snape's daughter, harry's sister

irrational and rational fears.

"Good morning," Haley greeted Severus in an almost monotone fashion. Exiting her bedroom, fully dressed, she strode past the armchair her father resided in and made way for the door. "I'm going to see Harry," she stated before reaching for the doorknob.

"Not without having eaten breakfast," the potion's master halted her, causing the girl to groan in exasperation. "Or, if you would prefer not visiting Potter at all-"

"No, I'll eat!" Haley hastily cut him off. She'd received practically zero sleep the night before as she had been looking forward to seeing her brother again.

Severus slightly smirked at his daughter's sudden change in heart and directed the girl's attention towards the dining room table. There, a magically kept warm bowl of porridge, along with some juice and two slices of toast waited.

Taking her seat, the eleven year old sighed once more. She was hardly hungry. Back at Wool's she would typically skip breakfast...and the other meals if she could help it. The slop was just so bloody disgusting that Haley could never force herself to eat more than a bite or two no matter how hungry she may have been. So now, because of that, her stomach had clearly shrunken in size as there remained perfectly tasteful food before her, and still, she could not eat even half of it.

"Is there a problem?" the professor's voice rang out from behind, causing Haley to nearly topple out of her chair.

"Geez, could you at least try to be a bit louder?" she angrily complained, righting herself. "It's like you do that on purpose."

Severus raised a brow in light of the accusation, "I assumed, as we coincide within the same rooms on a daily basis, that my presence would not startle you so," he let her know, albeit sarcastically.

Haley huffed and prodded her porridge harshly with a spoon, "Yeah, well, you 'assumed' wrong," she informed him.

The potion's master merely hummed curiously at that, inwardly wondering just why his child was always on edge. Outwardly, however, he'd never shown any concern as he knew he'd be unveiling many answers throughout his visit to the orphanage come Sunday.

"Can I go now?" eyes, a perfect mixture of Lily's and his own, looked up at him pleadingly, breaking his train of thought.

Despite wishing for her to consume more, Severus opted to let the matter slide for now. After retrieving the information he needed regarding Haley's past, he'd take further action.

"Can you?" he inquired, determined to break the girl of her habit to ask questions improperly.

This, like the last time, caused said child to smile knowingly, rather than turn irate. "May I?" she tried again.

"So long as you return before it is time for supper," he complied, aware that Poppy would handle lunch.

"I will," Haley easily agreed, "Would seven work, then?" she checked as that was when they usually ate.

Severus, watching as she embarked for the portrait once more, answered her simply, "Make it six."

Haley cocked her head in confusion, "But we never eat before seven," she reminded him.

"Yes," the professor acknowledged this, "however, considering that you still have lines to complete, I would prefer for you to return an hour earlier so that you may begin writing," he refreshed her memory, much to his child's dismay.

Haley whined, "I'd really hoped you'd forgotten about that," she admitted.

"Evidently, you wasted your time," Severus noted dryly, in spite of his current amusement.