Chapter 3: Thief In The Night

Ridley froze under the invisibility cloak, not even daring to breath. Why was Snape in his office? Snape was never in his office at this time. He was supposed to be starting lessons with Hailey.

After a minute of silence, Ridley crept out into the open and peaked in the doorway. A broken bottle lay on the floor, but other than that, nothing had been disturbed. The office was empty.

"Just a bottle falling," Ridley whispered to herself. She put her hand over her heart. It had nearly stopped when she heard the noise.

She quietly entered the office, taking care to avoid the bottle, and went straight for the door in the back. She tested the door. It was locked, as always.

Ridley took a bobby pin out of her hair and slipped it into the keyhole. After a moment of fiddling around, the lock clicked. Cautiously, Ridley opened the door and slid inside.

The room contained rows of shelves of potions. There were potions of every color and bottles of every size. It would take Ridley hours to search through them all.

"Accio cut-healing potion," Ridley whispered, waving her wand. She had no idea what the potion was called, but it always came to her when she called it. A bottle from the top shelf flew to her in the dark. Ridley shoved it into the pocket in her jacket.

After locking the door, she stepped out of the storage room and gently shut it. She listened for footsteps. When she heard nothing but silence, she walked over to the fallen bottle. There was a small puddle on the tile. The smell was unmistakable. Snape had been drinking firewhiskey recently.

Ridley could barely supress her rage as she walked away. Had he downed the drink just moments before Hailey's lesson? Was he drunk as he was teaching her. Ridley desperatly wanted to run to Dumbledore, but she couldn't exactly say, "Oh hello, sir. I just though you should know that I saw bottles of firewhisky in Snape's office while breaking in."

Ridley had learned the hard way.

Flashback:

Seven-year-old Ridley Potter gently touched clothes Petunia had ordered her to hide in her shirt. They were for Jenna, of course. Petunia would never let her steal anything for herself.

Once, after Petunia had first ordered Ridley to start shoplifting, she snuck a candy bar for herself. At home, she pulled it out with the video game for Dudley.

Petunia snatched it away. "How dare you steal this?" she said, slapping her across the face. "You could've made a fool out of me. Here, Dudders, do you want a candy bar?"

"That's Ridley's!" Hailey cried out indignantly.

"Get over here," Vernon growled. "I'll teach you to talk back to your aunt."

Before Hailey could object, Ridley went quietly to her uncle.

Now, holding Jenna's clothes, Ridley was terrified of getting caught. There was no telling what would happen to her. She held her breath through the checkout line and didn't relax until she was safely in the van.

She didn't get caught. She let that sink in. It was a good feeling.

That evening, Ridley snuck into Vernon's room while he was in the shower and stole his cell phone. She hid it under her shirt and ran into her room upstairs. Sitting on her bed, she pulled it out and listened to his voice mail.

She listened to Bailey Hensen, a woman she had never heard of. Ridley had never liked her uncle, but she was still shocked to find that he was cheating.

Ridley felt proud of herself as she ran out of her room to tell Petunia. "Did you steal that?" Petunia asked after listening.

"Yes," Ridley admited nervously. "But you told me it's not so bad to steal just this morning."

The slap startled her. "Just wait until I tell Vernon about this," she hissed.

End Flashback:

Hailey plopped down on the bed next to her sister. "How did it go?" Ridley asked.

"Terrible," Hailey growled. "I've got a pounding headache now. Oh, but that bloody Snape didn't get anything from me. I made sure of that."

Ridley smiled in relief and pulled the potion out from under her jacket. "Perhaps I should begin to steal headache potions as well," she mused.

"No," Hailey said firmly. "You do enough for me as it is."

Ridley took Hailey's hand and pulled the sleeve back. The words 'I must not tell lies' were engraved in blood. "It's gotten worse," Ridley said.

"Yeah, well I can't help it that I keep getting detention."

"Yes, you can," Ridley insisted. She popped open the vial and dipped her fingers into the cool, blue gel. Getting a small bit on her fingertips, she rubbed the angry, red scar. "Feel better?"

"Loads," Hailey sighed. "But that woman has it out for me. She won't rest until I'm expelled."

Ridley's free fist clenched. "You can't be expelled. They'll send you home without me."

The severity of the situation suddenly sunk in. "What am I gonna do?" Hailey moaned.

"Keep your head down and don't cause trouble," Ridley said. "I understand that's difficult for you, but you have to try."

"How do you do it?" Hailey asked.

"Practice," Ridley whispered. "Like I've had practice stealing."

Hailey snatched her hand away. "That's enough," she said. She couldn't keep the anger out of her tone.

"Don't be mad," Ridley said. "I've always done what I had to."

"Don't be mad?" Hailey repeated venomously. "How can I not be mad when you continue to put yourself in danger?"

"I can't lose you," Ridley said.

"I am not going anywhere!" Hailey shouted.

"Keep your voice down!"

Hailey obliged, but she kept the same intensity. "Nobody could ever take me away from you."

"What about Dudley?" Ridley asked. "He couldn't survive."

"He can and he will," Hailey growled.

"Or Jenna? The princess? What if they get split up?"

"I seriously doubt anyone could pull Jenna away from Dudley."

"We are safe there. The wards? Anyways, that's where Dumbledore wants us. Do you know how many people will kill you if they get the chance?" Ridley asked. "Me too, for that matter. The benefits-"

"Don't you dare say the benefits far outweigh the risks," Hailey interupted. Her voice lacked the usual fire. She just sounded tired. "I hate this," she said. "All of it."

At that moment, Dobby popped into the room. "Miss Hailey! Dobby is come to be escourting you to Professor Snape."

Ridley gave Hailey a hopeless look. "You didn't go?"

"Ridley, I'm scared," Hailey said. "There's so much he could find out."

"Don't worry. I think Snape's drunk." Ridley told Hailey about the broken bottle she saw in his office.

Hailey stood up and brushed herself off. "Alright. I'll go. But we will finish this conversation later."

Ridley watched Hailey go. She knew as well as Hailey did that the conversation was over. There was nothing Ridley could do now but hope that her secret remained safe.

"Potter, good of you to finally join us," Severus snarled. He was in no mood to deal with Hailey's idiocy. The more he thought about it, the more he started to feel like half a bottle of firewhisky wasn't enough. If only it were Ridley instead. Ridley, he could handle. Hailey was just insufferable.

"Thanks, Dobby. I can take it from here," Hailey said to the elf. Dobby bowed and departed.

"Do you think this is some kind of joke?" Severus asked. "What if the Dark Lord started to manipulate you and kill everyone you care about? Would you laugh then?"

Hailey crossed her arms in that cursed defiance that Snape hated, because even though it was Lily's eyes watching him, it was James who mocked him. "I do apologize," she said in a tone that suggested anything but.

Severus hadn't planned on starting his lessons by throwing her into Occlumency, but Hailey pushed him over the edge. He raised his wand and said, "Legillimens."

Child Protective Services burst into the house-

Sirius told her everything would be okay-

She was getting money out of Gringotts-

She reached for a doornob-

Cedric was killed in a burst of green light-

'I must not tell lies' was engraved into her skin-

Severus pulled out abruptly. Hailey was on the floor, gasping for breath. "That is only a taste of what the Dark Lord will do to you," he said with no sympathy.

"I hate you so much," Hailey growled.

Severus blinked, startled. Her voice sounded so much like his own for a moment. But he had only learned to growl by listening to Tobias as he drunkenly attacked him. "Why was the CPS at your house?" he asked.

"I don't remember," Hailey rasped, panting. "It was so long ago."

Snape hmmmed. "Very well. Show me your hand."

Hailey held out the scarred hand for him to see. "How did that happen?" Severus asked.

"Umbridge," she said. "I hate her more than you- for now."

"Your hand has been treated," Severus observed.

"By potions I bought with my own money," Hailey immediatly shouted defensively.

"We shall see. Legillimens."

Severus ran through her memories fast enough that nothing stood out, searching for proof that she stole from him. After minutes of searching, he could find nothing remotely related to a potion. 'So the child is naturaly good at suppressing memories,' he mused. So was he.

Suddenly, Severus was thrown out of her mind like a bullet. He opened his mouth to commend Hailey for her strength before he realized that she had passed out.

Grumbling, Severus moved her ontop of a desk where he could examine her. What had made her pass out?

It was possible that she had passed out from pain. Severus ripped through her mind carelessly, as if she could be replaced. He felt guilty, but there was nothing to be done now. Besides, he was certain he would have heard her scream if the pain got that intense.

No, Hailey must have passed out to save a secret. Severus tried to focus and remember the last memory he saw. It had felt sharp, like a slap. He hadn't been paying much attention.

Sighing, Severus entered her mind again. It was his own curiosity that made him do so. He simply had to know why she blacked out.

He nearly jumped when he heard Petunia's voice echo. "Don't tell. Never, ever tell."

"Mustn't tell," Ridley's voice responded.

Severus shook it off and plunged further. He was blocked by the strangest shield he had ever seen. Most shields resembled something real and meaningful, but Hailey's was disturbing. Her memories were encased in a shimmering, black metal slick with who-knows-what. Static shot out as he got closer. Against his better judgement, he touched it with his mind.

The intense pain was enough to push him back out of Hailey's mind. So the Girl-Who-Lived really did have a deep, dark secret. Suddenly, teaching her Occlumency seemed unimportant compared to finding out what she was hiding.