Harry stood in the gloom, waiting for the next memory. He felt the first feelings of impatience as he contemplated the vast blackness around him. It wasn't that he wasn't interested in what he was seeing but he wanted to find out about his family, he wanted to find out who Lelly actually was.
Harry was disturbed from his reverie by a sudden wave of smoke that enveloped him. Choking, he rubbed the soot from his eyes to find himself standing on the platform of Platform nine and three quarters. Smoke billowed from the scarlet Hogwarts train like a stream. Harry gathered that the end of the year reunion for some students was not happy at all from the many tear-stained faces all around him. They must be in third year thought Harry.
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see a plump blonde woman with a pinched, red face taking Avery by the arm and slapping his face. She led him away, crimson-faced with a hand mark on his right cheek from the slap she gave him.
Barely holding back a smirk, Harry waited for the memory to lead him where he needed to go. Suddenly he got the impulse to walk a bit further down the platform. He obeyed this feeling, the story slowly unwinding like a ball of string in his mind.
A retreating head of red hair caught his attention as he walked and Harry followed. He would recognise that hair anywhere now.
He found Lelly gently embracing Eileen, with a terrified looking black haired witch watching them.
"You will keep in touch won't you?" the black haired girl whispered to her friend.
"Of course. We only have each other now. I'll be in Ireland for two weeks but then I will write." Lelly replied, eyes shining.
"Promise?" Eileen drew back, looking at her best friend firmly.
"Promise." Lelly affirmed.
They hugged again briefly before the black haired witch dragged Eileen away, disappearing into the crowd.
Harry was forced to follow Lelly again as she battled her way through the crowd. She attempted to squeeze between two people but got stuck. She wriggled urgently and was propelled forwards with the force of her release.
She regained her balance and stood for a while, staring with confusion. Harry followed her gaze.
Her parents stood in front of her, looking as nondescript as normal. Harry couldn't see what was wrong, except that Mrs Bellis had a surlier expression than normal pasted on her face. Then he noticed the little girl that clutched the hand of Mr Bellis.
She couldn't have been more than six years of age, her face young and delicate. Her red hair, so like Lelly's, was pulled into pigtails that were fastened with neat blue satin ribbons. Her little powder blue dress made her resemble a porcelain doll than many people seem to collect. She looked as if she would snap at any moment, she was so skinny, and there was something melancholy about her face.
"Um, hey Dad, hello Mum. Who's this?"
"That's your cousin Arielle," Mrs Bellis said coolly, briefly glowering down at the little girl, "She has been forced on us."
Arielle whimpered a little, her stance becoming more introverted.
"She wasn't forced on us," Mr Bellis cut in in a more gentle tone of voice; "Your mother and I were made her legal guardians because we are her closest living relatives. Her parents went missing in Hungary when they went dragon chasing, they are presumed dead." He dropped his voice a little as he explained the circumstances but it was clear that Arielle had heard what he had said because her face crumpled.
Lelly's face grew uncomfortable after this piece of information. She bit her lip as she looked down at the little girl, curling a lock of copper hair around her finger.
She, after a moment's hesitation, knelt down so that she was at the same level as Arielle.
"Hey Arielle. I'm your cousin Lelly. You're coming to live with us aren't you?"
Arielle nodded shyly, smiling a little at the older girl.
"It's really lovely to meet you. Tell me, do you like animals?" Lelly continued in a voice that was a little higher than her normal cool tones.
Arielle nodded firmly.
"Yes! I love puppies and kitties and bunny rabbits!"
"I thought you might," Lelly smiled broadly, "Would you like to meet my special friend Gretchen?"
"Yes please."
"Ok then. I'll just go and find him."
Lelly got up and walked back towards the train. Grounding his teeth slightly Harry followed her yet again. I'm getting to old for all this walking Harry muttered to himself. Due to the delay Harry took in following Lelly, he lost her in the crowd.
For a second Harry grumbled to himself when he realised that it was a memory and he could just walk through people. He soon found her by a large pile of trunks.
She was peering desperately at every one, checking labels hurriedly.
"You haven't seen mine have you?"
Lelly jumped in surprise and turned around to see Tom Riddle leaning against a brick post. A real smile showed fleetingly on her face before the mask dropped again.
"No, sorry Tom. I'm looking for mine actually. I've promised my cousin to show her Gretchen and I can't find my trunk."
"Who or what is Gretchen?" Tom replied, half-turning away.
"Oh, he's just my cat. He fell asleep in my trunk before we left Hogwarts."
Silence fell for a few seconds as Tom helped Lelly turn over a brown trunk. They checked the label, Purdy Salcox: second year. They put it back.
"Hasn't anyone come to collect you yet? Your Mum or your Dad perhaps?" She asked Tom. He went a little white at that question and he looked way completely.
"I never knew either of my parents." He confided to her before helping her with another trunk.
"But someone must take care of you, like your grandparents?" Lelly insisted, grabbing his arm with concern. When he didn't reply, she looked at the name on the trunk.
"This is mine. I guess I'll be going now. Just need to rescue this poor cat first before he suffocates."
She opened the top of her trunk and Gretchen stuck his head out of the opening, partly entangled in a pair of lacy knickers. Blushing fiercely, Lelly took the cat from her trunk in order to untangle him from the underwear. Harry, laughing quietly, looked up at Tom Riddle to see him pursing his lips together in an extreme effort not to smirk. Harry could almost sense his internal battle not to stare at Lelly's undergarments.
When Lelly's excruciating struggle with the underwear was over, she looked up again. Her face totally clashed with her hair.
"Um… I guess I'll see you in September Tom. Have a nice summer."
The smirk had completely vanished, Tom's face deadly serious as he sank his fingers into Gretchen's fur.
"Thank you. You too…"
He gave Gretchen a final stroke and Lelly turned away. Harry saw Tom watching her as she walked away, his expression completely unreadable. As soon as Lelly had got away she winced and mouthed obscenities to herself.
"Great!" she said out loud, "Completely marvelous."
When she got back to her parents, Arielle beamed up at her, an endearing gap-toothed grin. The little girl took the cat from her arms, stroking the sleek black fur that so resembled Tom's hair. Lelly must have been thinking the same thing, biting her lip as her face clouded.
Suddenly Harry felt the old-fashioned television feeling again and the scene changed.
It was a warm summer's day in about mid-August. He was standing in a meadow-area framed with leafy trees. Viridian-green fronds of grass poked up occasionally between large patches of pale yellow, fragrant flowers. The odd cabbage-white fluttered past and the sun was a golden orb in the blue sky. Golden tinged, fluffy clouds sat low on the horizon. Harry could see the little village of Goudhurst below, insinuating that the meadow was on a slight incline.
Near a small shaded area, Harry could see two red-haired girls. One was stretched out across the ground, reading a thick red, leather-bound book while the younger one was dangling from a thin tyre attached to a tree with rope, her feet not quite touching the ground.
"Push me please Lelly! I can't reach."
Laughing, Lelly abandoned her book and got up from the ground. It was strange to Harry to see her in a white blouse and a long red skirt rather than her Hogwarts robes. She ventured over to Arielle and pushed her gently on the swing.
When Arielle had gained enough height, Lelly sat back down and picked up her book again. The cover read "Extremely Rare and Dangerous Beasts by Rosamund Farlig".
"Lelly?" the younger girl called from her swing.
"Yes Ari?" Lelly answered, looking up with a tranquil expression.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"Thank you for being the sister I never had. I wish you could stay at home forever so we can play forever."
"Thanks Ari," Lelly said, looking touched, "I wish I could too. Sometimes I feel too old and I wish I could be six again."
"But you're not. You're going to be fifteen in five weeks."
"I know…" The smile remained on Lelly's face as she settled down to read again.
"Lelly?" Arielle jumped off the swing and ran towards Lelly.
"Yes?"
"I love you." The little girl threw her arms around Lelly's neck.
"Well I love you too Ari, I love you too." Lelly hugged her back.
With a giggle, Arielle skipped off.
Lelly lay back down and turned the page of her book.
It wasn't long before a crease appeared between her two eyebrows as she read and soon after that she sat up bolt upright. Harry had never seen such an expression of contorted horror in all of his life.
He approached her and read the section she had just read.
It kills by one look directly in the eye. If seen through a medium such as a mirror, one would merely be petrified (which a potion consisting of boiled adult mandrake root would easily cure). It rarely kills for food, preferring to just kill for some kind of sadistic sport. All victims of this creature have been found with their eyes burned out and blood trickling from weak points. The skin of its victims is always very pale yet blisteringly hot to the touch. There have been no known people that have survived looking this creature in the eye.
Harry looked at the title of the page. It read "The Basilisk".
The world around Harry twisted and went dark, pitch dark.
Hi guys, it's Randomwriting98 here. I'm so sorry that I haven't updated for over a month but year 11 life is tricky and very busy. The GCSEs are coming in May so I'll be spending most of my time revising but I'll update when I can. I had to have a relatively cheerful and funny chapter for you after all of these sombre chapters. But that end bit though. She knows... Sorry for the cliffhanger but I kinda had to do that mwahahahahahaha. It seemed like the perfect place to end the chapter so yeah. Do you like the cute cousin? Remember to tell me what you think either by review or pm. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favourited and followed. I'm sorry I'm a crappy updater. Haha. Oh by the way do you like the new cover? It's what Lelly looks like in my imagination. Not my best drawing but yeah... Still I'll let you imagine how Lelly is in YOUR mind. :) Caio amici!