Disclaimer:
I own nothing created and or mentioned, by J.K. Rowling, in the books of Harry Potter. This story is a product intended for enjoyment not financial gain.

Rating: Mature
Sexual content, language content, and dark themes

Holly Rene Evans-Snape looked into the mirror, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she examined her face. At the age of sixteen this was something she did semi-often, seeking out imperfections and ridding herself of them. She picked up her brush and ran it through the long black hair that cascaded down her back. Flicking the combed locks behind her shoulders she proceeded to gaze at her reflection contemplating, deciding against it, she threw her hair into a pony tail.

She had grown to be a woman of average height with sharp features like her father. Although petite compared to some she had received her mother's figure, being spared Severus' deathly thin physique. Her eyes were black, in the shape of almonds and they glittered daintily. Her nose was small and slightly crooked, her lips thin and light pink. Her skin was a tan shade, having attended school in sunny Australia where she grew up with her aunt, only coming back to England to spend summers with her father. Being brought up in two locations, her accent was an interesting mix of English and Australian, giving her a unique flare.

She opened the bathroom door and shut off the light as she exited to the small hallway, of three-thirty Spinner's End, going into her bedroom (that used to belong to her father). She peeled off her pajamas, throwing them onto the floor, before walking to her dresser to obtain clothing. Her father hated when she donned herself in muggle attire (which was a steady trend among young witches and wizards thus she did it often). Selecting a very short pair of jean cut-off shorts she pulled them over her legs, buttoning them at her waist.

"Holly you've recei—"

"DAD, I'M CHANGING!" Holly shrieked, shoving herself against the door, slamming it shut in her father's face.

"Sorry," Severus said softly, barely dodging the door as it swung towards him angrily. "It's after noon, you know?" He called through the door.

"So?" Holly yelled back as she pulled a shredded tank-top over her body. That should piss him off.

"So, if you managed to awaken and change at a decent hour perhaps I wouldn't barge in on you so often. Most people are up and dressed by noon."

"And I would think that you would manage to figure out that I sleep and change late," she spat back, brimming with attitude.

"Watch your tone," Severus warned before turning and walking down the stairs, into the dining room. "That girl," he muttered quietly as he pulled the mail, that had recently come, towards him.

Over the years Holly and himself had grown distant. It seemed that once she turned thirteen everything started to go badly. She began getting into trouble at school, shirking her grades and responsibilities, talking back, and being a complete nightmare to raise. One summer she had been his darling little girl, the next she was a horrid punk of a teenager. It had crossed his mind, more than once, to pull her from the grimy school of Australian Magic to bring her to Hogwarts where he could keep an eye on her at all times. They had argued about it several times, Holly not wanting to leave her friends, Severus not caring about such stupid things. The only objective that stayed him was putting Holly and Harry Potter in the same building. It had been a life goal of his, especially since he met the boy hero (the replica of his father in looks and ways), to never allow Potter to know they were related through Holly. Holly knew of her brother, for she remembered who her mother was, why she died, and who else she gave birth to. She didn't understand why her father wished to keep her brother separated from her, nor did she care.

Holly huffily walked down the stairs and went into the kitchen. Severus gawked at her as she went by, his eyes narrowing in irritation. Her shorts were so high up he could almost see her underwear beneath them. Her tank-top was a ripped shredded thing that displayed her bra underneath and the majority of her mid-drift. That would not do. He pushed himself up from the table and followed her, standing in the threshold.

"If you think you're going to wear that you're sorely mistaken," he said in a dangerous voice as Holly was taking a piece of bread from the loaf on the counter.

"I wear things like this all the time," she countered. She truly didn't, but with how little he saw her or spoke to her throughout her life, for all he knew, she could have.

"Not under my roof," he challenged formidably. If he had used such a tone with any of his students they would have been rightly quivering and trembling before him. Holly, however, rolled her eyes.

"I'm not going to change," she stated stubbornly.

"I think you'll find you will," he said just as unyieldingly.

Holly turned to look at him, her arms folded before her chest, trying to match her father's hard gaze. A moment of nasty silence passed between them, both staring down the other.

"Change—now," he commanded.

"No," she said simply, popping her hip to one side.

"What, did you say to me?" He asked stepping into the kitchen, his demeanor dark, his footfall ominous.

"I said, I'm not going to change," she said, trying to sound as if she wasn't intimidated by his approach. She was.

"You seem to be operating under the delusion that this is somehow optional. You will go upstairs, you will take off those clothes, if one can call them that, and you will change into something else. Do I make myself plain?"

"I'm not changing."

"That's it, I'm not arguing about this. You're not going to parade about this house looking like a common whore," he said spitefully, drawing his wand.

Holly shied away from his words and wand as he pointed it at her threateningly. With a flash of light her summer clothes were gone, replaced with a frumpy black frock that traveled to her ankles, was long-sleeved, and had a turtle neck.

"What the fuck is this?" Holly shrieked, as Severus swiftly walked to her and grabbed her chin in his hand.

"One: you will not use such vile language in my house. Two: it is a dress that you are to wear since you deemed it too difficult to adhere to my simple command and change. Three: I shall have you know, it won't come off until I lift the enchantment," he said triumphantly, before dropping her chin and exiting the kitchen.

"Take it off!" She urged, as she followed him into the dining room.

"Since you denied me my simple request, I see no reason why I should yield to yours," he said with a slight sneer.

"Give me my clothes back, Dad! Stop smiling!"

"I believe I've already closed this matter," he retorted.

"Well, I haven't!"

"That is a mute point," Severus replied, calmly. "You have no jurisdiction in this household."

"You can't just treat me like one of your students, I'm your daughter!"

"All the more reason for you to obey me, yet you contradict me at every turn. I have no choice but to exercise my authority over you. If you could simply behave and not be so insubordinate things might go your way once in a while," he said coldly.

"Ugh, I hate you!" she screamed, storming towards the stairs.

"I love you too, Holly," he said sarcastically as he went back to his mail.

Holly slammed her bedroom door and collapsed on her bed, her mind swimming in anger. She missed her friends, she missed Australia, she missed her mom.

Holly reached out to the picture on her bedside table and cradled it close to her. Lily smiled back from the frame, making Holly all too aware of the hole in her heart. She ran her fingers over the photo, desperately wishing Lily could come out of the frame and be with her, but she couldn't. She was dead and she wasn't ever coming back! No, Holly didn't miss her; wouldn't allow herself to miss her. She glared at the picture, feeling the familiar emotions of anger and threw it at the wall, satisfied to hear it crunch and shatter.

"Bitch," she muttered, folding her arms and convincing herself she hated her mother for dying on her. Leaving her with her stupid father who understood teenage girls as well as he understood the concept of blowing bubbles.

Another surge of rage reigned through her as she heard the unmistakable sound of Severus walking up the stairs. It took a few moments until he was opening her door, hand on the knob, looking about the room.

"What was that crash?" He inquired, staring, almost bored looking, at his fuming daughter.

"Nothing," Holly said angrily, pulling her knees to her chest and glaring at the wall.

"Crashes don't occur on their own accord," he said as he walked into the room, hearing the crunch of glass underneath his feet. He followed the small trail of pieces to the shattered photograph slumped against the far wall where Severus' bed used to be. "Did this fall?" He asked picking up the smiling picture of Lily and holding it gently in his hands.

"Yeah, Dad, it fell," Holly said sardonically, bouncing off her bed and pushing past him.

"You'll mind your attitude when speaking to me," he countered softly as she passed him. Holly scoffed as she continued down the hall towards the stairs.

She bounced down the last two steps, Severus close behind her, and walked to the front door. She began undoing the latches as her father stood in the center of the room, the picture of Lily still in his grasp.

"Holly, where are you going?" He asked calmly.

"Out," she informed him as she flung the door open, stepping out into the sunlight.

"Out where?" He inquired, catching the door before she was able to slam it shut.

"Just out," she said, extremely agitated by his stupid questions.

"I don't think so," he said softly. "The last time you went out you failed to return for three days. I do believe that constitutes a revocation of such privileges."

"Now I'm not even allowed to leave the house?" She exclaimed, her voice brimming with disbelief.

"That is correct," Severus stated.

"I can't stay here," she said dramatically as she turned and began huffily walking to the sidewalk.

"Holly, dammit!" Severus enjoined, dropping the photo of Lily and taking long strides in order to catch her by her upper arm.

"Let go of me!" She hollered, attempting to pry his fingers from her person as he began dragging her back towards the front door. "Let me go!"

Severus said nothing as he pulled her back into the house, locking the door with the flick of his wand. The wordless magic he used would not allow the doors to open until the enchantment was lifted. As far as he was concerned, Holly was on house arrest. She had done nothing to merit privileges such as going outside or picking out her clothing.

"What is your problem?" Holly yelled once Severus had turned from the door, his hands clasped behind his back.

"I have no problem, Holly, It's you who appears to have one. So, I do believe the question in hand would be more appropriately presented by myself," he replied calmly as he bent down to retrieve the fallen photo of Lily.

"You're my problem!" She shouted, glaring at him with the utmost loathing. Severus was unfazed, he was accustom to such looks from teenagers.

"Indeed," he said amusingly, his lips twitching into the faintest of smiles. His tone nor demeanor set well with his daughter as he walked and set the picture on the coffee table.

"And you're smiling? Oh, yeah Dad, it's so funny! It's so fucking funny that I'm locked in this shit hole with no one but you to talk to! It's so fucking hilarious that you're a dictator and want nothing more than to make my life miserable! I fucking hate it here, it's bullshit!"

"Holly!" Severus exclaimed, completely put off by her colorful language. "Watch your filthy mouth whilst speaking to me, I've warned you before. I haven't raised you this way. I didn't raise you to—"

"You didn't raise me at all!" Holly shrieked. "You were never there. Don't think I don't remember how shit was. You weren't even my legal father until your fuck buddy, Dumbledore stepped in. Auntie Ana told me all about when I was a baby and how you ditched mum and me to go play Death Eater with Lucius Malfoy. Don't think I'm completely stupid to what and who you really are. Why should I have to listen to you? You only see me during the summer and it's always been that way! Ever since I was a little kid you've passed me on to everyone else! You don't even like me! Which is all the same, because I hate you! The only reason I even tolerate you is out of habit. If I had it my way I would never see your stupid face again!"

Severus was momentarily at a loss for words. It was no wonder she acted out so much. Although she would never admit it, she was trying to get his attention while simultaneously convincing herself she hated him because she felt neglected. All the signs were there in her rage-filled monologue. 'you were never there', 'you ditched me', 'you don't even like me'. It was now all too apparent that Holly was in need of emotional coddling. This was why all his punishments never worked, why scolding her got him no place. She didn't need discipline she needed to be acknowledged as someone he wanted around. Her life had been less than easy with her father being basically absent and her mother being murdered before her eyes. Damn, how had he missed the indications?

"How long have you been feeling this way?" Severus asked calmly.

"How long have I been feeling this way? For two thousand years, Dad, Merlin!"

"So, a long time, no doubt?" Severus inquired, his black eyes twinkling.

"Yes, Dad, a long ass time."

"I didn't know you felt this way, Holly," he began as he walked passed her towards the dining table. "Needless to say you need some perspective, have a seat."

Holly remained where she was for a moment before hesitantly acquiescing, sitting down opposite him.

"Let us get a few things straightened out, shall we? I don't dislike you, Holly. You're my daughter and I love you unconditionally. Just because I disagree with everything you do or the lack of morals you contain doesn't mean I dislike you. I'm actually very fond of you, just not the things you do and say. I believe you also stated that I passed you off onto other people, as it were. This is absurd of you to think this. As you know, I am a teacher at a boarding school. I couldn't very well watch you for I was on duty twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. The best option for you, as a young girl, was to have you live with someone who could entertain you and look after you throughout the duration of the day. I was unable to meet such criteria. It wasn't done because I didn't wish to be with you, I had no other choices. Do you understand the differences in what you think and what is reality?"

"That's all honky dory but it doesn't change the fact that you weren't even really my father for the first, like, five years of my life before you were even a teacher! You didn't even try to get me back, you loved not having anything to do with me."

She wasn't going to withdraw her bitterness so swiftly.

"Where do you get these farfetched ideas?" Severus questioned, unable to believe she would credit something like that as true. He recalled the years when Holly was away from him as miserable and painful. Each day without his daughter had proverbially cut him open with salt filled wounds.

"You're not denying it," Holly pointed out coldly.

"My consideration of such notions as farfetched would indicate my denial on the matter."

"Your consideration—farfetched—what?" She asked. Holly was able to decipher her father's obscure ways of speech most of the time. However, once in a while the meaning of his words evaded her.

Severus suppressed a sigh. "Those years were possibly the gravest of my lifetime thus far. How could you possibly think I wouldn't want anything to do with you? You're my daughter, Holly, I love you. I have always loved you, I always will. We may not get along so well, and I know it seems I relish making you 'miserable' but it is not my intention. What I subject you to that you deem miserable are only performed because I do care about you. If I didn't care what became of you, or despised you as you seem to think, I would simply lie low while you failed school. I would sit idly by as you back talked everyone and everything. I wouldn't interrogate you when you didn't come home for days at a time. When I punish you, it's not to make you miserable, it's to cue you in on the fact that these are not acceptable ways of living. I want what's best for you, you must see that."

"That's what all parents say," Holly indicated. She was as stubborn as her mother before her. You make one mistake and they never forgive you for it.

"Perhaps, we parents, all say it because it's true."

"What ever," she said as she began picking at her finger nail.

"Before you dismiss this conversation with a 'what ever' or an 'as if' I urge you to think on what I've told you."

"Uh-huh," Holly said, still looking at her nails rather than at Severus.

"Yes?" Snape corrected her.

"Yes, Dad, okay," Holly said ambiguously. Her tone was challenging, yet unconvincingly so. It was as if her demeanor had changed and she was forcing the attitude into her voice. As though she wasn't truly angry.

"Good," Severus said tersely.

An awkward silence hung in the air as the two sat in quiet, Holly studying her nails, Severus looking at the table.

"I'm gonna go to my room," Holly announced, pushing herself up from the table. She walked to the stairs and turned around. "Can I have my clothes back?"

Severus looked at her shortly before pulling out his wand and flicking it at her disaster of a dress.

"You can remove it now," he said softly, pulling his long forgotten mail to his person.

"Thanks," she replied, before smiling internally and bouncing up the stairs.

The next morning Holly jumped down the stairs, her braided pigtails bouncing on either side of her face. She hopped off the last step as she eyed her father, scribbling on a small piece of parchment at the dining table. She smiled before walking over to the table, coming up behind Severus, and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Hi, Dad."

Perhaps a new beginning. . . . .

Author's Note: Thank you for reading A Beleaguered Life.