Childe of the Siren
Author's Note: I hope those that read this like it and hopefully I'll be able to post Chapter one soon. If I'm not too busy with work and covering for the two morons who just quit because a customer was being an absolute b-word, despite the manager calling for security and doing everything she possibly could. Sorry for the rant but seriously, some people are just amazingly stupid. Again, sorry for the rant and I hope that everyone likes this one!
Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Harry Potter series and I'm making no money off of this story.
Prologue
Ever since I was a small child, just a babe really, she has been with me. Hovering over my crib when my parents still lived and later on hovering over my crying squirming body that was shoved into a far too small cupboard under my aunt and uncle's staircase.
She has always been watching me, silently watching me; watching over me. Only ever speaking to stop my uncle from going overboard in his drunken haze. He would immediately fall unconscious in those moments and only after nearly a day and half had passed would he wake up.
In those moments, I felt well and truly loved. My aunt and cousin would scream after uncle lost consciousness and then they'd leave me be until he woke up again. She would pick me up though, and though she was someone I could not touch normally, she could and would touch me. She would whisper to me gently, in a language I could not recognize but it was soothing and kind. I could tell that much at least.
She nestled me safely within her arms and I would rest my head against her chest, pillowed by her larger than average breasts. Only in the moments that she would reach out to me, could I actually feel her as though she truly lived. Any other, she was still merely an apparition.
She would speak once more, healing the wounds that my uncle had inflicted, again in her strange language that I couldn't understand. But I wanted to, very much so.
After I was once again calm and healed, she would set me down and murmur to me gently, so softly that I couldn't understand her. She would smile, amused at my confused face before ruffling my wild black hair. I would smile back because she never seemed to smile at me unless it was one of those moments.
She never spoke to me unless I was hurt by uncle. She knew that I wouldn't be able to understand her because of how young I was at the time and I never pestered her about it. Instead I would smile and laugh and speak to her softly in my own whispers when I was afraid of Petunia, Vernon, or Dudley hearing me.
And finally, when I turned seven, exactly at midnight; she spoke to me for the first time ever, in English.
"Thou art now olde enough to begin learning of our world young one."
Those words changed my life, and more specifically, my many times over grandmother, changed my life.
Yes, Sirena Slytherin, the younger sister of Salazar Slytherin. She has watched over me from my birth and taught me much of the magical world. Of the world she lived in when she still walked the land as a living being. Of old rules long forgotten that she would teach me of to use to my advantage.
Two years after my seventh birthday and after much learning of magic and the magical world, Sirena stopped me before I went into the house.
"Little Harlequin, stop! It is time we leave my child." I couldn't believe what I was hearing; we were finally going to leave that hellhole that all the neighbors called a perfect little home with the perfect little family.
I pondered over asking her why we were going to leave in the middle of the night, but the grave look on her ethereal face stopped me from asking any questions that threatened to escape my lips. Instead, I turned to her fully and took the arm that she reached out to me.
In the span of a second, the two of us were pulled away from Privet Drive and were left standing in the middle of a cobblestone road. Our surroundings were curiously devoid of life but that might have had something to do with the late hour. I couldn't help but look around in surprise, Sirena had never taken me anywhere like this before.
"Harlequin, follow me and say exactly as I say dear one." She moved down the path silently and I followed along until we reached a very large set of doors.
That was where I met Griphook. He was very surprised to see me; a lone nine-year-old all by himself. Of course he couldn't see Sirena. No one but myself could see her.
I followed her instructions directly and told the goblin what I needed to be done. Invoking a very old law and giving proof of my abuse as well to back the law up. Griphook was surprised and when I asked why, well, what I had told him wasn't what some very old fool named Albus Dumbledore told everyone else in the wizarding world.
That was the final piece of evidence that won me my freedom and granted me a very nice little cottage that I could live in with Sirena until I was old enough for school. Griphook was very helpful and nice and took the time to explain everything that Dumbledore had done calmly and carefully so I would fully understand the extent of damage the old fool had caused to the business' s and stocks that my family had once held so carefully and precise. My many vaults were in disarray with large amounts of money and items missing from all of them.
Something within my soul dearly wished to scream and shriek at what had been done but I could feel Sirena placing her small, fragile hand on my shoulder and urging me not to give in to my primal instincts that seemed to war with my logic. Instead, I paid even more attention to what Griphook told me and my eyes narrowed dangerously.
Sirena advised me as best as she could despite the many differences from her time and this time. Griphook was helpful as well and suggested a few more ventures to help bring my vaults back up and to their former glory that was paired with the Potter name.
By the time we were done with our business, it was well into the afternoon and I was exhausted from everything that had been said so Griphook kindly escorted me to the cottage he'd told me about through what he and Sirena called a 'Floo.' He gave me the keys and cast a bit of goblin magick to clear away the dust and whatever else that might be lurking around before stating that he would be sending an owl over the next day to update me on some few more things, I smiled sleepily and thanked him for everything that he had told me about before he left through the Floo once more.
Sirena and I were left alone and she urged me to sleep after going through the cottage with her own magick much more carefully than Griphook had done and fully cleaning our new, little home. I obliged because I was dead on my feet by then and sank into the large, featherlike bed.
I smiled to myself, knowing that Sirena would watch over and protect me as I slept.
