He shivered roughly, and awoke. But, he kept his eyes closed. He was curious about his newfound surroundings. He last remembered jumping off of the Knight Bus, walking about a hundred feet, and then he blacked out. Now, he was warm and dry as opposed to cold and soaking wet. He was under a thin sheet, a blanket he presumed, He had a damp facecloth atop of his forehead; he could feel sunlight on his cheeks, tickling them a soft pink, but it wasn’t scorching. Then, very faintly, he heard a soft and sweet humming next to him; A woman? He opened his eyes just a little; just enough to see….

“Oh! So you are finally awake? Excellent!” the soft voice said.

The voice came from a young teenage girl. She looked about Severus’ age.  She peered at him with sparkling blue eyes; Her blond hair fell to her shoulders. He noted suddenly, a scar on the side of her face.  He opened his eyes a little more, showing her the dark black depths that they held, and he scowled at her. She only smiled more.

He looked around the room, ignoring the girl he had awoken to, not asking her what her name was, or where he was. Why she had taken him into her home without knowing who she really was, if she was good or bad, if she was going to turn him in if she knew,. Right now, he didn’t care. His curiosity was getting the best of him. The walls were covered in pictures of smiling people. Little girls with wide grins; ice-cream covered faces. Red and Gold framed awards. Green and Silver mirrors.  There were shelves that  were filled with many old books. It was rather boring.

He looked back at her. She opened her mouth, and began to speak.

“You know….you shouldn’t sleep on the ground like that anymore. You caught a cold.” She paused, waiting for him to respond. When he did not, when he just stared at her blankly, she continued. “I found you. You looked like death. When I took you home, here, you had a fever. But, good luck for you, I gave you a fever reducer and you were right as rain!”

Rain; rain was the reason he had this stupid cold. Rain was the reason he was here, in a strange beg, in the presence of an even stranger girl. She was dressed in a pair of ripped up black jeans, and a navy blue t-shirt with the Rolling Stones logo across her chest. He blushed and quickly averted his eyes back to hers. Hers suddenly narrowed.

“You know, it would have been polite for you to state your name first, as I am a lady. But since you appear to be indisposed at the moment, I will take your turn. My name is Hailey Mauger. And….yours?” She paused and waited for his answer.

He opened his mouth after a few moments. “My name is Severus Snape. Can you tell me why I am here now, besides the fact that because I was sickly looking?” He spat.

“Well, there are strange people around this neighborhood. Be lucky that I found you, or you’d probably have been mugged what ever you were carrying. Which, by the way, you probably should have hid your broom better with a Shrinking Charm.” She scowled. “Do wizards just get dumber and dumber as they get older?”

Severus smirked. “So you are a witch? I never would have thought. You dress like a muggle…..”

Hailey shook her head. “No. I am not a witch….well, you could say that I am but I am no better than a Squib. My spells are atrocious. My little sister, however, has incredible abilities; she must have taken mine.” She smiled slightly, and motioned for the door. Just across from this room is one that she and I share. Its so small, but we make do.”

“Why don’t you just use this one?”

“This one belonged to my brother, but he passed away. So this is a spare room that we use for guests.”

He cocked one of his eyebrows. “How many siblings do you have?”

“Well, there is Cecile, my twin sister;  Isabella and Kari, another set of twins;  Derrick, Miles and Riley, my oldest, middle and baby brother. There is Gale, who is yet to be born. And then, finally….Jamie. He’s the one who passed away. So I have…..” she counted them off on her fingers. “So I have seven brothers and sisters, not counting Jamie.”

She grinned at Severus, whose mouth was agape. She laughed. “Oh what? Now you have graduated from a dumb wizard to a Venus flytrap?  Those are some interesting transfiguration skills there, Snape.”

Again he rolled his eyes and took the opportunity to finally sit up. His lank hair fell in front of his face, the facecloth falling off and landing on his lap. He could hear the girl stand up, and mention something about needing to go downstairs to see if her family was back from their trip for the weekend. So, her parents are yet to know she has a strange teenage boy in her home, let alone in her late brothers. He heard some commotion downstairs, and laughter; Then a parade of footsteps making their way upstairs. They all passed, all blonde haired siblings. A rather tall man stepped into the room, and leaned against the frame of the door.

“So you are our charity case? Nice to meet you.” He gave him a toothy grin. “I am Miles, Hailey’s father. And her mother’s is Annabelle, but pay her no mind if she starts shouting. She believes that there are enough people in this house, Severus.”

Hailey appeared behind him, “You speak too soon. She is ecstatic to have another boy in the house.”

Severus groaned slightly. He had a sneaking suspicion that he was going to have a hard time slipping out without being caught by Hailey and her….large…..family.