-CHAPTER EIGHT-

Everything Will Be Alright

The double doors to the infirmary banged open as Severus Snape stalked through them, a thunderous expression on his face. However, as soon as the doors behind him closed, he sent a number of spells on the door (from silencing spells, imperturbable charms, to warding spells). It was only then that his enraged face fell to reveal a worried expression as he hurriedly approached his daughter’s bed. There were already people around it, watching the nurse helplessly as she bustled around the bed. Remus Lupin was pacing left and right at the end of the bed, Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall and Filius Flitwick were sitting on the chairs next to the bed and watched Madam Pomfrey as she worked on the patient.

Severus’s heart started beating faster when he saw the look on his daughter’s face. It was a look full of suffering and helplessness, and Severus couldn’t help but feel helpless too. Without a word he sat on the bed and took Arielle’s hand into his. The hand was cold, he realized with growing anxiety, even as he looked over to the Headmaster, asking him silently to tell him what happened. Albus Dumbledore seemed to understand the look as he quietly started explaining.

“I’ll kill him,” were the only words Severus managed to say from his gritting teeth as he kept his eyes on his daughter. His hand was still holding hers in a tight grip, as if afraid that she would disappear the moment his eyes left her and his other hand sneaked into her hair to card through it. It was only then that Severus, as worried as he was, noticed that her hair wasn’t as unruly as before, but more silky and soft – not to mention straighter. Her eyelashes were also a bit different – longer and thicker than before. Her eyebrows were a bit thicker as well, although not as much – and curved elegantly on her forehead.

It was those small details that made him wonder what was happening to her. It wasn’t normal for witches and wizards to suddenly start changing their appearances – unless they were Metamorphmagi, and even then it was only a hereditary skill that the Potters didn’t have in their bloodline, as far as he knew.

“Now, now, Severus,” admonished Dumbledore, “We don’t really know what happened as of yet.”

He stood up then and dusted his vivid purple robes and added, “I shall go talk to Argus and enquire what happened from his point of view.”

Severus couldn’t help but snort as he glared at the Headmaster through his long hair that was hanging over his eyes. “His point of view will be warped at least. He’ll probably want Arielle expelled for something she didn’t do.” Albus didn’t seem to hear him as he closed the doors of the hospital wing behind him. Snape huffed and turned his head back to Arielle, watching her like a hawk.

It wasn’t until a few minutes later that he noticed that her breathing changed. Madam Pomfrey obviously managed to stop the attack, for Arielle’s face was slowly turning back to a pale colour instead of the blue one. Her breathing was loosing the whistling sound and there were only a few more traces of suffering on her face, before she slipped into sleep.

*


The fog around her brain seemed to diminish a bit and Arielle was able to recall what happened to bring the fog into her brain. Filch. Him choking her. She gasped and quickly sat up on the bed, wherever that might have been, and clutched at her throat, trying to make sure that there weren’t any gnarly fingers around it. There weren’t. She sighed in relief and let herself fall back on the bed. It was only then that she noticed that she wasn’t alone. There were quite a few people around her bed, watching her anxiously. There was her papa, her uncles and aunts, grandpa and all her friends (there were quite a lot of them, she noticed).

“Hi,” she said with a weak smile. God, how she hated the way her voice sounded. It was all hoarse and weak from being unused. There was a moment of silence before all hell broke lose... well, not literally, it was just her friends starting to ask her if she was all right, their voices overlapping each other as they spoke almost in unison. She grinned as they looked at her rather sheepishly.

“I'm fine,” she said, her voice gaining strength in seconds.

“You're not,” her papa interrupted her softly. “But you will be.”

It was than as if all the tension in the room flew away and everyone became more relaxed and she could almost hear their inner sighs of relief. In the next few hours she chatted with her friends as the professors left to their classes, seeing that she would be alright. It wasn't until she yawned for the fifth time in ten minutes that her friends wished her good night and left her to sleep. She was so tired that she didn't notice them leaving quietly, having already fallen asleep the moment Cedric tucked her in and wasn't that awfully nice of him?

The next time she woke up she was alone in the infirmary with no one but herself for company. As she looked up to the big clock she noticed that it was just a few minutes past six – time for dinner then. Stretching herself comfortably she put her hands behind her head and stared at the ceiling. The doors to the infirmary opened then and she looked down to see her papa coming through with a tray in his hands. She grinned and sat up straight in the bed. “Hey,” she greeted him as he came near her bed. It was quiet for a while as he put the tray on the bed and made sure it wouldn’t fall off. Then he turned to her, still quiet, and just watched her for a few moments with those unfathomable black eyes of his. His hand reached out and touched her on her cheek as if he was making sure she was there and that she was okay. Putting her own hand over his she smiled at him and was rewarded with a small smile from his side.

He sat down next to her on the bed and pulled her to him so that she was snuggled in his arms, but still comfortable enough to eat from the plate he brought her. It was quiet while she ate with Severus watching her. It was a comfortable silence. She liked the feeling she got when they were like that – it was quiet, but they didn’t need any words to understand each other. And she felt really safe like that – like he was watching over her while she was having her fun. Like a father should do. After she finished eating as much as she could she leaned back into her father’s arms and put her head on his shoulder while his arms sneaked around her waist and his chin rested on the top of her head.

“I love you,” she murmured calmly. Her papa always had that effect on her. No matter how worried she was about something, her anxiety always left her when he held her in his arms, protecting her from everything that might come her way.

“I love you too,” she heard him whisper in her hair and grinned.

Everything would be alright. She was sure of that. Her father would always help her get through anything that might come her way.