113Astrid Potter had had enough. There was nothing left for her now. The wizarding world had taken everything, and gave nothing back. It took her parents, her childhood, her innocence, and now her godfather. She couldn't take much more, not without breaking entirely.
The 15 year old witch stared blankly out of her bedroom window, her exhausted reflection staring back. Her midnight black hair was even messier than usual from tossing and turning all night, before giving up on sleep all together. It cascaded down her back and framed her face in an explosion of curls that couldn't be tamed. Her emerald green eyes were dull from tiredness and were ringed in dark shadows from many sleepless nights. Her skin, usually a soft tan, was sickly pale, giving her an almost gaunt look when added to her unnaturally skinny frame. She wasn't handling her godfathers death well, and no one was around to notice.
Her relatives locked her in her tiny room as they've taken to doing the last few summers. They fed her through a cat flap on her door, usually watered down soup, stale bread, and a small glass of water which she could barley bring her self to eat anyway. They only let her out once a day to use the bathroom and only once a week to shower, giving her only 5 minutes to do so. If only they added a few dementors. It would feel exactly like Azkaban then.
Astrid didn't think she could survive another whole summer like this. She had tried to tell adults about the abuse, the mental, physical, and emotional torment that she went through here. They didn't listen. It was "safe" here, apparently. Usually she could muster up enough strength to make it until she could leave, but she truly didn't believe she could do that this time. She was too depressed and didn't have a reason to really fight anymore. Sirius was gone, and with him, all her dreams and hopes for a life.
Sirius has been an anchor to her. They wrote to each other often, and sneaked around to meet up and bond. He had become a father to her. He listened to her problems, helped her with her issues. He understood abuse as he went through the same with his mother. They had become each other's therapist. They had each been getting better mentally with someone there that truly understood and didn't judge them. The grim animagus was making plans to rescue his goddaughter before she had even gone to her relatives this summer. He had ran away from his family at her age. He was going to help her do the same.
Now it was all for not.
Astrid sighed tiredly as she gazed up at the night sky. She wasn't very good at astronomy, but one star always stuck out to her, even before she found out that she was a witch. Sirius, the Dog Star. It always called to her. When she was younger she always wondered how she knew what star that was. To her knowledge, no one had ever pointed it out to her. She had no way of knowing that her godfather used to sneak her out at night to star gaze. He would always point out his star and whisper that as long as that star shone, he would be watching out for her.
A single tear trailed down her cheek as she remembered her godfather telling her of that, His words echoing in her head.
"I don't know what to do." Her voice was a broken whisper as she spoke to the star.
Sirius' face flashed through her minds-eye, a mischievous smile playing at his mouth. She could almost here his reply, or at least what he would have said if he'd been there, "Don't just stand there Bambi. Go out and prank the world. It deserves it."
He was always telling her to prank something, saying it was a good stress relief, a way to get back at the world for being so shitty. She always laughed when he said it and shrugged. Pranking wasn't her thing.
Maybe now would be a good time to start though. A ghost of a smile graced her face. What would be a better way to prank the world than to disappear. The wizarding world was so fickle. They worship her, then vilify her, now they were back to singing her praises. They called her the chosen one now. They expected her to save them from the big, bad Dark Lord while they all hide behind her skirts. Well not this time.
A devious smirk played at her lips as an idea formed. They wanted her to fight their battles. That wasn't happening. She would leave. Disappear without a trace and watch as they run around like headless chickens looking for her. Good'ol Tommy boy can have them. The light side wouldn't save her from her personal hell. She wouldn't save them from theirs.
It really didn't take much to escape unnoticed by her watchers. She just had to call in a favor from the one remaining family member that she was learning to tolerate. Dudley.
To her surprise, at the beginning of the summer her large, but no longer morbidly obese, cousin actually expressed gratitude for her saving his life the last summer. She decided to not point out that it was his soul she saved, not his life. He told her that if she ever needed something he would like to try to repay the debt.
Dudley almost always brought her meager rations for the day, always expressing his apologies for the poor quality and quantity. So when he come up that day to deliver the food she told him her plan. It didn't take much to get him to agree. He actually seemed almost relived that she wanted to leave. He didn't think she'd last this summer either. He had seen her devastated look when she had come back from school.
The next day, Dudley easily snatched the keys to her room from his parents room after they left for the day and unlocked her door, trying to not show his shock at the state his cousin was in. She was far skinnier than normal and had deep shadows under her eyes. Her skin was pale and sickly and her hair was even messier than usual as well as dull and lackluster.
The young witch smiled grimly at her cousin's shocked look but didn't comment. Dudley was too shocked for words and more than glad that he could help her, even if his part in her escape was relatively simple.
"Thanks Dud." Her voice was a low rasp as she offered him a small but sincere smile. She had always spoken softly. Being quiet had been beat into her at such a young age that it became nearly impossible for her to speak above a whisper. It was a mix of physiological trauma and vocal disuse. The rasp was new though. Most likely from her crying until no more tears fell.
Dudley couldn't reply through his suddenly too tight throat. He had to push back his horror to nod in acceptance and lead her through the house with her meager belongings. She carried only her school trunk and an odd cloak making him assume that she had released her owl before he had let her out.
Astrid stopped before the front door and smiled slightly at her once hated relative, "Take care cousin. If anyone asks, I haven't been heard from for days."
Dudley shifted awkwardly, "Where will you go?"
"I'm not sure. Wherever is available I guess. I can't tell you anything specific, my kind can read minds if they feel like it." The black haired girl answered.
Her cousin blanched at that information before giving her another accepting nod, "Be careful Astrid."
The Girl-Who-Lived nodded once and threw on her cloak, disappearing completely from view along with her trunk. Dudley stared dumbfounded at the space his cousin had just vanished from before shaking out of his shock with a muttered "wicked" and opened the door to casually walk out as if he were just going to visit a friend like any other day, closing the door just slow enough to feel the small girl slip by him.
The large teenager gave a small smile as he leisurely walked down the sidewalk. He knew the moment that his cousin officially left his side to disappear to wherever she was going and gave a quiet sigh, "Goodbye Astrid Potter." It would be many years before he saw her again.