The Corpse That Lived.

Chapter 7

Dahlia did not dare to stray from her bedroom for the rest of the day. She sat huddled on the bed, clutching the blankets around her and hugging a pillow to her chest for hours, listening to Sirius potter around the house. Once an hour, the ancient stairs would creak and groan under the man's weight, and Dahlia would hold her breath as she heard footsteps approaching his room. Sirius seemed to stand just outside the threshold for a moment, then knocked on the door.

Each time, Dahlia refused to answer. Sirius would sigh, wait another moment, and then return downstairs. The process repeated itself all afternoon. At supper time, Sirius tried again and this time spoke to her, urging her to come out of her room for dinner. Dahlia still said nothing, and after a few minutes, Sirius explained that he was leaving food just outside the door.

But Dahlia would not eat it. She knew now what Sirius had planned for her, and though it was not the nefarious plot she originally believed, it was no less dangerous. She was going to give her to James and Lily Potter. He was going to throw her back to the parents who abandoned her. But Dahlia didn't have to go along with it, not without a fight, anyway. She would rather escape of her own free will than be tossed back on the streets by her own mum and dad, and she knew that was how this story ended.

They left her alone. All this time, and they left her alone. She had parents, real, living parents, and they didn't want her. They allowed her to live on the streets, to be beaten and hurt by foster families, to be cold and wet and freezing. They went to bed in their warm, comfortable bed each night never caring that she was huddled on a cold stone floor with a thin jacket to protect her. She would not go back to those people, not ever. She would do everything he had to do to escape.

Sirius wasn't really a bad guy. He didn't understand, but at least he was nice. He didn't even get mad or yell that Dahlia got blood all over the floor. Instead, he had wrapped up Dahlia hands as though he actually cared about the injuries, as though he actually cared about her.

Ohhh, it was strange, but he seemed to be genuinely concerned about Dahlia's well-being. Perhaps if she refused food long enough, Sirius would see what she was doing. Perhaps Sirius would start to understand that Dahlia could not, would not, go to those people. And then maybe he would let her go.

The thought brought fresh tears to Dahlia's eyes as she clutched the warm blanket closer. She wanted to stay here, at least a few days more. She liked it here, despite the odd candlelight, and the weird shrivelled creature in the kitchen, and the magic that was used so freely. She still didn't understand what was happening - or why - but she liked this quiet, peaceful room with its big soft bed and mountains of covers. She liked the food that filled the table, and the juice Sirius kept insisting she drink. It tasted so sweet and comforting, and it had been so long since she'd had anything but water from the tap. She knew this could never last, but she had hoped she could stay a few weeks, at the very least. Now James and Lily Potter would steal that from her, and she wept silent tears as childhood fantasies were demolished.

She had dreamed for so long of her parents. She pictured them as warm, kind people with a big house and friendly smiles. She imagines hugs from her mum and playtime with her dad, and she pictured them beaming at her with pride as no one had ever done. In her mind, her mum and dad were the most wonderful people in the world, and they loved her so very much. And even lull her to sleep when her nightmares got the best of her.

Now she knew her real mother never would have sang her lullabies. The parents of her daydreams would never have left her if they had any say in the matter, and so her whole life, she believed them dead. It was the only thing that made it all right to be without them. They died, and that wasn't their fault. They never would have let her be alone if they could have stopped it.