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Freddie spent the next couple of weeks doing her best to avoid her aunt and uncle, talking to them as little as possible. She spent most of her time in her room, reading, or holed up in a corner of the kitchen working on an antidote for the Invisibility Potion. She went to Diagon Alley at least twice a week for potions ingredients, sometimes venturing into Knockturn Alley for rarer ingredients...and hoping she would run into Snape somewhere. She didn't.
One afternoon she had just returned from Diagon Alley with a bag of ingredients from the Apothecary. She was headed for the kitchen when her uncle called out to her from the parlor. Cursing inwardly she turned and walked into the parlor. Cecil and Millicent stood in the parlor, dressed to the nines.
"Yes uncle?" Freddie asked. They were clearly waiting on her.
"Put that stuff away. We're going out."
"It's not 'stuff' it's boomslang skin and demiguise fur," she said, slightly annoyed.
"Whatever. Put it away. We're going out."
"Out where? Why do I have to go?"
"We are going to Azkaban to visit your parents. Now that you are of age, you will be allowed inside the prison. I've already made the arrangements."
Freddie's blood ran cold.
"Wh- I don't want to go," she said.
"Nonsense," he said airily. "They're your parents. You can tell them all about how you killed that Mudblood boy this year. They'll be proud."
"I don't want to go to Azkaban."
"It will do you good. You're going. End of story."
Freddie hesitated, weighing her options. She didn't have time to figure out what to do – her uncle strode across the room and grabbed her arm, hard.
"We're going," he said forcefully and Freddie felt herself being compressed as she was forced to Apparate.
When her feet hit the ground again Freddie found herself on a rocky island, surrounded by a raging, unforgiving sea. The island was dominated by a large, towering fortress.
Freddie felt cold, even though it was the dead of summer. Cecil released her arm and she pulled her cloak tighter around herself, the cloak Snape had given her. Millicent Apparated beside them a split second later.
"Let's go," Cecil said shortly.
Not knowing what else to do, Freddie followed them towards the entrance.
She could hear screaming long before they reached the doors, overlapping voices she couldn't make out. As they got closer several dark, hooded figures appeared. As they floated towards her, Freddie felt even colder, until she felt like she was frozen to the spot. She pulled out her wand, but she couldn't move. She felt panic, despair. She knew what these were, dementors, she'd read about them but she'd never expected it would feel so...horrible.
She gasped as the screams grew louder. Her uncle said something but she couldn't hear him over the screams. Then she heard Daniel and she realized the voices were inside her head as well as out.
'Run!' said Daniel's voice in her head, sounding frantic. 'Freddie, run! It's going to kill you, run!'
It took everything she had in her just to move her feet, just to turn around and run. She ran, feeling nothing but terror and misery. She could hardly think straight. When she reached the edge of the cliff she thought about throwing herself over into the raging sea.
No. No that's not right. Severus. I need to get to Severus.
She closed her eyes and Disapparated.
#
She appeared outside the gates to Hogwarts and collapsed into the grass. The sun was shining but she still felt cold, all the way down to her bones. She struggled to get to her feet, stumbled to the gate only to find it locked. Her legs gave out and she slumped before the gates.
Severus, I need to get to Severus. How? I haven't got an owl or anything.
She pulled out her wand and tried to Summon a broom, but she was too weak.
Crap. What's wrong with me, why can't I-
"Miss Gray, are you alright?"
Freddie raised her head to see Dumbledore walking up the path from Hogsmeade.
She shook her head 'no' and he hurried over to her. He knelt beside her and put a hand on her forehead.
"Are you ill? You feel cold."
"N-no. Dementors," she managed to say.
Dumbledore stood quickly and pulled out his wand.
"Expecto Patronum," he said and a silvery substance erupted from the tip of his wand and took the form of a phoenix.
Freddie felt slightly better at the appearance of the bird. She stopped shivering.
"Bring Severus to the gate, please," the Headmaster said to the silvery phoenix. The bird bowed its head gracefully then flew off towards the castle, leaving Freddie with a hollow feeling inside. She could still hear Daniel's voice, screaming in her head.
Was that a memory or just an affect of the dementors?
"Here. Eat this," Dumbledore said, pulling a chocolate bar from his pocket and handing it to her.
"Chocolate?"
"Eat it. It will help."
Freddie held the chocolate bar in her hands then began to unwrap it slowly. She stopped when she saw Snape's dark figure coming across the grounds. When he got close enough to recognize her, he began to walk faster. Dumbledore waved his wand, opening the gates as he approached.
"Winifred! What happened?" he demanded, kneeling beside her. "Were you attacked?"
"Dementors," she said hollowly.
"Dementors? I don't understand," Snape said, looking up at Dumbledore.
"C-cecil and Millicent. Took me to Azkaban to visit my... I didn't want to," she said, showing him the bruise on her arm where Cecil had grabbed her. Snape's eyes darkened and he stood up, then helped Freddie to her feet, brushing the dirt from her back.
"I can't go back there," she said, shaking her head. "I can't stay with them. I can't go back to Azkaban, I can't, the screaming."
She began to shiver again.
"Eat that," Snape and Dumbledore said simultaneously.
Freddie finished unwrapped the chocolate with trembling hands as Snape and Dumbledore exchanged a look. She took a bite and almost immediately she began to feel better. The coldness went away and the misery she felt began to lessen.
"Albus, she cannot go back there," Snape said quietly to Dumbledore.
"If I was finished with school I could get a job, get an apartment but I- I don't know what to do."
"Eat your chocolate," Snape said firmly, then looked to Dumbledore. "Can she stay at the castle until term resumes?"
"I'm afraid not, Severus. There are rules about that, as I'm sure you remember," he said. Snape's face hardened.
"You can't expect her to go back there," he hissed.
"They way I see it, Miss Gray has two options."
"Oh?" Snape said, arching his eyebrow.
"Either she can return home to her aunt and uncle," Dumbledore said calmly. "Or...she can stay the rest of the summer with you."
"What?" Snape snapped.
"Miss Gray needs a place to stay. You are here most of the time anyway. I do not see the problem," Dumbledore said innocently, his blue eyes twinkling.
"I do," Snape retorted. "She's a student, she..."
'The two of you have gotten along well in the last year. Nothing has occurred to change that, I trust?"
Snape glanced at Freddie who was finishing off the chocolate, feeling intrigued.
"No, but..." Snape let out a frustrated sigh. "Fine. Fine, I guess."
"Does that suit you, Miss Gray?" Dumbledore asked her.
Suits me just fine, she thought.
"I guess," she said. "Yes sir."
"Good," Dumbledore said brightly. "That settles it."
"Wait," Snape said. "I need time to...clean up."
Freddie quirked her eyebrow at him but Dumbledore nodded.
"She can remain here while you arrange things," the headmaster said.
Snape nodded curtly then vanished on the spot, leaving Freddie alone with Dumbledore.
"Now," Dumbledore said. "Are you feeling better?"
"Yes sir."
"Good. I'll be in my office if you need anything," he said, then headed up the path towards the castle.
Freddie watched him go, still reeling from everything that had happened. The cold had worn off with the chocolate, but she couldn't quite shake the terrified feeling, the sound of Daniel's voice telling her to run.
She'd thought about telling Dumbledore but she wasn't sure. She wasn't sure if it was real, if it was a memory, or a by-product of her imagination coupled with the dementors.
I'll ask Severus, she decided. When we're alone. He's told me to trust him and I do. I'll ask him when we're alone.
She smiled slightly. Alone with Snape. She was going to stay with him. He hadn't seemed too thrilled with the idea, but she certainly was. She was finally going to get to see where he lived, what kind of house he lived in.
She walked the Hogwarts ground aimlessly, or so she thought. It wasn't long before she found herself on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. The spot where she'd last seen Daniel. She stood at the edge of the forest, peering into the trees.
'Run! Freddie, run! It's going to kill you, run!'
A chill went through her and she stepped back from the trees.
"It," she whispered. "What is 'it'? Or was 'it'. Was there something out here? Were we attacked? What was it...and is it still here?"
She reached for her wand, suddenly feeling not safe.
I shouldn't be here, she thought, backing farther away. I promised Severus I would stay out of the forest.
She turned and walked away from the forest. She headed for the lake. She kept her hand on her wand, glancing over her shoulder periodically, unable to shake the feeling that someone – or something – was watching her.
She tried to shake the feeling as she approached the lake.
A side effect of the dementors, she told herself. It has to be. We've gone over the forest with a fine tooth comb. There's nothing there. Dumbledore would know. Dumbledore knows everything.
She smiled slightly, thinking back to her kiss with Snape.
Well, maybe he doesn't know everything. If he did, he certainly wouldn't have suggested me staying with Severus for the rest of the summer.
Freddie sat down at the edge of the lake. She blew out a sigh and ran a hand through her hair. Her things were still at Gray Manor, all of her stuff.
How am I going to get my things? She wondered. I can't go back there. I can't imagine they'd be happy to see me. But my clothes, my books...Maybe Severus will go back with me.
She smiled slightly as she imagined taking Snape back to Gray Manor with her, imagined him cursing her uncle to bits if he tried to hurt her again.
Author's Note: I expected more reviews after chapter 58! So here's 2 more i hope yall think are worth reviewing. As Snape would say - Do not disappoint me! lol