Learning of Worlds-Private

[HopesWings]

These are two of my made-up characters I'll be using. I'm just putting their info to help me keep it straight.
Sage Snape-Snape's younger sister by two years. Short, slender build. Long, curly black hair and dark eyes. House was Ravenclaw
Elizabeth Grey-Sage's best friend from school. Tall, slender build with short, brown hair. Green eyes.

Here we go. I guess you can as Potter or something as I wasn't sure how else to start. [member=1]Orion[/member]

Potter and Draco had been alone in the Forbidden Forest for what seemed like ages. Hagrid had left them together some time ago to track the unicorn they were after. Besides a few droplets of silver blood, there had been no sign of it or any other creature. Potter was beginning to be more annoyed by Draco's constant nagging than he was afraid. Suddenly however, Draco stopped talking. Potter stopped, and looked back at him. He was staring at something in the shadows.

"What is it now Malfoy?" Potter asked, his annoyance clear in his tone.
"Do you not see that?" Malfoy demanded, pointing at something ahead of them.
"See what?" Potter questioned, turning back around. He was silenced when he spotted an outline of something or someone moving towards them. He began to back up.

"Reckon what it is?" Malfoy muttered, actually taking a step forward. "Are you mad?" Potter cried, but the other boy ignored him. However, they both fell silent as the thing revealed itself.

It was a young girl, perhaps a year younger than them. Her black hair was a tangled mess with limbs and leaves mingled into it. Her gray brown dress was torn, and had several stains on it. The pair of dark eyes traveled over them. She looked thin and pale, even in the darkness. "Do you have some food you would mind sharing?" she asked, holding out a small hand.

[Orion]

Potter shifted his stance to face the young girl, eyeing her closely and pushing the rim of his glasses up to the kink in his nose. She looked familiar, but he did not want to admit that. For a moment, he stood silent, looking over to Malfoy for any reassurance or acknowledgement to the figure. Eventually, he figured he should speak.

Raising her gaze to meet up with her own, he nodded. "I'm sure we could find something for you," he muttered politely. Still, he was confused on who she was. Even so, offering food to such a tattered woman would be as polite as it gets and from what he could gather, she was not from around here. She wore a dress, not robes. Even so, she did not even have clean clothes, imply that there was something deeper within. Harry, truly, did not know what would come of this situation. Perhaps it was an illusion from Malfoy or a ghost of the forest. After all, there was Myrtle.

His attention moved to Draco. "I think we should go back," he announced prominently. Despite their punishment, he was willing to take the blame to help this little one out.

//I'll have Snape pop in when things get intense. Perhaps he notices them coming back during their punishment and intervenes?

[HopesWings]

Draco was eyeing the girl up and down with disgust. Hearing Potter, he snorted. "Help if you want Potter. However, I do agree. It's getting late, and no doubt that fool headed Hagrid has forgotten us,"he jeered. Without waiting for an answer, he began heading back along the path from the way they had came. "Keep up!" he taunted them over his shoulder.

The girl's entire demeanor had changed the moment Potter had agreed to help her. She stumbled over to him, carefully picking her way over the roots and limbs on the ground. Her tiny feet were bare; she had no shoes. She was now smiling. "Thank you!"she cried softly. "I haven't had anything to eat in a long time. Normally we have food brought to us, but,"she suddenly cut short. She lowered her head, clearly saddening. "Sorry. I'm now allowed to talk about home,"she whispered.
//Perfect!

[Orion]

Thankfully, he knew Draco would eventually cave in. He wasn't heartless. Though the jab at Hagrid did unnerve him a few, especially after the event with the Griffin. Surely, he couldn't blame Draco for holding a gudge. Even so, Harry smirked to himself, but eventually nodded in his direction to signal he was on his way behind him. There was no time to fool around.

Her words seemed strained, crying for help almost. Harry knew he always had a tendency to fall into the wrong evildoer's hands, but was reluctant to go on. "No, no," he urged. As he spoke, he waved in her direction for her to follow Draco and himself. Turning forwards towards the path, he gave a shrug of his shoulders. "It's not a problem." Though, her next words unnerved him. She wasn't allowed to talk about her home? "Oh." How odd, really. As someone who came from such a complicated situation, he felt sympathy, but was worried for her well being. With her demeanor and appearance, he wouldn't be surprised. "I mean," the wizard pointed out, "I don't think they would mind you telling us a few things here and there." Hopefully... The back of his mind said something wasn't right.

Meanwhile, Hagrid hadn't forgotten about Harry and his supposed-friend Draco. He was lurking within his hut, awaiting for them to come back with his much-needed supplies. Even so, he found himself letting out a sigh and heading out to his front porch eventually, looking up at the sky with a slight frown. "Looks like it's gettin' quite late now," came his lowly grumble. "Suppose I should go lookin, eh..." With that in mind, he grabbed his umbrella and headed out. "You comin'?" Though, someone from the back spoke up as he stepped away from the porch and onto the moist undergrowth.

"I don't see it as necessary," the voice said. "Malfoy and Potter find themselves in these type of situations constantly." Coming out of the shadows, the dark cloaked figure let out a sigh. He pushed away his longer dark locks  as they fell in his face. "An' if we don't go now, they'll be eaten!" exclaimed Hagrid as he stomped over into the slimmer man's direction. With narrowed eyes, he put a hand to the man's shoulder. "Snape."

Snape pushed away from his touch. For a moment, he stood silently with his thoughts racing, eventually coming to a conclusion. "Fine." His tone was thick with sarcasm, but he was intent on going with the facts pointed out to him. "I'll go." Pushing past Hagrid, he stepped out into the forest. These kids were his priority. "And you're not going for the sake of it, Hagrid." Hagrid would waste his time if he went. Alone, as he always was, was suitable for now. Still, he knew what would happen anyways. The buffoon would follow. With his lead, he would make sure the two remained safe within the woods.

Standing back, Hagrid stood uncomfortably, but eventually trailed from behind anyways without being seen. Snape had to be so quick to take things into his own hands. Hagrid was used to it... sadly.

[HopesWings]

Draco made a point to ignore Potter as he continued through the forest along the path. He wasn't fond of the idea of bringing a complete stranger who had appeared from the Forbidden Forest back to the castle. But, seeming as Potter had already offered his help, what chose did he have? At least he could Potter into some kind of trouble for it. With the thought shimmering on his mind, he continued onward.

The girl encircled her arms around her tiny frame as she followed Harry. She kept her head bowed, too unnerved now to look at him directly. "No," she whispered softly, "it would be very bad of me to talk about home. It's just...well, most people don't like us." She suddenly looking around. Her little face twisted into a frown. "Where are we going?" she demanded. Something seemed to have just occurred to her.

Hearing footsteps up ahead, Draco paused long enough for Potter and the girl to catch up. "I suppose they are coming to fetch us. I told you we had been out here for too long Potter,"he sneered, grinning. He knew Potter had to get into some kind of trouble now, and receive some sort of punishment. The very thought of what it could be pleased him.

"Whose coming?"the child cried, going into a state of panic. Before either of them could answer, two shadows appeared at the edge of the lantern light. Squeaking in fear, she ducked behind Harry only to peer out from behind him. Her sight landed on Snape first. The face belonged to someone Snape had known years before. Someone who had been missing for eleven years, and was believed to be dead. The face of his sister peaked out at him from behind Potter's back, full of fright.

[Orion]

Potter's brow rose slightly at her words as he trudged behind Draco. Unless she was Riddle family member, then perhaps the community could spare her feelings, but heritage did not mean villainly. Surely Draco was not the nicest Malfoy, but even he had a heart, as did the rest of his family. Tom Riddle, at some point, must of had one too. Harry was sure that this girl didn't have a fatal flaw like she spoke of, nor did it pertain to her family heritage, but instead to a singular fellow within such family. Somehow, he saw the good in the situation. Meanwhile, Draco didn't seem too pleased. "Us," he repeated back under his breath. "And who would that be?" Still, he didn't like that he had to push for her to say these things, as it seemed to be causing her distress, but it seemed as if she needed a helping hand to get her through hard times.

At Draco's words, Harry just stared intensely with a small huff leaving his mouth. How much longer did he have to deal with his presence before someone managed to punch him upside the head? Hermoine, most likely, was the culprit for that. As for now, the boy would have to deal. "Surely they wouldn't leave us, Draco," he reasoned. Leaving it at that, he continued going, but paused at the sudden appearance of two figures.

A luring gaze stared out in the distance, finding Potter and Malfoy wandering back. For a moment, he observed them up and down as he walked closer, but alas, he found nothing within their grasp. Mission failed. "Potter, looks like you've found nothing," he remarked with a sneer. "Neither have you Draco. Foolish." Hagrid, who was obviously trudging up from behind with those loud stomps of his, would be disappointed in their search. "You both can go back to your houses-" Harry interrupted, protesting. "But we fo-" "-and we can resume this tomorrow." At his words, Harry muttered lowly under his breath in frustration. He stepped off to the side and moved away from the girl, revealing her to Severus unintentionally. With that, he gestured for Draco to follow him back to the castle.

Even so, something wasn't right. "I'll deal with this," he said coldly, as if this was all in a days work. A smaller figure was before him. Snape's gaze closed in on the ragged girl, brows furrowing in curiosity as he did so, only to realize what was before him. "Go." Eyes wide, fists clenched, and mouth agape, Severus stood silently as his blood boiled in anger, confusion, and absolute awe. Perhaps it was a dream or a coincidence, but the calculating wizard didn't seem to think so.

This was his sister.

But it was not logical.

His thoughts raced through his head. There had to be some explanation to this... but there wasn't. There was no explanation. Simply, he stood silent.

Hearing Snape's words, Hagrid was intending to hop in, but figured it would be best to guide himself and the children back to Hogwarts.

[HopesWings]

Draco looked ready to protest. He wanted to see how this played out, and of course he wanted to know the fate of the girl. But, Snape was also the one teacher at the school he didn't wish to cross. Not bothering to hid a sneer, he twirled to face the castle. Moments later, his back was all that could be seen against the black night.

When Harry had moved, the girl had intended to follow his movements. But she sensed the gaze burning into her. She looked up slowly to meet the eyes once more, trembling. Every little detail was like that of Sage's(Snape's sister), but there were faint differences. The girl took a small step back.

"I-I shou-should go,"she stuttered, continuing to back away. "I-I'm so-sorry I ever ca-came." Having forced her words out, she turned to run off completely. The forest was her home, her safe place. She needed to get back to it, and away from this strange world. However, a new detail of the girl could be seen.

On her upper arm, barely visible in near non-existent lighting, was a small scar. Only, it was not a scar at all. It was a star shaped birthmark. Sage had also had one, but it had been on her other arm and further down, upon her forearm. This surely couldn't be the same person.

[Orion]

A cold gaze stared at the girl, almost emotionless for a few moments. He held out for a few moments, finding himself in a complicated spot where logic could not solve this conundrum that came upon him. Severus hesitated to speak, an uncommon thing for him. Yet, something had to be said. Something he could not explain in words, but luckily, she spoke first.

There was no pause. There was no silence. Just a blunder of words as soon as she finished. "DON'T-" His words, hot-headed and desperate at first, burst from his mouth eagerly, but lowered to a pleading whisper quickly. The professor's face had grow strung out, his wrinkles showing in the light as they loosened in remembrance of what once was and his eyes were wide with emotion. "-go." Broken and beaten down, he thought he had lost all he loved... but did he? This was her. She was in front of him. Yet, logic could not explain why she was here. Sage was dead. She had to be.

But there seemed to be no sign of her stopping.

'Protego.'

The words echoed through his head, casting a barrier that would prevent her from going any further if she could manage to avoid it. For now, he did not manage to see the scar upon her arm, as he was too far away.

[HopesWings]

The idea that these strangers could be wizards had never even crossed the girl's mind. She had just seen a chance for help and had taken it. Not a single flicker of true fear had seized her until now. As the barrier appeared, she could not manage to stop her dash to avoid it. In her attempt, she fell backwards, landing hard on her back. She remained still for a breath of time, stunned, before lifting herself up slightly with her arms. She looked behind her at Snape, her eyes wide. Snapping out of her trance, she scrambled to her feet and turned to face him. Fresh blood was slowly oozing down her arms, but she didn't notice her. She was fixated on Snape.

"Who are you? What do you want from me?" she dared to question softly. Her face was twisted into confusion, her dark eyes untrusting. Whoever this man was, fear of him was blossoming.

Even the mask of confusion mimicked Sage's. The puzzled look had often crossed her face when she found something she couldn't understand, but her determination drove her to solve it. The determination was lacking from the child, but perhaps that was because of the fear or darkness. It was hard to say for certain.

[Orion]

Snape's face curled up at the sight of her falling upon the ground and scraping up her arms, but he tried to rush to her side, only to pause halfway when her words dared against him. She didn't know him. Severus reeled back. No, that couldn't be true, now could it? Still, he persisted. His hair fell into his face as he continued forward and leaned over to assist her in her wounds, as if her words never struck him in such a way. Long, veiny fingers attempted to grab at her arms. If this girl didn't know him, he must help.

"You don't know me?" he asked, trying not to stumble over his words. Black eyes did not meet hers, but instead focused downwards on her arms. His face went back to it's regular dull state. Weakness was distracting. If this person was not his dearly beloved, then he should make up for his discrepancies and move on, but he knew there would be trouble in doing so. Pushing back the thought, he gritted his teeth together underneath his cold facade.

"I'm sorry for my arrogance." Words soft and apologetic, Severus was hesitating. "My name is Severus Snape," came his answer finally. "I must have mistaken you for someone else..." He did not want to admit to such a thing, but it seemed like the only logical answer to him.

Wide eyes continued staring downwards, eyeing up her arms and taking in what he had done to the fullest content. "Let me help you as an apology," he reasoned. "It's my..." His words trailed off as he spotted her mark. It had been years since he saw his sister's mark and now it was here in front of him. In the moment, he did not realize his mistake. It was not his sister, nor was the mark the same.

Eyes rose up, trying to stare into the girl's own. "Sage?" came Severus' desperate rasp. His fingers would then attempt to move up towards the mark and rub at it lightly, now ignoring the damage he had done. Things never seemed to end for him. Sometimes he didn't accept the fate of being alone... Well, only if he knew.