alright well i don't own a couple of these characters we all know which ones. Harry Potter world and awesomeness however does belong to miss rowling. ummmm, well that's it, enjoy!!!
Lolita Harlow did not dream of Tom Riddle anymore. Now she only saw three, bone masks and the fire that had erupted out of her. It had erupted right out of her. There was no process, no moment of clarity, only the fire that had erupted and consumed the entire room. In these dreams she saw her mother and her maid burning, petrified and unable to move. They burned away with her sense of reality.
Sebastian Harlow attempted to talk to his mute daughter but to no avail. A whole month passed without them saying a word to each other. She was only like this with him. She finished her schooling and now spent the first days of summer alone on the beach. He did not expect her to forgive him so easily but he did want to get past this silent treatment. Even when he tried to speak to her she was gentle and solemn which only made the waiting harder for Sebastian. She never seemed angry, only disappointed. They fought all the time before but the fights would be forgotten or dismissed. They had never gone so long without talking and slowly but surely, Sebastian's attempts grew less frequent. She would come to him; he rationalized, in the nights when his pain would slip out of his eyes in the shape of tears.
One afternoon Lola came right up to her father and asked, "What do you know about Tom and Jane?"
Astonished by the sound of her voice, Sebastian Harlow faltered. He soon focused and spoke, "They met when Jane was eighteen. Tom Riddle was about twenty six and was falling deeply into his own madness. Your grandmother was in the army, and at that point in time she was stationed in London."
Lola sat attentively with an unreadable look in her grey eyes.
"I only know this," Sebastian Harlow continued, uncomfortable with the topic but happy to talk to his daughter all the same, "because that is the way Jane Harlow told her parents when they asked her whose baby she was having. It was a different time then, Lolita, and women who weren't married or almost thirty did not have babies. It was her first night off base camp and she and a few friends went out for drinks. I don't know why Tom was in London but there he was on her path….the way they described her to me, well, Jane was a terribly adventurous girl and that seemed to attract all the wrong people. They met other times after many years apart and every time Jane told her parents that Tom grew more 'unnatural'. You and I both know why that is."
"The horcruxes," Lola blurted out.
"…in the end when she did get pregnant she did not tell him, not until he saw her again. That dream…that dream you had last…where she died. Lolita that is where my dreams end. All else I know about Tom is through what Dumbledore told me. The only dreams I ever have had where of when Jane knew him."
"She was pregnant when she died…" Lola stated rather than asked.
"Yes, I did not die in the bombing. Her doctor friends took me out of her and when my grandparents came to bury their daughter they got me in exchange. They raised me and told me about both of my parents… at least what they knew. While your dreams are through his perspective…mine are through Jane's. She cared deeply for him and would have lost herself in his madness if she had not gotten pregnant with me. I never blamed her for not being around because…because I always knew she wanted to be."
"Daddy, how are we going to do this?"
Sebastian Harlow looked deep into his daughter's eyes without an answer or hope for one. He pulled her close and held many years worth of tears back, "I do not know, Lolita. I have no idea what I am going to do while you are away at school. They sent me a letter the other day, proposing I introduce myself to that world as part of the ministry of magic's exchange program with the British and American government. My bosses already send word that the switch would be very well and good. Jack Robinson even told me that moving back to London would be 'what I need'."
"Jack Robinson is an idiot,"
"Yes, I know, he talks too much,"
"Daddy," Lola asked, "if it's all set up… why not? I…I don't want to be alone out there."
"Because I am afraid, Lolita. I have been avoiding…them…well, for all my life. I'm afraid too, of what will happen if they find out where our magic comes from. The truth has already been lost to the wrong people…it could get out easily. And I have been avoiding London, too. I haven't been there in so long."
Lola knew this story. Her father had been raised in Arizona but had gone to university in London and only moved back in his late 30s. He had spent many summers in London before then with his grandparents as they searched for any news of Tom Riddle. Instead all they got was a visit from Dumbledore.
"But I suppose I have no choice now," Sebastian spoke, "you are my daughter and I will follow you to hell if I have to. You will not face this lunacy alone. I hope you know London is a dreary and rainy place. Are you sure you do not want to go to the school in France? It is a bit nicer there."
"I want to see Jane's… my grandmother's grave."
Sebastian Harlow watched his daughter, "Now Lolita I do not want you to lose yourself in this. The past is seductive but meaningless; all it holds for you is pain rather than revelation. You are going to London to learn, of all the crazy things, magic, not to solve their mystery."
Lola sighed, "Well, I'm glad you are coming with me, daddy."
Sebastian Harlow knew she was changing the topic but he did not feel like fighting anymore, "I am too, darling, I am too."
Tom Marvolo Riddle stalked the streets of London. Restless, he was yearning for something he could not name. Overpriced food would not do it, boring muggle activities failed, not even cheap and pathetic magic tricks brought relief to him. He was dulled and if he could not find his way back to Knockturn Alley he would surely lose his mind upon the pathetic mortals about him-
The kiss was warm and unexpected. He had lost all sense of his surroundings when the blue-eyed soldier turned back to him and pulled him into it. Just as quickly as it began it ended. Tom Marvolo Riddle was speechless.
"You should smile, handsome! The world is good, you're alive! And a pretty girl just kissed you, you should smile more." She said.
Tom could only think of one thing to say to the audacious muggle, "…that's, that's not very proper etiquette for a soldier,"
"I'm not a very proper soldier," she said and she and her muggle friends began to laugh uncontrollably. He could smell and taste the beer in their air. He began to walk away when she pulled him towards her again. She was strong.
"Hey, what are you doing tonight, Limey?"
Tom felt himself growing mad, "Limey?! HOW DARE YOU? Who in the world do you think you are, you pompous muggle?" he asked, wriggling himself out of her grasp.
"Muggle? Haven't heard that one before. You'll have to explain to me what that one means."
"I don't have to do anything, now, excuse me,"
"Let me ask you something," she said, putting herself in his path, "Are your plans any more interesting than spending the night with a lovely stranger?"
Tom scoffed, "you fancy yourself lovely, then?"
She smiled, "oh darling I know it,"
"Well, that's all well and good; have fun being loud, obnoxious and lovely,"
"Wait!" she turned him around again. He reached for his wand instinctively.
"What if I could make you king of the world? What if I could make you live forever?" she asked.
Tom fell silent, had he missed something about this girl?
"…I can see it in your eyes, that's what you want."
She was a muggle, he was sure of it.
"What would you give me if I gave you forever?" she asked, her eyes were a melted blue.
"Come on, Jane, leave the poor guy alone," one of her friends called.
"Hey, what's your name?" she asked.
Pompous, drunk, American, muggle.
"How would you do that, keep me forever?" he asked.
He did not know why but he wanted to know. What could she possibly say?
She chuckled to herself a bit before turning back to Tom with a dreamy look in her drunken eyes.
"Well you'd have to waste away with me for one night before I let you in on that secret." She said.
Tom sighed deeply; he had had enough of this. He rarely talked to people, nevertheless muggles, and this silly mind game was getting old. Still, he wanted to try something.
"Stand still," he said as he turned to fully face her. Her calm demeanor turned curious and a bit nervous. Tom had always had this effect on women. He leaned in closer to her.
"Hey, what's the idea?" she asked, pulling away from him.
"I'm trying to read your mind," Tom said completely serious. Her friends broke out into wild banter and laughter. The girl before him, however, remained confused and a bit tense.
"I never gave you permission to do that, how forward of you!" she said sternly. Her friends only lost themselves in more glee.
Tom was now the confused one, "so you can kiss me but I cannot read your mind? Are you insane?" he asked.
Her friends stopped laughing at his harshness.
"You needed my kiss," she said almost instantly, "you haven't been kissed in a while and never like that. I, however, have grown tired of people attempting to read my mind and assess the situation. I'm not a problem…I don't need solving."
"…you don't know anything about me,"
"I know everything. You live alone, you eat alone, you never laugh out of happiness only out of success or someone else's folly. You've never been in love and you don't believe in it. It is silly and superficial. All you care about is yourself and making something out of this shell of a person you believe to be whole and worth something. I used to be like you… and this person you are becoming, this higher being, isn't, well, anything." She finished.
Everyone was silent now and waiting for his reaction.
Tom spoke, "I am something…I am the only thing."
"Right and you can read minds too," she said as she began to turn away.
"Do not underestimate me,"
She turned back sudden and fierce, "underestimate you? You?! What have you done? What have you seen?"
"I've seen people die, alone and sick within their own pity. You do not know me, soldier."
"What's your name, limey?"
"Jane, come on, let's go," one of her friends begged.
"He knows my name I should know his!"
"Jane!" her other friends chorused.
"My name is Tom Riddle, muggle. You will not forget it." And with that he walked on through the night. He would have easily forgotten her just like he did most of his muggle encounters, but the same soldier was in the paper the next day. Her base had been spared a bombing because she and a few other soldiers had foiled some terrorist's fool attack. In the sub heading under her serious photo it said she had been shipped off to Korea, where a war was ending he would later find out. He didn't know at the time that he had been searching the muggle papers for any sign of her and he would continue to do that until he had satisfied his curiosity.
"Are you ready, Miss Harlow?" Alexander Sweyn asked as he, Lola, her father, and Sir Hotspur approached a seemingly closed bar and inn on the Charing Cross Road of London. The Harlows had arrived two nights prior to the aurors' visit and had been settled into their new and terribly tiny London apartment. Well, her father had been settled, Lola's things were still packed.
She nodded and they entered the pub. It was dank but strangely cozy. The main floor had a bar with unmovable guests, a few private parlor rooms, and a large dining room. The tenants and lively drunks perused them but did not break from their conversations and banter. A swell, pink=faced and blonde lady came upon them and smiled.
"Good afternoon, Alexander! And Sir Hotspur how lovely to see you," she said as she handed the two a beer, "that's on the house."
"Oh, thank you, Mrs. Longbottom but I am on duty and cannot drink," Alexander replied, very proud and business-like. Sir Hotspur's grin went unnoticed.
"Oh, right-o, I keep forgetting you are all grown up and an auror now," she said with a wink, "Please, darling, do call me Hannah."
As Sir Hotspur downed his drink Sweyn turned and introduced the Harlows.
"Ah, what a doll of a daughter you have, Mr. Harlow! Takes after her handsome father of course. You know, he is not here but my son, Nicolas, this is also going to be his first year at Hogwarts, god bless them." Mrs. Longbottom spoke. Mr. Harlow tried to look pleasant.
"I say as long as he stays clear of Slytherin, Neville and I will be happy parents. No offense, sir Hotspur." She mused.
"Oh none took, Hannah. We ought to be heading out to Diagon Alley now but I do wish you and your family the best." Sir Hotspur said as he wiped his beard looking dreamy and happy.
Mrs. Longbottom smiled and led the way to the back of the bar where a chilly little courtyard with a brick wall awaited them. Sweyn cleared his throat and approached the wall. He took out his dark, mahogany wand and tapped the brick wall three times. Suddenly, the wall gave way revealing an unimaginable and glorious sight.
There, beyond the wall, was Diagon Alley. Brilliant stores tried to outshine each other in their magic and wonder. Scores of magic folk strode the streets bargaining and buying. Lola Harlow took her first steps into the magical world. As she watched wide- eyed the glory about her, Mr. Harlow turned to Sir Hotspur.
"I did not know you were a Hogwarts alumni, Sir Hotspur, or of the house of Slytherin."
Sir Harlow grinned, "Now, sir, please do not be so judgmental. Slytherin may have a bad reputation but scores of wizards and witches have graduated just fine like me. You never know, Miss Harlow might follow my footsteps there."
"I wouldn't mind," Lola said before their conversation grew into a battle, as she knew both her father and Sir Hotspur were bound to turn it into, "My ancestors did create it, even if I don't agree with their intentions."
"What do you believe in, Miss Harlow?" Sweyn asked curiously.
Lola thought for a moment but could only shake her head, "Honestly Mr. Sweyn, I do not know,"
"You can call me Alexander, Miss Harlow," he said as he walked by her side. She liked his presence most of all out of her three associates. He was youthful yet wise, and the most optimistic of the men around her. He had bags under his mysterious dark eyes now. When Sir Hotspur had caught her starting at Sweyn he had leaned in close and told her the poor boy kept losing sleep trying to solve her case.
"Well then you must call me Lola, Alexander," she said. They exchanged pleasant smiles.
Sweyn led them to a narrow and shabby store whose sign read 'Ollivander's: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC'. Lola recalled seeing Harry Potter in one of her dreams here. Then she had marveled at the time the store had been established but now she felt her stomach grow tight. She was to receive her own wand.
Mr. Harlow hesitated at the doorstep, "must we go here first? Shouldn't we be heading towards the bank?"
"Well, Sweyn was thinking you and I take care of that dull business while he stay behind and with Lola and help her with her wand," sir Hotspur spoke before Lola or Sweyn could attempt to. Mr. Harlow did not look convinced. Sir Hotspur persisted, "You see, Mr. Harlow, receiving your wand is a special and arduous task in a young wizard's life. We might as well save ourselves some time and let them take care of this, how do you Americans say? Oh yes, 'iconic life moment'."
Mr. Harlow was growing tired of sir Hotspur's half-hearted smiles but he consented and grudgingly left Lola in Sweyn's care. The two of them, Lola and Sweyn, excitedly entered the store. Countless, narrow boxes were piled neatly right up to the ceiling of the small store. There seemed to be no one around but the sly smile on Sweyn's lips told Lola otherwise.
"Hello, Mr. Ollivander, fancy seeing you here." Sweyn said as a man appeared as if out of nowhere behind the shabby counter. He was pale-eyed and white-haired but wore a pleasant smile on his face that seemed to lighten the world for a hundred years. Lola could not help but be filled with giddiness and happiness at the sight of the old man and his infectious smile.
"Alexander Sweyn, mahogany 9420 darkly stained finish with the strong core of a dragon's heartstrings. You look lively, my boy."
Alexander laughed heartily and clasped his hands in the old man's withering palms, "Thank you, sir, as do you. I would like to introduce you to my friend, Lola Harlow; this September will start her first year at Hogwarts."
The old man known as Ollivander smiled at Lola but soon his smile faded into a knowing look. Lola was frozen in her stare. Just as quickly as it had happened, the iciness had ended. Ollivander waved her closer and she did.
"Come here, young lady, do come. Lola, is t? It is your first time about these parts, yes?" the old man asked. Lola nodded. He knew, he looked at her and he knew whose granddaughter she was. Lola was freaking out in her own head.
"There is no need to be afraid, my dear. I have the perfect choice for you," Ollivander said as he stooped down off his rickety stool and rummaged through his boxes. Sweyn gave Lola an encouraging smile but she could only wonder what the old shopkeeper thought of her. She tried to steady herself.
"So," she began shakily, "you got your wand here, Alexander?"
"Everyone does, Lola, this is Ollivander's! He never forgets a client. It's kind of heartwarming how dedicated he is." Alexander said merrily. Ollivander came upon them and presented an eight inch, chestnut wand to Lola. She looked to Sweyn for assistance.
"Go on, Lola," Sweyn encouraged, "try it out. Just pick it up."
Lola remembered what had happened to Harry Potter when he had first come into the store himself. She sighed deeply and hoped for the best but as soon as her fingertips touched the wand it exploded into a show of green fireworks around the room. Lola quickly pulled away and practically jumped out the window.
Ollivander simply hummed to himself and went back to his boxes and searched for another wand.
"Wow, haha, well that was rather showy, miss, you sure you haven't done this before?" Sweyn teased goodheartedly. Lola remained silent and indignant.
"Oh, do not worry, Lola. It happens to us all," Sweyn chuckled handsomely, "You should have seen me my first time here, it was a miracle I didn't burn the whole store down!"
Lola gave in to his good mood and smiled weakly.
"There's a good girl," Sweyn taunted with a glorious smile upon his young face.
"Try this one," Ollivander said as he seemed to appear next to Lola. She was still taken aback by his sudden entrances. This wand was the same size as the other but almost pure white and bone-like. Lola curiously reached down at the bewildering thing that seemed to have been calling to her for a very long time and only now had she picked up on its signal. Nothing blew up or burned and all three smiled.
"'tis a glorious wand, that one, my dear," Ollivander said, "made of a rare yew that shines like bone itself. Its core is that of a glorious unicorn hair, it is most pure and light."
"…it feels light in my hands," Lola muttered. She was awed by the wholeness she suddenly felt.
Ollivander laughed, "Of course, my dear, of course. A light wand will guide you on your way. Yes, yes. It is very fitting, very fitting indeed."
"It is a beautiful wand, Lola," Sweyn commented but Lola was still lost in the unexpected feeling. She wanted to cry. Her father had returned with bags of golden coins and as Sir Hotspur was helping him pay the door swung open revealing two fourteen year old boys dressed in Slytherin regalia. They had been laughing about something but as soon as they noticed Sweyn they hushed up and entered the store. The store was unbearably silent for five minutes.
"Hello, Aachen and Jove," Sweyn said forcibly.
"'ello, Alex, you are lookin' well," one of the boys said as the other nodded in Sweyn's direction.
"What are you doing here?" Sweyn asked.
"Well, you know Aachen; boy can't seem to keep a wand in one piece for more than a year, ow!" the Jove boy said as the other pinched him.
"I don't think Alexander cares, Jove," Aachen spoke harshly to his companion. Jove glared at Aachen.
"No need to fight boys, we were just leaving," Sweyn said cheerily, Lola, her father and Sir Hotspur took his words as the cue to go. Before he left Sweyn turned back to the boys smiling, "and just because I graduated, kiddies, does not mean I don't care. Have a good day now. You be careful, Mr. Ollivander!"
"You two, Alexander!" Ollivander said and waved goodbye as they turned the corner.
"Well that was terribly awkward," Lola stated as she carefully placed her wand in its carrying box and safely away.
Sweyn smiled devilishly, "They have to act civilized and cultured around me. Lola. It's just part of the culture. Besides, I never was too nice to those two blokes. Annoying little buggers,"
Lola laughed and walked breezily through the stores and magic folk. They stopped at many other stores where Lola received her robes and books for the year as well as many other little things Sweyn and Sir Hotspur found important or essential to a young witch's first year at Hogwarts. While her father grimaced at all the money he was spending, Sweyn and Sir Hotspur happily showed her around. When they returned to the muggle side of London later that very day, Lola felt a million times grateful she had such generous body guards. As Sir Hotspur and her father went out for a drag, Lola sat marveling at all her new things.
"You like them now," Sweyn commented as he slid into a chair beside her, "but I assure you by the end of this year you will rejoice in reselling these books."
"…Alexander, I still can't believe all this," Lola confessed. Alexander Sweyn was silent for a while but he soon smiled again.
"Oh I promise you it is all very real, Lola…I have something for you," he said happily.
Lola looked up at him, trying to read his inscrutable, happy face. Sweyn sheepishly made a show of having nothing in his hands but soon pulled out from behind him a small, golden cage. Inside the cage, the most beautiful cherry-colored owl stood cheerfully sleeping. Lola gasped as she accepted the cage and bird.
Sweyn smiled wider, "Her name is Lily Beau, Lola. She used to be my magical familiar and was to carry on in my family but my little sister, Adeline, is only three and in no need of her. It seems a shame to have her waste her life bored in my home when she so does love Hogwarts,"
"Alexander, she's beautiful! I've never had a pet before-"
"She is not a pet," Sweyn interrupted calmly; "she is your magical familiar now, Lola. She will protect you and guide you on your lofty quest. Lily Beau is a smart and terribly protective darling. I don't know what I would have done without her,"
"…Are you sure? I mean," Lola began. Sweyn held up his lithe hand to stop her.
"Lola, you need her now. Besides your father already spent so much money today. Consider her a gift, on loan, of course." Sweyn said with a wicked smile on his face.
Lola sighed but soon joined him in smiles. She petted the sleepy bird who cooed tiredly to herself.
"What a pretty name, Lily Beau," Lola commented as she stroked the soft feathers.
"Well her ancestors, Lily and Beau, respectively, had been great familiars to my parents. It seemed the only proper name for her. You know, Lily Beau knows my address by heart and I wrote my work address there too in case you ever need to write to me." Sweyn said.
"…You are a very kind man, Sweyn." Lola said.
"I only want the best for you, Lola. You deserve that much. Now go off to bed, tomorrow you will be on your way to your first year of Hogwarts school of wizardry and witchcraft. I'll be there discussing manly business with your father and Sir Hotspur,"
Lola laughed and placed the cage and her new, sleepy companion by her bed post, "goodnight, Alexander!"
"Goodnight, Lola," he said sincerely.
She closed her door, changed to pajamas and practically bounced onto her bed.
"Goodnight, Lily Beau," she said as she drifted off to sleep. This night she dreamt of pleasant nothings.
So what do you guys think? who were those cloaked figures? Will Lola even survive long enough to get to Hogwarts? I am DYING to hear some feedback people!