Bellatrix's Daughter

Chapter 1: It's My Birthday

First, let me introduce myself. My name is Emily Nightrose. Not my given name but the name that I had it legally changed to. See, I've lived in an orphanage since the age of two. I had no paper work on me when I first got to the orphanage so they named me Jane Tremble. I hated that name so I had it changed when I was nine. I live at Saint Joseph orphanage in Ottawa. As for looks, I have brown curly hair, green eyes and extremely pale skin. Nobody knew my birthday, so they made it the day I arrived. June 7th. Anyways, let's get to the story. It begins like this…

"EMILY, wake up. You can't sleep in on your birthday" my best friend and roommate Alex says roughly shaking my shoulders.

"But its Saturday" I say trying to turn away from her. Key word, trying.

"Oh no, you're not getting out of this that easy. We have the whole day ahead of us. We are not going to miss a single minute of it."

"You're too happy in the morning. What time is it anyways?"

"Like, 7:30. Give or take."

"AAAHHHHHH I hate you". Despite it being so early for a Saturday, I am now wide awake so I get up and start to dress.

"That's the spirit. You get dressed and meet me downstairs" Alex says before leaving our room closing the door behind her. I roll my eyes but smile anyways. She's such a drama queen, not that I'm one to talk. I put on a pair of shorts and a spider-man t-shirt. I'm not really a comic book fan but I know some stuff and like most of the heroes and villains. Anyways, I put my hair in a simple bun and go down stairs for breakfast. Almost no one is up except a few adults and kids that had to wake up early to do something today. I grab something to eat before looking for Alex. I find her sitting next to David. David is also my best friend but is also my dance partner. We're in a group called "The Alley Cats" and always get partnered together since we move so well together. We're called the alley cats because we are all orphans, like stray cats. I sit in front of them both.

"Happy birthday Em. So feel older? Seen any wrinkles yet?" David teases.

"Oh ha-ha. You're a funny guy. You should stand up. Really, you kill me." I say, pretending to be insulted before smiling at him.

"So what are we doing today?" David asks.

"I don't know, why don't we ask the person that dragged me out of bed so early this morning" I say staring at Alex.

"I was getting to that. Patience is a virtue. Anyways, I was thinking we could get one of the older kids to come with us to the zoo. We all like animals and then we can go see a movie" she suggests.

"But I have..." I start to say before Alex interrupts me.

"Have karate class to get to. I know Emily. The movie would be after your class".

"Oh, okay then. Who are you going to ask to come with us?".

"Probably Tony and Charlie".

"Good idea. They're always fun to be around" comments David. We finish eating and finish getting ready for our day, grabbing everything we need to go out. We all meet downstairs when we're done.

"So have you asked Tony to come with us?" ask David.

"She did. We just have to wait for Charlie to get here" says a voice behind us. We turn around to see Tony. Tony is a17 year old with dirty blond hair, tan skin and blue eyes. Charlie is his girlfriend. She has dark hair cut in a pixie cut, dark skin and grey eyes. I first met her when I was 6 and asked her if she was an angel. Don't judge me, she's really pretty.

"When will she get here?" I ask.

"Soon. She's going to drive us there" Tony replies. We wait five minutes before Charlie calls Tony to let us know she's here. We go outside and she honks at us. Tony gets into the front next to her while the three of us fill up the back. Even though I hate it, I sit in the middle.

"Hey happy birthday Emily" Charlie says.

"Thanks" I say.

"Off to the zoo then?" Tony says.

"YES" Alex answers. We all laugh at her excitement. It takes around 25 minutes to get to the zoo. When we get there, we pay for our tickets and go in right away.

"What do you want to see first?" Charlie asks.

"Let's just walk around and look at all the animals" I suggest.

"Okay". We walk around, pointing out every animal we see. To be honest, I really want to see the snakes. They always seem to be doing something when I see them.

"Hey, check it out. The reptile building. Want to check it out?" Charlie says.

"Snakes give me the creeps" Tony says "They just stare at you. Like you're their next meal or something".

"Well, I know someone who wants to go in" Alex says, nudging me.

"You know me so well" I say, putting my arm around her shoulders.

"I have to, we sleep in the same room" she replies, laughing. We walk into the building together, the others following behind. Alex leads me to every reptile there is. I might like snakes but Alex loves lizards.

"Emily, look at this one. Isn't he beautiful" she says in awe. While she was looking at a salamander, I was looking at a yellow python.

"Hey there beautiful. It must be incredibly boring just staying here all day" I say to the python.

"I get free food. How can I complain" hissed the snake.

"That's true" I say.

"Emily, the others are going to get something to eat, want to come?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, I'm coning" I say before leaving the reptile building with Alex. We eat at one of the food stands in the zoo. We leave at 1 since I have to get to my karate class at 2. Since it only takes 20 minutes to get back to the orphanage and 10 to get to my karate class, I have 30 minutes to get ready.

"When you get back, do you want cake for dessert or pie?" Alex asks.

"I want to say both but I'll settle for cake" I say. I get to my karate class with five minutes to spare. I use that time to change. I'm currently a first level black belt. It's a normal class until a few minutes before the end. We were practicing a move when one of the windows suddenly opened. Just as the instructor was going to close it an owl flew in, dropped a piece of paper in front of me and then landed on my shoulder. We were all quiet for a few moments before I picked up the paper. It was a letter with some sort of crest on it. On the other side was the name to which the letter was addressed to. It was my name.