Protection In The Dungeons

Memories Always Resurface

    ⚠️Tw abuse.⚠️

    I lay down on my bed, tired after a long day. I had been up since 8:21 A.M. and it was currently 10:18 P.M. I fell into the sweet relief of unconsciousness, but a nightmare followed rather quickly.

    It was autumn, and I was in Portland Oregon. I was at one of my numerous foster homes. I must have been four the last time I had actually been to that place. I walked into my room, and I saw an older man sitting on my old rickety bed. He had a cigar in his hand, and he blew puff of smoke at me. I coughed. He laughed cruelly.

    "You thought you could escape me by going to live with your rich, old aunt in London? You thought you could escape the truth, little girl?!?" He stood up and walked over to me. "YOU BELONG TO ME! YOU'RE NOTHING WITHOUT ME! TOU HEAR ME? NOTHING! YOU WILL NEVER GET ANYWHERE IN LIFE! YOU'RE JUST A STUPID MISFIT!"  He grabbed his cigar, and extinguished it by shoving it deep into my ankle. "This'll teach you to respect your superiors!"

    I didn't cry. I wanted to, but I couldn't. I had trained myself to never cry in front of Ignacio. He was the kind of person to stop you from crying not by trying to comfort you, but slapping you till you shut the fuck up because you can no longer breath.

    I woke up, in a cold sweat. It took me a minute to realize that I was safe, at Hogwarts. I thought I had forgotten about that memory a long time ago. I thought that I was no longer afraid of my former foster dad. But I guess no memory can stay hidden for long... I sat up, and looked at the clock. 1:20 P.M. I contemplated running to Snape's room and telling him about the nightmare, but I decided against it. After all,

    I tried my best to calm myself down, and laid my head back on my pillow, waiting for sleep to return. But there was too much adrenaline pumping through my veins at this point, so I grabbed a book that I had been reading. It was muggle romance novel called Jane Eyre (don't judge! I didn't realize how fucked up the story was until I started reading it!) I opened my book, and began to read.

    I was at a slightly suspenseful part in the book, when my alarm clock went off. My soul almost left my body. I set my book down, and took a shower. After that, I made my bed, and brushed my hair.

    I went down to the great hall for breakfast, and I saw Snape talking with McGonagall and Dumbledore. They were speaking about some guy. They called him black.

    "Well that's kind of racist." I thought. I didn't realize that this was his last name, so I was very confused.

    I took my usual seat in the great hall, and ate my breakfast, eager to get back to reading my book.

    I felt Snape behind me, and I turned around. He gave me a stern look. "Don't inhale all your food so quickly. You could choke, or get indigestion."

    He sat down next to me, with his own plate of food. We ate in silence for a little bit, but eventually, he broke the silence. "Something's bothering you... I can tell."

    I looked up at him, surprised. I didn't realize I was that transparent. "What are you talking about?"

    He sighed. "You have dark circles under your eyes, you're acting jumpy, you almost choked on your waffles, something is bothering you."

    I took a drink of water. "Just had trouble sleeping last night is all..."

    He nodded. "And how much sleep did you get last night?"

    I did a quick calculation. "About three hours give or take a few minutes."

    He took a second to respond. "After breakfast; you're going back to bed, and you're going to make up for the lost sleep last night. Okay? No excuses. You know how I feel about you getting sleep deprived." I opened my mouth to say something, but he held up his hand. "And, if you're having nightmares again, feel free to come to me and talk about them. Okay?"

    I nodded. And I finished my food. He finished his as well. "Good. Now, go back to bed. You need sleep."

    I obeyed, and went back to bed. I fell asleep. But this time, I had a dreamless, refreshing sleep.