A/N: Hello everyone, this is one of my first fics. I was dusting off some files recently, and found this baby, isn't she cute? I want you to give her love, and embrace her as yours, for it belongs to you, wonderful people reading my fic ... And if you R & R, I will give you tons of candy, promise. See? I'm such a nice person ...
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all things related belong to J.K. Rowling, and probably the Warner Bros. I hope they don't get mad at my little new character taking part on the fun ...
Spread your wings and fly!
Chapter One: Belated good news.
Katya Richards undid her black-leather belt, and pulled off her trousers, of a military style. Upon folding them carefully, she shoved them into her bag, with the rest of her provisions, which consisted in a complete set of make-up, some canned food (not the best in the world, mind you), the customary set of clothing for a chic camping girl, and a polished, black wooden stick. She was proud of her witch heritage, but wouldn't let her friends at school know about it. Her mother had passed out recently, leaving her the burden of the secret. Katya had never known her father.
Shaking this gloomy thoughts off her head, she untied the strings of her white-silk top, and let it slide down to her ankles. Her once-skinny body had grown up quite a good bit on the last year, and she was about to turn fifteen in a very good shape. Upon shaking her head a bit, her waist-lenght hair fell loose from the hairpin and covered her bare back like a cloak, brushing gently against her panties. A black, sleek cloak, backgrounded by a pearly-white skin. Carefully, she shoved her outfit into her bag, and checked that she wasn't seen, and came out from behind the old oak, and slipped into the lake. At first, the cold water bit her toes, but she plunged on and sunk into it, eyes closed tightly as it brushed all over her with the feeling of a thousand needles sticking into her flesh.
And then, it was paradise. She swam in circles, in and out of it, refreshing her head from the midday sun, and washing her sweaty body from pale face features to small and delicate feet. If there was one element she loved in the world, it was water.
"Katie, you've got mail!"
Ashlee's clear voice came from inside the hut. Katya raised her head, and waved at her best friend. Ashlee was the kind of girl you could trust. She was funny and a bit quirky, but she would never let down a friend. It had been difficult for Katya to stay on school, as the dead of her mother had brought such distress to her, but thanks to Ashlee, she had found a good reason to continue her education.
"Coming!" Answered Katya, and swam back to shore, to where her stuff was, looking around to see that no one saw her coming out the water half-naked. Luckily, only the barfs of Spinner, Ashlee's one-year old golder retriever denounced any kind of presence, and Katya could come out of the water, soaking wet. She wrapped a towel on her hair, and wrapped herself on another one, and after picking all her stuff, headed back into Ashlee's aunt's hut.
It had been a great idea to go there for summer vacation, she thought. All the things she needed to be calm and quiet. A large extension of grass around the lake, on which she could run herself exhausted, or just sit down under the old oak's shadow, and day-dream, surrounded by a little pine forest. It was peace in its purest form, she thought. And the hut was very comfortable and homely. One could forget about the world outside completely, and Katya loved it. She loved to sit around, watching Ashlee's Aunt Martha labouring on her toils, and help her if needed. It made her feel safe to be useful, to have someone who cared. Since her mother had died, Katya had been very miserable ...
"Here, hun." Ashlee handed over a strange kind of paper, folded and sealed like an old-times letter. It looked almost like fabric, or parchment, and the strange symbol of an 'H' was barely distinguishable on the seal.
Katya tore it open, and read. And almost fell on her dismay.
"M-My ... "
"What is it?" Ashlee's caring voice came to rescue Katya. "Katie, you've gone blank! What's the matter?" She said, wrenching Katya's paper from her hands.
Katya didn't know what to do. On the paper, the elegant writing of a man called Albus Dumbledore informed her that her father had died, and that she was his only heiress, back at London.
Things had rushed madly since Katya had gotten the letter. Upon further inspection, Ashlee had found that the letter contained certain instructions for Kate to ' ...find the Portkey that would take you over to London,' or so it said. Ash didn't know what it was, so Kate had to explain it to her. By the way, Kate kept the secret to everyone except Ashlee, as you'll understand ...
Farewell was bitter between the two girls. Ashlee told Katya that she had relatives on the United Kingdom, but she didn't know where exactly, and that as soon as she found out, she'd be flying over to meet with Kate. The girl was very sad, she didn't want to leave her best friend, but it was necessary for her to cash out her fortune. When she had become an orphan, Ashlee's parents had taken her in, but they weren't the richest people in earth, and it had been highly awkward for her to live with them, and seeing them not having enough money to meet their needs, what with another mouth to feed.
So, this fortune she was about to inherit was exactly what she needed to help her friends, for they were more than simple tutors. They were the family she had always wanted, always sticking up to each other. Ashlee had two younger brothers, and one older sister. In weekends, the five of them used to go out to the cinema, or to watch the stuff at the malls. They were always talking about what they would buy if they had a lot of money, and comparing prices on clothes and sport gear. Ashlee's brothers were skaters, and they always complained about their 'babies' and how old they were getting ...
When the girls arrived to the deserted alley where the Porky (as Ashlee called it) was, it was almost sunset. A blurry shape moved in the shadow, and the girls didn't dare approach it.
"What do we do now?" Ashlee asked, looking uneasily around, as the street became suddenly silent.
"Dunno ..." came Katya's response. Had it been someone's idea of a joke, to have them both in a dark alley in the dead of night ... ?
"Forget about it." Katya said. She was older than Ashlee for just one month, but those single thirty days were enough to make her think of how to protect her friend's integrity above all else. "We're not going to compromise our safety-"
Suddenly, the stranger approached them. He looked like an odd-looking beggar, who had put on one of his momma's dresses. Katya didn't think twice, and flipped out her wand, concealed in her pocket as it had been.
"Stop, or I'll make you see pain!" She shouted, slightly afraid. The stranger slowed down, and held his hands up.
"It's OK, I won't hurt you, girls ..." His voice was sweeter than Katya had imagined. The man stopped a couple meters away from them, hands still held high. "You are Katya Richards, right?" He asked Kate, and the girl nodded her affirmation, wand at the ready.
"You've got your father's eyes ..." He said, his voice quavering with emotion, and approached her. This was much more than what Katya wanted to endure, so she waved her wand a bit nervously, and a crack like a whip hit the stranger in the chest; he toppled over and fell backwards, as the girls ran away from him clumsily, threatening to trip over on their rush.
"Wait! I'm going to take you to London!" The stanger's voice echoed through the street, but the girls didn't turn back from their run. Then Katya thougth something had hit her at the back, and she looked around in time to see a large, blunt object shooting towards her, and raised a hand instinctively to cover her face, but as soon as her skin brushed against the object, she felt a tug at her stomach, and the world around her started swirling and turning like a laundry machine ...
"KATYAAAAAA!" Ashlee's high-pitched voice was the last thing she heard before going into unconsciousnes ...