Disclaimer: I do not own anything from harry potter.

That said, the main character and her mother are my own creation and not originally from Harry Potter. This is my first Fanfic, so bear with me. I'm not sure how far it will go or even where the plot is headed yet...

A Letter and an Apology

Our Story takes us to the home of a young girl on an early June morning, having just turned eleven the day before, she waited with expectant energy for the owl that would change her life. Her mother was busy drinking in the other room, ranting to herself about troublesome daughters and late letters, increasing the pressure until it was as though the entire roof might blow just to relieve it.

The girl sighed in despair as the skies remained clear, glancing down at her clasped hands, thoughts tumbling along a dark path etched with horrible phrases; you're nothing, why would they want you, there is no hope for you left...
A noise, a tap on the kitchen window interrupted her raging thoughts. Her gaze lifted quickly, finding a barn owl perched outside the window, tapping insistently on the glass. Her breath caught as she slowly forced the window open, in its beak was a thick envelope. She took it with shaking hands and the bird flew off as she turned it over, biting her lip in anxiety.

There, on the front in emerald ink was her name, Elizabeth Wood. The back was marked with a crest she recognized from her mothers stories to be that of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. With nervous fingers, she pried the wax free, pulling the letter out and began reading:

Dear Ms. Wood,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry….

Her heart leapt at finally reading the phrases she had dreamed about for the last five years or more of her life, words that meant acceptance and a chance at control.

Wait till her mother heard!

Elizabeth's mother was indeed happy to learn her daughter had been accepted to the best Wizarding School there was, especially after her "months of anxiety" over rather "such a girl would ever be accepted." What Eliza had failed to see coming was the endless rants about each house, acceptable marks, different professors and other such nonsense; all of which only increasing her anxiety.

I must say, this woman is beginning to sound like a horrible mother, yet Elizabeth never seemed to blame her, only hoped she could one day live up to such lofty expectations, and if she couldn't, then have the bravery to face her disappointment. You see, Ms. Wood had never really done anything "truly horrible" to her daughter. She had never progressed past snide comments and clear disappointment (which of course, some of us know can be just as damaging as something more, shall we say, violent) and on some level she did love her daughter. The true problem here was that Ms Aubrey Wood had married a muggle without divulging anything about her magical abilities despite the protests of her family, it so happened that the lad couldn't handle it and ran out on her, incidentally right after she had become pregnant with Elizabeth. It was all really quite tragic.

None the less, she couldn't seem to come to terms with the existence of her daughter and the state of her life. The woman despaired, turning to too much alcohol and developing a decided distaste for the world at large.

Elizabeth stuck by her mother, all the same.

A Week following the arrival of her letter, Elizabeth and Ms. Wood took a day trip to London, the first in Eliza's memory.

Elizabeth had assumed they would travel directly to Diagon alley, most likely via the floo network; that morning she was disappointed. Her mother knocked on her door before the sun had graced her room with light, "Get up Elizabeth! I want to get there at a reasonable hour which means leaving in 15!"

Eliza groaned softly as she forced herself to sit up, surveying her small, messing room. Clothes were strewn about; books scattered in among the piles here and there, having escaped the many stacks placed carefully against the walls. Posters covered almost every inch of her walls, most of the images moved, depicting swooping Quidditch players or smiling faces, famous faces, or blooming flowers, but some were still. They seemed out of place against the others. Every single one was something she had created herself; sketches and paintings of everything from the faces of friends and family to flowers to landscapes to even some darker images that required a closer look.

"Hurry Up!" Her mother urged once more.

"Alright, I'm up! Give me five minutes." Elizabeth shuffled to her half empty dresser, pulling out a clean pair of jeans and a navy t-shirt. She ran a brush through her hair, grabbed her bag with her acceptance letter tucked safely inside, and trotted down the stairs, headed for the kitchen.

She found her mother sitting at their small table, a plate of toast sitting ready for her. "Eat quickly, Eliza." Her mother's voice was even, almost sweet for once despite the suggested lack of time; it brought a smile to Elizabeth's face.

Another five minutes later, they were out the door and on the way to the nearest train station where they boarded one bound for London, sitting in silence for most of the journey.

Time passed slowly for Elizabeth and it seemed to take them forever to finally reach the Leaky Cauldron, the pub held the entrance to Diagon alley on the other side of its back door and never seemed to catch the attention of any muggle, despite the bustling streets.

"We'll get your robes first and then go from there." Ms. Wood said softly as they passed by the bar, a small nod to the man behind the counter as she led the way, her daughter following quickly behind. Back outside in what appeared to be a bricked up alley, Ms. Wood drew her wand, a simple sleek thing that spent most of its time unused nowadays, she tapped the third brick from the left. Elizabeth's eyes grew round as the bricks began to fold back on themselves toward the sides of the alley, creating a large arch that revealed a winding street, bustling with people, many of which wore robes, and lined with shops.

Elizabeth felt as though she was gawking like an idiot, but she couldn't help it. Her mother's lack of interest with the surrounding world had invariably partially insulated her from the Wizarding world; hence she had never before been to Diagon Alley despite its fame. Her eyes wandered from store front to store front as she followed her mother. They finally stopped at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.

From there the day progresses as a series of stops at different stores to buy each of the materials listed in her letter. Every shop was as different as the last and captured her rapt attention. Elizabeth was thinking that Flourish and Blotts was probably her favorite, she itched to look at all the books, to bury her nose in them and not come back out for days, when her mother caught her attention once more, "Just your wand left, I think." Her voice was soft, almost… sad, "time to stop in at Ollivanders, Eliza."

Elizabeth's excitement grew; she would finally get her own wand, the moment she had been waiting for all day, for years if she was being truly honest. The shop looked surprisingly run down, the gold letters over the door faded and dust marring the windowsills. They stepped inside, the door causing a bell to chime further back in the shop.

"Eliza, I'm going to leave you here for now, I have something I want to do, and you don't need me for this anyways." She left without waiting for a response, the door clicking closed behind her sounded abnormally loud.

A man walked out from behind shelves filled with long thin boxes. Ollivander was rather short with grey hair, eyes bright in his weathered face. His voice was soft when he spoke, "Well Hello, dear. Here for your first wand, are you? Off to Hogwarts soon, I presume."

"Yes, Sir," Elizabeth replied, nerves tightening her stomach.

His eyes wandered over her faces, seeming to stare into her, seeing more then she would care to share. "Hmm," he uttered as he started walking back towards the stacks. He pulled out a deep red box, opening it as he walked back towards her and handing her the wand from with in it.

"Give this one a swish," he told her before taking it back almost immediately, "nope, not that one." More inaudible mutters as he perused the stacks, coming back with a few more, each one seeming to disappoint him more than the last.

Elizabeth was beginning to grow weary of "giving it a swish" as he said without any positive results. He stopped and stared at her again after they had made their way through over a dozen wands without success. There was a curious smile on his face, as though he enjoyed the challenge quite thoroughly, and indeed, perhaps he did.

Ollivander turned suddenly on his heel, disappearing among the shelves for some minutes. When he finally came back and expectant smile graced his face. "11 ¾ inches, Acacia, Dragon heartstrings," he said as he handed her the wand. As soon as her fingers closed around it warmth spread up her hand and arm, spreading through her body as the tip emitted a soft glow that seemed to radiate joy.

"Oh, yes, I think that will do nicely for you. Acacia is known for preferring the especially gifted, you know."

"Prefer? Excuse me, but it sounds as if you're suggesting the wand has some sort of cognitive ability or such."

"Oh, most certainly, the wand chooses the Wizard, or in this case witch, Ms. Wood. I expect you'll do very well in the future."

Elizabeth didn't really know how to respond, finally resorting to a simple, "Thank you, Sir," as she paid for her new wand.

Perhaps even partner.

Elizabeth exited the store, her wand clutched carefully to her chest in its box, to find her mother waiting outside; her arm was oddly behind her back, as though she was attempting to hide something.

"How did it go, dear?" Elizabeth felt taken back by the sudden endearment, making it difficult for her to gather her thoughts in a coherent response.

"Um…I think it went well. I got a wand, so…"

"Good. I- well I have something for you, its sort of a late birthday present, and maybe an apology for being so hard on you recently." Her voice sounded hesitant, as she pulled her arm around. She was holding a silver cage, perched inside was a sleeping owl, its feathers varying shades of grey with black and white details interspersed.

Elizabeth's mouth fell open in shocked wonder, and joy.

Thanks for Reading, reviews would be extremely helpful and appreciated!