Here- Snamione AU

Chapter Two

Severus Snape laid awake that night fighting the urge to fall asleep. Ever since that night in The Shrieking Shack he'd felt off like something was somehow missing, and for the past week he'd been having strange dreams in which a young girl visited him.

She always stood there watching him; smiling a sweet, toothy smile. He could tell she was quite young as she was missing a few teeth sporadically throughout her mouth.

They were always located at the same place every night. Always the same field with the same tree right in the middle. It took him a while to realize that it was the same field in which he had met Lily Potter.

The little girl had never said a word to him and every time Severus found himself growing closer in distance to her she'd run away and he would be cast from the dream.

He found the girl's looks strikingly familiar; he knew he'd seen the endearing smile somewhere. The one time he'd gotten close enough to see the planes of her face, he'd noticed her brilliant amber eyes.

They shone with a light that could only be held in the eyes of a child. The light of an innocent child who had never been witness to the cruelty of their world; who had never seen what war could do to destroy a once seemingly perfect place.

Severus could easily say that the first thing that came to mind when he thought of the child was the paleness of her skin. Her hair, an unruly bush of ebony curls, made her skin look even paler like a real life Snow White. Sometimes he found his thoughts deep in wonder at whom she resembled.

That night all he could think of was the child and why she continued to haunt his dreams. In the early hours of the morning he could no long fight the hand of sleep and he let himself slip into the void of unconsciousness.

The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was the abundant sight of flowers. The sun was bright and hot against his skin and he was made all too aware of the heat his black robes created. Severus made note immediately that something was different.

He looked around and noticed that the girl was sitting calmly under the tree, she met his eyes and gave him and almost quizzical look.

She motioned with her hands for him to come forward. What is going on? His thoughts were like a whirlwind of questions and emotions as he climbed the hill to meet the strange child.

Severus walked cautiously toward her; afraid that if he did something slightly wrong she would run away. Her eyes sparkled with mischief and withheld secrets. A look he knew he'd seen many times before in his students.

More specifically in one Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and the insufferable know-it-all they called a friend, Hermione Granger.

She patted the ground next to her and he sat down almost reluctantly and prepared himself for an situation that he may be about to encounter.

Just as he was about to speak, she beat him to it. "Hello, sir. My name is Victoria, but I'm better known as Tori."

Though her voice held a bit of a childish waver he knew that she was far more advanced that any child her age.

"Hello, Victoria. I am Mr. Snape. May I ask how old you are?" He tried to speak softly to her.

He had not had very much experience with children other than his students, but even then he forced himself not to feel any affection towards them.