Armilla

Chapter Seven

Those who have lost a loved one would understand exactly what I felt during the moments after Merle's death. It was a struggle to find words to describe the feeling. I felt like I wasn't in the real world, or at least my mind wasn't. My body was there, walking around, but it seemed my mind was far off in a distant galaxy doing its own thing. I guessed that was what shock and disbelief could do to you. One minute you were there with someone who you'd spent your whole life with, and then the next minute the acquaintance had been broken.

I spent the next few days with Matilda at Merle's house, preparing for the funeral. The funeral itself was a quiet affair, with only a small number of close friends in attendance.

Merle's neighbour, Shar, turned up. Shar had freaked me out all my life. He had been a good friend of Merle's before I had come to live with her. When I was growing up, we never saw a lot of him, as he obviously preferred to stay behind closed doors. But when I did see him, he would always look at me through half closed eyes, wearing an expression which I could only describe as resentful.

I didn't really want to speak with him at all, but while I was waiting for Matilda to finish speaking with a couple of friends, he appeared at my side.

"Unfortunate happenings, child, very unfortunate," he grunted, not meeting my eye but staring straight ahead.

"Yes," I replied quietly, hoping that was all he would say.

"Shame old Merle didn't have any children..." Shar went on, throwing me a glance. "No one to pass her years of knowledge and wisdom onto. Yes, very unfortunate indeed."

I looked at him sharply. Though we both knew Merle was not my parent through blood, she had told me all the time that she had always considered me as her own daughter. In turn, I had never stopped thinking of her as my mother, though I didn't call her that in name.

"I knew Merle for fifty odd years," muttered Shar, as though he was speaking to no one in particular. "I was one of her closest companions before you came along. I should be very interested in knowing what has been left to me in her will. That is, I expect to be informed."

He fixed me with a final piercing stare before sweeping off down a lane and out of sight. I stared after him. What a cold, heartless old bugger. Fancy turning up to a funeral simply to say that. I shuddered. Honestly, I couldn't believe Merle had been a friend of that man.

I went home only for another couple of days. I wanted to go back to Hogwarts and get life back to normal. Merle's solicitor came and went and I was left everything in her will. As Shar was never approached by the solicitor during his visit, I assumed he had concluded that he was not to have anything after all.

The only thing that was left uncertain was my guardianship. Merle had intended for Dumbledore to decide. She hadn't thought it right to just demand I go with someone, so she requested that Dumbledore help me out until a suitable guardian was found.

As I had no relatives that I knew of and Merle had none, I had no idea of what would happen. Matilda was certainly too old and frail, being another fifteen years older than Merle. Dumbledore was older again, but his level of magical strength seemed to take years off him.

Matilda went home a couple of hours before I returned to Hogwarts. In that time, I walked about the house in a sort of daze, reliving memory upon memory in each room. The house was old, and it was to be sold right away. I had packed away the possessions of sentimental value to me and they had been sent to Gringotts to be put in my vault.

I was sitting on Merle's bed when I heard the front door downstairs being opened and slammed shut again. I jumped up and went out onto the landing. Standing at the foot of the stairs was Shar, looking up at me.

"Fancied a cup of tea," he said simply, before turning on his heel and walking towards the kitchen. I stood, contemplating for a few seconds, and then went downstairs to join him in the kitchen. I watched him as he put the kettle on to boil and then went through a couple of cupboards before finding a cup.

"What are you doing here?" I asked quietly. "You can't just walk into someone else's house, even if it is simply to have a cup of tea."

Shar turned around, cup in his hand, and studied me for a moment. "Someone else's house?" he said slowly. "What do you mean? Surely you don't think this is your house?" He smirked as if the thought was ludicrous.

"Well, it is not your business who this house belongs to," I retorted angrily. "And it certainly isn't yours, so clear off."

Shar made a sudden movement, but quickly stopped himself.

"Clear off?" he repeated. "No, no, I think not...I have come here with a purpose and I will not leave until I am satisfied."

He paused for a moment, waiting me to say something. When I didn't, he continued. "I am a Squib, Armilla," he said suddenly, looking me straight in the eye angrily as if I had caused him to be one. "I have never been able to find a decent job in the wizarding world because of my...condition. I have certainly never wanted to live in the muggle world and so I have always struggled to make ends meet. Merle was exceedingly good to me when we first met, but she wouldn't marry me."

Utterly startled out of my wits, I stared at him wide eyed. Shar gazed back at me through his cold blue eyes. "Yes, I wanted to marry her. If I had, I would have been guaranteed financial support without having to leave the wizarding world. It was the perfect plan..." He broke his gaze and turned to stare out the window.

"No wonder she didn't marry you - you were obviously after her money," I said incredulously. "Merle would never have married someone who did not love her in return."

"I know that, stupid girl!" hissed Shar fiercely. "But I remained close by all this time, strengthening our friendship, hoping that she wouldn't meet someone else. She didn't, and so I hinted many times that I was her closest friend and would leave her everything if anything ever happened to me. Then suddenly the fall of You Know Who came and Merle got landed with you."

"She didn't get landed with me, you idiot," I said, my anger rising. "It was her decision."

"All the same, your arrival meant I was in competition with someone else for Merle's attention," he snapped. "My friendship with her was never the same after you came along. You always had to come first and I was pushed into the background. No one cared about the poor squib next door."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This man was behaving like a spoilt child. He turned to face me again as I started to speak. "It was not Merle's responsibility to give you financial support and nor is it mine. She offered you her friendship and you used her. Merle has not left you anything and for that I am glad! I can't think of a person right now who deserves less then you!"

I didn't intend to shout but as I said those last few words I totally lost it. Suddenly, something hit me on the left side of my face and I stumbled backwards in shock while whatever hit me shattered on the tiled floor. I looked down. Shar had thrown his empty teacup at me. The left side of my face started to throb painfully. As I brought my hand to my face, Shar made a beeline for me and punched my right eye. I wished I had moved a few metres away at least because I stumbled again and fell right into the shattered remains of the teacup. Blood started oozing from several places.

"If I have to kill you, I will," hissed Shar bending over me. "I deserve this house and everything in it. You will give it to ME."

"You'll get nothing," I panted, "except a cell in Azkaban."

Shar bared his teeth and started kicking me in my sides. I discreetly tried to feel for the silver ring on my finger. Shar suddenly grabbed a kitchen knife. As he raised it high above his head, I turned the ring once to the left. As I began turning it back again, the knife made contact with my right shoulder. I screamed in pain. Thank God Shar took the knife out again before I finished turning the ring or otherwise I would have transported us both back to Dumbledore's office.

The last thing I saw before I vanished from the room was Shar raising the knife again, a look of sheer madness on his face and an evil glint in his eyes.

When I reappeared on the floor of Dumbledore's office, I heard a sharp intake of breath and the rushing of footsteps towards me. I opened my eyes wearily and nearly fainted at the sight of whose black eyes met mine.

Snape was on his knees bending over me, obviously taking in all the cuts on my face and the bumps that were developing from the punches.

"Miss Kemp?" he said sharply, as if by saying those words alone demanded an explanation.

"Professor Snape..." I got no further. Everything went black around me and I welcomed it.