Chapter 4
Alli thought she must be in a dream, that she somehow fell asleep on the Knight Bus and that none of this was real. But she was snapped out of this thinking when Fred bumped into her as he came through the door.
"You must be Fred." Allen reached out to shake Fred's hand. "Hi I'm Allen, Diane's…"
"Friend" Alli interrupted him. Allen just smiled at her, only to receive a scowl in return.
Fred didn't seem to notice the hatred towards the man that was radiating off of Alli, either that or he just chose to ignore it.
"Nice to meet you, sir" Fred said as he shook Allen's hand.
"Where's my mother?" Alli asked in a demanding fashion. Even then Allen did not retaliate, instead he sighed and said, "She is in the backyard." Then he stepped aside and allowed Alli to rush past him, dragging Fred with her, by the hand.
Outside, All found Diane sitting on the porch steps, talking with Mrs. Granger; while Hermione sat on a blanket in the grass, devouring a book. Diane turned with a smile as the couple stepped onto the wooden porch; but seeing the hard-hearted expression on the girl's face, turned that smile instantly to a frown.
Diane walked over to Alli; Hermione looked up and rose to wait for her turn to greet her friend/sister. But she didn't get a chance because Alli decided to confront Diane right away, before she could even give her a hug.
"What is he doing here?" The tone of Alli's voice caused Diane to take a step back while Mrs. Granger, Hermione, and Fred stood frozen.
"Um, honey, I think we'd best discuss this later." Diane started to say hello to Fred but Alli interjected.
"No, I want to know now. What is he doing in our house?"
Diane couldn't maintain her calm disposition but, before she would reprimand her daughter, Diane figured she should try to make the situation more private.
"Fred, it was nice to see you again, but I think it's time you went home."
Fred nodded in agreement and was turning to go back in the house when Alli grabbed his wrist.
"No, I want him here"
Alli's eyes grew more intense with anger. She could feel it bubbling inside her, and she knew it was only a matter of time before something dangerous happened. However, there was a faint voice in Alli's head telling her to control herself; Hermione hadn't received her letter yet, so they knew nothing about magic, and Alli couldn't afford to expose it. Alli closed her eyes and tried to take some deep breaths to calm herself a bit. Diane knew what Alli was trying to do and knew she had to get Alli inside before all hell broke loose. With a simple hand gesture, Diane ushered Fred and Alli into the house; before she entered, she turned to the Gangers and apologized for the behavior of her daughter.
Allen was in the living room, Alli told Fred to join him since she knew he would feel awkward if he stayed in the kitchen with her and Diane. As soon as he mother entered, Alli 's rage began to boil again; but she just stood there staring at Diane, waiting for an explanation.
"Don't look at me like I just ran over Saharia with my car." Diane said attempting to loosen Alli up. But, instead her comment seemed to have been taken the wrong way by Alli's irrational thinking.
"You did what?" Alli yelled. Diane just shook her head, realizing that she couldn't even make a simple joke at this point.
"Now what is that man doing here?" Alli inquired again.
Diane was offended by her daughter's attitude and couldn't let her continue to talk to her in such a manner.
"Excuse me young lady, but I am the adult here and I can do as I please and I don't need to ask for your permission."
"I never assumed you would ask for it but him, mom! Why him?"
Diane, even though also furious at this point, was still thinking somewhat clearly.
"Before we go any further, I think you should say goodbye to Fred."
"Fine," Alli grumbled and left Diane in the kitchen.
When Alli entered the living room, Fred stood up and, noticing she was distraught, went over to comfort her. Alli noticed Allen watching them and wanted to make him feel as uncomfortable as possible. She ran her fingers through his soft red hair, down the back of his head, till they rested on his neck. Alli gazed into his eyes and smiled at him softly. She drew him in and caressed his lips with hers. She pulled him into her until there wasn't even an inch of space between their bodies. Alli wrapped her arms around Fred's neck and could feel his arms encircling her waist. It was the most passionate kiss the couple had shared; it wasn't anything like the simple pecks they had have to say hello or goodbye to each other. Alli was slightly surprised when she felt Fred's tongue slipping through her lips and playing with her tongue.
It was with this that Allen could not ignore them any longer, but instead of yelling at them, he left the room. But he sent Diane in to do the parenting.
"Fred, I think it's time for you to go home," Diane exclaimed; she was trying to speak gently to Fred but it was obvious she was suppressing her annoyance.
Fred quickly pulled away from Alli and said a quick goodbye to Diane. Then he pulled a small pouch out of his pocket, that contained a handful of floo powder, and disappeared in an engulfment of green flames. Alli stared at the fireplace as he left, but when she turned to continue her conversation with her mother, she found that Diane was no longer standing behind her. Diane had returned to the kitchen where Allen was waiting for her. Reluctantly, Alli joined them because she knew that she would have to talk to them as some point anyway.
Diane was sitting in a chair with her arms folded across her chest with a critical expression published on her face. Allen was standing behind her, fidgeting awkwardly and trying to avoid making eye contact with Alli. Alli regretted the passionate kiss with Fred but didn't want to let her mother see this, because that would just give Diane more power in the fight; so Alli put on her best sour face and acted a confident as she could. Her façade didn't work.
"I am very disappointed in you young lady. Today you have displayed sides of you that, frankly, I am not pleased that you posses. For now we will but your demonstration with Fred aside. And before we discuss your behavior I think you owe Allen an apology for your rudeness."
Alli did not let a single word or sound pass through her lips; she merely copied Diane's stance and pasted her eyes to her shoes. Diane looked intently at her daughter for a few seconds hoping Alli would resign her stubbornness. Being met with silence, Diane had to show Alli that Diane would not be the one to wave the white flag.
"Alright then, Alli, you are to go to your room right now. I will be up soon to see if you are ready to talk then. "
Alli didn't move and Diane's patience was all used up.
"Alli go to your room now!" Diane yelled as she stood from her seat. Alli was shocked and terrified; Diane had never expressed that much anger, so Alli knew she had crossed a line. Defeated, Alli shamble to her room and plopped onto her bed. She didn't know what had come over her; seeing Allen was such a shock to her but had she really been holding a grudge against him since she was four years old. Alli tried to remember the two years that Allen acted as her father. Unfortunately she was too young and it had been months since she submerged into those memories in Dumbledore's Pensieve. She decided she would look for her own Pensieve at some point.
Alli found the stuffed animal of a lion, that she has had since she was a baby, tucked between the pillows on her bed. She curled up with it and eventually fell asleep. She dreamed a peaceful dream but couldn't tell whether its contents were a vision, a fantasy, or a memory; all Alli knew was that it felt very real. She was in a room that was gray and gloomy, and she was playing, just running around having fun; but the whole time she knew someone was watching, but not in a stalking, in a loving way. Alli felt serene but before she could learn anything else, she was shaken awake.
"Come on, time to wake up" Diane was standing over her, her eyes had softened a bit.
"How long have I been asleep?" Alli said as she sat up. As she did this, the stuffed animal tumbled onto her lap and Diane took it into her hands.
"Only about twenty minutes." Diane observed the lion in silence while Alli wondered what she was thinking.
Diane took a deep breath, "I remember when you wouldn't even get in your bed without this toy in your arms. One time it fell between the mattress and headboard and I couldn't find it, I thought I would never get you to stop crying. At first I didn't understand your need for it, but then one day you told me that it scared the monsters away for you, so that the monsters in your dreams didn't become real and hurt you when you're awake. You were five when you told me that, and it broke my heart because I couldn't protect you from the thing you most needed it from. Do you remember the day Allen left us?" Diane had been looking at the animal this whole time but raised her gaze to Alli when she posed her question. Alli had been watching and listening to Diane, frozen and not knowing what to do or make of Diane's reflections.
"Not really, I just know what you told me later; that you two had a disagreement and he left."
"Yeah, it had been a difficult couple of days for you. Allen had been talking to Dumbledore about sending you to Hogwarts early and you overheard him and me talking about it. You thought we wanted to send you to Azkaban and it scared you, so you ran away to try and avoid it. Professor Dumbledore and Mcgonnagal found you asleep in the park; when they got you home you had a temperature of 104 and Madame Pomfrey's potion only brought it down to 101 so you were still pretty sick. Allen wasn't prepared for how powerful you were and he wanted to give Dumbledore custody of you, but I didn't think that would help you; you needed security and not feel like everyone was just going to pass to you off to someone else if things got too tough. You didn't choose your life and I told Allen he had a choice, either help me or leave; so he left."
Alli could see tears building up in Diane's eyes but she dared not move to comfort her. She knew there was a point to Diane's story.
"The next day you asked me where he was and I explained it to you the best I could, I didn't want you to think it was your fault. But I guess I didn't do a good job; because you said that you weren't meant to have a dad because Allen was the third one you lost." The tear on the edge of her lower eye lid finally fell and she looked back down at the lion.
"If it had been Rudolphus that I'd surprised you with, would you have acted the same way you did with Allen?"
Those were memories she had spent many hours reliving in the Pensieve; the years she was with her mother and Rudolphus, particularly the night they were arrested.
"No, I don't think I would have." Alli said bowing her head.
"And if it was your biological father?" Diane never referred to Voldemort in any other way than that.
"That I don't know, I have conflicting feelings towards him."
"Understandable, but you know Rudolphus is a Death Eater and did horrible things, so why would you greet him lovingly and Allen like the monster?"
"Allen was the only one who left by his own free will, Rudolphus and my father were taken forcefully from me. When things got too tough for Allen he ran whereas, even while he was being arrested, Rudolphus tried to protect me and reassure me that everything would be ok."
"How could you remember that?"
Alli brought out her collection of memories. Diane didn't seem shocked but was slightly upset by the fact that Alli had taken them form Dumbledore without his permission.
"What is going on with you lately? You are not the same girl I put on that train in September."
"I know, mum, but I don't know what caused it. Professor Dumbledore believes it has something to do with my father's influence on me, now that I have entered Hogwarts. I've been having really weird mood swings and I do find that I'm angered a lot easier lately."
Diane listened while Alli spilled everything she had been hiding from her mother. She started with the surprise sorting, her encounter with Adrian, all the way to her dream at the Weasleys and the letter from Uncle Severus. They talked for hours and by the end, Alli felt better. She no longer felt angry, confused, sad, or betrayed.
"Is Allen coming back soon so I could apologize?" Alli asked, she was starting to feel guilty for how she spoke to him. Even though she couldn't fully remember the years with Allen, she knew that she didn't make things easy for any of her parents and that he did treat her well up to the moment he left.
"He's coming back tomorrow. I told him it would be best to give us a night."
"I'm sorry for how I acted, mum."
"I figured you would be, you always are. But I still think two weeks grounded is in order. And I'll be sending Professor Dumbledore a letter tonight, informing him that you are home."
Alli opened her mouth to protest her punishment but Diane's expression caused her to accept it without complaint. Mother and daughter spent the rest of the night quietly, ordering Chinese food and watching Alli's favorite movie, the Wizard of Oz.