August 4th, 1980
The Dark Lord sneered down at the man cloaked in darkness. A pastel colored bundle held between them. The child, merely days old, fast asleep in the dark one's arms. Her face peacesful despite the men surrounding her.
"Severus," the Dark Lord hissed. "Do you know wo you are holding in your arms?"
"No, my Lord," he responded, his head bowed in fear, the child clutched doubtfully to his chest.
"Charlotte Malkin," Voldemort informed his young servent.
"M-my Lord?" Snape stuttered. "If you do not mind me asking, what are your plans with the child?"
"I forsee this child to be of great importance in the future," the Dark Lord explained no further. "Raise her has your own, Severus. I trust you to raise her to be the perfect weapon for our cause."
"Sir?" the young man ased as the elder one turned away. "What is her blood-status?"
Snape didn't have the natural pureblood supremacy belief other Death Eaters helf, but if he were to raise this child- and he had no doubt he would as to not anger his Lord -to take in a three day old and raise her, he might as well know what to expect.
"Half-blood, my dear Severus. Very much like you and I. Muggle father and pure-blood mother. Just like you and I."
~*~
November 1st, 1980
Severus sat slumped in the Headmaster's office, his hands covering his tear-stained face. His last words ring in his ears. I'll protect him.
"What about her?" he suddenly asked his elder. "What about little Charlie?"
"Well," Dumbledore answered calmly, watching the small child squirm in a magicall-conjured playpen nearby. "All of my research has concluded with the same thing. William and Hanah Malkin are dead. She is left without a family, Severus. I believe you should continue to raise her as your own."
"I know nothing about children," the young man sniffed. "Everything I've done so far has been a guessing game. I'm not fit to be a parent."
"As, Severus," the old man smiled fondly at his once student over his desk. "It seems, I've noticed, that the best parents begin their journey with those words."
