The Beginning

A tawny owl sitting on a lampost of a quiet street called Privet Drive flies off delivering yet another letter though that is unknown to any normal person. The forest near the street has few critters moving around and giving its own unique sound of silence.

A mysterious old man dressed in purple robes steps out into the light and takes out a lighter. He clicks it and all the light present in the lamp posts fly out of it and disappear into the little lighter. The man walks forward as he puts the lighter away as he greets a tabby cat sitting quite stiffly on the wall.

"I should have known that you would be here...Professor McGonagall."

The cat meows and jumps, transforming mid-air into a human. The human is an old woman, dressed in emerald green robes. "Good evening, Professor Dumbledore...are the rumours true Albus?"

"I'm afraid so, Professor. The good, and the bad."

"And the children?"

"Hagrid is bringing them."

"Do you think it wise to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"

"Ah, Professor, I would trust Hagrid with my life."

A rumbling sound disturbs the peace of the night, they look up to see a headlight coming and finally a motorcycle lands on the ground. A large man with a bushy beard and hair and glittering beetle-like eyes. He takes off his goggles.

"ProfessorDumbledore, Sir. ProfessorMcGonagall."

"No problems, I trust, Hagrid?", Professor Dumbledore asked.

"No, sir. Little tyke fell asleep just as we were flying over Bristol. Heh. Try not to wake him. There ya go. She's been looking around and giggling all the time. Professor McGonagall? Here."

McGonagall looked towards Dumbledore, "Surely you aren't going to leave them with the muggles living here?! They are the worst imaginable!"

Dumbledore sighed, "They are the only family he has."

McGonagall sputtered in shock, "Just him?! Then where is the poor girl to go?"

"The new orphanage a block away. I believe it is quite empty at the moment."

"These kids are famous! There won't be a single person in our world who won't know their name!"

"Exactly. It better that they are not introduced to that more quickly than need be."

A sniffle is heard and they turn to Hagrid who is holding a handkerchief. He clears his throat.

Dumbledore turns, "There-There Hagrid, it's not goodbye, after all."

Dumbledore puts the boy on the doorstep and leaves a letter with him. "Goodluck Harry Potter."

Dumbledore nods to McGonagall and she turns, walking towards the nearest orphanage. The Light Orphanage. She places the little girl who stares up curiously, babbling nonsensically. McGonagall takes the letters Dumbledore had given her and placed them on the child. One was addressed to the owner of the orphanage and the other to the girl. McGonagall kisses her forehead, "Have courage, Be kind and Believe Little Neptune."

The girl blinked as McGonagall knocked and disappeared on the spot.

---

Neptunia Black woke up with a start as she looked at her blue flip phone as it vibrated. She rubbed the space above her heart where a lightning bolt-shaped scar sat. What was that dream? Was it real? Ignoring the questions that have plagued her since 10 years ago. She looked at the time, 3:30. Enough time for her to do her daily run and get breakfast ready by 4:30. She got up and put on her favourite galaxian hoodie and black leggings as her hair shimmered, turning to their usual blue-purple mix. She tied it into a braid as she slowly tip-toed out of the mouldy cupboard and out to the door as she carefully avoided the creaky floor-boards.

She stepped out and breathed in the fresh air, grinning as she began to jog her daily 4 kilometres. She looked around for people and began to bring water around her as she jogged. She made a harvest mouse shape out of it as it ran around her.

As she finished her first two kilometres, she stopped and thought back to when she first discovered her powers. She smiled at the animal she chose. She felt like it represented her. She thought back to when she first discovered her...abilities. She was four, wasn't she? Yeah. God, the pain that came after was too hard to imagine but easy to remember as Neptunia fell into a flashback.

"Ooh, pretty!" Four-year-old Neptunia sat all alone in the empty orphanage in her primary school uniform as she played with the floating water animals.

The door opened and Neptunia stood up in attention as the blonde women who smelled weird walked in. "Good evening ma'am. What should I do?"

The women stood frozen still as she stared at the animals, "You...what are you doing?"

Neptunia smiled, unaware of the hidden venom behind the words, "I made friends!!"

The women scowled, stepping forward as she gripped the bottle tightly. "STOP IT." Neptunia's smile vanished, "But.." The women shook her head, "Stop it, YOU FREAK! YOU DON'T DESERVE FRIENDS! YOU DON'T BELONG ANYWHERE." Neptunia's lip wobbled and her eyes filled with tears but they didn't spill, she had already learned her lesson when she cried when she was small.

"Neptunia," the voice was sickeningly sweet, "I think it's time for another lesson."

The women walked forward with the whip-like material and bottle in hand.

"NO! I'm sorry! I'll stop! NO!"

Neptunia shook her head and jogged on, no need to focus on the past. Ms Crawley was a pschyo and nobody could change that. After another 15 minutes, she had finished her run and was at the orphanage door. Her guardians disappeared and her hair turned a brighter shade of blue-purple. If the lizard's attention is on her then the others would be safe. She walked inside, avoiding the creaky floor-boards as she went to the girls' room and went inside.

She stared at the six girls, sleeping together all huddled up on mattresses which were on the ground. She frowned, just because of that lizard's addiction they barely survived. She went to the oldest girl among the sleeping Mary-Jane, who was 9, her flaming red hair visible among the group, "Good morning MJ."

MJ groaned as she stretched, "I'll wake the others."

Neptunia smiled, "Thank you." She stood up from her crouch and walked carefully across the hall to the boys' room and to the oldest boy who like MJ was 9. "Good morning Rowan."

He turned and grumbled, "Why should I get up?"

Neptunia giggled, "I'm giving you all a treat today after school? A trip to the zoo? hmm?" The boy got up quickly and started shaking the others. She walked out quietly and into the kitchen. She started preparing breakfast. It wasn't much, one egg and two slices of bacon along with one slice of bread each. Neptunia skipped breakfast as the others moved silently and quickly to get ready. She got up from the chair and changed into her black shirt after taking her hoodie off.

She stood at the door as everyone formed their line. She gripped the hand of MJ who held Rowan's hand who held the next's and so on.

As they walked, she could feel people take out their phone click pictures and giggle and coo at the sight. Neptunia supposed that it did look cute, like a mother duck and her little adorable munchkin ducklings. She led them to the middle school which was closest. MJ, Rowan walked off with a goodbye as the triplets Lily, Rose and Jasmine, 8 years old, hugged her as a goodbye as they went to the building next door for primary school.

She grabbed the hand of Juliet who was 7 years old and started towards the kindergarten. When they reached the place. Juliet ran off with a yell as Harold and Jake both 6 years old followed suit. She turned to Zee and Bree who hugged her and soon rushed off as well. She smiled as she watched them run.

She glanced at her watch, 6:55. She was LATE! Unless she ran, she wouldn't make it to the nearest Starbucks, where she worked. She started running, running around pedestrians. She looked at the road which fairly empty and started sprinting. She jumped over the hood of one car since it wasn't stopping, yelling out a quick sorry in good conscience. She turned around the corner and stared down the street to see the shop, running ever faster, she forgot to see where she was going, she bumped into a man dressed like her except he had a black cloak on. He had black hair, obsidian eyes and a hook nose. Neptunia got up and helped the man up as well, "Sorry sir, got to go!" Neptunia ran to the door and walked in, turning the sign to open as the clock turned 7:00. She walked towards the counter and put on an apron. She was the behind the scenes 10-year-old magic girl who created amazing coffees. The other workers came out from the kitchen and a few patted her on the head.

As the orders and morning rush came in, Neptunia couldn't be happier as she saw people tip generously at her coffee art. After her shift, which ended at 12, the others divided the tip jar and if Neptunia got more than the others then she certainly didn't know while the workers exchanged smiles.

When Neptunia got out of the cafe, she quickly stuffed it into her bag and untied her hair. They had enough. They had finally made enough for their first trip to the zoo. She took out her phone as she walked and considered calling the 'Freedom and Flight' Restaurant to get a day off at the night shift, she shook her head. They needed the money. She walked into the library at 12:10 and sighed, running early today. She turned to the librarian, Mrs Abigail, who smiled back at her. "Finally ready to accept all your college degrees?"

Neptunia's hair turned neon pink after a while as Neptunia realized something and she blushed, "Yes Mrs Abby! If I present this to the employers, they might pay me better and realise I mean business!"

Mrs Abigail shook her head, she walked to the room behind her counter and brought out all the packages which were delivered to her. Neptunia sat down in her favourite bean bag and stared at the packages as Mrs Abigail walked away saying that she needed privacy.

Eidetic memory. This was all possible because of Eidetic memory, Neptunia thought. Neptunia was so lost in thought that she didn't notice the same man she crashed into sit in front of her on a bean bag as well.

"Are you going to open it?" A slow and drawling voice interrupted Neptunia's thought, as she looked up her voice knit in confusion before clearing in clarity, "You're the person I bumped into this morning! Sorry about that!"

The man stared back before replying, "It's...alright. My name is Severus Snape. You are?"

Neptunia tilted her head, "Severus? Like my middle name?" Snape tilted his head slightly as Neptunia continued, "That's nice, I always liked that more than my first name. Anyway, My name is Neptunia Severus Black. Nice to meetcha."

Neptunia took a deep breath as Severus inhaled quickly which went unnoticed. Neptunia slowly opened the packages and almost cried in pride when she saw her name on a COLLEGE degree, and she was just 10 years old.

"I'm your uncle."

Neptunia's head shot up from her hidden curtain of hair. "What?"

"Your mother was my twin sister, her name was Selena Eileen Snape...she fell in love and married Sirius Orion Black. She died giving birth to you, your godfather is Remus John Lupin. Your mother's favourite saying was 'Have courage, be kind and believe. And you're my niece."

Neptunia stared at the man for a moment, she didn't want to leave the orphanage. The others wouldn't survive at all. Her breath came in ragged before she closed her eyes, "So, um sir. What should I call you?"

No one would believe you if said that Severus Snape smiled, even if it was a little one, and since Neptunia's eyes were closed, you had no proof anyways. "Your mother called me Sev"

Neptunia opened her eyes, "Hi Uncle Sev."

"Hello."

Neptunia smiled before glancing at the watch which read 1:25 and her smile disappeared and her eyes widened. "Sorry Uncle Sev, I'm late! Gotta go!" She grabbed her bag and started walking towards the door.

Neptunia ran as soon as she stepped outside, school got over at 1:00 and if she was 5 minutes late then the protocol to call the guardian would be proposed and then... and things were going so good today!

Neptunia ran but as she reached the kindergarten, she knew she was too late. She stared at the teacher who scolded her for being half an hour late and told her that she had called their guardian. The same happened at the other schools and as they stood in front of the orphanage, the children felt fear but Neptunia steeled herself and turned to the children, "Go through the back and hide in the closet. I'll keep you safe."

MJ and Rowan nodded and took the lead. Neptunia turned around and walked in. As she closed the door, she was hit with the stench of alcohol, a bottle flew past her and hit the wall next to her. The glass cut her cheek and hand.

The woman was in a rage. She had her whip in her hand, this was going to hurt but after she was done, they would have enough time to go to the zoo. She would not fall back on her promise. "Sorry for being late ma'am."

The woman screamed at her, yelling at her. Neptunia took off her shirt and tucked it into her bag before putting the bag in the corner of the room. Neptunia turned and locked the door. As soon as the door was locked, whips reined free.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight and soon enough Neptunia lost count.

After the lizard was done and was sleeping in her drunk state. Neptunia used her air to bring the bandages and applied it carefully. She took a band-aid and put it on her cheek. After making sure the room was clean and stench-free, Neptunia walked to the cupboard and did their special knock. The door opened slightly, the kids were wearing their normal clothes and Neptunia smiled brightly, "So, how about a trip to the zoo? The lizard is asleep. So let's sneak out."

Neptunia swore as that she would do whatever to keep those smiles on their faces. Neptunia smiled brighter as they walked across the room quietly and stepped out. Anything for my family, Neptunia vowed.