"Sit here."
Snape let go of his pinky finger from Estelle's small hand and pointed straight at the wooden chair sitting on one side of the big workbench. His words came out short and clear, like he wanted to keep things simple and quick.
Estelle did exactly what he said without any fuss. She was much more obedient than his godson from the Malfoy family, that was plain to see. Her short little legs gave a couple of quick kicks to help her climb up, and once she was settled on the seat, she sat there nice and straight. She kept her eyes fixed on Snape the whole time, waiting quietly for whatever came next.
The man they sometimes called the cellar snake king tried his best to ignore those big, bright, watery eyes that seemed to watch everything so closely. He stayed silent as he reached into the sleeve of his black robes and pulled out his wand in one smooth motion. Right away, a thin wisp of dark blue energy flowed from the tip of the wand. It moved slowly, like a soft ribbon made of light, and wrapped itself gently around Estelle's thin wrist. The magic felt warm as it spread up her arm, then through the rest of her body, into her legs and all the way down to her bones. The damp, chilly air of winter at Spinner's End started to fade away bit by bit. Estelle closed her eyes halfway, enjoying the cozy feeling that made her whole body relax.
She really was not scared of him at all, Snape thought to himself in a rare moment of distraction. His eyes looked a little complicated as he watched her. Most of the students at Hogwarts kept their distance from him, and even Draco got nervous and careful whenever he was around. But this little girl just sat there calmly, like they had known each other for years.
"Uncle Snape," Estelle said suddenly. Her eyes sparkled with curiosity as she watched the steady stream of blue energy coming from the end of his wand. "Are you checking how my body is doing so you can make the inhibitor potion better for me?"
Snape's thoughts broke off when he heard her soft, clear voice. It sounded so gentle and light in the quiet room.
"Mhm," he answered. He kept his reply cold and short, without adding any extra words or a smile.
Estelle did not feel bad at all about his grumpy way of talking. She just gave a small smile and whispered in a sweet voice, "Godfather told me that Uncle Snape has always been the one making the potions for me. Thank you."
Snape almost let out a short laugh inside. So Lucius had told her everything. But he did not need thanks from a little girl like her. He never looked for that kind of thing. Then the word she had used sank in. Godfather? His eyebrows shot up high in surprise. He had known the little Bellin girl was staying at Malfoy Manor for some reason, but he had not expected Lucius to actually take on the role of her godfather for real.
If that was true, then Estelle and Draco… For some reason the thought made the corners of Snape's mouth turn down even lower than usual. He gave a quick, cold snort through his nose and decided not to say anything back to her at all.
Estelle looked at the man in front of her with a puzzled face. His moods seemed to change so fast. She pressed her lips together and stayed quiet after that. She had a feeling that if she said one more word, the cold-faced but maybe warm-hearted uncle would send her straight back up to the bedroom on the second floor.
"Alright, Miss Bellin," Snape said after a long while. He put his wand away and tucked it back into his sleeve. But the warm feeling that had been around Estelle did not disappear right away. It stayed with her, making her feel cozy even in the chilly house.
The air at Spinner's End was always damp and cold, especially in winter, but now Estelle felt warm all over. She yawned twice, covering her mouth with her small hand, and her eyelids started to feel heavy.
"Go upstairs," Snape told her. He looked down at the girl who was fighting off sleep. "Draco knows the meal times here very well. I hope Miss Bellin can follow the rules just like he does."
Estelle nodded, her head feeling a little foggy from how tired she suddenly was. Under the strong wave of sleepiness that kept pulling at her, the little girl who loved cuddles slid down from the chair. Then, right there in front of Snape's shocked and careful eyes, she reached out and wrapped her arms around him in a big hug.
Snape held his breath without meaning to. His body went stiff and straight, pressed back against the chair like he did not know what to do. He kept his arms at his sides and did not move.
"Uncle Snape, goodnight," Estelle said softly. She had completely forgotten that it was still the middle of the day and nowhere near bedtime. After the quick hug, she turned around and walked up the old wooden stairs with light, bouncy steps. Her silver hair moved gently with each one.
Behind her, Snape's dark eyes stayed locked on her back for a long time. It took him quite a while to shake off the strange feeling and come back to himself. He seemed to understand now why Lucius and Narcissa called her that special name. Sweetie… tsk. The thought made him shiver hard, like someone had poured cold water down his back. He reached out angrily, grabbed a bottle of reagent from the workbench, and started adjusting the potion right away, stirring with extra force to push everything else out of his mind.
Actually, the moment Estelle left Snape's side and started up the stairs, the warm magic that had been around her began to fade away slowly. By the time she reached the bedroom door, it was almost gone completely.
She sat down on the big double bed in the room and stared at Draco while he tried to read. Even though she still looked a little tired from everything that had happened, the strong sleepiness had mostly passed. Draco, on the other hand, was the picture of unhappiness. The little platinum-haired boy sat at the small table with a deep frown on his face. He flipped through the yellowed pages of the thick book like each one was a chore. He was trying his hardest to push all that potions knowledge into his head so that in a few days, when his godfather tested him, he would not hear the usual complaint that his brain was full of nothing but knotgrass.
"Brother, I want to read too," Estelle said after sitting there bored for a while. She swung her short legs back and forth so her feet tapped lightly against the side of the bed.
Draco gave her a long, serious look. "Stelle, are you trying to go to sleep already?" he asked, sounding very earnest.
Estelle looked at his face, then at the incredibly thick introductory potions book in his hands. She quickly changed her mind and shook her head.
"Stelle, don't worry," Draco said. Now that he had started talking, he was happy to take a break from the reading and chat for a bit. He closed the book partway and leaned back in his chair. "You should wait until after your magic comes out for real before you try books like these. Right now you can just be the little princess of the Malfoy family and not have a single worry."
He kept going, sounding more and more like a big brother giving advice. "Besides, you are a whole year younger than me, so you will probably start school one year after I do. I will study all those subjects really hard and try to get an Outstanding in every single one. That way, if there is anything you do not understand later, you can just come and ask me anytime you want."
While Estelle listened to the boy chatter on, her eyes kept moving over to the tall bookshelf in the corner of the bedroom. A few books were scattered on the lower shelves, covered in a light layer of dust. The ones on the very top shelf looked even older, like they had been sitting there for years.
"Stelle, what is wrong?" Draco asked when he noticed she was not really paying attention to him anymore. He followed her gaze up to the shelf. "You do not… want to read the books up there, do you?"
"Mhm, there is a picture book there," Estelle said. Her voice got excited all of a sudden. She pointed straight at a book sitting in the middle of the top shelf. Its spine looked thinner and nicer than the others around it.
The title on the spine read A Compendium of Magical Plants. For a little tot like Estelle, who had not had her magic outburst yet, a book full of pictures would be the perfect way to pass the time and keep her from getting too bored.
But Draco looked worried as he stared up at the bookshelf that stood four times taller than he was. "Godfather put the books so high up there," he whispered. "Could it be that he does not want us to read them?"
Estelle thought about it for a second. "But Uncle Snape said we can move around freely in this room," she pointed out.
Draco stared into her misty blue eyes for just a moment, and that was all it took. He was convinced. Stelle was right—if his godfather really did not want them touching those books, he would have moved the whole shelf somewhere else a long time ago.
Of course, the wealthy young master from Malfoy Manor had not stopped to think about how small the house at Spinner's End really was. Besides the main hall downstairs, this was the only room upstairs with enough space for a bookshelf that big. Snape probably had not had much choice when he put it there.
"But we cannot reach it at all—it is too high," Estelle said, sounding a little frustrated. She stood on her tiptoes and stretched her arms up as far as they would go, but her fingers still came nowhere close.
Draco gave her a mysterious little smile. Under the puzzled look in Estelle's eyes, he reached into his sleeve and pulled out a slender wand from somewhere she had not expected at all.
Having caught his sister's admiring gaze, the corners of Draco's mouth turned up even higher, proud as could be.