I heard a knock on my door as I sat on my bed in tears.

"Go away! I yelled.

"Emmeline unlock the door." I heard my brother, Severus's voice on the other side of the door.

"No!" I yelled back.

"Fine." He huffed. "Alohamora." And the door swung open and my brother walked into my small and dark room.

"I want to be alone, Severus." I said and began crying again. Severus ran over to me, sat on my bed, and put his arm around me.

"Emmy, it's going to be okay." He said as I cried on his shoulder.

"I just can't deal with it anymore, Sev." I said through my sobs and he began to stoke my long, dark hair.

"I know. But we only have a few more days and then we'll be out." Severus said trying to comfort me.

"No. You'll be out!" I cried. "It's your last year at Hogwarts and you won't have to come back home. You'll be free. But me? I have to be here another whole year after you. How am I going to deal with Dad alone. Without you? I've never been without you before, Sev."

"Emmeline, you don't think that I'd really abandon you here, do you?" He gave me a brotherly hug.

"Ow."

"What?" He asked and I lifted up my shirt sleeve to show Severus the huge bruise on my arm. "Dad did that to you?"

I nodded.

"Emmeline... This isn't fair! We have to get out of here! Three days until we leave for Hogwarts and then after I graduate I'll get us a place and I'll get you out of here."

"You promise, Sev?"

"I swear it to you, Em. I can't let him hurt you anymore."

"You ready to go. Emmeline?" Severus asked me as I out the last of my things into my trunk.

"Ready." I said.

"Good. Let's go." He grabbed my trunk "Mother and Father are still asleep. We should make it of here pretty safely."

"Sev?" I said as he carried my trunk to the door.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think that maybe we should say good-bye to them?" I asked referring to our parents. "I mean we may never see them again."

"Em, why would we?"

"I mean they are our parents."

"Not much of parents were they?"

"Well-"

"Em, would a real father have given you that bruise on your arm? Or how bout that one on your back from about a week ago? And that huge scar on your forearm?"

"Sev-"

"Or would a real mother watch her husband do that to her children?" He was angry as he opened the door for me. "No. They wouldn't Emmy. "

"I guess, not." I said as I walked out my front door for the last time.

"They don't deserve our good-byes."

I nodded as I turned to take one last look at my small, dingy, rundown home.

"Take a last look. This is the last time we're going to see this place. I promise." Severus said and he put his arm around me. "Well we better be off its nearly 10:30."

I grabbed Severus's arm and waited for the familiar sensation of side-along apparation to overcome me. The scene in front of me became blurry and I realized-

I was finally free!