{This is a Harry Potter fan fiction. I will give you all my fair warnings now. This story will contain: mild to extreme OOC- ness, an OC, a few changed events, and a ragged old stuffed rabbit named Gunther. It will not actually contain Harry Potter himself until MUCH later. Those are my warnings, if you don't like any of those facts, DON'T READ! I do not own Harry Potter in any way shape or form, I don't even own any of the books (darn it).}
The Story of Iris
Chapter One
Iris could hear the other kids playing outside. She wanted so badly to join them in their game of tag, but she knew that the chances of getting the padlock on her door unlocked were very small. All Iris could do was sit there, looking out the window of her small bedroom. The orphanage caretaker, Ethel, had locked Iris in her room because Iris had accidentally broken a vase.
"I want to go outside." Iris said to herself quietly, as tears started to form in her eyes. "I didn't mean to make the vase break, I just looked at it." Iris was feeling rather alone, and very sad within the confines of her room. Her only company was a small toy rabbit that she called Gunther. As Iris held onto the little brown toy, she looked around her room. There was an old rocking chair in the corner, a mattress with her ragged blanket and pillow in the other corner, and a hanging rack, that held the few clothes she had, next to the door. There was also a broken mirror against the wall.
Iris walked away from the window and approached the mirror. She the proceeded to examine her reflection. Her long, pale blonde hair was in a very tangled mess, her white dress was very worn and tattered, her feet were bare, because Ethel couldn't afford to get her shoes at the moment. Though, the most striking feature on the ten year old girl, were her big, green eyes. Even though she was crying, one could just see how deeply, forest green they were. Iris's eyes were such a contrast to her pale skin, that it was hard to avoid at least taking a glance at them.
Iris heard footsteps coming towards her room from the hallway. She quickly wiped her eyes dry, and jumped into the old rocking chair just as she heard someone fumbling with the padlock on her door. The padlock clicked, signaling that it was unlocked. The door burst open, bringing in the presence of a large woman with thin, wiry brown hair, beady gray eyes, yellow- ish, old skin, and a nose that looked much like a mushroom. Iris looked up at the woman, whom was Ethel. Ethel was carrying a plate that held half of a sandwich, and a small glass of water.
"Here's your supper, you little twit." Ethel said with a voice that sounded more like nails on a chalkboard than anything else. With that done, she walked out of the room. She slammed the door shut, re- did the padlock, and walked away. Iris waited until she couldn't hear Ethel's footsteps anymore, then she slowly started to eat her sandwich. As she ate, Iris thought about the orphanage.
Ethel's Home for Parent-less Children, that's what the place was called. But it was far from actually being a home. The "home" was nothing more than an old, rickety villa. Nothing in the house was new. Ethel was poor, so that meant that everyone was to make do with what they had. And the only person in the entire house that actually had a last name, was Ethel, no one else had one. Even if at one point you did have a last name, you eventually forgot it. Even Iris didn't have a last name.
Iris didn't remember the day she was brought to the place, and that was because she was abandoned there when she was just a baby. For what was probably the one- millionth time, she thought about what kind of people her parents were, or if they were even alive. She hated living at Ethel's Home for Parent- less Children, and she wondered why her parents would ever abandon her here.
All of a sudden, Iris heard a sound that froze her to the core of her very being. She heard an explosion coming from downstairs in the kitchen. It seemed then, that everything around her fell to dead silence, until the screams from the kids outside started.
"FIRE, THERE'S A FIRE! SOMEONE GET HELP!" Iris heard a boy yelling. Iris froze in terror. She could still hear the other kids screaming, but their screams only made the terror worse for her. Iris knew that the house would burn down quickly because of how old it was. And then a new wave of fear hit her, the door to her room was still padlocked, if she didn't get out of the room somehow, the house would burn down with her still in it. Iris tried to scream, but no sound came out. She got out of the chair and ran to the door, she tried twisting the the doorknob and pushing on the door, but the padlock prevented her from getting out at all. She grabbed Gunther and held on to the toy rabbit.
What should I do? Iris thought to herself. She then saw the window. Holding Gunther tighter to herself, Iris ran over to her window, and opened it. Looking out of her window, Iris remembered that her room was on the second floor of the house, and she had no way down, except for jumping down. Iris turned back around, ready to try the door one more time, when she saw black smoke coming through the bottom of the door. Iris knew then, that the window was her only option.
Iris climbed onto the windowsill, she could see that the kids were gone, probably running to get help, she could see smoke coming from other windows, and then she saw Ethel running out of the house screaming. Ethel didn't even stop, she just kept running farther and farther away. It seemed that Ethel had completely forgotten about Iris.
Iris looked down at the ground below her, she was completely positive that the fall would kill her, but then she heard wood cracking behind her, and she knew that it was her only option. So, holding onto Gunther, Iris closed her eyes, and jumped.
At least, she thought she did.