A/N: Like I said before, this is a completely redone version of After All These Years. I'm hoping to go into more depth with Levina's backstory, make her a more well-rounded character, and do longer, more developed writing (at least, that's the goal). So whether you've read my series before, or just stumbled across this now, I hope you all enjoy!
Levina Snowpetal stirred beneath her plush plum covers with a low groan, her face pressed firmly into the pillow (which left its intricate pattern behind on her face). Muffled by the walls, the voice of her cousin, Anna, hollered to her from the adjoining flat bedroom, urging her for the third time to come down for breakfast.
Anna Turner took care of Levina with the utmost basic care a parent could provide—she kept a roof over her head, fed her, and clothed her. Apart from the absolute essentials, however, Levina was more of a stranger than anything else, a ghost inhabiting the ruddy apartment, just drifting on by.
Not that anyone could blame Anna. The woman was in her late twenties, and before Levina had been thrust forcefully into her life, she had had absolutely no intention of having children of her own. At the time, she was hell-bent on pursuing a career in medicine, fresh out of high school and ready to take the world by its horns and throw herself into her studies. Of course, when her cousin Nadia (whom she had never even met more than once at a casual gathering) and her husband Rick's baby ended up on her doorstep, those plans changed.
Anna herself had been abandoned as a young girl, in and out of foster care her whole life, so she was the only living relative of Levina. She was never fond of kids (a kind understatement, really), and wanted nothing to do with Levina. Still, feeling it was her duty, she cared for the child at the bare minimum, forever hating the girl for stealing away her future. Now she worked a mundane desk job, taking online classes in an attempt to try and rekindle the past. Together they lived in a shoddy, two-bedroom flat in Watford, United Kingdom, rarely exchanging little more than strained pleasantries.
Levina kept her father's surname, Snowpetal (a very silly name, really, that earned her much grief from her fellow classmates—but it was the only connection she had to her departed parents, and wore it proudly), which was, quite frankly, more than fine with Anna, who saw it as another way to keep their relationship (if you could even call it that) severed.
"Levina!" Anna called again, her voice strained with effort, irritable. "If your food goes cold, you're eating it as is."
Levina winced; she was quite susceptible to sound, and Anna's shouts were more like yelling into her eardrums. With another exhausted moan, Levina dragged herself from her bed and padded barefoot into the tiny kitchen, where Anna leaned against the nearest counter, guzzling tea. Sausage, beans, and runny eggs decorated a small plate on the counter, and Levina filled herself her own cuppa before setting to work on her meal.
As usual, silence lingered between them, and within a few minutes of Anna wolfing down her food, the older woman grabbed her car keys, downed the rest of her tea, thumbed through the mail, and was about to hurry wordlessly out the door when something gave her pause. She turned over one of the crisp letters in her hands, a puzzled look on her face, before tossing it aside with a scoff.
"What is it?" Levina piped up, against her better judgment; she knew Anna preferred to pretend she didn't exist, so it was always risky to engage her in conversation.
As she expected, Anna flashed her a sour look. "It looks like a letter from some private school. I'm already paying enough as it is for a public education for you, and I've told the places in the district to stop mailing us."
Heaving a sigh, she headed once again for the door, the sound of her keys turning in the lock preceding a deafening silence. Levina set down her fork with a soft clink, her eyes roaming the mail-scattered counter. Rising to her feet, curiosity getting the better of her (even knowing that she would just be tormenting herself by looking at it), she plucked up the letter and turned it over in her hands.
It read: HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY, closed shut with a red wax seal. Levina snorted. Apparently, "school" was all Anna had really read, and was enough to make her dismiss the letter. Had she seen the actual name, she'd have known it was some kind of scam.
Still, she had nothing better to do with her Saturday, so she returned to her seat and peeled back the seal. The inside contents read:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Ms. Snowpetal,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Perhaps it wasn't a scam so much as a school getting creative with its acceptance letters, Levina mused, flipping the page over. The back consisted of a list of things required for classes, as well as course books, uniforms, and optional pets. At this point, Levina was certain it was either just an elaborate hoax or a humorous, creative invite to a real school.
Not that either one mattered. With a shrug, Levina tossed the envelope aside and took her dishes to the sink, having already lost interest in the letter.
…
The following Sunday evening found Levina curled up at her desk chair, reading Mrs. Dalloway for the third time. She had a very small collection of books to her name, but most texts she simply borrowed from the nearest library. She had little else in her room, but her pet cat, Lilypad, provided some company.
Levina had found the kitten in the streets on the way to school, back when she was five. Anna was livid when she found out, saying they barely had the funds to feed themselves, let alone a cat, but after a lot of wailing, pleading, and heated yelling, she had reluctantly let her keep it, so long as she used her small monthly allowance to feed and care for it. As far as Anna was concerned, if it kept her busy and out of her way, then it was worth keeping around.
The sleek black cat dozed on her windowsill, rumpled slightly from running around outside earlier that day. The wind howled outside, and fat splotches of rain idly pattered against the window.
"'And the sky,'" Levina read aloud, as though to fill the silent room with some false companionship, "'It will be a solemn sky, she had thought, it will be a dusky sky, turning away its cheek in beauty. But there—'"
A booming knock at the front door jolted her, popping her back into reality. She set the book face down on the desk, turning her head and straining to listen. Anna was out at the grocery store, and had always instructed Levina to never answer the door on her own, so she remained stiffly in her seat, waiting for the solicitor to leave.
Again, a thunderous knock echoed throughout the flat, and still, Levina ignored it. They'd just have to come back later.
As a moment of silence passed, Levina picked up her book again, slowly immersing herself back into the contents. But the moment she began to take in the words at the top of the page, there was a heart-stopping CRASH!
Levina stifled a shriek and sprung up from her chair, retreating to the nearest corner of her room, and Lilypad hissed and dove beneath the bed. It had sounded as though someone had actually broken down the front door, forcing it from its hinges. Enormous footfalls followed. Heart racing, Levina grabbed the only weapon available to her—a heavy dictionary—and wielded it before her, backing away until she pressed up against the window. She footsteps were drawing closer, THUD, THUD, THUD, and her mind spun. Should she try to run? Hide? Fight back? Who was there? What did they—?
With no lock on her bedroom door, it opened with ease, and a towering figure entered, just barely squeezing through the doorway. Levina screamed openly this time and thrust her book forward, but the huge man simply brushed away the attack with a meaty hand.
At a loss for what to do, Levina stood frozen in terror, petrified. As the man stepped closer, and the moonlight lit up his face, she finally got a good look at him. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.
"'Ello!" he greeted in a gruff, loud voice. Levina tripped back over her own feet, falling on her arse. "Well lookit yeh, Levina! All grown up, eh? Blimey, is' like ya don't even remember me," he added, stooping to pick up the dictionary she'd thrown at him. "Not that I expected ya to er anythin', since you was only a baby at 'th time."
He strode toward her immobile form with utmost confidence, beaming broadly. "Yeh look jus' like ya parents. Mostly yer mum, but ya dad's eyes, fer sure…"
Levina balked at him, head cocked to one side and face chalky white. "Do…Do I know you?"
"Not entirely." Chuckling, the giant thrust out one of his huge hands. "Sorry to give yeh a bit of a scare there, Levina. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."
Levina didn't take his hand, remaining sprawled out on the floor, bemused. "I don't understand."
"Wus not ter understand? Yer the second kid this month ter act all serhprised ter see me. Yeh do know abouts Hogwarts, don' ya?"
Levina blinked, sluggishly registering his question. "You mean…uh, that fake school-thing I got in the mail? Did you send me that?"
Hagrid stared back at her, now looking equally confused. "Now jus' what would make yeh think Hogwarts isn't real? 'Is jus' as much a real school as Beauxbatons or Castelobruxo, no matter wut yeh've been told."
Only about a quarter of what this man said registered in Levina's head. "I'm afraid you've got the wrong person." Or you're barking mad. "I really have no clue what you're talking about."
"Yeh don'—" Hagrid's face suddenly reddened with building rage, and Levina shrunk back, afraid she'd said the wrong thing. "Now wait jus' a bloody second! Are yeh meanin' ter tell me that yer cousin hasn't told yeh any of it?"
"Any of what?" Levina demanded, her interest suddenly piqued.
"Fer cryin' out loud!" Hagrid boomed. "Whas' with these ruddy relatives not tellin' their kids nothin'?" he added to himself in a frustrated grumble. Running his hands through his scruffy hair, and looking about ready to yank it all out, he continued, "Yeh really don' know what yeh are?"
"Um…human?" Levina offered.
At that, Hagrid chuckled, the anger dissipating some. "Well, yes, yer that, but didn' no one tell ya that yer also a witch?"
Levina was taken aback by that. "Excuse me? That's not a very nice thing to call someone."
"No, I mean yer a real witch! A female wizard—magic an' all that, y'know."
"Uh." Levina parted her lips, but no words followed. Finally, mustering up her courage, she answered, "Witches aren't real. Unless you mean the ones back from the 15th century, but even then it's debatable."
Hagrid looked appalled. "They are mos' certainly real!" he argued. "I jus' figured yer cousin woulda told yeh all those, bein' a Squib an' all…"
"A squid?" Levina certainly agreed with that much.
"A Squib. Witches an' wizards that can' do magic, y'know? Blimey, I can' believe she never told yeh…Yeh think she'd be proud, given yer parents bein' famous an' all…"
"Famous?" Levina shook her head. "You definitely have me confused with someone else. My parents were biologists. They died in a plane crash."
"PLANE CRASH!" Hagrid was positively livid now, massive hands balled into fists. "Plane crash, car crash—was' with these ruddy stories? Is' outrageous is wha' it is! There'd be no way a plane could kill Nadia an' Rick Snowpetal! They were heroes, an' you never even knew wha' happen'd."
"What—what did happen? What are you talking about?"
At that moment, Anna's blonde head poked into the room, peering around Hagrid's waist. "Excuse me!" she yelled, worming her way into the bedroom. "Just what exactly is going on here? You'd better be prepared to pay for that front door!"
What startled Levina the most was how calm Anna was, given the situation. A giant of a man stood in the middle of her apartment, breaking and entering, and she was solely concerned with the expenses for the door? Could this night get any stranger? She was definitely dreaming.
"A PLANE CRASH!" Hagrid roared, turning on Anna, who paled. "Yeh told Levina her parents died in a plane crash? You didn' tell 'er about anythin'?"
"It's none of your business, giant," Anna snarled, hands on her hips, but her skin had lost its color and she was visibly sweating. "I don't know who you are, but I worked very hard to keep this all under wraps, and I won't have you—"
"You knew?" Levina yelped, feeling her heart sink in her chest. "You—I'm really a-a—you knew?" she spluttered.
Anna's face now turned cardinal. "How much did you tell her?" she demanded angrily of Hagrid.
"Only th' truth!" Hagrid boomed back.
"I'm a witch?" Levina interjected, striding forward with a considerable amount more courage than she'd had previously. "This is a joke, isn't it? He said you're a—a Squib? What did he mean, Anna?"
Anna reddened further, her lips pursed as she looked away in shame. "No, it's not a joke. I wish it was, though—this was one part of my life I wanted to forget, and you've ruined it," she bit back viciously.
"What are you talking about?" The wheels were turning in Levina's head, becoming a jumbled mess of questions.
Looking between her and Hagrid, Anna wilted, defeated. "My mother was your mum's sister, Abigail Hart," she grumbled reluctantly after a pause. "They never got on well, apparently, because she was biased about pureblooded wizards. So when she gave birth to a Squib, she and my dad left me for dead." Turning away with a deep look of scorn, Anna folded her arms across her chest. "I never knew much about the Wizarding World and wanted to keep things that way. And it worked for eighteen years, until you showed up."
Levina was, if possible, even more lost than before. "Wait, are you saying I'm really a witch? And that—and that you knew all along?"
"Well it's not exactly easy to forget if I'm stuck here with you going around casting spells!" Anna snapped back. "I never asked to have you in my life. And I already had enough to deal with without being forced to remember that you have everything I didn't!" Flashing Hagrid a menacing look filled with hot tears, she added, "I don't give a damn anymore. If you want to take her off to some magic school, fine! One less thing to deal with. Just leave me out of it." With that, she stormed from the room, leaving a stunned silence in her wake.
"I…" Levina began after a long moment, swallowing hard. "If I'm really…a witch, as you said—and this is all actually happening—then what really happened with my parents?" She wasn't sure what to believe at this point, and still couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that this maybe wasn't just some a cruel joke, but regardless of what it was, she had to know more.
Hagrid sighed heavily, rubbing the back of his neck as he moved to sit on the edge of her bed, which sank and strained under his weight. "It begins, I suppose, with—with a person called—but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows…Well—I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does."
"How come?"
"Gulpin' gargoyles, Levina, people are still scared. Blimey, this is difficult. An' I've already had to 'splain this once this month…See, there was this wizard who went... bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was..."
Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.
"Yes?" Levina prompted.
"Voldemort." Hagrid shuddered. "Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this—this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em, too—some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right. Dark days, Levina. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches... terrible things happened. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him—an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway.
"Now, yer mum an' dad were some of the kindest hearts and best wizards an' witches I ever met. Jus' a pair of great people, really—powerful bu' humble. Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before... probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side.
"Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em... maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the town where you was all living, jus' before Halloween ten years ago. You was not even a year old. He came ter yer house an'—well, an'—"
Hagrid suddenly stopped to pull out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound like a foghorn.
"Sorry," he said. "I've already had to tell a similar story recently, but it doesn' make it any easier 't tell yeh…I knew yer mum an' dad, an' they were jus' great people. 'Specially yer mum, had one o' the biggest hearts I'd ever seen—You-Know-Who killed 'em. First yer mum. Yer dad took yeh away, left yeh with Anna—but he returned, so tha' You-Know-Who wouldn't track 'im down, an' he was killed, too.
"But the reason yer famous is 'cos of why he went after ya in the firs' place. There was somethin' about yeh—somethin' few knew, somethin' I don' even know to this day—that drew him to yeh. Some kinda rare power, somethin' passed down to yeh from a distant relative down the bloodline—somethin' You-Know-Who-Wanted to get his hands on. Yer known in the wizardin' world 'cos no one today really knows wha' it was he wanted, 'cept maybe Dumbledore."
Levina could only look on at Hagrid with a kind of sadness, an aching in her bones she could not quite comprehend…His words brought on a pain in the pit of her heart, a tightening of her chest, a sort of…remembrance? It was impossible for her to recall something from so long ago, and yet…
"Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this place…I knew 'bout yer cousin bein' a Squib an' all, I just never imagin'd she'd…well…" He trailed off, glancing at the doorway Anna had raged out through.
But Levina, as bad as it likely sounded, was more concerned with Hagrid's story. "But I'm not powerful…I've never even done magic. And what happened to You-Know-Who?"
"He disappeared. Few nights after what happened with yeh, he went after a boy named Harry Potter. He's about as famous as they come in the wizarding world—'The Boy Who Lived," they call 'im. You-Know-Who tried to kill 'im, but he couldn't. Harry was the only one ter ever survive. An' You-Know-Who'd killed a 'lotta powerful wizards, but for whatev'r reason, it didn' work on Harry. Big myst'ry.
"But after tha' inciden', he vanished. Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die. Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it. People who was on his side came back ter ours. Some of 'em came outta kinda trances. Don' reckon they could've done if he was comin' back.
"Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on. 'Cause somethin' about Harry finished 'im. There was somethin' goin' on that night he hadn't counted on—I dunno what it was, no one does—but somethin' about Harry stumped him, all right."
So at least she wasn't the only one, then. It sounded awful to even think, but knowing that she wasn't alone—nor the most famous of this "wizarding world"—brought her some comfort. Even so, she wasn't so sure any of this was true. How could she be a witch? And one of the most "powerful" ones at that?
"But it's like I said, Hagrid. I've never even done magic before."
"Are yeh sure, Levina? Yeh never made things happen when you was scared or angry? Somethin' like that?"
Levina was about to correct him, but the more she thought about it, things began to click into place. There were instances in her life when she had done things she couldn't quite explain…She'd become impossible to find when Anna wanted her to take baths or do chores, things broke on their own when she was having a tantrum (which Anna had told her was "just a ghost" that did things when Levina was behaving badly, which terrified her when she was little), and she recalled Anna chastising her for things that were out of control, things she insisted she hadn't done…
As though he had seen the change in her eyes, Hagrid chuckled once more. "Yer puttin' two an' two together now, aren't 'cha? Well, best get some sleep, eh? We've still got sum shoppin' ter do early tomorrow. Already went there meself with Harry himself fairly recently," he added with an almost prideful beam.
"Shopping?" Levina parroted. "For what?"
"Well school supplies o' course! Yeh do want to go ter Hogwarts, don't yeh?"
Levina grinned, butterflies fluttering pleasantly in her stomach. If this was really all just a dream, then what was the harm in going along with it?
"Yes. Yes, I do."