“James Heron Potter, I am so going to kill you!” shrieked the disgruntled woman on the bed.

The young man, to whom she was referring to, gulped nervously. He knew better then to contradict his wife. Instead of replying he just kissed her sweaty forehead and put his forehead against hers. The woman relaxed slightly as the contraction stopped. She sighed in relief and closed her eyes. Her husband gently wiped the sweat off her forehead and said, “Come on, Lils. I know you can do it…”

Lils or Lily Rose Potter, nee Evans, opened her eyes and smiled slightly at the nervous look that James Potter had on his face. “Yeah, I know…” she whispered. James smiled at her and gave her a soft kiss before another contraction came. The Healer that was assigned to the young couple rushed in the room and quickly checked the young woman.

“You can start pushing now, Mrs Potter,” he said while cleaning his hands with a spell. Lily nodded and looked at James. He kissed her again and took her hand. Lily turned her attention on the Healer and after receiving a nod, started pushing. After a few minutes, some “I’ll kill you”, “I’m never having another baby again” and “I’m going to castrate you” threats from Lily and some pushes later a loud yell filled the room. Lily leaned herself back on her pillows and breathed deeply while James wiped her forehead gently.

The Healer checked the baby and wrapped it in a pink blanket. He turned towards the newly turned parents and gave them a smile. “Congratulations, Mr and Mrs Potter. You have given birth to a healthy little girl.”

He put the little bundle in the mother’s awaiting arms and left the room. Lily looked at the girl in her arms and then up to James. Smiling softly she said, “Look what we brought in this world.” James smiled through his tears and nodded. He couldn’t find words to express what he felt at the moment. He fumbled a little with the blanket until he reached the little fingers. He smiled as they closed in around his index finger. The girl yawned at that specific moment and opened her eyes for the first time. James gasped in surprise and found himself totally and utterly lost within those emerald green orbs that were looking at him curiously.

“They’re just like your eyes, Lily,” the young father whispered. Lily grinned and replied, “Well, that’s about the only thing she got from me. Look at her hair! Even now when she’s just a baby they stick up at all the places.”

James grinned sheepishly. “What can I do? Blame it on the Potter genes…” He was about to say something else when the doors banged open and two of his best friends stormed in the hospital room. He laughed silently as he saw the mess that was their hair. They must have paced all around the hospital and pulled their hands through their hair to get their hair-style like this.

The taller one had long black hair that was currently a mess and grey eyes that were looking nervous, mischievous, hopeful and happy at the same time. How that was possible, James still didn’t know. The other one was slightly shorter than the first one and had sandy-brown hair that reached his ears and amber eyes. He was calmer then the first one but only a little. His eyes widened as he saw the bundle in Lily’s arms.

“Moony, Padfoot!” he heard someone say and raised his eyes to the hazel eyes of his best friend and the father of that little miracle that was looking at him now.

One look at the little baby and he was lost too.

He awoke at the fast bark of laughter that his other friend was famous for and turned his attention to the black haired man that was known as Padfoot or Sirius Black. The young man bounded to the bed and peered down at the girl. He yelped in surprise as the girl’s fingers found their way to his nose and grabbed it.

Laughter filled the room.

“So, what’s the name of my goddaughter?” Sirius asked cheekily. Lily and James burst into laughter and James asked, “Who ever said that you’re her godfather, Padfoot?” Sirius’ face fell and he started sniffling. James rolled her eyes and added, “It’s Arielle. Arielle Lily Potter. And of course you’re her godfather Sirius, don’t be stupid.”

Sirius looked up again and gave his happiest grin ever. He bounded back to the amber-eyed man that was also known as Moony or Remus Lupin and yelled, “Did you hear that Moony? Did you? Huh? Huh?” Remus couldn’t help himself but to laugh at the exuberance of his friend. He wandered to the bed too and said, “She’s beautiful, James, Lily. You’ll have a tough time fending off potential boyfriends in a few years.”

James paled at the thought and Lily just laughed tiredly. James seemed to notice this as he shooed his friends out of the room a few minutes later (after they both fell in love with the girl hopelessly of course). That left the two parents alone. They each shared a small kiss and then Lily went to sleep while James watched over his daughter, which was silently sleeping in his arms, like a hawk.

ooOoo

Two weeks later, the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry got a letter from Lily Potter, formerly Evans about the christening of one Arielle Lily Potter. Dumbledore smiled at the letter until he saw the birth date. Frowning at it he quickly pulled a copy of the Hogwarts Registry on his desk and leafed through it.

He stopped as he saw that there were two names that were added in the last days of July.

Still frowning, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore quickly strode to the fireplace. Grabbing a little Floo powder the old man threw the powder in the fire and after it turned green stepped in and yelled his destination in a clear voice, “Potter Residence!”

He got swept away and gracefully stepped out of the home of Lily and James Potter. He looked around and noticed that no one seemed to be in the room. He went out to the living room and couldn’t help but smile.

James Potter was lying on the couch, sleeping, with a baby wrapped on his chest. The baby girl was happily playing with her stuffed wolf and Lily Evan- no, she was a Potter now, was silently reading a book on an armchair across from them. Dumbledore cleared his throat quietly and watched in amusement as Lily dropped the book and whipped out her wand and pointed it at him. Sighing, Lily dropped the wand and went to greet her former Headmaster and current Head of the Order of the Phoenix.

“Hello Albus. What brings you here? We weren’t expecting you until Arielle’s christening…” Lily trailed off with a curious expression on her face. Albus Dumbledore chuckled silently but turned serious quickly after that. With a solemn voice he said,

“I came here to talk to you and James about something that I think you should know, since I believe it concerns your daughter.”

Seeing the serious expression on her mentor’s face, Lily shivered slightly and went over to her husband and daughter. She motioned for the old wizard to take a seat and gently poked James in the ribs, while taking Arielle from the young man’s chest. James blearily opened his eyes and started to say something when he caught sight of the Headmaster. Quickly sitting straight on the couch he said, “Good Afternoon, Albus.”

Dumbledore returned the greeting and turned his attention on the baby in Lily’s arms. Sighing sadly he said, “I came here today because I suspect that Arielle is one of the two babies that a prophecy that was made earlier this year is speaking off.”

There, he said it. Blunt as an axe. The two elder Potters blinked and stared at Dumbledore. “Wha?” said James. Lily was the first one to recuperate and asked, “What prophecy?”

Dumbledore sighed and recited, after charming the place full with Silencing, and Secrecy spells, so that they wouldn’t’ be overheard, “The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... And the Dark Lord will mark her as his equal, but she will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...”

The living room of the Potter Residence was eerily quiet. After a few minutes it was Arielle that broke the silence by squealing happily as she managed to hug the dog around its neck. Lily started breathing again while James stood up and started pacing the floor.

“That’s horrible,” whispered Lily as she regained her wits. Dumbledore lowered his head while James started ranting, “How can our daughter have the power to kill Voldemort? She’s only a baby! Heck, she’s two weeks old! She-” Lily broke him off as she asked, “Who is the other kid that the prophecy could be about?”

Dumbledore sighed again and said, “It’s Neville Longbottom. He was born just a day before Arielle here. But as he’s a boy the prophecy couldn’t be talking about him.” He was quiet for a minute and then he said, “I’m sorry James, Lily. I’m afraid you’ll have to go into hiding. Voldemort’s agents have heard part of the prophecy and I don’t want to take any risks. You are to find yourselves a Secret Keeper and go into hiding immediately.”

Lily looked at James with fright and James hurried over and hugged his wife while staring at Dumbledore. Then he kissed his wife on her forehead and hurried out of the room. He returned a few minutes later with Sirius in tow. Sirius was looking disgruntled as though he just woke up… which in retrospect wasn’t as unbelievable as Dumbledore would have thought.

The two Potters quickly filled Sirius in and he agreed to be the family’s Secret Keeper. Dumbledore offered himself as the Secret Keeper but the Potters politely refused.

It was only a year and a few months later that Dumbledore regretted not persuading them into making him a Secret Keeper. A year and a few months later it was too late, as Lord Voldemort attacked the village in which James and Lily were hiding, killed them both and made Arielle the Girl-Who-Lived and an orphan while disappearing himself. On 31st October 1981 the First War was over. The Wizarding World was rejoicing and hailing,

“Long live the Girl-Who-Lived! All hail to Arielle Lily Potter!”

If you looked around the house of 4, Privet Drive, you wouldn't notice that almost ten years have passed. But they indeed have as the pictures on the tables and walls have changed from a small pink piggy to a large pink pig. Well, not literally. That was just Dudley, the son of Vernon and Petunia Dursley.

If someone looked in the house, he would think, 'Oh my, what a normal looking house!' and he or she would be right. But... the family held a dark secret. At least in their opinion. You see, almost ten years ago, on the 1st of November 1981 to be exact, a small bundle was left on their doorstep and the Dursleys didn't have a choice but to take that bundle into the house and sealing the contract with doing this.

That bundle was Arielle Lily Potter.

ooOoo

At the moment the petite girl made her way to the kitchen where she had to make breakfast for her cousin. It was his birthday, namely. She sighed as she massaged her shoulder which was dislocated from where Uncle Vernon threw her in her cupboard. Arielle Potter was not your every day girl. And that wasn't just because she was beaten to a pulp every time something strange happened around her. Her stature was petite, which could be contributed to her being malnourished all the time. You see, the Dursleys often forgot about her, her being locked in her cupboard. She was often starved and that wasn't doing her any good. She had long curly jet-black hair that seemed to never be completely neat. She wasn't allowed to comb it nor wash it, so it lay limply on her back, her curls in a greasy lump. She didn't even know how it really looked like! She was wearing a black skirt, which had many holes in it and since Aunt Petunia said that she won't waste any time on the girl, she didn't sew the holes. Her jumper was milky grey, but that could be because it was so washed that even Arielle couldn't remember the original colour.

The only interesting thing on her were her brilliant green eyes that once remembered of an emerald, but were now dull with sadness and hopelessness. She also had a scar on her forehead that resembled a lightning bolt. As hard as she tried to remember how she got the scar, she couldn't remember anything but a green light and a woman's scream. The one time she asked her Aunt how her parents died, the answer was, "They died in a car crash... And don't ask questions!"

... Don't ask questions! This was the rule number one when it came to Arielle. She was never allowed to ask questions. She was never allowed anything really. Sometimes Arielle would dream of a distant relative, coming to save her from her sad fate, but no one ever came and Arielle was starting to lose hope.

Turning her attention back on the task in front of her - making breakfast - Arielle sighed softly. Putting the eggs and the bacon on three plates she put them on the table and went to sit on the chair that was in the corner of the kitchen. Apparently, her Uncle found it funny watching her looking at them eat. What a sadistic bastard, thought Arielle with a mental sneer. After the family (which didn't include Arielle) ate their breakfast, Dudley turned his attention to his presents. There were many of them. Big, small, short and long.

Arielle was just about to slowly make her way to her cupboard when Dudley started complaining about there being only thirty six presents. That ensued to a fight that ended with Aunt Petunia's promise to buy him two new presents when they went to the Zoo. Arielle opened the door, just as the telephone begun to ring. Aunt Petunia picked the telephone up and started talking to whoever it was that called. Arielle made her way to her cupboard as Aunt Petunia finished the conversation. Her Aunt had a look on her face that could make the milk go sour. The older woman walked towards Uncle Vernon and said, "Mrs Figg just called. She said she broke her leg... She can't take the insolent girl."

Arielle sighed in relief. It wasn't that she didn't like Mrs Figg; it was just the cats that got on her nerves. Not that she didn't like cats... it was just those cats that she didn't like. Mrs Figg had an obsession about cats and told her numerous stories every time she had to stay there, which was a lot, since the Dursleys never took her anywhere. Turning her attention back to the conversation between her Aunt and Uncle she gave a jolt as her Uncle said, "Well, we'll just have to take her with us. I won't be leaving her here alone! She would blow up something even before we got back."

And that started another temper tantrum of the famous actor Dudley. He started wailing and sobbing and yelled, "I d-don't w-want her t-to come! S-she always r-ruins everything!"

Yeah, right, Arielle thought. When have I ever gone out with you before to ruin something?

But he did have a point. Everywhere that Arielle would go, something strange would happen. Just last week there was this accident with where Dudley and his gang were once again Arielle Attack and suddenly she found herself in a park near Wisteria Walk. And she was on Privet Drive only a few moments ago. It seemed almost as if she had disappeared and reappeared at another end of Little Whinging.

Dudley cried until his best friend Piers Polkiss came. It was kind of funny, how Dudley stopped crying immediately after seeing the other boy. After being pushed around and punched a little the Dursleys, Piers and Arielle settled in the car.

ooOoo

Uncle Vernon often talked about his work in the car and loved ranting about banks, Arielle, his employees, Arielle, people with strange habits, Arielle and generally everything that wasn't as normal as he was. Today for instance he was snarling something about motorcycles. Arielle suddenly remembered her dream. She had that dream quite often. It was something about a flying motorcycle with a big man sitting astride it. She didn't know what to think of it. Even so, she kept her mouth shut. Her Uncle didn't like listening to her so she didn't say anything about her having this particular dream. It would only give her another pair of bruises. Looking around herself she noticed that they were stopping. Dudley and Piers pushed her out of the car so that she fell on the pavement and got out themselves. Trying to stop her tears from flowing down her cheeks, Arielle nursed her bleeding hand and stood up. She wouldn't give them the pleasure to watch her cry. She got that enough at home.

After getting past the Entrance, Dudley and Piers got ice-cream and after the lady at the desk asked Arielle what flavour she would like, Uncle Vernon had resorted to buy her the cheapest lollipop that tasted like lemon, but Arielle was happy. That was the first time that she actually got a candy.

She licked it happily and tried to make herself as small as she could so that she could get away from the Dursleys for at least a few minutes. After quickly hiding herself behind a bin and waiting for the Dursleys to disappear from her view, Arielle made her way to the opposite side of the Zoo. She snickered at the monkey that reminded her of Dudley if he had brown hair and patted the horses. She always had a strange affinity to animals. As she made her way to the Reptile House she quietly made her way towards the biggest snake. After seeing Dudley and Piers both watching and agitating the sleeping snake she decided to wait for them to move on. Soon the boys were bored and made their way to other snakes and reptiles. Arielle stepped to the glass and peered down at the snake. It raised its head and looked at her. Arielle cocked her head and the snake rolled her eyes as though to say, "I get that all the time..."

Arielle laughed quietly and nodded. "I know how you feel, being stared by the people day after day."

The snake nodded vigorously as Arielle turned her attention to the plate with the name of the snake. Apparently the snake was a Boa Constrictor and came from Brazil. Just as she was about to ask how it was there, she noticed the small writing 'Bred in Captivity'. Signing sympathetically at the snake she said, "I'm sorry that you never knew your parents. I never knew mine either."

The snake hissed a little and just as Arielle was about to say something else, she was suddenly pushed to the ground by her big fat cousin. She glared at him through the hair that was in her eyes. Dudley leaned to the glass and started calling for Piers. He must have seen her talking to it...

That was bad.

A splash brought Arielle back to the Earth and she gaped at Dudley who was in the small pool of water that was INSIDE the glass container. The glass was gone and the Boa Constrictor slithered out of it. As she passed Arielle, Arielle could swear that she heard the snake say, "Thanks, Amiga!"

She was about to say something in return when a shriek made her wince. It seemed as if Aunt Petunia discovered Dudley's predicament. As the Zoo Keeper rushed to them Arielle was roughly pulled up from the ground by her irate Uncle. His eyes told stories.

Arielle gulped. She knew what that expression meant - punishment. Dudley was quickly wrapped in a warm blanket and the Dursleys plus Piers were given hot tea to calm them down. The Keeper kept repeating, "How on Earth did the glass disappear?"

Arielle made herself as small as she could and watched her Uncle's purple face.

She was in for it.

As soon as they returned home she was grabbed by her hair and stuffed in her cupboard. Gently putting her hand on her throbbing skull, Arielle sat on her little cot. She was trembling in fear. She never liked being punished. Sometimes she would be beaten; sometimes her Uncle made her do chores for months and if she didn't finish them in time, guess what happened... she was beaten again.

Sighing softly she mentally prepared herself for her 'torture session' as she called it. After a few hours, her Uncle came to the cupboard and started the punishment. After he was finished, Arielle was barely conscious.

ooOoo

The punishment that Arielle got lasted for a long time and in time that she was allowed to go out of her cupboard it was already summer holiday. As Arielle made breakfast, or at least trying to do so, the mail came. Uncle Vernon grunted from behind his newspaper, "Dudley, get the mail."

Dudley decided to have none of that and smacked his Smeltings stick on the table with such force that the glass with his milk jumped and fell on the floor. Yay. Another chore for her. His father bought it to him along with his Smeltings uniform, which consisted of maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers and flat straw hat called boater. Smeltings was also the secondary school that Uncle Vernon himself went to and Piers was accepted there too. Arielle on the other hand was accepted at Stonewall High, the local comprehensive.

"Make Arielle get it!" Dudley whined. Uncle Vernon never said no to any of Dudley's wishes so Arielle made her way to the doormat where the post lay and picked it up. There was a bill, a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge and... a letter for Miss Arielle Potter.

That was her!

The envelope was made of parchment, so it seemed and it didn't have a stamp. There in the middle of it was a loopy handwriting.

Miss Arielle Potter
Cupboard under the Stairs
4, Privet Drive
Little Whinging
Surrey

Making her way back to the kitchen she absentmindedly gave the bill and the postcard to her Uncle, still staring at the letter in her hands. Uncle Vernon grunted something and after a few moments said, "Marge is ill, ate a funny whelk."

It was at that moment that several things happened. Arielle was just about to open her letter as Dudley yelled, "Dad, Dad! Arielle's got a letter!"

Her letter was pulled out of her hands and her Uncle sneered, "Who would be writing to you, whelp?"

After opening her letter, Uncle Vernon gasped and barely made out, "P-Petunia!" Aunt Petunia read the first few sentences and gasped in horror, while Dudley smacked his father on the head and whined, "I want to read the letter too! Give it to me!"

Arielle sat there stunned but those words made her jump up and yell, "Give it back, it's mine! It's my letter!"

That seemed to put her Uncle out of the stupor as he angrily tore the letter in front of her eyes and drag her to the cupboard. After locking her in, she heard him grumbling, "How dare they! The freaks! Following us, no doubt!"

She wondered who he was talking about, but remembered that it was probably the sender. And her Uncle knew who it was. That fact alone made Arielle even more depressed than she was when she wasn't able to read her letter.

Later that day, her Uncle opened her cupboard and gave her a strained smile. He said, "Your Aunt and I have been talking, and we decided that the cupboard was too small for you. You'll move to Dudley's second bedroom."

Arielle made a small sound in the back of her throat. Plucking up her courage she asked, "Where's my letter?" Her Uncle turned purple and barked, "It was addressed to a wrong person, I burned it." Arielle protested, getting angrier as the seconds passed, "How could it be the wrong address? It had my cupboard on it!"

This remark got her a punch in the eye and her Uncle yelled, "Silence! You'll do as I say! Go to your new room and stay there! No dinner for you!"

Arielle sighed and resigned to her fate once more. It took her only one time to get all of her possessions in the room where Dudley kept his toys and books. Her eyes brightened a little at the prospect of reading those books before she remembered that she was forbidden to read. Throwing herself on her bed she decided that while she would give anything to move to this bedroom a few days ago, now she would give everything for that letter that arrived for her that morning. Looking up at the ceiling she heard Dudley screaming, "M-Mummy! I don't want her to be in my room! Make her get out of it! I need it!"

Arielle suppressed a snort and looked around herself. There wasn't a toy that wasn't broken. A glance in the corner of the room made her realize that the camera that Dudley got for his birthday a few months ago was broken already. Turning her attention on the books that lay on the shelves untouched she stood up and read the titles. There was the Lord of the Rings collection, some bedtime stories and classic works. She ran her fingers down the spine of a particularly interesting title, and sighed in frustration.

Next morning, Uncle Vernon was kind enough to tell Dudley to get the mail for him. It resulted in Dudley's cry of, "There's another one!" Uncle Vernon turned purple again and by the sounds of it, tackled his son on the ground to get the letter from his obese fingers. Next day, Arielle tried to sneak down the stairs at six o' clock to get the letter, but ended up being punished for stepping on Uncle Vernon's face as he slept in a sleep bag in front of the door.

The day after that three more letters arrived for Arielle. This time addressed to the Smallest Bedroom. Uncle Vernon decided to take a day off from work and started to nail the letter-box while murmuring, "No more mail through this letter-box."

On Friday no fewer than twenty-four letters came for Arielle in the eggs that a surprised milkman gave to Aunt Petunia through the window. Aunt Petunia mixed them in the mixing machine. Then the next day there was fifty letters, which made their way in the house through the bathroom windows.

Sunday was a relatively calm day, as the Dursleys sat in the living room chatting stupidly about whatever, while Arielle served them their cookies and tea. "Fine day, Sunday," grumbled Uncle Vernon happily while munching on his cookie. "Why is that Dudley?"

Dudley shrugged his shoulders and Arielle said, "Because there's no post on Sundays, perhaps?" Uncle Vernon ignored the sarcastic question and said, "Right you are, Arielle. No post on Sundays! HA!"

He was about to add something else when a letter flew in his face making him drop the cookie. The whole house started shaking and suddenly hundreds of letters found their way in the house through the fireplace. Arielle jumped on the empty couch and tried to catch a letter, but Uncle Vernon had different plans. Grabbing her around her waist and dragging her to the cupboard, he locked her in and yelled to her Aunt, "Petunia, get your things! We're getting away! Far away where they can't find us."

A few minutes later, the Dursley family and Arielle could be found in a car on their driveway. Dudley was sobbing as his father had hit him when he wanted to take his computer and TV with him.

Arielle stared through the window as they drove on the motorway. Once in a while Uncle Vernon would change directions, mumbling something about shaking them off. They drove and drove and drove and drove and - guess what - drove. Aunt Petunia and Dudley decided that it would be a smart thing to do to be quiet and let Uncle Vernon do what he thought was the right thing. They stopped at a motel and Uncle Vernon rented a room for them. The next morning when the Dursleys were eating breakfast while Arielle was watching them again, a young woman came to their table and asked, "Excuse me, but is one of you Miss Arielle Potter?" She showed them a yellowish envelope with the address,

Miss Arielle Potter
Room 17
Railview Hotel
Cokeworth

Her Uncle turned purple again and, even before Arielle opened her mouth to say that it was her, made his way after the woman.

They drove again.

Uncle Vernon would stop at odd places and left them in the car, muttering something about finding a place to hide. It was nearing the evening as they finally stopped again and Uncle Vernon left them in the car again. After a few minutes he returned with a stupid grin on his face.

"Come on, I found the perfect place!"

Following behind him, Arielle saw a shaky house on the top of a small island in the middle of the sea. An old man took them over the water and left them there. She trudged behind her relatives and watched as Uncle Vernon opened the door of the house. He tried to make a fire, keyword tried, and Aunt Petunia took the blankets that were on the couch and made the bed for her and Uncle Vernon. She also put two blankets on the couch and tucked Dudley in, while Arielle was left to lie on the cold floor without anything to cover her. Shivering in the cold, Arielle suddenly realised which day it was. Dudley had moaned that today was the Great Humberto. And since Dudley knew the days of the week, because he watched various TV programmes, she also knew that tomorrow would be her birthday.

She would turn eleven.

Drawing herself a birthday cake in the dust, she waited for midnight to strike to make a wish and blow the dust-candles. She watched Dudley's digital clock and counted silently. Ten - Nine - Eight - What was that? Something was outside - Seven - Six - Five - Four - Three - Two - One -

BAM!

BAM!

The door of the shack fell off its hinges. Arielle quickly scurried off to a dark corner while Dudley woke up with a squeak. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia ran in the room. Uncle Vernon held a rifle in his hands which shook.

A tall shadow appeared at the doorstep. It was a man. He had shoulder-length black hair and a hooked nose. His face was set in a fierce scowl that made Arielle's hair stand up at her neck. She shivered subconsciously and stared at the man. It was obvious that the man didn't notice her yet as his black eyes fell on Dudley who cowered behind his mother. The stranger sneered at the child and asked in a cold voice, "Where is Potter?"

Uncle Vernon murmured something that strongly reminded Arielle of 'freak'. She started as she heard the rifle cock and stared at her Uncle. Was he really going to shoot the man? "There is no Potter here! You are breaking and entering! Get out of the house!" The man didn't even flinch under her Uncle's words; he merely smirked and pulled something out of his pocket.

It was a stick.

Why on Earth he would pull out a stick was beyond Arielle's mind. The man flicked his wrist and murmured something. The rifle suddenly flew out of her Uncle's hands and landed in the man's free hand. Her Uncle squeaked, not unlike a rat or a mouse would and stepped in front of his family, minus Arielle of course. The man’s gaze turned even colder, if that was possible and he almost hissed his next words, “One last time. Where is Potter?”

Arielle knew that she couldn’t hide anymore. She sighed and stepped out of the corner she was hiding in.

“I’m here.”

The man sneered and grabbed her hand. Arielle gritted her teeth to not scream out in pain. That was the hand that was bruised the most, not to mention bleeding from where her uncle had slammed her in the corner of the motel after they left it. She couldn’t do anything but let herself be dragged away from her ‘family’.

The man’s black robes were billowing dramatically as he walked down the road to the shore. Arielle almost fell numerous times as she tripped over the rocks and only his hand stopped her from falling on her nose. He stopped so suddenly that Arielle stumbled and almost fell again if it wasn’t for the man’s second hand that grabbed her shoulder and held her straight. She hissed in pain and jerked away from him. The man glared at her and said, “Sit in the boat.”

Arielle thought of disobeying him, since she didn’t even know his name, but decided against it. Sitting in the boat she silently watched as the man sat opposite her, pulled that stick from his pocket again and tapped the boat. Suddenly the boat lurched forward and Arielle had to grab the edge of it, to prevent her falling over board. The man didn’t seem to notice that, or he simply ignored her. From his other pocket he pulled a small button and with a swish of his stick changed it in a magazine of some sort. Its title was Potions Weekly.

Arielle didn’t recognize it. After about half an hour she couldn’t stay quiet anymore. Clearing her throat quietly she drew the man’s attention to herself. She said, “If you don’t mind. Who are you and where are you taking me?” The man’s gaze hardened again and he sneered, “It’s none of your business.” Arielle visibly bristled. None of her business?

“None of my business? Being kidnapped by a total stranger is none of my business?” She quickly bit her tongue as soon as the words left her mouth. She put the hand on it and quickly said, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you, sir…”

The man’s gaze lingered on her for a moment before he returned his attention back to the magazine. Minutes passed again before the man spoke, “My name is Severus Snape, and I came to check why you never answered your letter.” Arielle nodded appreciatively, although she wasn’t sure if he saw it or not. She decided that the best way to treat the man was to be polite, so she said, “Thank you. I’m Arielle Potter.”

She shrugged and almost hissed out in pain. She forgot about her shoulder. She gently wrapped her hand around it and tried to figure out where the pain was the worst. After a moment she answered his second question, if it was a question at all.

“I never replied to the letter because I wasn’t allowed to read it.”

Mr Snape’s eyes settled on her again as he lowered the magazine and he asked in a strangely calm voice, “You were not allowed?” Arielle shook her head. “Of course I wasn’t. My Uncle ripped the first letter in front of my eyes, and then when the next letters came they just destroyed them again.”

She felt strangely safe with the man, even though she couldn’t explain the feeling… but maybe it was because she was feeling light-headed… all that blood loss and such. She turned her attention on Mr Snape again and waited for his reaction. She didn’t receive one. The man didn’t even look at her face but at her shoulder that she was still holding.

Suddenly she felt the wetness on her hand again. She drew it back and stared a little at the blood that was on it. She thanked whatever deity that was, that she wasn’t a sissy concerning blood, as she heard Mr Snape curse silently as he fumbled for something in his pockets. She watched as he pulled out a vial of some sorts with a sickly green substance in it. Giving it to her, she accepted it and watched the golden swirls in it.

“Well, what are you waiting for!” Mr Snape snapped at her. She looked up confused. “What?” The man’s lips quirked in a sneer as he said, “Drink it up.”

She obeyed immediately. Downing the drink she gave a shudder at the disgusting taste and swayed a little. She would have fallen in the water if it wasn’t for Mr Snape’s hand that grabbed her and stopped the swaying. She felt dizzy and couldn’t keep her eyes open. The last thing she heard was Mr Snape’s cursing... again…

When she opened her eyes she felt disoriented. It wasn’t until her head stopped spinning that she noticed that she wasn’t in the boat anymore. She quickly sat up and looked around herself. She was in a bed with white linen sheets and the big room smelt like a hospital.

Was she in the hospital? What happened?

Before she could do anything else, the doors to the room opened and an old man stepped through. Behind him were the man that took her away from the Dursleys and an elder woman that wore a white robe. Arielle realized that it was the nurse. She had to be the nurse, since the minute the woman set her eyes on the girl, she rushed forward, pushed Arielle to lie back down on the bed and did a series of flicks and waves with a stick that was similar to the stick that Mr Snape had.

The nurse also murmured some words that Arielle thought were Latin. A small cough brought Arielle out of her musings and she looked at the old man and then at the black man that obviously brought her here. The man with silver beard and half-moon spectacles looked at her with twinkling blue eyes that reminded her of something, but she couldn’t quite decide what. After a minute of silent staring, the nurse broke the silence with an exclamation of, “Merlin, what were you doing to yourself, child?”

Arielle’s gaze turned on the nurse in confusion. “Don’t you eat at all?” was the nurse’s next question. Arielle blushed in discomfort and she mumbled something. The nurse asked her to repeat herself so she closed her eyes and repeated what she mumbled, this time as clear as the crystal.

“Not usually.”

That brought another question up. This time from the old man. “Why not?”

The man had a calm voice that soothed Arielle’s nerves and she relaxed slightly. Looking up in those blue eyes she replied, “Because I’m not worth the food nor am I worth the money.”

The Snape Man turned his attention to the girl on the bed and he sneered, but didn’t make a noise. Arielle looked up at the nurse and asked the most obvious questions, “Where am I, and who are you?”

The old man chuckled merrily and patted her head a little. “I must apologize for not introducing us sooner, Miss Potter. My name is Albus Dumbledore and I am the Headmaster of the school which you’ll attend in September. The woman that took care of you is our nurse, Madam Pomfrey and you already know our Potions professor, Severus Snape.”

Arielle nodded and leaned back on the pillows that the nurse put behind her back while she wasn’t watching. Madam Pomfrey gave her a blood red potion and explained that it was a Nutrition Potion and when she drank it, the potion would provide her with the most important nutrition until she was allowed to eat. She watched as the nurse and the headmaster conversed quietly at the nurse’s desk and turned her eyes on Mr Sna- no, he was a professor.

“Um,” she said quietly. “Could you tell me what you gave me to drink before I passed out?”

Professor Snape gave her a cold glare and said, “It was a simple Healing Potion. But as I was not aware that you haven’t eaten anything, it had some undesired side-effects.”

Arielle nodded to show she understood. Then she decided to press another matter. “What is that stick that you used?”

The professor gave her another glare and took the stick out of his pocket. He let her study it for a few moments and said, “This is a wand. We use it to do magic with it.”

Arielle scoffed and before she could stop herself she quoted her Uncle’s favourite words, “There’s no such thing as magic.”

The glare turned even colder as before. The voice that the professor used was like ice. “Which stupid idiot told you that?”

Arielle looked down at her hands and whispered, “My Uncle.”

Arielle sighed as the room became silent once again. That was getting a habit it seemed. Every time she said something about her Uncle, the silence fell.

What was wrong with the people?

The headmaster spoke, this time without the twinkling in his eyes.

“Your Uncle told you that there is no such thing as magic? May I presume that you didn't get the letter I left on the Dursley's doorstep when I left you there?”

Arielle raised her eyes and glared at the man. She didn't care if he was older than her nor did she care that he was the headmaster. He was the one that condemned her to the hell she had to live in for the last ten years.

A candle flicked a little and some potion vials burst from the anger she felt. She didn’t know it was her that did that until professor Snape grabbed her shoulders and hissed,

“Calm down, you idiot child!”

Arielle was far too angry to hear or listen to the advice. She shrieked,

“Calm down! Calm down! Why should I calm down if that man made me live in hell!”

The windows of the hospital room broke at that.

“You made me live there! They hate me! They always hated me!”

She was getting hysterical and she knew it, but she didn’t care. Her body started trembling and her breath hitched. She wasn’t going to cry.

She wasn’t going to cry…

The Snape man suddenly picked her up, sat on the bed and put her on his lap. His strong hands encircled her little form and one hand pushed her head on his shoulder.

She wasn’t going to cry.

The man started rocking and that was all it took.

She was crying.

The two people in the room exchanged glances at the completely out of character Snape who was comforting the little girl. Pomfrey shrugged. She didn’t know what was happening either. Dumbledore gestured to the doors and the nurse complied wordlessly. The two of them left the hospital. The man and the girl were left alone.

Arielle calmed down a while later and only sniffed now and then. The Snape Man as she dubbed him, said,

“I hope that you feel better now.”

Because her throat was still a little tight, she didn’t answer. She only nodded and leaned back so that she could look the Snape Man in the eyes. For the first time she noticed that they weren’t the normal black colour as she had seen people have. They remembered her of obsidian stones.

While there was no twinkle present, the eyes also looked like dark tunnels, emotionless and cold. They stared at each other for a few minutes, neither saying a word. It also wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. Finally the Potions Professor said,

“Madam Pomfrey healed everything that she could and said that you are free to go. Seeing as you will not be returning to your relatives, I will add some more rooms to my chambers in the dungeons. Tomorrow tough, we will talk.”

Arielle nodded and gave the older man a small smile. He was nice. Well, not exactly nice, but nicer than Uncle Vernon. She moved down from the man’s lap and jumped on the floor of the hospital room.

The walk to the Snape Man’s rooms was very eventful. Arielle couldn’t believe that this was a castle full of magic. Even if she had fifty pairs of eyes she couldn’t see everything.

The Snape Man walked slowly as to accommodate himself to Arielle’s speed and explained things that Arielle knew nothing about. She learned quite a lot in that twenty minutes walk.

For example, that Muggles were non-magic folk, like her Uncle, Aunt and cousin. That squibs were from magical families but had no magic powers which made them almost Muggle, that there were also ghosts, which was after they had a run-in with the Bloody Baron, the Slytherin ghost. Snape also explained her about the four Houses. After Arielle asked him about them, he said,

“There are four houses at Hogwarts, named after the four founders. Gryffindor is a house that was named after Godric Gryffindor. Its colours are scarlet and gold. The house mostly has reckless and stupid people in it.”

“Why stupid?” Arielle couldn’t help herself but ask. Snape sneered and confessed,

“Well, I cannot tell you about that house without being prejudiced. So, do not ask me of it anymore. I’ll lend you Hogwarts: a History after you get settled in and you can read about Gryffindor more.”

Arielle nodded and waited for The Snape Man to continue.

“Hufflepuff is named after Helga Hufflepuff. The house colours are black and yellow and hard workers, honest and loyal students go in there. It’s also the least popular house at Hogwarts. They say that the students who don’t fit in the rest of the houses end up there.

“Then there is Ravenclaw, the house of Rowena Ravenclaw and home to intelligent, studious and students that have a great mind. The colours are blue and bronze.”

He stopped there for a moment and with a proud voice continued,

“And then Slytherin. I was in Slytherin. The colours are green and silver and the house founder was named Salazar Slytherin. He was a Parselmouth, which means he could speak to snakes. He appreciated the cunning, sly and intelligent students. It’s also the most prejudiced house of all. It wouldn’t be good to be on the bad side of them, that I can advise you.”

Arielle listened to him and almost ran straight in a portrait. It was only Snape’s hand on her shoulder that prevented her from hitting it. She blushed furiously and looked up at The Snape Man through her hair bangs.

He wasn’t looking at her. She turned her eyes at the portrait that he was looking at. After a moment she squeaked and hid herself behind the black-robed man.

Snape looked at her in curiosity and she looked at the portrait where she saw a man moving. The man in the portrait chuckled and said,

“Ah, Severus… I think I frightened the young lady. My apologies.”

Arielle peeked from behind Snape and blinked up at the portrait.

“You can talk?” she asked curiously. The man chuckled again and answered,

“Why of course I can, I am a magical portrait after all. We, magical portraits are able to talk, move and jump to other portraits at will.”

He would have gone on, but Snape interrupted him and said,

“Well, it’s nice seeing you again, but I am afraid that our little friend here is tired and should go to sleep. It is rather early.”

He turned to Arielle and added,

“I will tell the portrait the password to my quarters. You would do well to remember it.”

Turning to the portrait he said,

“Gillyweed.”

Arielle gasped as the portrait moved and revealed a dark corridor. Snape tugged Arielle’s hand and pulled her behind him to the corridor. She looked around, when they came to a circular room.

It was decorated in dark browns and beige colours. There was a fireplace on her left and a big comfy beige couch before it. The shelves on the walls were filled with books and other personal things. The rug on the floor was also beige. A small cough brought Arielle back to her surroundings and Snape said,

“Your room should be over there.”

He pointed to a dark brown door across from the fireplace. Arielle looked up at the Snape Man and asked with a shaking voice,

“What do you mean with ‘your room’?”

Snape kneeled on one knee so that he was on the same level as Arielle. He took her shoulders and said,

“Your room. As in you live in there and can decorate it as you please.”

Arielle nodded, a little overwhelmed. Snape stood up again and took her hand. He walked to the door and opened it. Inside was a definitively girlish room.

Arielle had to giggle at Snape’s expression and swore she could hear him murmur, “I’ll kill the old coot,” before rolling his eyes. The room walls were pink and the bed was a fluffy white. There was also a fluffy white carpet on the floor and cherry wood furniture. As she looked at the ceiling she saw stars on the night sky. She gasped at the view and heard the Snape Man say,

“It’s enchanted so that it looks like the sky outside. Dumbledore must have thought you’d like it.”

Arielle could only nod. Snape seemed to feel her being overwhelmed and brought her to the bed on which a pair of pyjamas and some pink slippers lay. He took them off and said,

“Change in these pyjamas and go to sleep. I’ll wake you for breakfast and then we’ll talk about other arrangements.”

Arielle nodded and took the pyjamas from the older man. She looked at them and couldn’t help but smile. The pyjamas were of Disney’s Little Mermaid that had the same name as she had.

She felt a pang of guilt as she remembered how she blew up at the old Headmaster. She decided to apologize the first time she’ll see the old man.

Someone was shaking her shoulders.

She cracked her eyes open and looked up. The Snape Man was at her bed and seemed to wait for her to notice him. She yawned a little and rubbed her eyes.

Sitting up on the bed she looked around. It wasn’t a dream, she came to a happy realisation. She really was away from her relatives. She gave the Snape Man a wide smile while she hopped down from the bed.

Ignoring Snape’s stare she quickly crossed the room to where she put her clothes on a chair. She was just about to pick them up, when the Snape Man said,

“You don’t have to change your clothes right away. Breakfast is served and then we’ll change the clothes you have to something a lot more appropriate.”

Arielle looked at him and then at her clothes. He was right. Her clothes were rags. Her Aunt and Uncle never spent any money on that that wasn’t necessary. So she got her Aunts old skirts and shirts. They were all white or grey…

A colour that didn’t suit Arielle at all.

She often wondered what colours did suit her. She looked at colours whenever she was allowed to go out. She didn’t have any books about colours and as she wasn’t allowed to borrow Dudley’s or go to the local library, she learned the colours in the nature. She found out that she liked green, black, gold and silver the most. She didn’t mind blue or bronze either.

After shaking herself from her thoughts, she quickly crossed the room and went back to the professor. He opened the door to the living room and showed her the way to the kitchen.

While Arielle was sitting down on a chair, Snape was rummaging through the cupboards. Arielle watched him for a while swinging her legs that didn’t reach the floor under her and after he put some eggs on the stove, she asked,

“What is going to happen now?”

She didn’t know what to expect from the man that took her from her relatives. She thought about the world she suddenly landed in and sighed. She didn’t know anything…

Professor Snape turned to her and handed her the scrambled eggs with some bacon, a glass of milk and a few pieces of toast. Then, he sat himself across from her and poured himself a cup of coffee. She wondered why he didn’t eat, but Snape seemed to interpret her look as he said,

“I already had breakfast. I decided to let you sleep in for a few more hours.”

Arielle nodded her thanks and started attacking her breakfast. After she was done with the eggs, bacon and toast she picked the glass of milk and drank it all in one go. She smiled sheepishly at the professor across from her.

Snape watched her as she ate and smirked as she lowered the glass. She had a nice white moustache under her nose. She didn’t seem to notice it yet and Snape couldn’t bring himself to tell her about her condition. She was just too cute.

He shook his head a little… He couldn’t believe he just thought that… With a wave of his wand the dishes disappeared. He turned to Arielle again and said,

“You can go to the living room while I fetch your letter. It is time that you read it for yourself.”

Arielle obeyed the Snape Man without a word. Trotting to the living room she looked around herself again and admired the room. It was big, but not too big. She went over to the bookshelves and studied the book titles. She was intrigued by them. There was Moste Potente Potions, Potions Compendium Volume 1 to 6, Dazzling Duelling and much more. She couldn’t wait to read some of them. She turned her head as she heard the professor step in the living room.

“You’ve got some interesting books. Would you let me read some of them later?” she asked. The Snape Man shook his head in what seemed to be amusement and answered,

“No, not at all. But I shall pick your books for the time being.”

Arielle could work with that. She crossed the room and after a confirmative nod from the professor sat herself on the couch in front of the fireplace. The Snape Man sat himself across from her and pulled an envelope out of his cloak. He gave it to her and waited for her to read it.

Arielle took the envelope from his hands and half expected that someone will come to take the envelope again. After staring at the envelope for a few minutes she decided that no one will come and looked at the envelope. It had her new address on it.

Miss Arielle Potter
Living Room
Snape’s Quarters
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Scotland

She turned it around and examined the crest. It had a lion, a snake, a badger and an eagle with a letter H in the middle. Breaking the wax seal she pulled some parchment out of the envelope. She took the first one and started reading it quietly.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster : Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc.,
Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International
Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Miss Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress

She looked up to the Snape Man that was watching her closely. If she asked him a question, she was sure that he would answer, not like Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia who forbid her to ask question.

“What does the letter mean by ‘We await your owl…’” she blurted out. The professor’s lips quirked a little and Arielle quickly put her head down and said,

“Sorry, I won’t ask questions anymore.”

Severus Snape, the world renowned Potions Master stared at the girl in front of him. Why did she react that way after asking a question? Only one answer was in his mind and that was the Dursley family.

With a small sigh he stood up from the armchair that he inhabited and sat down next to Arielle. Clearing his throat slightly he said,

“We have owls as a mean to communicate. We write letters and send them off with owls.”

Arielle looked up, grateful that he answered the question. She thought for a minute, mulling professor’s answer in her mind.

“You mean like post?” she asked finally. The Snape Man nodded and replied,

“Yes, like Muggle post, only without stamps and postmen.”

Arielle smiled with intrigue.

“That sounds fun,” she declared. Snape quirked his lips again and said,

“Well, now that you got your letter we could go to Diagon Alley to purchase your things. You also have a list of books and other equipment in the envelope.”

Arielle nodded and pulled the list out.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Uniform
First-year students will require:

Three sets of plain work robes (black)
One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils’ clothes should carry name tags!

Set Books
All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginners’ Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

Other Equipment

1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST-YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

Arielle was intrigued. She looked at Snape and asked,

“Can we buy all this in Diagon Alley?”

Snape nodded and explained a little further,

“Yes, Diagon Alley is a Wizarding place in England. Its entry is through the Leaky Cauldron, a small pub in London. It’s only seen by us, Wizards and Witches.”

Arielle nodded. She understood that Wizards didn’t want the normal people to know about them. She imagined how it would be if they did. She also remembered a book she read a while back.

It was about Jeanne d’Arc. She was a warrior in France and swore she heard God say that she should help the people. After the war was over and Jeanne d’Arc returned victoriously to the king, she was burned alive because they accused her of being a witch. She returned to present as Snape said,

“Here, I transfigured some of my clothes for you to wear. After you’re finished changing, come back here and we’ll Floo to Diagon Alley.”

Arielle nodded vigorously. She couldn’t wait for them to go to Diagon Alley. Just as she was about to take the clothes from Snape, she stopped and said quietly,

“But how am I to pay for all this. I don’t have any money. And my Aunt and Uncle won’t pay for any of my things.”

Snape smirked and replied,

“You don’t believe your parents left you nothing, do you? Your inheritance is safe in Gringotts.”

Arielle nodded, deciding to wonder what Gringotts was at a later time.

After changing in a white T-shirt and blue jeans that the Snape Man had given her, Arielle peeked out of the room she slept in. She wandered to the fireplace and wondered what that strange word, Floo, meant. Maybe it’s some sort of a car, she mused. A small cough from behind her almost made her shriek when she remembered that it could only be one person that was behind her. Professor Snape. She turned around and looked at him with a confused expression.

“What’s a Gringotts and a Floo?” she asked, trying not to sound too curious, but still blunt to the point. The Snape Man sighed and said, “Gringotts is a Wizarding bank, and a Floo is our way of going from one fireplace to another. We will use this method to go to Diagon Alley.”

Arielle didn’t like the sound of it… no she didn’t like it at all. She shuddered at the image that floated in her head. She shook herself again and asked another question, “And how do I do that? I mean, I can’t just step in the fireplace, drop some powder in it and yell the destination, can I? That would be just too strange…” She trailed off at the smirk on the Snape Man’s face. “What? You don’t mean to tell me that that’s how it works, do you?”

The Snape Man nodded with an amused expression on his face. Arielle sighed in resignation. The Snape Man seemed to sense her discomfort as he suddenly kneeled down in front of her so that they were eye to eye. He cleared his throat and it was obvious that he wasn’t used to comforting young girls. After taking a small breath he said, “Because it is your first time taking the Floo, I’ll go with you. Just keep still and try not to choke me.”

Arielle looked at him in confusion until he spread his arms wide and waited for her. He wore such an expression that Arielle didn’t want to make the Snape Man even more uncomfortable. So, she stepped forward and put her arms around the man’s neck. The man stood up while he held Arielle as tightly as he could without squishing her.

Taking a bit of the sparkling powder, he threw it in the fireplace, stepped in when the flames turned green and said out their destination. Arielle tightened her grasp on the Snape Man’s neck as they hurled through something. It wasn’t a nice experience. And then, just as suddenly the experience was over. She looked up and around herself. They were in a room that only held this fireplace. The Snape Man put her down and took her hand. He didn’t seem to notice that he did…

She trotted after him to a large pub-like room. There were many people in the room, but also some really strange creatures. She was just about to ask what those things were, when the Snape Man crouched down a little and told her that they were Banshees, Vampires, and Hags. Arielle only knew what Vampires were, she never heard of the other two before. She swore to herself to read everything she could about the world she just entered into.

They stopped in front of a wall behind the pub. She looked around herself for a moment and watched as the Snape Man took out his wand and tapped the wall in a pattern. She gasped as the wall started to move away and an alley appeared behind it. “Welcome to Diagon Alley,” professor Snape said quietly. She glanced up at him (she was really small, she was only up to the man’s elbows after all) and then turned her attention to the alley in front of her. It wasn’t huge, but it was still big. Arielle wished she could have fifty pairs of eyes so that she could see everything that was in the alley. There were stores that sold cauldrons, owls, wands, potion ingredients, clothes, broomsticks (what could people possibly do with broomsticks was a mystery to Arielle), books, school equipment,… all she ever wanted or needed for this new world was sure to be in here somewhere.

She smiled for the first time since they came to Diagon Alley as she watched everything around her. Professor Snape looked down at the girl that was following him like a lost puppy and watched her as she experienced her first Diagon Alley visit. He could see her big eyes trying to take in as much as she could and tightened the hold on her hand. It wouldn’t do any good if he lost her, would it? It was surprising really, what a little girl like her could do to people’s hearts. Not that Snape would ever say that out loud, but he was afraid that the girl made a small, but noticeable, dent in the walls that surrounded his heart. Yesterday, when she started shouting at the Headmaster about living in hell, he could see the anguish and pain and desperate wish for someone to just like her, if not love, and couldn’t help himself but try to comfort her.

It worked pretty well, if he admitted the fact to himself. The girl obviously craved love and acceptation, and Severus Snape was trying very hard not to give the girl those two simple things… if for the sake of his heart.

Arielle on the other hand, didn’t have such restrictions. She wasn’t even thinking about that at the moment. She was staring at a creature in front of her. It was almost taller than she was and had strange teeth, similar to those of a shark. She shuddered at that thought. She didn’t want the creature to bite her or something. Hiding herself behind the Snape Man, she peeked over his robes and asked with a shaking voice, “Just what is that thing? Does it bite?”

The Snape Man looked back at her small head and said in a normal voice, “That is a goblin. And no, they don’t bite… at least if you don’t have intentions to steal money from Gringotts.” Arielle blinked at that. So, this was a goblin? And that white building they were standing before was Gringotts, the Wizarding bank? Wow! The architects really didn’t know their geometry! She snickered at the thought, but immediately hid herself behind Snape’s back when the goblin looked at her. The Snape Man just shook his head and pulled her in front of him as they entered the bank. He spent a small amount of time talking to another goblin, which Arielle heard that was named Griphook, and then they were on their way to the vaults.

The ride was great! It was almost as if she were riding a roller coaster! She relaxed completely and squealed in delight when they made sharp turns.

Snape just watched her with hidden amusement. He couldn’t understand how she found that annoying cart ride amusing. They stopped in front of a big vault with a big three digit number on it. The Snape Man gave the goblin a small key that Arielle saw before they entered the cart, and the goblin unlocked the vault. What Arielle saw in it, made her gasp. In it were mountains of mountains of gold, silver and bronze coins. She stared at the amount of Wizarding money that was in the vault. She wondered if that was a lot in the Wizarding world and whose money that was.

“Well? What are you waiting for?” she heard the Snape Man say from behind her. She gave him a really intelligent answer. “Huh?” The Snape Man sighed and proceeded to explain the basic things to her, making her feel like a dunderhead. “This is your vault, and this is your money. I want you to take some of it from the vault and put it in this money sack here. Just make sure you take more bronze and silver coins than gold ones.”

He paused for a moment and after clearing his throat of the over-usage, continued, “The gold coins are Galleons, silver ones are Sickles and it makes seventeen sickles to a Galleon, while twenty-nine bronze Knuts make one silver Sickle.” Arielle just stared at the Snape Man. What? What kind of a currency was that? She sighed after a moment and went inside the vault where she picked up the aforementioned money.

On the way out they bumped in a huge man with brown bushy beard and bushy hair that cascaded down to his shoulders in heavy waves. Arielle once again hid behind Snape as the ‘giant’ went over to them with a jovial wave of his hand. Snape could feel the little girl behind him tremble a little and wondered what the cause was this time. Then he heard a booming voice calling out his name.

“P’fessor Snape! What are ye doin’ here? I thought ye were goin’ to Italy fer a few weeks!”

He sighed as he understood that Arielle was afraid of the half-giant, and crossed his hands to glare at the approaching man. “Keep it down, would you?” he asked irritated. Hagrid could never keep a voice down, being a half-giant. “You’re scaring my ward.”

Hagrid, as was apparently the ‘giant’s’ name, looked gob smacked as he stared at the potions professor. Arielle didn’t know what was so strange about the Snape Man that the ‘giant’ had to stare at him like that, but she decided to think about that at a later time.

“Yer ward? Who?”

Arielle then decided to show herself and stepped from behind professor Snape (not the Snape Man, she had to get used to calling him a professor after all). She still stood pretty close to the man in black robes, just in case, and almost broke her neck trying to see the Big Man’s face. She rubbed her neck a little and blushed as the Big Man stared down at her in shock.

“Ye’re the Guardian of Ellie?” the Big Man asked professor Snape with wide open eyes. Arielle was surprised. Did the ‘giant’ know her from before? She tried to remember hard if she met him before, when a flashback from her dream on a flying motorcycle crashed in her brain. She gave a double look at the giant and went to stand before him with a curious expression. She motioned for the ‘giant’ to crouch down so she could look at the face more closely.

Professor Snape watched as Arielle moved forward to Hagrid and wondered what in the name of Merlin was going on. It looked like Arielle was examining Hagrid, who crouched down on his knees like a dog, for something or another. “You’re the man who flew on a giant motorcycle!” Arielle finally exclaimed as she linked the memory with the ‘giant’ crouching before her. She grinned up at him and Hagrid almost started crying as he picked her up and put her on his shoulders. “Blimey, p’fessor Snape, she remembers me!”

Arielle laughed a little, making herself comfortable up there and peered down at the scowling professor. Professor Snape had crossed his arms and looked really grouchy. She wondered if that was his mask in the public, since when they were alone he was nicer to her and didn’t scowl all the time like he did at the moment. She didn’t like his scowl. No, not at all. She tugged on the giant’s hair and Hagrid put her down on the floor again. She walked up to professor Snape and tugged on his sleeves. When he looked down at her, she asked timidly, “Um, sir, can Hagrid go shopping with us, if he has the time?”

Snape scowled even more and Hagrid hurriedly told them that he has errands to run at Gringotts and that he couldn’t go with them. Arielle sighed sadly and nodded. She waved at the giant until he went out of her view. She was just about to put the hand down when it got snagged again and professor Snape led her to a clothes shop. It was called Madam Milky or something of the sort. Arielle couldn’t get the whole name, since they walked too quickly for her to read it all.

Professor Snape made her stand up on a stool as they waited for someone. A woman soon made an appearance and with one glance at Arielle’s clothes and the scowling professor, she went to work silently. The measuring tape quickly and swiftly got to work and measured her everywhere while the woman asked her questions, “Now, young lady, tell me what you want to wear. What colours do you like? Do you have any preference with the materials? What about the style?”

She went on and on like that until professor Snape, who had been watching Arielle get more and more confused, said, “Will you quiet down, woman? The poor girl isn’t following your words.” The woman stopped mid sentence and stared at the professor, then turned back at Arielle and measured her with her eyes. “I’d recommend green, silver, crimson, and amber myself, but tell me what colours you would like…”

It went on and on, until Arielle could barely stand up. In the end, she had gotten the school uniform and other required clothes, some undergarments, skirts, shirts, blouses, socks, tights, leggings, and pretty dresses. Professor Snape made her wear a dark forest green blouse with silver flowers on the front with a ‘I’m a Fairy’ written in the centre and a dark grey skirt that reached just above her knees. She also had to put on dark forest green socks and the old black shoes that she had on before.

All in all, she looked really cute in her new attire and even professor Snape’s lips softened as she walked out of the changing rooms with a shy expression on her face as she looked up at him from behind her bangs. She had washed her hair while in the bathroom that morning and now it cascaded down to the middle of her back in soft curls. Her bangs however were a different story. They just couldn’t stay still, but stuck up everywhere, which made her even cuter. Professor Snape made her count the money for the things, letting her work alone with only a few tips, and they were out of the salon.

He led her to an apothecary where he personally chose her Potions ingredients, or so they said on the list. He also added a few more than necessary, just in case, and paid for the extra himself. Their next stop was the Cauldron shop, where the professor chose a cauldron of a very good quality and she paid for that as well. They made their way around Diagon Alley, buying her school things when something soft landed on Arielle’s head. She was too shocked to utter a sound and after a small gasp she had her arms full of a cute little grey kitten with green eyes, just like hers. The kitten’s belly was white and her paws as well. They just stared at her for a few seconds which seemed like an eternity to Arielle when she was shocked out of her wits when she heard a voice in her head. “Mistress! You’re my mistress! Meow!”

She gasped and looked up at professor Snape who was watching the proceedings with interest. Suddenly they heard someone shout at them about the kitten. Arielle turned around and saw that the kitten must have escaped the Magical Menagerie shop which sold animals since someone waved at them from the entrance. She looked up at professor Snape, but he wasn’t watching her, but the kitten.

And the kitten was watching back.

It was almost as if they were talking to each other, just like the kitten talked to Arielle back there. Finally, professor Snape shook his head and looked at Arielle, who was watching him shyly. She had wanted to ask if it was okay for her to buy that kitten, but professor Snape spoke already. “You may buy the kitten, but then you’ll leave her here with me and go to Ollivander’s by yourself.”

Arielle nodded her acquaintance, and grinned widely at the professor. The professor just looked away and let her pay for the kitten and everything that she needed for the kitten’s care, like food and toys. Then, he took the kitten from her arms and led her to the oldest shop, she had ever seen and said, “Just go in and Ollivander will help you find your wand.”

She nodded and after a short squeeze of her shoulder, went inside the old shop. Entering the shop, she wondered who that Ollivander was and what he looked like. It’s not as she had ever seen the man before. Suddenly, she felt someone creep up on her from behind her and quickly turned around. She stared up at a man with white hair and most incredible blue eyes she had ever seen (besides Dumbledore). She knew that this man was Ollivander.

“Arielle Potter. I was waiting for the day you would come to my shop,” were the first words Ollivander said as he walked to the counter.

“I can remember each wand I ever sold, Miss Potter. Each wand. I can remember the wands I sold to your mother and father, your godfather and even your grandparents.”

Arielle just stared at the man. She had a Godfather? Why didn’t she know that? “Um,” she started, but was interrupted by a measuring tape that started measuring the distance between her ears. Ollivander either didn’t hear her, or chose to ignore her as he wandered to the back of the shop and started to load his arms with small longish boxes.

Arielle’s nose was now being measured and she couldn’t help but sneeze as the tape tickled her. The tape suddenly fell down and she stared at it. Did she do something that made it stop. But then she noticed that Ollivander had returned and was holding his wand in his hands, trained on the tape. She knew it was a wand… now. Professor Snape had explained it to her just before she went to get it. She had wondered what those sticks, she saw people use, were.

On his left, several thin boxes hovered in thin air and Arielle wondered what was in them, but could hit herself on the head for her stupidity. Obviously, they were wands! How she even wondered what that could be. Honestly! She successfully stopped herself from banging her head on the counter and watched as Ollivander took the wands out of their respective boxes. The wands were light, dark and somewhere in between.

Ollivander offered her a wand which looked like it had chocolate smeared over it, while the handle was a milky white. It reminded her of the chocolate bar, Milky Way, which Dudley loved. “Ten and a half inches, beechwood and dragon heartstring. Quite springy!” Ollivander said, putting the wand in Arielle’s right hand. But as quickly as she held it, the faster he also pulled it out, while murmuring to himself, “No, no, not this one.”

It went on for more than an hour, Arielle trying the wands, and Ollivander pulling them out of her hands. Finally, the old man sat down from exhaustion and simply said, “Now, why don’t you try calling your wand to yourself?”

Arielle could murder the man! Now he remembered that there was this possibility also? But she refrained herself from jumping on him, and instead asked, “How do I do that?” Ollivander just waved his hand and proceeded to explain, “You just have to look inside yourself and concentrate on your feelings. The wand will come to you by itself.”

And that was supposed to explain it like that?

Arielle sighed and nodded, closing her eyes. At first she had some problems concentrating on her feelings, since they were very haywire and confused. But at last she managed it and she felt a vibration shoot from her body, explaining it to herself that it was just a wave that called the wand to her. She opened her eyes, however, when she heard a gasp from the shopkeeper. In front of her, hovered two wands. Not one, but two.

She looked at the first one. It was a dark brown, almost black in colour and had a reddish handle, while the other was a totally gold wand. She looked at the shopkeeper who was watching her intensely, then plucked up her courage and gripped the first wand in her right hand and with a warm feeling swished it down. Gold and red sparkles flew from its top and danced around the shop. “Curious, very curious,” she heard Ollivander mutter under his breath. Deciding to ask him what was curious after she tried the other wand, she put the wand she was holding down on the counter and picked up the second wand. The gold one.

She felt something steer inside her and wondered what that was, but also decided to think about it later. Instead, she swished it and sparks in all the colours of the rainbow started showering from the tip of the wand. She smiled in satisfaction. She finally found the wands that wanted her. Turning her attention on Ollivander she asked, “What are these wands made of? And what did you mean by curious before, sir?”

Ollivander took his eyes from the two wands on the counter and looked at Arielle with his almost silver eyes. “The first wand was made of holly, eleven inches long, nice and supple and had a single tail feather of a phoenix. What is curious about that particular wand is that the phoenix who gave the feather for your wand, gave only another feather. The feather of the wand that gave you the scar you bear on your forehead.”

Arielle gulped. Who was it that put that lightning bolt-like scar on her forehead? Another question for professor Snape! She was going to make him tell her even if it meant annoying the older man with the question. She was shook out of her reverie when Ollivander proceeded to tell her about the second wand.

“What is most fascinating about the wand isn’t what it’s made of, but more who owned her lastly. The wand itself is made out of Mithril, an old Elvish metal. It was also dunked in pure gold, so that’s where the colour comes from and makes the power of the wand even more powerful. There is no wood in this wand. The core is a multi-core, which even I can’t make.”

He stopped to take a breath, then plunged further, “The cores are, a tail feather from a golden phoenix, which you can’t see today, since the creature died out almost a thousand years ago. The next core is a feather from a Golden Griffin, one of the most extinct magical creatures nowadays. The last core is a fang of a Basilisk, also the rarest magical creature on today’s Earth. Together that makes the most powerful wand I ever had the honour of having touched.”

Arielle held her breath while Ollivander talked and talked about the wand. She vaguely remembered hearing about Mithril and Elves before, but couldn’t remember from where. It had got to be from a book though. She picked up the golden wand again and cradled her to her chest, awed that a wand like that chose her. “Its previous owner was the founder of our world, Merlin itself,” was the last titbit that Ollivander said, before the door suddenly opened and someone entered.

Professor Snape waited for Arielle to come out of the shop. After an hour and a half his patience ran dry and he made his way towards the shop, the kitten Arielle bought on his shoulder and the cage with a pure white owl in his left hand and a bottomless bag with all Arielle’s things in the other. The owl was actually a birthday present for Arielle, even if she already bought a kitten. Severus decided that she had to have an owl also, just in case.

When he entered the Ollivander’s shop, he saw Arielle and Ollivander talking about something or the other and Arielle suddenly looked shocked to the core. Just what did the old codger tell her? But then, he saw two wands on the counter and raised an eyebrow at that. Did Arielle get two wands instead of just one? Arielle turned to see who entered the shop and grinned as she saw that it was professor Snape. She ran up to him and with the biggest smile ever, told him the big news, “You won’t believe it! I have two wands! The golden one is from Merlin and the other one is from a phoenix who gave two feathers only!”

She was so happy that she had a wand… no… wands… that she forgot to be scared of people. She almost danced around the shop as she still smiled widely. Professor Snape cleared his throat after a few moments, and Arielle came out of her train of thoughts and blushed sheepishly as she realised what she was doing. “Sorry,” she apologized herself, hoping that she didn’t annoy the older wizard too much. Walking back to the counter, she paid for the wands and after putting them in their boxes, looked back at professor Snape. Without words, they both left the shop. Arielle turned back to wave at Ollivander and followed the man out.

She trotted beside him, the kitten now in her arms, when she noticed the cage and the owl in it. “What’s that?” she asked curiously. She had so many questions, and since she knew that she wouldn’t get punished for asking them, she felt free to ask whatever was on her mind. Professor Snape turned to her and followed her gaze to the owl in the cage. He turned back to Arielle and quietly said, “It’s your birthday present. It is your birthday today, isn’t it?”

Arielle’s eyes grew wide as she stared at the professor and then the snowy owl in the man’s arms. A birthday present for her? “For me?” she asked weakly. She never felt so vulnerable as she did now. She never got any presents, nor did someone remember it was her birthday. Professor Snape seemed to understand her hesitation and lowered the bag and the cage on the ground. Arielle still stared at the owl, but then she flew forwards and put her arms around the man that was so nice to her. Her eyes were full of tears and she was sniffling softly. Unfortunately, her arms were too short to reach all the way around professor Snape’s torso.

Suddenly she felt arms around her as well, as professor Snape rocked her softly, trying to comfort her. He didn’t speak at all. She knew that he wasn’t the kind of person to speak nonsense, but she felt grateful that he didn’t push her away.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “No one ever gave me a birthday present before.”

She wiped her eyes with a handkerchief that professor Snape offered her and looked up at him with her red-rimmed eyes. “You’re the first one to actually remember my birthday.” She saw the man look slightly uncomfortable and lowered her gaze at the owl again. She knelt down on the pavement and touched the cage with the animal in it. The owl stepped closer to the edge of the cage and butted its head to where Arielle’s fingers were. With a smile, Arielle petted her new owl as the owl closed its eyes in satisfaction.

“She’s beautiful,” Arielle said after a moment as she raised her emerald green eyes to her guardian. It felt nice that she was taken care of. The Dursleys never cared about her, but this man, even though he seemed like he could be quite a meanie, was nice to her. And he said she was his ward. And he didn’t mind. And he was nice and patient with Arielle. Was this what a father should be like? All these questions flew around Arielle’s head as she pondered on whether she would allow him to call her Elle or not. She liked that nickname.

Only Mrs Figg called her that, and Arielle liked that. The nickname, namely. She cleared her throat quietly, and once she had the attention of the man standing above her, she quietly said, “Would you mind calling me Elle? It’s not that I don’t like my name, it’s really nice, but I like Elle more. It’s easier to say and all that.”

She shut up, knowing that she was blabbing again, and lowered her head to watch the snowy owl again. The professor was silent and Arielle was afraid that he would reject her for her rude request, when he quietly said, “No, I don’t mind calling you that.”

His voice changed to a colder one when he added, “But only in complete privacy, as I cannot be seen nice to you at school.” Arielle looked up with a bewildered face and professor Snape elaborated, “I’m not known as a nice person, Elle. I cannot ruin my reputation, it would be bad for everyone and me and you especially, if I was nice to you.”

Calling her Elle like that, made Arielle smile as she listened to the man talk. She frowned at the last sentence and was just about to ask the man why that was, when he added quickly, “We’ll talk more later, in the privacy of our chambers.” He put an emphasis on the word ‘our’ which left Arielle all warm inside. She stood up and smiled at the Snape Man. It was really nice of him to let her stay with him after all and she let him know that.

“Thank you for letting me stay with you, sir,” she thanked him grateful. Professor Snape just waved with his hand, his eyes not quite meeting hers. “It’s alright. Let us return now.”

Arielle nodded as she picked up the owl cage and followed him to the Leaky Cauldron.

As Arielle put her clothes in the dresser and changed clothes to a crimson dress with light red ribbons, a light red waistband and short sleeves, she looked around herself. Her room was the epitome of the word ‘girlish’ and she liked it. As professor Snape had told her, it was her room. Her own. And that made her feel all warm inside. It was the first time she had something of her own, and now she owned all those wonderful clothes, two pets, a room, and all those books and other Wizarding things.

She crossed the room to look at the owl as she petted the kitten that was once again in her arms. The kitten had told her that her name was Caeryn, an old name which Arielle liked very much. It was easy to pronounce and it was a really nice name. Now, she wondered what to call the owl. She wanted to name her after her colour. She was all white after all and she was a female, professor Snape had told her after she asked what gender the bird was. Suddenly she knew. “What do you think about Coco?”

The owl hooted and Arielle could almost understand what the owl said. She knew that the owl liked the name, but how she knew that was a mystery to her. Petting the owl for a little more, she made her way to the living room to find professor Snape sitting in one of the armchairs, reading a book. She slowly approached him, but before she could say something to alert him to her presence, professor Snape lowered the book and stared at her. Motioning for her to take a seat next to him, she obeyed and sat at the corner of the armchair looking up at the professor with curiosity.

“I do believe I promised you that we would talk later today, did I not?”

Arielle nodded and put Caeryn on her lap and started petting her tummy. It was really soft after all and it seemed as if Caeryn loved that particular petting place as she started purring loudly, and murmuring her approval in Arielle’s mind. She smiled down at her and then looked back at the professor. “That kitten isn’t a normal cat, you know,” he said after a moment of watching the two interact. Arielle nodded and said, “Yes, I know. She can talk to me in my head.” Professor Snape nodded and continued, “What you don’t know is that this kind of cats is named the Zenko Cat, named after their creator Darren Zenko. They were bred with the power to use Legillimency and Occlumency.”

Arielle listened to the professor with rapt attention. How he knew all those things she’ll probably never know, but that was okay, as long as he knew them. “What’s Legimensy?” she asked. “Legillimency,” professor Snape corrected her with a sigh.

“Legillimency is a magic of the mind. It is used to ‘read the minds’ as you’d probably understand best. The opposite of Legillimency is Occlumency which is a power to block the intruders from your mind.”

“Occumensy?” said Arielle confused. “No, Occlumency,” corrected professor Snape again. After she got it right in her second try, professor Snape started talking about her past. He told her about Voldemort and how he rose to power about twenty years ago and how they called him You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named because they were too frightened to call him by his proper name. While the professor did tell her his name, he called him the Dark Lord. When Arielle asked why he called him that, professor Snape explained to her that he was once his servant and thus had to call him like that, but also explained that he wasn’t on the side of the evil anymore, but that no one could know that, and that was the reason he couldn’t be nice to her in class.

They talked about her parents and how they died, professor Snape keeping the distaste of her father in check and spoke in monotone. He explained how she came to be the Girl-Who-Lived and why. He also explained some of the basic things about the Wizarding World, such as the subjects that the students took at Hogwarts and sports and families that were prominent. He also told her about the discrimination against Muggleborns and Half-bloods. Arielle was quiet the whole time, trying to take all the information in at once. It hit her really bad when the professor told her that her parents were murdered and that they didn’t die in a car crash. She told him that her uncle and aunt told her that they died in a car crash while drunk and the professor got such an expression on his face that she didn’t dare speak further, instead she stood up and went over to the bookshelves.

The room was quiet and the only sound that was heard were the footsteps that Arielle made as she browsed the extensive library that professor Snape owned. She didn’t understand half the books or what they were about, but she still saw many Muggle books, including the entire collection by Shakespeare and Tolkien. That reminded her of her Mithril wand and she gasped loudly as she held a finger on one of the books by Tolkien.

“What’s wrong?” she heard professor Snape ask her. Shaking her head she turned around and said in a hushed voice, almost afraid of sharing the knowledge. “I remembered where I heard of Mithril before. It’s the dwarven metal that was used in making armours in the Lord of the Rings!”

Professor Snape shook his head at that and wondered what else would happen to Arielle.

“Maybe the books were true?” she asked a few moments later, looking wistfully towards the collection. “Well, Tolkien was a wizard,” came the reply from the professor. That left her stumped. Tolkien was a wizard as well? Then… Then the books really could be true and it really happened! And hobbits, and elves really existed! That was so cool!

The rest of the day was spent talking about various Wizarding subjects, playing with Caeryn, and reading from her school books. They were really quite interesting! When the time for dinner came, professor Snape told her that they would eat in the Great Hall with the other professors. That made Arielle feel shy and a little scared. She was never in that big of a company. Normally, when the Dursleys had visitors, she was locked in her cupboard with a plastic bottle of water and some bread to eat, if she was even allowed to do that.

Just before they went to dinner, the professor looked her over and said, “You look respectable. I am sure that they will like you.” Arielle smiled shyly up at him, knowing that he only tried to make her feel better.

ooOoo

Mithril is a fictional material from J. R. R. Tolkien's universe, Middle Earth. It is a precious silvery metal, stronger than steel but much lighter in weight, which was mined by the Dwarves in the mines of Khazad-dûm. The name mithril comes from two words in Sindarin — mith, meaning "grey", and ril meaning "glitter". Mithril was also called "true-silver" by Men, while the Dwarves had their own, secret name for it.

As they neared the Great Hall, Arielle grew more and more nervous. Finally, she went nearer to the professor, took his hand and tried to make herself as small as possible, while not hiding behind him. Professor Snape looked down at her with a raised eyebrow, but didn’t retract his hand. Instead, he squeezed it a little and opened the doors to the Great Hall. Arielle’s eyes swished left and right, trying to take in as many details as possible. When they stopped at the ceiling, her mouth opened in surprise. There were so many stars on it! How did they do that?

“The ceiling is charmed, so that it shows the sky up there,” the professor helped her with an explanation. Nodding a little, she kept the eyes on the stars and stepped even closer to the professor.

They approached the Head Table like this, Arielle being unaware of the stares that they got from the other professors and the twinkling the Headmaster’s eyes did as he watched them. All she was aware of were the stars in the sky. When she finally lowered her head, she saw that there were a few people at the table already. There was the Headmaster and Hagrid, a tiny man with white hair, a strict looking woman with her hair up in a bun and a slightly plump looking woman with a friendly smile on her face. She wondered who they were, when the Potions Master walked forwards and introduced her to them, “These are the heads of the Houses I told you about. Professor Flitwick is the Charms professor and Head of Ravenclaw. Professor McGonagall is the Transfiguration professor and Head of Gryffindor alongside of being a Deputy Headmistress. And this here is professor Sprout, Herbology professor and Head of Hufflepuff.” Arielle nodded shyly to everyone and followed professor Snape up to the Head Table where she sat down in a chair next to him and to the right of professor Dumbledore.

The dinner was a lively affair. The professors were nice and Arielle relaxed slowly and even begun to ask questions about the subjects the professors taught. She decided that Charms and Transfiguration were the most fascinating of them. She also heard about the other subjects and the electives which she would be able to take in her third year.

As the dinner drew to an end, Arielle was almost asleep and was leaning on professor Snape's side with her eyes slowly drifting to a close. After a small nudge from professor Dumbledore, professor Snape turned to see what Arielle was doing and was surprised to see her sleeping. He did understand it, though. It had to be a big day for Arielle and to learn everything new in one day was energy-consuming for everyone, especially if they were only eleven and abused at the previous home. Previous meaning that she would never have to return to the Dursley's household. Severus Snape had made sure of that, by yelling at Dumbledore who told him about the blood wards.

Sighing deeply, he quietly excused himself from the others and after picking Arielle up, made his way to his... no, their quarters. There, he carried her to her bedroom and put her on the bed. She moved a little, only to put her head in a better position and continued to sleep.

Severus was feeling confused a little, but he wouldn't tell you that even if you threatened him with a Balding Hex. After searching through her clothes that they bought today, he found the sleeping gown Albus gave her last night and with a small blush made to change her clothes. He had never changed clothes of someone before; therefore the work was slow and difficult, because he was giving his best not to wake the 'sleeping beauty' up. Where that word came from, Severus didn't want to know...

ooOoo

When Arielle opened her eyes, she was confused for a second, but then remembered that she must have fallen asleep in the Great Hall and smiled at the thought of professor Snape carrying her to her bed and changing her clothes. Stretching lazily she grinned up at the ceiling. She wasn't at the Dursleys any more. They couldn't hurt her. With a yawn, she shoved the covers off of her and sat up in the soft bed. She looked around herself and grinned at the sight of Caeryn sleeping on the left of where she had her head, and Coco sleeping, on the porch that must have been brought here sometime when she was asleep, with her head under her wings.

Sliding down from her bed, she put on the pink slippers that professor Dumbledore gave her, and padded across the room to the dresser where she picked her clothes. This time it was an amber shirt, dark brown trousers and after combing her hair with the comb she found on a night stand, put her hair in two pigtails with two amber hair-clips. All in all, she looked lovely, Severus Snape decided, when she came out of her room to the living room and greeted him with a smile on her face.

Breakfast was over quickly and Severus brought his work to the living room to make class notes (face it; he just didn't want to leave Arielle alone in his... their chambers. Merlin, this will take long to get used to), while Arielle started reading her new textbooks. His heart felt a bit lighter when he saw her concentrated face as she read the Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling. It was obvious that she intended to learn as much as she could about the world she just entered before starting on her subjects. He couldn't fault her for that, so he concentrated on his own work after glancing at Arielle once more.

Meanwhile, Arielle was totally immersed in the book she had bought. It was a bit boring to read, but had so much new information about the Wizarding World, that she would have a hard time getting to remember it all. Luckily she had something people called a photographic memory, and thus hadn't had many problems with remembering things she had read about.

ooOoo

The summer flew by much in the same manner as that second day. Severus was working on his school work and Arielle was reading on her school books. In the afternoons they would walk around the school with Severus explaining things to Arielle or on Hogwarts grounds. She would have quite an advantage over the other first years when the school started. She had also grown close to most of the staff. She had been allowed to call professor Dumbledore Grandpa, professor McGonagall became Auntie Minerva, professor Flitwick was Uncle Filius and Hagrid was Hagrid. The only staff members that Arielle didn't feel comfortable with were professor Quirrell, the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and professor Trelawney, the Divination teacher. She would definitively not be taking Divination in her third year. She had enough of the Death predictions professor Trelawney made whenever she saw her for a life time.

ooOoo

The night before the 1st of September came quicker than she hoped. She and Severus as she got used to calling him, were sitting in front of the fireplace and drank Butterbeer, another of the great Wizarding things. Butterbeer was a Wizarding drink with a very small amount of alcohol made from caramel and honey. It was delicious and no words were needed when someone asked her if she would like to drink it. She would always say yes, no matter who invited her... well, not exactly like that. She would go if Auntie Minerva, Uncle Filius, Grandpa, Hagrid of Severus asked her.

But tonight she was a bit too nervous to be able to drink the Butterbeer in relaxation as before. Tomorrow would be her first school day and while she knew how to go around the school, was emotionally attached to some of the staff members, knew the books by heart, she was still scared about those 'what ifs' that could make your life bad. For example, she asked herself, what if she didn't get any friends, what if everyone wanted to be her friend because she was Arielle Potter, the Girl-Who-Lived and so on.

She was brought out of her musings when the glass of Butterbeer disappeared from her hands. She looked at them before raising her eyes to see Severus putting the Butterbeer on the table nearby, before turning back at her with a raised eyebrow.

Luckily she got to know the man a bit more and knew that this was a sign of worry if it was directed at her. She also started to count the number of different glares he gave people who annoyed him and wondered if she should write a book with a title Hundred and One Glares of Severus Snape but changed her mind. She would leave that idea for later, if ever.

“What's wrong?” asked Severus. Arielle blushed and looked at her fingers while mumbling something about being nervous about the next day. Severus sighed and sat down next to her. While he didn't touch her nor do anything of the emotional sort, it always made her feel better to know that he was just next to her. They didn't need words to communicate and that made Arielle feel special. They started to have a bond, for a lack of better word and Arielle started to look up to Severus, maybe even love, but she wasn't sure about that yet. She still didn't know the man for that long. She gave him a smile and leaned back on the sofa after grabbing the Butterbeer from the table and took a sip.

Soon after it was time for Arielle to go to bed. She had packed her school things earlier in the day and put the casual clothes and the school uniform in the trunk Severus had said to buy. It had three compartments so she could put school books and other stuff in one compartment, clothes in another and whatever she wanted in the last one.

After cleaning her teeth in the bathroom across the hall, she moved to the living room where Severus was still reading and sat down next to him. She wanted to snuggle to him but knew that they still weren't that close for her to do that, so she just peeked over the page of the book to see what he was reading. It was a Potions book of some sort.

Pulling her feet under her bottom, she looked at Severus, who was watching her for some time now, and said, in a quiet voice, “I just wanted to thank you for taking me away from the Dursleys and for taking care of me for all this time, before I go to bed. I just wanted you to know that it means a lot to me.”

She looked down to her fingers again and then jumped up from the sofa, before Severus could say something, and kissed him on the cheek, then ran for her room. She stopped at the door and turned to him and said with a smile on her face, “Good Night, Severus!”

The morning of September 1st drew quickly and Arielle could scarcely believe that she would be starting a Wizarding School today. Yes, she did get used to all the magic around her through the summer, but sometimes it was still hard to believe. But nevertheless, she loved magic. She now understood that all the strange things that she did while still living with the Dursleys and that she got severely punished for was accidental magic. While it hurt her that they hated her just because she had magical powers, she knew that she was better off without them.

Dressed in the school uniform already, Arielle packed the last piece of clothes in her trunk and dragged it behind her. She had talked to Severus a few days ago about it, and it was decided that she would travel to Hogwarts with the Hogwarts Express and loaded with a trunk like all the others. It wouldn't do to show favouritism on the very first day of the school. It was also decided that the professors would go harder on Arielle because of that very reason. She understood that and all was well. She couldn't wait for lessons to start.

Entering the kitchen, she saw Severus already making breakfast, a cup of hot cocoa waiting for her on the table. That was another habit they started a few weeks ago. In the cocoa there were nutritional potions and vitamins to keep Arielle healthy and until she got to a healthy weight, she would keep taking the nutritional potions. It was a nice idea and meant a lot to Arielle, since the Dursleys would starve her and Severus took care of her meals. He would never take food away from her; that she knew.

She sat down and took a short sip of the drink as she waited for Severus to put the breakfast on the table. It was quite a shock for her to not have to take care of everything as Severus told her after she tried to do that in the beginning of their lives together. It was a very nice change from the Dursleys, she had to admit that.

After a quiet breakfast, she went to the living room and sat down on the sofa next to her trunk. She had to wait for Severus to bring her a Portkey. He had said that it was a device that transported you from one place to another. The Portkey was a courtesy from Dumbledore and it would take her directly to the Platform Nine and Three Quarters from where she would catch the train to Hogwarts and meet people her own age and perhaps new friends. She could hardly wait!

A few minutes later, Severus stepped in the living room and presented her with the Portkey and placed his hand on her shoulder. She knew it was as much as she would get for the moment. While she did yearn for a hug or something else, she was satisfied with her shoulder being touched. She gave him a big smile and a wave and was whisked away with the Portkey.

Platform Nine and Three Quarters was only a bit different from the normal platforms that Arielle had seen. This platform was vividly coloured and had a bright red sign 'Hogwarts Express'. The train itself was an old model, with a scarlet steam locomotive and a lot of passenger cars. There seemed to be no Diner Car, and Arielle wondered how they would eat something if they were hungry. Sighing to herself, she decided to think about that later. She was still full from the breakfast she had a few minutes earlier. Pulling the trunk behind her with one hand and the other hand holding Coco's cage and with Caeryn on her shoulders, Arielle tried to find an empty compartment on the train for her to sit in. That was a difficult job, because almost all the compartments were full.

Finally seeing an empty one somewhere at the back of the train she started in that direction. Putting the cage in the train compartment first, she went back out for her trunk. While managing to pull it in the compartment, she didn't know if she would be strong enough to put it in the baggage carrier. She tried – unsuccessfully – to heave the trunk on the seat opposite to where she intended to sit, but it slipped and fell on her foot. She flinched as the pain flew throughout her foot. She sat down and massaged it until the pain reduced a bit. Then she looked at the trunk again and just started thinking about how to heave it up, when the doors to her compartment opened and two red-headed boys peaked in with grins. “We saw that-”

“You were having problems-”

“With getting your trunk up to the-”

“Carrier, and we thought that we-”

“Might be of some help,” they said, adding to each other's words. Arielle watched the interaction with wide eyes and her head going left and right, like she was watching a tennis match. The two boys were obviously twins and their eyes were twinkling with mischief. She felt that she could trust them; therefore she smiled and nodded, “Yes, I really need some help. I'm just not strong enough to do it myself.”

The boys grinned and heaved the trunk up to the carrier like it was a feather. “First years normally don't succeed in doing that,” said the twin on the left side, and the twin on the right added, “That's why all of us upper years go around the train and help where help is needed.”

The other twin nodded and bowed to Arielle, introducing himself. “I'm Fred Weasley and this is George. You can call us Gred and Forge,” he said with a wink. Arielle giggled at the bow and shook hands with the two boys. “I'm Arielle Potter, but you can call me Elle,” she said introducing herself. The twins' jaws fell down and they stared at her.

“You're Arielle Potter-”

“The Girl-Who-Lived?”

“Wicked!” they said in unison. And that was it. There was no goggling at her scar like when she was in Diagon Alley. They just took it as granted and soon they were in a fierce debate about muggle and wizard sweets and jokes. She learnt that they wanted to open a joke shop when they graduated from Hogwarts, that they were third years and that they had a younger sister, two brothers that had already graduated and a brother who was a Prefect, while the other brother was starting the same year as Arielle. All in all, she counted in her hear, they were one big family with seven children. She also learned that Bill, the eldest, was a Curse Breaker for Gringotts in Egypt; Charlie was a Dragon-Keeper in Romania; Percy was a fifth-year Prefect who apparently had a big head and wanted to become the next Minister of Magic, Ron was the boy who would be in the same year as her and she was told that he was really stupid at times and had arachnophobia. The twins grinned as they told her the story about the time when Fred transfigured Ron's teddy bear in to a giant spider and from then on Ron was afraid of spiders, and about Ginny, who would start at Hogwarts next year. They also told her that their whole family was in Gryffindor. They were just about to start talking about Quidditch, when they heard a woman's voice calling out their names (Fred and George's). The twins stood up and after telling Arielle that it was their mother, who called them, waved at her and left the compartment. She was left alone... but not for long.

Someone knocked on the compartment doors and after opening them, there was a boy of her age, a little on the chubby side, with light brown hair and dark-coloured eyes of an undefined colour. He was holding a toad that was trying to escape and was watching her with astonishment. Apparently he just realized who she was. Smiling at him with a friendly expression, Arielle decided to break the ice. “Hello. How can I help you?”

The boy flinched and blushed, then started stammering something about all compartments being full. Arielle nodded, and waved her hand over the empty seats all around her. “There's plenty of space here, you can sit with me if you want, I don't mind. I'd really like some company. It's not fun sitting in the compartment by myself,” she said. She had grown to be quite a chatterbox after being in Snape's company for the summer. She wasn't allowed to talk much with the Dursleys and this made a nice change. The boy gave her a small, but grateful smile and sat down opposite her. Shyly, he introduced himself. “I’m Neville Longbottom. Nice to meet you,” he said watching his fingers.

The rest of the train ride went by quickly. Neville had relaxed somewhat and they talked about Herbology most of the time. It seemed that Neville loved it, and Arielle had some knowledge about gardening too, so they could exchange their thoughts about it. Neville’s magical versus Arielle’s muggle experiences differed slightly, but all in all, they were similar up to a point.

Fred and George entered the compartment sometime in the afternoon and helped Arielle to pick up some sweets for the snack – she hadn’t eaten many sweets in her time with professor Snape, so she didn’t know the many kinds there were. She was shocked to realise how many kinds there were: Droobles Best Blowing Gum, Bertie Bott’s Every-Flavour Beans, Liquorice Wands, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Chocolate Frogs, Sugar Quills, Acid Pops, Blood-Flavoured Lollipops. Chocoballs, Cockroach Clusters, Exploding Bon-Bons, Fudge Flies, Ice Mice, Jelly Slugs, Pepper Imps, Peppermint Toads, Toothflossing Stringmints, Squeaking Sugar Mice, Fizzing Whizzbees, and many others.

Someone else also came to see her. It was a boy called Draco Malfoy, who reminded Arielle of Dudley, her snobbish cousin. While Draco Malfoy had platinum hair, and Dudley had blonde hair, Draco Malfoy was almost as bad as Dudley if not more so. He had insulted Neville and Arielle, but disappeared the moment a third-year Hufflepuff with grey eyes and dark brown hair neared them as he was returning from the toilets.

All in all, Arielle’s journey to Hogwarts was very fun and she was happy to have found three friends already. She didn’t really care about Draco Malfoy, whom she was sure was going to be a Slytherin. She wasn’t prejudiced like some of the people she had met in the Wizarding World were. She also knew that both her parents were Gryffindors and that many people… scratch that… the whole Wizarding World expected her to be in Gryffindor, but she didn’t want to end up in that House. While she did like Fred and George, she wasn’t that impulsive, plus Severus wouldn’t like her anymore if she was sorted into the House of the Lions.

It was sometime in the late afternoon that the train stopped at the station and they disembarked it. Hagrid called the first years to follow him and off they were. They walked through some woods and came out at a lake where dozens of little boats waited for them. Arielle pulled Neville’s hand and they sat in a boat together.

While watching the other first years, she saw a red-headed boy with blue eyes. That must have been Ron Weasley, the brother of the Weasley twins she had met on the train. While she liked the twins, that boy didn’t catch her attention at all. She didn’t have a good feeling about him; therefore she decided to stay away from him. She didn’t know why she felt that way, but she hoped that she was wrong.

Then there was a girl with bushy brown hair and brown eyes, who was whispering to herself about something she had ‘read in Hogwarts: A History’. A Ravenclaw, no doubt, Arielle thought to herself.

And then the ride was over and they got out of the boats as Hagrid guided them to a big oak door and knocked on them. Well, not knocked, more like thundered, he was just that strong. The doors opened slowly and Auntie Minerva – Professor McGonagall – invited them in. As she was closing the door, she gave Arielle a small wink and Arielle relaxed a little. She was nervous about the sorting.

Professor McGonagall then proceeded to tell them about the four Hogwarts Houses and what was expected of them. Arielle knew that already, so she zoned out a bit, using the time to check her other classmates. Professor McGonagall left them alone in the hall for a few minutes to get ready for their sorting and a few minutes later she came for them.

Arielle saw that the Great Hall was full with students. It seemed as it was bigger than in the summer, but Arielle told herself that it only seemed like that because she was there with the professors only. As they neared the Head Table, she saw professor McGonagall putting a three-legged chair in front of them and putting an old ragged hat on it. The Great Hall went quiet as the hat’s rim opened and it started to sing a song.

Oh you may not think me pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
if you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folks use any means
o achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!

And the Sorting begun. Professor McGonagall unrolled a roll of parchment and started reading out the names of Arielle's future classmates. “Abbott, Hannah!”

A girl with pigtails and rosy cheeks stepped up and sat down on the stool. Professor McGonagall put the Sorting Hat on her head and waited for a few seconds. The rim of the Hat opened again and the Hat shouted out, “HUFFLEPUFF!”

Hannah Abbott joined her new House with a big grin on her face. Professor McGonagall continued to call the roll with, “Bones, Susan!”

“HUFFLEPUFF”

“Boot, Terry!”

“RAVENCLAW!”

“Brocklehurst, Mandy!”

“RAVENCLAW!”

“Brown, Lavender!”

“GRYFFINDOR!”

“Bulstrode, Millicent!”

“SLYTHERIN!”

“Finch-Fletchley, Justin!”

“HUFFLEPUFF!”

“Finnigan, Seamus!” The sandy-haired boy in front of Arielle stepped up to the Hat and sat down on the stool to await the jurisdiction of the Sorting Hat. “GRYFFINDOR!”

“Granger, Hermione!”

The bushy-haired girl stepped up, muttering to herself all the time, and sat down on the stool. Arielle could hardly believe her ears when she heart the Hat shout out, “GRYFFINDOR!”

“Longbottom, Neville!” It was Neville’s turn now. Arielle smiled to the scared boy and held her fingers crossed that he would get in the house he wanted the most. When the Hat yelled out, “HUFFLEPUFF!” she smiled at the relief on Neville’s face. She had to laugh though, when Neville made his way to the Hufflepuff House Table, only to turn back halfway there and return the Sorting Hat on the stool. “McDougal, Morag!”

“RAVENCLAW!”

“Malfoy, Draco!” The platinum-haired boy that she really didn’t like from when they met on the train, stepped forward and after a moment of sitting, if it was a moment, the Hat shouted out, “SLYTHERIN!”

“Nott, Theodore!”

“SLYTHERIN!”

“Parkinson, Pansy!”

“SLYTHERIN!”

“Patil, Padma!”

“RAVENCLAW!”

“Patil, Parvati!”

“GRYFFINDOR!”

And now it was Arielle’s turn.

“Potter, Arielle!”

Everyone started whispering and lengthening their necks to see her. Arielle blushed from embarrassment and after taking a peak at professor Snape, who nodded at her – after making sure no one was watching him of course – she stepped forward and sat down on the stool to wait what the Hat had in mind for her.

“Ah, you’re the Potter girl I hear so much about these days. I see you didn’t have a nice childhood, but now it’s going to be better, no doubt about that. Severus is the right choice for your Guardian; that I admit. But now, let’s get to the Sorting; I’m sure you’re very nervous about what House I’ll decide to put you in. So, let’s see… Courage, Intelligence, Wit and Loyalty. Everything is there, but let’s see what prevails. Hmm… I’d have to say that Intelligence and Wit are a bit more on the open, so I’ll have to say that although you would do well in all four Houses that you belong more in RAVENCLAW!”

Arielle grinned at the Great Hall as she put the Hat down on the stool and made her way to the Ravenclaw Table. She sat down on the first empty place and looked up at the High Table with a big grin. She was happy she was sorted in that house. She was frightened that she would be sorted into Gryffindor and that Severus would abandon her. She knew how deep his hatred for the Gryffindors ran. Therefore she was happy when she saw him applauding with the rest of the Great Hall. It seemed she got the largest applause yet and she saw Fred and George grinning at her from the other end of the Hall.

The Sorting continued until there were only four students left. A black boy called “Thomas, Dean!” was sorted into “GRYFFINDOR!” “Turpin, Lisa!” became a Ravenclaw, and then it was Ron Weasley’s turn to be Sorted. Professor McGonagall called out his name and Arielle watched as the boy shook from fear or something like that as he went to put the Hat on his head. When the Hat shouted out “GRYFFINDOR!” she saw him sigh in relief and take a seat next to Seamus Finnigan. And then the last new student, “Zabini, Blaise!” was sorted into “SLYTHERIN!”

As the clapping from the Slytherin Table stopped, Arielle turned her attention to the Headmaster, whom had just stood up and said, “Welcome, welcome, to another year at Hogwarts! I just want to say these four words: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!”

And as suddenly as he stopped talking, the tables filled themselves with all kinds of food. Arielle never saw so much food in her life and filled her plate with spaghetti and some sort of a mushroom cream which smelled divine. Taking a bite, she turned her attention to her classmates and saw that some of them were watching her curiously, some adoringly and some were just eating.

She turned her attention back to her plate and ate in peace until she heard someone shrieking from the Gryffindor Table. Looking over, she saw that the Gryffindor Ghost, called Nearly Headless Nick, although he preferred Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, had apparently just shown just what it was meant by Nearly Headless, and Ronald Weasley apparently lost his appetite as the ghost showed his almost detached head.

His twin brothers were choking from laughter and Hermione Granger, the bushy-haired girl, was glaring at the poor boy with a sense of disgust. From what she saw and heard about that girl, it seemed that Hermione Granger was a bookworm and a nerd that wouldn’t accept less than a perfect grade. It was strange that she got sorted into Gryffindor. A determination swelled inside Arielle at the thought and she decided to give everything she had to get perfect grades as well. She wanted Severus to be proud of her.

Taking another peak at him, she was surprised to see him watching her. She smiled at him and was surprised to see a small smile sent her way as well. That was the first time she saw him smile. He never smiled. He would scowl, glare or simply watch her emotionlessly. But she knew that mask by now. If he watched her like that, he was hiding his feelings and emotions. She accepted that for now, because she knew that he wasn’t accustomed to show his feelings.

She turned her head to the left and suddenly her head exploded in pain. The pain was centred on her scar. And then it went away. When Arielle was able to see properly again, she noticed that on the left side of Severus, there was a young man she never saw again. She knew that it was Professor Quirinius Quirrell, who was going to teach them Defence Against the Dark Arts. He was a pale young man who wore a turban. Another glance at the turban made Arielle aware that apparently the headache came from watching the back of the turban.

After Arielle felt completely full, the plates were emptied and shined as new again. Professor McGonagall tapped her goblet with a fork and the Great Hall quietened once again to listen to professor Dumbledore speak, “I would like to make a few announcements please! Firstly, Mr Filch, our caretaker, has asked me to remind you that using magic on the corridors is strictly forbidden. Secondly, I’d like to warn you that the third floor corridor is out of bounds this year. Anyone not heeding this warning will find themselves in grave danger. And lastly, have a good night! Off you trot!”

Everyone in the Great Hall stood up, the Prefects called for the first years and they were off to their respective Common Rooms. The Ravenclaw Common Room was located on the west side of the castle and was hidden behind a portrait of a person who was reading something and writing down the information he got in the book. Arielle secretly called it the Scriber. The Prefect turned around and cleared his throat. He pointed to the Scriber’s portrait and said, “This is the Portrait of Michel de Nostredame, commonly known as Nostradamus. The password to open the portrait’s door to the Ravenclaw Common Room is Leonardo Da Vinci. I’m sure you all know who that was, so there will be no trouble remembering that name.”

At the mention of the password (who coincidentally was the biggest Wizarding genius the world has ever seen), the portrait of Nostradamus flung open and the freshly sorted Ravenclaws went inside. The Ravenclaw Common Room’s walls were of light and dark blues, and the furniture was of cherry wood, which made a very nice and comfortable room. The colours even matched the Ravenclaw colours – blue and bronze. Arielle smiled. She was sure to like it here. While it wasn’t as homely as her room in Severus’s quarters, it was still home for most of the school terms. It was arranged that she would spend the weekends and holidays in Severus’s and hers quarters to get to know each other better. Of course, Grandpa Albus was the one to arrange it, although Severus didn’t complain very strongly if at all. He just glared at the old man and sneered. Everyone took it that he really liked that fact. And he did.

Soon after the first impressions calmed, the Prefects guided the first years to their dormitories (girls to the left and boys to the right). Arielle made her way up to the first years’ dormitory and took the bed that had her trunk beside it. It was by the window and had a wonderful view of the lake.

After changing in her pyjamas and making herself comfortable on the bed, she looked around herself and watched the other girls prepare themselves for bedtime. There was an Indian girl called Padma if Arielle remembered correctly, a Chinese looking girl called Su or something similar and two brunette girls.

After settling themselves under the blankets, the girls all introduced themselves again, knowing that in the confusion of the Sorting sometimes names get confused as well. Arielle learned that the other two girls’ names were Morag and Lisa. After chatting for a while everyone said goodnight and went to sleep.

Arielle squeezed her eyelids tighter as the sun's rays started to shine through the open curtains. She never liked to close the curtains around her bed in Severus's and hers quarters. It reminded her of her confinement in the Cupboard under the Stairs. She heard other girls murmuring in their sleep and opened her eyes, only to raise her hands to shield them from the sun's rays. Rolling herself to the side, she stretched her hand and picked up her wand (the holly one, because her Mithril one was in her trunk – Severus said that having more than one wand was very unusual in the Wizarding World) and said one of the few useful incantations she found in one of her textbooks, “Exhibeo Tempus.”

A foggy substance emerged from her wand and showed her the time. It was a little after seven and her first class would start at nine. She slowly stretched and yawned widely before sitting up in the bed and looking around the room. Now that it wasn't dark, it was a whole new sight. And a nice one at that.

Changing from her pyjamas to her new school uniform, she saw that her new crest and colours were already charmed on her clothes and trunk. She grinned at that and quietly put the book bag full of books for the first day of school on her shoulders and sneaked out of the room. She didn't want to wake the girls and make them angry at her for waking them up too early. Therefore she trotted down to Severus's quarters and knocked on the door slowly three times and faster three times. She knew that she couldn't just enter. What if the professor had someone in that would suspect something. They made a code with the knocking so that Severus would know that it was her if it was on a weekday.

The doors opened a few seconds later and her Guardian was standing in front of her with an emotionless expression. Arielle grinned at him as he let her in and closed the doors behind and greeted him cheerfully, “Good Morning!”

Severus returned the greeting and after calling Spongy, another house-elf in the employment of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, to bring them tea and scones, said in a quiet voice, “Congratulations on becoming a Ravenclaw, Elle. To tell you the truth, I was thinking you would be sorted in Gryffindor, but I see I was mistaken.”

Well, that told her that she was right in assuming that he thought she was going to be a Gryffindor. Grinning at him she said, “Well, the Hat said that I could do well in every House, but decided that my Intelligence and Wit were more dominant over Loyalty and Courage. I decided not to take it as an insult.”

She proudly puffed her chest out and grinned again as she saw Severus's lips twitch. He almost smiled now, she thought to herself. In the summer, when she got used to narky Potions Master, they started to banter. Severus would say something and she replied with a witty comeback. Severus was surprised at her wit, but enjoyed it. It was their game, and they grew closer with that as well.

The rest of the breakfast was spent in bantering back and forth and talking about the first day of school. Arielle still couldn't believe that she was a witch. It was a wonderful feeling to finally belong to a world, be it Muggle or Wizarding. She could be herself here, and that was exactly what she was doing now.

It was almost half past eight, when Arielle finally showed up in the Great Hall to pick up her timetable. Checking it, she noticed that her first class of the year was History of Magic with all Houses. It was taught by a ghost by the name of Binns. As she sat in the third row in the classroom, she turned her attention to her classmates. Neville smiled at her from the middle of the classroom and she waved at him. Ron Weasley was sitting with Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas in the last row, while Hermione Granger took the place in the very front of the room. The Ravenclaws sat together in the third and fourth rows, while the Gryffindors and Slytherins took the last rows. Hufflepuffs were left with the front rows.

When the professor floated through the wall, the class started. Arielle soon discovered that, while the lesson was interesting, the professor made it so boring that she almost fell asleep. The only thing keeping her from closing her eyes, was the determination to do well in every class, and the fact that Hermione Granger was hanging on every professor's word (even though he complicated things by mixing Emeric the Evil and Ulric the Oddball).

There was a fifteen-minute break between the History of Magic and Charms. Charms was going to be one of Arielle's favourite classes. She knew that, because she was allowed to read her textbooks (the Dursleys would burn the book instead of let her read them) and Severus taught her a few very interesting charms, such as the Time Shower (Exhibeo Tempus), Illuminating Spell (Lumos), the Unlocking Spell (Alohomora), the Shield Charm (Protego) and the Disarming Spell (Expelliarmus). She knew that they would be useful.

As she sat in her chair, she noticed that the professor's chair was full of books. She chuckled to herself, because she knew that the books were not there for reading, but instead for the height. Uncle Filius was so tiny, that he needed a lot of books to see over the desk he used. Why they didn't buy him a smaller one, Arielle didn't know, but she knew that he was a very good professor. Luckily, she already knew him, so he didn't squeal like he did when she was first introduced to him.

The Transfiguration class, which was after lunch, was another story altogether. Aunt Minerva was strict and told them flat out that if they weren't ready to study seriously for that class, that they could leave the classroom.

Of course no one did.

After changing the desk to a pig and back, everyone wanted to do the same, but they were disappointed by the assignment to transfigure a match to a needle. However at the end of the class, only two persons made a change in the match. Hermione's became silver and sharp, and Arielle's had an ear as well as becoming silver and having a sharp tip. Both of them earned their house ten points, but instead of being happy with the success, the Gryffindor girl glared at Arielle from the other end of the classroom. Well, if she wanted a war, she would get one, because Arielle wasn't going to give up.

The rest of the week was spent getting used to a new timetable. They had Herbology three times a week with professor Sprout, Astronomy was taught by professor Sinistra at midnight every Wednesday, but the class that Arielle really couldn't wait for was Potions. They had Potions together with the Hufflepuffs and Arielle was happy that she would be able to see Neville again.

When she entered the Potions classroom, she saw that Professor Snape wasn't in the classroom yet. Sighing to herself, she sat in the front row and waited for the class to start. Soon after she sat down, her classmates started trickling in the classroom. Neville smiled at her weakly before sitting himself in the seat next to her. She grinned at him and after greeting him, said, “How was your first week of classes?”

It seemed she asked the wrong question, because Neville's face fell and he started muttering about his family thinking that he was a squib. Arielle frowned and said with a sharp voice that she didn't know she could do, “Don't believe what they think. I know you're a great wizard. You just have to believe in yourself.”

Neville gave her another weak smile, but didn't say anything. Suddenly, the doors to the classroom opened with a bang. Arielle stopped herself from flinching, but only just. She noticed that Neville looked at her strangely, but made herself concentrate on Severus, whom just started his speech.

“You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of Potion Making,” he began. “I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses ... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach.”

Arielle was on the edge of the seat after hearing what Severus could teach them. Plus, she wanted to show him that she wasn't a dunderhead, as he said. But before she could calm down, the Potions professor barked, “Longbottom! Tell me, what is a Bezoar and where do you find it?” Neville started shaking and stammering.

“You don't know? Maybe we could try again? Where would you go to find a Gillyweed?” Once again, Neville was stammering, but Arielle noticed that his eyes were telling that he knew the answer... it seemed that Neville was frightened of professor Snape. She could understand that, having seen how professor Snape could scare other people. Sighing to herself, she decided to help Neville throughout the Potions lessons, because it seemed that he was also a very clumsy boy. What was his family doing to him? She asked herself. She doubted they knew what they were doing to the poor boy. At that moment, she decided to write to Neville's grandmother. She was the most prominent person in his life. She didn't know what happened to his parents, but she knew that it had to be bad. She had never heard Neville talking about them before. And they talked a lot.

The lesson proceeded with making a Boil Cure Potion. The potion was designed to cure boils and also acted as the antidote to the Furnunculus Charm. Only a few minutes after they started preparing the ingredients for their potion, Arielle noticed that Neville was very good at preparing the ingredients, but when it came the time to actually brew a potion, it seemed that Neville was a walking disaster. Arielle stopped his hand from putting in the Porcupine Quills, before it was too late. He wanted to put them in the potion before putting the cauldron off the fire. How she knew what to do, she didn't know. But she guessed it helped that she had good reactions.

After their potion was finished (it was one of the rare ones that were the right colour and consistency) they begun to gather their ingredients together and left for lunch. But just before she exited the classroom, she waved for Neville to go ahead and turned back to Severus and grinned at him before waving at him and following after Neville who was waiting for her at the corner of the corridor. He was still getting lost in the castle.

ooOoo

Mithril is a fictional material from J. R. R. Tolkien's universe, Middle Earth. It is a precious silvery metal, stronger than steel but much lighter in weight, which was mined by the Dwarves in the mines of Khazad-dûm. The name mithril comes from two words in Sindarin — mith, meaning "grey", and ril meaning "glitter". Mithril was also called "true-silver" by Men, while the Dwarves had their own, secret name for it.

Exhibeo Tempus literally means Show Time in Latin. I checked it on an online English to Latin dictionary on the Internet.

The Library soon became one of Arielle's favourite places in the school, apart from the Great Hall, Severus's Quarters and the Headmaster's office. She and Neville were often seen studying at one of the tables and whispering to each other about classes and compared the Muggle and Wizarding habits and things. Arielle found out more about the Wizarding Rituals that way and in exchange, she taught Neville all that she knew about Muggles. Neville wouldn't have to take Muggle Studies as an elective that way. While she knew that she would have to choose electives in her second year, she couldn't resist reading more on the subjects Hogwarts offered. She found out that the electives were Care of Magical Creatures, taught by professor Kettleburn, Divination, taught by professor Trelawney, Ancient Runes, taught by professor Rolphus, Arithmancy, taught by professor Vector and Muggle Studies, taught by professor Wilbert.

It was also there that they overheard Ron Weasley telling his friends, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan, about a three-headed dog in the forbidden corridor. Arielle and Neville looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Gryffindors. Always breaking the rules. But the three-headed dog caught their attention. Arielle was sure she heard of a creature like that before, but couldn't remember where.

She didn't have much time to think about it, though. They were expected at their first Flying lesson. Neville was frightened of heights and really didn't want to fly, while Arielle could hardly wait. Having read Quidditch Through the Ages, she got the basic knowledge of the sport and it fascinated her.

While walking to the grounds where the lessons were held, Arielle noticed that Neville was clutching a ball made of glass. After asking what it was, Neville replied that it was a Remembrall and that it would help him to remember things. Apparently his grandmother sent it. Arielle decided to write the letter to Mrs Augusta Longbottom that evening.

When they neared the grounds, Arielle noticed that apparently the Flying Lessons were with all the houses. Sighing to herself, she pulled Neville on the far right end of the students' line. Hermione Granger was in the first line, of course, alongside with Draco Malfoy. Ron Weasley was somewhere in the middle telling his friends how he flew at his home in the summer. Apparently almost all of the pure-blooded and half-blooded students knew how to fly.

Soon after, their professor, Rolanda Hooch, arrived and started the lecture. Soon after they were told to put their right hand over their broomsticks and say 'Up!' Arielle's broom flew to her hand even before she finished the word, Neville's only rolled on the floor, Ron Weasley's hit him in the face and Arielle giggled at the sight. Hermione Granger's also rolled on the floor. It seemed that she was afraid of heights as well. Malfoy's on the other hand also flew in his hand immediately. He smirked at the students around him smugly, before his face changed into a grimace as he noticed that Arielle was already holding her broomstick in her hand.

But the problems started when they were supposed to actually leave the ground. Poor Neville was so scared that he would be the last to stay on the ground flew up before professor Hooch could use the whistle. Arielle watched the horrifying scene with wide eyes and after Neville finally hit the floor, she was the first to be at his side. She sighed with relief when she saw that he was still conscious and that the only injury he seemed to get was a broken wrist.

She noticed that the Remembrall fell out of Neville's pocket, but decided to pick it up later. She had more pressing matters to attend to. She waited for the professor to take Neville to the Hospital Wing and turned to get Neville's Remembrall, but saw that she was too late. Draco Malfoy already got his hands on it. With a smug smile on his face, he watched the students as if daring them to come and claim it. Arielle decided to step up to the challenge. She knew she was better at magic as Malfoy. It was obvious in every class that they had together.

“Give it back, Malfoy,” she said calmly. “The Remembrall belongs to Neville. You have no right to take what isn't yours.”

Malfoy sent a smirk her way and asked her loudly, “And what will you do if I don't give it back?” Arielle sighed. She knew that she shouldn't lose her temper, but Draco Malfoy was looking for trouble. And trouble he would get. As quickly as she could, she pulled her wand out and yelled the incantation for the Summoning Charm that Severus taught her.

“Accio Remembrall!”

The ball flew from Malfoy's hand and Arielle caught it with her left hand. She smirked at the shocked expression of the platinum git and without a word, turned around to go to the Hospital Wing to see how Neville was doing. She didn't make five steps when she heard an incantation sent her way. It was Malfoy who sent it of course. Turning quickly to protect herself with the Shield Charm, Arielle suddenly realised that it won't be necessary. Someone had already cast it for her.

Professor McGonagall was walking towards them with angry strides and as soon as she reached them, she pulled Draco's ear and started pulling him towards school, all the while scolding him loudly on using magic outside the classes. Arielle smiled to herself and turned around. While she did like the fact that Malfoy would surely get punished for using magic on her, while she had her back turned, she didn't want to be treated like someone special. And that was what the students were doing. They were gaping at her in awe. Only Hermione Granger and the Slytherins were glaring at her.

She was almost running to the Hospital Wing. Just as she was about to turn around the corner, she ran into someone, literally. They both fell down with a big thud and Arielle could hear someone moaning in pain as she tried to gather her wits. She sat up and looked at the boy that she ran into. It was the same boy that stopped Malfoy from annoying her on the train. Quickly asking if he was alright, and after getting an affirmative, Arielle stretched her hand and helped the boy to stand up.

The boy was about fourteen years old and was a Hufflepuff. He had dark brown hair and grey eyes. He was still patting his head, so he didn't see her watching him. After he finally opened his eyes, she apologized, “Sorry about that. I was just worried about my friend that just went to the Hospital Wing. I wasn't looking where I was going.”

The boy shook his head and smiled. His smile was very nice, Arielle noticed. “It's alright. I wasn't watching where I was going either.”

Then he looked at her more closely. Then his eyes widened at the recognition and his smile warmed as he added, “Hey! You're the girl that was being harassed by that blonde when I walked by. What's your name?”

Arielle was pleasantly surprised that he didn't stare at her scar as she told him her name, but instead shook her hand with a kind smile on his face and in return introduced himself as Cedric Diggory. Now it was Arielle's turn to recognize the name.

“And you're the boy Neville talks about all the time! I'm really glad you're there for him. Thank you so much!” she said with a similar smile. Then she added, “I was just going to see him. He broke his wrist at our Flying lesson. Want to come with me if you have the time?”

Cedric thanked her for the offer, but had to decline, as he was already late for his study session in the Library as it was. They said their goodbyes and Arielle continued on her way to the Hospital Wing. On the way there she suddenly remembered where she heard about the three-headed dog. She couldn't wait to tell that to Neville.

Opening the doors to the Hospital Wing, she looked around herself, spotting Neville on one of the beds with Madam Pomfrey doing something to his wrist. Quickly yelling his name, she ran to him and asked him if he was alright. After receiving an affirmative answer, she hugged him, glad that he was alright. Then she remembered something. “Oh, I got your Remembrall. It fell out of your pocked when you were spiralling through the sky.”

They both laughed at that and Arielle looked around herself. Madam Pomfrey was already in her office and there was no one there in the room. Leaning towards Neville's ear, she whispered, “I remembered where I heard about that three-headed dog before! It's a Cerberus, a Greek mythological creature with three heads. It was the guardian of the underworld. And do you remember about that report in the Daily Prophet about someone trying to rob the bank of something?”

After Neville nodded, not understanding why she mentioned that. But soon his eyes widened as she told him how she met Hagrid, the Hogwarts Keeper of Keys and Grounds, in the bank that day and that he and Severus talked to each other in hushed voiced. Finally she told him her theory. “I think that the thing that Hagrid went looking for, must be in the forbidden corridor, guarded by that Cerberus.”

ooOoo

Cerberus: in Greek Mythology, Cerberus was the hound of Hades — a monstrous three-headed dog with a snake for a tail and innumerable snake heads on his back He guarded the gate to Hades (the Greek underworld) and ensured that the dead could not leave and the living could not enter.

Dear Madam Longbottom,

I am sure that you’re wondering why I’m writing to you and who I am. My name is Arielle Potter and I’m a friend of your grandson, Neville. We’re in some of our classes together and have study sessions together in the library, but I couldn’t help but notice his little self-esteem and from what I learned from him, it’s mostly your family’s fault that he is as he is. I don’t know what happened in his childhood that traumatized him so but I want you to know that Neville is a great boy, with a great and kind heart and I find it unfair that he is treated as a Squib at home. No wonder he’s so self-conscious about doing magic. Of course he can’t be good at magic if you instilled the thought of him almost being a Squib in his mind for so long.

I’m sorry about the rant in this letter. I didn’t mean it to come out this way, but I am not sorry for what I have written. I meant every word of it. I only want what’s best for Neville and if that means contradicting his family and telling that family what I think of their treatment to my best friend, than I’ll do it.

Sincerely,

Arielle Potter

She sighed as she put the quill down and stared at the letter she had just written. She really didn’t mean it to come out like this, but what she had written she wouldn’t take back. Stretching her back, she stood up from her chair in their quarters (it was a weekend), she called Coco and attached the letter on her foot, telling her to who should she take the letter. After Coco left, she plopped herself on the couch again and stared in the fire, thinking about her own life at the Dursleys. As much as she wanted to forget it, it would still haunt her in her dreams or even give her flashbacks at the most innocent things.

Suddenly, she felt a dip of the couch on the left and leaned on Severus, whom she had told about the letter to Madam Longbottom and about Neville. Talking to Severus always helped her. And he even let go of taunting Neville in his classes. Neville was even able to relax enough to raise his hands sometimes and tell the answers to the question Severus asked of the students. All in all, Arielle was really proud of the change in the shy and sweet boy. He got more self-esteem and was better in magic nowadays.

It was almost November now, and there were only a few days until Halloween. Her heart always tightened in pain as she remembered what happened on that very day. She had lost her parents and became the heroine of the Wizarding World, even if she didn’t remember it. The only thing she remembered of that night was lots of green light, a searing pain on her forehead and a woman’s scream. It was probably her mother’s. She unconsciously rubbed her scar. It was always hurting when in the presence of professor Quirrell, whom she didn’t really like.

A hand on hers stopped her from rubbing the scar more. She looked up to Severus and sighed. She was doing a lot of this in the last few days. She hugged her knees, which she had pulled on the couch, and said quietly, “I’m sorry.”

The hand that held her hand, tightened slightly, before Severus released her and leaned back in the couch, without saying anything. But, really. There wasn’t anything to say. She leaned back as well and closed her eyes, falling asleep shortly after.

ooOoo

There was another attachment to Arielle’s little group of friends. Cedric Diggory was now officially their studying partner in the library. She and Neville could ask him for information whenever they didn’t know something, but that was rarely. Arielle even got to help Cedric once, with the Summoning Charm, having mastered it over the summer holiday.

And finally, the day Arielle was dreading, came. Charms class was a disaster that day. They were learning the Levitating Spell, Wingardium Leviosa, when Ronald Weasley lost his temper when Hermione Granger mastered the spell. Of course, not before Arielle did it, and that irked Ronald and Hermione to no end. After class, they huffed out of the classroom and weren’t seen all day after that.

But the most amazing thing that day was when Arielle stepped into the Great Hall for the Halloween Feast. The hall was decorated in Halloween style; there were bats flying everywhere and pumpkins were on every table and corner of the chamber. Black and orange colours were dominating everywhere and the tables were groaning under the weight of all the food that was on them. Sitting herself at the Ravenclaw table, she stared at the amount of food. She had never seen so many kinds of food before. There were treacle tarts, roasted chicken, grilled turkeys and even, what Arielle thought it could be a partridge with cream sauce. All in all, everything looked delicious.

But she should have known it was too good to last. From what she had heard, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger haven’t been seen all day and the day got even worse, when professor Quirrell came running in the Great Hall, telling all the gathered about a troll in the dungeons and faint dead away. There was a moment of silence and then the shrieks started. Arielle had to put her hands over her ears to stop her eardrums to shatter. She squeezed herself out of the commotion and landed on her knees for all the trying. There were suddenly quick movements and Arielle had to hide under the Ravenclaw table as quick as she could, to prevent herself from being trampled.

“Silence!” was heard all over the chamber. It was professor Dumbledore, who regained some piece in the whole room. The feet stopped and turned in the Head Table’s direction. “Everyone will please calm down! Prefects, take the students to their common rooms. We, the professors, will go to the dungeons to take care of the troll.”

The Great Hall slowly emptied and Arielle was just about to move as well, when she noticed something odd. Professor Quirrell wasn’t unconscious at all. His eyes were open slightly and he looked more anticipating than nervous. That didn’t bode well. Suddenly, Arielle’s eyes grew large as she saw that when the chamber was empty, the man stood up and quickly moved to the door behind the Head Table and sneaked off somewhere.

Arielle jumped up and run out of the Great Hall towards the dungeons to warn Severus about what she just saw, completely forgetting about the troll. Until she was attacked by a fierce smell coming from an empty corridor leading to some of the unused classrooms. She knew immediately what it was. And then, to make the day even worse, she heard shrieks coming from that direction. Hermione Granger’s shrieks to be more precise.

Losing no more time, she darted forwards, only to stumble to a stop in front of the scene that opened in front of her. Ronald Weasley was out cold on the floor, with a big bleeding gash on his left leg and Hermione Granger was unsuccessfully trying to get as far away from the troll as possible – the only hindrance was the wall behind her. Arielle grimaced as she heard the bang the troll’s club caused just inches from Hermione’s head and stepped forward, brandishing her wand as she tried to remember what she read about the trolls and how to defeat them. Then she remembered. The only thing that could render the troll unconscious was a good bang on its head. Looking around for anything useful, Arielle yelled the Levitating Charm on the club in the troll’s grip.

“Wingardium Leviosa!”

She watched in fascination as the club suddenly rose from the troll’s grip and flew up to the ceiling, only to fall on the troll’s head after Arielle cancelled the spell. There was a loud thump, and a crack, as the club hit its mark. The troll’s eyes rolled up to his head as he fell backwards. Arielle sighed in relief as she discovered that she did it.

Turning her attention on the still bleeding Ronald Weasley, she kneeled down next to him and ripped her school robe, to bandage the wound. Hermione Granger was still shaking in the corner of the corridor, when there was suddenly a rush of steps and the professors joined them. Arielle ducked her head; she knew she was in trouble now. She could feel the burning glare that was directed at her by Severus, and she knew she was in for it, once they were alone.

“By Merlin, what happened here?” asked professor McGonagall, completely distraught over what she had seen. Arielle looked up to Hermione quickly and just opened her mouth to answer, when the other girl interrupted her. “We were just on our way to the Gryffindor Common Room from where I was teaching Ron the Levitating Spell when we were attacked by the troll. Ron was hit with that club and I couldn’t do anything. I was too scared. Then she came and cast a Levitating Spell on the club and knocked the troll out.”

All eyes were now on Arielle again. She looked up apprehensively and was surprised to see pride in every teacher’s eyes, except for Severus’s and professor Quirrell’s. The latter was glaring at her and making her scar want to split open, and her guardian was just watching her with a scowl on his face. She sighed to herself and looked down at Ronald Weasley again.

“We should get him to the Hospital Wing,” she said quietly, noticing that the blood had already wet her robe as it was glistening in the candlelight. That set the professors in motion. A stretcher was conjured and Ronald Weasley was levitated up. Hermione was ordered to follow them for a check-up as well and after a few minutes everyone trickled away. Severus Snape on the other hand stayed.

Arielle was still kneeling on the floor where she had taken care of Ronald Weasley’s wound and was looking up at him with an apprehensive look on her face. He sighed to himself and walked over to her. He gave her his hand to help her stand up and then said quietly, “Our quarters. Now.”

And that was it. No other words were used.

Silently they made their way to the dungeons and after closing the door behind him, Severus turned to the scared girl once more, before walking to her and gathering her in his arms. He didn’t know who was more shocked, he or Arielle. She had stiffened in his arms and stared at him with a shocked face. He understood the look though. It was the first time he ever hugged her or did anything remotely similar to what he was doing now. He only ever gripped her shoulder in silent support. He didn’t hug the girl to himself as if his life depended on it. He was never more scared than he was tonight when he heard the screams in the corridor and saw the blood on the floor. At first he had thought it was Arielle’s, and his heart almost stopped. Then the Granger girl told them what happened and he felt a completely different emotion than before. Instead of terror of finding out that Arielle was hurt, he felt pride. He had never felt so proud and relieved that Arielle wasn’t hurt before. Still, he didn’t let the girl go. Instead, he whispered harshly, “Don’t you ever do that again, you idiot child! You scared me! I thought you were hurt.”

Arielle was still staring up at Severus and then, with those words, she finally relaxed and returned the hug. She had wanted that to happen for a long time. Not in these circumstances, of course, but still. And she finally felt all the horror return to her. She didn’t notice it before, but now it was back in full force. Her body started to tremble and a sob escaped her lips. When she heard Severus’s words, she calmed down and snuggled deeper into the warm clothes.

“I’m okay,” she mumbled. She felt him tighten the grip on her, and then he let her go. Regret filled her as she was once again feeling lonely. She looked down at her feet, but fingers on her chin lifted her head up and she looked into the black pools of her Guardian’s eyes. They were glistening with a strange emotion – worry and something else that Arielle didn’t recognize yet. It was strangely comforting though, and she gave him a smile.

Severus returned the smile and did another unexpected thing this night. He picked the girl up in his arms and took her to her bedroom. He left her there with instructions to change and returned after she was done. She looked so vulnerable in that green night gown of hers, that Severus couldn’t help but let his mask slip and a small gentle smile showed on his lips as he gathered the girl in his arms again as he sat down on the bed, Arielle still in his arms.

They were in the same position as they were when she first came to Hogwarts. Staring at each other. No words were needed. The looks they gave each other said everything. Suddenly, Arielle threw her arms around his neck and buried her head under his chin. Severus said nothing, only held her tighter, happy that he didn’t lose her.

The morning after the Halloween incident, Arielle could be found still sleeping in her bed, being watched by professor Snape. It wasn’t until she woke up with a scream that she noticed that she was being watched. She was still trembling when she felt two arms pick her up and deposit her on someone’s lap. She opened her eyes looking frantically around herself. She relaxed, however when she heard his voice asking her if she was all right. She nodded, rather weakly, as she put her throbbing head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes again, remembering the nightmare she just had. Professor Quirrell had been talking to someone in his classroom. She couldn’t see who it was, though. But the voice she heard was very creepy. It was cold and menacing. She remembered professor Quirrell saying something about not being trusted by the headmaster. He also mentioned that professor Snape suspected him of letting the troll in the school. So, it was professor Quirrell who left the troll in after all, thought Arielle, before she was brought back to Earth by professor Snape who shook her shoulder frantically. It seemed that she was thinking too long. She quickly told her professor about the dream she just had.

He raised his eyebrow at the dream she had, not really knowing what to think about it. Of course, he knew that professor Quirrell had let the troll inside the school as a diversion, being the one to stop him on the third floor and getting almost bitten by that bloody three-headed dog of Hagrid’s. Arielle suddenly leaned forward and touched Severus’s knee, trying to get his attention. He looked over at her and saw that she wasn’t finished yet. She fumbled with her blanket that was still wrapped around her lithe body as she told him about her scar burning every time she looked at professor Quirrell, especially if she looked at the back of its turban. His eyes widened fractionally at the revelation. She suddenly opened her eyes wide, coming to a conclusion of sorts. She grabbed his shirt to steady herself as she breathing went out of control. He hugged her closer to him as she whispered, “What… What if it’s Voldemort? What if that creepy voice I heard in my dream was Voldemort?”

His arms tightened around her almost to the breaking point as he stared down at her pale face. “What?” he breathed out. She trembled as she buried her head in the crook of his shoulder. He quickly put some walls in his mind to calm himself down. Letting go of his emotions, he turned his attention to the girl that was shaking in his arms. He awkwardly petted her on the back, trying to calm the shaking down. Under the walls, his mind was in turmoil. The Dark Lord was here? At Hogwarts? He knew he could believe Arielle, because he had seen her flinch every time she looked at professor Quirrell. His Dark Mark burned every time he looked at him as well. Why had he not seen it before? He needed to talk to the Headmaster.

“Elle?” he asked the still trembling girl in his arms. She turned her head up a bit so that she could see his face and looked at him with a question in her eyes. He pushed her away from him a bit so that he was holding both of her shoulders. He didn’t want to do this, but he had to. He cleared his throat and asked her softly, “Would you allow me to enter your mind to see the dream?”

ooOoo

Severus Snape was shaken to the core, and it showed. He hadn’t taken points off the students he walked by in the corridors on his way to Dumbledore’s office. When Arielle granted him permission to enter her mind, he had softly said the words of the spell and tried to enter her mind with as little pain as possible. He had watched the dream – or should he say ‘vision’ – and shuddered at the voice. It was His voice. There was no doubt about it.

He told the gargoyle in front of professor Dumbledore’s office the password and entered. With quick steps he was up the staircase and opening the doors to the office, ignoring the kind “Come in, Severus,” from professor Dumbledore. He banged the doors open and just stared at the headmaster as if he had seen a ghost. He couldn’t believe that Dumbledore could know whom he had hired to teach. But he knew that Dumbledore knew. He just did.

“Why?” he asked with a hoarse voice. Professor Dumbledore looked at him with surprise in his eyes as he offered him some sherbet lemons. Severus didn’t answer but stalked to the headmaster’s desk and dropped both of his arms on it with so much force that he couldn’t believe that the desk survived it.

“Why did you hire the Dark Lord’s lackey when you knew exactly what he is?” he asked again. He saw his mistake at once as the headmaster paled and stopped sucking on the sherbet lemon he had offered to himself after Severus declined. So… the headmaster didn’t know after all. He sighed in a resigned way and sat himself in an armchair in front of the headmaster’s desk, watching his mentor apprehensively.

November flew by quickly and Arielle still couldn’t believe that she was a witch, though she was getting used to it day by day. While she was a bit scared and depressed for a few weeks after the dream, she quickly went back to her usual cheerful self, after professor Snape reassured her that professor Dumbledore knew about it and kept an especially sharp eye on professor Quirrell. Her scar still hurt every time she looked professor Quirrell in the back of his head, but now that she knew why it hurt, she tried to ignore him as much as she could.

The Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin was a tense one. It seemed that Gryffindor and Slytherin house were the biggest rivals. She felt lucky that she was a Ravenclaw. At first she didn’t plan to go – intending to go to library to read a bit – but she was persuaded by Cedric who was a Quidditch player for his house – Hufflepuff. Therefore, she and Neville were found, bound in their warm cloaks, sitting on the benches in the Quidditch stadium watching the match unfold. While Arielle hadn’t any interest in Quidditch, she did like flying. And she read the book that Cedric recommended – Quidditch Through the Ages – so she knew the basic rules of the game and let me tell you something – she wasn’t interested in the least. Who would want to be in danger of getting a Bludger to your head anyway?

December came and with it snow. Professor Flitwick also came to the Ravenclaw Common Room to ask who would stay at Hogwarts for Christmas and who would be going home. Arielle was one of the first ones to sign up as she didn’t have anywhere else to go… literally. She couldn’t and wouldn’t go back to the Dursleys – ever. She was so happy when professor Snape asked her if she wanted to spend the Christmas holidays in ‘their’ quarters that she ran in his arms and hugged him. He had stiffened at first, but then a few moments later his arms came around her as well.

She felt grateful to Neville and Cedric too. They had helped her with getting Christmas presents. It was the first time she had ever bought Christmas presents for someone and as she couldn’t go to Hogsmeade yet (it was only allowed for third years and up) she couldn’t buy the gifts. That’s where Cedric and Neville came in. They had explained to her about Owl Orders and gave her some catalogues to choose presents from. She had been very happy with that and spent the whole night thinking about what presents to get for all her friends. She had gathered quite a small group already. While Cedric and Neville were her best friends, she also acquired friends from other houses and years as well. There were Fred and George Weasley (she considered them her older brothers), Terry Boot from her own house, Susan Bones from Hufflepuff and even Blaise Zabini from Slytherin. However, she wasn’t very popular in that particular house. Therefore, they met each other in secret so that he wouldn’t be shunned from his own house and she wouldn’t be attacked or something similarly bad. There were also staff members who would get presents from Arielle, so she had to think really hard as to what to get them.

A week after she Owl Ordered the presents, she smiled as she saw Coco soaring through the window of her dormitory with several packages tied to her legs. They were charmed to be feather-light and didn’t cause any problems to Coco. She untied them and grinned at the assorted presents. She had also ordered some wrapping paper of different colours and happily wrapped the presents. She giggled as she wrapped the present for Grandpa Albus. Since he loved crazy colours, she had bought a special wrapping paper just for him. It was a vivid purple with golden stars and moons on it. It reminded her of the dress robe her Grandpa wore sometimes.

Finally, the last lesson of the term ended and the students prepared to go home. Arielle had hugged both Neville and Cedric goodbye as she waved at them from the front doors. She sighed after the carriages left her sight and with a smile on her face skipped down to the dungeons where she was to go after she said her goodbyes to her friends. She knocked on the door and waited until professor Snape opened them. With a big grin she skipped inside and only just caught professor Snape rolling his eyes at her. She showed him her tongue and giggled happily as she saw him raise his eyebrow. Nothing could dampen her spirits that day, even though she worked on her homework all day long, so that she would be free to have fun in the holidays.

After finishing the last essay, she stretched her arms above her and looked around her room. It was still the pink and white colour as when she first entered it, but there were lots of personal things that she put in it. She didn’t have many of them, but what she had meant a lot to her. She stood up from her chair and went to her bed where Caeryn lay. Picking the small kitten up she moved to the living room and sat down next to professor Snape who was reading some Potions book again. She leaned on his side and smiled when she felt him put his hand on her shoulders and draw her closer to him. She played with Caeryn until the small kitten fell asleep and Arielle just sat there, happy and content. She looked up to see professor Snape still reading the book, but there was an almost non-existent spark in his eyes that told her that he enjoyed the time they spent together as well.

Finally, the clock chimed ten and Arielle stood up, stretching herself, before picking up her sleeping kitten and then with a shy look on her face, she stepped up to professor Snape and pecked him on the cheek with a mumbled Good Night. Quickly she scampered to her room and changed her clothes to her sleeping gown. Putting Caeryn on her pillow, she went over to Coco and petted her for a bit, before yawning and making her own way to bed. Pulling her covers over her, she made herself comfortable as her eyes closed. Just as she was about to fall asleep, there was a small creak of her door and a bit of light seeped in. Soft footsteps were heard and Arielle held her breath. Hands tucked the blanket she was covered with snugly to her and a hand brushed through her hair as she heard a whispered, “Good Night, Child,” and something soft touched her forehead briefly. She felt her eyes sting as she realized that professor Snape kissed her forehead. She buried her head deeper into her pillow and fell asleep with a small smile on her face.

Next morning, she woke up to a fantastic smell of pancakes and quickly hurried through her morning routine. After putting on her clothes, she walked out of her room and to the kitchens. Sitting down at her usual place she watched professor Snape as he prepared their breakfast. There was a cup of hot cocoa on the table already and she sipped happily from it. He remembered. There wasn’t the familiar taste of the Nutritional Potions though and she happily realized that she finally gained the required weight. She was still slim, but there was a healthy look on her face now, and not the gaunt one she had when she first arrived at Hogwarts. A plate of still steaming pancakes was set in front of her and with a thankful smile to professor Snape, whom had sat himself opposite her, she attacked her breakfast with gusto. Even if she didn’t learn any manners at the table, she had learned them while living with her Guardian over the summer and she was grateful for that, because watching Ronald Weasley eating made her sick. The plate was quickly cleared and she pushed it away from her with a satisfied smile on her face.

After breakfast she asked to be allowed to go out for a while and permission was granted. She put on warm clothes and skipped out on the grounds. She was surprised to see the Weasley twins making a snowman and joined them happily when they saw her and called out to her. She had never made a snowman in her life and the twins were happy to show her how. They even taught her how to make snow angels. It was quite funny really – all you had to do was fall back in the soft snow and move your legs and arms up and down. And when you stood back up again, there was a cute figure resembling an angel in the snow.

They were just in the heat of a snowball fight when they heard the bell for lunch. With glowing cheeks, red noses and giant grins they entered the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table. Ignoring the glare Ronald Weasley was giving her, she started an interesting discussion with the twins. She almost snorted in her pudding when she heard them talk how they got a detention for charming snowballs to pelt professor Quirrell. The rest of the day was spent playing in the snow with the twins some more and the evening reading on the couch. She went to sleep that night with a happy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Finally, Christmas morning arose and she quickly put on one of her prettier dresses. She wanted to look good today. She cleaned up her bedroom a bit, stepped out in the living room and stopped in her tracks. There, in front of her was a big Christmas tree, decorated with different coloured balls and other decorations. There was a big silver star on top of it and a mountain of presents under it. She looked confused for a second, but then she saw that there were already some people present in the room. Grandpa, Uncle Filius, Auntie Minerva and Severus. All of them were smiling at her (well, Severus’s smile was very small, but there nonetheless) and she couldn’t help but smile back at them as she made her way to her usual seat next to Severus. She felt him put his arms around her and suddenly she was picked up and set on his lap. She looked at him in surprise. He never did that! But then he gave her another small smile and she relaxed and leaned back in his chest. Suddenly she was aware of the looks they were receiving from the others and raised her eyebrow. A laugh was heard from Grandpa and Uncle Filius and even Auntie Minerva was chuckling silently. She didn’t know what they were laughing about until Grandpa said between gasps for breath, “You looked so much like Severus now, child. Both of you raising your eyebrows like that…”

And he was off laughing again. Arielle blushed and started giggling herself. There was even a small rumble behind her and she realized that Severus was quietly laughing himself. His hand pulled out his wand and a cup of hot cocoa floated to her and she grabbed it from the air as she took a sip. All of her family took their own cups of cocoa, tea or coffee and settled down for a bit, until it was time to unwrap the presents.

Suddenly, a burst of flame appeared next to Grandpa and Fawkes appeared as well. He flew to Arielle and settled on her lap, butting his head in her hand. She smiled down at him and started to pet him. A trill was heard throughout the room and everyone felt lighter somehow. Then, Grandpa cleared his throat and waved his wand at the presents. A few brightly coloured packages flew to their new owners. With a wink from him, Arielle watched as they opened their presents and opened hers as well. She smiled as she saw a dark green cloak after she unwrapped the neon orange wrapped present. She pulled it to herself and smiled at the softness of it. She stood up from professor Snape’s lap and put it on as she twirled a bit in it, looking at it from all sides. She ran to Grandpa Albus and threw her arms around his neck, thanking him all over. A pet on her shoulder and a kiss on her head later, and she was back on her Guardian’s lap. Next was Auntie Minerva’s turn as red and gold packages flew around the room. After she unwrapped that one, she grinned happily and repeated the hug and thanking bit. It was a book on Wizarding Rituals that she loved to read about. Uncle Filius’s present was a big box of Chocolate Frogs and a small book on some very useful every day Charms. Then it was professor Snape’s turn. She felt really shy when she opened his present. It was a book on Potions that she saw in the Flourish and Blott’s all those months ago and they didn’t have it in the library. How he knew she wanted to read that particular book, she had no idea. She hugged him nonetheless and kissed him on the cheek again. Both of them were blushing after she pulled away. She turned herself around again and leaned back on his chest. The only difference now was that his hands encircled her waist and drew her closer to him as he rested his head on top of her own. She smiled at the gesture and shyly waved her wand and said the incantations for each of the presents she had gotten for her family. All of them chuckled when they saw what Grandpa’s package looked like. Grandpa’s eyes twinkled as he opened the small box and he laughed in delight as he pulled out a tin of sherbet lemons and two pairs of socks. He smiled at her and she blushed. He knew that she made them herself, apparently. Auntie Minerva’s present was wrapped in an emerald green wrapping paper, since that was her favourite colour. She was rewarded with a warm smile as Auntie Minerva opened her box and saw a tartan tin full of her favourite biscuits. Arielle had baked them herself with the help from Severus. Uncle Filius on the other hand squealed in glee as he opened his present and revealed a bunch of his favourite sweets. He was the biggest sweet tooth apart from Albus Dumbledore. She felt very shy when she handed her present to Severus and moved from his lap so that he could open it as she had done with his other presents. She fumbled with her hands as she watched him with a baited breath. He opened the present painstakingly slow. How anyone could open a present so slow was a mystery to Arielle, and she only just stopped herself from biting her nails. Finally the box was opened and he pulled out the black jumper she had made for him in the late nights in the Ravenclaw Tower with the wool she bought. There was another small box inside of the bigger box and as he opened it, it contained a single herb. It was one of the rare herbs that were used in potions and she was delighted to hear that Neville had it in their greenhouses at home. Her gifts were put aside and she was picked up again and sat on his lap, this time facing him. His fingers lifted her face gently and she looked up to his eyes tentatively. What she saw made her eyes open widely. There was such gentleness in his eyes that Arielle felt her throat tighten. His finger was now touching her nose and he whispered to her so quietly that she was the only one who actually heard him, “Thank you very much. They are the most wonderful gifts I ever received.”

He pulled her in a hug then and she put her hands around his neck as she buried her head in his neck. There was soft sniffling heard from Auntie Minerva’s direction, but she didn’t care. She was happy where she was now. A soft clearing of someone’s throat brought her back to reality and she turned around to look at Grandpa. He motioned for her to look at the Christmas tree. She followed his look and noticed that there were still a few packages under the tree.

“Go on, child,” she heard Severus say. “Open them.”

She smiled at him and stood up from his lap. She sat down on her knees as she pulled a silver and green present to her. It was a charm bracelet from Blaise and she put it on immediately after reading the letter that accompanied it. It said that the five charms that were on the bracelet would protect her from some low-powered spells like Expelliarmus, some of the poisons, and a few more things. She smiled as she opened the package from the twins. There was a blue woollen jumper with a silver letter A at the front and a letter explaining that it was from their Mum, Mrs Weasley. Their gift was an old piece of parchment with an explanation on how to use it. It said that the incantation ‘I solemnly swear I am up to no good’ was the starting one and that ‘Mischief managed’ was the ending one. She smiled at their story as to how they nicked it from Filch’s office once when they were still in their first year. Neville’s present was a book on Muggle flowers and herbs and she grinned at the thought of her sending the exact same book to him. He sure must have had a laugh. From Cedric she received a small white gold necklace with a small emerald pendant on it. She put it on right away and felt warmth when the emerald touched her skin. There were some protection spells on it as well. She could tell. There was still one present though. She didn’t know who sent it though. It was a medium sized chest that looked like it lived through better days. Pulling it to herself, she suddenly felt that it contained something very important. Touching the lock, she felt her finger tingle and the lock clicked open. She pulled the lid up and looked inside. There was a bundle wrapped in brown paper, a letter, a few photo albums, two small boxes that looked like they were ring boxes and a plush wolf toy that reminded her of something that happened long ago.

She took out the brown papered bundle first and unwrapped it. She heard gasps from her family and looked at them quizzically before turning her attention to the cloak in front of her. It was old and looked really worn out, but what caught her attention were the initials on it. J. H. P. She knew immediately whom the cloak belonged to. Her father. Hugging the cloak to her she felt tears prick at her eyes and set it aside to think about it later. She pulled out the small boxes next. One of them revealed a small gold ring with a diamond encrusted with emeralds in it. The other one had two golden bands. They were clearly her mother’s engagement ring and her parent’s wedding bands. She set them both on the cloak next to her and pulled out the photo albums next. She knew what she would find in them and she wasn’t mistaken. There on the first page were her mother and father holding a small bundle with black hair and green eyes in their hands, smiling happily at the girl who was watching the picture. With tears flowing down her face, she turned the page and watched a group of people smiling and waving at her. There were her parents; a man with black hair and grey eyes, next to him was a man with sandy-brown hair and amber eyes who looked tired, but still happy. She noticed that there was another man, hiding behind the group. He was a small, fat man with watery blue eyes and mousy brown hair. She closed the photo album. She had all the time in the world to look at it. She turned her attention on the letter. Picking it up gingerly, she opened it and read it.

Dear Elle,

I wish you a very happy Christmas. It has come to my attention that you’re not residing with the Dursleys anymore, but that your Guardian is now Severus Snape. It eases my heart to hear that he treats you well. I hope you enjoy your Christmas gifts. Most of them belonged to your parents, but I though that you deserved to know a bit about them. I knew them since I started at Hogwarts. You knew them only for a short time. I think it’s time I returned them to you.

Love Always,

R. J. L.

There were a few tear smudges on the paper and she suddenly realized that the man or whoever it was had a real hard time to part from those things. She looked at the last item in the box and pulled it to her chest. It was Mr Wolfy, her stuffed wolf, she suddenly remembered. It was her favourite toy when she was a baby. She closed her eyes as more tears slipped past her eyelids. She felt a soft hand on her shoulder and looked up to see professor Snape looking at her with concern. She leaned forward and let him hug her to himself as she cried softly in his arms. She heard the others come near and after a quiet question from Albus; they looked at the contents of the box as she cried in Severus’s shoulders. There was a small sob heard from Auntie Minerva as she apparently opened the boxes. She heard another hand on her back, rubbing it softly. She turned around to see Grandpa kneeling on the floor next to them with his arms opened in invitation. She turned and let herself be buried within Grandpa’s beard as he shushed her and explained in a quiet voice, “I know you probably won’t remember him, but this letter that you received was from Remus Lupin, one of your father’s best friends.”

She heard a soft inhale of breath behind her and looked up to see Grandpa sending a warning look to Severus, and then he continued in as soft voice, “You knew him as Uncle Moony, I remember.”

She suddenly recalled a tired looking man with a happy glint in his eyes as he threw her in the air and she squealed in glee. She buried her head in her Grandpa’s shoulder as she said, “I remember him.” She looked up pleadingly as he asked, “Can I see him? Please! I’ll be good!”

Her back was rubbed softly again as she heard professor Snape say, “Of course you can see him, child. We wouldn’t take him from you, nor would we prevent him from seeing you.”

She looked at professor Snape with a grateful expression as he picked her up and they settled on the couch again.

She woke up feeling disorientated. She didn't remember what else happened after she broke down yesterday. Sitting up in her bed, she looked around herself. Everything was quiet. There was no clinking of the pan in the kitchen. That meant that Severus was out somewhere. She climbed out of the bed and put on her warm dress robe. She didn’t know why she put it on, she just felt like wearing it today. It was cold and she wanted to be a bit warm. Looking around her room she saw that there was a note on her night stand. Picking it up, she read it.

Elle,
I’m sorry I couldn’t prepare your breakfast, something came up. I’m afraid you’ll have to go to the Great Hall to have some. I’ll meet you there as soon as I can.
Yours,
Severus

She sighed. She really didn’t want to be alone right now. Trudging to the bed she picked up the worn stuffed toy that she received the day before and hugged it to herself as she walked out of her room in a slow step. She looked at her feet all the way from the dungeons, feeling strangely lonely. There were no students or teachers in the corridors she walked in. She hugged her Mr Wolfy tighter to her as she quickened her pace. Maybe there were people in the Great Hall.

The next thing she heard was a soft “Oomph,” as she walked right into someone. She quickly apologized to whomever she bumped into and looked up. And froze. She was looking up into those impossibly amber eyes that she loved to watch when she was little. And the eyes watched her in shock as well. She felt her fingers slip as Mr Wolfy fell to the floor. And she threw herself into the man’s arms, sniffling softly but happily. The man suddenly picked her up as if he only just woke up from the trance he was in as he clung to her like there was no tomorrow and then she was heaved higher into the air and she grinned as she remembered the last time they did that. She put her palms on the man’s shoulders as he twirled her around. She squealed in glee and after throwing her arms around the man’s neck once more, cried out happily, “Uncle Moony!”

The hands that were hugging her suddenly tightened around her for a brief second and then she was looking down in his golden eyes again. They were smiling as were his lips. And she was sure that she was the same. Finally, he stopped twirling her and settled her on his hip after he levitated her plushie back in her arms. She was still grinning at the man as they entered the Great Hall, oblivious to everyone in the hall.

“I can’t believe you’re really here,” she said softly as he stopped to put her on the ground again. His arms faltered and she was pulled into a bear hug again. She felt a soft kiss on her head as he whispered back at her, “I can’t believe you remembered me, little one. I was so happy when Albus fire-called me and requested my presence here for the day. I didn’t think that you would want to see me again. And I never even hoped that I would be called Uncle Moony again.”

She punched him softly in the shoulder and pulled away. She saw his hurt look and giggled as she put her hands on his face. “Silly Uncle Moony… Hey! That almost rhymed!” she giggled and continued after seeing his expression brighten, “How could I ever forget you and not want to see you! You’re my Uncle Moony! And I missed you lots and lots!”

She saw his eyes tear up and giggled softly again as she brushed the stray tear away before leaning in and putting a soft kiss in his nose. Only then did she become aware of where they were. Luckily there were no students in the Great Hall, otherwise they would already be whispering about her. Uncle Filius and Auntie Minerva both had handkerchiefs in their hands and were either sniffling in them or brushing their tears away. Grandpa’s eyes just twinkled like there was no tomorrow and Severus was scowling at the floor, not looking at them at all. She tugged at Uncle Moony to let her down and after he did so she ran up to Severus and hugged him around the middle as well. She felt him stiffen and tightened her arms around him. Arms sneaked around her waist suddenly and pulled her up in his arms. She quickly put her legs around his waist so that she wouldn’t fall off and put her arms around his neck as she leaned her forehead against his. She watched his black eyes that were sparkling with something unidentifiable as she said softly, “Are you mad at me?”

His eyes widened for a fraction as his hold on her tightened a bit. He shook his head mutely and she continued, “Then what’s wrong. I don’t like seeing you like this…” Once again she was rewarded with his silence as he moved his eyes elsewhere. She was confused. What was wrong with Severus? A soft cough woke her up from her reverie and she looked up to see Grandpa smiling at her softly and nodding. Suddenly she understood. Severus was jealous. She turned back to watch Severus with wide eyes.

“Are you jealous?” she whispered in disbelief. His eyes suddenly caught hers and even as he went on quickly to deny it, she knew it was true. His eyes could never lie to her. She giggled softly as she brought his forehead to her lips and kissed it softly. That shut him up. She put her forehead against his again and asked him softly, “Why are you jealous? There’s no need for you to be jealous of Uncle Moony. He’s Uncle Moony, but you’re my…”

She bit her lip as she closed her eyes and buried her head in his shoulder. She almost said it. And she will have to tell him, for she knew that he would ask her. And there it was.

“I’m your what?”

His voice was rather husky as she felt his eyes burn into her. She blushed and looked up to him once more, before putting her small hands on his face and kissing his nose.

“You’re my Papa, silly,” she said softly. “And Papas and Uncles can’t really compare.”

She felt several sucks of breaths and one sob as she watched him apprehensively. His eyes were on hers still and his hands were suddenly clutching at her almost desperately as he hugged her to him. She felt his hands tremble a bit as he walked them the short distance between his chair and the spot where they stood. He fell backwards in the chair and buried his head in her hair. She suddenly felt something wet on her neck and realised with a jolt that he was crying. Tightening her hold on his neck she whispered four more words, “I love you, Papa.”

She heard a small gasp from him as he pulled back slowly. His black eyes were still glistening with tears and she pulled her hands back from his neck to fumble for a handkerchief in her pocket before tapping his teary face with it. All the while she felt his black eyes burning into hers, for they didn’t move their eyes from each other. Suddenly the hand with the handkerchief was stopped as his bigger hand encased hers as he pulled her closer to him and kissed her forehead.

“I love you too, little mermaid,” he murmured hoarsely in her ear as she felt her eyes tear this time. She hugged him for all he was worth and they clung to each other as if they couldn’t survive without the other. Suddenly there was clapping and they quickly looked in the direction of the clapping. Arielle saw Uncle Filius and Auntie Minerva sobbing and clapping. Grandpa was smiling and twinkling, and Uncle Remus was watching them with a painful expression in his eyes, yet there was a small smile on his face as he clapped as well. She gave them all a small smile and turned back to her Papa. It was then that she noticed what he was wearing. A smile lit her face.

“You’re wearing my present!” she exclaimed ecstatically as she put her hands around his neck again. She heard him chuckle and she was pulled in his arms again and kissed on her forehead one last time before they both heard her stomach rumble in hunger. Laughter filled the Great Hall as Arielle pouted at them with red cheeks while Severus was busy making her comfortable on his lap as he pulled an empty plate towards them and filled it with fruit. She pulled the plate on her lap as she leaned back on Severus’s chest. She grinned as she felt his arms encase her in their hug again and his head leant on her head. Picking up an apple, she bit into it and munched on it slowly.

ooOoo

Later that night, Severus was contemplating the day that had passed. He remembered when he saw Arielle and Lupin come in, smiling happily at each other. His stomach felt as if it would crumble and his heart felt like it was being squashed. He couldn’t look at them any more therefore he set his eyes on the floor and scowled at it. He couldn’t believe that he was actually jealous of the werewolf. And then he had his arms full of Arielle as she hugged him tightly. He was getting a lot of hugs lately and to tell the truth, he didn’t mind them at all. That girl had warmed her way into his heart step by step until he was sure he couldn’t live without her.

He remembered how she looked when he first set his eyes on her. She was a scared little thing, with barely any skin and vivid bruises on her lithe body. He felt his anger soar at the monsters that did it to her. He couldn’t understand that feeling that rose in his heart after he had seen her collapse. It was fear and worry he now recognized the feelings as. And then in the hospital wing, it was worry again. When they stared at each other he felt one of his masks crumble and he couldn’t set it up again. That girl made more and more if his masks fall through the last few months that they knew each other. He knew that he should probably push her away, at least to protect her from the Dark Lord and from himself, but it didn’t work. For the little mermaid as he had called her today, had took a place in his heart that he knew he couldn’t do without.

He was touched when he saw what she had given him for Christmas. It must have taken her a lot of time to make that jumper. He brushed his fingers over the soft wool and sighed as he contemplated the day. She had called him Papa. He felt his heart soar when he heard her call him that and it did it every time he heard the word. He never believed he would hear those words in his life, for he never believed that he would have children. And now, he was taking care of his mortal enemy’s daughter and he fell head over heals for her. She was just too cute to fight it. And she loved him. He felt his lips tug into a smile as he remembered how she said it. There were no lies in her voice and even though he couldn’t believe her at first, he did anyway. And he told her he loved her back. That itself was a big thing for him to do. And he felt that their relationship would change greatly from this day on. And you know what? He didn’t mind it at all. He was already contemplating the adoption of that specific girl with the name Arielle Lily Potter. He smiled as he thought that this would make a perfect birthday gift, for he didn’t dare ask her before. They still had a lot of things to work through.

And then she was there, staring at him through the doors of her room. He couldn’t believe how cute she looked, wearing that green sleeping gown of hers and clutching her toy in her arms. He gave her a small, but genuine smile, as he waved his hand to invite her closer. Her face lit up in a happy smile and she came running to him, climbing up on his lap and throwing her arms around his neck. He smiled in her hair that was so messy he still couldn’t believe she actually got it to work to her wishes sometimes, as he put his arms around her and pulled her closer to him, giving her a soft kiss on the head. He felt her smile and kissed her again, deciding there and then that she was the only thing in this world worth keeping forever. He brushed his fingers through her soft hair and let her fall asleep on him. He couldn’t bring himself to wake her up or move so that he could take her to bed.

He smiled as he remembered the night before Christmas. He was shocked when she had kissed him on his cheeks and couldn’t help but put his palm on the place he still felt his skin tingle. He had stood up after a few minutes in which he recollected himself, and went to her room, tucking her in softly and kissing her on the forehead. He knew that she wasn’t asleep yet, because he felt her stiffen when he entered and pretend that she was asleep. And he meant what he said back then. She was his child. His daughter now. And he would do everything to protect her.

The rest of the holidays flew by quickly. Remus had come to Hogwarts a few times more and then he and the Headmaster 'made up' a position for Remus so that he could work at Hogwarts all the time and see Arielle whenever he wanted. Plus, he would earn money for it. As he was such a gentle man and always ready to help, the Headmaster created the post of a School Counsellor. Young Witches and Wizards had a chance to talk about their problems with the post, if they couldn't talk to others about it as Remus was sworn to secrecy about the information he got on the students. Arielle couldn't be happier. She hadn't seen Uncle Moony for ten years or so and now that she had him back she wasn't going to let him disappear again.

She was also deliriously happy because Severus loved her. She was afraid that he would push her away from him when she called him Papa and told him that she loved him, but none of that happened. Instead, he reciprocated her feelings and she couldn't be happier. When the first day of the new term finally arrived, she had flew in the arms of her friends with a big smile on her face and everyone that knew her knew that something very good happened over the Christmas holidays.

Of course, Severus was still a big meanie to her in Potions, and everywhere else but their Quarters, but she didn't mind. She knew that he had to do it to protect both of them. She felt quite a bit guilty about it, until he dissuaded her from it. However, she finally knew what it was that was guarded by the three-headed dog. She came upon it on quite a coincidence. She had opened a book on Historical Potion Masters and had read the entry about Alchemists when she read that Nicholas Flamel was the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone. She knew that she had read the Alchemist's name somewhere before and it wasn't until she opened her very last Chocolate Card that Uncle Filius gave her for Christmas and she got her second Albus Dumbledore card. What followed was a flurry of exclaims and movements as she had almost stumbled from her seat to the Hufflepuff House to drag Neville and Cedric with her to the library after the Welcoming Back Feast.

At first they were angry with her for dragging them to the library on the first day, but when she told them what she had found out in the holidays, they had sat down and just stared at her like she was something not from their planet. After a few minutes, Cedric voiced the question that was bothering Arielle for a while now.

“And what are we supposed to do now?”

She knew that they couldn't tell the professors about it, but then her face lit up as she realized that she did know one person that would spill secrets unknowingly. She didn't know when she got so Slytherin, but it must have been because she was with her Papa so much. She grinned at them wickedly and then the next morning they were on their way to Hagrid's Hut. After knocking on the door, Hagrid opened them and Arielle was lifted up in the air as she squealed happily. That was the way Hagrid said hello to her every time they saw each other. This was quite a lot, as she and her friends had tea with the giant Groundskeeper every week or so.

They all sat down in the hut and drank hot tea and tried to eat Hagrid's Rock Cakes. After a few minutes, Arielle looked up to Hagrid and asked him sweetly, trying to sound as innocent as she could.

“Hagrid, I was reading about three-headed dogs in the book last week and I was so fascinated with what I saw. And I know that you know many creatures. Can you tell me a bit about the Cerberus?”

Hagrid puffed up proudly as he went on telling them that, indeed he knew about the Cerberus, seeing as there was one in the castle at the moment, named Fluffy and that all you had to do was play the creature some music and it would fall straight to sleep. After that, it seemed as if Hagrid bit his tongue. They weren't supposed to know that. He ushered them out quickly after that, but she knew the most important thing of all – how to come past the dog if it was necessary.

Cedric and Neville didn't know what she planned to do, but she knew and that was enough for now. She knew now why Voldemort was in the castle – to get his hands on the Philosopher's Stone. She knew that there were protections on the Stone, seeing as she overheard a conversation with her Papa and the other professors in the Staff Room one day when she wanted to show her Papa the midterm grades, which were all perfect. She thanked Gods for her photographic memory as she could remember everything she ever read on those subjects and put it in the exam. She had a few exams that were even more than 100 and Hermione Granger was left fuming. She only managed a 105 percent on her Charms one, while Arielle had 120 on Charms, History of Magic, Transfiguration, Potions... well on every subject really. How she had done it she had no idea, but I guess it helped that she read all those books in their Quarters over the summer and then in the library if one particular lesson interested her more than just the basics.

She begged Severus to teach her Occlumency as well because she had feared that it might be possible that professor Quirrell attacked her mind one day. Just in case. And he agreed, after all he wanted her to be as safe as possible and if she mastered Occlumency at least her mind would be safe from intruders. Every weekend they had two sessions – one on Saturday and the second on Sunday evenings. She hadn't quite grasped all that 'empty your mind of all emotions' part yet, but she was on her way to do it correctly after five months of studying the subject. And Severus got to know her past as well, so that even if she could never tell him because it hurt too much, he knew from her memories. And the best part of the lessons was the cuddling after them where Severus comforted her if they had come across an especially horrifying memory of hers.

ooOoo

Time flew by so quickly that Arielle couldn't believe that it was April already. She had seen Hermione Granger preparing for end-of-term exams already and just rolled her eyes. It was irritating how Granger tried to compete with her even if she wasn't quite as good as her. No, Arielle wasn't snobby about that, it was just a fact. When the girl would give up was a mystery to Arielle, because Arielle – to tell the truth – didn't even study that much for the exams last term. She just went over the lessons once and practiced the spells until she got them right ten times out of ten. And that was it. She wasn't memorising the books to her memory and she wasn't nagging all her classmates either. If they needed her help they could ask. And ask they did. Almost every night there was one of the first years that would ask her how to do this or that and she gladly helped.

But the most impressing thing that happened in that time was the dragon that Hagrid hatched. She couldn't believe he really acquired a dragon and went to tell her father about it right away even though she promised not to. The safety of students and Hagrid came first. At first Severus was ranting about it as he paced until she calmed him down with hugging him and pleading with him that he didn't tell that she told him. They came up with a plan that Severus would go visit Hagrid about some ingredient of his that he needed a companion to search for – that happened quite often so there was no fright that Hagrid would find it suspicious if Severus came to him – and then try to persuade Hagrid that keeping a dragon was dangerous and send the dragon off to a Dragon Reserve in Romania. She knew about the Reserve because she remembered Fred and George telling her about Charlie Weasley, their older brother who worked with dragons over there.

But they were too late, for Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley were caught smuggling the dragon on top of the Astronomy Tower in the middle of the night. Gryffindor lost a hundred points that night. They earned themselves a detention in the Forbidden Forest sometime in May. Arielle unfortunately finally had enough of Draco Malfoy's taunting and hexed him in the corridor in front of the Transfiguration classroom and they both got a detention as well.

And now, the four of them were found in front of Hagrid's Hut waiting for the Groundskeeper to take them to the Forbidden Forest. When Hagrid finally emerged he told them that they needed to find a wounded Unicorn and showed them the blood of the Unicorn. Arielle asked Hagrid if she could take some of the blood for professor Snape and his Potions. And Hagrid agreed. It was quite a rare ingredient and Arielle quickly filled vials with it. She had taken a few vials with her, just in case she found some Potions ingredients that Severus would be happy to have, and then when she saw that she had too little, cast some Duplication Charms on the vials so she had more than enough of them.

Finally it was decided that Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger would head off with Hagrid, while Arielle and Draco Malfoy went of with Fang, Hagrid's giant dog. As they departed everything was quiet around them. Malfoy apparently didn't think of insulting her then. And she was happy about that, because she was looking around herself in fascination. She was never in the Forbidden Forest before and she was curios as to what it looked like. But everything began to go downhill when they found the traces of Unicorn blood and the thing that killed the Unicorns. Malfoy ran away, screaming like a girl, while Arielle was left alone clutching her head in pain. She knew who the thing was now – Voldemort. She couldn't move from the pain in her scar and just closed her eyes when the shadow went for her. And then all she could hear was a flurry of movements and screams. The pain in her scar receded and she dared to open her eyes. The shadow was gone and a giant palomino Centaur was standing in front of her looking at her in concern. Shakily she stood up and the Centaur introduced himself as Firenze. He even let her ride on him and after she asked him if he was really sure, having read that Centaurs never let humans ride them, she received a small smile and a nod as she climbed on Firenze's back.

They talked a bit as he made his way to Hagrid. She got to know that she was right in her assumptions that Voldemort was in the castle and that he was after the Stone. She told Firenze that she already knew about that and he smiled at her approvingly. Then, they met two other Centaurs – Bane and Ronan – and they got angry at Firenze for carrying her. She looked down at her fingers as Firenze got angry and shouted at them for a bit, before making his way to Hagrid again. When they finally breached the last trees of the forest, she saw two dark shadows running towards them. She hadn't realized that time passed so quickly and that it was already so late, as she saw the moon in the sky being in a lot higher position as before. But then she didn't have time to think about the time anymore as she was heaved from Firenze's back in the comforting arms of her Papa. She threw her arms around him and buried her head in his neck as she listened to him asking Firenze what happened in the Forest. When he heard that Voldemort tried to attack her, his grip on her intensified and she felt him bury his own head in her hair. Finally the happenings of the night came crashing in Arielle's consciousness and her body begun to tremble.

Only after they were in the confines of their quarters did the trembling stop as he sat down in the couch with her still in his arms. She felt him sigh and start playing with her long hair as she calmed down slowly. She breathed his scent in deeply, trying to memorize it for the fear of never ever seeing him again. For she knew now, it was her destiny to go and protect the Stone in the third floor corridor. Pulling away a bit, she looked up at Severus and noticed that his eyes were closed as he breathed in and out. He wasn't sleeping, she knew that. He was probably just enjoying the time they had with each other, or trying to make Arielle feel comfortable and not embarrassed. Or he was trying to calm himself down so that he didn’t go shouting at her for her idiocy. Smiling a bit, she pulled the twenty-two or so vials out of her inner pocket and when he heard the tinkling, he opened his eyes again to look at her curiously. She grinned at him and explained about asking Hagrid if she could take some of the Unicorn’s blood for him and gave him the vials. He took them with so much care that she knew that she had just given him something very valuable. But then the vials were put on the table next to the couch and she was pulled in a hug again. She smiled in his chest as she realized that she was more valuable to him then his precious Potions. She snuggled closer to him as she felt him playing with her hair again. What happened after that she didn’t know for she had fallen asleep.

June was approaching and with it end-of-the-year exams and summer holidays. Arielle finally discovered just what her father’s cloak did after putting it on one night and realizing that she was invisible. It seemed as if it was an Invisibility Cloak. They were really rare and hard to find. With her cloak she could go everywhere in Hogwarts, especially when she also realized that the Marauder’s Map that the twins gave her for Christmas showed where everyone at Hogwarts was at the particular moment and what they were doing. The map was also her legacy, so to speak, since she recognized the names on it from the start. It was made by her father and his friends. She cherished the gift all the more because of it.

She had gathered enough courage and went off exploring Hogwarts at night with the help of her cloak and map. She had almost bumped into professor Quirrell and watched with fascination as he was accosted by her Papa and threatened. She cheered for her Papa silently, before she hid in one of the rooms on her right, so that they wouldn’t discover that she was there. She found herself in a bare room that held nothing but a big mirror with dust all over it. She shed her cloak and put the map on it, but not before checking if someone was near and then muttering the closing incantation under her breath as she tapped it with her wand.

She walked closer to the mirror and with a swish of her wand and the incantation, “Ventis,” she dusted the mirror off, as the incantation made wind to come out of her wand’s tip. She gazed at the mirror with wide eyes and saw that there was something written on top of it. The inscription said ‘Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi’ and she so totally didn’t understand what it meant. She turned away from the mirror, but not before she caught a glimpse of it in one of the windows opposite her. Her eyes widened as she turned back to the mirror and read it backwards. Now it said ‘Ishow no tyo urfac ebu tyo urhe arts desire’. I show not your face, but your heart’s desire. So, this was the Mirror or Erised that she had read about somewhere in the library when she read about Wizarding Devices. She knew that if she looked in the mirror that she would see what her heart wanted most. If she was the happiest girl on the world, she would see only herself. With a gulp, she decided that even if the Hat didn’t consider her a Gryffindor, she had enough courage to face whatever she most wanted. She put her feet in front of the mirror, closed her eyes for a bit and with a deep breath opened them again as she looked up to the mirror.

At first there was nothing, but then the mirror shimmered for a bit and she saw a girl that looked like her standing with a tall man who had his arms around her shoulders. She recognized professor Snape, but didn’t know who the girl was, until the girl smiled at her and opened her eyes. She gasped as she realized that she was looking at herself standing with Severus. She watched with fascination at the Arielle in the mirror. The girl seemed different from her somehow. And then she knew why. She looked more like Severus Snape than James Potter. Did that mean she wanted to be his daughter for real? It must have been so. She put her hand on the mirror and gasped when she saw several more figures appear in it. Her late parents joined them and looked at her with love and pride in their eyes. When James Potter looked at Severus, there was no hate in his eyes however, but only gratefulness. Uncle Padfoot joined them and looked at Severus Snape with the same look in their eyes. She stepped back in shock and then stumbled over her feet as she went crashing down on the floor with wide open mouth.

Her heart squeezed painfully as she realized what she just saw. She wanted her parents and Uncles to not push her away because she wanted to be Severus’s daughter for real. She knew that Uncle Padfoot had a really big grudge on Severus, because her memories came back with Occlumency. She remembered him raging about someone called Snivellus when she was a baby. She realized that this was probably a nickname for Severus. She closed her eyes as she stood up. What she saw completely confused and shook her. Putting on her cloak again she activated the map and went off to her dormitory in the Ravenclaw Common Room. She knew that she won’t return to the room ever again.

She dedicated all of herself into her studies, to forget the scene she saw in the Mirror, to no avail. If she didn’t think of it at day light, she had nightmares about her parents’ death at night. She tried to occlude her mind every night, but the nightmares still slipped through. She grew more distant from all of her friends and family as well, which worried everyone around her. Finally, the last day of the exams came and Arielle found herself walking the corridors with her head low. As she wasn’t watching where she was going, she bumped into someone. Before she could fall down however, a hand on her shoulder prevented it. She quickly apologized and looked up. She was surprised to see Grandpa looking at her in concern. She felt someone gently entering her mind – she wouldn’t have noticed it if Severus didn’t teach her Occlumency and quickly put her shields up. The presence disappeared and Grandpa was watching her with pride. But he still looked worried about something and it looked like he was in a hurry. She asked him,

“Where are you going, Grandpa?”

Albus Dumbledore sighed as he explained that he was called to the Ministry of Magic. It seemed as if it was urgent and that he would return tomorrow. She gulped when she heard that and immediately knew that this was the night. She hugged him one last time before she waved at him until he left her sight. She kicked the stone on the floor and looked morosely at her fingers. She had to do it. She didn’t want to do it, but she had to.

When night fell, she sneaked out of the Ravenclaw Common Room – this time without her cloak and map. She just stepped on the staircases that lead the way to the third floor when someone pulled her back. She almost yelled out in surprise, but a hand came on her mouth and muffled her voice. She looked frantically around her to see who was holding her and sighed in relief when she saw that it was only Cedric. Behind Cedric was Neville who was watching her with a determined expression in his eyes. She gulped. They knew what she was up to. She opened her mouth to say something, when Cedric interrupted her,

“I don’t know what goes on in that pretty head of yours, but you’re not going there alone.”

That shut her up. She couldn’t believe she really heard what she heard. She really wanted to clean her ears now, to be sure. She gaped at him and when he nodded solemnly, she smiled at him in relief and hugged him for all he was worth. She hugged Neville too. They were the best friends anyone could ask for, and she told them that. That left the two Hufflepuffs blushing furiously, until she asked them if they were really sure about that. After receiving a nod from the both of them, she led the way to the forbidden corridor.

The stairs deposited them on the third floor and she opened the door to the corridor with a beating heart. She silently apologized to her Papa and everyone that cared about her and entered with a determined expression. As quickly as she could, she started singing a lullaby that she remembered her mother singing to her as she opened the doors that held the three-headed dog. Cedric and Neville entered behind her, wands drawn just in case the dog wasn’t sleeping. But they were both wrong. For the dog was already asleep, a harp playing a soothing melody not far from him. Arielle quickly opened the trapdoor and after looking at Neville and Cedric one last time, jumped in. She landed on something soft, but didn’t have any time to think about what she landed on as Cedric and Neville fell down on the thing as well.

She tried to move her legs to stand up when she realized that the legs were covered with slimy weeds. She looked curiously at Neville and Cedric and realized that they were both covered with the thing as well. Suddenly Neville exclaimed,

“It’s a Devil’s Snare! Calm yourselves down and it’ll let go of us. If we move around too much it’s going to kill us.”

That really was a comforting idea, but Arielle didn’t have time to panic. She closed her eyes and occluded her mind so that she was completely relaxed. She felt the wines deposit her on something hard and opened her eyes. She was free. She quickly stood up and waited for her two best friends to come down as well. A few minutes later, they were making their way to the doors on the other side of the chamber they were in. A flutter of movement made them stop as they listened to the sound in the next chamber.

“It sounds like birds,” Cedric mentioned. Arielle nodded and opened the door with determination. But as she quickly saw, those weren’t birds at all. They were keys. She ran to the door on the other side of the chamber and after trying every unlocking spell she knew, she gave up and looked at the keys again. Then she noticed that there were brooms as well. She and Cedric looked at each other and she knew he knew what they were supposed to do. She looked at the lock again and shouted out,

“We need an old looking one, probably a big silver one.”

She looked in the air and tried to find the key, while Cedric mounted the broom. He wasn’t the Hufflepuff Seeker for nothing after all. She quickly pointed the key with a squashed wing out and off he was. Almost ten minutes later he threw the key in Arielle’s hands and quickly dismounted the broomstick. The lock clicked when she put the key in and they were in the next chamber. It was dark and it looked like a graveyard of some sorts. But when they came to the centre of the chamber light flared up and they realized that they were on a Chessboard. A giant chessboard. She gulped. She was no good at chess. She looked frantically around herself as she tried to see what they could do now, when she heard Cedric mutter,

“Ah, we have to play ourselves to the other side. How ingenious.”

She looked at him in confusion and he smiled at her gently,

“Take the Rook on the left side, Elle. Neville, you take the Bishop on the right. I’ll be a Knight.”

She couldn’t feel happier when she realized that not only did Cedric know how to play chess, he was great at it! The moves he did were brilliant and he took out more pieces than the two of them combined. It wasn’t until she heard him sigh that she realized what he was about to do. Her heart clenched as she shouted out,

“No, Cedric! Don’t do it! Please don’t do it!”

He looked at her with a small smile on his face as Neville joined the pleading. He looked to the queen again and with a strong voice said,

“You know what to do, Elle. When the Queen takes me, you’re free to checkmate the King.” He gave her his famous kind smile and added, “Don’t worry about little ole me. I’ll be fine.”

With that he turned and gave an order to his Knight and Arielle could just watch as he was hit and thrown to the floor. She bit her lip and closed her eyes. She couldn’t watch it. She heard Neville sob and slowly opened her eyes again. She moved the required amount of places and whispered, “Checkmate,” to the King. She watched as his giant sword fell down on the floor and as soon as the clang calmed down she went flying to Cedric along with Neville. She pulled his head on her lap as Neville pulled out some bandages from his pocket and with a whispered incantation, the bandages were wet. He gave one to Arielle and she gently patted his wound with it, trying not to hurt him too much. She heard Neville sigh as he quietly said,

“You go on ahead, Elle. I know it’s your destiny to do it. I believe in you and Cedric does too. Just take care and come back to us, okay?”

She nodded with tears flowing down her cheeks. She looked at Cedric and then said, “Please go and tell professor Snape what happened after he wakes up. He’ll know what to do.” With that she stood up, but not before she put a small kiss on Neville’s cheek and a gentle one on Cedric’s forehead. She waved at the two of them as she went through the doors. A disgusting smell assaulted her as soon as she opened the door and she saw that the troll she was supposed to fight was already knocked unconscious. There was a gaping hole in his head and she tried hard not to be sick at the sight of the brains scattered around the room. She quickly entered the next chamber and came to a stop. There were several potions bottles and a piece of parchment. She picked up the parchment and read it.

Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,
Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,
One among us seven will let you move ahead,
Another will transport the drinker back instead,
Two among our number hold only nettle wine,
Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.
Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:
First, however slyly the poison tries to hide
You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;
Second, different are those who stand at either end,
But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;
Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,
Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;
Fourth, the second left and the second on the right
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight.

She recognized the scrawl immediately and smiled. It was Papa’s. She read the logic puzzle again and slowly tried to decipher the meanings. Finally she grinned as she knew the answer. Putting the rounded bottle that was the potion to bring her back, she picked up the smallest bottle next and drank it before she lost her wits. The potion caused her to shudder as she felt as if ice flew through her veins, but stepped forward and through the flames. She closed her eyes and opened them once she knew that she was out of danger and not in the flames anymore.

She grinned to herself as she saw professor Quirrell already there muttering to himself about something. Her heart clenched as she realized in front of what he was standing. She had just enough time to dodge, when the professor suddenly turned around and sent roped flying towards her. She quickly cried out the Shielding Charm as a Petrification Spell was sent her way. She didn’t count on the red stream of light coming out of the professor’s wand quietly and as she didn’t know what the spell was, and didn’t have time to dodge, she felt her body grow stiff as she fell to her right hard.

Professor Quirrell laughed cruelly and turned his attention back to the mirror muttering something about imbecilic girls and the Stone being in the mirror. She suddenly realized that the professor wasn’t stuttering and knew right away that it was only an act. She tried to crawl as fast as possible so that she could see herself in the mirror for professor Quirrell started going on about breaking the mirror and seeing if the Stone fell out. She sneered in the rope that was around her mouth. How stupid can one get? Finally she could see her outline in the mirror and stared at it, wanting to find the Stone as quickly as possible. She was shocked when she saw herself stand up and free herself from the ropes that were around her body. The other her winked and grinned at her and pulled something out of the inner pocket on her robe. It was a ruby stone that gleamed in the firelight, before putting it back. Suddenly Arielle felt something hard in the pocket and opened her eyes wide. She knew that somehow, she had the stone in her pocket now. The girl in the mirror winked one more time and disappeared. Suddenly she was brought back to the reality as she heard that creepy voice telling professor Quirrell to use her to get to the Stone. She gulped and as soon as she was released tried to scamper back to the flames that guarded the exit from the room. Her body went rigid as she was put under the Locomotor Mortis spell and pulled towards the mirror. Quirrell yelled at her to look in the mirror and tell him what she saw. She occluded her mind then and looked in the mirror again.

“I see myself wearing the Head Girl badge!” she lied through her teeth. She smiled dreamily to increase the effect. Quirrell shouted at her again and she was flung against the wall where she tried to stop her eyes rolling to the back of her head. She heard a crash and knew that the Mirror of Erised was no more. Suddenly she felt her scar burn and she knew that Voldemort came out. She dared a look at professor Quirrell and saw him pulling the turban down. She almost puked out the dinner she had when she saw what was at the back of his head.

It was Lord Voldemort.

She saw his red eyes turn to her as he hissed, “Arielle Potter… See what I’ve become? A mere shadow and vapour… I have to posses another man’s body to take shape. The Unicorn Blood I’ve been taking for the past few weeks strengthened me and the Elixir of Life will help me get my body back… Now, why don’t you tell me where the Stone is, before I kill you?”

She gulped and then realized with a jolt, that Lord Voldemort didn’t know she had the Stone. She shook her head as she stood up and walked back into the wall. “Never, I’ll never help you Voldemort!” she shouted at him.

“Why should I? You killed my parents! Why should I help you get your body back, you parasite?”

She heard him chuckle slightly and then there was no air in her lungs as professor Quirrell’s hands were around her throat. She scratched at him as she tried to gulp as much air as possible. She heard him yell out suddenly and saw him watching his arms with shock. They had blisters and were turning to dust. She looked at her own arms and came to a decision. She threw herself forward and put both her arms on the professor’s face, hearing her own yell in his screams, for her scar was threatening to split open, it burnt so much.

And then, darkness took her.

She woke up to someone holding her hand on their chest and her hair being played with as she heard someone's heartbeat under her ear. She tried to open her eyes, but they were too heavy. The only thing she could do was let out a mewl-like voice. The heart under her beat faster at that and she felt lips on her head as someone's voice softly called her name. She whimpered again as she was slowly put on something soft and something wet neared her lips. She opened them and drank the cool liquid slowly, her hair being played with still. The glass of water was taken away when she had enough and she heard the voice call for someone called Poppy. The footsteps of someone else came nearer and she felt a wave of magic in her as she was examined. With that, she fell back to sleep.

The next time she awoke she was in the same position as the last time. She smiled when she realized whom she was lying on. She opened her eyes slowly and blinked at the room they were in. It was pink and white and upon shorter reflection Arielle remembered that it was her own room. She looked up and was surprised to see Severus's eyes were closed and had dark splotches under them. It appeared that her Papa was awake for most of the time when she was unconscious and only fell asleep a few minutes ago. She smiled at him and let him sleep as she disentangled herself from his arms to go to the bathroom. When entering it she noticed that she was still in the robes she wore when she went down to the chamber with the mirror and the cloak that she wore then as well. She quickly opened her cloak and rummaged through the pockets until she came upon the ruby stone. So it was all true, she realized as she looked at the stone in her hands. She was just washing her hands after she did what she came to do when she heard a flurry of movements and a panicked voice calling her name. As quickly as she could she closed the water and ran out of the bathroom to see Severus running out of her room with a frantic look on his face. She just stood there surprised. She had never seen so much emotion on her Papa's face.

“Papa?” she softly asked. The man looked at her so fast that she could swear she heard a crick in his neck, but that was also her last thought as she was pulled in a bear hug and felt her father bury his face in her hair shaking softly. She threw her arms around his neck and buried her head in his hair as well. They just stood there for a few minutes until Severus moved them to the couch and tightened her hold on her after he sat down. She smiled in his hair and whispered,

“I’m sorry. Don’t be mad at me, please.”

She heard him take a deep breath as he pulled away and looked her in the eyes. She tried to be as small as possible under that burning glare of his.

“How can I not be mad at you, you idiot child! You went down there not telling anyone. You could have died down there! You would have died if we haven’t come at the moment we did!”

She felt tears spill down her cheeks as she stared at her hands and the ruby stone. She wanted to make it better so that her Papa wasn’t angry at her anymore. She said pleadingly,

“But I had no choice! I’m sure no one of the professors would believe me and you were so tired from the exams! I didn’t want to disturb you! I just felt like it was something I had to do.”

She sniffed softly as she returned her eyes on the ruby stone she put on her lap and traced it with her finger. A hand came resting on her head as she heard him say quietly,

“I know you didn’t. But still, you can’t blame me for worrying about you, can you? I’m sorry I yelled at you, it’s just that I was so worried about you. You didn’t see the way you looked when I came in the chamber. You were pale and shaking and had bruises on your throat and your arms were red from the strain you put yourself under. Luckily Quirrell was already dead, or I would have killed him myself.”

There was a deep growl in his throat and Arielle wanted nothing more but calm him down before he exploded again. She pushed the stone until it fell on the floor with a clack and put her head on her Papa’s chest, listening to his beating heart. She felt his arms come around her again as she said,

“I know. But I did it, Papa. I saved the stone from Quirrell. I met Grandpa in the corridor and he told me he was called to the Ministry of Magic. I knew that professor Quirrell would go down there that night. Cedric and Neville helped me get to the last chamber. Neville told us about the Devil’s Snare and Cedric played chess and caught the key to open a door. Then Neville said that I had to go on and I went.”

She smiled as she felt his arms tighten and added, “Your puzzle was great! I never expected you to put in a logic puzzle.”

She heard him chuckle and reply, “Well, not many Wizards or Witches posses an ounce of logic in them.” He paused for a bit and added,

“I’m proud of you. Do you know that?”

She grinned as she snuggled closer to him and let him play with her hair once more. There was a knock on the door and it opened a moment later. She looked up and saw her family come in. She grinned and them and after a nod from her Papa, she bounded off, only to be swept off her feet by Uncle Moony as he gave her a bear hug just like her Papa. She giggled as his stubble tickled her when he smothered her in kisses and then after another hug from him, she was given on to Auntie Minerva, Uncle Filius and Grandpa. She heard him whisper,

“I’m so sorry, child. If only I haven’t left.”

She shook her head and tugged his beard.

“It’s okay. I’m still alive and it’s not your fault.”

“But I knew that Quirrell had Voldemort in him.”

“I know, but it’s still not your fault, Grandpa.”

She looked up at his wrinkled face and gave him a kiss on the nose as he grinned back at her, his eyes twinkling again.

ooOoo

Luckily it was still morning and she had enough time to prepare herself for the end-of-the-year feast in the Great Hall. Entering it in her school uniform with a big smile on her face, she was attacked by two boys, Cedric and Neville. She hugged both of them and thanked them for being there for her and kissed them both on their cheeks. Neville just laughed and hugged her back, while Cedric blushed like there was no tomorrow. She could still see him holding his hand on the spot she had kissed him on half an hour later when she was finishing with her food. Finally the food was cleared and professor Dumbledore stood up with a giant smile on his face.

“Another year has gone by!” he started saying cheerfully.

“And I just have to trouble you with my wheezing waffle for a few minutes, so forgive me. What a year it has been! Hopefully our heads are a bit fuller than they were and luckily you have a whole summer to get them nice and empty before next year starts. And now, as I know you’re all curious, I have the House-Cup to award. The points stand thus: in fourth place is Gryffindor with three hundred and twelve points, in third place Hufflepuff with three hundred and fifty two; Ravenclaw have four hundred and twenty six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two.”

Arielle clapped with the rest of the Ravenclaws while the Slytherins cheered loudly. She looked over to the Slytherin Table and noticed Draco Malfoy banging his goblet on the table. Rolling her eyes she turned her attention back on the Headmaster as he continued,

“Yes, yes, well done Slytherin. However, recent events must be taken into account.”

She raised an eyebrow and suddenly choked on her saliva as she saw her Papa doing the same. They really were alike. Someone patted her on the back and she thanked them as professor Dumbledore continued, “I have a few last minute points to award. Let me see… Ah, yes… First – to Neville Longbottom.”

She saw Neville blush and stutter at the Hufflepuff table. While he did get points for his own house, he was never put in the spotlight like this and Arielle felt a little bad for him, but clapped the loudest of them all when Grandpa awarded him fifty points.

“For knowing what lay ahead and helping others to get away from the danger, I award Hufflepuff House fifty points.”

The Hufflepuff House went crazy and Arielle giggled when she saw Cedric protecting Neville from being squashed by his house-mates. Finally, there was silence in the hall again as Grandpa continued, “Second – to Cedric Diggory… for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Hufflepuff House fifty points.”

Now it was Neville’s turn to protect Cedric from his house-mates as they realized that they were in second place, putting Ravenclaw as third. She grinned over at the two boys that were her best friends and clapped loudly for them. “Third – to Arielle Potter…” added Albus Dumbledore. The room went deadly quiet then. “… for pure nerve and outstanding courage, for the use of cool logic when in the face of fire, I award Ravenclaw House sixty points.”

The din was deafening. Never in almost five hundred years did Ravenclaw win the House-Cup. Arielle was patted on the head and back so many times that she thought that they were broken. She couldn’t believe that they were first after so many years of being after Gryffindor and Slytherin. She grinned as she finally disentangled herself from the hands that were trying to suffocate her and looked up to the Head Table. Auntie Minerva. Uncle Moony, Uncle Filius and Grandpa were all chuckling at her expense and she couldn’t help but stick her tongue at them as she winked. That sent Uncle Moony in hysterics. She dared a glance to her Papa and saw him send a small, but proud smile, at her. She couldn’t be happier.