The man grew closer and closer to her and finally, with a frightened cry she was able to move. With the strength she never thought she could possess, she succeeded in freeing her arm. Backing away from him as quickly as possible, she ran to the barrier between the platforms nine and ten, hoping to get as far away from him as possible. However, it was not to be. As she backed into the wall, she felt no magic behind her and as her back hit the wall behind her she found to her terror that the barrier wouldn't let her through. She started trembling at that, and when the man saw how petrified she was, he gave her a dark grin, full of promise of pain.

A chiming of the clock could be heard from somewhere far away and with a shudder; Arielle realized that she missed the train. She was left alone and unprotected in the Muggle world, with her Uncle Vernon of all people looking down at her. Suddenly, her breath was taken away as he moved and grabbed her hand with a glint in his eyes that she knew rather well.

“I’ve got you now, you little vixen,” she heard him mutter as he dragged her off behind him. Where he was taking her, she didn’t know nor did she want to know. She could only hope that at least one of her friends realized that she wasn’t on the train and that they would send a message to Severus, warning him. But by then it could very well be too late. She knew how her Uncle was. He was gleeful to have her all to himself, and she would pay the price of just disappearing. She had thought that that period of her life was over, but apparently it wasn’t.

“L-Let go of m-me, Uncle Vernon,” she finally managed to stammer as she tried to free her hand once more. She noticed, belatedly of course, that they were already in a dark nook and that no one could see them, as a heavy hand landed on her face, knocking her off her feet and to the floor. She trembled as she put her hand on the spot where he hit her and looked up to him, frightened out of her wits.

“You little piece of vermin, how dare you speak to me like that!” she heard her Uncle below and cringed when she felt his heavy boot connecting with her ribs. A soft crack was heard and she knew that at least one of her ribs was broken. “You’re going to pay for what you did last year!” Her breath was taken away from her when he didn’t stop kicking her, instead it seemed that he wanted to make up for the lack of kicking her for the last year.

Her screams couldn’t be heard, because she couldn’t even get enough air in her lungs to open her mouth and try to call for help. She didn’t know how long this was going on, but she was probably only barely alive when she heard her Papa below from somewhere far away, “Get your hands off my daughter, you fat swine!” and finally felt her body being kicked as she heard a faint thud somewhere near her. She couldn’t open her eyes as she felt more than heard her Papa drop on his knees beside her and call her name frantically. She wanted to open her eyes so much to tell him that she was alright, and that she was glad that he came, but she couldn’t even get a little air in her damaged lungs.

She never saw her Papa pulling her in his arms when he noticed just how blue her lips were becoming from the lack of air, nor did she feel them apparate to St. Mungo’s. The only thing she was aware of was that she couldn’t breathe and that she was safe.

ooOoo

He could feel that something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

Severus Snape was frantic with worry. He had gotten a letter from Blaise Zabini a few hours after he said goodbyes to his daughter with only a viciously short message that could be interpreted in millions of ways.

Professor Snape,

Arielle is not on the train and we can’t find her anywhere! Some people even said they never saw her enter the platform!

I hope she’s alright,

Blaise Zabini

Immediately after that, he left the school grounds to apparate on the Platform Nine and Three Quarters and start his search of his daughter, only to come up empty handed as he searched every nook of the platform, his gut twisting in fright of what he may find. He had felt the bond between him and Arielle go crazy once he apparated here. He knew that something was seriously wrong.

When he walked through the barrier, a horrifying sight met his eyes. There was the trunk that his daughter used and her pets on the trolley lying down near the barrier. His heart stopped beating when he realized that Arielle didn’t miss the train by her own choice, but that something far worse must have happened to her. His mind immediately started to jump to conclusions, before he got himself under control and put the images his mind provided behind his thick Occlumency walls and opened the two cages that held his daughter’s two pets. The kitten immediately jumped out of the cage and sent him a message through the mind link the two shared, “There was this big beefy man that just grabbed her and pulled her away! She tried to get through the barrier but it didn’t let her through and she couldn’t run away!” The kitten was also frantic with worry and Severus had to kneel down and pick it up to at least get her to at least calm down a little.

Then he asked, “Where did he take her?” He knew immediately who it was that attacked Arielle and a knot made itself in his throat, remembering the flashback that Arielle suffered when it was only Lockhart that grabbed her. He knew that she was petrified of her Uncle, since he was the most abusive in the Dursley household and quickened his footsteps when the kitten informed him that she saw him pull the little girl in a nook somewhere between platforms one and two.

The worried father almost ran there, and just as he turned around the corner, he saw something that made both his blood boil and his heart to stop. The big beefy man was kicking someone on the floor. His blood boiled when he realized that it was Arielle that the man was kicking and his heart stopped when he didn’t see any signs that she was still alive. His wand was in his hand before he could think and he bellowed, “Get your hands off my daughter, you fat swine!” before sending a blasting curse his way, followed by a stunner and a petrifying curse so that he couldn’t get away if there was even a small chance of him breaking the stunner.

He forgot all about the fat man after that and hurried to kneel down by his daughter, who it seemed wasn’t even aware of what happened. His heart clenched when he saw the foetal position she was in, bundled up in as small a position as she could, trying to protect herself from more harm. His worry escalated when he heard the whizzing sounds his daughter made and he pulled her in his arms, as he stood up. With fear clenching his heart he noticed her lips. They were blue from the lack of air, and he knew that if he didn’t get her to a Healer soon, he would lose her.

And he couldn’t let that to happen! She was the most precious thing in his dark world and he would do anything for her. He couldn’t lose her now when he barely found her! He couldn’t live through that! He knew that he had to be at least a bit calm before side-apparating her to St. Mungo’s and took a deep breath, before putting up his shields once more and after making sure that no one could see Vernon Dursley, apparated his precious treasure to the lobby of St. Mungo’s hospital. He didn’t have the time to apparate to Hogsmeade and go to the Hospital Wing. He had to get his daughter to the Healers immediately.

ooOoo

The sight of a frantic man with dark hair that was carrying an unconscious girl with the same hair immediately got the attention of everyone that was standing in the lobby. One of the Healers immediately walked up to the two and after a moment noticed the girl’s lips. They were blue, going on violet. With a wave of his wand he conjured a stretcher and told the man holding the little girl to put her on it. He did and after letting her go, immediately snatched her hand in his and leaned forward to whisper something in her ear that the Healer didn’t catch.

There was no time to think of how sweet the man was acting towards the girl, for he had also heard the whizzing sounds the girl made and knew it was of a matter of minutes before it was too late. Quickly, he levitated the stretcher to one of the emergency rooms and put the stretcher on one of the beds, hurriedly waving his wand to see the girl’s lungs. It was only his professional attitude that stopped him from exclaiming in shock as he saw just how damaged the girl’s lungs were. There was so much blood and liquid in it, that it was a miracle the girl still lived.

With a wave of his wand, he turned the girl on her side and it was only after he spelled her ribs with one of the more advanced bone-mending spells that he even thought about saying the spell that extracted the excess fluids in the girl’s lungs. It had to be left on for at least a few minutes and in those few minutes, Healer Smethwyk could get a bit more information on the girl from the man that hadn’t left her side for the last few minutes.

“Now that she’s more stable, perhaps you could give me some information as to how she got into such a prediction?” he asked the dark haired man in front of him. The man didn’t even look up to him to show him he heard him. But then a few moments later he spoke,

“She was attacked by her Uncle. The barrier on the Platform Nine and Three Quarters seemed to have locked and she was unable to go through. Her Uncle is a muggle of the worst kind. And I want him in Azkaban for what he did to her.”

The last words were spat out in rage, but the man’s face immediately went to the emotionless mask he wore the entire time they were here. If you don’t count the frantic look he wore when he arrived.

“I see. Can you tell me anything about her? Is she allergic to anything? What is your relationship with her? Who is she?”

There was a slight pause and then he heard the man answering in a quiet voice, as if trying to get his temper under check.

“My daughter is not allergic to anything, as far as I know. And her name is Arielle.”

Just then, there was one last cough from Arielle and Healer Smethwyk returned his attention on her. Moving closer to her, he put on his stethoscope and put it on the girl’s chest, listening to her laboured breathing. What he heard was not pleasing. Not pleasing at all. Putting the stethoscope off again, he turned to the Potions professor and said,

“Unfortunately, her lungs were damaged more than I expected. I have gotten rid of the excessive fluids in her lungs, and mended her broken ribs, but there seemed to be a big emotional stress included."

“What exactly does that mean?” asked the dark-haired man in trepidation.

“It means that she will have problems with breathing in the future. She will have to be careful from now on. Any big exertion of her body and she can have an episode.” Healer Smethwyk paused for a few seconds and then looked at the girl again, “It means that she will probably have asthma for the rest of her life. Or in the best case, for a long time. There is a possibility that she can get better if a cure for the disease is found in the future, but if not – then there isn’t really much that we can do. You’ll have to make sure she has an inhaler on her all the time, and that at least a few people she’s in contact with every day have it as well – just in case she loses hers or can’t get to it in time to prevent an episode.”

Severus Snape couldn’t do anything but look at his frail daughter after that, and the Healer left the room, leaving the two alone. There wasn’t much that he could do now, anyway. The girl had to wake up on her own and then had to drink a potion to get rid of her bruises and the pain from being beaten. And then she was free to go. She probably shouldn’t have left the hospital so soon, but he had recognized the dark haired man as the Potions professor at Hogwarts and knew that the man knew how to handle his daughter if the worst happened. Every Potions Master had to take at least two courses in Healing and First-Aid.

ooOoo

Fingers brushing through her hair were the ones that woke Arielle up from her deep slumber. She tried to remember what happened, but somehow her memory was failing her at the moment. She wanted to open her eyes and find out who was doing such nice things to her, but her eyes were too heavy for such a difficult task. Not even warm lips that descended on her forehead could make her succeed in opening her eyes. It was as if she was awake inside and asleep on the outside.

A few more minutes passed with her being awake and trying to open her eyes. She had finally been able to let out a small noise and felt the fingers brushing her hair stop for a moment and then continue in their task.

Finally though, she felt her eyes become lighter and was confidant enough that she could open them. Eyelashes fluttered for a bit before she could open her eyes for a bit and she had to squeeze them quickly again, because the light was a bit too much for her. She could hear someone whisper something and the light around her dimmed. She slowly opened her eyes again and blinked a few times, trying to get the blurriness away. There was this big black blob sitting on the bed, looking at her.

A few moments later, the big black blob came into focus and Arielle recognized the blob as her father. His face was emotionless, but his eyes told her another story. His eyes showed her how worried he was about her, how relieved he was that she was awake; there was a hidden anger, but Arielle knew it wasn’t directed at herself.

“Hi,” she whispered, feeling as if she couldn’t speak any louder. Her father’s fingers went into her hair again as he leaned forward, placing a kiss on her forehead as he looked at her and asked, “Are you feeling alright?” She nodded at the question and after thinking about it a little, whispered, “I’m just a bit tired and achy.”

Her Papa nodded and when she went to sit up, helped her do it, his hands staying on her shoulders when she was finally straightened up. She felt love for her father when he encased her in a gentle hug, letting her head rest on his shoulder, her arms going around his waist. A hand ended up on her head as he held her close to himself, as if trying to reassure himself that she was there and alive.

A few minutes went by as they just sat there in silence, until her father spoke quietly, “Can you tell me what happened?” The hand on her shoulder squeezed it in reassurance as she closed her eyes tightly, remembering the reason why she was in this white room, having assumed that she was in a hospital. She buried her head deeper into his shoulder and took a shuddering breath, while whispering, “I don’t want to…”

The hand on her head moved itself to brush its fingers through her hair as she felt his chin on the top of her head. “I know you don’t want to. And I know that it is difficult talking about it. But you and I both know it is better to let it out instead of holding it inside.”

“I know… but can we at least wait until we get back home? I don’t feel like talking here,” she pleaded with him as she looked up to his face, distress written all over hers.