Chapter Two
Slowly making her way from the seven floor, down to the fifth, Danu tries to think of any way whatsoever to get out of this apprenticeship with Snape, while keeping the prospects of working at St. Mungos alive. Ever since she stepped foot in Hogwarts at the age of eleven, she knew she couldn't go back to living a muggle life. She was so terrified that it would all be taken from her if she wasn't the absolute best, if she didn't make perfect grades and keep her head down, Dumbledore would come take her from her bed and admit that they'd made a mistake allowing her to come here.
The first class she had when arriving at Hogwarts was herbology, and she loved it from the very moment she stepped in to that humid greenhouse and caught Professor Sprouts warm smile. After a few weeks, Sprout praised her, told her how natural she was. She made her feel welcome at Hogwarts. By the end of her first year, Sprout told her of the herbology department at St. Mungos, how she had worked there when she was very young, and if Danu was interested, she would teach her everything that she needed to know. She jumped at the idea, and from that day forward, everything that she did was to get in to St. Mungos.
Danu has never had many friends, not even the time before coming to Hogwarts. Now, she understands that it was because she was different. She never fit in with those kids, at the time, she'd cry herself to sleep because one of them called her a freak. She tried to rationalize the magical "accidents" she would have when scared or upset, she tried her best to be normal, to not stand out.
Growing up being bounced back and fourth between foster families, and after starting Hogwarts, being left in a half-way house during the summer months and winter holiday, she knew how to keep her head down. That didn't keep her from longing to know who her parents were. When she was young, she would dream that they'd come waltzing in to whatever home she was in, wrap their arms around her, and exclaim that they had been searching for her for so long. They would bring her home, somewhere that was hers, that she would never have to leave, somewhere where she would feel love and happiness, somewhere that she would be safe. They would tell her it was some strange accident, they had turned their heads for just a moment and she had wandered off. Or maybe it was some stranger who was jealous of how much they loved her, and had taken her from her bed in the dead of night and dumped her in that abandoned parking lot she had been found in at only two years old. Now that she's gotten older, she's lost all hope that they're even still alive.
She remembers fondly the day that Dumbledore came and got her from Bernadette's Home for Children just outside of Cokeworth. She was so eager for her life to be different, she didn't even laugh or think him a fool for telling her that she was a witch. She simply took his hand, looking up in to his piercing blue eyes, and smiled. She had no belongings outside of what she wore, and was so desperate to get out.
The very next day, Dumbledore sent someone to fetch her, just like he promised he would when she clung to his robes and tearfully asked him to take her with him. That someone happened to be Hagrid, grounds keeper at Hogwarts. He brought her to Gringott's, where he explained that the Ministry of Magic held funds for underprivileged children to aid them in collecting their school supplies. They collected her limited amount of gold, and he held her tiny, trembling hand as they made their way through Diagon Alley. He told her all about Hogwarts, the friends she would undoubtedly make, and the fun she could have. He described the beats he cared for, the classes she would take, and how kind Dumbledore is. Danu's little heart leapt from her chest with each word Hagrid spoke.
Six years later, she still visits Hagrid any chance she can get. She sits in his hut with Fang drooling at her feet, while she works on her homework. Hagrid teaches her how to care for the many beasts he finds, and she brings him dittany from the greenhouse for the many wounds he receives from caring for them. She spent many weekends curled up in his massive armchair, a warm cup of tea in her hand, and her school books piled around her. Hagrid makes her feel safe.
Her feet almost carry her to Hagrid, to have him wrap her up in one of his bear hugs that smell of earth and smoke, to let Fang lean against her leg and lick her hand. But, standing on her toes to peer out of the window outside of the Ravenclaw common room, she gets a clear view of his hut below, he has company. More than likely Harry and his group of friends, plotting their next round of trouble. She tries to stay as far away from them as possible. Being in different houses, and far enough apart in years as to not have any classes together, it's proved to be rather easy.
Danu is a ghost in the castle, overlooked by most students at this point, and picked last by most professors, it's easy to creep through the common room to climb the stairs to her bed. After changing in to her night clothes and closing the curtains around her bed, she climbs in to bed knowing that tomorrow will begin a long two years of misery under Snape's watchful eye.