Protection In The Dungeons

The End Of The Second Year

It was three days before the summer holidays, and the only thing that anyone could talk about was Sirius Black's escape from custody only minutes before he was to be kissed by the dementors. Multiple students gave me weird looks, and accused me of helping Sirius Black escape.

    I had walked into the bathroom around 5 pm, and found a girl one year younger than me washing her hands. She was a Gryffindor, and had strawberry blonde hair, honey colored eyes, and coffee colored skin. She turned and stared at me, and smiled. She held out her hand in greeting. "Hello! I'm Ariana Woodstrop. But all my friends call me Ari."

I shook her hand. "Katria Strand."

She looked me up and down, but not in a disgusted way. She kind of reminded me of a very curious puppy. "You're professor Snape's kid, right?"

I laughed uncomfortably. "Adopted."

Her eyes lit up. "I'm adopted too!"

I smiled. "Isn't that a... interesting coincidence..." I looked around looking for a way out of the conversation, feeling a little awkward, and an incredible urge to relieve myself.

"I know, right?! I met a few Gryffindors who are adopted too. Does it count if you go to live with a grandparent?"

"I'm not sure... I think it counts..." I replied, shifting from one foot to the other.

She noticed my discomfort, and looked very apologetic. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry. I didn't realize you needed to-you know... see you later?"

I nodded, and ran into the bathroom stalls to do my business.

When I came out, Ariana was no longer in the bathroom. I washed my hands, and went to the library to read. I found Ariana reading about history, and I decided to sit down with her.

"Whatcha reading?" I asked.

"Hogwarts: A History." She looked up from her book, and smiled. "I'm trying to learn more about the wizard world. I'm a muggle born."

I smiled and nodded. "It's good to learn, I guess..." I sucked at small talk. I just wish that we could talk about meaningful things instead of weird shit that no one really cares about... like who talks about the weather with a friend for fun?

Ariana piped up. "You said you were adopted, right?"

My mind screamed at me. "Why couldn't we just stick to small talk!!! Small talk isn't that hard! Now we have to talk about uncomfortable topics, and she'll probably hate me by the end of our conversation because I'm the daughter of a stupid criminal!" I took a deep breath to calm myself, and replied. "Yeah... I did say that."

    "Can I ask you something?" She looked up at me...

    I nodded, dreading the question she'd ask next...

    "Did you always know you were adopted, or did you just think that you were Snape's biological daughter?"

    I blinked. "I always knew I was adopted. He adopted me last year. I was in the foster care system before that. What about you?"

    She nodded. "I didn't know until last birthday when I got my acceptance letter. My adoptive parents explained it all to me. Apparently my muggle family thought I was a freak because I was a wizard. They went through a private adoption agency, and my adoptive parents (who are both wizards) found me."

    I looked at her. "Your parents sound awesome."

    She nodded. "I have heard some rumors about you going around..."

    I stiffened up. "You have?"

    She nodded, a serious look on her face. "I think it's really stupid that everyone is judging you because of your biological father. I mean, it's not like you chose to be born to that guy."

    This shocked me. "You mean you don't believe the rumors?"

    She nodded. "Even if you did help him escape, I get it. He is still your dad, after all."

"Thanks for believing me, Ari. It means a lot..."

The clock tower rung six times, and we hurried to the great hall for dinner.

    The next two days were pretty dull. Most of the other kids were packing, and the others were saying their goodbyes, promising their friends to keep in touch over the summer holidays.

    The last dinner we spent at Hogwarts for the year was splendid. We obviously had a feast celebrating another successful year, and the house points were tallied up. Obviously Gryffindor won by a landslide. Ravenclaw came in second, and Slytherin third. Hufflepuff was last.

    Ariana ran up to me after the banquet, absolutely stoked that her house had won the cup. I congratulated her, and promptly went to bed.