The Unknown

Chapter 53: Last Will and Testament of James and Lily Potter

Loki tried to find Dahlia but couldn't and thanks to the Ministry showing up, the security around the camp wasn't as it should have been, and he noticed a footprint in the mud, Dahlia's footprint, leaving camp at the back where there was a guard before the Ministry showed up. He left the camp and ran after the footprints in the ground, but they stopped after about twenty feet and he knew she wouldn't go to the castle, not dressed in her nightwear and being asked questions, she'd want to be alone.

He searched for an hour, he looked at the Quidditch pitch, the owlery, the lake and even Hagrid's house but no one answered. So, he made his way to the forest where he knew were many dangerous creatures but none more dangerous than him if they tried anything, especially if his suspicions were right and Dahlia was in there. His suspicions were right when he found her slippers in the forest.

He eventually did find her a mile or so into the forest. She was curled up against a large tree, its roots spanned out about ten feet and she hid herself between them, her legs to her chest for warmth. He almost missed her but then he heard a sniffle and just saw her move between the roots. Loki walked cautiously, making sure not to make a sound. He kneeled when he wasn't too far away and said, "Dahlia". Her head snapped to him and he said, "it's dangerous here, let's go back to camp".

She shook her head and said, "you're gonna get mad, you, grandma, grandpa, you're gonna get mad".

"I have every right to be mad, but not at you...Dahlia, what did they do?"

She shook her head rapidly, "nothing bad, I promise".

"Locking you in a cupboard, starving you, hitting you is bad".

"Fen and Jora suffered more. Fen was tortured, Jora was literally hit with missiles, they have nightmares about it. What I went through is nothing compared to that".

He shook his head and said, "just because the boys suffered at more extreme lengths doesn't mean your suffering doesn't matter. We have to talk about this".

"No, we don't. It's over now, I'm with you".

"And I'll protect you, but I need to know".

"Why? You'll only get mad".

"I'll go mad not knowing what they did to you. Sweetheart, what did they do?"

She sat there for a minute silent, contemplating her options as she curled her dirty toes in the soil and played with her fingertips. She eventually said quietly, "their favourite word for me was freak. I thought it was my name before I started school. My bedroom was the cupboard under the stairs, I wasn't allowed any toys or books or anything like that so if I picked up one of Dudley's I'd get in trouble. I had to cook and clean and do the garden and anything else they wanted. I wasn't allowed to do better than Dudley at school, so I had to pretend I was stupid. I couldn't control it when my magic happened, I turned my teacher's hair a different colour once and uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia were angry. They err...uncle Vernon gripped the top of my arm and...he pushed me against the staircase when we got in that day from school and my head was bleeding. They didn't care. They locked me in the cupboard all weekend. It wasn't bad, dad".

Loki clenched his fists and had to look away and she curled further up into the tree, as if he was going to start shouting.

"It wasn't bad," she said again, "I promise, it wasn't like abuse you hear about. They didn't hit me too often, mostly it was when they pushed me a little too hard or gripped me a little too hard. Uncle Vernon would always threaten to beat the freak out of me, but he never did what he threatened".

"Just because he didn't do it, doesn't mean what he did wasn't wrong," Loki snapped and noticed her jump and he sighed, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. Why did you never tell me?"