When she opened her eyes the next morning she was alone. She felt a bit sad that her Papa had left her once she fell asleep, but that thought was soon dissipated when she felt that her sheets were still warm from where he was sitting last night. She smiled and sat up to look around herself. Her eyes fell on the figurine Cedric gave her for her birthday and she smiled as the sun’s rays made it shine like a thousand diamonds. She gently stroked the back of it and was surprised to hear a soft tinkling sound. Her heart soared with love and she couldn’t help but smile more widely.

“Do you know what the meaning of this song is?” a voice from the doorstep asked her. She blinked and turned to see her Papa leaning on the doorstep with his arms crossed as he watched her with his black eyes. She shook her head and looked at the figurine again. It went quiet after a minute and the room was in a comfortable silence.

“It is the Phoenix’s song of Love and Friendship. Your friend gave you a very thoughtful gift.”

She smiled and raised her hands just as she did last night. Somehow, making the adoption official made her feel somehow insecure. She had remembered how her ‘family’ treated her and didn’t wish to be a burden to Severus. She knew that she shouldn’t feel like that because she had gotten a lot better this past year, but she still had some insecurities that she just couldn’t overcome. Severus must have noticed some of what she was feeling, for he uncrossed his arms and walked the distance between him and the bed as he sat down on it, pulling Arielle on his lap and stroking her hair when she leaned her head on his shoulder.

“You will never be a burden to me, Elle,” she heard him whisper in her hear and squeezed her eyes shut to prevent the tears from falling. She snuggled deeper into his arms and after a few moments replied,

“I know, but…”

“Shush, you idiot child. I understand.”

She wanted to protest about being an idiot child, but then she realized that it was his endearment for her and giggled once the realisation made its place in her brain. When a few minutes went by and Arielle discovered that apparently her Papa didn’t have anything better to do then cuddle her she smiled and relaxed within his arms. The hold he had on her tightened a bit before he quietly asked her if she’d like some breakfast. It wasn’t her that answered but her stomach. She heart him chuckle quietly as he stood up with her still in his arms. Putting her arms around his neck so that she had a better balance she looked at his face and smiled happily at him, becoming her small cute self again. She smiled wider when she felt a kiss on her forehead and waited until they were in the kitchen. Severus put her on the counter and made his way to the cupboard where he kept his cooking ingredients. Pulling out some flour and eggs, she knew that he would make pancakes. She watched him with a small smile on her face. It was their new morning ritual. He would come to her room and wake her up and then she would sit on the counter and watch him prepare breakfast. Swinging her feet happily she took the offered cup of hot cocoa and sipped on it. She really loved her Papa lots and lots. He was the best Papa in the world. She smiled widely at him when they sat down at the table and attacked the food with gusto.

After breakfast, Arielle helped him wash the dishes – he washed them and she dried them – as she talked about the book she had been reading these past few weeks. It was a book that she had gotten for Christmas and talked about Wizarding Rituals. She was fascinated at just how many different Rituals there were. After drying off her hands he had asked her if she wanted to go to Diagon Alley to buy her new school supplies. She had gotten a Hogwarts letter just yesterday morning after all. She nodded enthusiastically and he let her go off to dress for the occasion.

When she exited her room, she wore her dark green cloak that Grandpa gave her for Christmas and a really cute emerald green dress. It was a very warm day after all and she didn’t want to be overheated. As she had used the Floo Powder before, Severus didn’t have to tell her how to do I and they were off.

ooOoo

Immediately after arriving, Severus made Arielle put the cloak off, as it was a very warm day. He shrunk it with a wave of his wand and put it in his pocket for safekeeping. Diagon Alley was buzzing with people and the noise was almost overwhelming. It seemed as if Severus and Arielle decided to go to Diagon Alley on one of the more crowded days. It wasn’t until they heard a bypasser muttering that there was a really famous wizard called Gilderoy Lockhart signing his new book, Magical Me, that they understood the reason for the mass of people.

Their first stop was Gringotts where Severus took a bit of money from his vault. They had talked earlier in the year that as Severus was now her guardian that he would pay for her school things and that her vault and later on the Potter Family vaults would be saved for her when she was of age. She was really fascinated when she read that she had to be seventeen instead of eighteen or twenty-one to become of age. At first she had protested that she had her money and didn’t want to be a burden by having him pay for all her things, but when Severus put his foot down, she acquiesced and let him have his way. It did make her feel warm that he would want to buy things for her. It was obvious to the both of them that it was because the Dursleys never bought anything for her that she didn’t expect other people would want to and it made her feel uncomfortable.

After exiting the bank they made their way to the apothecary where Severus chose the necessary Potion ingredients of the best quality. She smiled to herself when he bickered with the man at the counter about the quality of Dittany. It was good to have a Papa that was a Potions Master sometimes. She almost snickered at the thought but caught herself just in time and wandered around the shop looking at ingredients and picking some up (just in case). When she approached the counter, the shopkeeper and Severus had finished the bickering and were now talking about ordering some Potion ingredients for Severus’s private stock. Putting the ingredients on the counter she looked up hesitantly to see Severus’s attention moving on to her and then to the ingredients she picked up. He checked every one of them and then with a nod put them with the others. He was rewarded with a wide smile on Arielle’s face.

Their next stop was Madam Malkin’s and she was measured for her new school robes, having grown a few inches through-out the year. That done she opened the letter that had a list of books needed for her second year. She blinked at it and then up to her Papa with a confused expression on her face.

“Papa, why are there so many books by the same author on the list? Not to mention that it’s the name of that famous writer we heard of today…” she asked him in confusion. Blinking down at her, the Potions Master took the list from her fingers and read through the list himself. A snarl later he thrust the list back in her hands and tugged her so that she didn’t have a choice but to follow him. They didn’t stop until they both reached the Flourish and Blott’s bookshop. There was such a mass of people that Arielle got scared and hid behind Severus’s back. While she did get used to lots of people (especially in a school like hers), she was still scared a bit, especially if those people were strangers that she had never seen before. Every minute or so a purple smoke came out of the bookshop and she could swear she heard small explosions in there. Just as she was about to ask her Papa what that was, she heard a voice calling her name. She turned around enthusiastically and grinned widely when she saw who the owner of the voice was. She let go of Severus’s hand and ran forward until she crashed into the bigger boy’s arms that had already prepared to take her in a hug. She grinned up as Fred heaved her in the air and swung her around for a few seconds. It reminded her of Uncle Moony and that thought alone made her grin wider as he put her down. She quickly started on the barrage of questions.

“It’s so nice to see you here! Are you also here for the school supplies? Where were you at already? Do you already have your books? What abou-” she was interrupted by a hand on her mouth (courtesy of George, who had snuck up on her from behind).

“Whoa, whoa, girl! Calm down,” she heard Fred say and blushed when she realized just what she had done. She heard laughter behind her and finally realized who it was that was holding his hand over her mouth so that she wouldn’t say any more idiotic things to embarrass herself further. She giggled herself and the hand finally moved away to let her breathe. Turning around she did the same as she did with Fred and happily received a hug back.

“So, who’s going to answer my questions?” she asked them cheekily after they drew apart. Both boys gave a laugh as they explained to her that they came to Diagon Alley to also buy their school stuff and to get a new wand for Ginny, who was starting at Hogwarts this year. Their father had apparently put money aside so that she wouldn’t have to get a second-hand one – wands that were given to people that weren’t their first choice were never the best for that wizard. She also found out that Ron had their older brother Charlie’s wand and it dawned on her that it was probably because of that that he sucked at school so much… that or it could simply be that he was too lazy to study and practice things. They went on to tell her that their mum fancied Lockhart and that their little sister couldn’t wait to meet her.

A warm hand on her shoulder made her remember who was there with her and the growing horror on the twin’s faces made her giggle. She tried to stifle her giggles, she really did, but the sound of it still came through the hands that she clamped in front of her mouth to muffle the sound. The twin looks of horror would make her know who it was that put the hand on her shoulder even if she didn’t know already.

“Messer’s Weasley, I hope you are enjoying this nice day,” she heard her Papa say in an emotionless voice. She smiled slightly when she realized that he was trying to act nicely to them because she was their friend and they weren’t at school. If they were, they would probably lose some points already. The twins also seemed to realize that particular fact, for their mouths were wide open and if it were a cartoon, she was sure that their jaws would be laying on the floor in shock.

“Yes, we are, professor Snape,” George answered for the both of them and looked over at Arielle, apparently trying to see if she was annoyed that their Potion’s professor had his hand on her shoulder, but when he saw none of what he was looking for and something else in her eyes, he straightened and with a silent glance towards his brother, who seemed to realize the same thing, said,

“Forgive our rudeness, professor, but we’d just like to warn you that if you hurt our little sister, that we’ll have to hurt you as well.”

For a moment all was quiet and Arielle looked up to her Papa apprehensively. Not even a muscle twitched on his face as he stared at the two Weasleys. Then, a small smile appeared on his lips as he lowered his head a bit, to show that he respected their warning.

“I see,” were the only two words that he uttered before lowering his hand from Arielle’s shoulder and grabbing her hand, before he tugged at her to follow him to the bookstore. She waved at the two brothers with a wide grin in her face and trotted along with her Papa. She looked up to him with a wide smile and said,

“Thanks, Papa.”

“I do believe those to care about you a lot,” was Severus’s only reply. She grinned and nodded her head, still remembering how they called her. Their little sister. The grin on her face widened and she skipped a few steps to Severus’s amusement. The respect he had for the two trouble-makers grew up a notch, as he didn’t believe that they actually had the guts to threaten him… but apparently they did and they had threatened him. Of course, he had no intention to hurt Arielle… ever… but still. It warmed his heart to see just how good friends Arielle found. Suddenly, he didn’t care that they were Weasleys or that they were Gryffindors. Perhaps… just perhaps he could be a bit nicer to them this year at Hogwarts.