The morning sun speckled through the forest canopy as Isolde sat beneath a tree in deep concentration. She was almost finished the daisy chain she had been spending the morning making. She already had one decorating her own head. With great care she stuck the last bits together to create a second crown.

Carefully, despite her excitement, she carried it in her two open hands back to her home. The old thatched cottage was small on the outside, one of the walls had pretty flowers and leaves growing up it and the entire thing seemed to sparkle bright white in the sunlight. It was almost idyllic.

The door swung open for her as she reached it and she looked around the kitchen. The open kitchen joined the small living area and she couldn't see her mother anywhere.

"What do you have there?"

She smiled as she noticed Inish standing on the tall stool, leaning over a large pot on the cooker, stirring its contents. The wrinkled house-elf was watching her with curiosity and affection. Even though she was their house-elf, she was definitely part of the family. She wore a hand stitched thick cobalt blue pillow case with a yellow felt daffodil that they had made together sown onto the corner.

Isolde didn't know very much about house-elves apart from what Inish told her but her mother had once revealed that they were usually looked down on in old families. That they were expected to be hidden away and no one would ever treat one as a friend. In fact, some people were very mean to them. She found this difficult to believe knowing how kind their elf was but the sadness with which her mother told her this had convinced her.

"I made a crown. I wanted to give it to Mum, where is she?"

The small elf set down the wooden spoon she was using, her face serious. "She is upstairs little one, she wasn't feeling too well earlier."

Isolde nodded quietly a little disappointed, she knew her mother was prone to such things.

The elf had hopped off her tall stool to stand before the young girl. "It's very pretty, I'm sure she'll love it."

She kicked the ground in distraction for a moment, feeling bad that she was annoyed her mother wasn't herself today. She had just wanted to surprise her.

"Should I go up?"

Inish rubbed her forearm affectionately as she held the flowers. "Of course little one, if anyone can make her feel better, it's you."

She couldn't help the slight smile that broke through on her face. "Really?"

The elf waved her hand dismissively at the question. "Yes really. You are the light in her life. The reason she pulls herself together every morning." She moved closer to the young girl, near whispering as if sharing a secret.

"You know why I came to your family?"

Isolde knew this already but she would never deny the elf the chance to tell her story again. It was her favourite story to share, it seemed to be the most exciting thing that had happened in her life.

"It was Dumbledore, the great man. I hadn't been at Hogwarts very long when he specifically chose me for a special task. I didn't know what that entailed when he first approached me. He told me that I had to look after someone special. That she needed help, that there would be a new baby and I had to make sure you were both safe. He was worried your mother would be overwhelmed, that you may need someone to make sure you weren't harmed or neglected. That your mother would become more unwell. He didn't tell me at the time I would be placed with a hero. I think he underestimated how much your mother would love you when she met you."

Though she only understood half of it, it made her heart glow to hear her mother cared so much for her. Inish always had the greatest admiration for her mother.

"You calm her down, remind her of where she is. Go on up, she will be happy to see what you have done for her."

"Okay." She nodded enthusiastically, thinking that perhaps she should have made something for Inish as well.

She wandered up the stairs, taking a detour into the small reading room between their bedrooms. It was cosy, a lot of adult books of various topics lined the walls. It was bright as the light spilled in from the large bay window that looked out into the garden and forest beyond that.

Her mother was sat at the small reading table, her back to the window as she stared down at the table. There was a closed book in front of her and a full, no doubt cold cup of tea that the elf had surely left for her. She was still dressed in a set of pyjamas, a thick old robe wrapped over her.

"Mum."

There was no response as she crept quietly into the room, cautious not to startle her.

"Mother."

Again she didn't react, it was if she couldn't hear her.

Isolde moved closer still and placed the flowers on the table. She took her mother's hand and placed it on her head, allowing her still fingers to intertwine with her silky dark curls. Craning up, she whispered in her ear.

Almost as though there had been a thunderclap, the woman sat bolt upright, her face drained of all colour as she heard her daughter whisper in that ancient tongue. It took her a second to look down, to notice Isolde and her fingers immediately wound into her hair, running through them, tense but careful not to hurt her.

She knew the action almost seemed to soothe her mother, grounding her, as if by tethering her, to reassure her they were both real. It took a few seconds for her breathing to even out and her shoulders to relax back.

"Look Mum, I brought you these."

As she pointed toward them, her mother looked over, smiling proudly as she noticed the daisy chain.

"Wow, this is pretty. You made this all yourself?"

"Yes, I did. Just for you."

"I love it darling."

She climbed onto her mother's lap to place the flowers on her head. They sat perfectly, the tumultuous black curls holding it securely in place.

As soon as it was in place, she hugged her mother. A pair of arms surrounded her, a soothing hand rubbing her back. Her mother smelt sweet and familiar, it was how she recognised home. The arms around her held on longer than she had been expecting but she didn't mind. She stroked underneath the heavy black hair on the back of her mothers neck, there seemed to be something inherently fragile about her in that moment.

Though she had always recognised that there was something a little wrong with her mother, despite little to compare her with, she sensed that she was damaged in some unfathomable way that Isolde knew she would probably never understand.

"You know I love you, don't you?"

They broke apart and her mother had started stroking her cheek affectionately, in a way that would embarrass her if someone else were around but she secretly enjoyed.

"Of course, Mum, I love you too."

"And you know what special day it is tomorrow?"

She tapped her nose gently in question. Isolde needed no reminders.

"It's my birthday!"

"Yes, it is."

"And I'm going to be six and everyone is coming to my party tomorrow. Except Uncle Snape."

Snape wasn't able to come to the party, although Isolde would have struggled to imagine him at such an event anyway, so he had promised to bring a present today.

It was going to be the first party she had ever had and everyone she knew was invited. Though that was not many people, she was excited that everyone would come at once. Mostly, she was excited to see her cousin. Dora was the only girl her age that she knew and she thought she was pretty cool.

Everyone else they knew were adults, family friends and people her mother had known from the war. Her mother didn't like to have many people around, there weren't many chances to meet new people so she was always grateful to see her cousin. It was her chance to play with someone, to learn more things about the rest of the wizarding and muggle worlds. Dora was very knowledgable about all sorts of things that her mother or Inish would never tell her about.

Isolde was grateful for the contact she had with her very small extended family. She knew that her mother had other relatives. One of her sisters was killed in the war, Dora's mother but she had another sister that she didn't speak to. She had come to visit her mother before, to ask for help for her husband, whom she later found out was in prison. Her mother had been very angry and the blonde woman had never returned.

She only remembered one other family member visiting. He was a cousin, a scruffy older man that seemed restless and irritated the entire visit. Though Isolde was very young at the time, she remembered how uncomfortable the meeting was. The older man wouldn't acknowledge her at all, the discussion had been tense and by the end her mother was furious and in tears. When she had gathered her up in her arms, the other man had been disturbed as he finally set his gaze on the young girl.

There had been a few slammed doors and he was out of the house, her was mother near hysterical and Inish had to lead her up to her bedroom and dose her with a potion to soothe her. Isolde had curled up to her heavy, lethargic body, her mother trying to run her fumbling hands through her soft curls.

That man had never returned and her mother had never brought him up again.

"Come on darling, Severus will be here soon for lunch. You should get changed, you want to wear the nice dress we got?"

"Yes, I want to keep the pink one for tomorrow. He will like the green one, that is his colours."

She gave a quick chuckle. "Well that or black."

"Can I go back outside for a little while first? Before I get dressed, otherwise my dress will get dirty."

She seemed to pause for a long moment in consideration before finally relenting. "I suppose, but not for long. Go on."

Isolde jumped off her lap, giggling as she ran back down the stairs, whipping through the kitchen past their elf in a flash to be outside again.

She ran towards the north end of the garden where the small collections of mushrooms sat on the darkened edge of the forest. She slowed her pace right down as she approached. Sometimes around this time, if she was lucky, she was able to catch a glimpse of the pixies as they played around. She hadn't ever been able to get close to them, she was always too noisy and as soon as they sensed her presence would vanish off into the forest.

It seemed she was in luck today.

From the top of the little dip leading to the cluster of large mushrooms she saw a single pixy flitting around. It was distracted as it zipped from mushroom to mushroom and Isolde was desperate to get a little closer. She had heard them squeaking to each other when they were together and she always wanted to try and interact with them.

In her desire to get closer to it, she slipped on the damp grass sliding down the shallow bank toward the pixy. As soon as it noticed her it flew off at speed. It was the closest she had come to one and without thinking she took off after it towards the small stream slightly further into the forest.

She stumbled as she reached the stream, just about able to stop herself from falling in, losing track of the pixy in the meantime. Looking around to see if she catch sight of it again, she realised she had come further from the cottage than she had meant. She hadn't even felt herself passing the wards but she was sure she was no longer protected by them.

This was confirmed as she suddenly saw someone step out from behind a nearby tree. It was a woman, someone she had never seen before, dressing in dark muted robes. From the look of the state of her robes, to looked like she had been hiding out in the forest for some time.

"Hello little darling."

Isolde shuffled back a little cautiously. Her mother had always warned her about strangers, how some of them would hurt her if they got a chance. This woman didn't look particularly evil but she was wary all the same.

"What's your name little girl?"

She shook her head. "My Mum told me not to talk to strangers. I better go."

She tried to climb up to her feet, her hands slipping a little on the wet grass. The other woman grinned chirpily, stepping slightly closer.

"You don't have to worry about that. I know all about your mummy, Bellatrix isn't it?"

Nodding in confusion, she looked around, hoping she could see some easy way to escape.

"And what about your Daddy?"

Frowning, she opened her mouth for a moment frozen in silence. "I don't…"

"Is your house around here?"

"I can't say."

"You know that your mother is a big hero, everyone wants to know more about her." The older woman stepped closer again. "My job is to write and share information with witches and wizards all over the country. I let them know about important things and people that they want to know about."

As the woman approached, Isolde finally got some purchase and clambered to her feet.

"I don't think I should be talking to you."

She turned to run back to the house but had underestimated how close the woman had got to her. A bony hand grasped tightly around her upper arm, preventing her escape.

She gave a shriek as she suddenly realised the danger is was in, she had no strength to pull away from the clawing hand. Glancing back, she saw the other woman fumbling to pull out her wand and began screaming in earnest.

At that moment relief flooded through her as she saw the tall, furious shadow of her mother standing above them. She looked like some kind of furious Valkyrie, her hair wild and her wand ready in her hand. The fear this image created caused the other woman to release her as she tried to urgently pull out her wand.

Isolde fell forward when she was released, trying to crawl in the direction of her mother.

"Look, I just wanted to-"

"Do not touch my daughter. Do not talk to my daughter."

Her voice was like steel, enough to scare even Isolde.

"I only wanted-"

"How dare you trespass onto my property, to threaten my daughter."

She raised her wand, her eyes seemed to glow in her rage as a flume of vicious fire burst forth to scorch the earth where the stranger had been only moments before. The blaze spread around as the other witch tried to run from it, using her wand to put it out to no avail. Somehow she managed to run herself around in a circle, the flames closing in around her.

"Please, I'm sorry…"

"How did you find us?"

"I…I-"

The woman mumbled terror alive in her eyes as she seemed to realise the unforgiving nature of the woman she had dared cross.

"Please, it's closing in on me."

"Who else knows you are here?"

The stranger shrieked in terror as the flames started to lick at her feet. "No one, no one I swear."

"Then how did you find us?"

"There, there were some rumours from Azkaban. They had been around for a while, no one paid them much attention but I realised that you had family there. I met Malfoy, I thought there may have been something behind the rumours."

She was wheezing now as she tried to stamp out the flames licking at the bottom of her robes.

"He told you?"

Isolde had climbed behind her mother now, grasped onto her mothers long skirt as she watched her mothers terrifying interrogation.

"No, well he didn't know exactly. He knew it was up in Scotland, Dumbledore had helped you find the perfect place within a forest for maximum privacy. I assumed you would have wards protecting you but you would have to come out eventually."

She felt her mother's gaze flick down toward her for a moment before she continued. "How long have you been here?"

"Months. It was even longer until I found myself here, I was sure I saw a little girl here, I was certain it was the right place so I waited it out."

The energy around her mother seemed to vibrate, furious and vengeful. For the first time Isolde really understood why her mother was considered a hero, why she was so admired and how she had survived a lot of the things that she had overheard about. It had always been difficult for her to reconcile the stories her mother told her with the woman whom she loved dearly but had crumbled in fear at the most benign seeming things.

"Please don't kill me!"

"I am not going to kill you, I will have to wipe every last thing from your mind, everything."

She raised her wand with determination. "Obliv-"

"Expelliarmus!"

The wand in her mothers hand flew behind them, when Isolde spun around she saw Professor Snape standing there looking very bemused.

"What is going on?"

"Help me!"

"Give me back my wand." Her mother practically stamped her foot in her anger.

With a wave of his wand he suppressed the fires around them, stunning the stranger before she could make any plan of escape.

"Get inside, both of you."

Isolde wanted to go back into the house but she was reluctant to leave her mother. She could feel the tension in her mothers body as she held onto her.

"We need to sort her out, she knows how to find us, she threatened Isolde. I cannot have anyone else find us, you know what would happen."

The rage seemed to slip away and she was nearly tearful as she spoke erratically to him.

"Please, I need to fix this."

"Bella, take her inside, I'll obliviate her."

He pointed to Isolde as it seemed her mother had forgotten she was practically attached to her as she hugged her close for a moment. She nodded gratefully towards Snape before taking her hand and leading her into their cottage.

They walked in silence and it was only when they were safely inside did her mother speak. Inish watched cautiously from her spot at the hob, no doubt aware of what had happened.

"Isolde Regina Black, what were you thinking?" Her mother had crouched in front of her, both hands firmly held on her shoulders as the young girl squirmed under such an intense gaze.

"How could you be so stupid? You went outside the wards, how many times have I warned you of how dangerous things out there could be for us?"

She could feel tears prick up in her eyes, she hated upsetting her mother, she hated disappointing her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to happen."

"I know, I know honey." She felt better as she mother brushed her curls back from her face, wiping away a couple of the tears that had fallen before wrapping her in a tight hug. "I just love you so much, I never want anything to hurt you."

Her mother took a moment to collect herself before continuing. "You are too young to understand this but not everyone in the world is nice. I have told you about some of the terrible people out there, they wouldn't care that you were only a child. I never want you to have to know what it would be like to be hurt in such a way."

It scared her when she heard her mother talk like this. She knew that bad things had happened to her during the war, from the stories she told her, the nightmares she had, the conversations that had been overheard and some of the unusual things that Dora told her.

The door opened then, Snape stepping inside, his manner cool.

Her mother stood up straight, staring at him for a moment, it was unclear how she was going to react to his interference.

"It's done?"

He nodded, pulling off his robes and hanging them on the rack by the door. "It has been sorted out, you don't need to worry about it anymore."

She let out a long breath. "Thank you."

Moving to the table, she leaned heavily on it for one moment before collecting herself. "Come, sit."

Pulling out a chair, she indicated for their guest to sit down. It was only then that Isolde realised she hadn't even had a chance to change into her special dress.

"Mother, can I put on my dress?"

"Go on but hurry up, food is being served any second now."

She ran as fast as she could up the stairs, glad to see Inish had left it sitting on her bed neatly. It took her no time at all to pull the green dress on, she took only a moment to admire how it looked on her. She knew her mother would be waiting impatiently so she headed back down, stopping on the stairs when she heard talking.

"Don't worry, it was only one person, they were operating alone."

"That is not the point though. It terrifies me that someone might find us, that someone has found us, that they would do something to her. She is only a child, she doesn't always understand boundaries. I don't want to scare her but even though there are only rumours about her, there are still a lot of people that would be willing to kill her."

"It is the curiosity around your entire situation that has everyone chasing after you."

"And what, you think I should have just told everyone the truth? My own family can't even bear to be around her and they only suspect."

"Bella, I will talk to Dumbledore, he can help with your security."

She gave a heavy sigh, brushing him off. "It's fine. He is coming tomorrow to pop in to see us, I will talk to him then."

"You know he is going to talk to you about the Order of Merlin thing as well, don't you?"

"What's this? I haven't heard anything?"

"That's because you asked Dumbledore to bar any ministry owls finding or reaching you. They are doing some sort of anniversary celebration related to all those who were awarded an Order of Merlin - including you, I think they have been trying to bombard you with invitations but obviously haven't been able to contact you. Hence, Dumbledore getting involved."

"Why is he getting stuck in the middle of this, I thought I made it pretty clear before I wanted nothing to do with any of it. I only even took the money in the first place because he convinced me, for her. I don't understand how they can celebrate giving me an award for killing a person. Dumbledore should know better. "

"Oh, you know Albus. He always gets worried about people he feels are isolating themselves too much, he has always thought it was rather dangerous."

Isolde could practically hear her mother rolling her eyes at that. Although Dumbledore did a lot to look after them and Isolde thought he was rather brilliant, she was well aware her mother didn't always see eye to eye with him.

Deciding she had waited long enough and she was getting rather hungry, she clambered noisily down the stairs.

"I'm ready."

"Wow, look at you, you look lovely."

Her mother pulled out the chair beside her, for her to climb up but before she did, she gave a little shy bow to Snape. He didn't remark on her dress but gave a short smile. He wasn't friendly to her the way Dumbledore or Dora's dad was but she knew he liked her. She found him rather intimidating at times but she liked the way he came to visit. He was always content to carry on adult conversations when she was around, she sensed he didn't know how to talk to children.

Three plates of roast dinner were sent in front of them by Inish. The older elf usually joined them at the table except when there was company, she thought this was improper and despite their objection, she never gave in.

"This looks lovely. Thanks."

They ate in silence for a while as she watched their guest. Eventually she worked up enough courage to start the conversation.

"How is the school?"

He shrugged as he ate. "New year, new students. All as idiotic as could be expected, I always hate this time of year, breaking them all in."

She giggled a little at his dark cynicism. He always seemed so grumpy but she knew he couldn't really always be like that. He never told her very much about the school compared to the headmaster. She suspected it was because he didn't want her to get too excited about it, her mother had already warned her she would not be going, despite Dumbledore's protests.

They had been seeing a lot of him over the summer, more than usual, at least once a fortnight but she knew that would slow down a lot now that he was back at school.

"At least you will be getting a lot more decent food."

He nodded at her mother in agreement, they seemed to like to reminisce about their own time at the school which only made her more upset that she was unlikely to get to experience that.

"What are you doing for your birthday tomorrow? I heard you were having a party?"

"Yes, I am and everyone is coming. Except you, because you are here today. We are going to have games and I'll wear my other new dress and Dora promised they would bring me a present."

"That sounds like a lot of fun. In fact, I forgot to say anything but I brought you a little present as well."

Her mouth dropped open in surprise as she looked to her mother for confirmation.

"Really, I get a present today as well?"

"Well as Severus can't come tomorrow, I think it would be only fair to let you have it today, after you've finished of course."

At that she practically threw her food into her, she was far too impatient to wait.

"Calm down, you'll choke if you're not careful."

"Nmpphh." Her words completely obscured by the food she had stuffed into her mouth.

After what seemed like far too long for her, she polished off the last of the food on her plate, including the peas which she really didn't like.

"See I'm done now."

Both adults smiled in amusement at her antics, particularly her mother who shook her head teasingly.

"You're finished but poor Severus isn't. You can't have him interrupt his meal just to get your present, you'll just have to wait and hope you don't get indigestion."

She was about to complain but realised it would be futile.

"It's alright, it's only a small thing. I have it right here."

He pulled out a small, brightly wrapped present and handed it over to her. She took it in her hands, admiring the exact neatness of the wrapping, not the usual hodgepodge her mother made.

With bated breath she pulled it open, it was a light wooden box. As she slid the top off, a large red and yellow balloon grew out of it and floated into the air. It was a magical small air balloon and when she looked into the bottom of the box, there were a number of small tin characters.

"Wow."

Her mother laughed gently as they all watched the balloon floating before her.

"That's great."

Snape rubbed his face uncomfortably. "The magic in it will let you float your other toys around as you wish. I don't now what kids like, I thought you mind find some use for it."

"It's amazing."

She really meant it too. She had only ever managed magic herself twice, neither time she remembered well due to her young age at the time and she didn't have anything magically animated of her own.

"That was very kind of you Severus, you didn't need to go to such effort."

She knew he was about to brush the remark aside, appearing embarrassed enough as it was but she didn't give him the chance as she jumped up onto his lap and hugged him.

"Thank you, it's the best present so far."

He gave a gruff laugh as with hesitation he patted her lightly on the back.

"So far?"

When she pulled back and climbed down off him, he looked to her mother in amusement. "I always forget how honest children can be."

Her mother gave a long suffering sigh. "You don't need to remind me." Turning to Isolde, she continued. "Why don't you see what you can do with that while we finish eating." Perhaps noticing the gleam in her daughters eye, she specified. "Inside the house."

Not needing to be told twice, Isolde pulled it over to the small living area. Sitting down with her back against the sofa, she investigated the figurines in the box as the adults continued to talk in low voices.

"So how have you been then? Really?"

Her mother paused for a moment, pushing around the mug of tea that had been set in front of her.

"Ok, really. I didn't have a great night last night."

"Nightmares?"

She nodded mutely before speaking up, her voice lower. "It was like I was back there, back like it was, he was there."

He sighed heavily, the same thing he usually did when her mother started talking like this. This type of conversation always intrigued Isolde and she distractedly fidgeted with one of the toys as she tried to subtly listen in. Most of the really interesting things she learnt of the past or the rest of the wizarding world was from eavesdropping on such adult conversations.

"You haven't been taking the potion, have you?"

With an expression Isolde was sure she made when her mother caught her out, her mother shook her head. "No, but, I ran out, I didn't want to bother you and I had been using less and less. You know I don't like taking things like that for extended periods of time."

"Bella, you should have let me know. You know we always have extra supplies of such potions at the school and it wouldn't have taken long to brew more. It is better for you to take it, the risk of taking these potions even in the longterm are mild in comparison to the effect not taking them clearly has on you."

When Isolde chanced to watch them, she noticed he had reached out to her mothers hand to press it lightly. Despite his awkwardness and her mothers determination to ignore such things, she had glanced up for a split second to give him a pleasant yet resigned smile.

"I don't like you to think on those things, the experiences. It consumes you."

Her hand was pulled away and Isolde returned her attention to her new present, still half listening in.

"I-just. I always feel such guilt, about how I felt and how everything came about. It shouldn't have happened the way it did."

"You're right. It was never planned to go that way and it never should have. In all the plans we made, we never intended to place you in such a compromising position, we never meant to force your hand."

Her voice was tight with repressed rage as she snapped back. "But that's what did happen. How was it supposed to happen then exactly? You left me alone with Sirius, it was his pressure, I had no other choice. He told me I had to be the one to destroy it, it was up to me to act otherwise I was an accomplice, I was culpable for what happened to Regulus. All that time I had been made to think I was being hunted, that I was a guilty as well as his prisoner with a guaranteed death sentence. Sirius convinced me, you all convinced me that the only way I could ever survive was to do what I did. I had never wanted anything to do with that war, I only gave you information because I wanted to live. And I know, I know that it wasn't just my survival, I had given up on that but the entire war, all those people that would otherwise be killed, could be saved by only one action."

Isolde stopped and looked over as she heard a unnerving strangled sob from her mother. She had her hand over her mouth for a moment before whispering harshly.

"And I felt, I cared for him. That was the most ridiculous thing. Despite the horrific cruelty, there was a human being in there, someone who had the potential, the capacity to care."

Snape gave a disbelieving grunt.

"Don't - I've heard all of Dumbledore's ideas before. His stupid muggle psychobabble theories about him and about myself."

"You can't rationalise what happened, his motivations or your relationship."

"That is exactly what I have to do. It's the only way I can move on, how I justify what happened, and how I convince myself I can get through each and everyday. God, it's been years."

"Bella…"

Her mother sat back in her seat, wiping the stray tears that had begun to fall.

"Don't. I'm just tired, it's making everything feel a bit raw."

He stood slowly, making his way around to her. With stiff movements he wrapped his arms around her and let her relax as her tears slowed.

"Despite what Dumbledore says, you and I both know he would never really have changed. Every seemingly kind action was followed by more abuse, by further rage. He manipulated you, played with your emotions and confused you. It's no surprise you had no idea how to feel."

She just sniffled in response.

"Look, I know you said no before, but maybe you should consider getting help from Dumbledore. I know he has offered a few times, I mean just talking to him, going through some of your memories together in a safe way, it could help things."

"I don't think so, I could hardly think of anyone I would less like to share such things with, he would never understand. I could never tell him how I felt, or the things that happened."

"I wouldn't be so sure. You know about Grindelwald?"

Her mother frowned, twisting to look at Snape who was still standing half over her. "Yeah, of course. The dark wizard, Dumbledore defeated in duel."

"Well, you probably weren't aware, they had been friends, before all this. When they were very young, they had been allies then. It's not a particularly well kept secret, it seems the media were only ever interested in the headline news regarding the pair of them."

He paused for a moment. "As far as I know, they had been very close. I can't say for certain but I would certainly wager it was one of the main reasons he delayed acting against him in the first place. That and I'm sure he was praying Grindelwald would just snap out of it and see the error of his ways."

A rather watery smile was given in response from her mother.

"Just think about it alright."

He rubbed her arm lightly for moment to comfort her, which seemed to work as her mother brushed away the last of her tears and took a bracing deep breath. He left and returned to his own side of the table to give her a moment to collect herself.

By now Isolde had stopped any pretence of playing as she watched them. She liked the companionship that Snape offered for her mother. She didn't have many friends and it seemed they had some strange intimacy.

She remembered she had once asked them about this. Not exactly that. She had in fact enquired if Snape was her father.

This had elicited a hilarious reaction. He had been absolutely mortified, a reaction mirrored by her mother who ended up laughing hysterically as she realised the absurdity of the question.

At the time she had been satisfied by the explanation that she had been given. She knew that her father was dead, that he was a bad man who had been mean to her mother. Her mother had promised she would tell her more when she was older but at that time, when she had seen them interacting so well, a part of her had wished that could have been true.

"Let's forget it, we shouldn't be talking about such things when it is meant to be a celebration. I'll give Albus some potions to bring for you tomorrow, send a dose for you tonight as well."

"You're right. Forget it."

There was silence for a moment from the two of them, the only sound interrupting it was their cutlery as they played with the food in front of them.

"I saw your sister the other day, down in Diagon Alley."

"Really?"

Though her mother sounded disinterested, Isolde knew she must be as curious as she was to hear about her relative.

"She wasn't looking too happy, I don't think she's used to it, I don't think she gets out and about much anymore."

"Hmm, poor thing."

Snape tried to hide his smirk as he raised his cup to his lips.

"Well I heard Lucius was due for release next month."

"So I saw in the Prophet, it was going to happen eventually."

"And you're okay with that?"

She shrugged heavily. "You know he was never charged with anything really serious, in his position of power and wealth, it was fortunate he had any sort of punishment at all. A few others have already been released."

"Alright."

Sighing, she continued. "I know what you are trying to do. I know you want me to say I'm scared, that I worry that all those I testified against will decide to come after me. I don't know how that would make any difference. I'm scared of anyone finding us, the good guys, the bad guys, it's all the same to me. That's why…"

She trailed off for a moment as she looked over at Isolde, as if remembering she was there. "We live here. It is our haven and I won't let anyone ruin it."

Snape rested his hand over her mothers for a brief moment before awkwardly clearing his throat, his hand pulling away eagerly and he pushed his now empty dishes away from him.

Her mother, a little frazzled, starting piling all their dishes together, standing with as much as she could carry and placing them by the sink.

"Where is your elf?"

Snape asked this whilst carrying his plate over, confused as her mother started filling the sink with bubbles. She chucked the dishes in as she responded, wiping her hair back from her forehead and leaving a trail of suds behind. Their guest was far too polite to comment.

"She's outside, tending the vegetable and herb patches, she enjoys gardening."

He hovered beside her at the sink, obviously still mystified. "So you do the washing up?"

"And I enjoy doing this. It keeps my hands busy, all three of us live here, we all do our own bit to keep the house going, not leaving everything down to only one of us."

"But you don't even use magic for it, surely you can find something better to do with your hands."

Isolde ran over to them as they seem to glance at each other momentarily, giggling as she saw the suds still on her mother's forehead. Her mother smiled in amusement as she clambered up onto the counter top beside the sink.

"And what are you laughing at missy?"

"You've got bubbles all over your head."

Despite herself, her cheeks pinked as she wiped it away.

"I don't think I'm the only one!"

She whipped her hand out of the water, splashing her all over with water and bubbles. Isolde shrieked in surprise before dipping her hands in and soaking her back. They fought back and forth for a few moments, both nearly drenched before Isolde gave up, jumping off the counter.

She flicked the last of the water on her hands at her mother, unprepared for her mother when she turned around. Even without her wand, she somehow managed to summon a cloud of bubbles which almost completely covered her. She could hear Snape laughing through it, her mother challenging him.

"Don't think you are getting away with nothing."

There was an indignant shout before his laughing continued and in only a few seconds they were all sodden and out of breath.

"Right that's enough, have to finally do these dishes. Think my hands have been busy enough now."

She pulled her wand out, flicking it in the air and the dishes all started cleaning themselves by her magic. Her wand was next aimed at Isolde and she was dried off immediately in a puff of warm air, squealing in delight at the sensation. Snape had already sorted himself out as she dried herself as well.

Snape seemed awkwardly stiff as he spoke, as if compensating for the few moments of levity.

"I think I better be heading off now, thank you for the dinner."

"Are you sure?"

Her mother seemed surprised at this sudden declaration although it was hardly out of character for the professor. Isolde wasn't ready to give up quite yet.

"You can play some games with us before you go. We have a few magic and muggle games but most of them are better with more than two players. And I think she always lets me win anyway."

He seemed to actually consider it for a moment before shaking his head. "Maybe next time. It won't be long before it's dark, it's definitely time I leave."

"What about tomorrow?"

Her mother shushed her whining, now seeming to accept his excuse. "I hope it won't be too long until we see you again. I know you'll be busy at school but before Christmas at least?"

"Christmas?!"

Snape smirked at her outburst, her mother looked much less amused.

"I will try my very best to visit before then. Of course, you are always welcome to come visit us, as I know you remember we have a number of Hogsmeade visits during the term."

Her mother scowled at the suggestion. "We will see you before Christmas then. You'll have to let us know when you are free."

"I will."

He summoned the cloak he had hung up on his way in.

"Thank you for the present. You better visit soon." She ran up to him, her arms up. "Hug time."

She almost enjoyed how uncomfortable it made him. Since she was young she had insisted on such affection despite his obvious reticence, for his part he had never refused her though.

She gave him a squeeze, he almost lifted her off the tips of her toes. She smirked, rather pleased with herself when her mother also gave him a very quick hug.

"I'll send the stuff with Dumbledore tomorrow and stay out of trouble. I'll have him look into your security as well, just make sure nothing stupid happens in the meantime." He gave her mother a meaningful look before turning back to her. "And have a good party."

"I will."

With that he slung his cloak over himself and walked out the door. They watched him disappear down the path, he would disapparate when he was far enough away.

"Now Isolde, you have one hour before your bath then bed. Do you want to play with your new toy or a game?"

"A game, I can play with the toys when Dora is here tomorrow."

"You can go and find which one you want then, let me know when you're done."

"Gobstones!"

Her mother sighed in exasperation. "You were meant to look through them, to see which one took your fancy."

"But that's the one I want to play."

She laughed in disbelief. "Alright then, you go and set it up and I'll join you in a minute."

As usual when they played games together, it passed very quickly and it took a reminder that she was now too old for such behaviour, to stop her from whining when it was announced it was time for her bath.

She finally joined her mother upstairs, reluctant to get into the huge bubbly bath but as soon as she was settled, it was only when the water had started to turn cold that she got out.

"Come on now, we have to get you to bed at some stage. If you keep postponing it, you'll only eat into your story time."

She grabbed the giant fluffy towel, wrapping it around Isolde when she stood out of the water.

"Brrr."

Her mother practically smothered her in the towel, drying her off in a cloud of fluff.

"Right, put your pyjamas on then go into your room and choose which story you want before bed. Don't doddle now, I'll join you in a couple of minutes and I expect you to be in bed."

She pulled on the warmed purple pyjamas that had been left out for her by Inish. She headed to her room, barely glancing at her collection of stories on the bookshelf. She already knew that she didn't want one of the stories she already knew off by heart. Every so often, usually when she managed to catch her mother in a good mood, she was able to persuade her to tell one of her own stories instead. She was hoping after they'd had a visitor, that she would be much more willing to give in.

Isolde climbed into bed, tucking the blankets around herself and making sure her cuddly owl Tyto was close beside her. Her mother, seeming to sense that she was ready, popped into the room. She flicked her wand and the night light in the corner sprung into life, a magical pattern of animals shadow travelling around the room and the main light switched off.

"So which one do you want then?"

She made her way to the bookshelf, looking through them all as if she couldn't recite them all by heart now.

"Mum?" She picked at her blanket almost nervously, sometimes her mother was upset when requested to tell her tales. "Is it alright if I hear one of your stories instead?"

Her mother paused, her fingers tracing the spine of one of the colourful books on the shelf before turning to her.

"I suppose that would be alright."

Isolde tried her best to hide her excitement but sat up more despite herself.

"Now come on, this is supposed to get you settled for bed. Down."

Her mother came over to her, fluffing up the pillows behind her before encouraging her to lie back. She took a seat on the edge of her bed, wrapping an arm above her head so that her hand was able to stroke her cheek.

"How about I tell you about your uncle, for whom you're named?"

"I'm named for my grandmother."

Her mother gave a small chuckle. "Yes, for my mother. But your middle name, Isolde Regina Black, was for my cousin. He was one of -."

"The bravest men you ever knew."

It wasn't the first time she had heard this story and she found the almost near reverent tone in her mothers voice a little ominous. She knew her mother loved to talk of her cousin but she knew it always made her sad as well. She struggled to understand her mothers attachment to a story which seemed to always make her so melancholic when she had experienced such exciting other adventures.

"Oh but what about the giant, or the werewolves, or the vampire… What about the evil monster that kept you locked up?"

"Shh. Don't say that." Her mother squeezed her shoulder gently. "I want you to understand, that man - he was an evil, cruel, lonely man. The things he did were monstrous but he was no monster, he was a terrible man. But just a man."

Isolde sat in silence for a few moments, sorry she had said such a thing. She didn't really understand why it had annoyed her mother in such a way. She had read snippets of the things the dark wizard had done, heard the adults talking about horrors in hushed tones. Dora had even told her that he had killed her mother.

She thought that sounded exactly like something a monster would do but she wasn't going to argue with her mother.

"After he was killed, the Order started to round up the last of his ardent followers. They wanted to make the place safe for everyone. Dumbledore asked me to come to Hogwarts, he thought it would be too dangerous for me to go to St Mungo's to get checked over. I was there in the infirmary before Dumbledore came to see me."

"With the stone?"

"Yes. He told me he had kept the relics to investigate. He brought me a magical stone. He told me he wanted to start getting rid of each of the items, so that they would not be a source of temptation or some sort of item to be worshipped. The stone was one of the last he wanted to get rid of but he thought he would offer me a chance first."

"He told me it was the resurrection stone, it was already imbued with magical powers before it was destroyed. That it could bring back those who had died to the land of the living. They couldn't stay long, they didn't belong in our world, that it was unnatural. He said it was the only thing he could offer me, as a kind of reward or something for everything that had happened. That I could have fifteen minutes to bring back anyone I wanted. That he had to set such a boundary as the power of it was too tempting for even the strongest resolve."

"Of course, I thought this was just ridiculous. I didn't believe him at all. I thought it was just a cruel trick he was playing on me."

"He gave the stone to me anyway, he gave me sometime to think about who I would like to see one more time, to have one last conversation with. It wasn't the easiest decision, there was so many people I cared about that were killed in the war."

She paused for a moment, her deep concentration didn't seem like it was ever going to break. Of course, it eventually did, her tone much more up beat with her memory.

"In the end, there was only one person I could chose, my dear little cousin Regulus. The poor boy had fallen into the wrong side, but he had a good heart. He recognised the error of his decisions, that he couldn't keep going on with the side he was on. He made a choice to help, he fought against the darkness, if it hadn't been for him, no one would ever have figured out what was needed to win the war."

"I was anxious but I didn't want to get my hopes up, I didn't really believe the stone would work the way Dumbledore said it would. But there he was, almost like a ghost, but strangely more solid. He seemed younger to me then, even though it hadn't been that long since I'd seen him. As if all his innocence return to him when he died."

Her voice was thick with emotion now. Isolde turned slightly to wrap her arm more completely around her mother who was petting her long curls. She didn't like when her mother became so sad at remembering her cousin, she thought it was a shame she had never met him. She couldn't imagine what it would have been like to lose a cousin, she would be devastated if Dora was no longer in her life.

"I just started crying. I thought that I was going to be so articulate but I just couldn't cope at all. He understood, he always seem to know the right thing to do. He just wrapped his arms around me. It wasn't the same of course, he was so cold, though so solid. It was enough though, I knew it was him."

Isolde could feel herself being lulled gently by her mothers story, she almost knew it by heart.

"We talked. I told him what had happened, that the war was finally over. I told him what I did. He was happy, he was glad that what he had sacrificed had come to something. He was worried about me though."

She stroked her arm down to her hand, linking hers over Isolde's.

"You know he was the first person I told about you, my love. I was so scared about what was going to happen and what I should do. I thought it would be impossible for me to look after you, that they may try to separate us. I had no idea what the right thing was to do. I didn't even know how you happened, I didn't remember, I just knew you were there, waiting for me to accept."

Her mother talked this way often, Isolde was well aware of the danger they were both in. She didn't understand half the things her mother spoke of but she was so thankful that they had been able to stay together.

"Well my love, he gave me the greatest advice. For the first time in a long time, he made me feel safe. I loved him so much, it nearly tore me apart when I had to give him up again. It was the shortest time we had together. I so wish you could have met him."

So did Isolde. From the way her mother talked about him, he sounded as if he would have been the greatest uncle. She knew it would have been good for her mother to have proper family around.

"Mother?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

She felt her mother shifting to squeeze her tight in a hug. "I love you too Petal. Now it's time for you to go to sleep."

Despite her mothers words, she stayed where she was for a few moments, neither of them shifting.

"I think maybe I'll stay in here tonight."

Isolde turn to look up at her mother. "Really?"

She was given a short nod in response. Her mother often chose to stay in with her although as she was getting older, it had become less frequent. Isolde liked it though, it was comforting to have her mother so close and she was sure her mother felt similarly. It hadn't gone without her notice that it was usually after some kind of tumult that they stayed together in her room.

"Come on, shift up."

Isolde moved over to one side, allowing her mother to climb under the cover. When they were both under, she turned around to curl into her mother who wrapped an arm around her. The light was dimmed by her mothers magic and Isolde whispered to her.

"It's my birthday tomorrow."

"I know, I remember well enough."

"What was it like when I was born?"

She felt her mother sigh heavily, the way she did when Isolde always asked questions that she didn't really want to give the answer to.

"It was difficult. Having a baby is very painful for mothers and I was scared. Very few people knew you were being delivered into the world. When I saw you though, I fell in love almost immediately. It made me more scared though, I knew that there would be people that would want to hurt you but I swore I would do anything I could to look after you."

"So you were happy I was born?"

"Always." She gave her a tighter squeeze for a moment. "Now sleep, dream about tomorrow."

It didn't take her long at all to drift off to sleep.

So sorry for the huge delay. Hopefully this helped answer some questions- if there is anything else I may be able to answer feel free to let me know or PM. Thank you so much to everyone for the detailed and amazing reviews, they have really helped me keep going with this story.