"Harry, fetch me as many thick blankets as you can, and my emergency Winter Potions Rescue kit," Severus ordered as soon as they had set foot over the threshold of their home.  "Quick, now! Time is of the essence!"

Harry obeyed, rushing off to the linen closet to grab the blankets first and then to the small potions lab to get the emergency potions kit Severus always kept on the first shelf beside the door.  Ever since Harry's near fatal ice accident, Severus always kept a stock of potions on hand to combat any winter disasters that might occur.  But this was the first time he had needed to resort to it since that day in Yorkshire, thank Merlin.

Meanwhile, Severus dragged an afghan off the sofa on his way to the bathroom, cast a warming charm on it, and vanished the girl's ice-rimed garments, wrapping the  heated afghan about the slender frame.  The child was still unconscious, but Severus could feel her heart beating steadily beneath his hand and knew she would not succumb to death.  This child, whoever she was, was a fighter, and yet another who had secured the blessing of the wind sprites, for he had seen the diminutive fairies hovering when he Apparated over to his son.

He quickly drew a tepid bath, not too hot, and placed the child in it.  In cases of prolonged exposure to freezing temperatures, he knew it was best to warm the patient up gradually, and his Anti-Frostbite Draft would react too quickly and might damage her circulation, so he used the warm bath first to thaw out her extremities and increase her temperature by degrees. 

"Dad? I've got the potions kit and the blankets!" Harry called from the hallway. "Where are you?"

"In here, son," answered the Potions Master. 

Harry raced down the hall to the bathroom, knocked, and then entered.  "What are you . . .? Oh!" he turned an odd shade of red when he saw what Severus was doing with the girl, then quickly placed the potions kit on the counter and the blankets on the floor before hastily departing.  Severus noted in amusement that the tips of the ten-year-old's ears were scarlet.

Then he returned to monitoring the little girl's progress, holding her head above water with one hand and casting a diagnostic with his other.  Good thing you're ambidextrous, Sev, he thought wryly.  Then he nodded in relief as he noted the child's temperature steadily rising and color starting to bloom once more in her ghost-pale features.

* * * * * *

Harry backed out of the doorway so fast he almost fell over his own feet.  Merlin, if he had known that his father was going to give the kid a bath he would have left the blankets and the kit outside the door! Not that he'd seen much of the girl beyond a naked arm and her head, but still . . .knowing she was lying there in the tub in the altogether was totally embarrassing, especially since Harry was not used to seeing girls in any state of undress at all, living as he did in an all male household. 

He turned about, nearly running right into a curious Silver, who looked at harry and then at the closed bathroom door and cocked his head in puzzlement.  "Hey, Silver." Harry greeted, giving the big wolf a gentle caress behind the ears, and then saying, "You'll never guess what happened when we went to Diagon Alley.  I found a half-dead kid frozen in the snow, that's why we came back so early.  Dad's trying to heal her now . . .that's why I brought him his emergency potions kit and blankets."

He headed back down to the kitchen.  "Guess I better make some tea, I think we could use a cup, right, Silver?"

Silver whined softly and gave a sort of nod, over the years the transformed wizard had learned to make various gestures in order to communicate with his human family, since neither Harry or Severus possessed the gift of Animal Speech.  But the wolf did not follow Harry to the kitchen, instead he sat down in the hallway and tilted an ear towards the closed door, listening to the sound of splashing and Severus's quiet murmuring as he tended to the stricken girl. 

"You're a tough little thing, aren't you? Either that or you have Merlin's own luck, because by all rights last night should have killed you. . ."

Silver whuffed in agreement, his nose told him that the child had been in dire straits indeed, but was now improving, slowly, but she was alive.  He wondered sadly what had caused her to get in such a situation, and settled down with his tail tucked about his feet, content to wait for answers, patient as only a hunter could be.

After twenty minutes, Severus withdrew the child from the bath and administered the first draft to her, using a small medicine dropper, stroking her throat until she swallowed.  He rubbed her all over with a special salve that he had invented that counteracted the effects of frostbite, penetrating all the muscles and warming them up with a soothing infusion of heat, negating the need for massaging frozen limbs. That done he transfigured a small towel into a soft flannel nightgown and slipped it on her, along with a pair of underwear and fuzzy socks, also hastily transfigured from washrags and wrapped her in all the blankets Harry had provided, after casting Warmth Charms upon them first. 

Then he carried her from the bathroom, intending to bring her into the den, where a roaring fire was always burning during the day when he was at home.  He nearly trod upon Silver, who for some reason had taken up sentry position outside the door.

"Blazes, wolf! What are you doing here? I nearly fell over you, you overgrown fur rug!"

Silver whuffed, looked pointedly at the bundle in the Potion Master's arms. 

"It's a little girl, in case you were wondering," Severus replied to the wolf's curious glance.  "Harry found her half-frozen in the snow in Diagon Alley and I'm going to do my damndest to save her.  No one else seemed to care, I think she was there all night."

Silver growled in disapproval and Severus nodded curtly, before sweeping down the hall to the den and setting the comatose child down on the sofa.  Some more color flushed the pale cheeks, but Severus noted she still felt cold, and he quickly administered the rest of the Anti-Frostbite Draft and a Pepper Up potion and  a Pain Reliving Draft too, for he knew the returning circulation was sure to hurt like seven hells.

She stirred, and he smoothed a stray lock of pale hair from her pert face.  She was still unconscious, but even so there was something oddly familiar about her. 

Where have I seen that shade of hair before? And those features? They're softened, but still, I know I've seen them before . . .the former spy mused, rechecking his patient.

The fire was blazing, throwing off heat like a blast furnace, and Severus quickly unbuttoned his robe and hung it over the back of the recliner, it was far too warm for his black attire, and besides he was home and could relax. He settled on the edge of the couch close beside the slumbering girl, watching her chest rising and falling intently. 

Silver padded over, sniffed the child, then to Severus's astonishment, sprang up on the couch and draped himself over the child, giving her his own body heat as well.

"That's smart, Lupin," praised the wizard.  "You'll warm her up as good as any of my potions, I'd wager."

Silver shot the professor a smug look and nuzzled the girl's cheek.

"Dad, I made some tea," Harry said, carrying two mugs on a tray and some milk and sugar into the den.  "I figured you could use some and maybe she could too once she, uh, woke up."

"That's good thinking, Harry," his father said, ruffling his son's hair and then taking  a mug of steaming winter spice tea and adding two lumps of sugar and some milk. "Thank you."

Harry looked over at the mysterious girl and nearly giggled at the sight of the huge gray wolf stretched out atop her like a furry living blanket.  "Silver, what on earth?"

"He's keeping her warm, Harry," Severus explained.  "His body temperature is several degrees higher than ours and acts just like a warmth charm, if not better, since it doesn't fade."

"Oh.  Did you tell him to do that?"

Severus shook his head.  "No, he did that on his own."

"Will she be okay, Dad?"

"I believe so.  Though it is a miracle she lasted the night, given what she had on, which was practically nothing," Severus shook his head angrily.  Then he sipped his tea and gestured for Harry to sit in the recliner next to him. 

The girl turned her head and her profile nagged him, where had he seen that chin and nose before?

* * * * * *

Holly was sitting in the brocade wing chair, cuddling on her father's knee, the way she used to do when she was very small, and her father still loved her, before he discovered she had inherited none of his magic.  Before he had cast her away like an unwanted pair of shoes. 

It was blessedly warm in the parlor, she could feel the heat from the fire upon her face and her father's arms about her.  She gazed up into his face, that handsome aristocratic profile she had inherited, along with his pale hair, though her eyes were her mother's.  "I missed you, Daddy," she told him earnestly.

"I know, pet.  I was away too long this time," he said, tweaking her nose affectionately.  "I promise I'll visit sooner next time."

"When?"

"Perhaps Saturday next, if all goes well with my job.  Now, why don't you get that new book I brought you and we'll read together? Or would you like to play with your new  doll instead?"

"Read first," she declared, her sapphire eyes sparkling, for she loved spending time with her father, who was rarely there at the flat she shared with her mother.  He appeared and disappeared like lightning, he had an important job and her mother had told her that it demanded a lot of his time and so he could not be home like other fathers were. 

So Holly had learned to cherish the infrequent visits and spent every moment she could with her dad, who was a powerful wizard and one of the Minister of Magic's most trusted advisors. 

"As you wish, princess," laughed the tall man, and set her down so she could get her new book and exchanged a fond glance with the slender witch standing off to the left of the chair, who smiled at the scene of domestic bliss before her, and sat down on the settle nearby, her feet tucked up under her pale navy silk robe. 

"You spoil her, Dragon," she remarked, looking after her child with a sweet smile.

"So? What's a father for, if not to spoil his only daughter?" laughed the blond wizard indulgently.  "Someday she'll be a powerful witch, just like her mother and a credit to her bloodline.  But for now, she's my little princess, and she can have anything I can buy her."

Valina raised an eyebrow.  "Except your name."

The other shrugged.  "Names are for heirs, Valina.  But she has my blood and my looks, and I shall provide for her, and with those she should do quite well.  I shall sponsor her at her coming out ball at sixteen and make sure she has an advantageous match with another pureblood family." He chuckled at Valina's worried expression. "Quit worrying, sweet nightingale, I have everything under control.  She'll be the most sought out witch of her generation, right, princess?"

And Holly agreed, though she was not certain what her father meant, but it didn't matter.  All that mattered was that he was here, on that fine Saturday afternoon, and Holly had a whole four hours to spend with him, reading and talking and cuddling into his shoulder. 

Sometimes he was away for months, and Holly would count the days impatiently, but he always returned, bringing gifts for her and her mother, usually fine clothes and slippers and jewelry for Valina and toys and dresses for Holly. 

And she would run to him, and he would pick her up and toss her into the air and cry, "How's my little princess? Have you learned any magic yet?"

And she would hug him tight and reply, "Not yet, I'm too little, but maybe someday . . .I'm only five, ‘member, Daddy?"

 "Ah.  Next year then, your magic will begin to show itself," he nodded indulgently, and kissed her and gave her a new velvet cape lined with ermine.  "A royal cape for a royal little lady."

Holly had squealed with delight and insisted on trying it on right then, twirling about until she was dizzy, and fell into her father's arms, laughing . . .

A smile appeared on the child's face for a brief instant, then it faded and she moaned as a terrible prickling sensation spread throughout her body.

Silver whined uneasily and licked her cheek as she stirred fitfully, whimpering in her sleep.

But one day all of that changed, the dark day when her daddy discovered his beautiful princess daughter had no magic, not even enough to light a candle by accident. 

"Try again!" he had yelled, stabbing a finger at the huge beeswax taper in the silver sconce on the kitchen table. 

Holly scrunched her forehead up and tried, tried so very hard to light the candle, but it was no use.  It remained cold and still not even a plume of smoke to mark her effort.  "I . . .I am, Daddy!" she cried, biting her lip.  Her head was starting to ache, she was trying so hard. 

He glared at her, and said in a soft deadly tone, "No, you aren't.  I can tell.  Now concentrate, dammit! Feel the magic inside you, Holly and call it forth.  DO it!"

She shut her eyes and tried again, desperate to please her father, who was never disappointed in her ever, but it was no use.  An hour passed and then two and still the candle remained unlit and all Holly had was a raging headache and a furious parent to show for it.

"I can't do it!" she had sobbed, putting her face in her hands.  "Please, can't we stop now, Daddy? I'm tired and my head hurts."

"No, we're going to stay here until you light the damn candle, Holly Amanda Sinclair, I don't care if your head hurts, we'll stay here all bloody night until you quit being lazy and concentrate, understand?" roared her father, and he gave Holly such a look of disgust and anger that she shrank back from him, afraid as she had never been afraid before.  "Now try again!"

And she had tried, until she was nearly on the verge of collapse, her head hurting so badly she could not help sobbing, until her mother had arrived home with dinner and startled her father at his "lesson".

"Merlin bless, what are you doing, love?" she had cried upon seeing her poor daughter whimpering and crying while her father stood behind her, his hands fastened upon the slender shoulders like a cruel bird of prey, shaking her.

Her father spun around, releasing Holly so suddenly she nearly fell, and only her sudden grab at the edge of the table saved her.  "When were you going to tell me, Valina?" he spat. 

"Tell you what? I don't understand," the dark-haired witch sputtered in astonishment. 

"Don't lie to me, woman!" snarled the irate wizard.  "How long have you known she was nothing more than a Squib?" he stabbed an accusing finger at his cringing daughter, who was backing away, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm sorry, Daddy.  I'm sorry, I'll try harder next time."

"Will you now?" sneered her father, giving her a look of profound disgust. 

"Leave her alone!" snapped Valina, coming to stand before her daughter, her eyes bright with anger.  "She is not to blame for not inheriting the gift, you ought to know that."

His fist slammed down on the table, knocking over the candle.  "All those years, all the time I had hoped, all the money wasted . . .on a worthless girl without a flicker of magic! How could you keep this from me, Valina?"

"How could I not?" countered his mistress.  "Look at you! You have terrified her out of her wits, damn you! And for what? She is still your flesh and blood, your child, what difference does it make if she has but a spark of magic?"

"All the difference in the world," he had replied coldly. 

Holly had felt those words stab her to the quick and she had fled, running swiftly to her bedroom, to throw herself on her bed and cry bitterly into her pillow, while in the kitchen, her parents argued vehemently over her lack of the magic that should have been her birthright.

"I still love her, magic or no . . ."

"Then you're a fool, Valina! I shall not have it said that I sired a magicless freak . . . a worthless Muggle . . ." came the sharp biting reply.

"Is that all you care about, your bloody reputation and your career . . .? You selfish bastard! She loves you and you spit on her.  How could you?"

"Pity.  I had thought together you and I could create a child that would be a credit to both of our heritages, a sorceress beyond compare, but instead you threw me a cull, Valina Rose Sinclair.  A princess, ha! She is no better than a house elf, worse, because at least a house elf has some spellcraft."

"She is your daughter, you bloody unfeeling bounder! Who gives a damn if she has magic?"

"Magic is everything, Valina.  I thought you knew that.  Why else do you think I stayed beside you all these years? For your pretty face? For undying love?" he laughed harshly.  "I stayed because of your talent, sweet witch.  And the hope that you had passed it down to your offspring."

"She DOES have talent, you smug bastard!" shouted her mother.  "She's a seer, she can see in fire . . ."

She could not hear what her father replied to that, she was crying too hard, his cruel words tearing into her heart like the claws of some vicious beast, and the pain spread through her, burning and throbbing ceaselessly . . .

* * * * * *

She opened her eyes with a gasp, the awful throbbing pain pulsing through her with every beat of her heart.  Startled, she gazed up and met the amber eyes of a large . . .wolf? She gasped, and cried in terror, "No! Get away!"

Then a lean hand was holding her shoulder and a soft silky voice was saying calmly, "Easy, child.  Silver would never harm you.  He kept you warm."

"Don't be afraid.  He's a good wolf and a friend," spoke another voice, and she turned her head and met a familiar green-eyed gaze as a dark-haired boy came to stand beside her, one hand clutching the silver wolf about the neck.  "Hi.  I'm Harry Snape.  I'm the one who found you in the street.  And this is my dad, Severus.  He's a Potions Master and a professor.  What's your name?"

"Holly.  Holly Sinclair," she answered softly.  "I knew you would save me."

"You did?" Harry repeated.  "How?"

"I saw you in a match flame," she replied.  "Sometimes I can See things . . .in fire . . .and I saw you . . .rescuing me . . ." She looked down at the fuzzy green blanket and then back at the tall man and the boy.  "But I never saw the wolf here.  Is he a pet?"

Silver made a sharp bark of disagreement and for some reason the Potions Master gave her a half-smile. 

"Uh . . .not really," Harry said quickly.  "He's more like a family member."

Silver whuffed in agreement, then leaped lightly to the floor, shaking himself.

Holly looked at the big animal in alarm.  "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insult him."

"It would take a lot more than a mistaken assumption to insult him, child," said Severus, smirking.  "He's got a thick hide." Then he examined her again with a quick diagnostic.  "How are you feeling? Can you move your fingers and toes?"

"Uh . . .yes, I think so."

"Good.  Do so."

Holly obeyed the authoritative tone, wriggling her feet and hands, and Severus nodded in satisfaction. 

"Good, you haven't lost sensation or movement from frostbite," he declared.  "Can you sit up, Miss Sinclair? I have a cup of tea here that you should try and drink, it will help you warm up."

Holly tried to sit up, but she was too weak, and in the end Severus had to assist her, propping her up with several fluffy pillows.  "There.  Better now?"

"Yes, sir.  Thank you for saving me."

"No need to thank me," he waved off her gratitude, sounding embarrassed.  "I could hardly leave you to freeze there in the street."

Holly smiled gratefully.  "Thank you.  You're nicer than my father."

Severus gave her a sharp look.  "How so?"

"Because he would have stepped over me and not even looked back," she replied sadly.  "You see, he's the reason I was there in the first place."

"What do you mean?"

"I went to him after . . .after Mum died, because the landlord said he needed the rent otherwise I couldn't live at our flat anymore and I was too young to live alone, but he . . .he said I wasn't his daughter and he didn't know me because I was a . . . Squib child . . ." Holly said, ashamed and miserable.  She looked down at her hands to hide the sudden spat of tears.  "So you see . . .I had nowhere to go except the street . . .and that's where I've been for two weeks . . .ever since the landlord told me to get out and took whatever was left for the rent money . . ."

Harry stared at her in horror.  How could her father just throw her out that way? He wondered. 

"Did you tell the landlord that you had nowhere else to go?" Severus asked gently, holding onto his temper by the slimmest of margins.

"Yes, but all he said was, "That ain't my problem, missy.  I warned your mum long ago that she was an idiot takin' up with the likes of that one, but she never listened, thought he loved her, poor silly Valina! That one never loved anyone save himself, and anyhow it's money I need, not sappy love stories nor orphan Squibs neither . . ." and then he told me to go find my father. He knew my father had money and I guess he thought since I was his daughter . . ."

Severus felt his hands clench into fists.  "Who is your father?  What does he do?"

"He works for the Ministry of Magic, sir.  He's a personal advisor to the Minister of Magic," Holly answered promptly.  "He's a very important man, my mother always said so."

Severus frowned, trying to recall any advisor in Fudge's cabinet by the name of Sinclair.  He had thought he knew every highly placed Ministry official, but he had never heard of any wizard called Sinclair.  "I've never heard of any advisor named Sinclair.  Perhaps your mother was mistaken and he didn't work directly for the Minister."

"Oh, his name wasn't Sinclair, sir.  That was my mum's name and mine.  Daddy's name was Malfoy.  Lucius Malfoy."

Harry had never seen his father look so gobsmacked in his entire life as when Holly said the name of her father.  "Dad? What's wrong? Do you know him or something?"

Severus did not answer for several minutes, struggling to control his temper.  I should have known.  That's why she looks so familiar.  Because she is Lucius's daughter, a love child hidden away in secret.  Merlin's bloody hat, this is Lucius' child sitting on my couch.  I have the child of my worst enemy in my home.  "Yes, I know him.  He is a powerful wizard, with connections in the Ministry, from an old pureblood family, we went to school together," Severus answered Harry softly.  Then he cast another glance at the girl huddled upon the couch and said quietly, "I am sorry, Holly.  You deserve much better for a father."

The little girl nodded.  "I know.  He doesn't love me because I have no magic.  That's why he didn't care if I froze or . . .whatever . . .because I'm worthless . . ." Suddenly she began to cry, soft bitter sobs, her small frame shaking.

Harry gazed at her awkwardly, feeling utterly lost, and he turned and looked at his father.  "That's not true, right, Dad? You're not worthless just ‘cause you have no magic, right?  My grandparents weren't wizards and they were good people."

"Yes, son." The Potions Master murmured, staring at the child weeping for a long moment before reaching out a hand and putting it lightly on her shoulder, unable to bear the heartwrenching sobs any longer.  "Hush, child.  Don't cry."

It was the touch that did it. 

It had been so long since she had felt anyone touch her as if she mattered that she was caught off guard.  At first she stiffened, recalling the last time a man had put a hand on her-to shove her back out the door of his fine mansion-but then she realized that this hand was not hard, nor hurtful, but comforting and all at once she needed it more than she had ever needed anything.

And between one instant and the next, she had managed to grasp Severus's arm and pull it towards her, until she rested her head in the crook of it, and she clung to him and wept. 

Severus was so startled that he did not know what to do at first. 

Then instinct took over and he drew the foundling into his lap and held her, the way he had his own son, and Holly Sinclair Malfoy hugged him close and cried into his shoulder, and the Potions Master patted her awkwardly and rocked her while Harry and Silver watched uncomfortably and wondered what would happen now.