Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters or storyline created by the wonderful J.K. Rowling. Armilla Kemp is my own original character.

Chapter 1

Well, here I was sitting alone on the Hogwarts Express, feeling extremely lonely and utterly bored. It wasn't that I was being unsociable or anything, and that there were lots of chatting students in other compartments who I refused to join. There weren't any. All the compartments were empty except for mine, and I had to admit that the thought of being alone on the train kind of irked me.

I was starting my fifth year at Hogwarts a week late and Professor Dumbledore actually arranged for the Hogwarts Express to make a special trip for me. I thought that was a little ridiculous, sending a whole train for one student, but he seemed to think it was safer than having me attempt to get to Hogwarts by my own means and you don't question Dumbledore's judgement.

I was arriving a week late for the school year because my guardian, Merle Kemp, had taken ill over the summer and she had not been expected to live. Thankfully she had pulled through, and though she was still very weak, she was finally recovering. She had now been out of danger for a few days and I had been told not to fuss about her health any longer and at her insistence I packed to go back to school.

Professor Dumbledore had been wonderful. I knew he had a lot to deal with already with the Order and all. Merle had been a member of the Order of the Phoenix before You-Know-Who's first downfall and Merle had rejoined 'the old crowd' for week or two when the Order had reformed after the end of the Triwizard Tournament. She had been forced to stop her work for the Order when she had become ill.

A friend of Merle's, Matilda, was staying with her at home while she recovered. I was glad she had someone with her. We didn't have many neighbours. There was a man next door who had been friendly with Merle for years. I never got to know Shar well and I didn't really want to anyway. He was one of those people who seemed to prowl instead of walk and lurked in corners and then spoke out of the blue. Though he was been friendly with Merle, he generally looked at me through narrowed eyes, as if my presence caused him great annoyance. He never showed this in front of Merle; in Merle's presence he was usually very polite to me.

In all honestly I thought that he would like nothing more than for me to find my real family and go and live with them. He seemed to want to have Merle's company all to himself. I had been living with Merle since I was about sixteen months old. What I knew about my identity was very little. I had no idea what my real name was or if I had any family. All I knew was what Merle had told me about the night she had found me, only days before the downfall of You-Know-Who in 1981.

On this particular night, a large group of Death Eaters attacked a muggle area and practically wiped out a whole neighbourhood. I was found amongst the ruins, barely alive. The only reason I was alive was because of a silver bracelet on my left wrist. It had a small oval-shaped locket attached to it and when I was found the emerald on it was flashing. This immediately told the magical folk who found me that I was a witch. It would not save the wearer from death, but would prolong it. That was why I had not died on that terrible night many years ago. An Auror named Rolf had told Merle that the bracelet vanishes off the wrist of the wearer when she dies and reappears on the wrist of the next female in that family. I was not sure if that was true. If it was, then my mother must be dead.

I had no idea how to get the bracelet off. I had tried all sorts of charms to remove it, but it continually refused to leave my wrist. It does not even have a clasp.

I was taken to St Mungo's where I stayed for many weeks, and no one knew who I was, just that the bracelet had saved me. After the downfall of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, a number of people were searching for my family. Only muggles had died on the night I was found. It was a complete mystery how I came to be found in this location and it was assumed that I was muggle born. It seemed that bracelets like mine were now scarce and many believed that the pureblood rule to wearing it was merely a superstition.

It seemed that no family had lost a child, and so it came to be that I was well enough to leave the hospital and was in need of a guardian – and a name. Merle Kemp was one of the people helping the Ministry search for my family and she grew so attached that she took charge of me with the Ministry's permission. I came to be known as Armilla Kemp. Armilla is an unusual name, I'll admit, but considering the situation, it was not that original because it is Latin for 'a bracelet'. At the hospital I was "the bracelet baby". But I've been Armilla for so long now, that even if my history suddenly came crashing down around me and I found my name was Jane, I wouldn't change it.

I had lived with Merle in her little house since she became my guardian. She was retiring at the time anyway when she adopted me. Merle taught me before I went to Hogwarts and became one of the most diligent Ravenclaws. Now she was eighty-one and it seemed that I had become her guardian. Not that I minded, but I knew that I was going to spend between now and Christmas worrying about her and whether or not she was alright. I just couldn't do without her in my life. Merle was one of those people who just by being there made life worth living.

The sun had set by the time the train pulled into the station. I grabbed my things and got up, my mind shifting between Merle's health and how much work I would have to catch up on.

I stood on the platform and waited for Professor Sinistra, who, according to Dumbledore's last letter to Merle, was going to meet me at the station. I looked at my watch. 6:33 pm. Everyone was probably in the Great Hall eating dinner.

"Miss Kemp?"

I turned towards the voice and felt relieved at seeing the familiar face of a Hogwarts teacher. I was glad that Dumbledore had chosen to send one of his kinder members of staff. There were certain staff members who I generally liked to have as little to do with as possible.

I walked towards Professor Sinistra, praying that I would not be in the same situation next year. All I wanted was for Merle to be completely well again. She had plenty of years left in her.

As we walked up to the school together, I only half paid attention to the conversation my teacher was making, which was mainly about the constellations in the sky. I was thinking about seeing Merle again at Christmas time, restored to perfect health and laughing off the illness she had been through over the summer.