A 'Mirrors' Story
Story 4
Part 1
Claire's Narrative
I'm the youngest of four kids. My half-sister, Becky, is 24 and married. My half-brother, Will, is 17. My sister Holly is 14, and I'm 11. Will, Holly and I all attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the finest school of magic in England. Will is in his seventh and final year at Hogwarts, Holly is in her fourth year, and I'll be a first year. As for my mum, well, let's just say that she's very unusual. You see, she's a squib, a person who can't do magic but is born of a wizarding family. As for looks, well, let's say we're all different. Becky has blond hair, and green eyes. Becky is really tall and she's kind of skinny. Will has the same blond hair, but his eyes are blue. He's the average weight and height for his age, nothing special. Holly is short and skinny, with bright green eyes and dark brown hair. As for me, I'm even shorter and skinnier than Holly. I have black hair that is thick and curly. It's impossible to brush, so my hair's always a mess, no matter what. My eyes are brown.
And so, the day begins...........
"Mum!!!!!! I can't find my make-up!" Holly wailed. Typical Holly. Always worried about clothes, boys, make-up, boys, hair, and oh yeah, did I say boys?
"I don't care! We're running late. You don't want to miss the train, do you?" Mum yelled back. Mum always was in a bad mood when it was time for us to go to Hogwarts. I guess that's because she can't do magic.
"No!" Holly wailed. She pounded down the stairs as fast as she could while dragging her trunk. Will and I were right at her heels, which made it even harder for her to get down the stairs.
"Okay, are you all ready?" mum asked grouchily.
"Yes!" we said in unison, ignoring mum's grouchiness. Mum shoed us out to the car.
"I get front!" Will called. Holly groaned. Will always got front.
"Oh well," Holly muttered, I rolled my eyes. Holly was the only person I knew that ever cared about Will always sitting in the front.
"Hey Holly?" I said.
"What?" she snapped back, looking annoyed.
"How do you get sorted into the houses?"
"Well," Holly began, but Will butted in.
"They make you go in the Forbidden Forest and wrestle a troll. When you come out, they look you over and determine what house you should be in. I mean, if you come out in one piece."
"Will!" mum cried, looking at Will with daggers in her eyes.
"They don't really," Holly whispered through her laughter, "he just made that up."
"Thank goodness," I said back. But I still hadn't gotten an answer to my question. How do they sort you into houses? What if you have to do something like an extremely difficult spell? I didn't have any more time to dwell on this, though, because we had just arrived at King's Cross, and I was faced with a new obstacle: Finding and getting onto the platform. We walked in, and the first thing I saw was Platform 9. I glanced to the left of it. There was Platform 8. To it's right was Platform 10. So where was Platform 9 3/4?
"Mum, where's the platform?" I asked. Once again, Will butted in.
"You have to perform an extremely difficult spell. It's really hard. I took forever to get in my first year. I nearly missed the train. Fortunately I caught it just in time," he said, smirking.
"But I don't know any spells," I whined.
"Tough luck. Looks like you aren't going to Hogwarts."
"Oh no!" I cried. Holly and Will burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" I asked, trying my best to sound hurt.
"Claire, you are so gullible!" Holly said.
"Really," Will added.
"You don't really believe that they'd make you do a difficult spell, do you?" Holly asked.
"Well, yes," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
"Good grief, girl! All you have to do is walk through the barrier!" Holly said.
"Oh," I said as I started laughing with Holly and Will.
"Hurry up, you three. You don't want to miss the train, do you?" mum asked for the fifth time. We shook our heads again and passed quickly through the barrier. There before us was a bright red steam engine. We hauled our stuff onto it before kissing mum good-bye and going our separate ways.
"Must find Caroline," Will said. Caroline is Will's girlfriend. Holly muttered something about Lindy before leaving me as well. I just sat down in an empty compartment towards the back of the train. I didn't have to wait long before being joined by a boy my age. He was short and skinny, with bright green eyes and extremely messy black hair. He looked like someone I used to know. But of course, since Dad's death, my family lost contact with other families.
"Hello," he said, "my name's Jake Potter." Potter! Of course! My dad had been best friends with Jake's dad John. That's where I knew him from!
"Claire Black," I said, shaking the boy's hand.
"Black....... Where've I heard that name before? Black, Black............." Jake sat thinking for a few moments. Suddenly he snapped his fingers and said, "I've got it! Sirius Black. That's where I've heard that name before. He was the guy that escaped from Azkaban and got a Dementor's Kiss when they caught him!" Jake looked pleased with himself for remembering. Obviously he didn't realize I was scowling.
"He was innocent," I muttered.
"Well, duh. I know that. My family's known all along. Remember, I'm related to James, Lily and Harry."
"Oh. At least my sister, mum, and I aren't the only ones who know." Jake nodded. He was about to speak when our compartment door slid open. In walked a girl with semi-long light brown hair. Her eyes were a grayish-blue color. She was skinny as well, and slightly taller than me. Of the three of us, Jake was the shortest, but not by much.
"Hello," she said timidly, "I'm Mary Graham Lupin." Another face of the past. She had to have been Olivia's daughter. My mom, Gemma, had been best friends with Olivia. Of course, Mary Graham wasn't expected to remember me. We hadn't seen each other since we were four......... The fire had split our families up even more than dad's death. Dad and Zach had been good friends, but dad was gone. Olivia and mom had been good friends, but Olivia had died in the fire.
"Hello, Mary," Jake said.
"Um, actually my name is Mary Graham. Kind of like Mary Anne," Mary Graham said.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Jake Potter. Pleased to meet you."
"And I'm Claire Black," I said.
"Are you by any chance related to Sirius Black?" I asked. Claire looked shock.
"Well, um, yes," Claire said.
"It's terrible, what happened to him, I mean," I said.
"Yeah," Claire nodded, "and you don't know the half of it," she added quietly.
"I mean, going to Azkaban for nothing, that sucks. And the Dementor's Kiss for nothing! Ugh, he sure got the crappy end of the deal," I said. Claire stared at me.
"How do you........ I mean, who........ How'd you know that?" Claire asked.
"I, er, have some old documents of Remus'," I said.
"You do?" Claire's interest seemed to have perked.
"Yes...... why?"
"Maybe we could...."
"If you're thinking of using them to clear Sirius' name, I wouldn't count on it. Remus was a werewolf, remember?"
"Oh." Claire became silent. She was obviously disappointed. I sighed. I wanted to help her, but there was no way for me to.
I looked out the trains window. The sun was setting, and the sky was beautiful; all different shades, it looked almost like a rainbow. Looking at it made me feel like a little kid again.
~~~~
"Mommy! Help!"
"Mary Graham, it's okay. Climb out the window!"
"But what about you?"
"I'll be fine. Just go!
"But......."
"GO!" The fire raged as I climbed out the window. I ran safely out of harms way, and waited for Mom. But she never came.
~~~~
"Mary Graham, wake up, we're there!" I felt myself being shaken. Slowly I opened my eyes.
"What happened?"
"You fell asleep, that's all," Claire said. I nodded. But I knew better. I was still being haunted by it.
Interlude
"But the girls........."
"Ah, yes. I failed to kill Lupin before, but I shan't this time. As for Black, she shouldn't be too hard. After all, she's related to that fool, Sirius, isn't she?"
"Of course, my lord. But the Potter boy......"
"Alas, I failed to kill his ancestor, but I will not fail on him.
"Of course, my lord."
"Good. Now go."