Deyanira Ekaterina Richards woke up with a start. The same dream she had had for so many years. The man walking through the prison, turning rights and lefts, then coming to a door and opening it. Then darkness.
She opened her eyes and immediately closed them again. The light pulsing in from the outside was blinding. Especially when she absolutely despised light. Darkness was what Deyanira preferred and so she spent every moment she could out of the light.
Quickly slipping out of her bed, Deyanira closed her dark curtains, cutting off the sunlight from the outside world. Her mother must have come in and opened them. She absolutely hated when her mom did that. Adopted mom.
The man and woman had taken her in when she was only about a year old. Deyanira had been left on the doorstep of an orphanage and her adopted parents had come one day to find a child. They took one look at Deyanira and thought that she was the perfect little girl for them. How wrong they were.
She got out of bed, stretching and walked to her closet to put on her clothes for the day. She walked down the stairs and towards the kitchen while pulling on her black jumper over her black jeans. When she arrived she was greeted with the usual, "Good morning, sweetie," and, "How are you, honey?" Even when her parents tried to start a conversation with her, she became angry.
Deyanira had no idea why she was always so irritated with everyone. It may have been because she never felt like she fit in anywhere or that she didn't know her real parents. Her adopted parents always told her that they didn't know either, but somehow, she knew that they did. The one time she pushed the subject, the household lost two lamps, seven plates, three cups, and a cat in the girl's rage, combined with her accidental magic. The topic had never been brought up again.
"Hi," Deyanira answered back simply, not wanting to start conversation. The two adults started to answer but Deyanira picked up the newspaper, The Daily Prophet, to show she wasn't interested.
"Deyanira. We have some good news. We're moving back to England." Deyanira was shocked. But this soon disappeared, as she became even angrier.
"Are you guys kidding me? School starts in less than a week and we're moving?"
"We're actually leaving today, so that we can get there far before school starts. You'll be going go Hogwarts now," her mother explained.
She was okay with most of this. She was happy to be going to Hogwarts instead of Beauxbatons. It was a school for pansies. She barely learned anything, and the only way she could learn was by reading, which she didn't mind too much, but she enjoyed a hands-on approach to learning. And being there before school started was even better. But the fact that they were leaving on that day confused her some.
"And why am I just hearing about this today when we're moving today? Do you ever plan ahead?" She was not afraid to day what she was thinking. No one ever punished her because they were too scared of the power she had.
Her father was the one to answer this time.
"Well, we can use our magic to pack and then we have a portkey set up to bring us and our luggage to our new home. The only problem is that we have to be packed by twelve o'clock." Deyanira looked at her watch. It read 10:00.
She instantly knew today would be a long day. There was a lot of packing to do.
She got up and gave both her parents one last dirty look before making her way to her room. There were many things she had to do before she packed, and she only had two hours to do them.
And so the torture of the day began.
At 11:55, Deyanira stepped into the living room carrying a suitcase, an owl cage, and a box. She had never had much. Her suitcase was full of clothes, and the boxes had books and a few pictures.
The pictures were of her and her once best friend. They had met in Diagon Alley when they were about seven, when Deyanira lived in England. The two children had been the best of friends and had made their parents bring them every Saturday to Diagon Alley so they could see each other. But soon enough, Deyanira's parents made her move and she never saw him again. She even tried to contact him with her pet owl, Tod, but she had never gotten a reply.
She never got rid of the pictures, though. She would never get rid of them. She loved waking up each morning and seeing the blonde seven-year-old staring back at her. She could never start her day without seeing him. She was now excited, an emotion that she rarely experienced, to be going back to her original home. He might be going to Hogwarts, and if that was the case, she would be one of the happiest teens in the world.
She looked at her two parents, who were levitating what seemed to be twenty boxes. They definitely had way too many things. But the boxes held everything that was in the house. She felt another wave of anger pass over as she surveyed her parents, who were flustered from all the packing they had done. She knew it was their fault that they were like this. No one but them had decided start packing to leave on the day they were leaving.
She was just about to voice her thoughts when her owl flew in the room with a letter tied to its leg. She caught her breath.
The only person she ever owled was her friend. But he had never replied.
Hoping her parents had not seen yet, she quickly went to Tod and untied the letter. It hadn't been two seconds since she opened it when she heard her mother ask her whom it was from. Turning to walk back to her room, she replied, "No one. Wrong person."
"Then where are you-" her mother tried to ask but Deyanira just kept walking.
"We're leaving soon!" she heard just before closing her door.
She went and sat on her now empty bed in her empty room. She was excited to see whom it was from. Opening the letter, she was surprised to see how it addressed her.
"My dearest Deyanira,
I am so sorry I have not been there for you for the first fifteen years of your life. When we meet, I will tell you all that has happened.
But after we reminisce we will have to be serious. There is much I have to teach you and so little time to do it. Many people to meet and places to go.
This will all be arranged when the time comes, my love.
We will meet soon, my darling. I promise.
Love always,
Your mother"
Reading the last line, Deyanira's heart stopped.
"Your mother."
Her mother left her. She couldn't be owling her. It wasn't possible.
It might be.
No. She pushed the thought from her mind. Obviously someone was trying to mess with her.
Sighing, Deyanira shredded the letter into millions of pieces and let them fly out the window. Even if she kept it she would be tempted to reply. She couldn't.
She stood, ready to make her way out of the room when she noticed something flutter into her window. She bent down to pick it up when she saw what it was. Gasping she stepped back, fear plastered on her face. She slowly made her way to the window and looked out it. She could have sworn there was a shadow that moved around the house. She scolded herself for thinking so.
Retreating back to her bed she heard her mom yell, "DEYANIRA! LET'S GO!"
For once she didn't scream back, but simply stood, picking up the whole-again letter in the process, and walked out of the room.
There's Chapter 1.
~I own only the thoughts in my head.~