Author's notes
This is the long-awaited final connector to my fic "Enslaved", starring Severus' daughter Amy. It's a one-shot, and almost certainly the last thing I'll write in this universe.
The usual disclaimer applies.
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Dear Diary,
Dad's gone again. Six weeks, right in the middle of the summer holidays, and neither he nor Mum will tell me where. Just like last year, and every year before that. At least he never misses my birthday.
Mum looked really unhappy when he left, and Dad looked… well, he didn't really have any kind of expression on his face.
I wish they'd tell me what was going on.
Amy.
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Dear Diary,
I peeked into the kitchen today and saw Dad talking to someone in the fireplace. He was kneeling, and I know it's usual to kneel because the heads appear really low down, but there was just something about how he did it… and he called the man "Master".
I read a book where the main character was called "Master Frederick", but it was set, like, a hundred years ago. I didn't think anyone still used the word.
Amy.
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Dear Diary,
My eyes hurt from crying, and my head hurts so much.
I can't believe it.
My dad used to be a Death Eater.
And now he's a slave.
They told me he was a spy for the Light. At the final battle, he told You-Know-Who that he was finally free… and that bastard cursed him.
An enslavement curse.
Merlin.
I don't think I can bear to write the rest of this down right now.
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Dear Diary,
My dad's enslaved to Harry Potter. The saviour of the bloody universe.
You-Know-Who must be laughing in his grave. He sure got his revenge.
That's where Dad goes every year. To Potter's house. He says the slavery bond requires it. Requires him to serve Potter.
Slavery isn't even bloody legal. But thanks to that Fing curse, Dad still isn't free. Apparently he signed something that gives Potter and his wife control over him, all to satisfy the bond.
Dad couldn't even bloody sign his own wedding certificate.
I'm going to kill Potter.
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Dear Diary,
Mum says I shouldn't blame Potter. That it's not his fault.
Yeah well, it's not his Dad who's enslaved. So I'll keep blaming him as long as I want to.
Amy.
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Dear Diary,
I met Harry Potter today.
I think I lost it a bit when I saw Dad kneel in front of him. I yelled at Potter. He was just standing there, letting my dad debase himself, the bastard.
I'm grounded.
Amy.
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Dear Diary,
If I ever meet any of Potter's children I'm gonna punch them right in their noses.
I overheard Mum talking with Mrs Potter. Those brutes made Dad kneel.
Well, why not? They've seen their bloody father do it loads of times!
I've decided I like Mrs Potter though. She punished them by making them spend two days acting like a slave, serving Dad. Good for her. Though she should have made a fortnight.
If those kids try it again, I'll make them pay.
Amy.
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Dear Diary,
Okay, so maybe Potter doesn't really like enslaving Dad.
Doesn't mean I like him, though.
Amy.
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Dear Diary,
I'm at Draco's house. I wish his baby would stop crying. Everyone thinks I should be "Aunty Amy" and so mature. I don't want to be.
Dad's at the Potters' again.
I hope he's okay.
Amy.
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Dear Diary,
The time's nearly come. It's nearly thirty years since my dad was enslaved.
In two days time, he'll be a free man.
I keep pinching myself to see if I'm really awake.
Amy.
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Dear Diary,
He's free.
My dad is free.
The spell worked. Potter's his liege lord now, not his master. He doesn't have to kneel, or submit to punishments, or anything.
For the first time in my life, he's going to be here all summer. We're going to spend the time together, as a family. Even Draco's taken time off from work to be here.
I've just recently had my seventeenth birthday, and this is the first time I've ever been able to spend a summer with my dad. I just want to be with him, to not let him out of my sight.
I don't know why I'm wasting time writing in this journal.