Chapter Ten (Near Christmas!)
Valencia arrived at her new guardian's home. It looked like a gigantic run-down shed that had been demolished and rebuilt again. Ew. He uncle led her in without so much as a "Home sweet home!"
When she stepped into his house she was instantly mauled by the stench of fire whiskey. She nearly gagged as she made her way to her room. Which was about the size of a small broom closet. She was hesitant about the bed, which looked like it was about to disintegrate.
This was such a lovely home!
For food, there was really stale bread. And to drink...well, she asked her uncle.
"Hey can I have some water please?" Valencia asked.
"WE HAVE NO WATER! YOU- I mean, we cannot attain an available water source dear child." He smiled hastily.
"Ummm...then what can I have?"
"Fire whiskey?"
"I don't drink."
"BEER?"
"I said I don't drink."
"BUTTER BEER IT IS!" he shouted.
Valencia blinked several times and thought, weirdo...
After escaping Uncle Snivel's (SNIVIIILLEE!) attempt and being a good guardian, she wrote to her brother that night.
Stefan,
Uncle Snivel (SNIVIIIILE!) is being a psycho...he keeps muttering to himself about killing someone...and for food I had stale bread and he has nothing to drink in his house except booze and some butter beers. And our room is a small broom closet. Yes, it's for both us. Can you come get me tomorrow? I'd rather spend Christmas with you and everyone else...so please come get me! He's a psycho!
Love,
Valencia
She tied it to her owl, Raven, and told her to get the letter to Stefan by that night. The awesome thing about her owl was that she was very very very fast.
Valencia woke up with a letter in her lap. A reply from Stefan, saying that he would be there that morning. She got up and got dressed, and went downstairs to see where Uncle Snivel (SNIVIIILE!) was. But she couldn't find him. She was in a very dank room and she called, "Hello?" and suddenly the door slammed.
"Your end is here," said an oily voice. It was Snivel (SNIVIILE!).
"What do you mean?" She asked.
The dark mark glowed brightly on his left arm as he smiled sickly. "We were ordered to finish off the Snape family. Now it's only you and your pesky brother that stand in my way from ultimate glory!" he sneered.
She knew it. He was a psycho. But she didn't know he was a Death Eater. Oh, Snap.
"AVADA KADAVRA!" he shouted.
Valencia dodged the green bolt as she reached for her wand. He charged towards her and she shot a stupefy at him and opened the door, sprinting down the hallway.
Spells were flying all around her, and something red slashed her arm and made a deep gash. She in return shot spells back him.
Then the front door opened. There was Stefan.
Valencia shoved past him. "STEFAN RUN!"
"What?" he asked, and right then a blue bolt shot him square in the chest. He fell and seemed paralyzed.
"Stefan!" Valencia said, turning back toward him.
"Go Valencia! Leave me here!" he shouted.
"I won't!" Valencia answered.
"I'll catch up. Just go!"
"But Stefan-,"
"GO!" he shouted. "FLY TO SEVERUS'S HOUSE!"
Valencia faltered.
"GO!"
Valencia transformed into a sparrow and began to fly to Severus's house.
In about an hour she landed on the door step of Uncle Severus's house. She changed back to human and clutched her arm. It was bleeding very badly and it hurt a lot.
She knocked on the door.
There was a rustling sound and a rat-like man opened the door. His face lightened.
"Severus! It's the girl with the cookies again!"
Severus called from the house, "Tell her to go away!"
"But it's the girl with the cookies! Can we get some?"
"No." Severus replied.
"But last time you said we could get some Cocoanutty Fluffy Bons!" the rat man squealed.
"I lied." Severus answered icily.
"But, but but,"
"Go to your cellar, Wormtail. NOW!"
"You never give me any cookies," Wormtail pouted.
"You're fat enough as is!" Severus snapped.
Wormtail scuttered away and Severus came to the door, and when he saw Valencia he had a disapproving look on his face.
"Why are you here?" He asked.
Valencia panted, "U-Uncle Snivel (SNIVIILE!) tried to kill me and, and , and, Stefan's...probably dead," She started to cry a little. "Uncle Severus, I shouldn't have left, I-"
"You expect me to believe this?" Severus answered.
"Yes."
He looked at her bleeding arm, which was bleeding all over her robes and making a small stream on the front step.
"Come inside," he said, walking in with a whoosh of his robes.
After he healed her wounds and got her a blanket and hot tea, he made her tell what had happened in detail.
"And he got Stefan in the chest and he couldn't move and I wanted to stay but he wouldn't let me he told me to come to your house." She buried her head in her hands. "It's my fault I shouldn't have told him to come I should have stayed!"
He cleared his throat and said, "You were right in coming here. He probably would have killed you both if you would have stayed."
"But what about Stefan?"
Severus sighed. "We'll have to wait and see then won't we?"
Valencia looked down at her feet then looked back up at Severus. "Does that make you our new guardian?" she asked.
He stood and looked at her. Then said, "Yes." Then he walked away into another room and left Valencia sitting with herself.
This was turning out to be a cruddy Christmas.
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