people with barely any cares in the world. When I was with the Baldwins, I didn't worry about anything. I didn't have to worry about anything. I could just exist.

At the end of a rainy weekend when I was home with my dad, I heard a knock at the door. It was the day I was supposed to go back to Jane's house. I was about to leave for the train station. I sat on the couch, purse in hand. I never had to bring my whole trunk home. Only a bag of a few things to keep me occupied on the train. When I heard the knock at the door, I went to answer it. I froze and the sight of who came to the door. Narcissa Malfoy walked in. But she wasn't the one I was worried about. Right next to her was Bellatrix Lestrange. She saw me in the Department of Mysteries. Of course, she didn't remember that she did. But she saw me. Narcissa looked surprised to see me.

"Oh, hello Gr-dear," she said. She wouldn't say my name in front of Bellatrix. "We're here to see your fa- Severus. Where is Severus?" She wouldn't say that they were there to see my father in front of Bellatrix either.

"Who's that?" Bellatrix said. "Snape's got a kid?"

"No," Narcissa said quickly. A little too quickly. "This is..."

"The housekeeper," I said. Bellatrix looked at me sharply and got right in my face.

"How old are ya?" she demanded.

"Eighteen. Fresh out of Hogwarts."

"Hmm." She looked around the house. "Well, you're not very good at your job." Wormtail came barreling around the corner, catching the attention of our guests.

"T-this w-way," he stuttered. Narcissa grabbed Bellatrix firmly by the hand and walked her into my dad's study. I realized he was going to be busy for a while. I took the liberty of taking myself to the train station. A year ago I would have stood outside the door, dying to hear what was being discussed. But now, whatever was going on, I didn't want to be involved. I didn't care.