With promises to owl, Arianna left her friends and waited at the station for her mother to come and get her. The butterflies in her stomach increasing to feel more and more like big angry birds rather than butterflies. After a few minutes there was a pop, making Arianna jump, and Minerva was there. She smiled and walked over to her daughter.
"How was your train ride?" She asked.
"Good." She answered suddenly becoming very shy. This was most unlike the Arianna that Minerva had come to know in the past few weeks.
"Are you alright?" Minerva asked, hoping Arianna would tell her if there was something wrong.
"Yes." She whispered, Minerva could have sworn she heard a ma'am after the yes. Choosing not to mention it she held her hand out.
"Take my hand, and hold on tight, I'm going to apparate us to the manor." She explained and Arianna took her hand. Apparating to the front of the manor, she waited a moment for Arianna to gain her footing before walking up to the door.
As Arianna looked around at the perfectly kept garden, and the large heavy wooden door to the manor, she became even more self conscious about how she should act. She held her hands in front of her, and took careful steps following Minerva.
This hadn't gone unnoticed by Minerva, but she chose to wait and see if Arianna would speak with her, instead of forcing it out of her. Albus was standing in the entry way and he too noticed Arianna's timid behavior. He smiled at her and took her trunk.
As Arianna walked through a doorway and into the sitting room, she tripped and fell, knocking a rather large vase over and it came crashing to the floor. Albus and Minerva rushed to her, trying to make sure she wasn't hurt, but before they could ask if she was alright she burst into tears.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! It was an accident honest! I'll fix it! I promise! Please don't hit me! I promise I can fix it, I can!" She begged all the time not looking at Albus or Minerva. Suddenly they understood her behavior. She was worried that they would hurt her like the Winters had.
Minerva sat back on her knees, and put a hand over her mouth, looking sadly at her daughter, she went to comfort her but Albus beat her to it.
"Arianna," he said to the shaking girl on the floor.
"Look at me Arianna." He continued and she cautiously looked up at him, fear in her eyes.
"Arianna, my dear, what the Winters did to you was truly horrible. It was greatly unnecessary, and wrong. You can trust me, when I tell you that they will not ever hurt you again, and that Minerva and I would never lay a hand on you." He said and Minerva smiled, she knew he hadn't had much time to spend with Arianna during the school year, the Minister always requesting his help and such. So she was glad, when Arianna nodded, trusting him.
"It was an accident," He said waving his hand over the broken pieces. Arianna watched as they shook and then suddenly sprung to life and put themselves back together on the shelf that the vase was originally sitting on.
"All that matters to us, is that you were unharmed."
"I'm sorry," She said feeling stupid. "I know that you would never hurt me. I don't know why I thought you would. I had just been thinking about the Winters and how I lived when I was with them.." She trailed off.
"You have nothing to apologize for sweetheart. It isn't your fault, none of it is, I want you to always remember that." Minerva said stroking her hair.
"Now, how about we bring your trunk up and show you your new room." She continued and Arianna nodded with a smile. As they made their way up the stairs, Minerva turned to look at Albus, who smiled at her and gave her a wink with his twinkling blue eyes.
"We haven't changed a thing in this room, since, well since then. Though Albus and I have changed some of the furniture to suit your age now." Minerva said before opening the door.
Arianna looked around slowly, in complete awe. Taking slow steps into the room she turned looking at everything trying to take it all in.
"This is mine?" She asked not believing it. Minerva nodded and Albus smiled watching her.
"I know it's not much but-" Minerva started to say but stopped seeing Arianna shake her head.
"It's perfect. I've never had a room of my own before." She said looking around some more. The walls were a red, not unlike the red of the Gryffindor common room. A four poster bed stood against the wall in the center of the room, clad with tartan sheets, making Arianna giggle. Clearly Minerva had done most of the decorating.
A desk and a large book shelf, filled with books of different sizes and looks sat against the other walls in the room. Arianna gasped as she saw the books.
"Can I read all of these!?" She asked in excitement, rushing over towards the shelf. The adults laughed.
"Every single one of them." Minerva replied, leaning into her husband, who had an arm wrapped around her. Suddenly they heard a soft rumbling noise. Minerva laughed.
"Come, I'll show you around the rest of the house, while your father arranges dinner. You must be starving! I noticed you didn't eat much breakfast." Minerva said, Arianna blushed, and went with her mother, as Albus went back downstairs.
Approaching a door in the hallway, Minerva stopped and opened it.
"This is your bathroom, your father and I have one attached to our bedroom." She explained.
"I have my own bathroom as well!?" Arianna exclaimed.
"Yes!" Minerva replied, so happy to have her daughter at home, and back to her happy self. As they moved on through the tour, Arianna was showed were Albus and Minerva's bedroom was, she was told that she was allowed to come in during the night or whatever time of day if they were in there and she needed them.
She was also shown Albus and Minerva's office which she was asked to stay out of unless specifically told to go into it. Minerva explained that they had a lot of important papers and such that they wanted to keep track of etc. Arianna understood and promised not to enter the office without her parents permission.
Next she was shown the library, where she thought she had died and went to heaven! It was almost as large as the library at Hogwarts! Well in Arianna's opinion. They then went to the sitting room, that housed a large warming fireplace, and a couch and a few reclining muggle chairs. (Arianna was informed they were Albus's favourite chairs).
The two made their way through the large dining room and into the kitchen where Albus was attempting, but failing to cook.
"Oh Albus! I thought you were going to have the house elves prepare something!" She scoffed and sat down at the kitchen table shaking her head, watching him scramble.
"Well, it seems, cooking is much harder than I had originally thought." He said trying to undo what he had done. Arianna laughed and walked over to him.
"No, look it's rather simple. I'll help you!" She said taking the spoon from Albus's hand and stirring the thick sauce in the pot. Minerva smiled as she watched Arianna trying to teach Albus to cook. After about an hour, and lots of laughing, and a rather large mess, dinner was ready. Arianna showed Albus how to put it on the plate and then instructed him to go and put it in front of Minerva.
"Yes, Ma'am!" He said giving her a salute before walking off. Arianna carefully brought the other two plates out and set them in front of Albus and herself. Soon the three of them were digging into the meal that father and daughter had prepared.
"Oh Arianna, this is delicious!" Minerva said after her first bite.
"Indeed," Albus agreed, "good save Sherbet!" He said.
"Sherbet?" Arianna asked with a confused smile.
"Yes, it's his bloody nickname for you, after his favourite sweet, Sherbet Lemons." Minerva scoffed. Arianna laughed.
"It's wonderful! I love it!" She said to her father who beamed at her. Minerva rolled her eyes with a smile.
After dinner was finished and the kitchen cleaned, (which took much longer than they thought, since they chose to clean it the muggle way) Arianna was soon headed to bed. Albus and Minerva walked up to her room with her and after she changed went to tuck her in.
But before she climbed into bed she saw something white out of the corner of her eye. Turning towards it she saw it was a stuffed bunny, which almost looked new. She picked it up and looked at it curiously. Just then Albus and Minerva walked in.
"I see you've found your bunny." Albus said.
"My bunny?" Arianna asked feeling as though the stuffed toy was some how very meaningful to her.
"Yes, you couldn't sleep a wink, without it!" Minerva said pulling the covers back and allowing Arianna to climb into them. After pulling them up around Arianna, Minerva sat beside her daughter.
"Yes, I remember one night, when we tried to put you down, and you were so tired you didn't notice you didn't have your bunny, and neither did we. But as soon as we left the room, and shut your door as quietly as we could, you started to scream! Louder than I had ever heard you scream before, so of course I ran back into your room, thinking maybe you had gotten your arm stuck or something of that sort," Minerva told her. Arianna smiled, the bunny in her arms as she listened to the story.
"But when we came to unstick you, we found that you weren't stuck at all, yet you were still screaming! We tried everything to get you to calm down, but nothing was working. You were in my arms when we realized that your bunny was missing, and it was like you knew that we knew what the problem was, because you suddenly stopped your screaming. It took your father and I nearly two hours to find that bunny! And we thought about giving up and trying to give you a different toy, but every time we tried it you started to scream again!" Minerva said telling the story as if she were reliving it.
"We searched everywhere! But that blasted bunny was no where to be found! So we called your grandmother and-" Minerva stopped dead, "your grandmother! Oh Merlin help me." She said and ran out of the room! Arianna sat up and watched her leave.
"Did I do something wrong?" She asked Albus as he sat down in Minerva's place.
"No, Sherbet, you mother it seems, has forgotten to tell your grandmother about your being back." He said and Arianna nodded. He leaned forward and kissed her on the head, making her smile.
"Goodnight Sherbet." He said standing.
"Goodnight Daddy." She replied and Albus smiled. He smiled every time she called him that. After Arianna was taken, he thought he would never be called that in his entire life, so he was very happy to be proven wrong.
"Daddy" Arianna called as Albus reached the door. He turned to look at her.
"How does the story end?" She asked wanting to know how they found her bunny. Albus smiled and walked back over to Arianna's bed.
"Well, your mother called your grandmother, she was exhausted looking for this bunny. Your grandmother came through the floo, muttering to herself as she came into your room, opened your closet door, and reached up and grabbed your bunny off the top shelf. The one place we hadn't checked, as we never put your bunny there! You should have seen your mothers face! She almost exploded at your grandmother. Finally she gave you your bunny and you fell asleep." He told her. She laughed.
"So it was in the room the whole time, and yet you and mum searched the entire house for two hours?" She asked and he nodded, making her laugh even more. But slowly her smile faded.
"It's strange," she said while staring out her window, "when you talk about things like that, about before I was, you know t-taken," She said cautiously watching her father, in a way making sure it was alright for her to say that.
"I know that you're talking about me, and sometimes, I can almost remember what your talking about, even though I was so young, and really I shouldn't remember these things, but I do." She explained quickly before coming to her point.
"But it seems like all of that was another life. And not the one I'm living now." She finished looking up at her father.
"It does seem that way doesn't it?" He said, "But it isn't. Arianna you remember that dream you had. The one where you were being taken away, and Minerva was on the ground reaching for you?" He asked and she nodded.
"That wasn't just a dream. That is indeed what happened that night. If I could do anything to take that night back, and to have been there to protect the two of you, I would. You have an extraordinary mind to remember all of these things Arianna. Not many people have such a mind. Don't worry yourself too much with the past my dear, after all, it does not do well to dwell on the past, and forget to live." He said and kissed her on the head before standing to leave.
"I'm sure your mother will be in when she is finished with your grandmother. I wouldn't be surprised if you were to meet her tomorrow." He said winking at her before leaving her room and shutting her door.
Her mother would be furious. They knew about Arianna for a few months now, and she hadn't told her mother. 'Merlin help me now.' She thought as she went through the floo and came out in her mothers living room.
"Oh! Minerva! What a surprise! You startled me! What's got you here so late? Is everything alright?" Isobel asked once Minerva had showed up infront of her.
"Yes, mother everything is fine, it's just. Well there is something I've got to tell you." Minerva said sitting down next to her mother. Minerva began to explain all about what had happened that year.
Isobel sat with her mouth agape for most of Minerva's speech, occasionally bringing her hand to her chest or her mouth.
"So, it's her? It really is my granddaughter?" Isobel asked, her throat tightening. Minerva nodded feeling her own tears coming to the surface.
"Can- Can I see her?" Isobel asked.
"Not tonight, she's already in bed. She is still a wee bit weak, and Poppy will have my head if she doesn't get her rest." Minerva said, her Scottish accent coming out much more around her mother.
"But I think tomorrow, would be alright, if you wanted to stop by sometime tomorrow afternoon. That way, I can explain it all to her." Isobel nodded, and by this time she was crying, which was making Minerva teary as well. Just then her brother Malcolm came into the room.
"Oh! Minerva! I thought I heard your- what did you do?" He asked suddenly seeing the tears on his mothers face.
"Oh Malcolm! She didn't do anything! It's Arianna, they've found her Malcolm! They've found our little Arianna!" She told him with a smile, Malcolm looked to his sister who was now crying with a smile on her face.
"Is it really her?" He asked.
"Yes, Albus had Severus brew an identity potion. It's her Malcolm!" She said and her brother ran to her, engulfing her in a bone crushing hug and then lifting her in the air and spinning her around. She squealed and hugged her brother back.
"Oh Minerva," He said putting her down, "I'm so happy for you! How did you find her? Is she alright!? Where has she been!? What is she like!? Have you told Robert?!" He asked, so many questions filling his mind. Minerva laughed and they sat down, and Isobel fire called Robert, and once he was there, Minerva explained the situation to her brothers, and how they came to find her.
"They should be put in Azkaban for what they did to her!" Malcolm said when Minerva finished.
"They're muggles Rob!" Isobel reminded him.
"Yes, but they deserve more than muggle jail!" Robert shot back. Minerva smiled at her brothers protection of their neice, even though they hadn't seen her in eleven years.
"You didn't answer my question Minerva." Malcolm said, Minerva scoffed.
"Which one, you had so many!" She said.
"What is she like?" He said giving her a look.
Minerva sighed, "she's so beautiful. And she is so smart, top of her year at Hogwarts," she said. She continued to tell them all about how sweet she was, and how she was sorted into Gryffindor, and how brave she was, facing one of her greatest fears and being injured to protect the ones she loved.
"I'd better get back. I jumped up and ran off to tell you in the middle of a story I was telling her. You can all come and see her soon, I'll fire call you." She said standing, after thanking her family and giving them all hugs, she went home.
The house was silent as she arrived. She supposed Arianna was already asleep, it was quite late. 'Albus was probably sleeping as well.' She thought as she quietly walked up the stairs, slowly opening her daughters door.
Her heart swelled when she the form of her sleeping daughter, clutching her bunny. Minerva went around to the other side of her bed, and lay next to Arianna and watched her sleep. She was afraid that she would wake up in the morning to all of it being a dream. She stroked her hair softly, thanking whatever gods there were that her daughter was home.
Well here it is, the next chapter! I'm sorry for any mistakes you may find, I'm not perfect, and I can't catch every mistake I make. But hope you enjoy anyway. I plan on having the summer vacation in this story, and then making a new story for Arianna's second year, I shall keep you updated on that as I update chapters and such. Thanks! :)