Years past slowly for the Potter family. After the devastating reality they woke up in from the coma, Lily and James Potter were never the same. Albus offered the each a post teaching post at Hogwarts, we're their close friends could keep an eye on them. For Lily, it didn't get any easier, surrounded by children constantly, made her think of her daughter and what she would look like if she were still alive. For James and his two friends Sirius and Remus, life just wasn't as fun as it used to be. They stopped playing jokes and grew up, Sirius finally found the right girl and married her, Remus still ever the lone wolf. His mind clouded in fear of never finding someone to love or hurting the people he love so dearly.
For the rest of the Wizarding World, joyful cheers was carry by the cool breezes of winter winds for months on end after the fall of the Dark Lord. The celebration last for years and new students were expected to know their wolds history, both pure-blood and muggleborn alike.
However, the Potters and the rest of the Wizarding world were oblivious to the living girl, presumed dead since that terrible night. This little girl, Lira Potter, was alive but well? That remains a mystery.
Seven years after old Hollows eve of 1981
(Lira is 8, And was renamed Magnolia Greenwood)
A thick fog rested heavily over the grounds of an orphanage for girls somewhere in the countryside of England. The gloomy weather of this mid-July morning caused every living thing, human and animal, to enjoy their peaceful slumber as the sun slowing dawn on the horizon. It was a harmonious display that is, until the peaceful slumber of a few small furry creatures were rudely disturbed by heavy rapid footfalls echoed through the forest.
The disturbance, commonly known as Maggie Greenwood, sprint with full speed towards the old Victorian house in hopes of making it before any of the other girls or any of the staff members woke up. On her way, Maggie ran past an old man kneeling in the mud tending to the brightly coloured roses.
"Good morning Mr Irvine!" Maggie shouted over her shoulder.
Good old Mr. Irvine looked up while shaking his head in amusement, a fond smile rested upon his face as he stared at the dark auburn haired girl rushing towards the big mahogany doors of the orphanage.
"Good morning to you too," He replied before continuing with his work.
Maggie's face broke into a smile when the old man's words rested on her ears. She shook her head before coming to a hold in front of two heavy mahogany doors. Taking slow deep breaths in an attempt to control her heaving breathing, Maggie slowly opened one of the doors before silently slipping inside and closing the door with a soft click behind her. Leaning against the door, Maggie held her breath as she listened closely for any sign of movement. When none came she let out a sigh of relief before another smile rested on her face. She slowly made her way towards the large staircase, careful not to step on any creaking floorboards before silently rushing up the stairs on her tippy toes. As soon as she reached the top, Maggie stopped dead in her tracks. Her smile fading and her heart rate increase as she came face to face with a terrible fate. Standing in front of the pale girl, on top of the staircase, stood Miss Harrington with her hands on her narrow hip and a scowl on her face, highlighting the hatred in her icy blue eyes and sharp cheekbones.
"And what exactly were you doing outside on such an early morning, Miss Greenwood!" Snapped the woman, Maggie looked down at her muddy bare feet when an excellent excuse popped in to her head. She looked up at the woman through her unruly hair with a sense of innocence twinkle in her green eyes.
"I couldn't sleep," she whispered. She hoped that this time the excuse would work, but alas, it didn't when the horrid woman scoffed and grabbed the girl at the back of her nightgown and pulling towards an office that Maggie knew all too well.
Fifteen minutes later, Maggie found herself standing in front of Mrs Rose's desk next to a smirking Miss Harrington. The redhead seated behind the desk, stared at the girl, dressed in a muddy nightgown and bare feet, with no emotion visible on her features. Maggie swallowed hard as the woman in front of her adjusts the thick rimed glass on her pointy nose.
"Sneaking around the ground so early in the morning," Mrs Rose's rough voice sneered at the girl. "Dressed in nothing but a nightgown... Is that anyway for a lady to behave Miss Greenwood?"
Maggie shifted on her feet; she knew that if she answered the question, her punishment might just be worse. Mrs Rose stood from her seat and place her hands behind her back as she squared her shoulders and straight her posture. Her narrow eyes glaring at Maggie was anything but comforting.
"At this orphanage, I expect my girls to be well behaved, even if they were the unwanted offspring of some drunks!" Mrs Rose took a deep breath to calm the fire blazing inside of her dark eyes.
"Left hand," ordered Mrs Rose.
Maggie swallowed another lump forming in her through as she slowly raised her left hand. Miss Harrington impatiently grabbed the girls hand and turned it palm upward before letting go of the shaking girl's hand and turning her attention towards the headmistress, waiting for the order.
Mrs Rose gave a curt nod towards Miss Harrington causing the uptight woman to tighten her hand on the leather riding crop in her hand and lifting it above her head. In a matter of seconds, Miss Harrington brought the riding crop down on to the scared palms of the girl with a loud snap. Maggie bit back the scream as it made contact with her pale skin, leaving a blood red mark over the scared tissue of her hand. Miss Harrington lifted the riding crop up for the second time before bring it down harder onto the girls palm. On the fifth time the leather covered stick made contact with Maggie's palm, blood was drawn, slowly dripping down her forearm. The scarlet drops stood out against the pale skin and Maggie's vision became blurry with unshed tears, yet Maggie made no sound.
Five more lashes before the girl was dismissed from the room. Maggie bowed her head in respect before making her way out of the office with her head held high and her bloody hand cradle closely against her chest. She made her way down the hallway as a single tear rolled down her cheek. Just as she was about to turn the corner, Maggie had the wind knocked out of her by a bush haired blonde.
"Oh my…" The girl squealed before pulling away from the green eyed girl, "Are you okay?"
Maggie looked over the blonde's shoulder to fine two other girls standing there with concern in their eyes.
"I'm fine," she said reassuring the trio as she pulled her hand closer to her chest. "Really, I am."
The tall dark haired girl scoffed that the girl's attempt to reassure them that they don't need to worry about her.
"Oh please," she snapped while folding her arms over her chest. "If you're so fine, the why are you bleeding?"
Maggie avoided the harsh glare from the girl when the blonde gasped and grabbed her bloody hand to examine the damage.
"Just let it go Crystal," Maggie said, gently removing her hand from the blond and glaring at the dark haired girl standing in front of her. "Like I said before Rebecca, I'm fine."
The redhead that stood silently next to the tall girl spoke up. Her voice just above a whisper, "Come on guys. Let's not fight about this again."
Maggie stared at the girl with a raised eyebrow, "Grace, we weren't fighting"
Rebecca snorted at Maggie's comment. "Yeah, if we were, she would've had her butt kicked by me."
Maggie rolled her eyes Rebecca's words as Crystal giggled and Grace shook her head unamused. She held her hand out towards Maggie.
"Come on," She ordered the girl. "Let's get you cleaned up."
With a sigh and a glare from Rebecca, Maggie took Grace's hand reluctantly. Crystal smiled at the two before throwing her right arm around Maggie's shoulder protectively as the three girls lead Maggie toward their shared room on the third floor.
Once the four girls made their way into the room, Rebecca made her way towards the wooden cupboard on the far end of the room to retrieve a hidden box filled medicine supplies they stole from Miss Harrington's room a few years ago. Grace let go of Maggie's good hand and rushed towards the small bathroom to get a bowl of lukewarm water and a wet cloth while Crystal guided Maggie towards one of their beds.
When both Rebecca and Grace returned to Maggie, who was now sitting on the bed nearest the window, they immediately began to clean Maggie's wounds. Cristal sat crossed legged in front of the trio and watch as the two skilful cleaned and bandaged her friend's hand.
"So," Crystal whispered, excitement growing in her brown eyes. "Did you see them?"
The duo stopped with what they were doing and stared at their patient. A smile slowly grew on Maggie's face as she glanced at all three of her friends for a few seconds.
"Yes." She stated causing Crystal to squeal and Grace to smile.
"How big are they?" Crystal asked excitedly, a strand of blonde hair hanging loosely in her eye as chubby cheeks growing redder with each second.
Maggie glances over at Rebecca, who continued her work on bandaging Maggie's hand, and saw a glint of curiosity in the girl's eyes. She knew Rebecca would never admit it, but Rebecca was just as excited about their little discovery the made two years ago.
"They're not that big, but they are getting there."
Crystal squealed in excitement once again, kicking her feet in the air like a new-born would. Rebecca shook her head at the blonde's childish reaction.
"I can't wait to see them again."
"Hush," Rebecca snapped causing Crystal to stop her antics. "You don't want everyone to find out, do you?"
Crystal silently shook her head but the smile didn't disappear from her round face.
Grace let out an amused giggle, "Worried Be?"
Rebecca scoffed at the redhead question, "No!"
Grace tauntingly wiggled her left brow which made Rebecca glare at the redhead in pure hatred, but Maggie knew Rebecca didn't hate any of them, she could see it in her eyes. Crystal sighed loudly, causing both Grace and Rebecca to stop and continue with their work.
Maggie turned her head and stared out of the window deep in thought as the silence settled amongst the four girls. Crystal nervously playing with her fingers until she plucked up the courage and spoke once again, breaking the silence.
" There's someone coming to the orphanage today,"
Crystal's troublesome voice reached Maggie's ears, causing her to snap her head in the chubby blonde's direction. Grace looked down at her hands in the red water as she rung out the scarlet stained white cloth and Rebecca swallowed silently as she finished with the bandage on Maggie's hand.
"When?"
Crystal gave Maggie a tearful frown, " Miss Harrington said just before lunchtime."
Rebecca sighed shaking, she slowly started to pack away the unused bandages. "Then we should all get ready."
A loud whimper echoed through the silence room, Crystal threw her arms around the other three girls bringing the into a group hug, "I don't want any of us to be separated."
Grace pulled away from the hug and walked towards the cupboard once again. She took out a white wooden box with delicate golden writing all over the white surface, the trio of girls stare at Grace as she walked back over to them, box gently cradle in her arms.
"I've been working on this for a while now and if this is the last time we might spend together... I want you guys to have it."
Grace opened the lid and pulled out four identical, sans the cursive names stitched into it, handkerchiefs. She gave each girl their own before placing the box on the ground next to the bowl of dirty water.
"Their beautiful Gracie," Maggie whispered, slowly rubbing her finger over her hand stitched name on the silk material. " When did you..."
"I started with it a few weeks after my dad dropped me off and disappeared, you know, the few weeks after we all became friends."
Crystal brought Grace into a tight embrace, tears running down her cheeks.
"Okay," Rebecca sniffed and walked towards the cupboard with the supplies. "This is get to mushy."
The other three girls bust into laughter was they watch the tall girl hide the small bag away.
"Oh come on Be," Maggie said with a big smile on her face. "You love us."
"What ever," she muttered narrowing her eyes. "Get dressed before we all get dressed before we all get in trouble."
Maggie shook her head and got up, Crystal raced towards one of the old worn out trunks standing in front of each bed. She pulled out a grey dress similar to the ones she and the other two girls were wearing. Grace helped Maggie lead Maggie towards the small bathroom, where she got a clean wet cloth and stared to get all the dirt off of Maggie's legs, arms and face.
Rebecca helped Maggie remove her dirty nightgown, before walking towards the sink and throwing it the the soapy water where the other girls' nightgowns were. She stared scrubbing it to get the white colour back, after a few failed attempts, Rebecca final got all the dirt out and rung the brown water out of the dresses as best she could, before handing each on up to dry in the bathroom.
Scrub a hissing Maggie, Grace successfully got all the dirt off of Maggie's skin, leaving it blood red. Crystal through the dress over Maggie's head and help her with the sleeves, carefully guiding Maggie's injured hand. Grace left the room and came back with a brush in hand and began getting all the knots out of Maggie's messy hair with great difficulty.
All three girls finished helping Maggie just as the breakfast bell rang through the halls of the orphanage.
"Food..." Crystal cheered and race towards the door. She stopped at turned to the girls starting at her questioningly. Crystal gave the a goofy smile and a shrug, "What? I'm starving."
The trio bust into laughter and followed the girl out of the room towards the dining room filled with chattering girls patiently waiting for everyone so that they could start eating.