A/N: Written for the Character Appreciation Challenge (Character: Hannah Abott), and the Ultimate Patronus Quest Challenge (C13).
Hannah pulled her robes over her head, taking care not to ruin her drying nails. The nails in question were beautiful, shiny and yellow, a spark of positivity in the downhill year she was having. She had found the nail set in her mother's room, and painted them on a whim; the bright colors her mother had favored. Marie Abbot had been wonderful, kind and generous. Hannah was nothing like her.
Ignoring the pounding thoughts in her head, Hannah threw the last of her school stuff in her trunk with reckless abandon. They crashed and something shattered, but Hannah didn't bother to check. She'd be there forever if she cared about every broken thing.
"Dad!" Hannah called, wincing at the way her voice echoed in the silence of the house.
Her dad ran up the stairs, and Hannah heard him suck in a pained breathe as he passed the now-abandoned bedroom. He slept on the couch these days.
"Yes, Hannah?" He asked with forced nonchalance.
"It's time to go to if I want to make it to Hogwarts." Hannah replied, equally nonchalant.
Her dad sighed, running his fingers through his equally blond and straight hair. "Hannah… I know I haven't been the best father lately and I'm sorry for it. I can't take that time back, no matter how much I want to, but I'm still your father and I worry about you. I know Hogwarts is your home, but I've heard some awful things about Headmaster Snape… are you sure you want to go back?"
Hannah stared at her father's miserable face and wanted to cry. The fact that he thought he was a bad father was a pure lie. Her father may be a muggle, but he had come into this world with an eager acceptance and for that, he got his wife murdered and a target on his back. And now, he might lose her too.
"Dad…" Hannah began, and felt tears drop down her cheeks as her voice cracked. "You're not a bad dad, no matter what. We're going to get through this together, I promise, but now you have to run. You're not safe here anymore. I'm an Abbott, and I know how important it was to you that we both take on mom's name. It might be the only thing that'll keep me safe."
Her dads face was flooded with wet tears, but Hannah didn't flinch away as he reached down to kiss her head the way he had done when she was little.
'I love you, Hannah. You are so much like your mother and I want you to know that no matter what happens this year, I will always be proud of you."
Hannah bit the inside of her cheeks hard. Her mouth had the metallic aftertaste of blood but Hannah was past caring. Her father was wrong: her mother had been loving and openhearted, none of the things that belonged in a warzone. But Hannah was different: bitter and hardened, the kind of child that would live through a war.
"I love you too, Dad. Now, go hide. We will see each other again."
Hannah would make sure of it.