Aim & Ignite by shostakobitch
Summary: "I know about Lily." said the girl. "That you loved her." 

Severus froze mid-footfall. He felt as though he’d had the wind knocked out of him. 

"She's my mum." her chin lifted, her eyes clear. "She wrote me that letter to tell me about you. You're the only person she really mentioned, but I guess that makes sense, since you're my father. Who else was she supposed to talk about?"
Categories: Parental Snape > Biological Father Snape, Teacher Snape > Professor Snape Main Characters: .Snape and Harry (required), Draco, Dumbledore, Hermione, Lily, Ron
Snape Flavour: Canon Snape
Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Canon, Family, Fluff, General, Hurt/Comfort
Media Type: Story
Tags: Alternate Universe, Girl!Harry
Takes Place: 1st summer before Hogwarts, 1st Year, 2nd summer, 2nd Year
Warnings: Alcohol Use, Bullying, Profanity, Torture, Violence
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 24 Completed: No Word count: 168752 Read: 32972 Published: 24 Apr 2020 Updated: 05 Nov 2023

Chapter 22: dog days are over by shostakobitch

Part II: The Chamber of Secrets

——————

“Is evil something you are? Or is it something you do?”

— Bret Easton Ellis

——————

Ariel crept out of Dudley’s second bedroom and listened for sounds of life.

The house had been still for a while, save for Uncle Vernon’s snoring. Sometimes, Aunt Petunia liked to wait right around the bend in the stairs and catch her out of bed, and Ariel couldn’t risk it tonight.

She peered back at Hedwig and motioned to the window. Hegwig was the lookout, and she was terrible at it. The most Ariel could get out of her was a fluff of her wings, or a particularly annoyed stare, especially when she hadn’t been let out for the night yet. Tonight, Hedwig gave her what Ariel could’ve sworn were a roll of the eyes, and a yawn.

Ariel saluted Hedwig, which earned her an annoyed coo, and cracked open the door.

She carried her sneakers in one hand, her wand in the other. Aunt Petunia hadn’t been able to find it — she’d tried, but Ariel had been hiding it in different spots every week, and as far as the Dursley’s knew, she was allowed to practice magic outside of school, which turned out to be wonderful leverage in getting them to leave her alone. Ariel would’ve paid a thousand galleons to see their reactions to their house after Snape and Dumbledore had rescued her, but she had a pretty good guess based on how they treated her now.

They were different — it wasn’t a better different, but it was far more preferable. The Dursleys simply acted like she didn’t exist. Dudley was the only one who ever really gave her the time of day, and that was only so he could try and mess with her to get her into trouble. Whenever Aunt Petunia was around, though, she wore a tight, pinched together expression, like it was taking every ounce of strength she had not to start screaming. There were times when she’d try and catch Ariel sneaking out, when she’d leave and throw some sort of stupid task at her to keep her from going, but as soon as she heard that crack of Apparition, she’d leave Ariel alone.

The coin she carried with her (when she didn’t accidentally put it through the wash) vibrated in her pocket.

“Are you alone?”

She pressed the coin against her lips and whispered, “Yes.”

There was no response, which was typical. Ariel tiptoed to the top of the stairs, craning her head down to see if anyone was there. Luckily, she heard the toilet flush from behind her, and since Uncle Vernon was already asleep, and the light from underneath Dudley’s door told her that he was up playing video games, she was in the clear. She crept down carefully, avoiding the step that squeaked.

Outside, the sky was purple and pink, the sun disappearing behind the trees that waved back at her. There was a light summer breeze, the smell of Aunt Petunia’s roses in the wind. Ariel gave the bushes a nasty look, not forgetting when she’d hidden behind them almost a year ago.

Ariel sat on the front steps and waited, rubbing the coin between her fingers. She had blisters from her cauldron — she wasn’t allowed to use wand magic, but she sure as hell could brew potions if she wanted to. The only problem was ingredients, so she’d taken to ransacking the garden when she got a chance. Usually Aunt Petunia didn’t notice, but she had begun to pick up on the smell, scouring about the house like a bloodhound. Luckily, Ariel had been using the attic to brew, and Aunt Petunia wouldn’t go up there, not after she’d found Mum’s trunk. Ariel had the suspicion that the Dursley’s thought it was haunted.

There was a sharp crack, and a strong rush of air. Ariel didn’t even jump — she was used to it by now.

He stood at the end of the drive, like he always did. Black robes, black hair, black eyes.

If Snape didn’t come around as often as he did, Ariel might’ve lost her mind by now. She hadn’t gotten a single letter from Ron or Hermione all summer, and while she could think of a whole bunch of reasons why they hadn’t written, she couldn’t help but wonder if everything that had happened this past year had been too much. She tried to tell herself that was stupid and silly, but she couldn’t shake the thought once it had crept inside her, sticking to the front of it like gum on a shoe.

Snape’s eyes locked onto hers, dark and intense, like he was waiting for something to happen. It never did though; Ariel often wondered if Snape was always in fight or flight mode, or if he just operated at a higher, more frenzied frequency than other people.

Ariel hurried over to him, pulling on her sneakers over her heels. “You’re late,” she gave him a pretend put-off look.

His expression was stone-cold. “I was unaware I was on a timetable.”

“I try to sneak out when Aunt Petunia’s in the shower.”

His eyes narrowed. “She’s not supposed to be making your life difficult.”

Ariel shrugged. “She usually ignores me.”

Snape made a short, quick sound of disapproval. His eyes flickered to the house behind him, still and silent.

He wasn’t allowed inside. It was one of Aunt Petunia’s rules, set on the day Ariel had returned from her first year. Snape had been the one to bring her back to Privet Drive, intent on making it known that he’d happily terrorize them if they set a toe out of line, and Aunt Petunia had gone round the bloody twist at the sight of him. Ariel had never heard her so angry, seen her so unhinged. Even Uncle Vernon had seemed more frightened of her than Snape, and he hadn’t really done anything — all he’d done was call her Tuney, and she’d lost it.

“I get to pick, then.” she announced. “Since you’re late, and all.”

He rolled his eyes. “Keep in mind, we won’t go far.”

“Don’t worry,” she started ahead of him. “I have a place in mind. It’s just around the corner.”

Snape growled, but his footfalls fell in time with hers. “You had better not be going on late night excursions when I’m not here.”

Ariel didn’t answer, which earned her a cross look from Snape. The shadows cut across his cheeks like a blade. If he knew about the makeshift ladder she’d made to climb out the window, he’d probably put bars on it.

“I thought you were coming earlier,” she said, ignoring the growing chill permeating from him. “That’s what you said last time, anyway.”

“There was a staff meeting that lasted longer than intended.” his tone implied that he was deeply annoyed about this.

She cocked her head up at him. “In the middle of the summer?”

His lip curled. “It was to discuss the new Defense professor.”

Ariel poked his arm. “Is it you?”

He glowered down at her. “It’s some rank fathead you won’t learn an ounce of anything worthwhile from.”

She tried not to laugh. “What’s his name?”

“Gilderoy Lockhart,” he said, and he somehow managed to make it sound like a curse.

“Is he a bigger fathead than Quirrell?”

“I believe Dumbledore was looking for someone who would be… harmless.” his nostrils flared, and in her mind’s eye, Ariel saw his boot going through Quirrell’s face. “Incidentally, he may have gone too far in the opposite direction.”

“You’d better check the back of his head anyway.” Ariel tried to smile, and it hurt a bit. “Just in case. We all thought Quirrell was harmless, too.”

She could have sworn his fingers grazed her shoulder, that he almost pulled her to a stop, that his steps did not fall in time with hers for a half a second. Instead, Snape didn’t say anything, but cleared his throat in a way that told Ariel he would have rather choked on what he wanted to actually say rather than say it aloud to her. That part of Snape hadn’t changed — there were still at least three different meanings behind everything he said, and half the time, Ariel couldn’t decipher them. He was, however, not nearly as nasty. Or perhaps he was, and Ariel had just grown thicker skin — it was hard to tell, especially when he was the only person she’d been able to have a conversation with since summer had started (besides Hedwig, of course, but Hedwig was an owl, and it wasn’t nearly the same thing).

“If Gilderoy Lockhart is an agent of the Dark Lord,” said Snape. “he will have reached a new low in his exile.”

Ariel turned on her heel so that she was walking backwards, facing him. “Why’s that? He can’t be that much of a numpty.”

“The man’s cape has glitter.”

She grinned. “Glitter’s fun.”

Snape curled his hand on her arm and turned her back around. “He’s a peacock — he struts about like he’s king of the castle, but there’s nothing of substance there.”

“Have you ever met him before?”

“No, thank Merlin.”

“Then why do you hate him so much?”

“I hate everyone.”

“Right, I forgot.” she smirked up at him.

Snape scowled in response. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed that your destination is very clearly not around the corner.”

“It’s just up ahead,” she kicked a stone in front of her down the path. “I come here after dinner sometimes.”

He didn’t respond, and they walked in silence for a few minutes. The sounds of night began to creep out, the wind softly rustling the leaves and sending flower petals skirting across their path. Ariel watched Snape, who looked so out of place it was almost funny. He wore Muggle clothes when he came — still all in black — and like he was dressed for wintertime. The black turtleneck he always had on looked itchy and uncomfortable. He did not look at her, his eyes dark and intense, almost angry, but she could tell he wasn’t but the way he was walking. His hands were shoved inside his trousers like he didn’t know what to do with them.

Ariel gave the rock another kick — this time, straight off the path and into the grass.

Snape looked down at her, the sharpness in his eyes glinting like silver. “Have you been practicing?”

He meant the Occlumency. “Yes, every night.”

There had been long nights after Quirrell-Mort, ones where Ariel hadn’t been able to sleep. She did not dream of the woman in the mirror anymore, or of the Smoke Monster, but she did of the face on the back of Quirrell’s head and his hands around her throat. She’d run out of the batch of Dreamless Sleep Snape had given her within a week, and when she’d knocked on his door in the middle of the night, tired and desperate, he had taken her in. The Occlumency was the only thing that had helped, the only thing that kept her mind off of the guilt she carried with her for allowing herself to be used —

Snape didn’t look convinced. “And?”

She averted her eyes. “It’s been helping… not as much as the Dreamless Sleep, though.”

“Have you any more nightmares?”

She hesitated. “Not like I used to, no.”

He gave an annoyed huff. “But?”

“It just doesn't always work.”

“If it’s not working, it is because you are not doing it correctly.”

Ariel frowned. “I do what you’ve shown me —”

“Then there should be no issues.” Snape said sharply.

“It’s not that easy!” she protested, coming to a stop. “I can’t just clear my mind at the drop of a hat!”

His eyes narrowed. “That’s not what I am suggesting.”

“Then why are you —” Ariel broke off, the frustration flaking away like embers in a fire when she happened to glance behind Snape. In the brush, no more than three feet behind him, were two large, tennis-ball sized eyes staring back at her.

She blinked, and they were gone. Ariel rubbed at her eyes, and wondered if she was starting to go mental, being cooped up with the Dursleys. Maybe it was doing something to her brain.

“What is it?” Snape demanded, his fingernails digging into her shoulder.

Ariel shook her head and sighed. “I thought I saw something.”

He scanned the bushes like he wanted to choke them. She started walking again, feeling ridiculous and small. Snape could still do that really well, even if it wasn’t always intentional. She’d been furious with him when she’d gotten her Potions marks back and only received an E. The Occlumency was different, though. Ariel felt like she had to do that well, if not to help herself, then to show Snape that she could.

It was a stupid thought, but Ariel couldn’t shake it. It weighed in the pit of her stomach like a rock, just like the lack of letters from her supposed best friends.

Snape caught up to her in what seemed like a few minutes but was probably a matter of seconds. Ariel knew this because the frustrated huff was suddenly right behind her, and not still trying to pick a fight with the bushes. She could feel him looming over her, like a raincloud.

The whole business with Quirrell and the letter had changed him, though. He was still mean, but not really mean, at least not to her. She supposed that coming to Privet Drive should be added to Nice Things Snape Did Now, as well as actually talking to her, and the Occlumency. They never talked about what had happened, though, and never once about Mum. Tonight was the first time Snape had mentioned her since they’d looked into the memory. She had to be here because of the Blood Wards, and Snape very clearly didn’t want her here, which begged the question of whether he would’ve taken her, if he could have. She was trying so hard to make it seem like everything was fine, but without hearing from her best friends, she was finding it harder and harder to keep her mind off of it.

The neighborhood playground came into view. Ariel suddenly felt incredibly stupid all over again, leading Snape all the way here.

Snape’s face twisted in revulsion when he caught sight of it. “You can’t be serious.”

“Dudley has a monopoly on this place.” she kicked at the sand. “They don’t let anyone else hang around here.”

He let out a very put-off sigh. Ariel shot him a defeated glare and marched away from him, grinding her teeth together. She’d had a lot of practice biting her tongue this summer — she was getting quite good at it, but it wasn’t fooling Snape, the same way it didn’t fool Aunt Petunia. The difference was that Snape got angrier, and Aunt Petunia waited with the same sort of twisted glee she’d shown when Ariel had run away.

She let herself fall onto one of the swings — her feet finally touched the ground. They hadn’t done that last summer. She’d grown, by how much, she didn’t know, but the Dursleys didn’t seem as large anymore. When she looked back to Snape, he was still on the other side, staring at the sand like a sinkhole would open any minute.

Ariel twisted the chain so that she was facing the other way. After a few seconds, she could feel him hunched over her again. He yanked the chain, and she spun back around. Her nose was inches away from his chest.

Snape stared at her, his black eyes bottomless and bright. “There’s something you’re not telling me.”

She looked away, chewing the inside of her cheek.

Ron and Hermione don’t miss me and I miss them so much it hurts

She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I’m trying to do what you taught me —”

“You know that’s not what I’m asking,” he waved at her dismissively, like a fly.

She glared mutinously at him. “There’s nothing wrong with me.”

He made a sound of pure exasperation. He let go of the chain, and the swing sung back, the shadows from the streetlights bouncing across his face. It wasn’t doing any favors for his nose, the angle making him look like a hawk.

Ariel was quiet for a moment. “I just… I hate it here.”

His head jerked sharply. “If they have done something —”

“No, they’ve been fine,” she shook her head and sighed. “I just miss Hogwarts, is all. It’s so boring here.”

“You might learn to enjoy boring,” he leaned against the pole, shoving his hands inside his pockets. “after the year you’ve had.”

She kicked at the sand. “You don’t have to live with those pricks.”

“I would not be living with them if we were forced to inhabit the same space.”

Ariel snorted. Her breath caught, catching her off guard and she gripped hard at the chain, mortified. She clenched her jaw and tried to focus on the air moving through her hair and the last shred of sunset glinting off the slide. For a split second she could’ve sworn she saw that pair of green eyes peering around the slide again, but when she blinked, they were gone, and Snape was bending down.

“Look at me,” he murmured. She could feel his breath across her forehead.

She turned away, not meeting his eyes. If she did, he would Look, and she didn’t want him to know how miserable she was here sometimes, how hard it was to go days and days without talking to anyone, not hearing from her friends. He’d told her when he’d left her here that first night that if he was too much that he would take her away, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask him that. She didn’t know why.

Black met black. She could feel him there, everywhere, in that space between colors and memory. In the distance, she could see the pinprick of light he’d told her to always focus on.

His voice was low and soft, like a lullaby. “We’re going to go where everybody knows,”

Ariel closed her eyes, and the ocean spread out before her, deep and blue and choppy. The foam sprayed upwards towards the sky, but where the sea met the sky, she could see the sun peeking through the clouds. Snape had told her it was different for every Occlumens, but he visualized an ocean, and that was what she used, too.

She let her worries fall below the waves, sheathing off of her like sheets of ice off an iceberg, letting them fall into the cold water below. The sunlight filtered through the clouds — she could feel her sadness and resentment falling deeper and deeper, far from the surface, far from her. The water began to calm, and the summer breeze tussled her hair, and she could feel her lungs expand and her heartbeat, her nerves tingle in her fingers and toes. She was grounded — not in the water with things she wanted to forget, but here, in this moment.

“Better?”

She nodded. Her chest felt lighter, spacious, and yet, somehow full. It was never this easy when she did it by herself — only with him. She didn’t know why.

“Well done.”

His words nestled under Ariel’s heart. When she opened her eyes again, Snape was by the slide, leaning against it with his hands tucked under his arms. His expression was faraway, like she’d left him on the beach. She suddenly felt very guilty for getting as cross as she had with him. After all, it wasn’t his fault she stuck here with the Dursleys. He came to check on her — no one else had, not even Hermione or Ron.

“It’s a good thing you came today and not tomorrow.” Ariel said.

He quirked an eyebrow. “And why is that?”

“There’s some big fancy business dinner they’re hosting tomorrow,” she propelled herself forward a little. “Uncle Vernon’s got a script we’ve all got to follow — literally, he’s gotten it written up and everything, even down to what they’re wearing.”

Snape rolled his eyes. “Your aunt was a freak of nature with order — it’s not surprising she married someone with the same mentality.”

“And I’ve got to sit in my room all night and pretend I don’t exist.” Ariel made a face. “I’m going to die of boredom.”

“And she will die ordinary,” he muttered. “as is her greatest fear.”

She peered up at him. “I thought magic was her greatest fear?”

“She cannot have it, and so she despises it. Her hatred lies with herself more than you or your mother.”

Ariel considered this. “Was she always like this?”

“Not at first, no.”

“What changed?”

“Her ability to look past her jealousy.”

Ariel wondered if that was why Aunt Petunia couldn’t look at her. She never met her eyes — if she did, she’d always appear startled, like she was seeing something that wasn’t really there. Hermione had pointed out her resemblance to her mum when they’d gone through her mother’s chest, but Ariel didn’t see it. Maybe Aunt Petunia saw it, too.

Ariel stood up from the swing. “When will you be back?” she asked, hoping it would be sooner than she expected. Her hope was quickly squashed when Snape averted his eyes, glaring in the direction of the house.

“It will be a bit longer this time.”

Her face fell. “How much longer?”

“A week.”

“A week?” she bleated. “Why?”

“There’s some business I need to take care of.”

She could feel all hope, everything that was propelling here towards the end of the summer starting to crumble. “What am I supposed to do for a week?”

“Your summer work,” his eyes flashed. “I doubt you’ve started it.”

Little flecks of annoyance dug into her. “I already did your reading, if that’s what you’re after.”

“We’ll see,” he said shiftily. “You still have your other classes, in the meantime.”

She scowled and crossed her arms. “You owe me big time when you come back.”

Snape’s mouth twitched in a strange way, then. “As you wish.”

Ariel figured that meant Snape-Speak for yes, which was good enough for her. For a split second, she thought about grilling him about where he was going, but Snape was good at lying, and even better at shutting down a conversation… and Ariel didn’t want to argue anymore. She wanted to walk the road back to the house and ask about Hogwarts, about the new Defense professor.

And so they did.

When they reached Privet Drive, Snape flicked his wand, and the light in her bedroom came on. He watched the house, as if he were waiting for it to say something, or rather, for someone to come out, but they never did. Ariel knew for a fact Aunt Petunia was terrified that the neighbors would see him and ask her about it.

Ariel tried to ignore the tightness in her chest. She didn’t want him to leave. “See you soon?”

“If you must.”

He said the same thing, every time. She cracked a smile and waved, heading up towards the house.

She watched him Apparate, watched the shadows suck him up, and she wished that it would have its own gravity and pull her in too, pull her back into a world of magic and Hogwarts, a world she missed so terribly.

Ariel sighed, not wanting to return to her room just yet. She’d lie there and stare at the ceiling and drive herself mad, thinking of what Snape did when he wasn’t here. He hadn’t told her he would be coming to visit, but Ariel got the feeling that he came out of obligation more than actually wanting to see her.

Because Mum told him, she thought. Mum told him to take care of me. She told him to be better.

Ariel wondered a lot about what that meant — how much worse had Snape been before her Mum had died? He couldn’t have been that bad if…

What had he done to drive her away?

He’ll be missing my birthday, whispered a sad voice, faraway and hollow.

She went still — her birthday was tomorrow.

Ariel sat down on the stoop, the tranquil sea now rough and choppy. She could think of only one thing to say — a word she’d learned from Snape.

Her head hit the back of the door. “Shit.”

——————

The next morning, Aunt Petunia greeted Ariel with a mop.

She was awoken by the manic banging of pots and pans, and the sound of Uncle Vernon’s thundering footsteps frantically running about the house. Dudley was whining, probably about the racket that had woken him up too, but it stopped the moment Ariel stepped into the kitchen. He always overplayed the charm when Ariel was around — somehow, it made Aunt Petunia act like she hated Ariel even more, as if somehow, Ariel’s horribleness took away from Dudley in some bizarre way.

The smell of something marinating wafted through the downstairs. Before she headed down, she threw her overalls in the wash once she was certain Aunt Petunia wasn’t using it. She instantly heard the clangclangclang of something hard inside the barrel, silently cursing herself for forgetting to take the coin out of her pocket again.

From the hallway outside the kitchen, Ariel spotted the sad and undoubtedly already cold eggs Aunt Petunia left them for her every morning. Normally, Ariel waited until breakfast was over to come down and eat herself, but this morning, the kitchen was now listed under Places Ariel Shouldn’t Be.

Ariel marched in, not looking at any of them. The plate was just within her reach when suddenly, Aunt Petunia was wordlessly shoving a mop in her face

No acknowledgment of her birthday — not that she’d expected it. If she hadn’t gotten one from Ron or Hermione, she sure as hell wasn’t going to get one from her magic-hating relatives.

Ariel gritted her teeth and took it from her. “Where?”

“Kitchen,” Aunt Petunia said, waving her off with a dismissive hand.

When she turned her back, Ariel made a face at her and let the mop hit the floor with a loud smack. She ignored the look of outrage from Aunt Petunia, focusing on trying to scoop out a hole in her stupid linoleum.

“This could well be the day I make the biggest deal of my career,” Uncle Vernon was telling Dudley. “I think we should run through the schedule one more time. We should all be in position at eight o’clock. Petunia, you will be?”

“In the lounge,” said Aunt Petunia, and Ariel, who mouthed along every word. “Waiting to welcome them graciously into our home.”

“And Dudley?”

“I’ll be waiting to open the door,” Dudley said in a sickly-sweet voice. “‘May I take your coats, Mr and Mrs Mason?”

Ariel coughed, trying to cover up her laughter. Aunt Petunia’s head snapped up, her glare vicious, like a rabid dog that had caught a rabbit’s scent. She shot a look at Uncle Vernon, who’s mustache twitched, like he was the rabbit.

“You,” Uncle Vernon grouched, turning his beady eyes on Ariel. “Come here, girl.”

She exhaled through her nose and walked over. “Yes?”

“And what will you be doing during dinner?”

“I’ll be in my room, pretending I don’t exist.”

“Excellent.” he wagged his fingers at her. “This is the important business deal of my life. I won’t have you or your nonsense ruining it. Am I clear?”

“Crystal.” she said flatly. She held out the mop to Aunt Petunia. “Just like the floor.”

Aunt Petunia scoffed. “You’ve barely been at it for two minutes.”

“I think Professor Snape would agree with me.”

She could’ve heard a pin drop. Even Dudley’s smile had disappeared, like he knew Ariel had crossed a line. She didn’t care — it was her birthday, and she was here all alone, confined to her room and not able to use magic or talk to her friends. Even Snape had abandoned her.

“Get out of my sight,” Aunt Petunia hissed. She wretched the mop from her hands like a stolen relic.

“Gladly,” Ariel said under her breath, turning on her heel.

She stomped up the stairs and slammed the door to Dudley’s second bedroom.

—----------

Around two o’clock, Ariel heard a new sound. She’d been cataloging them as the day went on, from the sounds of Aunt Petunia cleaning and Dudley banging around in his room on his computer. Uncle Vernon had been out, running errands, but he was home now, ironing his tuxedo even though he’d had it dry-cleaned. She’d read a chapter of Lord of the Rings, but she couldn’t even remember what she’d read, because the whole time she’d been wondering when her Samwise had decided that she didn’t need her anymore.

She wondered what Snape was up to. She wondered if she had hounded him if he would’ve told her. He never talked about what he did during the summer, but sometimes, he told her about what was happening at Hogwarts, which meant he must be there pretty often. Last time, he’d brought a letter Hagrid had written to her — it had only said something about a new litter of chimaera had been born, and that he hoped she was doing alright with the Muggles. It had been hard to read, even Snape hadn’t been able to decipher half of it.

The new sound was a car pulling into the driveway — it couldn’t be the Masons, though. They weren’t coming until dinnertime, and it wasn’t even close to noon. Two people got out of the front, much younger than Uncle Vernon had described. Ariel watched, confused, until she saw another person get out, a familiar bushel of brown hair all she could see from here, but she knew exactly who it was.

It was Hermione —

HERMIONE —

Hermione was HERE —

Ariel jumped from the bed and nearly fell flat on her face. She skidded around the corner, flung open the door and took the stairs three steps at a time. Unfortunately, Aunt Petunia had beaten her to it. She was frazzled, calling for Uncle Vernon, but when she opened the door, her nervousness quickly turned to confusion when she saw Hermione. She didn’t even notice Ariel bounding down the stairs until she missed the last step and smacked right into her boney frame.

“I’m sorry —” Aunt Petunia apologized, shoving Ariel behind her. She threw her a horrid look, pushing out a “what is WRONG with you?” to Ariel before fixing her hair and smiling at the Grangers. “How may I help you?’

“Caroline Granger,” Hermione’s mum held out her hand. “And this is my husband, Roy and our daughter Hermione. Our girls go to school together.”

Hermione beamed at her, but she eyed the threshold like it were a portal to another world. Ariel didn’t blame her, but she waved back, wanting more than anything to rush forward and hug her, but now wasn’t the time.

Aunt Petunia blinked, like she’d had a flashlight shined in her eyes. “Ah —”

“We’re sorry for showing up on short notice, but Hermione didn’t have Ariel’s phone number, and we didn’t know how else to reach you.”

“I — see,” Aunt Petunia forced out. “Well I apologize for my niece's thoughtlessness —”

“There’s no need for that,” Mrs Granger’s voice took on a new tone, one that was suddenly much chillier. “We didn't see you at King Cross to pick Ariel up back in June. Ariel said a chaperone from school would be bringing her home since you couldn’t make the trip.”

Aunt Petunia threw daggers at Ariel from the corner of her eye. “Yes, we had a previous engagement. We sent money for her to take the train —”

“An eleven-year-old, taking the train by herself?”

The silence was deafening. Ariel hid her smile behind her hands. Aunt Petunia must’ve had X-ray vision, because the look she gave her should’ve made her skin peel off.

“Hermione has been quite worried, you see. Ariel hasn’t returned any of her letters, and she hasn’t been receiving any either.”

“I’ve written to you every day!” Ariel said, frowning. “You didn’t get any of them?”

Hermione shook her head. “I thought something was wrong. I begged Mum and Dad to drive here to make sure you were okay. I would’ve come earlier, but we went to the Maldives for a few weeks. Ron said he hadn’t heard anything either — he’s asked us to stay with him before term starts.”

“Well regardless,” Miss Granger motioned to her, as though beckoning her forward. “We'd love for Ariel to come and stay with us until then.”

Ariel’s heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. She stared up at Aunt Petunia, whose mouth was set in a tight line. She was so rigid it was a wonder she didn’t snap in two.

“Until term?” she asked slowly. “For the rest of the summer, you mean?”

Mrs. Granger nodded. “We’ll take her for her school things and to Kings Cross as well, of course.”

Aunt Petunia opened her mouth to speak, but Ariel didn’t want to give her the chance.

“I’ll go get my things!” she blurted out. “Give me two minutes!”

She didn’t even bother looking back to see her aunt’s reaction. She took the stairs three at a time again, and glided down the hallway, nearly taking another spill in her socks. Hedwig cocked her head at her as Ariel threw open her closet, throwing in her clothes, not bothering to look to see what she was packing. Her school trunk had barely been touched, and all she had to do was pack the pictures and her books, and she’d been out of here, she’d been leaving —

“What did you do?”

Aunt Petunia’s voice came from the doorway, brittle and cold, like ice on a pond. Ariel whirled around, slamming the trunk shut. “I didn’t do anything.”

“What did you tell them? That we’ve been keeping you from your freak friends? Spreading lies?”

“I haven’t heard from Hermione all summer,” she said coolly. “she hasn’t replied to any of my letters. She just told you.”  

“You never sent any letters.”

She lifted her chin. “Not through Muggle mail.”

Aunt Petunia’s eyes narrowed. “You were told not to use the bird. I told Vernon we should have put a lock on that cage.”

“You have no right —”

“I have every right, you ungrateful girl!” she snapped. “You live in my house, after what those freaks did to us last summer. You have no idea what we have been through, the sleepless nights —”

“My mum went through plenty of those, I reckon.” Ariel shot back. “Seeing as she was murdered and not killed in a car crash, like you told me. Or was that because you were scared, too? Scared of me knowing the truth?”

Aunt Petunia’s face changed, then. For a moment, she looked almost pained, like Ariel’s words had struck her somewhere deep. It was quickly replaced by the uncaring, cold mask that she’d known for as far back as she could remember.

“You’re just like her,” she hissed, and it was a dangerous sound, like snakes in grass. “Entitled, spoiled, flouncing around as if you’re God’s gift to humanity. She used to roam around Cokeworth the same way, stringing along that awful boy.”

Ariel stared at her. “What are you talking about?”

“That awful boy — he’s grown into an even uglier man. You think I don’t see you running off with him? Oh, I see you, girl. You have no idea the game he’s playing with you.”

A gnawing feeling, like she was dancing around something dark, took hold in the pit of her stomach. Ariel didn’t answer but ignored her and continued packing.

“Your mother told me to stay away from him,” Aunt Petunia sneered. “I guess he finally fell out of her good graces after all those years. You’re nothing to him, you know. You look just like her, I’m sure he loves that… I’m sure he feels rather lucky.”

Ariel felt her stomach squirm. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“He didn’t say he knew her?” Aunt Petunia smirked. “I’m not surprised.”

She hesitated. “He did —”

“Unashamed of what he’s doing then, is he?” she spat, her face twisted in revulsion. “I’d bet your mother would be turning over in her grave if she knew — but she walked that thin line, too, until he did something that was too far, and she lost her favorite pet.”

Ariel felt her face flame in anger. “You don’t know anything about my mum.”

“I knew her better than you ever will!”

The words cut at her like an arrow, but she shoved her socks into her trunk. Looking around her room, she’d gotten everything, except for Hedwig, who was giving them both a peevish look, as if the whole argument was outlandish.

Ariel grabbed her trunk, and Hedwig’s cage. She hooted in protest as the cage swung. Ariel adjusted so that she was more stable, and when she looked back to the doorway, Aunt Petunia was gone.

Once downstairs, Mr Granger helped Ariel put her things in the car, and Hermione hugged her, already asking if she’d started her assignments, and handing her the letters Ron had written her, asking if she’d heard from Ariel and that they were worried. The space in Ariel’s heart that had begun to grow since summer had started, a space as vast as the one between starts, disappeared, like it had never been there.

She wondered if she should go back inside and say goodbye, but when she went to the door, she found that the Dursley’s had already locked it.

Ariel was feeling quite good about herself as she climbed into Hermione’s parents’ car, watching Privet Drive turn into a tiny dot in the distance as they drove away.

To be continued...


This story archived at http://www.potionsandsnitches.org/fanfiction/viewstory.php?sid=3573