The night was as luminous as ever. It was silent and peaceful. The Black Lake reflected the moon's entrancing glow. The crickets can be heard chattering, sounds of water splashing as some sirens poke their heads out of the water in curiosity. Truly, a magnificent atmosphere. It's almost 12 am, the children at Hogwarts would usually be asleep at this hour, except for one that is not a student.
Anastasia hurriedly ran out of the castle with Snape tailing behind her. " Anastasia! Stop running! The celebration won't run away from you! ", he grunted as he spoke of a spell causing the little girl to float. " But I want to go there already! I wanna see everyone! ", Anastasia whined.
" They won't leave. So stop whining. ", Snape said as he carried the girl and walked ahead of them towards the Black Lake. He could feel himself getting older everytime he watched over her.
From their position, the area ahead of them looked empty and normal. But magic fools the eye. As soon as they walked closer, their surroundings soon changed. The same Black Lake, but decorated with different kinds. Strings of Fairy lights were hanging in poles and wrapping around them. Floating candles danced in the air. The tables are partnered with delicious looking foods, much better than the ones from the Great Hall. Fireflies floated around. Bouquets of flowers decorated the tables while flowerbeds decorated the ground. It looked absolutely enchanted.
There are also the school staff members who are usually the ones attending her birthday parties. On the far left corner though, a new person can be seen conversing with Madam McGonagall. She's never seen him before.
His hair was bright blonde, almost white as if it had been bleached a hundred times. It reminds her of Draco Malfoy, except this man's hair is lighter. His eyes were also blue, but had a lighter shade unlike hers. Looks to be in his near 30's, looking too young to be considered old, but too old to be considered as a teen or an early adult. He awkwardly positioned himself as he saw the pair approaching.
" Ah! The star of the night has arrived! Let us give her a warm welcome! ", Dumbledore said. The small crowd clapped and smiled tenderly at the little girl. Happy Birthdays and gifts were given which in return, she gave a beaming smile and a loud thanks.
Then came the new person.
Everyone made way as he walked towards Anastasia, giving the two of them space.
" Ehem... Happy Birthday, Anastasia. ", He said in a gentle yet indifferent tone.
" Thank you, sir. ", Anastasia said as she faintly smiled at him, cheecks too tired to move from all the smiling.
Dumbledore stepped up before saying, " Ana, this is Alpheus Glasswater. "
Anastasia's eyes widened in shock as she took the words in.
'Glasswater? Does that mean-'
" He will be your father. The one we told you about. ", He added.
She looked up at the stranger, not a stranger anymore, in shock before smiling sincerely. " Thank you! I'm very thankful for your decision to take me in! I promise I'll never make you regret it! ", She said enthusiastically.
The man, Alpheus Glasswater, gave an awkward nod at the little girl. " Of course, it would be my greatest pleasure to take care of someone in need of help. ", He said with a smile.
The night went along smoothly. The school staffs conversed with each other as it's only one of the few times they can rest and have fun, without having the need to worry about any students.
Anastasia can be seen jumping up and down near the body of water, trying to catch some fireflies, with a tired looking Snape looking after her.
Dumbledore, Alpheus, and McGonagall are enjoying their hot chocolate drink while fondly looking at the pair near the lake.
Filch, unlike the rest, was too busy feeding and babying Mrs. Norris at one of the tables with Hagrid behind him, cooing at said cat.
Madam Pomfrey and the rest of the staff are grouped together laughing and everything as they talked amongst themselves.
Anastasia grinned as she finally put her 2nd firefly inside her lamp. Snape made sure to prick some holes in the lamp give access for oxygen inside the lamp. She watched in awe as the two fireflies danced around each other, lighting the lamp.
" Are you finally done jumping around? ", Snape asked.
Anastasia nodded.
" Good. Now don't even think of crying to me if something bad were to happen to these little pests of yours. You promised to take responsibility over them, so you better- "
Snape's voice blurred out as Anastasia glanced at her right. At the area near the forbidden forest, she knows of a small garden, filled with beautiful kinds of flowers and surrounded by trees.
The small land used to be empty, yet Promona Sprout brought her there to plant when she found out she too loves gardens.
With Snape still busy with his ramblings and life lessons, Anastasia quietly slipped away and ran towards the magical garden, bringing food with her to give to the pixies and fairies.
Once she saw the familiar tall and thick trees, she went inside the small forest-like garden. There were lamps hanging from trees to lighten up the secluded place. Upon her arrival, she is immediately swarmed by pixies as they sniffed the bag of food in her arms. Anastasia sat down on a log with the bag of food, clutching it to stop the pixies from stealing them.
" Hold on, I'll properly divide them for all of you. ", She whispered as she brought out some flavoured bread and ripped them apart. She opened her palms and let the pixies snatch them away until all of them had a piece of bread for their selves.
With the pixies having their feast, Anastasia turned around and walked towards a certain tree with a name carved into it.
Anastasia
This tree had the most flowers around it. Meaning, it's were the fairies usually gathered. She bent down and brought out some tarts and sweets. Upon smelling the sweet fragrance, the fairies peeked out of the flowers and flew towards her.
She smiled pleasantly as she hand fed the fairies. In her opinion, fairies are one of the most adorable magical creatures to exist, you'd be wondering how they're related to pixies.
The pixies had already fallen asleep in the trees, contented with their meal, while the fairies are happily chattering amongst themselves, ringing coming out of their mouths.
Anastasia wished she can learn their language even though it's all ringing. Because what the heck are they even talking about? How do they speak with the same ringing sound? Do those ringing sounds actually have different tones each letter for them?
She stood up and dusted her dress and just walked around to admire the surroundings, the fairies following after her. One particular fairy flew up in front of her and partially shoved a red Gumamela in her face. She smiled lightly before taking the flower to admire it.
The fairies quickly hid in the flowers at the sound of pebbles hitting each other. Anastasia turned around and found a shadow behind a tree. Suddenly, the moment reminded her of her first meeting with Draco. But the figure was certainly taller.
'A student?'
The thought that a student found out about this place and a non-student inside Hogwarts made her panicked.
" Who goes there?! ", Anastasia yelled.
The figure flinched before flying away with a broom.
" Hey! wait! ", She yelled as she tried going after them but soon stopped when the person was already high up, flying towards the castle.
She gripped her dress tightly as she contemplated on wether she should tell Dumbledore about a student out in curfew and finding out about her.
" Ana! Ana, oh you reckless child! "
Anastasia turned to her left to see McGonagall marching towards her with the rest of the school staff.
" Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?! What if a student saw you?! Or worse, an intruder does! ", McGonagall said.
At the meantion of students, Anastasia glanced guiltily at Dumbledore. He looked back at her and only in a matter of seconds, he sighed, already understanding what happened.
" Let us all go inside now. It's nearly 2 in the morning, the children will wake up soon. And Ana, my girl, you still need to sleep. You'll be moving in the Glasswater Manor tomorrow, remember? ", Dumbledore said.
Anastasia nodded silently as Snape carried her and Apparited inside the castle. Her mind still stuck on today's events and what the student's identity could be.
The person earlier and the one who hit her forehead with a pebble. Are they the same people? They do use broomsticks, but that's still a weak evidence.
_________
The bed creaked slightly as a child climbed up to it. She yawned as she covered herself under the thick blanket. Tonight was certainly exhausting. But at least she'll be able to sleep easier because of it.
" Are you sure you've brushed your teeth? ", Snape asked from the other side of the room. He was checking the cabinets to see if she forgot anything important.
" Yes... ", Anastasia sleepily replied. Why does he keep asking that every night anyway? It's not like she missed brushing her teeth one time.
" Make sure you've packed everything you need. I won't be getting whatever you forgot to you, nor will the others. "
" Mhm... "
" And your books. Don't you dare forget even a single one. You need to prepare for your studies here next year. Make sure to remember them and not just read them. ", Severus said as he finally checked the last drawer. Upon receiving no response, he turned around and found that the child has already fallen asleep.
He sighed quietly before walking out of the room, giving one last glance before closing the door.
He was quiet the whole time he walked away. He doesn't know what to feel about the little girl moving to a new home. Maybe he's gotten used to being the one who takes care of her almost all the time. Maybe he's gotten used to hearing light footsteps running around his classroom at night to check each potion. Maybe he's gotten used to scolding her to every little thing.
He doesn't know why but he felt like something is stolen from him. Even though it never truly belonged to him in the first place.
In any case, the girl will come back to Hogwarts anyway once she turns eleven. And she'll be staying here for the whole school year. So he'll just rely on that to see her frequently again.
He does hope she'll end up in Slytherin. If she ends up getting sorted into his house, he'll be able to take care of her far more easier without thinking of what the students from other houses would say.