Two more years. That was it. Just two more years and she could escape her home. That's it. Only two more years. Twenty-four months. Most of them would be spent at school. There were only two weeks until the start of the new year. She'd be a sixth year. She could survive this. She could last.
But his rough palm colliding with her face told her otherwise.
She could not survive the summer. She could not last in this cold, empty home. She would not make and she could not let herself live with him anymore.
His voice was pounding in her ears, telling her she was worthless, that she was useless. He was taunting her; telling her she was nothing just like her mother. Telling her that she wasn't going anywhere in life; that she'd end up as a waste of space just like her mother did.
As each second passed, her grip tightened on her wand.
She was not allowed to do magic outside of school.
It was law. Adelia could not do it.
But there was no one home to hear her whimpers and cries of pain. Severus was out with his companions, unknowing leaving her alone with a monster. There was no one to care. She could not escape to a friend's home. All she had was Regulus and going there was not an option.
He was yelling at her now, calling her a bitch, calling her a snob, saying she thought she was better than him because of all the fancy dinners she went to at Regulus' home.
Father said 'he'd teach her a lesson' just as his fist collided with her face and then her ribs.
Adelia was sick of the pain. Sick of the torment and the hate and the rage. She was sick of being afraid and feeling weak.
She was not useless. She was not nothing. She could stand up for herself and she could not take his abuse any longer.
No longer would she close her eyes at night and see him screaming at her. No longer would she dream of being hit. No longer would she dream of him knocking her down.
"You are nothing more than a—"
His words weren't registering in her mind. All she could see was his hand coming closer to her face. Over and over every abuse levied against her played in her mind.
His voice was yelling in her ear, sounding like nothing more than gibberish as Sirius flashed through her mind, telling her she meant nothing to him. Telling her one less Snape in the world would be a good thing.
She could feel Regulus' hands all over her body. She could see the look on Sirius' face when she told him about her and Regulus.
The only thing she felt was anger. Raging, pulsating anger that consumed her and burned away all vestige of common sense. Nothing mattered except anger. Nothing at all.
Nothing mattered when his hand closed around her throat and oxygen had a hard time getting to her brain. She could feel her wand still in her pocket and she didn't even think about pulling it out and pointing it directly at his chest.
She was sick and tired of being pushed around and feeling worthless. Adelia was sick of suppressing her anger and sick of being alone.
It did not matter that she was not allowed to do magic outside of school. It did not matter that she was underage. She just wanted it all to end.
Adelia just wanted to stand up for herself for once.
Miles and miles away, Sirius Black sat with his friends in the Potters' living room. She had been weighing heavily on her mind.
It had been months since his talk with Regulus about her, but he could not stop thinking about what his brother had said.
That's why you've always bothered her. Because of her blood.
Blood.
Blood.
Blood.
It had never occurred to him. The thought had never crossed his mind. He was a twelve year old boy when he bumped into her at Diagon Alley. She was cute; that was the first thing that had crossed his mind. But seeing Snape with her had twisted her features, had turned her shiny hair greasy, had taken her perfect little nose and made it hooked.
"What do you guys think of Adelia?" he said suddenly, interrupting whatever conversation his friends had been having.
"Adelia?" Peter asked in confusion, not knowing who she was.
James understood, however. "Adelia? Snivellus' sister?"
A look of understanding crossed Peter's face.
"Yes, what do you think of her?" he asked, surely he wasn't the only one whose opinion was warped because of her blood.
His three friends all shared a knowing look before Remus began, "Well we know how you feel about her—"
Defensively, Sirius interrupted, "What's that supposed to mean?" Was he that transparent? Was his heart really thumping that loudly when she was around? Were his palms really sweating that much?
"You torment the girl, Padfoot." Prongs explained. "More than anyone else."
"That's not…" he began to protest; that was not true. Not in his mind. But he didn't want to get off track "…Well what do you guys think of her?"
"Why?" Remus asked with a raised brow, not understanding his friend's interest.
"Just…what do you guys think of her?" Sirius asked impatiently.
"She's smart." Remus put in with a shrug. "But she's let her anger get the best of her this year. Me and a few other prefects had to break up a few of her fights this year." Sirius had not heard about that.
"She's alright, for Snape's sister….and for a Slytherin." James shrugged; Sirius' behavior was troubling him.
"She's pretty." was Peter's only input. That was no help to him; Sirius was already quite aware just how pretty she was.
"What's up, Padfoot?" Remus asked, dog-earing the corner of his book to mark his place.
The truth was making his palms sweat. He hastily tried to wipe them on his pants as he stood from his seat. He could feel their gazes on him as he paced the living room. With a sigh, he stopped in front of the window and leaned his hands on the sill.
"I met her at Diagon Alley before second year. I didn't…I didn't know she was his sister at first. She was…she was very pretty. I knew that, even at twelve years old." He bit his lip unsure of how to continue.
Miles and miles away, Adelia let her anger get the best of her. She was not thinking of control, consequences, or common sense.
In the Potters' home, Sirius told his friends how he nearly killed her, how her being a Slytherin made his stomach churned, how he tormented her for years.
And then he told about his fourth year and the feeling he got when she was around. He told them of the guilt he felt and how she had lashed out against him after they had humiliated her brother.
When he finished, his friends sat in stunned silence, unsure of how to react to the secret their friend had been keeping.
At Spinner's End, Adelia unleashed her hatred on her father. She shouted the Killing Curse, sending him crashing to the ground where he lay unmoving with eyes wide open.
Aurors arrived to arrest her. Her eyes never left the corpse of her tormentor.
Miles and miles away from her, Sirius finally admitted the truth.
"I think I've been in love with her since that first day in Diagon Alley and I was bloody stupid to let her go."
Adelia was not on the train. He searched every compartment. She was nowhere to be found. She was not sitting with her brother and she was not sitting with Regulus.
Adelia was not sitting at the Slytherin table at the feast. His gaze had scanned the table numerous times and she was not there. Remus, Peter, and James looked too and they did not see her either.
As the days passed and he could not find her, he was becoming increasingly desperate. Every day—no, even every hour—that passed was another that he spent imagining her with Regulus instead of him. He could imagine his little brother's hands on her, could see him kissing her. It all reminded him that he had screwed up; he had ruined any chance they had. He wanted desperately to fix things. But as the days passed, he was running out of chances to find her.
Soon he realized that she was not exceptionally good at hiding. No one had seen her. He asked Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff students in her year but no one had seen her in class. No one knew where she was and no one had seen her.
Sirius realized she wasn't at Hogwarts. As soon as he realized that he began to panic. Instead of imagining her with Regulus, he was plagued with visions of her being beaten by her father. In his mind, he saw her in pain every day.
He thought he had only two options: ask Regulus or ask Snivellus. Neither was particularly appealing—and then Lily walked by.
Lily! Lily would know where she was. Running to catch up with the red-haired girl, Sirius put his most convincing smile on his face.
"What do you want, Black?" she asked with a sigh; she clearly did not want to waste time with him.
"I just…you're friends with Adelia, right?"
"Adelia Snape?" Lily asked in surprise. Then her eyes narrowed, "Why do you want with her? I'm not telling you anything about her if you're just going to torture—"
"No! Look, Evans— I mean Lily. Lily, I just…I need to know where she is."
She sighed, "She's not at Hogwarts."
"I noticed that. That's why I'm asking."
"Well, I don't know where she is. Severus and I don't…we haven't spoken much since what happened in fifth year and Adelia…Adelia has been angry at me since then. I don't know where she is."
He thought Evans had been surefire. He was positive she would know where the girl was. Sirius only had two options to turn to now. Neither was particularly pleasing.
As he tried to decide who to approach, Sirius realized that Severus Snape looked even more unhappy than usual. A deep frown seemed permanently fixed upon his face. Sirius noted even his own brother seemed down.
Sirius decided Regulus was the better option.
In a scene reminiscent of the year before, Sirius waited for his brother outside of his Potions class. Regulus sighed as he saw his brother waiting for him.
"What do you want?" Regulus said in annoyance.
"I need you to tell me why Adelia isn't here."
"You're a bastard." Regulus said, dropping his bag to the floor and shoving his brother.
"What the hell, Reg! Where is she?"
"You're a bloody git, you know that? You must know what happened or else you wouldn't have asked!" he yelled as he shoved Sirius again.
"Reg, I swear. What are you talking about?"
Regulus halted as he went to push his older brother again; studying Sirius' face, he realized, "You don't know, do you?"
A sinking feeling twisted Sirius' gut. "Know what?"
"If you don't know, why the hell are you asking about her?"
"Regulus, just tell me! Did something happen to her?" Sirius was hardly able to keep the panic out of his voice. His feelings were painfully obvious; he was sure of it.
"I was right." Regulus scoffed.
Sirius demanded defensively, "What? Right about what?"
"You care about her."
"I…" There was no point in lying. "Is she alright? When is she coming back? Where is she?" he asked his questions in a rush.
"I don't know if she's alright, Sirius." Regulus looked exhausted and worn down. "She's not coming back. And…" Regulus sighed again and looked away.
"Why don't you know how she is? Why isn't she coming back? Where is she, Regulus? I'm not playing games—"
"Neither am I, Sirius!" his brother shouted. "She's my best friend and believe it or not, you're not the only one who cares about her."
Illusions of Regulus and Adelia together attacked his mind again. Shaking them away, Sirius asked through gritted teeth, "Where is she?"
"Azkaban."
"Why the bloody hell is she there?"
"Murder."
"Stop lying, Regulus. It's not funny—"
"She killed her father, Sirius. If you don't believe me, go look a copy of the Daily Prophet from mid-August. She's not coming back."
Under the safety of Prongs' invisibility cloak, Sirius searched through backlogged copies of the Daily Prophet in the library. Finally, he found the one he was looking for.
"Underage Witch Murders Muggle Father." he murmured to himself. The post was dated the very day he had told his friends about their affair. "A sixteen year-old witch was arrested today by Ministry officials for the murder of her father. Officials came onto the scene owing to the use of magic performed by an underage witch. Upon arriving at the scene, officials came across the witch, who seemed "apathetic" and "unemotional" over her crime. With little delay, the witch was sentenced to life due to her use of one of the Unforgivable Curses."
That was it. No name was mentioned. Only a paragraph in tiny font expounding her fate.
She was gone from him.