AN: First of all thank you all so much I have never expected this great response, you are the best. I did my best to find all mistakes, but as a non-native speaker, there will be a few. If you see any, please send me a PM, and I will edit them out.
Have fun!
"Normal speech."
"Death speech."
$Pareltounge$
"Thoughts"
Edited: 6th July 2018
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Sophie Potter was lying in her bed in her room, or better, cupboard under the stairs and waited silently in the darkness. Today was her big day because, in 3 minutes, she would become six years old. Even though the Dursleys never celebrated with her, something always felt special on that day. On each of her birthdays, it was like someone came to her. The same who came every time she needed comfort when her uncle slapped her again or threw her in the cupboard because she did some freakish things. Someone was always there to comfort her and make her feel better. She never knew what caused the freakish things that happened. Like the one time she'd dropped a plate and panicked because if her uncle found out, he would definitely lock her away in her cupboard for days without food. While she panicked, somehow the plate repaired itself. Of course, at that moment Vernon had to come into the kitchen and see everything. His face turned purple, and Sophie knew that this day would end badly. In the end, she got a few slaps, and her arm was in pain and stood off at an odd angle.
As she laid in her cupboard crying, she felt something cold wash over her, and the air smelled like a winter morning after some snowfall. It was never uncomfortable, quite the opposite. She always felt protected in those times, it felt like as everything would be okay again. She fell asleep, feeling so secure and warm, it was incredible. The next morning, her arm and cheeks were pain-free and healed, which unfortunately didn't make the situation with Uncle Vernon any better.
As the hands of the clock reach midnight, Sophie felt something strange. She felt like something reconnected to her as if it should've always have been there and the wonderful feeling of protection embraced her. She could not put the finger on what it was, but she let it happen and fell peacefully asleep.
"GET UP GIRL, NOW!" Vernon screamed and banged loudly on the cupboard door.
"I'm up!" Sophie managed to say before her door was thrown open and her Uncle dragged her out to the kitchen.
"You are old enough now to begin cooking for us and don't burn the beacon, or you won't get anything to eat for a week. Am I understood freak?!" Vernon blustered.
"Yes, Uncle Vernon" Sophie replied.
She began to make the breakfast and got a few slaps on her hand because she'd tried to taste some of the things she'd made.
"Freaks don't get the good food." her Aunt Petunia said, "Get back to work girl."
After breakfast, Dudley went out playing with his friends, probably planning a new round of Sophie hunting. Petunia and Vernon sat at the kitchen table discussing something in low voices. Perhaps they thought she wouldn't be able to hear them, but that was not the case.
"No Vernon, Mrs Figg is ill. She can't take the girl tonight."
"But Petunia honey, why don't we give her to your friend? What was her name? Katherine? Or to my sister?"
"No, we can't give her to Katherine, she isn't home tonight, and you know very well, that your sister would kill the girl on the spot for her cheek. We can't afford that. What if someone of her kind looks out for her?"
"I'm not leaving the girl alone in my house. She will burn it down."
"She also won't come with us to the theatre. The people won't like it if a freak like her comes to a noble place."
"Can't we just leave her in the car?"
"No, what if the police see her and ask questions as to why she is alone in the car. She will have to stay here, and that's final."
"Ok, but if the freak destroys anything, I'll kill her myself!" Vernon stated firmly.
"FREAK!" he yelled. Sophie turned around and looked at him.
"Yes Uncle Vernon?" she asked.
"You will have to stay home alone tonight because Mrs Figg is ill and we are going to the theatre. If you destroy anything or make trouble, you better hope that God will help you, because you will never get out of your cupboard again."
"Yes, Uncle Vernon. I'll behave," Sophie said smiling inwardly. She could not believe it. It was her birthday, and she got the whole evening to herself and could do what she wanted. She could even watch TV. She never had the opportunity to watch longer than 10 minutes, and that was only when the others were watching, while she had to clean the kitchen.
As the day went on, she did the last of her chores and sat out in the garden, watching the wind playing with the leaves of the trees, when suddenly she heard someone talking §Ssstupid humansss. Alwaysss blocking the entrance to my houssse.§
Sophie was confused. Where did the voice come from? She looked around but saw nobody else than her in the garden.
§MaybeI ssshould bite her.§ she heard the voice say again.
§Who isss there§ she asked, not knowing that she hadn't spoken English.
§Oh a ssspeaker! I didn't think you were one.§
§Who sssaid that? Where are you?§
§Down here ssspeaker.§
Sophie looked down at the ground and saw a beautiful black and red striped snake.
§Hello little sssnake. Did you ssspeak to me?§
§Obviousssly little ssspeaker or did you sssee anyone other than me around?§ The small snake snapped at Sophie.
§But how isss it possssible that I can underssstand you? Can everyone ssspeak to sssnakes and if ssso, why hasssn't anyone told me?§
§No, not everyone can ssspeak thisss noble language. Only a handful can and you are the firssst one that I have met.§
§Oh okay, what did you mean by I'm blocking the entrance to your houssse?§ Sophie asked the snake confused.
§Behind you, by the flowersss, there isss the opening to my cave, that I have been building for the lassst two weeksss.§
Sophie paled. Her aunt had just dug over the flower patch a few hours ago. Sophie carefully considered her next words and said §Umm… ah…. I'm sssorry§
The little snake looked up at her and asked §What are you sssorry for? Hasss sssomething happened to my cave?§
Sophie didn't know what she could say. Eventually, she answered §You sssee, umm… my aunt umm… kind of dug over the patch ssso your cave is probably dessstroyed.§. Sophie lowered her head. She could not look the snake in the eyes at the moment. She felt so sorry for her, even if it wasn't her fault. Sophie knew she would be very sad, if she had no room anymore, where she could go if she wanted to be alone, even if it was a cupboard.
After a few moments, the snake sighed and slithered up Sophie's arm, which was probably meant as a hug and said §Don't be sssad little ssspeaker. It wasssn't your fault. I'll jussst have to build another§
Sophie looked at her, smiled brightly and began to cry. She had feared the snake would bite her, nobody was ever that kind to her. She wiped away the tears of happiness and asked §Do you want to ssstay with me,? I know sssnakes like warm placesss, and if you wrap around my arm, you will alwaysss have a warm place to live.§
The snake thought a while and said that she would be happy to accept the offer.
§By the way, what'sss your name?§
§My name isss Sssalya, and yoursss?§
§Hi Sssalya, nice to meet you. My name isss Sssophie.§
They talked for the rest of the day about various things. Sophie told Salya about her home life with the Dursleys, and Salya told Sophie about her hatchlings and their journey through the world. The little snake curled herself around Sophie's arm because Sophie had told her, that if the Dursleys saw her, they take her away and probably would hurt her.
In the evening before the Dursleys drove off to the theatre, Vernon took her aside and laid down the rules for the night.
"Girl, you will do nothing except being in your cupboard. If I find anything destroyed or damaged, you will pay for it and no watching TV. I don't want you to get any crazy ideas. AM I UNDERSTOOD?!"
"Yes, Uncle Vernon," Sophie answered, knowing full well, that the only person that destroys things in the house was him. She'd never broken anything intentionally, and when it had happened, it would usually fix itself again in some mysterious way.
She watched the Dursleys get into the car and drive away to the theatre. Once she was back inside, Sophie put Salya in her cupboard, because the little snake had said that she was tired, and sat down on the couch in front of the TV. She watched some cartoons but ended up watching an awesome show called Doctor Who. Oh, how she wished she could go on adventures through space and time and be free to do whatever she wanted.
Sophie forgot to watch the time and just before the end of the show, Sophie got up to get something to drink. Halfway back to the TV, the front door burst open with a loud crash. Sophie stumbled and fell. She'd forgotten the time, and now her uncle and aunt were back home. The glass which she was holding in her hand flew through the air, directly at the TV and with some sparks and smoke, the house went dark.
You could hear Vernon roar through the whole house "FREAK! COME HERE NOW!"
Sophie knew that this would not end well. She tried to hide behind the curtains, even if it was a hopeless attempt. Vernon walked with heavy steps into the living room, and he pulled her out from behind the curtains. The first thing that Sophie saw was the purple face of her uncle, the second, his hand as it slapped her across the face. She tripped and banged her head on the table pretty badly. Sophie landed on the floor and screamed. She could feel her face get wet from the blood, but her Uncle would have none of it, so he took her, threw her in the cupboard under the stairs and yelled.
"YOU WILL NOT COME OUT OF THE CUPBOARD FOR A WEEK, YOU GOD DAMN FREAK!"
With that he slammed the door shut and Sophie laid in the dark, slowly losing consciousness.
She heard Salya frantically hissing §Hey Sssophie, what'sss wrong? I heard you ssscreaming. Are you okay?§
But she did not have the strength to answer her. The last thing Sophie felt before everything went dark, was the cold and comforting feeling that washed over her and she heard someone screaming outside her cupboard.
Salya was a happy snake. All her hatchlings were grown up and now lived by themselves, and she had just finished her new cave yesterday. When she arrived at the garden where she had build her new home, she saw a lone human child sitting in front of the entrance. Angrily, she hissed at the human child and was shocked as the little human answered her.
She talked with the girl a bit and was angry at first, that her aunt has destroyed her home, but as she saw how sad the girl got, even if it wasn't her fault, she could not help it and her maternal instincts kicked in, so she slithered up her arm to comfort her.
When the little girl asked her if she wanted to stay with her, Salya thought about it. In the end, she decided that it would be a big adventure and if there is one thing that Salya loved the most, it was adventures. So she agreed with Sophie, as she learned what her name was, and they talked the whole afternoon about various things.
Salya wanted to bite the Dursleys for how they treated her friend, but Sophie told her, that if her Uncle saw her, he would kill her immediately, so she decided not to do it. As Sophie's guardians left the house, Salya got tired and told her friend that she wanted to sleep. Sophie put her in her room. She was disgusted at the place where her friend had to sleep, but she did not tell her.
It was some time after she fell asleep when she heard Sophie screaming. Salya wanted to check out what was going on, but she could not open the cupboard door Suddenly the door flew open and the fat pig Sophie called her uncle, threw her in.
Salya panicked. What had the stupid human done to her Sophie? She hissed §Hey Sssophie, what'sss wrong. I heard you ssscreaming. Are you okay?§ But no answer came. She tried to poke her with her nose, but there was no reaction. All at once Salya felt cold and that there was a predator like presence in the house, something she had never felt before. She heard the Dursleys scream, a loud thud and then there was silence.
Slowly the cupboard door opened and in front of her stood a being that smelled like death. Angrily, she rose to her full height and hissed at the being, as to protect her friend. Even though she'd only met Sophie that day, she had this strong urge to protect her. When she watched Sophie, she could feel the sadness and the loneliness of the child, although she did her best to hide it.
The being reached out for her and Salya was determined to fight against it. Of course, she knew that it was stronger than her, but she would try it anyway. What happened next surprised her, the being petted her on the head and chuckled.
Death could not believe it. It was only after six years that the bond to his Mistress was stable enough to reconnect correctly since it was damaged.
In the last few years, Death had watched Sophie intensely and was not happy about how she was raised by her Aunt and Uncle. Still, he could do nothing about it, till he was reconnected with his Mistress. The only thing he could do was comfort her with his touch every time she was hurt, sad or lonely. On the morning of Sophie's sixth birthday, he began with the process to reestablish the bond to his Mistress. He knew he would be out for the day since it took up a lot of power and at night, he had to guide the souls through to the next great adventure. After he was done, he felt the happiness coming from Sophie, that she could feel his presence on her birthday and after she fell asleep again, he retreated to the void to regain his power.
In the evening, when he returned to the house of the Dursleys, he heard screaming coming from inside. He glided through the wall and saw Vernon throwing Sophie into her cupboard. To say that Death was angry at the prospect that her whale of an Uncle had once more mistreated and hurt her, was an understatement, but since he could finally interact with the world around him again, he would have his revenge on the three Dursleys.
He touched each of them on the forehead, and they slumped, unmoving, to the floor. They were not dead but reliving their worst memories until Death chose to wake them up again.
He slowly opened the door to Sophie's cupboard and was surprised, that he had not only found Sophie but a little snake hissing at him angrily. He was astonished. He was not near her for just one day, and she had made such a good and loyal friend. He reached out with his hand to pet her and to assure her, that he had no ill intention towards any of them. With his raspy voice, he said: "Do not worry little snake. I just want to help little Sophie here."
$I don't believe you. You sssmell like death$
Death chuckled "That's because I am Death."
Salya was shocked and reared back. Was it already her's and Sophie's time to die? But she managed to be brave.
$Jussst one more reassson not to trussst you.$
"I won't hurt you or Sophie. She is my Mistress, and I choose her to stop the war in the magical world."
Salya eyed him warily, unsure if he was telling the truth. Knowing that even if she tried to defend herself and her friend, Sophie was still hurt and she couldn't do anything about it.
$Ok then, help her. She isss hurt. One wrong move though and I will bite you$
Death chuckled again at the protective little snake and took a closer look at Sophie. When he saw the bruise on her cheek and the wound on her head, his smile instantly vanished and turned into anger. He should have killed the Dursleys, but he couldn't because of the blood wards around the house. Even if he didn't like Dumbledore, the wards do protect her from the remaining Death Eaters. Still, they are useless if her own family kills her. He also couldn't remove her from the house until she was old enough, because the old coot had put an ancient and long forgotten tracking spell on her, that parents put on their children, till they reached their first magical maturity, at the age of eleven. The spell would vanish then because their magic repels it and it could only be applied once on a person. He could not take her into the void either, because her magic was not yet stable enough to make the trip.
Death took her out of the cupboard and laid her down on the couch in the living room. He healed her bruise and the wound on the head and checked the rest of her. He found a couple of scratches, but nothing more serious.
Salya sighed in relief and decided to trust the being for now.
Death watched her sleep and was happy that nothing more serious had happened and vanished to the void, to guide the souls through to the next plane.
AN: I hope you liked the chapter, please leave a review and point the mistakes out to me so I can edit it accordingly.