Chapter 5

By the end of the movie, Alli was asleep at the end of the couch. Diane covered her with a blanket and went to her room to write several letters. She went in to Alli's room to retrieve Balgeria; as part of Alli's punishment she was not able to send letters, it acted the same as taking away her phone privileges. Her first letter was to be sent to Dumbledore, she hoped he would be able to meet them within the next few days. She sent the owl on its way then wrote a letter to Fred, she knew he would write Alli soon and she didn't want to mess up Alli's first boyfriend by having him think Alli was ignoring him. She would send this letter back when Fred's letter arrived.

When she finished the letter it was about 10:30 at night. Diane felt her energy had been completely drained that day, thankfully she had asked the Grangers, who she now worked as a secretary for at the dental office, for the day off since it was Alli's first full day home. She dressed for bed, sat at her desk, and dialed Allen's number.

"Hello darling"

"Hello Diane, how'd everything go with Alli?"

"Quite well I think, we talked about her treatment of you and her reason for it."

"What was it?"

"Oh Allen that's not important" Diane didn't want to tell Allen that Alli believed his leaving was worse than a Death Eater's or the Dark Lord's.

"Anyway I grounded her and she is prepared to apologize to you tomorrow"

"That's not necessary, I know she could have done a lot worse to me than act rudely. With the surprise of me being back, I understand being given the cold shoulder. But I'm not saying her actions were appropriate."

"Of course but I still insist she apologize. If not for her rudeness than at least for that episode with Fred."

"Yes, well kids will be kids," Allen coughed and Diane thought he sounded a bit nervous.

"Allen are you afraid that something might happen if she feels I'm forcing her to make an apology?"

"Can you blame me," he laughed, "I've seen the damage she could cause and that was just when she was 3 an 4 years old. I assume she has become more powerful since then."

"She has, but she also has better control over it. You don't have to be afraid of her anymore."

"I guess" Allen didn't sound confident but Diane was sure he would see Alli has changed, eventually.

The two adults continued to talk for the next few hours. They were in the middle of planning for a the next day's special meal, when Diane started to hear a strange hissing sound reverberating through the house.

"Um Allen can you hold on a second, I have to go check on Saharia."

Diane rested the receiver on a pillow, slipped into her robe, and started towards Alli's bedroom, where the snake stayed. As she neared the door, Diane recognized the long, round form of the pet outlined on the bottom of the door. When Diane got closer she realized that sound wasn't coming from Saharia. The snake's sun fiery eyes peered at Diane for a moment before slithering down the stairs. Saharia was nowhere near full grown, and as she glided over the steps there was a second where her head was on the landing while her tail was still at the top of the stairway, 20 steps up; her head was a little longer than Diane's hand and her body about as wide as a car tire.

Diane followed the serpent into the living room and she could hear the sound growing louder. She turned on the nearest lamp to send a dim glow through the rest of the area. Saharia had her head rest on the arm of the couch next to Alli's. Diane saw that Alli's eyes were opened but it wasn't until she sat at the girls feet that she noticed the oddity of them. She hadn't seen them in this form for some years now; they were snake eyes, silver snake eyes. It was Alli who was hissing, she was staring at the ceiling, unblinking. Saharia also remained motionless as she listened to the words Diane couldn't understand. Alli continued to talk, Diane felt like an hour had gone by before the girl's eyes closed ,she pulled the blanket over her shoulder, and was once again asleep. Saharia appeared to have nodded her head before slithering back upstairs. Diane didn't know what to make of this phenomenon; she could only watch Alli until she remembered Allen was still waiting on the phone for her. She hurried into the kitchen and picked up the receiver.

"Allen are you still there?" She tried to sound as calm as possible.

"Of course, is everything alright?"

"Yeah everything is fine. But um it's getting late so I think I'm going to try and fall asleep."

"Alright" Allen didn't sound convinced that she was alright but he moved on. "Sweet dreams, love you."

"Love you too, see you tomorrow." Diane hung up and went back to the couch. She grabbed a blanket and fell asleep on the reclining chair that was across from Alli; she wanted to be near if something else strange occurred.

Alli woke the next morning with her thoughts seeming foggy. When she saw Diane asleep on the chair she was shocked. But she decided that her mother must have also fallen asleep during the movie, so she went to the kitchen to make pancakes before she woke Diane. Alli was shortly joined in the kitchen by her beloved pet.

"Do you have the portkey for me?" Saharia asked.

Alli was mixing the batter and didn't look at the serpent as she hissed, "What are you talking about, what portkey?"

"The one you told me about last night. You told me that you needed me to go to the Leaky Cauldron because someone has a message for you."

"Sorry my friend, you must have been dreaming, if there was something I needed picked up from the pub I would just send Balgeria." Alli laughed as she poured the batter into the pan.

"I know I wasn't! Diane was there too. Now you said that the portkey was delivered while you were away."

Alli checked the pancakes, she was starting to get irritated.

"Bloody hell, Saharia I'm not trying to upset you but I have no idea what you are talking about. I don't remember talking to you last night and I don't know anything about a portkey!"

Saharia slithered out of the room, Alli got the feeling her friend was not going to talk to her the rest of the day. She was just piling the last pancake onto the second plate when Diane's sleepy eyes wondered into the room.

"Smells good," she yawned.

"It better, considering I've been slaving away in this hot kitchen while you slept the morning away." Alli commented sarcastically.

"Oh poor Cinderella." Diane kissed the top of her daughter's head before taking a seat.

Just before they began to eat there was a knock at the back door; it was Hermione. Alli looked at Diane and gave her the puppy dog look; she knew she was grounded but she hadn't seen her "sister" since Christmas. Diane paused momentarily, she didn't want to falter with her punishment, but she knew it was important for Hermione to be around Alli a lot this summer. Finally she nodded yes ad Alli jumped up so fast she almost knocked over her chair.

The two girls squealed and hugged; Diane heard them chattering but it was inaudible. Hermione joined them for breakfast since her parents had already left for work.

"So Hermione, anything interesting happen since Christmas?" Alli asked as she stuffed a forkful of pancake in her mouth.

"The same pretty much but still weird things keep happening."

Alli and Hermione sat in the living room talking while Diane did the dishes. Some of the things happening to Hermione scared her; she thought she was going insane because she believed to have seen objects levitate and books appear on her desk. Alli did her best to calm her down and by the time dinner came around, it sounded as if Hermione was finally starting to believe her.

Allen was coming over for dinner so Hermione returned home. When he first arrived, Alli felt her embarrassment from the previous day returning. Diane left them alone while she finished preparing dinner. They sat on opposite ends of the couch in silence until Alli got up the nerve to fulfill her promise to her mother.

She took a deep breath and said, "Allen I'm sorry for the way I treated you and the way I acted yesterday. I … I was out of line."

Allen nodded his head as she spoke and when she was done said, " Well it was very mature of you to say that and I accept your apology. And I guess I must apologize as well for surprising you. It was not fair and we should have given you some form of warning first."

The two agreed and shook hands. They didn't have that father daughter bond back just yet but it was a step in the right direction. Dinner that night was not only civil but fun. Allen came over almost every day, except for the days he worked late. One Sunday, when Allen was off and over their house,Balgeria flew through the window with three letters for Alli. Alli retrieved her letters from the owl and noticed an owl landing next door. Alli set the Hogwarts letter aside, she knew it was just a list of supplies she need, the second letter was from Fred which she decided to save to read in her room, and the third one was from the Leaky Cauldron with a red "IMPORTANT" stamped on the front. Alli tore it opened and read Tom's sloppy writing.

"Miss Jerrings,I believe we have a pet of yours here at the Leaky Cauldron. I am not sure how it got here but it had a package in its mouth with your name on it. We will keep the snake safe here until we hear from you. If it is not your than I'm sorry for the misunderstanding."

"Bloody hell" Alli whispered to herself as she reread the letter.

"What is it Alli?" Diane asked as she took the letter and read it herself.

"Mum, did anybody drop something off for me while I was at the Burrow?"

"No, well except your uncle, but he was just returning some potion ingredients that you forgot in his office."

Alli thought for a moment but she never kept any ingredients in Uncle Snape's office; he wouldn't let her because he wanted her to be responsible and remember her supplies like every other student.

"He brought them in an old box along with an empty bottle that he said you would need. I put them next to your dresser."

Alli remembered seeing the box but not the bottle. She hadn't seen Saharia for the past three weeks, which wasn't really odd, especially because of their last conversation. Alli just assumed that the snake was hiding in the basement or hunting the backyard and would appear when she was ready. Alli grabbed the first piece of parchment she found and scribbled a response to Tom; she told him that they would be by as soon as possible to pick up the snake and that she was sorry for any inconvenience she has caused.

As Alli sent Balgeria off, she saw Hermione walking around the backyard with her letter in her hand. Alli rushed out to see what her friend was thinking.

"Hey Hermione"

"Do you think this is funny or something. I confide in you that I think I saw some things levitate and randomly appear, and you go and make a joke about it. I can't believe you!" Hermione continued to pace around the yard while Alli stood back and listened to her rant. "I knew you had a weird sense of humor but this is sick. I seriously think I am going insane and will be institutionalized soon and you send this letter talking about a school of magic. Your off at your precious school or boyfriend's house half the time and with the little time we have together, you decide to make fun of me. Some friend you are!" She turned to Alli, threw the now crumbled up letter at her feet, and stormed back into the house.