AN: I'm sorry for not updating in so long. My personal life went through a meltdown. But I'm back! So, on with the story...
DISCLAIMER: The Harry Potter universe is not mine, I only own some of what I've "tweaked." Thanks for reading. Enjoy! :)
Prologue: A Promise
Her dark locks whipped around her in the frigid wind as she gripped the blanket wrapped child to her chest.
"Please," she begged Elizabeth, her ocean eyes glistening with a desperation so great that it would break any heart.
Elizabeth opened the door to the convent wider and quickly ushered the mother and child into its inner warmth, chastising herself for leaving them out in the cold for so long. But she had simply been too shocked at their sudden appearance to think clearly.
She gestured for them to follow her towards the sitting room she had been reading in before she had heard the pounding on the front door. Elizabeth threw a few more logs into the fire and began to prod it in order to strengthen its heat. She stepped a bit back in order to let the woman warm herself and the child before the fire and to study the woman who had once been a dear friend but now seemed a complete stranger.
"Thank you," Jenazi murmured as she warmed the silent babe by the fire.
Elizabeth merely nodded, unable to do more, and continued her study of her old schoolmate. The firelight gave Jenazi's dark hair a red glow but Elizabeth was sure it was still a black so pure it seemed blue in the sunlight, like it had been when they had last seen each other. Her face was still as lovely as ever, but upon closer inspection, Elizabeth noticed the new hollows of her eyes, the sharpness of her cheekbones, and the harsh hold of her jaw that transformed the woman before her from the Jenazi she had once known, to someone more reminiscent of a ghost then of an actual human being.
Elizabeth wrapped her arms around herself and moved her gaze away from Jenazi's face to the rest of her. Jenazi's knelt position before the fire and her bulky cloak left her unable to see the rest of her and made her wonder how much weight she had lost if her friend's face was any indication. Jenazi had always had a lean figure and if she had lost a lot of weight, it could endanger her health as well as the health of the child in her arms.
She frowned at the thought of the child. It had been unnaturally quiet, especially for a baby. Perhaps it was asleep? Elizabeth wondered to herself, her gaze drifting to the baby cradled in Jenazi's arms.
She froze when she saw Jenazi draw her sleeve back in order to brush back the child's dark hair.
What?
Elizabeth thought to herself, unable to look away from the scars that adorned what could be seen of Jenazi's arm. What else is she hiding beneath that cloak?
What happened?
Elizabeth thought in horror as she studied her old friend in a desperate search for clues. She needed to know what had become of her the two and a half years since Elizabeth had last spoken to her. What had happened that would leave her with so many scars.
"Even a snake has needs." Jenazi whispered in a voice so cold it sent shivers of fear across Elizabeth's back. Jenazi simply stared lifelessly into the flames, the world around her seemingly forgotten.
Elizabeth tightened her arms around herself afraid beyond reason to ask what Jenazi had meant and hoping she had not unconsciously spoken her other thoughts out loud as well.
She wasn't sure she could stand hearing the truth.
"What's the baby's name?" She asked instead in a quivering voice, changing the subject as quickly as she was able.
Jenazi blinked and looked at the child in her arms with a loving smile that radiated with warmth and demolished the cold that had existed before.
"Her name is Leliel Diane Blairia." she told Elizabeth as she stood and walked towards her, never taking her eyes away from her daughter.
Elizabeth couldn't help but smile at the baby girl in Jenazi's arms, her previous fear forgotten at the warmth of love emanating from her friend. It reminded her of her old playful and happy friend.
If Elizabeth had wondered for a single moment whether the child was Jenazi's, she no longer had a sliver of doubt at the sight of Leliel's wide open blue-green eyes. Eyes that reminded the beholder of the never ending ocean under a brilliant blue sky. Ocean eyes. Identical to Jenazi's. The baby gave Elizabeth a toothless grin and stretched a small hand towards the bronze lock of hair over Elizabeth's shoulder. She gave a small laugh and let the tiny fist grab her finger instead of her hair.
"Her sister will be named Assiel Sophia." Jenazi told Elizabeth as she gazed at her daughter with a sad smile.
Elizabeth started and stared at Jenazi in confusion. "Sister?"
Jenazi shifted a bit and her cloak opened, revealing what had been hidden before.
"Betty," Jenazi whispered, snapping Elizabeth out of her stupor. She had been staring at Jenazi's pregnant belly in shock but her gaze immediately flew up to Jenazi's as the old nickname she had not heard in years was whispered softly.
"Assiel will be born soon. Will you, please, promise me to take care of my girls? At least until they have found a new home?" Jenazi asked earnestly, grabbing Elizabeth's hand and holding it tightly against her. Her eyes holding Elizabeth's with their intensity and the same desperation she had heard in her voice when she had opened the convent door and seen Jenazi standing outside.
It was the flickering spark of hope in her eyes that kept Elizabeth from asking why the girls needed her when their mother was right before her. It was that single spark in eyes that held too much pain that had her nodding her head and softly replying, "I promise."
