"HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALETTA!"
Confetti, balloons, streamers and pixie dust went flying, covering each and every one us from head to toe. Aletta's cake was three feet high with two layers, buttercream pink frosting designed to have edible flowers blooming from here and there, and on the inside was pure vanilla goodness, all flawlessly made for her eighth birthday.
"Van, you're totally covered in pixie dust." Lydia laughed, brushing off a long streamer that had caught in her hair.
"I'm not the only one." I smiled, picking off the extra confetti in Aletta's dress.
Beside us, there was a towering pile of large presents, all beautifully wrapped, topped with giant bows and in bright vivid colors.
"May I open them now, Daddy?" Aletta asked him, standing up and looking over at them.
Looking away from the conversation he was having with Mr. Serpance and Mr. Malfoy, he nodded and smiled, chuckling.
"Go ahead dear. Open them all, but make sure you - "
"Yes, I'll thank everyone." She giggled, running over to the first one, which was a tall orange wrapped one with a fairly big blue bow.
I rushed over to check the tag before she ripped it to shreds. It was from the Malfoy's. Taking a step back, I watched as she struggled to pull off the bow, and Draco walked over in his nice black clothes, tugged gently at the end of the ribbon and the box fell away elegantly.
Inside was revealed to be a new miniature Nimbus Two Thousand and One, being held up by a polished stand. To my left, my Mother began thanking Narcissa, who was telling her that it wasn't necessary. I could hear my father doing the same, while Lucius was saying it was the newest model and he had it made for her especially.
I gave Aletta a nod and she went to give thanks, and I looked at Draco and shook my head, smiling. He was looking smug.
"That was a very nice present, Draco." I said, thanking him.
"It was nothing really. I've got my own at home." He said, puffing out his chest a bit.
Holding back the temptation to roll my eyes in the same room as my parents, I chuckled and looked at Crabbe and Goyle, who were stuffing their faces with food while their mothers were frowning disapprovingly.
I felt a tap on my shoulder and saw that it was Lydia, who had a triumphant smirk on and was holding a lovely medium sized box in her hands. Once she noticed I was watching, she went and sauntered off to Aletta, giving her the gift and patting her head. Interested, I saw her open it and there was a large silver hair brush, with a delicately carved handle.
"Ta-da!" Lydia giggled, waiting for an excited reaction. All she got was a puzzled look from Aletta and a scoff from Draco.
"Really? Like, here, watch." She huffed when no one reacted. "It's an Insta-Style Brush."
Taking the brush and turning Aletta around, she separated her raven hair into two parts. Then, on one, she brushed the hair down and it became instantly straighter and shinier. She did the same on the left, but instead it bounced and curled itself up into gentle locks of curled hair.
The mothers all clapped and smiled.
"What a lovely gift for her, Lydia." My mother said, admiring it.
"How very sweet." Narcissa agreed, smiling.
"That's actually really nice." I pointed out.
Aletta became instantly overjoyed once she understood and took the brush, taking turns changing the styles of her hair.
"I knew she'd like it." Lydia sighed proudly.
Afterwords, Crabbe and Goyle presented her with several books that popped to life and played out on the pages, which Aletta loved, and the parents gave her extra clothes. Finally, it was my turn.
"Just one more gift." I said, snapping my fingers.
Skibby popped to my right and I looked down at him.
"Her present. Now." I ordered, and he nodded, then silently disappeared, only to come back several seconds later.
He was holding a large golden cage with an emerald velvet cloth over it. Flutters came from inside and Aletta jumped to me, giving me a hug.
"Thank you-thank you-thank you!" She squealed, hardly keeping still.
"You don't even know what's in it yet!" I laughed, putting her on the floor. "It's a rat."
Her smile flickered and Lydia elbowed me.
"That's so not a good thing to like, give a kid!" She hissed.
Placing my hand on the top of the cloth, I smirked and shrugged my shoulders.
"I suppose you're right...I hope this is better then."
I yanked the emerald cover off, and a white and toffee colored barn owl was shown, pecking at its feathers and hooting.
"You're always playing with Tawn, so I decided to go get you your own." I said, seeing the look of joy on her face.
"Vanice, that is so thoughtful of you." My father praised.
"What are you going to name it?" Asked Lucius kindly.
"I'll name it...Bartholomew." She giggled, coming up with the most creative name.
Everyone laughed, and the dinner ended, but not the party. The parents went off to speak in private, Aletta went to play with her new toys with Tawn and Dember, and the five of us walked to my room, making jokes and eating cake.
"Don't drop any, Goyle." I warned, sitting next to Lydia on my bed.
"I won't."
"Well I have something important to say." Draco announced, taking his last bite of the buttercream cake.
We looked at him for a while, waiting for him to speak when Lydia groaned.
"Are you going to like, say anything?" She said, crossing her arms.
"Of course not!" He scoffed. "This is so important, that it needs to wait so the tension will build."
"That doesn't make sense." Said Crabbe, putting his empty plate beside the rest.
"I want tarts..." I murmured, tapping my chin. "SKIBBY!"
Not noticing I had made everyone jump, I smiled as my house elf appeared with a platter of fresh tarts.
"H-here you go Miss C-Crypton." He stammered, placing the platter on my glass table and picking up the dirty plates. "An-n-nything e-else?"
"That's all. You can leave."
"Can you believe we're going back to school in like a week?" Lydia asked us, taking a tart and biting into it.
"Don't even remind me Lydia." Draco said, sitting down on my white couch.
"Why is that?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Like, because Dobby hasn't been there when Dracey like needs something." Lydia explained, looking at her nails. "And that totally gets him worried and mad, 'cause who will pack his stuff?"
As I was about to make the point that house elves are around for that, there was three soft knocks at my door and I quickly knew who it was.
"Come in, Aletta." I told her.
Holding out the arm that her owl was perched on, she swiftly walked in and closed the door behind her, making the grand impression she was hiding something.
"What's like, wrong?" Lydia asked her, laying her head on my lap.
"Guess what I heard our Mum's and Dad's talking about?" She asked us, giggling and lowering her voice.
"What?" Said Goyle.
"Well," she said, kneeling down on my rug. "I really didn't catch the whole part...but it's another plan for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."
We all stayed silent in surprise. She wasn't supposed to know anything about him. Or about any of the plans. Once we had gotten home after our first year, my mother and father had told me that they were very proud of what I had done for The Dark Lord. That I was on my way to make the family name known. I just nodded and smiled, though I wasn't a hundred percent sure what they were referring to. Afterwords, I was told that I was only to listen to Snape and Archidia; only mix into the plans unless they told me to; to keep my nose clean and stay sly.
And to make sure all of this was kept secret from anyone that wasn't the Malfoy's, Serpance's, Goyle's or Crabbe's.
So naturally, if I was told all of this in such a broad and undetailed manner, I would've expected for Aletta not to know anything at all. Then again, she is a very bright girl and only so much of the activity that goes on will go unnoticed by her in our Manor.
"If you want to know more, they're still talking about it. You can hide in corridor next to the lounge. That's where they're talking." Aletta continued, petting Bartholomew. "And I won't say anything. I promise."
"Thank you Alett. You can go play now." I told her, smiling.
"Sure thing!"
She skipped out, closing the door behind her and leaving us wondering.
"Should we?" Draco asked, standing up, looking excited.
"I totally want to know." Said Lydia, getting off me and looking at the door.
"Us too!" Said Crabbe and Goyle in unison.
"Then it's settled." I said smirking, going to the door and opening it. "Follow me."
Making sure no one was in the halls, I sprinted to the corridor that led to the lounge with the rest of them at my heels. As we got there, I saw that there was only a small area for us to listen through the wall. Two large pedestals were restricting our space and if we tried to move them, we would risk making too much noise and getting caught.
"What're we going to do?" Crabbe whispered.
"Vanice can like sit on someone's lap. She's like the smallest one." Lydia said, kneeling near the wall.
"Am not." I huffed, crossing my arms.
"You are." Draco said smiling, sitting down behind Lydia.
"Sit on Draco's lap." Goyle suggested. "Crabbe and I have to stand for us to hear."
I could feel the heat rise in my cheeks and I didn't dare glance at Draco. Instead, I sucked in some air and shrugged, not looking back.
"Well alright. Just don't complain that I'm heavy Draco."
And with that I quickly sat down on his crossed legs, trying to stay still and listen to the voices behind the wall. Underneath me, I felt him become rigid, slowly relax, the lean against the wall, keeping his hands away from me.
"...The Diary was kept in a safe place I assure you all..." Lucius' voice said.
The sounds were muffled and quiet.
"... -ruxe. Once it's taken a life, it will become more than just a memory."
"But who will be the person to be sacrificed?" My father's voice asked.
"Someone who is gullible enough."
"The plan is settled. Leave the Diary in here, we cannot risk anything happening to it." Lydia's mother advised.
There were footsteps, indicating that they were leaving the lounge, and we pressed against the pedestals and each other, praying that they wouldn't be able to see us. This was not the way I wanted to die, and I surely would if my parents found out I was spying on them.
"The children are with Vanice." My mother told the parents, leading them all downstairs.
Once they were at the staircase, which was around the corner of the corridor, Lydia stood up and began tip-toeing to the lounge.
"What are you doing?" I hissed.
"I want to see that Diary. Duh." She said, then looked back and smirked. "You two seem cozy."
Confused, I looked down and the heat in my face rose. Unknown to me, Draco had wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him, most likely when our parents had walked out to make sure we weren't seen. He immediately dropped his arms and shoved me off, making me fall onto the hardwood floor.
"Ow!" I said, trying to keep my voice down. The embarrassment I felt was slowly descending and being filled up with anger. "What was that for?"
"Nothing." Draco muttered behind me, standing up and walking to Lydia. He hissed something angrily to her and walked into the lounge, leaving her with a surprised expression on her face.
Crabbe and Goyle exchanged looks quickly, then walked over to help me up.
"Thank you." I mumbled, crossing my arms.
I followed them all in, still confused and irritated. Caught off guard due to the lights all off, I bumped into Lydia and fell back onto a couch, groaning in annoyance.
"What's wrong?" I asked, staying on the couch.
"Like, where's the lights?"
Rolling my eyes, I sighed and snapped my fingers. The lounge was illuminated by a small handful of candles that were place around the wall. Now that there was light, you could see that in the middle of the room was a wooden table. And on top of the was an old small book with a black shabby cover.
"Want to bet that's the Diary?" Draco said, looking at it from a distance.
"You're all acting like it's totally going to bite you." Lydia giggled, walking towards the table to pick it up and examine it. "It's fifty years old!"
"How do you know?" Asked Crabbe.
"It's says so, dummy. On the cover. See? It's like fading." She said pointing it out.
"It doesn't seem so special." Commented Goyle.
"You never know." Draco spoke up. "Father says that some of the books the Ministry's confiscated are dangerous but they seem perfectly fine."
"Well then we'll like never know..." Lydia pouted, turning the Diary around in her hands.
Getting impatient, I snatched it from her hands and opened it, looking for any writing. All there was in the entire book was a name, T.M. Riddle, written in smudged ink on the first page.
"Just a name." I told them, raising an eyebrow.
"That can't be just it." Draco said, putting his arms on his hips.
Ignoring him, I gave it back to Lydia.
"See for yourself."
After it was passed around and proven to be empty, I noticed a quill on the table with a bottle of ink. It seemed freshly used.
"But..." I mumbled, confused.
Picking up the quill, I took the Diary from Goyle and sat down on my knees, prepared to write when Lydia tugged at my elbow.
"What are you doing?! If they see that we wrote anything we're so dead!" She exclaimed, her eyes as big as saucers.
"But it was freshly used, and where else is there paper?" I told her, keeping the quill above the paper.
By sheer luck, I saw in slow motion the drop of ink that was close to dripping fall onto the page of the Diary, and everyone took in an deep breath of fear. It made a small blot and just as I was about to close the cover, I saw the ink shine on the page for a second or so, and then as though it was being sucked into the paper, vanished.
"Woah!" Crabbe whispered, and I looked back to see all of them with a shocked expression.
"It just disappeared!" Draco said, kneeling besides Lydia.
"Boys, go keep guard." Ordered Lydia.
They nodded, hesitating at first but then quickly went to wait by the door.
"I wonder..." I said, wanting to test it.
Eagerly, I picked up the quill and wrote, "Vanice Crypton, Lydia Serpance and Draco Malfoy would like to know why this Diary is so important."
Oozing back out of the page were words with a different handwriting.
"Your surnames are very familiar. How did you come by my diary?"
These words, faded away as well, and we all were mesmerized as I began to have a conversation with a book.
"Our parents." I wrote back, nearly tipping over the ink bottle.
It answered back almost immediately.
"Your parents, as in Lucius Malfoy, Xavier Crypton and Reverend Serpance?"
"Yes, them precisely." I answered, my hand beginning to shake with anxiety.
"They are very close friends of mine. They've told me much about you all...I faintly remember you, Vanice."
"Who exactly are you?" I wrote quickly, confused.
"Watch." The writing said, and in larger font, the name TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE was spelled out, then in the next few seconds was rearranged.
We were all silent with shock and excitement.
The letters had spelled out:
I AM LORD VOLDEMORT
As those words began to fade, new ones began to surface.
"I am just a memory that was kept conserved, but I met you in my future. I cannot and will not explain to you much through this Diary, but as told to me by Archidia and Snape...though young, you are all my loyal followers."
We nodded, but soon felt stupid, knowing the book couldn't see.
"We are," I paused to think of a respectful title, "my Lord."
"Perfect. I take your word, for you helped me in my attempt to be revived...as your parents are aiding me as well."
I glanced at Lydia, who was holding her hair in awe. She looked up and pushed my arm, nodding for me to continue.
"Ask like what the plan is!" She hissed.
Becoming nervous, I dipped the quill in ink and began to write.
"What is the next plan?"
"You need not know yet. I'm sure faithful Snape will advise you. But your assistance may be required..."
"We will do whatever we can." I scrawled, hoping for an answer.
"I will only tell you once, and you will keep it among yourselves. You may not tell your parents, nor Snape and his wife:
The Chamber of Secrets must be opened by a foolishly naïve victim. Someone worthless of loosing. Your parents are steps ahead of you all, and your assistance will only be needed to assure of the plot's smooth transition.
You will learn in soon time what this all means.*"
As I was about to answer back, the cover blew shut, as if an invisible wind was blowing in the lounge that we had forgotten we were in.
"I take it as no more questions." Draco mumbled, breaking the silence.
My hands still shaking, I placed the book and quill where they were and stood up, looking at them all.
"What's the Chamber of Secrets?" Lydia asked, walking slowly with me to the door.
"I have no idea..." I said, my heart pounding.
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
DID YOU ALL LIKE?! I am sooo excited! So many things will happen in this book...and...DRANICE! What? Who said that?
ATTENTION! I am holding another contest for the CoverArt for this book! If you are interested, please PM me as soon as possible! I will answer faster than you can say Quidditch with the rules and prizes.
Thanks for reading, R&R, F&F and Never Tickle A Sleeping Dragon!