Chapter 2- A glimmer of Hope

Darcy awoke early one August morning as she usually did - ensuring she would have a chance to use the bathroom before the others. She considered herself to be at the bottom of the 'pecking order', so to speak. She had her persistent dream, again. It was becoming routine almost, she had the same dream each night for the past two weeks and she had no understanding why. Within the dream was a dark haired man, he had a ferocious, anguished face, with dark piercing eyes, all she could remember was those eyes.

She could never see what was happening in the dream, why there was shouting, the dark haired man wearing a billowing black cloak always hid her view, but strangely she could feel the different emotions associated with the setting. Afraid, Anxious, panicky - and then she woke up. Breathing hard, lying in a pool of sweat she opened her subdued blue eyes and looked up at the dark wooden beams, the patches of mold in the ceiling were becoming more prominent, she thought in an effort to try and calm her erratic breathing.

She closed her eyes again taking a deep breath, making a silent wish, 'Please give me the strength'. Sitting up slowly she felt her abdomen grumble, she sighed. She was so mentally drained, when it came to food she just couldn't bring herself to eat. What was the point? A rhetorical question, as always. She swung her frail legs over her'bed' if you could call a flat child mattress on a old rusted frame, a bed. Her patellas were prominent, suggesting she hadn't eaten properly in a long while. She rubbed at her neck and pronounced scapula with her hand, She placed her bare feet onto the old degraded wooden floor, being mindful of the nails that had sprung through the floor boards.

Silently she stepped towards the bathroom, courteous not to wake the other girls. Once she made her way to the damp confines, she closed the door as discreetly as possible - she let out a deep sigh of relief as she leaned her small frame against the now closed door.

Slowly Darcy continued her morning routine, she had a brisk luke warm shower, she longed for the day she could enjoy a satisfactory hot shower. She washed quickly, shivering, she dried herself and put her dirty unwashed clothes back on. Today was Sunday and washing day wasn't until tomorrow, and with only one set of clothes, a tattered old t-shirt and stupidly long trousers, Darcy did what she had to do in order to survive the last 11 years of her existence.

She speedily brushed her teeth, used the toilet and exited the confines of the bathroom. Soundlessly she made her way back to her bed, picked up her secondhand mary janes and tattered patterned coat from beneath the bed and retreated to the garden. It was only there did she feel free, it was a large open space with very few landmarks - there was a greenhouse in the far corner, a large oak tree situated in the middle, and towards the bottom of the garden a bench which sat next to an old decrepit fountain.

This was Darcys favorite place to be, the solitary confinements of the garden, away from the prying eyes of the other girls and the numerous social workers. She stalked over to her most treasured place and sat with urgency onto the bench. She was at one with her thoughts, Darcy allowed herself to daydream. This was all she had to keep herself from going insane, she had no one to talk to. She thought back to her dream, what does it signify? The dark haired man almost looked familiar but she just couldn't put her finger on why. She could never quite see the features of his face, all she could focus on was those eyes.

She thought back to why everything was so secretive, even her personal file, it was hidden away from the other girls files, they were easy to find. But hers - it was hidden behind a bookshelf, if she hadn't have been hiding under the office desk when she heard footprints approaching that night, she would never have found it.

Her eyes began to focus once more, on something rather odd. She looked up to find a beautiful snow white owl circling the ground of the orphanage; can it be? I'm definitely going mad, she thought. But then she heard the softest of chants, the owl was circling her,' Hoot hoot' it's chants becoming louder and louder as if it recognised her. Then all of a sudden it came hurdling towards her, it had something attached to its leg, a piece of string was holding what looked like an envelope. The owl sat beside her on the arm rest of the bench, holding out its leg, looking intently up at Darcy. Carefully she surveyed its features, it was so unlike anything she had ever seen before in books, the owl sat very proud, its eyes never leaving hers. Darcy lent forward to retrieve the envelope, being as gentle as possible, by far this was the most surreal situations Darcy had ever been in.
Once the string was untied around the creatures leg, it made a gentle hoot and softly turned and flew away. Darcy not noticing the elephant in the room, looked down at the envelope and focused on the writing for the first time.

It read:

Darcy Smith

St Mary's Orphanage

London.

Startled Darcy gasped. "What is happening?", she quietly said with a raspy voice. She couldn't remember the last time she had spoken, inwardly she was shocked at how foreign her voice sounded to her.

Suspiciously she started to slowly open the envelope. Inside she found a letter, she paused a moment afraid of what was written within - with a deep breath she unfolded the letter.

Dear Miss Smith,

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

The school term begins on 1st September. We await your owl by no later than 1st August. There is no easy way to inform you - You are a Witch Darcy.

I am aware you are muggle-born and know nothing of this other than accidental magic perhaps - therefore a friend of mine, Professor Snape, will be coming to collect you on the 31st August in order to help you to obtain all the necessary equipment and ensure to board the right train,

Once you arrive at Hogwarts via the Hogwarts express - I will be waiting in my office to speak with you.

You must understand, it is long overdue.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster

..Darcy gasped and re-read the letter, 'could this be? It would definitely explain certain things, I'm a witch?'. She kept reading those words over and over again- 'There is no easy way to inform you - You are a Witch Darcy.' So many thoughts ran through her mind, 'will I get to meet my parents, maybe I will gain some answers, I have to know - I promised myself' Hastily she sent her reply accepting her place at Hogwarts, luckily the snow white owl was situated in the nearby oak tree, It must have been waiting for her, she thought. Once she had attached the envelope to the owls leg it flew away with all her hopes and dreams held within. Today was August 1st, she hoped she would still be accepted. She wanted so badly to be accepted.
Then a question came to her, Who is Professor Snape? - Intrigued she took a deep breath and for the first time in a long time, Darcy allowed herself to feel a glimmer of hope.