-CHAPTER TEN-

The Chamber of Secrets

Why did it always have to be Arielle the Trouble found? Like last year with that troll and the Philosopher's Stone. At least last year she wasn't beaten almost to death by her uncle. This year was getting to be a lot more interesting. And a lot scarier too, Arielle decided, as she stared up at the crimson (was that blood?) words painted onto the wall. The cat that hung next to them was still and didn't breathe. It was as if it was dead. Arielle started trembling at the thought. She didn't really like Mrs Norris, but she didn't want the cat to be dead.

Suddenly, the silence broke as hundreds of student's footsteps were heard in the corridor. Arielle flinched as she turned around just in time to see the first students arrive at the scene, happily chatting about something or another, freshly fed from the Halloween Feast they had just attended. She wished the earth would swallow her at that moment. She didn't want to be seen at the scene, but it was too late. One of the students was already gasping and pointing her out to his comrades.

There was a flurry of movements and gasps, and then a voice called out smugly,

“You’ll be next, mudbloods!”

It was, of course, Draco Malfoy, who called out those words. Arielle wanted nothing more than to go hide in her room and never come out again. She closed her eyes and hugged herself around her waist and waited for one of the professors to come to the scene, as she knew they would have heard the commotion already. She could only hope that it was her papa that came here first so that she could relax a little. However, she didn’t have much time to ponder on this as she was slammed against the wall. There were dark spots in front of her eyes as she struggled against the one that held her. There was yelling all around her, but she could hardly distinguish voices and then suddenly, she was free and pulled into a one-armed hug. It smelled of chocolate and she knew that it was Uncle Moony that held her.

As she opened her eyes, she saw Filch lying on the ground, spitting blood out of his mouth and holding his hand over his nose, which was bleeding heavily. Blinking at the caretaker’s appearance, she saw that her papa was standing over him, massaging his right hand slowly, looking at Filch murderously.

“I warned you, Filch, that if you ever touched the girl again that I would make sure that you were dismissed from the job. You also knew that the headmaster agreed.”

The caretaker wasn’t about to step down that easily, it seemed, for he drew himself up from the floor and hissed at the Potions Master, “The b**** killed my cat!”

That of course, incensed the Slytherin Head of House even more and he let his right fist fly into Filch’s face once again. Then he grabbed the squib by his coat and slammed him against the wall, like Filch did to Arielle a few minutes ago.

“Don’t. Ever. Call. Her. Like. That. Again.”

His voice was quiet and calm, but everyone who knew Snape and was in his class, knew that he was at his most dangerous. One more word and Filch could find himself dead. Or worse.

It seemed as if Filch knew that as well for he scowled at the Potions Master, but remained quiet.

“Severus, what is going on here?” Arielle heard her grandpa say as he quickly moved over towards the two men glaring at each other. Turning her head so that she was hiding her face in Remus’s stomach, she heard his footsteps falter as he saw the writing on the wall and took in the situation at hand. There was a silence and then Dumbledore sighed gently.

“Argus. You knew what would happen if you attacked a student again. I am sorry, but I will have to dismiss you.”

The hall burst out in hushed whispers and murmurs as Dumbledore moved past Filch to examine the cat. Pulling her down from where she was hanging he turned her one way and the other, looked into her eyes and prodded a bit at her, until he was finally satisfied.

“She’s not dead, Argus. Just petrified. By what, however, I cannot say.”

There was another small silence and then Filch burst out in tears and took the cat that Dumbledore was offering him into his arms and stalked down the corridor until he was out of sight. It was then that the Headmaster turned towards Arielle and Remus and gently patted the girl’s head.

“It’s alright now, Miss Potter, he’s gone,” he said quietly, as if talking to a child. Arielle sniffed softly and then moved her head so that she was looking at her grandpa and whispered, “I didn’t do it, I swear.”

“I know, my dear,” her grandpa consoled her. “Your father told me that you were invited to sir Nicholas’s Deathday party. What I want to know is, what are you doing in this corridor? Your dorms are the other way and Severus’s rooms are in the dungeons, near the room where the Deathday party was being held.”

Arielle was silent for a few moments, thinking to herself. Should she tell him that she heard voices in the corridors? What would he think if she did tell him? Would he think her crazy? She knew that people in the muggle world would call her schizophrenic. Her conscience won.

“I heard a voice. It was talking about killing and smelling blood. I was worried and followed it, and then I saw that writing and Mrs Norris.”

Albus Dumbledore’s face grew grim as Arielle told him what happened in a small voice. Then he turned towards the gathered people and said with a clear voice,

“Students, please return to your dormitories, professors please follow me to my office.”

Turning back to Arielle, he asked her,

“Would you prefer going back to the dormitory or would you like Remus to take you home for the night?”

Blinking up at the Headmaster, Arielle smiled and whispered, “I’d like to go home, please.”

Albus smiled down at the black-haired girl and gave her another pet on the head, while speaking to Remus in too soft a voice for her to hear, and then left with the other professors. Remus looked down at the tired girl that was still leaning on him and grinned.

“Do you want a piggyback ride?”

Arielle looked up to him with wide eyes.

“A piggyback ride? What’s that?”

Remus chuckled and turned his back to her, and then kneeled down on the ground.

“Put your arms around my neck and I’ll do the rest.”

Blinking in confusion, Arielle followed her Uncle’s instructions and was surprised when he put his hands under her knees while standing up. Then he started walking toward hers and Severus’s quarters. It was fun, being carried like that, and Arielle barely suppressed the chuckle that threatened to escape her as she imagined herself yelling, “Alleyoop!” while waving one of her hands in the air as if she was about to throw a lasso.

“What’s so funny that has you in such giggles?” Remus asked mischievously, as if knowing what was going on in Arielle’s head. The girl in question merely giggled again and squeezed her hands around Remus’s neck a bit more, being careful not to strangle him, and put her head on the back of Remus’s.

They spent the rest of the journey in a comfortable silence and Arielle almost nodded off when they arrived at their destination. Arielle sleepily gave the portrait of Merlin the password (Audi, vide, tace, si tu vis vivere (in pace)) and it let them in. Remus lowered Arielle on the floor and the two of them sat down on the armchairs in front of the fireplace, Remus reading from a book and Arielle dozing off, while waiting for Severus to return.

*

It was after midnight that Severus finally returned. His eyes quickly roamed over the living room and stopped on the sleeping girl’s face. His face lost the serious look as he quietly and carefully picked his daughter up and carried her into her bedroom where he lowered her on the bed. Transfiguring her clothes into her nightgown, he covered her with a blanket and gave her a kiss on the forehead, and then moved away from the bed towards the door.

Just as he was about to cross the threshold, Arielle whispered sleepily,

“Night, Papa. Love you.”

Severus turned back to the bed and replied softly,

“Good night, Elle. Sleep well.”

Then he closed the distance between the bed and the door and sat down on the bed, pulling his fingers through Arielle’s hair while she fell asleep again.

“I love you too,” he whispered, before getting back up and leaving the room, quietly closing the door behind him.

*

The next morning, when Arielle arrived for breakfast, rumours had already spread. The whole school knew about the bloody writing on the wall and about Filch being sacked (some had even congratulated Arielle, not knowing why he was sacked, just being happy he was).

“Are you alright?” Cedric asked as he sat himself down on the bench next to Arielle. Turning to him with a smile on her face, Arielle replied, “Yep, I’m fine. Uncle Moony took me back home for the night and that helped a lot.”

“I still can’t believe that Snape can be so nice to a student,” Fred, having sat himself on the opposite side of her, murmured into her ear as he filled his plate with scrambled eggs and then poured ketchup over the whole of them, adding a sausage link. Arielle raised her eyebrows at the food Fred chose to eat for breakfast, when another voice said, “You really shouldn’t do that. People will think that the two of you are related.”

It was, of course, Luna. Only she would say something like that with that careless tone of voice. Arielle grinned as she watched Fred choke on the sip of pumpkin juice and patted him on the back.

She had, in fact, noticed that she looked a lot more like her Papa than before. She didn’t think anything strange about it, since it had to be the potion she took when Snape adopted her. For the first time in her life, her hair was manageable and straighter than before. Her eyebrows thinned out and her cheekbones were a bit more prominent on her face than before. They were only small changes and people that didn’t know Arielle that well didn’t notice them. Her friends of course did, and teased her a lot about her being a miniature Snape when she raised her eyebrows and scowled at them, which was what she was doing now. Well, she wasn’t scowling at Cedric and Luna, but at Fred and George (he joined them too) – who were inhaling their food as if there was no tomorrow. Their eating manners were atrocious, but at least they weren’t as atrocious as their brother’s were. At least they swallowed before they spoke.

*

Audi, vide, tace, si tu vis vivere (in pace) - "Hear, see, be silent, if you wish to live (in peace)." Roman proverb