Arielle Potter : Book One

Chapter Two

BAM!

The door of the shack fell off its hinges. Arielle quickly scurried off to a dark corner while Dudley woke up with a squeak. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia ran in the room. Uncle Vernon held a rifle in his hands which shook.

A tall shadow appeared at the doorstep. It was a man. He had shoulder-length black hair and a hooked nose. His face was set in a fierce scowl that made Arielle's hair stand up at her neck. She shivered subconsciously and stared at the man. It was obvious that the man didn't notice her yet as his black eyes fell on Dudley who cowered behind his mother. The stranger sneered at the child and asked in a cold voice, "Where is Potter?"

Uncle Vernon murmured something that strongly reminded Arielle of 'freak'. She started as she heard the rifle cock and stared at her Uncle. Was he really going to shoot the man? "There is no Potter here! You are breaking and entering! Get out of the house!" The man didn't even flinch under her Uncle's words; he merely smirked and pulled something out of his pocket.

It was a stick.

Why on Earth he would pull out a stick was beyond Arielle's mind. The man flicked his wrist and murmured something. The rifle suddenly flew out of her Uncle's hands and landed in the man's free hand. Her Uncle squeaked, not unlike a rat or a mouse would and stepped in front of his family, minus Arielle of course. The man's gaze turned even colder, if that was possible and he almost hissed his next words, "One last time. Where is Potter?"

Arielle knew that she couldn't hide anymore. She sighed and stepped out of the corner she was hiding in.

"I'm here."

The man sneered and grabbed her hand. Arielle gritted her teeth to not scream out in pain. That was the hand that was bruised the most, not to mention bleeding from where her uncle had slammed her in the corner of the motel after they left it. She couldn't do anything but let herself be dragged away from her 'family'.

The man's black robes were billowing dramatically as he walked down the road to the shore. Arielle almost fell numerous times as she tripped over the rocks and only his hand stopped her from falling on her nose. He stopped so suddenly that Arielle stumbled and almost fell again if it wasn't for the man's second hand that grabbed her shoulder and held her straight. She hissed in pain and jerked away from him. The man glared at her and said, "Sit in the boat."

Arielle thought of disobeying him, since she didn't even know his name, but decided against it. Sitting in the boat she silently watched as the man sat opposite her, pulled that stick from his pocket again and tapped the boat. Suddenly the boat lurched forward and Arielle had to grab the edge of it, to prevent her falling over board. The man didn't seem to notice that, or he simply ignored her. From his other pocket he pulled a small button and with a swish of his stick changed it in a magazine of some sort. Its title was Potions Weekly.

Arielle didn't recognize it. After about half an hour she couldn't stay quiet anymore. Clearing her throat quietly she drew the man's attention to herself. She said, "If you don't mind. Who are you and where are you taking me?" The man's gaze hardened again and he sneered, "It's none of your business." Arielle visibly bristled. None of her business?

"None of my business? Being kidnapped by a total stranger is none of my business?" She quickly bit her tongue as soon as the words left her mouth. She put the hand on it and quickly said, "Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you, sir..."

The man's gaze lingered on her for a moment before he returned his attention back to the magazine. Minutes passed again before the man spoke, "My name is Severus Snape, and I came to check why you never answered your letter." Arielle nodded appreciatively, although she wasn't sure if he saw it or not. She decided that the best way to treat the man was to be polite, so she said, "Thank you. I'm Arielle Potter."

She shrugged and almost hissed out in pain. She forgot about her shoulder. She gently wrapped her hand around it and tried to figure out where the pain was the worst. After a moment she answered his second question, if it was a question at all.

"I never replied to the letter because I wasn't allowed to read it."

Mr Snape's eyes settled on her again as he lowered the magazine and he asked in a strangely calm voice, "You were not allowed?" Arielle shook her head. "Of course I wasn't. My Uncle ripped the first letter in front of my eyes, and then when the next letters came they just destroyed them again."

She felt strangely safe with the man, even though she couldn't explain the feeling... but maybe it was because she was feeling light-headed... all that blood loss and such. She turned her attention on Mr Snape again and waited for his reaction. She didn't receive one. The man didn't even look at her face but at her shoulder that she was still holding.

Suddenly she felt the wetness on her hand again. She drew it back and stared a little at the blood that was on it. She thanked whatever deity that was, that she wasn't a sissy concerning blood, as she heard Mr Snape curse silently as he fumbled for something in his pockets. She watched as he pulled out a vial of some sorts with a sickly green substance in it. Giving it to her, she accepted it and watched the golden swirls in it.

"Well, what are you waiting for!" Mr Snape snapped at her. She looked up confused. "What?" The man's lips quirked in a sneer as he said, "Drink it up."

She obeyed immediately. Downing the drink she gave a shudder at the disgusting taste and swayed a little. She would have fallen in the water if it wasn't for Mr Snape's hand that grabbed her and stopped the swaying. She felt dizzy and couldn't keep her eyes open. The last thing she heard was Mr Snape's cursing... again...

When she opened her eyes she felt disoriented. It wasn't until her head stopped spinning that she noticed that she wasn't in the boat anymore. She quickly sat up and looked around herself. She was in a bed with white linen sheets and the big room smelt like a hospital.

Was she in the hospital? What happened?

Before she could do anything else, the doors to the room opened and an old man stepped through. Behind him were the man that took her away from the Dursleys and an elder woman that wore a white robe. Arielle realized that it was the nurse. She had to be the nurse, since the minute the woman set her eyes on the girl, she rushed forward, pushed Arielle to lie back down on the bed and did a series of flicks and waves with a stick that was similar to the stick that Mr Snape had.

The nurse also murmured some words that Arielle thought were Latin. A small cough brought Arielle out of her musings and she looked at the old man and then at the black man that obviously brought her here. The man with silver beard and half-moon spectacles looked at her with twinkling blue eyes that reminded her of something, but she couldn't quite decide what. After a minute of silent staring, the nurse broke the silence with an exclamation of, "Merlin, what were you doing to yourself, child?"

Arielle's gaze turned on the nurse in confusion. "Don't you eat at all?" was the nurse's next question. Arielle blushed in discomfort and she mumbled something. The nurse asked her to repeat herself so she closed her eyes and repeated what she mumbled, this time as clear as the crystal.

"Not usually."

That brought another question up. This time from the old man. "Why not?"

The man had a calm voice that soothed Arielle's nerves and she relaxed slightly. Looking up in those blue eyes she replied, "Because I'm not worth the food nor am I worth the money."

The Snape Man turned his attention to the girl on the bed and he sneered, but didn't make a noise. Arielle looked up at the nurse and asked the most obvious questions, "Where am I, and who are you?"

The old man chuckled merrily and patted her head a little. "I must apologize for not introducing us sooner, Miss Potter. My name is Albus Dumbledore and I am the Headmaster of the school which you'll attend in September. The woman that took care of you is our nurse, Madam Pomfrey and you already know our Potions professor, Severus Snape."

Arielle nodded and leaned back on the pillows that the nurse put behind her back while she wasn't watching. Madam Pomfrey gave her a blood red potion and explained that it was a Nutrition Potion and when she drank it, the potion would provide her with the most important nutrition until she was allowed to eat. She watched as the nurse and the headmaster conversed quietly at the nurse's desk and turned her eyes on Mr Sna- no, he was a professor.

"Um," she said quietly. "Could you tell me what you gave me to drink before I passed out?"

Professor Snape gave her a cold glare and said, "It was a simple Healing Potion. But as I was not aware that you haven't eaten anything, it had some undesired side-effects."

Arielle nodded to show she understood. Then she decided to press another matter. "What is that stick that you used?"

The professor gave her another glare and took the stick out of his pocket. He let her study it for a few moments and said, "This is a wand. We use it to do magic with it."

Arielle scoffed and before she could stop herself she quoted her Uncle's favourite words, "There's no such thing as magic."

The glare turned even colder as before. The voice that the professor used was like ice. "Which stupid idiot told you that?"

Arielle looked down at her hands and whispered, "My Uncle."