Albus walked in and sat on the high backed chair. I walked in after him. "What do you wish of me?" I asked. He removed his half moon spectacles and cleaned them. He conjured two glasses of dark amber liquid.

"Have some brandy Severus. Sit and we can talk." he offered. I grabbed the glass and sat across him on the black couch. But did not drink. He sipped his drink slowly. He hadn't saved Lily. I had promised him anything in exchange for him hiding her from the dark lord. But it hadn't worked. And now I was his slave. Supposed to do everything he says and not have a say in it. I did not realize I was possibly muttering under my breath until he spoke.

"You are not my slave Severus" he said gently, "Dont ever again think of yourself in such a manner. Anyways I had come to ask you a favour. I was wondering you since you stay alone it must get quite lonely. Drink it Severus. I haven't poisoned it you know!" he chuckled. I looked up at the old man to see what he was getting at. I do not wish to date any woman at the moment. How dare he even suggest when he knew of how I felt for Lily. But nothing prepared me for what he next said. "Why not adopt a child Severus?"

I glared at the old man like he had asked for my soul, not that I would have cared at the moment, in fact it seemed a request much more reasonable, much more easier compared to adopting Potter's brat. Anything was better than to have to see the embodiment of Lily and James' love every day and care for the prat like my own. "Have you gone insane?" I hissed coldly "Me? Adopt that brat of James Potter? What made you think I would agree to something as absurd as that Dumbledore!" I roared resisting the urge to call him a dunderhead instead of Dumbledore.

"You expect me to adopt that child? Why should I? No one ready to take him in? Thats hardly the problem I can assure you a lot of people have to be ready to take him in. I hardly can think of a reason why anyone would refuse the BOY WHO LIVED after all." I scoffed.

"Yes. Severus I myself am quite aware of that but I am not here for Harry after all." the old man said calmly. "Harry has aready been left in Petunia's care. I am sure you remember her yes Severus?"

"Of course I remember her." I scowled. Who could forget that woman easily? "Why cant you just let me be alone for Merlin's sake then? Let me grieve alone. I will report when school starts back. I remember what I promised you. And I am not going to back off. So just let me stay with my sorrow while you carry out your master plans that cannot save a single person." I hissed scornfully hitting where it hurt the most.

Dumbledore was visibly angry."SEVERUS!" he yelled with anger "CONTROL YOURSELF. You seriously need more control on your tongue. This is one of the major reasons why Lily stopped talking to you in the first placeand you still haven't learnt. You hardly have any control over your tongue. I did everything in my power to try and save the Potters but they put their trust in the wrong person. We have already been over this discussion and we both know you are going to protect Harry but Severus you need to first control yourself first." he paused and took a deep breath. "Now go and have a shower. It will cool you considerably and then we will talk. Meanwhile I will make us tea."

I stomped off to my room and without unbuttoning my shirt pulled it easily over my thin body. I undressed and grabbed a clean white towel from the cloth basket and walked in. I was done with the shower in ten minutes. The hot water seemed to wash away my pain and anger at Dumbledore. It wasnt really the old man's fault afterall I thought as I changed into a navy blue t-shirt and black jeans. I got to the kitchen and the scent of the Earl grey Dumbledore had got ready wafted over. I muttered apologies for my behaviour. Dumbledore chuckled. "Its alright Severus." he waved a hand dismissively.

"You were saying something about a-adopting a child" I stuttered only slightly completely aware of what I was getting into as I sat down to sip the tea. It was good. "Finish your tea and we will talk" Dumbledore replied. "Navy blue suits your skin Severus you should wear it more often, I bet girls would go crazy for you." he added pulling my leg.

I grunted in response. "So correct me if am wrong. You will be joining the school this year. Am I right?"Dumbledore asked to converse. I sighed. "Yes. Albus you are right." I replied,"And I do remember our dicussion at the beginning of the week about Potter as well."

"Good. I admit I expected you would back out." I stared at him with a blank expression. I was almost finished with the tea. "But you realize that you are integral to my purpose since I cannot watch over Harry alone." Dumbledore said and sighed. "Ah! You have finished your tea. So I think it is now safe to discuss what I originally came here for."

I straightened up and nodded to tell him to start talking. I had a reason why I couldn't adopt. I wasn't good with kids. I could hardly imagine myself smiling up at a child. The kid would grow up grumpy with me. No one could deny that. And no one, not even Dumbledore could force me to when I did not want to. I would drop the kid off at an orphanage if he forced me. "So I was saying that there is a child up for adoption. She is 2 right now and since you will be staying at hogwarts you wil always have assistance of Hagrid and Poppy to care for the child, therefore it wont be much of a problem once you have adopted her. Moreover-"

"Wait a minute. Her? Dumbledore you dont expect me to take care of a girl. I am bad with girls can hardly handle the emotional overflows the constant giggling. It is terrible. And we are talking of adults." I said exasperated. But Dumbledore intertwined his fingers in interest. I knew I had to convince him. Maybe if it was a boy, I could still handle it. But a girl! "No. Noways in hell am doing this Albus I AM NOT GOING TO DO THIS."

Albus Dumbledore sighed thinking and then said,"Well Severus, I had expected this reaction sure but the problem is no matter how much I did love to, I cannot adopt this child. No other teacher or family is as eager and I dont want her to end up in an orphanage, you know like Voldemort. I fear she would turn out like him if that happens, her father was a Death Eater you know and I dont want this girl following that path."

"What happened to him and her mother?" I cocked up an eyebrow at Dumbledore."Mother dead, father Azkaban" I frowned.

"Oh!" I muttered pondering. "But really tell me Albus cant you have someone better for this girl, I mean who can be worse than me? Surely you have someone in mind? Other than me?" I asked hopefully.

Dumbledore shook his head no,"She goes to the orphanage if you refuse her" he stated grimly.

"You leave me plenty of choice Albus, this is only formality you asking me is it not?" I sneered my tone conveying my revulsion at the idea.

"So, I take that as a cue of your acceptance?" Albus chuckled.

"Of course! You haven't left me a choice have you?" I replied.

"Hmm, since the child is right now undergoing last sessions of her therapy at Mungo's I will drop her off after a week if thats fine" Dumbledore said and I nodded getting myself into the worst kind of mess.

"Okay, whats the name?" I asked.

"None yet. But am certain you can think of one!" he answered cheerfully. "Sherbet lemon?" he asked as if in celebration. I shook my head.

"Wait! She hasn't a name yet? I mean she's two for Merlin's sake!" I said.

"No she does not have a name. We call her Shasha but there's no name officialy. She was not cared about by her busy father and her mother was murdered even when she was in her last trimester so the child was born in emergency even as the mother died and her father paid for the bills but he couldnt help in any other way. Or rather he did not wish to. The kid has been in a serious condition for the last one and half year. Last six months she had shown tremendous improvement however and the plan is to send her to an orphanage as soon as possible if a parent is not found." he paused to observe my reaction. I nodded with a thoughtful expression. The events ring a small bell. Only thing is I can't remember who. "So we had no time to name her.."

"Who is the mother?" I asked. Dumbledore smiled obviously pleased at the peak in my interest.

"Drew, Iris Drew." he replied with the calm serene smile. Iris. That name rings a small bell. Flashes of old memories I don't even remember run through me, triggering unknown emotions. A girl with dark emerald green eyes. Hair as dark as a raven's that had a reddish tint in the sun. A white bra with pink satin bows and cartoon characters, music playing in the background, some Christmas evening, the dark lord, a tattered, broken form on the floor in a short, torn red dress. Tears, my shocked face reflected back in her eyes. I still don't know who that is or what those memories were. My head started hurting. I gave up thinking too much. It was insignificant.

"I want to see the child" I stuttered recovering from the sudden head rush.

"Lets go then" Dumbledore said and we apparated to the hospital.