The moment they entered the Flourish and Blott’s bookshop, a man in forget-me-not blue coloured robes looked up and his eyes that matched the colour of the robe widened at the sight of Arielle. The sight would be comical if not for the enthusiastic exclaim and having Gilderoy Lockhart grab her hand and start dragging her up to the front of the shop. She was so shocked about it that she didn’t even try to fight it. Instead, she had to fight her own demons as she was reminded of her uncle Vernon – since he always grabbed her hand like that. She wasn’t even aware of Lockhart pulling her to himself and announcing to the world that he was the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts and that she would get his whole bibliography for free since she apparently came to buy his autobiography. She wasn’t aware that her face was as white as snow, nor was she aware that Severus fought against the flood of people to get to her after noticing her slack expression.

There was a sudden hush in the bookshop as a smack was heard, followed by a thud as Gilderoy Lockhart went flying on the floor from the force of Severus’s punch after he still didn’t let go of Arielle. But Arielle didn’t notice that. She slid on the floor, trembling, before flinching violently when someone put their hands around her. Her eyes slowly went back into focus as she became aware of the soft whispering into her ear. That couldn’t be her uncle, she surmised in surprise. He would never be so gentle with her. He would never pick her up so gently as the one who was now whispering some nonsensical words in her ear did. He would never pet her hair or kiss her forehead. So, who was it that was doing all those wonderful things to her. She felt the fog in her mind disappear slowly until she was aware of her Papa’s hands around her as he frantically tried to calm her down and bring her back to him. She heard him sigh when he noticed that her eyes were focused on him once again, before she felt herself being crushed in the biggest hug she had ever gotten from Severus.

“I’m fine,” she mumbled in his neck as she let her arms sneak around his neck, seeking comfort. His arms tightened a bit, and then he pulled her away so that he could look her over with worry in his dark eyes. She had seen that kind of worry before, but the look in his eyes now was much more intense than on the Halloween and at the end of last school year. She felt him stand up with herself still in his arms and let her head fall back on his shoulder as she listened to his footsteps walking out of the bookshop, after buying her books. He didn’t let go of her even when they entered the Leaky Cauldron. She wondered if it was alright for him to do so, what with him having to hide the fact that he was on the light side, but then her eyes started to feel heavy and she let them fall closed as she fell asleep, the shock of what happened earlier, finally taking its toll on her body.

She was completely out of it when Severus Flooed them home and put her in her bed, covering her with a blanket and tucking it snugly around her, before kissing her forehead and exiting the room, leaving the door open, just in case she needed him.

ooOoo

Arielle did in fact need him later in the day when she woke up from her nightmarish sleep with a frightened cry and after a few moments of panicked disorientation found herself in her bedroom and in her bed, with her Papa already walking through the doors, worry etched on his face. He sat down on her bed and after removing the blanket that was covering her, she crawled to him until she was safely cocooned on his lap and with his arms encased around her. He was so warm that Arielle suddenly felt so safe in his arms that she forgot all about her nightmare.

It was strange really, just how close the two of them had become once she had started calling him Papa. It was as if the wall he had built around himself had suddenly broke down whenever he was in her presence. She felt honoured that he cared so much about her to actually let down his guard around her and just be himself. She loved him so much more for it. She was brought out of her musings by his question,

“Are you alright?”

She nodded with a smile on her face and after snuggling closer to him answered his question, “Yup. I’m fine.” She looked up to him and smiled up at him, feeling her smile widen when he returned it, even though his was a lot smaller than hers. She guessed it was because he didn’t smile often and when he did, it meant all the more to her that she was able to make him smile.

“Hey,” she poked his shoulder with her index finger and when she knew that she had his attention added, “wanna play Wizard Chess with me?” She could almost hear him smirk at her from above her as he replied, “As you wish. Are you prepared to meet your doom again?” She giggled, because she knew that she was really bad at it, and yet that didn’t stop her from wanting to get better at it, nor did it stop her enthusiasm for the game. Her Papa was brilliant at it and she wanted to learn to play it good enough so that she actually won a few games – that had not happened yet, although her Papa reassured her that she was getting better with every game they played. Perhaps she would be good enough to actually challenge Cedric when she returned to school for her second year! With that on her mind, she jumped off her Papa’s lap and ran to her wardrobe, pulling her Wizard Chess set out of one of the drawers. She liked having her games in the drawers so that they didn’t take much of the room in her bedroom and she always knew where they were.

Settling herself on the floor, she waited for Severus to join her and then started placing the chess figures on the board, giving Severus the advantage by choosing the black figures. She liked the black ones more than the white ones, as strange as that might have sounded.

After being trashed for the fifth time in a row, she suddenly heard her stomach grumble in hunger and realised that she hadn’t had lunch yet, since she slept through it. She could also hear Severus chuckle slightly before he stood up from where he was sitting on the floor, with Arielle facing him, lying on her stomach, as they played chess. He held a hand to her to help her get up and then they went the kitchen where Severus prepared their dinner, Arielle getting her usual cup of hot chocolate.

ooOoo

The days left of the summer holidays seemed to fly by after that and Arielle was shocked to realise that tomorrow would be her first day back to school, since it would be the first of September. While she couldn’t wait to get back to school and see her friends, she was going to miss the comfort and cosiness of their home. It would be the first time she actually felt like she had a home and that thought made her go warm inside as she hugged Severus before going to bed.

The next morning, she woke up early so that she could pack her things in the trunk. She put the books she knew she would want to read in it, and left the others on the bookcase that Severus had bought her so that she could put her own books on it. She was of course free to read the books in his library, but it felt nice to show off her own books. She had never had books before and so it was definitively a nice feeling to have. Once her trunk was packed and closed, she ventured out to the living room and made herself comfortable on the couch with a book on her lap, getting some last minute reading done before she actually had to leave.

Severus walked in the room not long after that, a cup of hot chocolate, still steaming, in his arms as he put it down on the table in front of her. After giving him a smile, she put the book down and brought the cup to her face and took a deep breath, savouring the smell of the chocolate, before taking a small sip, letting the warm beverage slide down her throat as she swallowed it.

“Good morning,” she said to Severus once she finished the sip. “Good morning,” she heard him say to her as he opened the Daily Prophet and started reading it. She pouted a bit as he didn’t give her any more attention than that, and then wanted to slap herself. She would become just like Dudley if she didn’t watch out how she behaved. She didn’t want to be a spoiled brat liked Dudley was and would probably be for the rest of her life.

Soon though, the time was ten to eleven and she had to leave for the train station on King’s Cross. With a wave of his wand, her trunk was feather-light and as such she wouldn’t have any problems getting it to the train and up in the compartment. Severus left the room to go collect the Portkey that she would take to get to the Platform Nine and Three Quarters just like last year and she was left alone for a few moments.

When he returned, instead of taking the offered Portkey, she put her arms around his waist and hid her face in his chest. She didn’t actually reach up to his chest, but she was taller for a bit and as such she couldn’t hide her face in his stomach anymore, but somewhere in-between. She could feel his arms around her and a kiss on her head as she looked up to him and said with a wistful voice, “I’m going to miss this.” She smiled a bit when he ruffled her hair and then took the Portkey and heard Severus say, “Be careful and have fun,” before she was whisked away to the train station.

When she reappeared, she was surprised to notice that she didn’t actually land on the Platform Nine and Three Quarters but in a niche near the toilets. It was probably better like that, because she couldn’t know where she would land and on whom she might land. She put her trunk on a trolley and pushed it towards the platforms nine and ten, so that she could go through the barrier.

The clock was showing that she still had three minutes left before the train left the station and she hurried her pace, but was stopped as she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. Her eyes opened wide when she was forcefully turned around and she stared up at the man with frightened eyes, being too petrified to call for help.