Ariel sat on the bottom step of the staircase leading up to the first floor. She glanced worriedly at the clock for the hundredth time that day, trying to calculate how long the owl she had sent him had been away, and whether it would ever come back with a response.
She looked down at the necklace she was twisting fretfully between her fingers, the silver 'D' carved ornately into the emerald stone catching the light from time to time, casting an eerie glow in the hall surrounding her.
The clock chimed 3am and Ariel heaved a deep sigh. Grabbing the hand-rail, she heaved herself to her feet and padded into the kitchen, waving her hand as she went, so that the lights switched on and she was able to see what she was doing. She opened a cupboard and got out a glass, which she set on the work surface, then turned round and headed to the fridge. She pulled open the door and searched for something to settle her stomach, which was twisting itself into knots of worry as she became more and more agitated. She finally settled on having a glass of milk and a cookie, although she doubted it would have much effect. Just as she closed the fridge door, she heard a loud crack! and the sound of urgent voices outside. The milk slipped from her grasp and smashed onto the floor, sending waves of cool milk all over her feet, but Ariel paid it no attention as she was already racing to the front door, her eyes wide with apprehension. But before she could even seize the handle, the door burst open, and a man with black hair and grey eyes stormed in, followed in an instant by a young man, who was shaking so badly that he was in danger of collapsing from shock. Ariel watched open-mouthed as they flew by, but knew not to step in.
She followed them slowly into the living room, where the dark haired man had laid the now unconscious boy on the sofa, and was muttering healing charms whilst waving his wand over the boy.
Ariel watched in fascination as the wounds littering his face and arms knitted together and healed, leaving no mark to suggest they'd ever been there at all.
The dark haired man turned round to look at Ariel. They stared at each other for a moment, and Ariel knew something terrible had happened. Before she had time to ask what, the man said in a low voice, "Not now Ariel. I need you to go to the potion store-room and find me a dreamless sleep potion. If he does not take one," He said bitterly, indicating the unconscious boy next to him, "He is never going to return to even a shadow of his former-self. He will be plagued with nightmares so terrible, you cannot even begin to imagine."
Ariel nodded, despite her urgent need for answers, and hurried out of the room, glancing back just in time to see the man put his face in his hands, and slide-down the wall behind him. Her body screamed at her to turn around and go back and check if he was ok, but her head was telling her that the task he had just asked her to perform was more important than his well-being at that moment in time.
She dashed back the way she came, and bounded up the stairs two at a time, and skidded to a stop in front of a stained door which she pushed open and hurriedly made her way through the rows of potions, looking with increasing panic for the dreamless sleep potion. Realising with disgust that she needn't even search for the potion, she cried "Accio potion" whilst thrusting her right arm above her head. The potion flew into her open palm, and she spun around, and raced to the open door. She dived down the stairs, and re-entered the living room, gasping for breath, as she held out the potion for the man to dose the boy on the sofa with.
He took it unsmilingly, and propped up the boy's head, whilst simultaneously opening his mouth, and poured the entire content of the potion into it. He waved his wand again so that the boy swallowed it then gently lowered his head back onto the sofa.
He continued to stare at the boy, his face clouding over with remorse and despair. Suddenly all the ornaments in the room exploded and the doors came free of their hinges. Ariel ducked as pictures flew off the walls and vases smashed all around her. Ariel wondered what had happened to cause this complete loss of control in the man in front of her.
Just as a chair was about to knock her off her feet Ariel raised her hands in front of her, palms forward, and everything in the room, apart from her and the dark haired man, froze.
Kneeling down she looked at the man, who had bowed his head and was letting out dry sobs, and pushed his hair away from his face.
"Dad," she said gently, "What happened?"
Severus Snape looked up at her and replied, "He's dead."
