Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, so I don't own Harry Potter.


~*~*~Chapter Eleven: Mysterious Past~*~*~

After a long and tedious questioning by McGonagall, Larisa was free to go. Almost no time passed as she made her way down to the common room, and she wanted nothing more than to write to Karina. She muttered the password into the common room and yanked the door open, nearly crashing into a first year. Said first year quickly pushed his way past Larisa, leaving her to mutter dangerously under her breath. After a few seconds, she shook her still wet hair out and stormed towards her dorm. When she arrived, she extracted a quill, bottle of ink, and a roll of parchment from her bag and spread it out before pausing to think about what she'd write.

&%$&%$&%$

Dear Karina,

Thanks for the advice on my locket. I'll pick a quiet day to keep it off.

Now, however, I have more pressing matters to talk about. I'm begging that you don't tell Bella, though. She'll flip out.

A few weeks ago, while I was in the Room of Requirement, I came across a mirror. It was a very strange mirror. I looked into it, and it showed me a strange image; me, but I was wearing an engagement ring. It was really confusing.

Today, a girl on the Gryffindor Quidditch team accidentally touched a cursed necklace. Her name was Katie Bell. She's going to be alright, though.

A side note; I found my mum's old diary in the Room of Requirement, as well. You never know what you'll find in there...I will admit that I've read the first three entries. I mean, I want to know where my mum came from, same for my dad.

Reply quickly,

Larisa

&%$&%$&%$

Quickly, Larisa put everything away. Rolling up the parchment, she tucked it into her pocket and exited her dorm. She rearranged her scarf, which was still damp from the sleet, and set off for the Owlrey. The hallways were nearly deserted, either several students were still in Hogsmeade, or they had all ducked for their common rooms. There was the occasional murmur of an occupant in a painting, and sometimes a student would come along, but mainly Larisa's trip to the Owlrey was quiet. Larisa was used to the feeling of being alone; it crept up around her almost all the time. Daphne had been withdrawn from school, and Pansy wouldn't talk to Larisa even if it would save her life. Briefly, Larisa wondered what she even did to deserve Pansy's wrath...

That didn't matter anymore. Quarrels with old friends paled next to the threat of Voldemort. Larisa pushed the question from her mind and opened the door to the Owlrey, and was met by a blast of cold air and sleet. She made her way to the wall, which was shielded from the wind and sleet.

"Claire, you up for a flight to Wales?" Larisa called. There was a loud hoot, and her large screech owl swooped down and landed on Larisa's shoulder. "Glad you are. Get this to Karina?"

Claire hooted in response, taking the letter in her beak. Larisa made her way over to the window, the sleet starting to sting and bite at her nose. Claire hopped off of her shoulder and sat on the ledge of the window, staring out at the wind and sleet as if she was rethinking making this journey.

"Off you go, then." Larisa murmured, nudging Claire a little. Claire gave a loud, annoyed hoot. "I know you don't want to go. But there are things we have to do, even when we don't want to, like I have to go to lessons or Death Eater meetings."

"Keep your voice down, you don't want anyone to hear that." A voice said, and Larisa jumped so bad that she nearly knocked Claire clear off of the ledge. Claire gave another annoyed hoot as Larisa turned around.

"Didn't I tell you to make your presence known by prodding me on the shoulder?" She asked coldly as Draco came into view.

"Sorry." He muttered. Larisa turned back to look out the window, and she could have sworn that she saw Claire roll her eyes.

"Why did you come here?" Larisa asked.

"I was looking for you. Nott said you were headed up here-"

"I swear to God, I think Nott stalks me or something..." Larisa muttered, nudging Claire again. "Come on, I need you to get that letter to Karina!"

Claire hooted again, very angry this time. Larisa looked over her shoulder at Draco.

"Does the Imperius Curse work on owls?"

That did it. Claire gave a loud, annoyed hoot, then spread her wings wide and took off into the sleet and wind. Larisa watched her become a dot, cracking a smile. Another blast of sleet hit her face, and she closed her eyes against it.

"You seem to love this weather." Draco said, walking over to her.

"It's familiar." Larisa murmured, opening her eyes. "Very familiar."

"You got this all the time in Russia and at Durmstrang?" Draco ask. Larisa nodded.

"I was an ice trap at Durmstrang. Same for Saint Petersburg. This stuff reminds me of where I came from." There was silence for a few seconds, and another blast of sleet hit Larisa.

"Aren't you cold?"

"A little bit. This is nothing, though." Larisa said, shaking her hair out a little. "Have you heard what happened at Hogsmeade?"

"Unfortunately." Draco muttered. "Plan B; failed. If Plan A and C don't work-"

"Yeah, can we not talk about that? It tends to make me go nuts." Larisa said. Silence again. "The first Quidditch match is coming up. Slytherin versus Gryffindor."

"Wonderful. We always get flattened by Gryffindor."

"Maybe this year will be better." Larisa suggested. "Johnson and Spinnet are gone now."

"True...I'm debating whether or not to play for the first match. The Vanishing Cabinet, and all." Again, there was silence. "We should get back to the common room. It's absolutely freezing up here." Draco said as another good blast of sleet flew into the room.

"To you," Larisa said, smirking a little. "But fine." Quite suddenly, Draco put his arm around Larisa. Shivers ran up her spine, but she tilted her head so it was resting on Draco's shoulder.

"You're completely soaked."

"I didn't notice." Larisa said sarcastically, but she still laughed. "I had to write to Karina about a personal issue regarding my mind and some worries I have...Like the fact that after reading just three entries from Sophia's diary, I see our early lives are closely mirrored..."

"That's a little scary to imagine..." Draco said.

"The scarier part is that the Sorting Hat wanted to put her in Ravenclaw-"

"That's disturbing."

"She also thought of my dad as an insufferable git in the beginning. I'm probably going to be getting a letter with more explanations when Karina replies...My family history is creepy and interesting."

"To normal people, it's just creepy."

"Oh, shut up." Larisa said, hitting Draco on the arm playfully. "Anyway, I'm not normal. So there."

"I'll agree with that...Nobody is really completely normal." Again, some sleet blew into the room. "Can we go back to the common room?"

"Yes, now I'm starting to get a little cold." Larisa said, shivering slightly as she and Draco left the Owlrey. "I ran into Nott at The Three Broomsticks. He's not too happy with me."

"Why not?"

"He's madly in love with me, and I practically told him to get lost. How was your detention with McGonagall?"

"You know how McGonagall is, she kept going on about how completing homework is important. Like I don't know that, but I have other things on my mind. More important things-"

"Things that would make McGonagall faint." Larisa said darkly.

"Didn't you say that Nott was madly in love with you?"

"Why the sudden subject change?" Larisa asked, smirking slightly.

"You changed the subject before I could get a word in. Is Nott in love with you?"

"Sadly. He doesn't understand that I'm off-limits...Nor does he realize that I don't like him like that."

&%$&%$&%$

It was later in the evening, and Larisa was alone in her dorm. Her hair was dry now, and there was a slight gleam to it. Larisa decided that she would read more of Sophia's diary before going to bed, so she picked her wand up off her nightstand and knelt down next to her bed, reaching under it to pull out the box she kept it in. Pointing her wand at the lock, she tapped it.

Alohomora!She thought, and the box swung open. The diary was right on top of the artifacts that were all crammed into the box. Larisa lifted it out and closed the lid of the box, tapped the lock again, and heard the lock click. She pushed the box back under the bed, set her wand back on the nightstand, and opened the book to the fourth entry.

&%$&%$&%$

December 27h, 1969

Dear Diary,

I arrived home for the holidays about a week ago. I still haven't gotten over the quietness of the whole time since Helena and Sienna died...

Either way, it was quiet. Too quiet.

I spent most of the time talking to Mum, but she's not fun to hold a conversation with. She's kind of mean if you don't agree with her on something, and she's not meant to talk to eleven-year-olds. All she really talks about is blood purity and how mudbloods are scum, and how halfbloods are just as bad.

To make matters worse, my parents invited the Rei's over. Only three of them came, Borislav's older sister apparently ran off a month ago. Borislav thinks that she's finally seen sense and she's trying to find the Dark Lord, because she was last spotted in Albania. If she manages to find the Dark Lord, I hope she finishes him off...Borislav seems to be secretly hoping that the Dark Lord will finish her off...

I don't care, as long as Borislav keeps his insane theories to himself.

Sophia

&%$&%$&%$

Larisa suddenly began to wonder something; Sophia apparently didn't know about Karina until last year...How did she know about her back when she was eleven? And why did Karina run off to Albania?

&%$&%$&%$

January 12th, 1970

Dear Diary,

It was a very eventful day today! I talked to Borislav again out of sheer boredom, and I found out that a couple of days ago, his sister was found in southern Albania. She was alive, but badly shaken. Apparently, from the Legilimency her parents did, she did indeed find the Dark Lord. She took him on in a duel, and the Dark Lord fled from the fight because Karina's wand was more powerful than his. Borislav is determined to get his hands on the wand Karina used, and he remembers the day she came home with it...

Karina had been a high-ranking Russian Auror, and she had been sent to help catch a Dark Witch who had been terrorizing much of Southern Greece, and they needed international help. Karina went on the mission and was gone for a year, until she eventually found the Dark Witch, and took her on. Karina won the duel, and returned home with a wand made out of elder. She refused to speak of the duel, but she said she won the wand from the Dark Witch. She quit being an Auror, and remained at home and is refusing to get married.

I asked Borislav if he was proud of his sister, but he shook his head and told me his family would be better off without her. This was the point where I was struggling to not lash out at him. He asked me if I have any siblings that aren't living at home anymore. I didn't answer, and he asked me if they turned out to be filthy Squibs. I was unable to control my actions, and I hit him over the head with a book. Slughorn saw me, and he had to give me detention. Oh well.

Nobody insults my sisters and gets away with it, even if Sienna and Helena are dead.

Sophia

&%$&%$&%$

A million more questions zooming through Larisa's head now, she put the book away. As Larisa crawled under the covers, one question burned it's way to the front of her mind.


I'M SO SORRY ABOUT THE LONG UPDATE WAIT! It's been difficult to write, as I only have minimal use of one hand. My injured hand is getting better everyday, however.

There may be another long wait, just to warn you.

(Read&Review!)