Before she ever begins at Hogwarts, ten-year-old Aurelia Vale spends two weeks living at the castle with her godfather, Professor Severus Snape — her father’s closest friend since their own school days. Small for her age after being born prematurely, Aurelia is soft-spoken, honest, and entirely unafraid of the man most students avoid, calling him simply Uncle Sev as she settles into life at the staff table and wanders corridors she’ll soon call her own. But as Aurelia begins to notice the stud