Call me Squib

Waking and Introductions

Chapter Two: Waking and Introductions

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"You can't be serious, Arthur!" The hushed whisper was the first thing Embry heard when she woke up. At the sound of the unfamiliar voice, Embry made sure to keep her eyes closed and her breathing slow in hopes that the strangers would be fooled into thinking she was still asleep. "You can't just turn the poor girl over to the Ministry!"

"She's someone's child, Molly!" A man argued with the first voice, a woman's. "They are probably worried sick looking for her!"

"She said to help her," the woman reminded him. "What if it's her parents she needs help with? What if they're the ones that did this to her? Do you really just want to hand her back over to them if that might be the case?"

"Fred, George, do either of you recognize her from school?" The man questioned, his voice softer now after listening to the woman's argument. Embry couldn't help but life the woman, wishing her own mother had stood up for her in such a way.

"Nope," a younger sounding male answered.

"She might be some Hufflepuff, but I know she's not in another house." Another young voice said, nearly identical to the previous one.

"Is she going to be okay?" A girl asked. Embry could faintly recognize it as the girl from the clearing, that had yelled for her parents when Embry had appeared.

"I believe so," the woman assured the girl, no doubt her daughter, as footsteps grew closer to Embry. She could feel someone touching her head, causing her to jump back from the touch in fear. Her eyes snapped open, darting around to take in the figures that surrounded her, recognizing the man and woman from the clearing. The woman's features softened as the young girl's reaction, pity shining clear in her eyes. On the other side of the room stood five other children, all of their eyes trained on the stranger laying on their couch in confusion.

"How's your head?" The woman asked as Embry scooted further away from her, only stopping when her back hit the armrest on the other end of the sofa. Embry remained silent, the man's words echoing in her mind of how he wanted to return her to her parents.

"Can you tell us your name?" The man questioned, his voice soft. Everything about him seemed friendly and welcoming, the opposite of Lucius Malfoy, but Embry couldn't find it in her to answer him.

"We don't need a surname," the redheaded girl spoke up, causing Embry to look at her. "Just something for us to call you. It doesn't even have to be your real name."

"Yes," the woman smiled at her daughter. "Do you have a nickname?"

"Yeah," Embry chewed on her lip, a nervous habit of hers.

"What is it?" The woman pressed, a soft smile filling her lips at the sound of the young brunette's voice.

"They call me Squib," Embry informed them as she picked at one of the many loose threads of her shirt. When she found the courage to look up again she could see a mixture of emotions filling the room. While the adults appeared to be angered by what she had said the children seemed to be confused.

"Are you hungry?" The woman asked to try and change the subject. Embry didn't even think before she nodded, not having eaten since breakfast the day before. "Why don't you go upstairs with Ginny and she can find you some clothes to change into while I make everyone some lunch?"