Chapter 1. Of Snakes.
So, I'm starting another story....The end is near on the other and I just can't twiddle my thumbs waiting for it...bam.
This story starts off in the sixth book, where Harry goes into Dumbledore's memory of meeting Tom Riddle for the first time.
Own Eleanor and her diary only.
Review por favor, it's the currency of authors.
Dumbledore shut the door as quietly as he could while the boy inside sat awe-struck on his bed. As he turned to face the door, he was startled by the elderly orphanage caretaker already there.
"Eleanor's bedroom is down the hall, the last door," The woman said, pointing a tired finger towards said door, right by a cold window facing a brick wall and a sputtering radiator.
"Thank you," Dumbledore replied politely as he shifted his coat in his hand before stepping one foot out to follow her finger.
When he had taken three steps, the woman spoke one more time.
"And you're quite sure you have room for the both of them in your…school?"
Dumbledore stopped mid-step to cautiously turn around and take a look at the woman.
"Is there something about Eleanor I should know?"
The woman shifted on her feet for a few moments before returning her gaze upon the bearded man in the hall.
"She's not like Tom, she doesn't really do anything to the other children- ignores them rather. But Tom doesn't ignore her, she's the only one Tom'll ever listen to."
"And that worries you?" Dumbledore leaned forward a little with his usual curious face, which made the woman to subconsciously whisper.
"She is not a normal person to follow, Sir."
He leaned backwards, the twinkle returned to his eye. He gave her a small smile before saying "There is always room at my school" before turning back around and headed towards the door.
A quaint "enter" followed his knock on the ratty oak door, to reveal a girl no older than 11 lying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling.
If Harry hadn't heard the "enter" himself, and if he hadn't realized that the room was completely empty besides the girl, he would've sworn that Snow White herself was on the bed instead of the "Eleanor" he had heard been mentioned in the memory. Just by her hands, Harry could tell she was pale- not deathly- just the pale you'd expect from an orphanage.
As she sat up, while the Dumbledore in the purple suit stood patiently by the door, Harry saw her face for the first time and immediately looked to the Dumbledore he knew- he just smiled a little and nodded his head toward the scene.
Eleanor's face was pale, like the rest of her, but her features were not expected. Harry knew, even though she wasn't even a teenager, that'd she'd be beautiful. Her face was effortlessly small, which made her dark eyes seem that much bigger and her nose stopped in a pixie fashion before two pink lips sat upon her skin, framing the small chin she had. Raven hair sat atop her head, messy from the pillow she just laid on, yet it still managed to coexist in the young girl's apparent world of fairytales.
"Eleanor," The Dumbledore in the purple suit spoke after a few moments of staring between the two. Eleanor had placed her hands neatly in her lap. "I'm Professor Dumbledore."
If she had known of him before, or if she hadn't, Harry didn't know. She just said in a strong voice that ought not to have come out of someone so fable-ish, "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Ah, you have heard of me then?"
"Sir, if you thought I had, you wouldn't have introduced yourself."
It was a quick response and came out a little hostile, but Dumbledore didn't loose his twinkle. Instead, he took a step forward; Eleanor's face still looked at his with an alien expression.
"I do think that you are not like the other children, and I do think you know it."
The expression, for the first time Harry saw, wavered faintly as her eyebrows elegantly twinged themselves upward slightly. Her mouth stonely moved, "It all depends on what children you are talking about."
It seemed odd for an eleven year old to speak this way, Harry didn't even speak that way- but for the porcelain doll in front of him it seemed normal.
"I am talking about everyone here besides Tom." This time her eyebrows fell slightly.
"He never leaves me alone," Her hands moved to rest on her bed on either side of her. "He brings snakes into my room and pretends they can hear him- then asks me if I can."
"And can you?" Dumbledore asked earnestly. Eleanor just eyed him further.
"What are you doing here, Sir?"
"Professor Dumbledore, as I said," His coat shifted in his hand a bit. "And the school where I teach has an opening for a child like you."
Eleanor sat on her bed, continuing the staring contest between the elder and the younger. It seemed like ages went by while the dark brown stared into the bright blue, Harry wondered how anyone could undergo such a stare from either one for that long.
"Was I chosen over Tom?"
"No, there is plenty of room for both of you- it's quite a big castle."
Harry got the feeling that any other time Dumbledore had gone to tell a child they were going to Harry, he tried to impress them with the castle part- but Eleanor still seemed skeptic.
"If Tom tries to bring me another snake to chat, I'm leaving and never going back, Sir."
As the entire room started to blur, Harry felt himself and the real Dumbledore slide backwards out of the pensive and onto the stone floor of Dumbledore's office.
"That was…" Harry trailed off, when he heard about his meetings with Dumbledore, he didn't imagine this.
"Lord Voldemort, yes," Dumbledore finished for him. A silence fell upon them, before a question popped into Harry's head.
"That was him, but who was the girl?" Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, much like in the memory.
"That, Harry, was Eleanor Reeds." He said it in such a way that made it seem as if everyone had heard of Eleanor Reeds- which made Harry in turn feel stupid for following up with another question.
"Who is Eleanor Reeds?"
Dumbledore didn't answer this time; he instead turned his back to Harry and started to rummage through the papers in his desk, intensely looking for something. Just as Harry was about to ask what he was looking for, Dumbledore pulled out a black book from a drawer with a soft "Aha!"
Harry knew that black book.
"What does Tom Riddle's diary have to do with Eleanor Reeds?"
"If you look closely, Harry, you'll realize this is not Tom Riddle's diary."
Harry did look closer, and did realize that there was no hole in the middle where the basilisk's fang should have left.
"That is," Harry said slowly. "Eleanor Reeds' diary, then."
The smile on Dumbledore's face let Harry know that he was correct.
"You're not just going to learn about Voldemort through his eyes, Harry. You're going to learn about him through others who surrounded him- see how others perceived him." Dumbledore handed Harry the diary. As soon as Harry got the diary, he flipped through the book. Unlike Tom's, this one had actual writing in it- neat handing writing. Not decorative, or girly- just neat. He also noticed every page had been filled.
"You want me to read all of this, Sir?"
"You might want to get started soonly, my boy."
"Professor Dumbledore wants you to read all of this," Hermoine glanced at the diary on the round table in the common room. "with all of your N.E.W.T classes?"
"Well now that you mention it, he did keep mentioning about how wonderful of a coaster it made."
She did not look amused, instead she stole a glance at Ron who sat hunched over a bit of parchment, scribbling down words.
"Harry, you can barely get your work done as it is-"
"Oh will you lay off him?" Ron said, clearly annoyed. He had a paper to finish by tomorrow. "Unless you'd like to go to Dumbledore, give the book back and explain why Harry can't read 150 pages of 'Henry Finnigan is the cutest', then stop badgering him!"
Harry couldn't help but laugh, yet some how everything seemed less funny when he saw the stern face upon Hermoine's face.
"Why would you support a girl who has obvious ties to Voldemort?" Hermoine snapped at Ron, who shuddered slightly at his name.
"We don't know how she has ties, though and the only way to find out is to read. Besides, aren't you always telling me to read more?" Harry grinned triumphantly.