Arabella Black, The Daughter Of Padfoot (Redux)

Chapter 3

Nearly seven years had passed since Severus Snape adopted Arabella, the daughter of his childhood nemesis.

Not many things had changed within those short years. They still lived in the house at the end of Spinner's End, where it remained as dreary and cold as the day Arabella arrived. And her bedroom was still the same canary yellow from all those years ago, however dull and in desperate need of a fresh coat. Only gone were the days Arabella's toys littered the house, replaced with the books that never went back on the shelves.

But things were finally about to change. In three short days Arabella would officially be a Hogwarts student.

And while she was eagerly awaiting the adventure of a lifetime, Arabella couldn't find it in herself to leave the warmth of her bed yet.

"Breakfast is ready" Severus droned from the other side of her door, rapping against it lightly, "We're leaving for Diagon Alley in an hour, if you hurry you may actually have time to enjoy your tea before we leave"

Diagon Alley— a day of last minute shopping Arabella was not looking forwards to. She rolled on her back with a groan, not realizing that it was morning already. Sleep hadn't come easy, but it almost never did. Nightmares of cloaked, floating creatures plagued her dreams, leaving her with feelings of emptiness and longing when she woke.

"I'm up! I'm up!" Arabella called back. She waited until she heard her father ascend down the stairs before dragging herself over to her dresser. Upon it sat her retired plush lynx and a picture of her mother, Diana, holding a newborn Arabella with a large, exhausted smile.

"Good morning, mum" She muttered as she rummaged through her drawer. As Hogwarts came closer, Arabella desperately began to miss her mother. Severus was a great dad, but his head pats weren't a good substitute for a mother's hugs.

Half dressed in a pair of jeans and a wool socks, Arabella glanced around her room; it was a disaster. Clothes were scattered everywhere and books littered the floors— there was a reason Severus never came into her room.

Pulling on the first sweater she saw, Arabella stepped into the hallway and closed her door where she was greeted by the most wonderful smell of sausages, eggs and tea.

Much to Severus's dismay, Arabella all but launched herself into the kitchen. "Top of the mornin' to ya, Sev" She greeted gleefully, peaking around to him the stove, "Breakfast smells deadly"

Severus rolled his eyes at the poor accent, "I didn't know we were Celtic now" He sneered.

Arabella gasped, holding a hand to her chest dramatically, "You mean this isn't Dublin?" She faux cried, "And we aren't flaming redheads?"

"It seems that you've confused us with the Weasley's" The Professor snapped, shaking his head at her childish antics, "Sit down, breakfast is ready"

Arabella did as she was told, watching with wonder as dishes and silverware danced out of the cupboards and organized themselves on the small dining table in front of her.

Witnessing magic would never get old, if Arabella was to be honest.

"I'm going to assume that you're prepared to see Narcissa and Lucius" Severus said, serving the breakfast with a flick of his wand, "Because I don't want to hear Narcissa whining about your lack of respect, again"

Arabella winced— no one deserved the wrath of Narcissa Malfoy. "I won't infuriate them with my respect for muggle culture, if that's what you mean" She flashed her father a megawatt smile, "I'll be snide, and cocky, and ignorant; the perfect pureblood heir"

"Yes," Severus said dryly, "That's all I can ask for"

Arabella dived into her breakfast, not before giving him an apologetic smile for her behavior.

He had tried his best to raise her, something Arabella appreciated and never complained about. He hadn't treated her like any other pureblood, teaching her the importance of knowledge and hard-work over the pureblooded ideals of blood status. And while he was often cold and had an aversion to affection, he still spoiled her rotten unlike any pureblood witch or wizard.

On Arabella's eighth birthday, Severus had brought up a television. He allowed her to indulge, and even sometimes watched Looney Tunes with her despite despising it. And just recently, after Arabella was introduced to the Beatles, he bought her a record player and ignited the girls' love for Muggle music.

Severus was positive if he heard Strawberry Fields Forever one more time, he was going to throw it out.

"Unfortunately, I received an owl this morning. Headmaster Dumbledore has summoned me for an emergency. I'm afraid I won't be able to go with you" Severus explained with a sigh, "I already sent a letter to Narcissa, you're going to meet her and Draco at Ollivander's" He had the decency to sound apologetic, "I know it's not ideal but, my hands are tied"

Arabella groaned. She definitely wasn't going to last an entire day with Narcissa Malfoy alone. The day kept getting worse and worse.  "It's okay, Sev, I know how busy you get before school starts"

It wasn't that she didn't like them, Narcissa Malfoy, or Aunt Narcissa as she liked to be called, had tried her absolute best to help Severus raise Arabella into a perfect pureblood like Draco. Except it hadn't worked, and the harder Narcissa tried to mold Arabella into a proper lady, the more the girl rebelled.

But Narcissa wasn't intolerable as long as she played along. It was Lucius that saw through her. There was something about Uncle Lucius that unsettled her stomach. She and him never quite got along as well as Narcissa would have liked. 

And Draco was a whole other problem. Her cousin wasn't even his own person! He blindly followed in the footsteps of his father and acted like a spoiled little price that could get away with murder. Arabella wouldn't be surprised he could, with the way he flaunted his family's money.

"I'll make it up to you" The Professor promised, seeing the dejected look appearing on his daughter's face, "So long as I don't receive a howler from Narcissa today"

Arabella's lip pulled into a grin and suddenly Severus was afraid she had taken that as a challenge.