The Girl Everybody Forgot
By Raekitty13
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. My name is not Jo Rowling… although I wouldn't mind it if you sent her fan mail to me!
Author's Notes: This story is somewhat of an alternate universe considering it could have happened, but it might have changed too many things that JK Rowling has already written. I have been pondering how to write a story like this for a while. Here's how it came out. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter one- Haunting Nightmares"Lori! I told you to stay in the closet! You mustn't come out! You hear me!"
I looked at the woman before me. Her red hair was flying everywhere in her panic. Her green eyes blazing with fear and anxiety.
"You can't come out, no matter what, you hear! Got that? Answer me, Lori!"
I looked at the woman. I was scared now. "Yes, Mummy." I answered.
She pushed me back into the closet and shut the door. It was dark inside; I began squirming as I heard footsteps climbing the stairs. There was a hand on the door handle as it began to turn.
Something wasn't right tonight. Mummy was worried and the air was thick with fear and panic. It was almost suffocating, like the dark surrounding me. It was just waiting for me to let my guard down.
The door opened and I saw black cloak swish into view along with matching chucks.
"Daddy!" I flung myself out of the closet, attaching myself to his left leg.
Daddy would protect me from the monstrous dark in the closet. He wouldn't let anything harm me!
"What the hell are you wearing, James?" Mummy asked glancing at his shoes.
"Chucks, they match my hair!"
"You, Dork!" Mummy replied halfheartedly.
"Lori!" Daddy said looking down at his feet, finally noticing that I was attached. "What are you doing out here?"
"Daddy, why do I have to go into the closet? It's scary in there!"
Daddy and Mummy exchanged glances and then Daddy kneeled down to my height. It took me that long to realize how short I was.
He took my shoulders in his big hands and said, "Lori, we're going to play a game of hide and seek. Where do you think a good place to hide would be?"
I looked at him. His wild, jet-black hair was sticking up everywhere and his brown eyes look scared behind his glasses. I couldn't think of anything so scary about playing hide and seek.
"But, Daddy, the closet?" I asked.
"Please, Lori?"
"Who are we hiding from?"
Daddy didn't answer. "You know the rules, right?" he asked after a short pause.
"I can't make any noises. I have to sit still."
"And the most important one?" Mummy asked holding my baby brother in her arms.
"I can't come out, no matter what."
"Good girl." Daddy said and he kissed me on the top of my head. "I love you, Lori."
Mummy did the same and once again I found myself inside of the closet. It was muggy and hot. I stumbled on the spare shoes as I fought my way back to my special corner.
"Do you think he will come tonight?" I heard my Mum ask.
"Yes, I was for warned by Dumbledore. We should be on the look out."
"James, she doesn't know. She won't understand." Mummy began to cry.
"Lily," Daddy was cradling her in his arms. I didn't understand what she was saying, that much was for sure.
"James, what if we don't make it? What if Lori and Harry don't make it?"
"Shhh." He cooed. "We're gonna make it, Love. I promise. And if we don't, Lori and Harry will be all right."
"James, nobody else knows about Lori. They all think Harry is our first born." Mummy whispered.
What was that supposed to mean?
"She'll be fine. You'll see. We're all going to walk away from this. I mean you have me to protect you all!" Daddy ran his hand through his hair.
Mummy laughed and said, "You still try too hard to impress me, James."
He leaned in and kissed her. "That's because I love you."
Suddenly there was a loud bang and Daddy bolted down the stairs. I panicked. I began to cry out.
Mummy opened the closet and pointed her wand at me. "I'm sorry baby, but it's for your own good. I love you, dear."
"Mummy," I cried reaching out for her.
"Silencio." She murmured twice, once pointing her wand at me and then at baby Harry.
I was still crying but no sound of it came to my ears. Mummy was still crying as well. "Be strong, Lori. You can do this. You're father and I love you dearly."
Suddenly I heard a lot of crashing coming from down stairs. My panic increased. What was Daddy doing down there?
I began to move from the closet again. Mummy saw me and muttered something else.
I was frozen in place. I couldn't move, I couldn't scream and I couldn't breathe, the dark was beginning to suffocate me again. Panic was rising in my veins as I heard Daddy shout down stairs.
Mummy screamed out to him, her heart literally breaking right then and there. Suddenly a light flashed in the keyhole and a man's voice full of dreadful pleasure shouted, "Alohomora!"
I saw a slight change in Mummy. She straightened her back and stood in the middle of the room, Harry clutched in her arms. Her body was facing away from the door, but her face stared out at the man.
"Have mercy! What kind of man kills a one year old?" Mummy asked.
"Me." Replied the man. His voice was haunting and bone chilling. If I had been able to scream it would have died in my throat anyway.
"Have Mercy!" Mummy said again, her voice raising with fear and anger. "He is only a baby!"
"Move out of my way and you shall be spared." He sneered. "This never would have happened if you would have simply joined me."
"I would never join you. Nor shall I move." Mummy spat at his feet and sent a bolt of light from her piece of wood toward him.
"Foolish." He said. He pointed a similar piece of wood at Mummy and sent hers from her hand with out a word. "I'll give you one last chance as was Snape's wish. Join me. Move aside to allow me to kill him."
"Never!" Mummy shouted. "Harry! Harry I love you! Have MERCY! What did we do to you?"
"You defied me. You and that stupid moron of a husband you had."
"Have." Mummy corrected.
"Had. You foolish woman. Do you really think your beloved James Potter could defeat me?" Again his cruel smile was back. "Poor Snape."
"HARRY!"
"Avada Kedavra!" All I saw was a green flash as Mummy fell. I wanted to scream I wanted her to get up off the floor. I wanted her to do something, let me know she was just kidding. This was all still a simple game of hide and seek.My screams went unheard, even to myself, as the man in the room advanced on Baby Harry. His wand pointed at his forehead and again I heard him shout the words with a twisted joy, "Avada Kedavra!"
Suddenly everything went black. My screams were no longer silent but ringing in my ears.
"Mummy get up and help Harry! Mummy get UP! MUMMY!" I shouted over and over again.
I heard someone say something, but I didn't understand them. My blood had run cold. Both my parents and baby Harry had died. What had I done, just standing there? Watching it all unfold.
Suddenly cold hands clamped over my mouth, forcing my eyes open. All I could see was the surrounding darkness. Its suffocating fingers were now wrapping their fingers around me. Finally doing what it had wanted to do all along.
"Cali! Oh, come on Cali!" The fingers moved from suffocating me to holding me. "It was only a dream!"
Again I opened my eyes and through the pale light streaming in through the window all of my surroundings became apparent. I was sitting up in my bed, seven others surrounding me.
All of the girls in my dorm had been waken up by my night terrors, each one sitting up and looking at me with worry. We were all orphans, we where all we had.
My surroundings continued to wake me up to reality. I had no parents. I had no brother. I had no family. I had no name.
"Cali?" One of the girls asked. "Are you OK?"
"I… I," I couldn't answer Jen.
Was I okay? Or was I totally insane?
"What was your dream about, Cali?" the girl beside me asked.
I looked into Haley's face, intending to tell her everything. Ever since I arrived here she had been my best friend. But suddenly I felt the very tentacles of darkness absorbing my dream; bit by bit it became blurry and unclear.
All that I could remember was the fear. It was still chilling my blood I wanted to hurl.
I turned my head away from the girls and threw up. My little supper retching up my sore throat. I gave another dry heave and then turned back to them while wiping my chin with the back of my hand.
My voice was sore from screaming and then vomiting, but I had to tell them. I owed them that much considering I had woken them all up, again.
"I don't remember. It was so clear moments ago." My voice was quiet and raspy. "There were these two adults…"
"You're parents! Cali you were dreaming of your parents!" Alley whispered excitedly.
I had come into this orphanage oddly and all the girls wanted to know where I had come from, who my parents were, why I was here. And I couldn't tell them a single thing about my past.
The last thing I could remember was the day I came here. I was three, sitting outside in the forest when a ginger cat came up to me. He let me pet him and play with him. Then suddenly he disappeared. He came back again and I swore I heard him whisper, "Safety is this way."
I had followed him. Asking him questions only to have them answered in the same manor. He had led me here. Where the mistress took me in out of the kindness of her heart, calling me Cali because I was talking to the Orphanage cat, Rascal, a pretty calico, when she found me.
All of the girls had adopted me at once, amused about what I told them about Rascal. How he liked to hide when adults came in to adopt one of us. And how he liked table scraps. Or being scratched behind the ears.
"I'm not sure." I said. "I can't remember the dream all that well."
"What did these adults look like?" Yasmine asked.
I closed my eyes and tried to visualize them there before me. But no matter how hard I tried they always slipped past my mental, grasping fingers. They were only blurry reflections in a puddle. I would never see them clearly unless I was dreaming.
I simply shook my head. "I don't know. I can't remember… anything."
I knew they were disappointed with me. I couldn't remember anything about who I was before I came here. I was simply the girl who could talk to cats. I was mysterious and these girls wanted to help me solve my mystery, but I wasn't helping them any.
"I'm sorry." I said quietly, hanging my head.
"Don't be." Jasmine, Yasmine's twin replied.
I tried to smile at them but only managed to grimace.
"Come on, you need to change nightgowns." Haley said pulling me from my bed.
I realized why I was so cold; I was covered in sticky, cold sweat. Again fear raised in my belly and spilled out through my mouth.
Haley helped me to change clothes after I finished vomiting for the second time.
"Don't worry, Cali. It was only a dream."
But was it?
Author's Notes: OK that was the first chapter. What do you guys think? It's not really a cliffy… it just ends with a rhetorical question used to make you think and keep you interested in the story. Please Review! I'd really appreciate it!
