These characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Thirteen: Inside

It had been thunder storming all day. Thunder had woken Amelia up that morning, rain had kept her company during lunch, and now, when she was trying to go to sleep, lightning flashed violently. Richard was hiding under her bed fearfully. She hated the wind that rattled and the thunder that shook.

This particularly nasty storm bit viciously at the beautiful summer weather they had been having so far. It was unwelcome by Amelia and despised.

Another reason for her not enjoying the storm was that it kept her in the house. She had barely spoken to her father since he slapped her, or rather, he had barely spoken to her. No one in the family had spoken of it. They did what they did best, ignored it and moved on.

The house felt like a cage, keeping her in with demons that she was not ready to confront. She wasn't sure she would ever be able to confront these demons, but this was certainly not the time. Not when she still depended so heavily on them.

Just when the storm was dying down, at the peak of the evening, she heard a gentle peck at her window. She looked over and saw a tall tawny owl holding a letter in its beak.

Amelia looked at it curiously for a minute. She then jumped up and opened the window, petting the soft feathers beneath its face. He hooted at her as she took the letter and examined it.

Amelia Malfoy

Malfoy Manor

Hertfordshire, England

She opened the envelope, expecting some sort of letter from the school. Instead, it was a letter written in a very familiar hand writing.

Dear Amelia,

You told me to write you so I did. Sorry it's taken so long, Gran has kept me busy around the house. Besides the gnomes that hide in the garden that need to be driven out, there arealsoCornishpixieseverywhere, which isn't thatunusualfor this time in the summer.

I hope your summer is going well. Mine is. Trevor got lost again last week but I found him this morning in the bushes. I'm not sure where he goes off to when he runs away but he always ends up back where he started.

I miss you. It's not nearly as fun to do work in the garden without you. I've told Gran as much and she says you should come to visit so I'll actually do my chores.

Anyway, tell me about your summer. I know were nervous about your father being in a bad mood. I hope he wasn't for your sake.

If you want to write me, which you absolutely don't have to do if you're too busy, you can reach me here:

27 Mallory Place

Brighton, England

Ihopethis reaches you well and that you are happy.

Neville

Amelia beamed. This made her feel loads better. Confidence surged through her. Momentarily, she felt as though she could face her father. That feeling dried up when she heard him yelling at someone downstairs.

She quickly wrote Neville back, explaining everything that had happened to her down to the last detail. It felt good to tell someone, someone she knew would be concerned. Still, she assured him not to worry and that nothing else was wrong. She also urged him to enjoy his summer with his gran since it didn't look like they'd be able to meet up at all.

Her writing came to an abrupt halt when she heard her father cry out in anger. She flinched out of habit and listened to his bitter words.

"I can't believe it, Narcissa. A whole fleet of dementors guarding him and he escapes? That run has always been too cocky for his own good. And now it's gotten him out of Azkaban. I swear, if he wasn't your cousin, I would hunt him down and kill him myself."

"Go right ahead, Lucius. Sirius lost the name of Black when he became a blood traitor all those years ago. It's no one's fault but his own. He deserved the treatment he's got. When they catch him, they're sure to give him the Kiss. Then we'll be rid of him."

Amelia was not sure who they were talking about. She knew very little about her parents' families. They were not very open people. The most she knew was that her mother had one sister, Bellatrix, who had been thrown into Azkaban after the Dark Lord fell. She also knew that her father was an only child whose parents had died when he was in his sixth year at Hogwarts.

Amelia went to find her brother and was not surprised to find him in his bedroom. He was on his bed, propped up against the wall. He was reading but he had to keep pushing his hair out of the way; it had gotten unruly.

"Draco."

He looked up at her with his stormy grey eyes. "Can I help you, Amelia?"

"Who are they talking about?"

"Sirius Black." Draco replied, "Mother's cousin. He escaped from Azkaban."

"Why was he in Azkaban?"

"Besides being suspected as a Death Eater? He killed thirteen people and one of his best friends. He ran away from home and was disowned by the family. Good thing too. We don't need the association."

Amelia nodded and quietly looked at the ground. Draco had returned to his reading.

"Is he dangerous?"

"Yes, Amelia."

"What should I do if he attacks me?"

Draco sighed and set down his book. "He won't come after you, Amelia. It's Mudbloods he's after. You're going to be completely fine."

She nodded again and left his room. Knowing that he was strictly after Muggleborns did nothing to ease her anxieties. She still wrote about Sirius Black to Neville and went to bed fearing the world.

In the next few days, Amelia hardly talked to anyone. The other members of her family didn't seem to notice her change in attitude, probably because they hardly ever talked to her anyway.

She was too busy thinking about Sirius Black and the danger he brought to the world. She was terrified of even stepping for fear of being attacked.

Neville wrote back to her quickly and assured her not to worry about Black. He also seemed overly concerned for her well-being in regards to her father. He told her that fathers weren't supposed to hit their children.

Amelia knew better than to believe that her father was in any way abusive to her. He just got angry sometimes. And when he got angry, he occasionally lashed out. That wasn't abuse, was it?

She chose to ignore this line of thinking and delve into more concerning topics such as the dangers the Sirius Black brought with him. She had heard her parents talking with their friends about the possibility of forming a search party to hunt him down. This assured her. If anyone could take care of this problem, it was her parents.

It was a constant internal struggle, debating between her parents, her friend, and Sirius Black. The only person she could talk to constantly was Richard and he could offer no advice back. Sure, he reassured her with his softness and gentleness, but that was all.