A Lifetime *Hiatus*

Chapter 6

A/N: Hey Buddies!

I'm back!

I don't own Harry Potter.

I have no beta unfortunately seeing as having a new set of eyes will find mistakes that could be made and I overlook when checking the story.

I hope you like this one, Bon Appetit!

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This story is NOW updated there!
When the door to Bella's room was knocked on, she wasn't really surprised. Whoever these two strangers were that stepped in with her caretaker were the same two forces that she felt from about twenty minutes ago. She didn't know if it was something that anyone who had magic could do, but she noticed that they were like her before they even stepped foot through the gates of the orphanage.
One of them was a man who seemed to be in his thirties. He had black hair that seemed like a void-less pit that haloed around his jutted face. It could have had a nice look to it if it didn't look so matted with grease and whatever oils he probably was using. The man was dressed in black clothing covered by a black robe with a sneer taking up most of his face as if he didn't want to be there at all.
Next to him however was another more elderly man who clothes appalled Bella so much that she wanted to bleach her eyeballs to get rid of the horrible picture in front of her. The old man was also wearing a robe but it had Periwinkle undertones carried by purple stars. Bella sincerely hoped that not everyone in this society dressed as horrid as the man in front of her with putrid yellow shoes.
"Mrs. Hornhill... do you think that you could give us a minute alone with young Bella here? It is imperative that this be a private process." The old man said to her caretaker who once again showed her ineptitude in caring for children by nodding a firm head shake; and therefore leaving a little girl in the hands of two grown men who were strangers.
Bella didn't really have that much space inside her square room. She had a bed, bookshelf, and an old wooden desk with a swivel chair. Her bed which was just as old was all she had to offer the men in her pursuit of trying to seem polite and the amused twinkle in the old man's eyes made her think that he acknowledged that fact.
As she sat in the swivel chair and them on the bed, Bella waited with a small tilt of the head for one of them to say something.
"I'm Headmaster Dumbledore and this is Professor Snape of the school that has enlisted your enrollment. I know it seems quite impossible but this is not a joke or prank of any sort. Hogwarts a school for the young wizards and witches of the future does indeed exist my child." Dumbledore seemed to think that her pensive look was a sign of doubt and continued.
"Have you ever done anything that seemed unbelievable at the time? A feat that couldn't be achieved by normal means?" The headmaster questioned.
Bella who was listening to him thought back to all the things she had done in her life where she consciously used her magic. The way that the Headmaster was talking however made her think that this was supposed to be a rare occurrence or a spur of the moment type situation; not a daily practice. The way Bella saw it however was that this was the perfect opportunity to keep her strengths to herself. She learned that it was always pertinent to keep an ace up her sleeve and she wasn't about to reveal her life story to two strangers; Professor and Headmaster be damned.
Snape who hadn't said a word the entire discussion still sat of the rickety bed that creaked every time there was even a small movement on his part. When Albus finally finished his induction speech he waited on the girl to answer. The Matron said that no one had ever heard her talk and for some reason he wanted to see if she could actually speak but never bothered with the lowlifes who "took care" of her.
She took a deep breath and small in a voice just above a whisper, "Yes but I thought it was just my imagination or a coincidence. When I was younger I made a story play itself out in moving picture and another time when the class was too loud, the was a huge bang sound that made the entire jump and quiet down."
Bella's voice was smooth and due to her being a child had a slight twinkle of innocence. It was as if you drunk a hot chocolate on a cold winter's day with extra sweet marshmallows that left you feeling warm all over and even though it wasn't under the best of circumstances, Severus was kind of smug to be one of the voice to hear her voice despite having a superfluous hatred for the child.
That wasn't the only thing that had Snape wanted to raise his eyes. Even though accidental magic worked in mysterious ways, at what seemed to be a very young age Lily's child was able to cast Animans a 5th year animation spell and held it long enough to play her entire story like a movie on the pages. While the spell itself wasn't that hard, for someone that young to have suspended the affect for that long had to put a strain on her core but she seemed perfectly fine.
Intriguing.
Not only that, but she produced a low level Sonobilis which she did so well it resonated a huge bang around her entire classroom without alerting anyone outside of it. That type of control didn't come until 6th year and up and some still couldn't accomplish that feat but she supposedly did.
Interesting.
Although he hated James with a passion, perhaps he could put that hatred aside. At least channel it into being a good mentor for the poor girl who was the love of his life's daughter. Not only good he pay tribute to Lily, it was also be the ultimate payback to James; taking care of his child when he couldn't while still keeping his life debt. A life debt that he had to pay even though it was James and that mutt of a friend Sirius who put him in the dangerous situation in the first place.
He snapped back to attention when Dumbledore gave her a pouch of galleons and said that it came from the fund they had for orphans. If there was any time to start his mentoring and support of the girl it would be now.
"Headmaster, don't you have her vault key? I don't think for her circumstances that she needs the orphan fund by rather the key to her vault. She is entitled to it after all." Severus finished wanting to smirk at the almost vexed look that Albus so desperately wanted to sport.
Instead however his eyes started to twinkle even more and in his grandfather tone he said, "Oh yes. Forgive an old man's memory dear. You do have a key that your parents left you and I happen to have it right here." He said congenially while handing a weighted gold key over that Bella took into her dainty hands.
Bella who gave a slight smile in thanks wanted to narrow her eyes. Something was going on and it looked like a shift in power happened right before her eyes. It was obvious that the headmaster was labelled as leader and revealing this key for whatever reason was obviously not on his orders otherwise the old man would have gave the key to her without the prompting of the professor. It was clear that he either didn't want her to have the key or that he didn't want her to know she had money as he was trying to give her money that supposedly came from an orphan fund.
Either way Bella was suspicious. At Dumbledore who tried to hide the fact that she had something of worth and at Professor Snape who for some reason clearly betrayed his leader to help her out. He couldn't have done it out of the kindness of his heart (at first glance it didn't even seem like he had one) they barely knew each other and from Bella's observations over the years, when you help someone out, especially someone you don't know, said person usually wanted something in return and she didn't like the feeling of being in someone's debt.
"Professor Snape will accompany you to Diagon Alley where you will meet up with the Hogwarts keeper Hagrid to complete your shopping and-" Bella cut him off in a not so favorable way but she saw where this was going and had to intervene.
"I'm sorry sir but this has been a very eventful day and I have a lot to take in. Could you possibly just instruct on how to get there so I can go and get acquainted on my own. I feel like I could understand and appreciate it more that way as I have always done things without another's help. I would be grateful and a lot more comfortable that way." She said in a hopeful voice.
While most of what Bella said was true, that wasn't the only reason she wanted to go by herself. She didn't want these men safeguarding and dictating her time at this Diagon place and would like to draw her own conclusions on things that they would surely try to influence. She wanted to go by herself and get situated to a world that, if the Headmaster was being truthful indeed, would be a part of her life for at least 7 years.
Dumbledore with a look of understanding was actually a little irate but tried not to show it. He had to agree with her reasoning and not push her so much into submission at this stage in their acquaintance or she would start asking unwanted questions of why he was so invested. So he gave her all the information she would need to get there, the monetary system, and even how to treat the goblins to a certain extent trying to remain on her good side. If he couldn't get to her now, he would lay his first piece in with the Weaselys at the station as she surely wouldn't know how to get onto the platform without help.
Snape who noticed that the headmaster left out the detail most students from the Muggle-world learned about involving how to get on the platform but decided to not say anything this time around. He already knew he was going to get an earful for his "slip of the tongue" and if he said something against Albus now when he deliberately left out important information again, well it wouldn't help his or Bella's case. He was going to help her here and there, but he wasn't going to hand over the answer to all the world's questions either. He was a Slytherin after all and he had to look after himself first in order to look after her if that made any sense.
After Lily's daughter said thank you and they said goodbye to the head matron, Severus and Albus after making sure no one was around disapparated back to the apparition point outside of Hogwarts.
Severus sincerely wished that he could have some earplugs for the rant that would soon follow.

This is once again my longest chapter and I honestly think the more I write, the better and longer it will get and I'm proud of that.

When I first started writing, I saw people who had like 20k words in one chapter alone when I could only manage a measly 300 at that most. Now I have written over 1500 words; This chapter being 1886 words more than five times my first work and even though it's no harry potter book I am proud of myself

So what did you think?

Next stop is Diagon Alley!

Bella is already suspicious of Dumbledore's motives but she isn't stupid so that's not all that surprising.....

How do you think I played off Bella's character? She maybe in a Harry Potter AU but she is her own person with a different personality and thoughts because of different experiences.

I'm giving this chapter early because I will once AGAIN not be able to submit for the rest of the week


So for all of you who were here last week, I went to go see Hamilton and it was more beautiful than I could even imagine even with the new cast.

I even shed a few tears even though I knew everything that was going to happen by the sheer amount of emotion they portrayed their characters with.

I won a writing contest out of 150 submissions for a poem and now get to join a writing workshop this weekend which is why I'm posting early.

Comment. Like and All that jazz. See you soon with another update.
DC_thewriter