House: Gryffindor
Position: Prefect
Category: Standard
Prompt: [Last line] Next time she/he would listen to _
Additional Requirement: Feature a member from your house.
Word count: 1323 excluding header, title, and A/N.
Beta: Tiggs, CK, and Aurora. Thanks loves!
A/N: This was written for The Houses Competition Y3R5.
Dangerous Lessons
Minerva brandished the sword in front of her.
"Be gone!" she screamed at the figure coming towards her, a small smile on her face. She lunged the stick in front of her and connected it to the figure's chest. "I've got you!" She giggled.
The figure dramatically fell to its knees, which only caused the girl to squeal louder. When the figure finally stopped twitching, she peered down.
"Daddy?"
She screamed when he opened his eyes and grabbed her around the middle, tickling her until she fell on the ground next to him. They were both panting and giggling as they stared up at the darkening sky.
"One day I am going to fight dragons for real!" Minerva stated.
"I know, pumpkin," he said, smoothing the hair on the top of her head. "Just promise me you won't go looking for them yet. These woods are dangerous, Minnie; I don't want anything to happen to you."
"I can take care of myself!" She pouted.
"Yes, pumpkin, I know you can, but it will make your old man feel so much better if you didn't." He slowly got to his feet, groaning and hobbling over. He dramatically took a step forward, complaining about his knees and back in a shaky voice.
Minnie grinned and launched for him, tackling him to the ground again. "You aren't that old, Daddy."
He grinned at her and kissed the top of her head. "Nope. You are going to have to deal with me for a long time still!" He stuck his tongue out at her and quickly got to his feet. "I'll race you back to the house," he said, leaving Minerva giggling after him.
Minerva eyed the dark clouds in the sky, but continued walking determinedly up the hill. Her father had been gone the entire week, and her mother had kept her cooped up inside the entire time, claiming it was too dangerous for Minnie to be outside alone, but she had snuck away the first chance she got. She heard her mother calling for her in the distance, but she pretended to not hear her and picked up her pace. She was sick of being told that she was too young and that it was too dangerous.
She arrived at the top of the hill and picked up her favorite stick. She brandished it in the air but quickly grew bored. There weren't any other children around and without her father playing make-believe, it wasn't the same. She quickly cast the stick aside looking for something else to hold her attention when her eyes landed on the woods a few metres away. The branches swayed in the wind, beckoning her to them. She cast one last look at her house before darting into the woods, her cloak billowing behind her. Branches grabbed at her clothes but she didn't let that slow her down.
The sun had disappeared from the sky and the moon was just beginning to rise when she saw a clearing in the trees up ahead. She slowly neared the edge of the trees and saw a village. Smoke rose from the chimneys and the smell of dinner wafted through the air. Minerva looked over her shoulder before stepping out into the clearing.
Her parents had always told her that there wasn't anyone else around for miles and miles, and yet, it had been a relatively short walk to get here.
She walked around curiously, peeking in the windows of the village homes. She spotted other children sitting around the table eating with their families. Other children! She could have finally have some friends.
She excitedly walked between the dwellings, her eyes drawn to the lights and activities going on inside the houses. She was walking past a window when she ran into someone.
"I'm sorry." She bent her head and tried to scurry past the figure but he grabbed a hold of her cloak and pulled her back towards him.
"What do we have here?" he asked. He grabbed her chin and forced her face up, turning it in the light. "A pretty little thing ain't ya. You aren't from around here though. What are you doing here?"
He called out over his shoulder and more men joined him, grabbing at Minerva's limbs. The man who initially grabbed her peered into her eyes. "Who are you and what do you want with our village? Who else is with you?"
"I don't want anything!" She squirmed.
The men tightened their hold on her wrists and repeated the same question.
"Nothing!" she screamed. "I just wanted friends!"
"Friends?" The men laughed. "We don't believe that. Now who are you and what do you want?"
He drew a knife and pressed it against her throat. She could feel the sharp scrape of the blade against her neck and swallowed heavily. She had never been in this situation before; she didn't know what to do.
"Help!" she screamed loudly before a hand covered her mouth. She could taste the salt and dirt on her tongue and wanted to cry.
Crack.
She saw her father Apparate behind the men. He had his wand drawn and was pointing it at the man with the knife.
"I suggest you let go of my daughter," he said menacingly.
The man with the knife looked at the wand with wide eyes. "You're one of those witches. We should kill your daughter and do the world a favor!" He sneered. "Devil's spawn, that's what you are!" He nodded to the men behind him and darted forward. A bright light went off and the man dropped to the ground with a loud thud.
The men holding onto Minerva let go to face their new opponent. They stalked towards her father, unsheathing knives and holding them in front of them menacingly. He looked at her over the towering bodies and screamed at her to run. She hesitated and saw her father take a punch to the chest and stumbled.
"Go!" he shouted to her again. His eyes were trained on her and she watched as he took another hit and a knife to the stomach. She turned and ran towards the safety of the woods.
She ran all the way home and collapsed into her mother's arms.
She visited her father in St. Mungo's everyday while he was recovering. He had been stabbed several times and had lost a lot of blood. The first day he was there was the worst. He was unconscious and the Healers weren't sure if he would pull through. The second day he had woken up and was so weak that he needed help eating. Minerva helped feed him with tears streaming down her face. This was all her fault.
Once he had recovered enough, he had been summoned for questioning for performing magic in front of Muggles and killing two of them. Her father had to stay in holding before the trial and she wasn't allowed to see him for two whole days.
Her father could have died and now he could go to Azkaban. She paced the length of the house, every noise drawing her to the window. She promised herself that if he came home she would never break another rule again. She would do anything her parents told her without complaint. She just wanted her father back.
Crack!
She saw her father walking up the pathway to the house and threw open the door. She ran to him and he scooped her up into his arms.
"I'm so sorry, Daddy!" She cried and buried her face in his neck.
"Shh. It's okay, pumpkin, it's okay. I am so glad you are okay. That's all that matters." He squeezed her harder and kissed the top of her head. "That's all that matters."
She nodded and hiccupped through her tears. She would never break another rule again. Next time she would listen to her father.