Chapter 10: The Worst Summer with the Best Escape

"I want another cinnamon bun!" April whined at breakfast. The summer vacations had officially started, and I was as miserable as ever at the Prunley's house. I was sitting at the kitchen table with Uncle John, Aunt Samantha, and April, eating breakfast.

"There're more in the basket on the counter, darling," Aunt Samantha said to her.

"Go get me the pastry basket," April ordered me.

"You forgot the magic word," I said, looking down at my cereal. I wasn't prepared for the reaction that followed my statement.

April gasped and fell off her chair while Aunt Samantha stared wide-eyed at me and Uncle John's face turned purple.

"I meant 'please,'" I said meekly. "I didn't mean—"

"WHAT HAVE WE TOLD YOU ABOUT SAYING THE 'M' WORD IN THIS HOUSE?" Uncle John thundered.

"But—"

"HOW DARE YOU THREATEN APRIL! HOW DARE YOU BRING UP YOUR ABNORMALNESS AROUND US!"

"I just—"

"I'M WARNING YOU, I WILL NOT TOLERATE IT ANYMORE! DO YOU HEAR ME?"

"Okay, okay!" I shouted at him as he sat back down in his seat, breathing heavily and watching me closely. I grabbed my piece of toast and left the kitchen, heading upstairs to my room.

"And keep that ruddy owl quiet! I don't want the neighbors finding out what you are!"

I sighed and opened the door to my room. It was completely bare, except for my bed, my clothes, and Venus's cage in the corner. Uncle John had taken my trunk, filled with all my spell books, parchment, quills, wand, and broomstick, and locked it in the closet where I used to sleep the moment I walked in their house. He even locked Venus's cage so I couldn't write to any of my friends.

They didn't care that I would arrive back at school without any of my homework done. They didn't care that I would lose my place on the Gryffindor Quidditch team because I didn't practice all summer.

I broke apart the piece of toast and dropped it in Venus's cage, then I flopped on my bed and sighed. I had been here for five weeks. Five miserable weeks without any word from anyone. It was like my friends had all forgotten me.

Today was even my birthday, but no one had sent me a single birthday card. I had expected Hagrid to at least send me something, but there was nothing. I sighed and threw my pillow over my head.

"Alice! Get down here! We have a special announcement to make!"

Were they seriously acknowledging that today was my birthday? They never did anything for me. For the last three years, they had ignored it completely.

I jumped out of me bed and sat back town at the kitchen table. April stuck her tongue out at me while Aunt Samantha shot me angry looks.

"Now that Alice has finally joined us, we can go over the schedule for tonight."

Oh, right. That stupid dinner party Uncle John had been talking about all week. Apparently, some guy he wanted to do business was coming over, and Uncle John was hoping to make a big deal with him. He's been talking about it all week.

"Right. At eight o'clock, we should all be in position. Samantha, you'll—"

"—be in the living room, welcoming our guests into our lovely home."

"Excellent. April?"

"I'll be at the door, waiting to take the Miller's coats and hang them up."

"What a precious little angel!" Aunt Samantha cried.

"Wonderful." Uncle John turned to face me. "And you?"

"I'll be upstairs in my room, not making a noise, pretending I don't exist," I said in a bored voice.

"Correct. After that, I'll lead them into the living room, introduce everyone, and pour drinks. At eight-fifteen"

"—I'll announce dinner," Aunt Samantha said. "Roast turkey and potatoes."

"April will—"

"Lead Mr. and Mrs. Miller into the dining room and show them where they are sitting," April said, smiling sweetly.

"Oh, they'll love her!" Aunt Samantha exclaimed.

"And you?" Uncle John said nastily.

"I'll be upstairs in my room, not making a noise, pretending I don't exist."

"Okay, at dinner, I was thinking we could bring up a few compliments. Any ideas?"

"How about… John tells me you're an excellent tennis player, Mr. Miller'…'Do tell me where you got your shoes, Mrs. Miller'…"

"Fantastic. April?"

"Um…how about 'We had to write an essay about our hero in school, and I wrote about you Mr. Miller."

I couldn't take it anymore. I dropped to the floor under the table so they wouldn't see me laughing as Aunt Samantha hugged April.

"And you, Alice?" Uncle John said through clenched teeth. Regaining my composure, I sat back down in my seat.

"I'll be upstairs in my room, not making a noise, pretending I don't exist."

"Too right you will. The Millers don't know about you or your condition, and I plan to keep it that way. After dinner, we'll bring then back to the living room, have a few drinks, then bring the deal up. I'll have the contract signed, and by this time tomorrow, we'll be shopping for a vacation home in Tortola."

I sighed. I highly doubted I'd be treated better in Tortola then I would here.

"Right. I'm off to pick up my dinner jacket and April's party dress. You stay out of your aunt's way while she cleans," he snarled at me. I got up and went and sat in the shade under a tree in the yard of 3 River Way. Another lonely birthday. I had hoped at least someone would remember it, but apparently not.

"Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me…" I sang under my breath as I relaxed in the shade. This was honestly the worst birthday I had even had. Instead of just being ignored, I was going to be forced to stay in my room all night and pretend not to exist. I didn't even have my spell books to take my mind off that.

I missed everyone. I missed Rosalie, Edward, and Bella, along with all my friends from Quidditch. I thought about Jasper Hale, my teammate and also the guy I was in love with. But what would he want with me?

I was staring at the hedge in front of me when suddenly two green eyes were staring back at me. I jumped to my feet to look at it closer, but they eyes had disappeared.

"I know what day it is!" April sang, skipping towards me with a lollipop in her mouth.

"Congratulations, you've finally learned the days of the week," I said, still staring at the hedge. There had definitely been something in there!

"Today's your birthday." Why did she even remember it was my birthday? "Why didn't you get any cards or presents? Don't you have any friends at that freak school you go to?"

"You better not let mummy hear you talking about my school," I said coldly.

"What are you even doing?" she asked, peering into the hedge.

"Deciding on the best spell to light the hedge on fire."

"Y-you can't! Dad said you're not s-supposed to do magic! He'll kick you out! And you h-haven't got anywhere to go!" She reminded me of my old Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Quirrell, when she stuttered like that. I decided to provoke her a little more.

"Hocus Pocus! Abra Cadabra! Swarmy Malarmy!"

"MUM! MUM, SHE'S DOING YOU-KNOW-WHAT AGAIN!" April screamed, running into the house.

I sighed and sank back onto the ground. I knew I'd pay for that later, but I didn't worry about it now. April had voiced the one thing I'd been thinking the whole summer: Maybe I don't have any friends. That's' why I antagonized her and tried to freak her out.

April and Aunt Samantha came out of the kitchen a minute later. Once she came out and saw that neither the hedge nor April were harmed, she knew I didn't do any magic, but she was still furious. She put me to work washing the car, mowing the lawn, planting flowers in the garden, and cleaning the windows with the promise I wouldn't eat until it was all finished. April watched, eating ice cream, while I was sweating in the hot sun, finishing all the chores.

Once I was down, I walked into the kitchen, but Aunt Samantha stopped me.

"Stand on the newspaper and eat this," she snapped at me, handing me a plate with two pieces of bread and a hunk of cheese. I wolfed it down as fast as I could while Aunt Samantha glared at me. She had an apron over her purple cocktail dress and was tapping her foot impatiently on the kitchen floor.

As soon as I finished, she snatched the plate out of my hands and tossed it in the sink.

"Now, get upstairs. The Millers will be here any minute!" she barked at me as I walked out of the kitchen. As I passed the living room, I saw Uncle John in a jacket and tie and April in a pink frilly dress. When I reached the landing upstairs, Uncle John stuck his head at the foot of the stairs.

"Remember—one sound!"

I tiptoed to my room as the doorbell rang. I heard my aunt and uncle greeting their guests as I slipped into my room. I turned, prepared to collapse on my bed, when I saw there was already someone there.

I managed not to scream as I took in the appearance of my nighttime visitor. It had large ears and large green eyes. I recognized them as the ones that were staring at me out of the hedge this afternoon.

"Um, hello?" I said, unsure if the creature spoke English.

"Alice Brandon!" it squeaked in a high-pitched voice. "Dobby has wanted to meet you for years, miss…such an honor!"

"Th-thanks," I stuttered, still unsure of what I was talking to. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"

"Dobby, miss. Dobby the house-elf."

"Uh, I don't mean to be rude, but now isn't the best time for me to have a house-elf in my room. Not that I'm not pleased to meet you!" I said quickly when Dobby drooped his head. "Is there a reason you're here?"

I heard Aunt Samantha laugh loudly. Someone must have told a funny joke.

"Yes, miss…it's very difficult…Dobby doesn't know where to begin…"

"Here, why don't you sit down?" I said, gesturing to my bed. The elf looked at me with shock, then burst into loud sobs.

"I'm sorry," I said quickly. "I didn't mean to offend you!"

"Offend me? Dobby has never been asked to sit down by a witch or wizard—like an equal!"

"You must not have met many good wizards, then," I said, pulling Dobby onto the bed and comforting.

He nodded, then leapt off the bed and started banging his head with my lamp. He kept shouting, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"

"What are you doing?" I hissed, pulling the lamp out of his hands and dragging him back to the bed.

"Dobby had to punish himself, miss. Dobby almost spoke ill of his masters."

"Your masters?" I asked. I didn't know there were slaves in the wizarding world.

"Oh, yes. Dobby is bound to serve one house and one family forever."

"Do they know you're here?"

He shuddered slightly. "Oh, no, miss. Dobby will have to punish himself most terribly for this. Dobby will have to iron his fingers when he gets back home. If Dobby's masters knew he was here…"

"Won't they know you were here if you iron your fingers?"

"No, miss. Dobby is always punishing himself. Sometimes Dobby's masters remind him to do extra punishments."

"Well, why don't you leave?" I asked. Dobby's life seemed medieval and unjust.

"Tis the life of a house-elf, miss. A house-elf must be set free, and Dobby's masters will never set him free. Dobby is bound to serve for the rest of his life." The elf wiped his eyes on the pillowcase he was wearing.

"This makes my family sound human. Can anyone help you? Can't I do something?"

Dobby burst into tears again. "Dobby had heard of your greatness, miss, but never your goodness!"

"Please, be quiet!" I whispered. "And whatever you've heard of my greatness is a load of rubbish. I'm not even the top of my year. Bella—"

I stopped talking. It was too painful to talk about Bella when she seemed to have forgotten I exist.

"Alice Brandon is too modest. Dobby heard word that Miss Brandon defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named for a second time a month ago, and escaped again!"

"You mean Voldemort?"

Dobby threw his hands over his mouth. "Speak not the name! Speak not the name!" he squeaked in his high-pitched voice.

"Sorry," I said. "I know a lot of people don't like to say it. My friend, Rosalie—" But I stopped again. I didn't want to think about Rosalie when she obviously wasn't thinking about me.

"Alice Brandon is brave! She does not tremble like so many others at the sound of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's name! But Dobby has come to warn Alice Brandon, to protect her…Alice Brandon must not go back to Hogwarts!"

"What?" I said, shocked. "But I have to go back! Term starts on the first. It's the only reason I endure the torture here for the summer. I don't belong here—I belong in your world."

Dobby shook his head. "You are safe here, miss. Alice Brandon is too good, too valuable to lose. If miss returns to Hogwarts, she will be in mortal danger!"

"Why?"

"There is a plot, miss. A plot to make terrible things happen at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Dobby has known it for months, miss." Dobby was trembling from head to toe, now. "Alice Brandon must not return. She is too important!"

"What terrible thing?" I asked, curious. "Who's plotting them? What are they planning to do?"

Dobby looked like he wanted to say something, but he sprinted to my desk again and seized the lamp. I pulled it from his hands before he could make any noise.

"Okay, I get it, you can't tell me. Does it have anything to do with You-Know-Who? You can just shake your head."

Dobby shook his head no.

"Then who? He hasn't got a brother or something, does he?"

Dobby shook his head again, his eyes as wide as tennis balls.

"Well, I can't imagine anyone besides him making bad things happen at Hogwarts, not with Albus Dumbledore there. You do know who he is, don't you?"

The elf nodded. "Albus Dumbledore is the greatest headmaster Hogwarts has ever had. He is a great wizard, but these are powers even Dumbledore doesn't—powers no decent wizard—"

Dobby sprinted to the window and banged his head against it repeatedly, shrieking loudly. I grabbed him and pulled him back towards the bed, but it was suddenly very quiet downstairs. Then, Uncle John spoke up. "April must have left her television on…silly girl. I'll go upstairs and turn it off."

I shoved Dobby in the closet as Uncle John stormed into my room.

"What is the blazes are you doing up here? You interrupted the punch line of my vampire joke! One more sound, and you'll wish you were never born, mark my words!" He slammed the door shut, and I heard his footsteps disappear down the hall. I opened the closet door and let Dobby out.

"You see?" I said to him. "Do you see what I have to live with? I have to go back to Hogwarts. It's the only place I've got—well, sort of got—friends!"

"Friends who don't even write to Alice Brandon?"

"I'm sure they've—wait, how do you know they haven't been writing to me?" I asked, looking at him suspiciously.

"Alice Brandon mustn't be angry with Dobby—Dobby thought if Alice Brandon though her friends had forgotten her, she might now want to go back."

"Have you been stopping my letter?"

"Dobby has them here, miss," he said, pulling a wad of envelopes out of his pillowcase.

"Give those to me!"I hissed, lunging at him. He jumped out of my reach, holing the stack of letters over his head.

"Alice Brandon must promise Dobby she won't return to Hogwarts!"

"No! Give me my letters!"

The elf sighed. "Then Dobby has no choice," he said, tucking the letters back into his pillowcase. He opened the door and sprinted out of the room, running down the stairs and into the kitchen. I followed him, trying to make as little noise as possible. I could hear Uncle John and the others in the living room, having coffee and tea. Aunt Samantha's pudding was sitting on the table behind them. I saw Dobby crouched next to the table.

"Dobby…please don't…they'll kill me!"

"Alice Brandon must not go back to Hogwarts."

"Please…"

"Say it, miss."

"I can't."

The elf dropped his head. "Then Dobby has no choice." He snapped his fingers and the pudding rose into the air. He snapped them again, and it fell to the ground with an earth-shattering crash. Then, he disappeared with a loud crack.

Uncle John and everyone else came sprinting into the room and stared at me, covered in Aunt Samantha's pudding, looking terrified. Uncle John tried to gloss it over, saying how I was disturbed and meeting new people normally upset me. He would have still made his deal if the owl hadn't arrived.

A barn owl flew through the window, dropped a letter on Mrs. Miller's head, and left. She screamed at the top of her lungs and sprinted out the door. Mr. Miller stayed long enough to tell Uncle John that his wife was deathly afraid of birds, then telling him the deal was off.

Uncle John looked like he was about to flay me alive. "Go on—read it!" he snarled at me.

I opened the envelope. It wasn't a birthday cars. It was from the ministry of Magic.

Dear Ms. Brandon
We have received intelligence that a Hover Charm was used at your place of residence at twelve minutes past nine.
As you know, underage wizards are not permitted to perform spells outside school, and further spell work on your part may lead to expulsion from said school (Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, Paragraph C.)
We would also ask you to remember that any magical activity that risks notice by members of the non-magical community (Muggles) is a serious offense under section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlock's Statute of Secrecy.
Enjoy your holidays!
Yours sincerely,
Mafalda Hopkirk
Improper Use of Magical Office
Ministry of Magic

I looked up from the letter into the three grinning faces of the Prunleys.

"So," Uncle John sneered. "You didn't tell us you weren't allowed to use magic. Slipped your mind, I imagine? Well, guess what? You're never going back to that freak school! And if you try to magic yourself out, they'll expel you for using more magic!"

Laughing manically, he grabbed me by my arm and dragged me back to my room.

I walked into the house, supporting April on my shoulders. Once I made it to the stairs, I dumped her on the ground.

"April?" Aunt Samantha called out. "Is that you, angel?"

She and Uncle John walked into the foyer and gasped when they saw April, sprawled on the ground, and me, holding my wand.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?" Uncle John roared.

"I didn't do anything to her!" I yelled back at him. "I saved her from the dementors!"

"What in the ruddy hell are you talking about?"

"She did something to me," April choked out.

"What is it, sweetie?" Aunt Samantha asked, kneeling by her only daughter. "What did she do to you?"

"All cold…everything went dark…and I felt like—like—"

"—like you'd never be happy again," I said, finishing her sentence. She nodded.

"So, you put some crackpot spell on my daughter, did you?" Uncle John shouted in my face.

"I told you, I didn't do anything to her! I saved her! The dementor was going to suck her soul!"

"What is wrong with you, girl? Pay attention when I'm speaking to you!"

I shook my head from side to side and looked at Uncle John. He was staring at me like I was crazy.

"Sorry," I mumbled. Uncle John slammed the door and I collapsed on my bed in tears. How was I ever going to get back to Hogwarts?

***

Uncle John was true to his word. The next morning, he put bars on my window so I couldn't make an escape from there. Then, he installed a cat-flap on my door so they could give me food without opening the door. In other words, I was trapped.

I couldn't try to let myself out my magic or I would be expelled. I couldn't use Venus to tell someone I was stuck because she was locked in her cage. What would happen September first when I was still here? Could Professor Dumbledore make them let me come back?

Three days later, I was lying on my bed in a white tank top and jeans when the cat flap rattled. I looked over and saw a bowl of soup. I ran over to it and finished it down in three gulps. It was cold, but I didn't care. It was food. I then tipped the vegetables into Venus's cage. She turned her back to them.

"You have to eat them," I told her. "It's all we have."

I went over and curled into a ball on my bed. I fell asleep, dreaming.

In my dream, I was in a cage at the zoo labeled "Underage Witch." People in the crowd were gawking at me and banged on the bars as I lay on the ground, weak and starving. Dobby was in the crowd, looking at me with sad eyes and saying, "Alice Brandon is safe!"

The bars were rattling, and it was irritating me. "Stop," I moaned. "Leave me alone."

I opened my eyes. The moon was shining, but someone was rattling the bars on my window. I looked over and saw Jasper Hale at my window.

"Jasper?" I gasped, looking at him with wide eyes. "How did you—what are you—"

My eyes doubled in size when I saw he was sitting in the back of a car that was floating in midair. In the front seat, grinning at me, were Fred and George Weasley.

"Nice outfit," Fred said, looking me up and down. George whistled at me. I looked down and saw my shirt had shifted while I slept. It had ridden up so my stomach was exposed, but also shifted down, so my lacy pink bra was visible.

"Yeah, you should wear that to the next Quidditch match," Jasper said, grinning at me. "We'd win for sure."

"Shut up, you pervs," I said, fixing my shirt and grabbing a blue sweater off my bed. "What are you guys doing here anyways?"

"Well, Rosalie was worried because you weren't answering any of her letters. Then, Dad came home last night, saying you'd gotten a warning for doing magic in front of the Muggles. You know we're not allowed to do magic outside of—"

"It wasn't me! Anyways, how did he know?" I asked George.

"He works for the Ministry. Anyways, why did you enchant something in front of them?"

"It wasn't me, but it'll take too long to explain. Can you tell them at Hogwarts I can't come because the Muggles won't let me leave?"

"What do you think we're here for? We're busting you out!"

"But you can't do magic either!" I said.

"We don't need to," Fred said. "Did you forget who you're talking to?"

Jasper tied some rope to the bars, then motioned for me to stand back. I shrank against the wall next to Venus as the three boys revved the engine of the car. With a loud crash, the bars came off the window and were dangling from the car, three feet above the ground. I ran to the door and pressed my ear against it, but I didn't hear anything.

"Okay, Alice. Grab your stuff and let's get out of here," Jasper said to me once he pulled the bars into the car.

"I can't. It's locked in the cabinet under the stairs. I can't get out of the room to go get it, either."

"Not a problem," Fred said, climbing out of the car with George. He had a bobby pin in his hands. He shoved it into the door and started moving it around. "Most wizards think this is a waste of time, but I find it useful." With a click, the door opened. "We'll be right back."

I ran around the room, tossing anything of mine to Jasper. He laughed as I rushed around like a mad woman.

"Shut up," I hissed at him. He just laughed some more.

A moment later, Fred and George reappeared in my room with my trunk. They heaved it into the backseat of the car, then climbed in.

"C'mon, Alice, let's go," George said as I climbed onto the windowsill. I was about to climb into the car when Venus shrieked. Crap! I had left her in the room!

"THAT RUDDY OWL!" Uncle John thundered. I heard him hop out of bed and walk down the hall. I quickly grabbed Venus and passed her to Jasper as Uncle John burst into the room. He stared at me for a minute before shouting, "SAMANTHA! SHE'S GETTING AWAY!"

I jumped from the windowsill to the car, but Uncle John grabbed my leg. Luckily, they were covered by my jeans so there was no skin contact. Jasper and Fred grabbed my arms and pulled me into the car while Uncle John tried to pull me back into the house. With a final pull, I was in the car as Uncle John toppled into the garden.

As we sped away into the night, I leaned out the back and shouted, "See you next summer!" to a cursing Uncle John.