«Olive»
My footsteps echoed trough the dimly lit Manor. I could hear laughter at the end of the big entrance hall, where I was headed to. Goosebumps covered my whole body and my heart was racing. I stood in front of an dark wooden door with golden handles.
With a deep breath I threw open the heavy door and stepped into the hall.
"Don't be shy, take a step closer." a cold voice said from the end of the room, when I hesitated. Before I knew what happened a hand grabbed my arm forcefully and dragged me towards a big table. "Olive Eileen Crayer." a familiar voice said, before everything went blurry.
Covered in sweat I sat up, taking in the familiar surroundings of my room. Everything seemed at peace. The light was creeping it's way in through the heavy curtains and I could hear the birds singing in front of my window. Except myself. I wasn't at peace at all.
Today was an important day. Today would change my life forever and it was becoming clearer every minute.
A knock on my door made me jump, turning my head to the left.
"Yes?" I put my hair in a bun, waiting for an answer.
The door opened and my father entered my room. His eyes filled with concern, but he tried to put on a smile. I knew today caused him countless sleepless nights.
"Morning, Liv." he walked over to me and took a seat on the edge of my bed frame.
"Dad." I said, knowing that he was about to change my mind about today. Except he couldn't.
"I know you made your decision, darling. And I respect your decision in every way. I just want to make sure, you know what you're getting yourself into." he explained while putting a strand of hair behind my ear.
"Thanks dad." I smiled and took his hand. "But we both know, that I don't really have a choice." My answer didn't satisfy him in any way, but it was the truth. I had no choice.
When the heir of the family turns seventeen, they have to declare themselves to the dark Lord. It is tradition if you're a part of the fifteen trusted families of Voldemort.
The Snapes have been a part of the fifteen for a long time, as well as the Malfoys, the Blacks, the Notts, the Lestranges and the Zabinis.
Even though we're no pure bloods, the Snapes still have a high rank among the fifteen families.
My father tried to keep me out of our family business for as long as possible. But now it's out of his hands. He was never involved in dark magic before he met my mother, a born Snape.
My parent's decided to go with my father's name, Crayer, at their wedding. But since I was a part from the bloodline of the Snape family, they gave me the second name Eileen. Inspired from my grandmother, Eileen Snape, a born Prince.
My mother left my dad when I was six years old. He says it's because they wanted different things in life and people change over time. And her side of the story? I never got to hear it. About one year after the divorce went through, she left the wizarding world behind, to live in America with her boyfriend and now new husband Marc.
The first and last time I saw her was one year ago at her own wedding in Arizona. It was one of the most awkward encounters I ever had in my life. I don't even know why I accepted the invitation. I guess a part of me wanted to know what she was like.
Neither my dad, nor my uncle Severus went to the wedding. And they made the right decision.
My uncle, Severus Snape, is in the dark Lords trusted inner circle for as long as I can remember. Even though many students at Hogwarts fear him and his cold appearance, I can't imagine my life without him.
He has been such a big part of my childhood and took me in while my parent's were in the middle of breaking up. Many see him as the dark and cold man he appears to be, but truly he has a loving heart, which only a few people get to see.
"I wish you never had to go through this. I saw how it crushed Anne and I don't want that for you." I could see the sadness in my dads eyes and I squeezed his hands.
My mother was a death eater until she left England. My father tried to shield me from the dark side, my family was involved in, but some things didn't go unnoticed.
One evening, when I was still a child, I was sneaking out of my room to go and play with my dolls in the living room. When I opened my door, I could hear my mother sobbing.
"It was just a child, Matthew!" she cried out over and over again while my dad tried to comfort her.
"I had to strangle its mother with my bare hands. My bare hands!" she almost screamed and shivers went down my spine.
"Anne! Olive is asleep upstairs. Come here." he said and tried to comfort her, like he always did, when something went wrong.
I cowered at the top of the stairs in the darkness. I didn't really understand what happened back then. But her cries and screams were engraved in my mind.
After that evening it happened almost every night. I was laying in the dark, while my mother was crying out her soul with my hopeless father next to her.
"I can protect myself and I still have Sev." I said determined after a few seconds of silence. I was mostly confident that I could take the task, thrown at me. But you could hear the uncertainty in my voice.
"You're still my little girl." he said while cupping my cheek, with his eyes glistering. Until a few years ago, I never noticed how much the fate of our family really crushed my dad.
After he went downstairs I made my way towards the closet and looked at the long black dress, which I was supposed to wear tonight.
I put on my favourite sweatshirt and got ready in the bathroom. I made my way downstairs and strolled into the kitchen where my dad was drinking his coffee.
Before my parents divorced, we lived in a manor. It was close by the Malfoys, but still in a healthy distance. After my mother left England, my dad decided to move us more south into a cottage. He said a cottage was always his dream.
It was the best decision he could have made. I was surrounded by fields and barely no one. Except one other house.
"Enzo?" I laughed at the sight of my friend, sitting at the kitchen table with my father.
The Berkshire family was living close by and is also involved in business with the dark Lord. With Enzo's declaration to the dark Lord, they're also going to be a part of the fifteen.
My father wasn't happy when he found out that the Berkshires were also involved with the dark side. But since none of Enzo's parents are death eaters themselves and Enzo grew on him, he accepted our friendship.
"Morning, sunshine." He joked and moved one of the pawns in front of him. I walked towards the cupboards and searched for a bowl. "Checkmate." I could hear the smirk in Enzo's voice.
"You're getting way to good at this, Lorenzo." my dad said defeated, while looking at the chess board in front of him. Our chess set was an old muggle set from Severus.
I heard the sound of apparition from the living room and smiled.
"He's here." I left the bowl on the counter and skipped into the living room. In front of the fireplace Severus was removing the dust from his cloak.
"Olive." A smile lit up his face and I jumped into his arms. "How are you doing?" He asked.
"Better." I answered and when I turned around I saw Enzo and my dad, standing in the door frame.
"Sir." Enzo nodded and I chuckled at his politeness.
My father walked over to Severus and patted his shoulder. "How was Surrey?" Severus chuckled while my dad guided him towards the kitchen.
"Your uncle still scares the shit out of me." Enzo said while sitting down on the beige couch, which was standing in front of the fireplace. I plopped down next to him and chuckled.
"I can still hear you, Berkshire." Severus called from the kitchen and Enzo flinched at his words. I couldn't help but laugh, because I knew that it didn't bother Severus in any way.
He knew that most of the students at Hogwarts respected him or were even scared of him. But that's what he wanted. He doesn't want anyone snooping around in his business.
Enzo looked at me bewildered because I was laughing. " He was joking." I explained and Enzo's features relaxed.
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When the sun set and the darkness crept over the fields, Severus, Enzo and I got ready to apparate to the Riddle Manor. My dad placed his hand onto my shoulder, telling me to be careful and that he will wait until I return.
When we arrived in front of the Manor my head was spinning and I could feel the nervousness flutter in my stomach.
Severus led the way and the two of us followed him into the dark looking Manor. Our footsteps echoed through the dimly lit entrance hall and there was nothing else to be heard.
I took in my surroundings, the high ceilings and gorgeous looking chandelier. Even though the Manor gave me goosebumps, I couldn't help but admire its beauty.
Before I could let my thoughts continue to wander, we stopped in front of a dark wooden door. Severus grabbed the golden handles and opened the door. The smell of expensive cologne and smoke crept up my nose and it was just now, that I noticed the hall to be the one from my dream.
I looked around the room and at all the different faces, which stared us down as we entered the room.
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I hope you like this story so far. I really enjoy working on it! The first few chapters will deal with each characters backstory, so I highly recommend to read it. And I'm sure you all know who's going to make an appearance in the next chapter. Thank you for reading this story!