A/N: So heres the long awaited chapter two. People who have/are reading my LOTR fic should know by now how long it takes me to update, i appologize to any new readers though who are not used to my slow ways. Lol. Forgive me? Anyways, please READ and REVIEW! :]
Chapter Two: Dumbledore
Avoiding certain people in a crowd of hundreds on a train was actually much easier than I had first anticipated. I imagined all the horrid scenarios where I would be seen slinking about and confronted, rather brutally and publicly, while leaving the train. All those scenarios never happened however and I had found myself comfortably running off to collect any hastily abandoned belongings in the now empty compartment, and train for that matter. I knew I was cutting it quite neat before the train took off for London again, but I would much rather be stuck in that sticky situation than be confronted. I was a bit of a wuss at times, to be honest. I therefore quickly snatched my copy of Monster Book of Monsters that I had stuffed in the overhead, tied up by a flowery scarf and hidden in a matching hat, on the off chance it would break free and eat through my bag and belongings. As much as I loved animals, I had regretted picking Care of Magical Creatures ever since I had to drag my mother to Diagon Alley to buy that vicious book. The idea of dropping it for Ancient Runes was becoming more and more appealing.
Running onto the platform at Hogsmeade had been one of the happiest moments of my life and the urge to even kiss the concrete bellow me even crossed my mind, but I quickly shoved all thoughts of that away by imagining the look on everyone's faces if I was caught. Thinking that made me suddenly aware that there was nothing but the faint sound of Hogsmeade Town echoing around me and the distant sound of nature. Where were all the students? The smile of relief I had been wearing vanished almost instantly as I became aware of the fact that I had indeed been left behind. The carriages had taken off without me and I was now left stranded with the prospect of the long, unknown walk from here to Hogwarts alone and in the dark. I raised my right arm to my face and could just about make out that of the face of my watch, which read 6:05pm. Great, I would be missing the great feast and the sorting ceremony. I sighed in defeat as I began to trudge my way over to the road that I hoped led to school, suddenly very thankful that my trunk had not been left for me to carry the long distance also.
"Miss Black," A silky cold voice sounded behind me, making me freeze on the spot in utter fear. "Take one more step and I shall be forced to give you more than just a detention."
Slow, lengthy strides echoed off the stations floor, becoming louder and clearer with every one taken. A chill ran down my spine when they finally stopped and a tall dark figure appeared before me, face frowning down at me beneath curtains of slicked black hair.
"I had a suspicion you would be trouble today", he snarled down at me like I was a mere worthless pet that had been meddlesome. "Come," he beckoned me before striding off somewhere ahead. I let go of a breath I didn't know I had been holding and quickly followed after him, hoping he wasn't too far ahead that I would lose him.
I rounded the corner to see him standing beside a horseless carriage. It was quite big and would probably seat about eight but was currently empty. "Get in," he stated as I all but scurried up to the carriage door and went inside, not needing to be told twice. He followed in after me and the carriage began to move forward of its own accord. I stared at the older man who was sitting across from me and noticed how he was sitting with his arms tightly crossed over his chest and his black, bottomless gaze was transfixed at something out the window.
"Professor Snape?" I quietly asked, hoping to gain his attention for a moment. His face quickly turned from the window to mine, and he raised his eyebrow as if daring me to continue. "Professor Snape, why were you at the station?"
He glared me down for a second, causing me to shift my gaze to my feet and the velvet flooring of the carriage before he finally decided my question deserved an answer. "Professor Dumbledore asked me to come and escort you to school, but you were late, therefore making me wait on you."
He drawled the last bit out so fiercely, I didn't need to imagine how pissed off I had made him by fussing about on the train too long. I gulped down the lump in my throat and dared to ask him one more question. "Why did Professor Dumbledore want you to escort me?"
I instantly regretted asking it as soon as his head snapped closer to mine so we were mere centimetres apart. "Because your dear relation, Sirius Black, is on the loose and he absurdly thought you would need protection from him." His hatred-filled black slits stared me down until I had shrunk away from him and into the plush red seat. I always knew Snape hated me, but he had never come so close to what looked like actually hexing me before. I immediately closed my mouth and decided to keep the remainder of my questions for Dumbledore.
The next ten minutes or so passed in the most tense silence there ever was before I could faintly make out the castle gates disappearing behind us. I was travelling backwards, so had the nice feeling of sickness and the pleasure of seeing everything as it faded away instead of coming into view. The carriage stopped a moment after and I was once again greeted with the lovely tones of Severus Snape.
"Get out," he stated as I immediately grabbed for the handle and exited, him following right behind me. The moment he had stepped onto the gravel, the carriage mysterious darted off and away into the black cover of night. I hadn't realised I had been lingering and staring after it until I was told to hurry up.
The large, mahogany doors sprung to life as we neared and I couldn't help the familiar feeling of home wash over me as we entered the castle. The sound of chattering sounded from my right and I turned a solemn gaze at the closed doors that lead to the great hall, which a quick glance of my watch told me would be filled with students and teachers eating their pudding. My stomach rumbled slightly at the thought and I blushed at the questioning look Snape shot back at me.
Six sets of moving stairs later (and a rather annoying stitch in my side from my lack of playing sport related activities since forever), I was standing beside what I assumed was a Hippogriff statue by the looks of it. I let a few much-needed heavy breaths out as I clutched my side to help ease the pain which was slowly but surely passing.
"Sherbet lemon," Snape suddenly said in a rather annoyed tone as the large statue started to move off to one side, allowing us entry to what looked like more stairs.
"Great," I whispered as I begrudgingly followed Snape forward and was relieved to find that it was more of an escalator than a staircase after all. We reached the top in mere seconds, and the man before me raised his fist to wrap the door before dropping it again and turning to look at me.
"I will notify you of your detention at the end of double potions tomorrow, if not before, and forty house points will be taken from Gryffindor also." I stared at him in utter loathing and disbelief as he knocked the door before us, which flew open instantly, revealing a very old and majestic man in blue robes. All thoughts of uttering something back to the black-headed devil beside me instantly vanished.
"Ah, nice to see you have finally made it, Miss Black," the old man said as his eyes twinkled down at me. "Thank you for retrieving her Severus. You may join what's left of the feast now if you'd like."
He shot one more seething look down at me before uttering his reply. "Thank you Professor." With that, he quickly turned and left, the door banging louder than necessary behind him.
I suddenly felt very nervous, being alone with Dumbledore in his office. Obviously I knew what I was here for, Sirius Black. I was more than positive that he had called me here to send me home or in the least ask me to move out of the Gryffindor dorms and live a solitary lifestyle for the rest of the year, or however long it took for them to find Black.
"Would you care for something to eat, Amelia?" Dumbledore asked as he walked back towards his desk at the back of the room. A large, red and gold shimmering bird sat perched next to his desk. "Ah, that is Fawkes the Phoenix," He smiled at me as he conjured up a large armchair for me to sit in and a tray of sandwiches and butterbeer.
I sat carefully down in the oversized green chair and tentatively took a ham sandwich when offered one, nibbling on it like a frightened mouse. My eyes darting furiously about the room.
"There is no need to be frightened, my dear, you are not here to be expelled or to get into trouble. I can assure you of that much at least."
I quickly shot my gaze to that of his blue enticing orbs. "R-really sir?"
He smiled kindly at me before continuing. "Yes, you have done nothing wrong and are no danger to anyone in this school." His expression suddenly turned pensive as he turned his gaze to a stack of papers on his desk. "There is a much more serious matter I have called you here for though." My relief of not being expelled was quickly replaced with fear again and I swiftly put down my sandwich as the sudden urge to be sick came over me. "I have my own conclusions as to how you have come to have the family name of Black, and they are all reassuringly better than what the students think. I have also drawn into consideration that even in the serious unlikelihood that you are Sirius's daughter, he might come after you all the same."
If I felt the need to be sick a moment ago, I was literally fighting back the vomit now. Come after me? No, no! Surely that cannot be true! Then it dawned on me. "Was that why Professor Snape was there to collect me from the station?"
"Yes. I wanted to ensure your safety in coming to the castle, and I had the inkling that you might have had second thoughts about traveling with the other students, which turned out to be right."
My cheeks flushed at the thought of Dumbledore knowing about my feelings towards the rest of the student body and how unsurprising I had found him knowing it.
"I can only guess of some of the conclusions that the other students have come to, and I can assure you that most of their theories are not in the slightest bit correct." I nodded in adherence and waited for him to continue. "How much do you know of how Sirius came to be in Azkaban?"
I considered his question for a moment before answering, "I read that he had killed twelve Muggles and a wizard after blowing up half of a street in London." My gaze found the floor again before I added, "I also know he was close friends to both Harry Potter's parents, as I found them together in several pictures in a yearbook in the Library."
Dumbledore looked at me with a gaze that I couldn't quite place. "It seems you are a very bright young lady, Miss Black. Yes, Sirius and James Potter were quite inseparable in their time spent here. Quite mischievous too, I might add."
"Why is it important that I know how he landed himself in Azkaban, sir?" I tentatively asked, not sure I really wanted to know the answer. I had my guesses, and they alone were not promising.
"Amelia, it is widely thought to be that he has lost his mind and is a firm follower of Voldermort." I couldn't help my shiver as he spoke the name so clearly and confidently like it was merely anyone else's name he was mentioning. "I have called you here to make you fully aware of the dangers you are in now that Sirius has escaped and to make you aware of the connections he has to the Potters, as Harry is in the same year and house as you."
Then it all hit me. Not only was Dumbledore concerned that Black was somehow out to get me, he was afraid that he might use me to get to Harry. I couldn't stop the tears coming to my eyes no matter how hard I tried to keep them back. Dumbledore actually believed I would betray all my morals and aid a murdering psycho!
"I in no way feel that you would aid Sirius of your own free will, Amelia, but you have to keep in mind that he is much older and more powerful than you are and would easily be able to manipulate you into doing things you would not normally do if he so wished."
I felt his hand on my shoulder, squeezing it in a comforting manner as my flow of tears started to cease slightly. He was only using logic and did not actually believe I would hurt someone. The feeling of happiness that soared through me at knowing that was indescribable.
He gave my shoulder one last squeeze before letting go. "I don't want to keep you any longer than need be, as it's getting late and you must be tired after all that's happened today. We shall speak again soon." He gave me an all-knowing look and an apologetic nod. "They aren't allowed on school grounds, so please do not trouble yourself thinking about them any longer. We wouldn't want you distracted in classes tomorrow and earning another detention now, would we?" His eyes twinkled as I wiped my own less happy ones, offered my thanks, and left, hoping never to have to return to his office again any time soon. It was very nice inside, and the owner couldn't have been kinder, but it seemed that any news special enough to be delivered there was most definitely bad and unpleasant. The feel of the previous headmaster's stares on my back lingered with me all the way down the escalating stairs, my mind not taking in much of where I was headed and concentrating on everything that had been said to me mere moments ago.
Thump. I found myself landing on my bottom for the third time today. I sighed. My ass was really going to hurt tomorrow.
"Sorry, I was too busy thinking and di-"I managed to choke out before my eyes met that of a very angry looking, familiar face. I knew I had to face him at some point, but I was more than praying that that some point would have been never. Or at least next week at the very earliest!
"No need to apologize, Black," he seethed through clenched teeth as he straightened himself up and stormed off towards the place I had just come from. I felt weak and sore, and couldn't move from the shock and hurt of hearing someone say my name like that, to hear him say my name like that. It sounded distasteful coming from his lips and I couldn't help the feeling of guilt and shame that washed over me. I was related to killers, and dark wizards, and the best of them still seemed to be Muggle-haters at least! I shook my head and stood from the floor, cursing my mother and her stupid romantic ideals. If I was only named Townsend, like her, none of this would have happened, and I would most likely be more sociable as well, as half the student body wouldn't have avoided me like a plague since first year for being a Black and in Gryffindor. I immediately decided then to put on a face of courage for tomorrow and write an angry letter to my mum, which I would most definitely never send but would make me feel better nonetheless. I huffed in frustration and began the long trek to the seventh floor, too tired to care any more what people thought of me, and secretly wishing that no one else would cross paths with me till breakfast tomorrow morning, so I wouldn't have to put my resolve to the test so soon.
