I told you I was going to update faster this time
Chapter 28
"Anastasia, can I ask you something?" William said. He was standing on the doorway of her office
"Yes, of course," Alicia gestured for him to come in.
Two hours had past since the interrogation with the Potters. Alicia had tried to understand why Emma hadn't told the police she was Alicia Potter.
After all, Alicia had abandoned her along with Ginny and Potter. Emma had no reason to be nice to her.
"Why did you start crying in the beginning of the interrogation with Alicia Potter's family? "
Alicia looked up at William's worried face. She wasn't sure she knew the answer herself. Maybe they had been tears of relief. Or maybe she had really been upset. Her mother and her father had not even recognized her!
"I don't really know myself," Alicia answered truthfully.
William smiled. He walked over to Alicia and then turned around so he stood behind her. He began to stroke her shoulders as if he was preparing to give her a massage.
"There are some many things I would like to know about you," he whispered.
Alicia couldn't help but smile. She lifted her own hand and touched William's.
"You know when I saw Emma I couldn't help think about my previous life," Alicia said.
She could see William's face on the reflection of the window in front of her. He looked confused.
"Your previous life?"
"Yes, my previous life. There was a time of my life when I thought everything was simple, when I didn't have any responsibilities … sometimes I wish I was still thirteen."
William laughed softly.
"You're not the only one who dreams about being young and careless again."
There was silence. Alicia thought of Emma, of her parents, of Elisabeth Malfoy, of Mitchell Perkins, of Beverly Weasley, of Alan Smith … One day she had been able to say she was happy. She had had a loving family, an attractive boyfriend, a wonderful friend …
Alicia had lost these things a very long time ago. But now she felt a new energy growing inside of her. She decided maybe it was time to make things happen for herself.
"Will …"
"Yes?"
"Do you still remember the day we've met?"
"Of course."
"Well, that day you said you wouldn't mind going on a date with me one night …"
"So?"
"Do you still want to?"
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Alicia was standing in front of her mirror.
She was useless at this date thing, she decided. She had no idea what she was supposed to wear and how she was supposed to act.
Alicia sighed and grabbed her wand. She whispered a spell and her hair magically brushed themselves into attractive blond curls.
She pointed her wand at her clothes. Her boring old suit turned into a light blue dress with soft white high heels.
She glanced at herself in the mirror again.
"Not bad," she congratulated herself.
The bell rang.
"Well, he's right on time," Alicia whispered and let out a giggle. She felt like a young girl going on her first real date.
Alicia opened the door and William appeared with a bunch of flowers in his right hand. He looked particularly charming at that moment. Even his smile seemed more natural.
"Hey," Alicia said breathlessly.
William grinned and took her hand.
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Alicia felt happy as she watched William smile at her from across the table. William had reserved a place for them in one of the best restaurants in town.
Alicia hadn't had so much fun for a very long time. William was a really cool guy, she decided. They had talked for hours and hours. Alicia had barely touched her plate because she couldn't seem to be able to stop laughing or talking.
"I didn't know you could laugh so much," William teased.
"Hey, careful, I'm still your boss," Alicia warned him but she was only joking.
They went on talking.
"You know you remind me of someone," Alicia said. She didn't know why she had said that, maybe she had had to much wine. But William seemed very interested in what she had to say.
"Who?" he asked curiously.
Alicia could feel his knees touching hers under the table. Strangely this didn't bother her.
"When I was young, I lived next to a muggle boy. I think he's one of the only real friends I have had in my life."
"Well, maybe you haven't had many friends in your life," William said. He was only teasing her but Alicia was still hurt.
There was a pause when nobody said anything. Alicia pretended to be very interested in her food.
"So, this friend of yours, did you only see him as a friend?" William asked.
"No, at one point of our friendship I started to feel something else for him. I think I fell in love with him. I wasn't even prepared for it!"
William laughed.
"Nobody is."
"Yes, but I never thought I would ever fall in love with a muggle, let alone be friends with one! But I have to admit that muggles really do seem to attract me."
Alicia bit her lip. She hadn't meant to say that. She looked at William to see whether he had noticed she had let something slip out.
"So you find me attractive?" William grinned.
Alicia nodded, and as William's grin grew wider, she knew this was probably one of the best nights of her life.
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Alicia was in a very good mood the day after her date with William Jones. It was a Saturday so she had plenty of time for herself.
Alicia was planning to go shopping. She was sick of her boring clothes. She wanted something new.
The young woman was just finishing her coffee when the phone rang.
Alicia wondered who it could be. Nobody ever called her. The phone was dusty and old.
Alicia picked it up.
"Hello?" she said timidly for she hated this muggle way of communication. She liked it when she could see the person she talked to right in front of her.
"Hello Ana," a deep voice responded.
Alicia smiled and blushed. It was William.
"Why are you calling me?" she asked curiously.
"I just wanted to tell you that I really enjoyed last night and I was hoping we were going on another date this night."
"Hmm …" Alicia pretended to be thinking about it. But inside she was really pleased. This sort of thing had never happened to her. Men had chased her but she had never actually been interested unless they were useful for something.
But Alicia didn't need William and yet she still liked him.
"This time, we're going to go dancing," William said.
Alicia laughed.
"That's hard to say no to," she giggled and she could almost hear William smile on the other end of the line.
They made arrangements to prepare for the night. William was going to go pick Alicia up at half past eight and together they would grab something to eat and then go dancing.
Alicia sighed in relief. She was finally seeing the light at the end of the dark tunnel, she just knew it.
Alicia went into her room to get dressed to go out shopping.
"Ah!" Alicia shrieked in surprise.
Alicia was not alone in the bedroom. A girl was sitting on the bed. She was facing the wall so that nobody could see her face.
But Alicia still recognized the girl on the bed. There was only one person on earth that wore her black shiny hair so long that they touched her waist.
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"Emma! What are you doing here?" Alicia screamed. These were the first words that came to her mouth.
"What a nice way to greet your sister," Emma said turning out and looking at Alicia nastily.
"Emma …" Alicia whispered. She couldn't believe it. Emma Potter was there in her bedroom as if it was the most normal thing!
Emma sighed. She looked sad.
"Maybe I'm making a mistake. I should never have come to you for help …"
Emma stood up and made her way out of the room.
Alicia was too stunned to move or say anything. She could hear Emma fiddling with the lock of the entrance door.
"Emma …" Alicia said again. This seemed to be the only word that would come out of her mouth.
"Damn it! Why won't this fucking door just open," Emma cried angrily.
Alicia heard her kick the door fiercely. She wanted to move, do something to help Emma get out of the apartment but her legs wouldn't let her do anything. They were completely paralyzed.
Emma took her wand out of her pocket. She hesitated.
"You're not allowed to use your wand outside Hogwarts," Alicia warned her.
Emma put the wand back in her pocket and turned to look at Alicia who was still standing in the doorway of the bedroom.
"Just shut up okay, and help me open this stupid door," She snapped.
"No."
As Alicia said that, Emma's face completely changed. She looked dark and mean.
"What?" she cried, her voice trembling with rage.
Alicia wondered what had happened to the sweet girl she had met in the interrogation.
"I said no."
Emma breathed with difficulty.
"Just let me out, she pleaded, did you spell that door or something?"
Alicia had to smile. Maybe Emma couldn't read minds and she has just been fooling around with her the other day.
"Of course I did. Did you really think I was going to let you go just like that?"
Emma looked frightened.
"But, how did you do it? You had your back to the door and you didn't even touch your wand!"
Alicia approached Emma slowly. She watched her sister for a while. She enjoyed seeing how Emma had become: her strong shoulders, her large waist, her muscular legs and her indescribable brutal beauty. When Emma had been born everyone had said she was going to become like her sister. But Emma and Alicia were very different now. Alicia was very thin and small, she could easily be carried off by the wind; whereas Emma was tall for her age and she was still growing and her body was so strongly built no wind could possibly take her away.
"It's been a long time since we've spoken to each other properly, Emma, you don't know me anymore. I am much more powerful than I used to be. Now tell me why you came to my apartment and how you found me."
Emma looked suspicious for a few seconds and then she gave in.
"Oh, all right," she said.
The two women went back in the bedroom and sat on the bed.
"That day when you visited Nathalie and we bumped into each other, I didn't recognize you. I thought you were just a friend of the Perkins'. Although you did remind me of the old Alicia I knew, but I didn't dare believe it. Mum, Dad and I used to fantasise that you would come back one day but it hurt us so much that we decided it was better to stop. So we pushed away anything that reminded us of you. Well, Mom and Dad did. Sometimes at night I gave myself the luxury of thinking about you once again. But the time past and I began forgetting what you looked like. Your face was a blur to me. I tried to look at the old photographs but they didn't waken anything in me anymore."
Alicia closed her eyes as the melody of her sister's voice bounced of the walls once again. She felt the tears rolling down her cheeks. It hurt. It simply hurt.
"So slowly you became some sort of goddess to me. You were a sister I couldn't even remember, a sister that I admired without knowing why exactly, a sister I badly wanted to see again, a sister I had lost."
Alicia could imagine little Emma sitting in her small room dreaming that her sister would come back one day, counting the days, months and years since Alicia had last spoken to her.
"You can imagine the shock we got when we received Nathalie's call a few hours after you had spoken to me. I had just told Mum about you. Dad called Mr Tuyandis and asked him to open the case immediately. You know the Ministry for Magic will do anything for Dad."
Alicia remembered vaguely her conversation with Robert Tuyandis when he had said she had no choice but to accept that the case was open. Alicia had wondered why he had been so determined and now she knew. She should have known! Nobody refused Harry Potter anything. After all, he had saved them all.
"Then Mum and Dad brought me to the Department. They said they wanted me to tell the detectives everything about my meeting with you."
"But did you know by then that it was really me the woman you had seen?" Alicia asked.
"No. I thought Nathalie was crazy. I even insulted that Abbots guy during the interrogating. I told him they were wasting my precious time. You know I have entered Hogwarts only a year ago so I have a lot of things to catch on."
"Yeah, I know."
"Oh. Well, then, I was so upset Mum took me in her arms to calm me down. And then you came in and you started to speak. I recognized your voice immediately. And I knew then that you were my sister. I mean if you had really been Anastasia Wilford you would have just told the Department you were the one who spoke to me that day. But you didn't, and that meant you had something to hide."
"But can you really read minds?" Alicia wanted to know.
"Of course I don't, Emma laughed softly, people just say that because I can read bodies well. I can generally guess what a person is thinking by the way she touches her face, holds her body, moves her arms, by the number of time she blinks … stuff like that. I told the newspaper I could read minds because I was bored and I wanted to get people's attention. It worked."
Alicia was impressed. Reading bodies was something she had always wanted to be able to do. In her first years at Hogwarts she had managed to read some people a bit, but the more she grew up, the more it got complicated. One day Alicia realised she couldn't read people properly. She watched them and studied them but she was never really able to know what they were thinking.
"Well, you're really good. That day at the interrogation, I really felt like you knew exactly what I was thinking."
Emma hesitated and then she smiled. Her smile was very different from Alicia's. It wasn't mysterious or seductive. Emma's smile was small and sweet like a baby's.
"Can I ask you something?" Emma asked. She seemed shy all of a sudden. Alicia realised how fragile her new relationship with Emma and she felt nervous. She was so scared that something was going to go wrong, and she would lose Emma again … And now that Alicia had heard her sister's voice, seen her smile, felt her rage, she knew she would do anything to keep Emma close to her.
"Yeah, of course."
"Can I call you Ana?"
Alicia frowned.
"Why? My real name is Alicia, you can me Ali."
Emma looked at her hands.
"I know, she said, but I've been dreaming about a woman called Ali for years and years now. It was a bit like my imaginary friend. I'm sorry, but the Alicia I knew disappeared nine years. You've changed. You're not the same person anymore."
Alicia didn't know what to feel. She bit her lip anxiously.
"What do you mean?"
Emma looked up.
"The Alicia I knew was the person I was most afraid of. I hated you and yet I couldn't help admiring you. Every time we were in the same room, you were in a bad mood. You couldn't stand me. You kept kicking me when I was very young. It was only in the end that I started to feel as if you were starting to like me. I hated you with my whole heart but that didn't keep me from thinking about you every single second of my life. Alicia was some sort of god for me. She was the mysterious girl that came back only for the holydays. You always ignored me. All you ever did when you were home was speaking with mom and dad, lock yourself in your bedroom or go play with the muggle next door. I knew nothing about you, so I watched you intently. I observed you with Mona the snake and I knew you were going to kill her one day. I observed your relationship with the muggle as well and I knew you loved him. I also examined the way you looked at me."
"How did I look at you?" Alicia asked trembling.
"I could only see hate and love mixed together. Fear and jealousy. I never really understood what it meant. But now I do."
"What do you think it meant?"
"You didn't hate me because of me; you hated me because of what I represented. I took away your statue as the only daughter of Harry Potter. You didn't love me, you loved the fact that, if you messed things up, there was always going to be someone there for Mom and Dad. Yet you were still scared I was going to compete with you one day. And you were jealous of me."
"Why was I jealous?"
"You were jealous because I was still so young and I still had that innocence you would have died for. I still had the chance to build my life the way I wanted whereas your life was already built and you didn't like it at all."
Alicia tried to control herself but she couldn't. First the tears came and then the sobs began as well.
Emma took her sister in her arms and stroked her head.
"It's all right, Ana, let it all out. It will do you good," Emma whispered.
"I'm so, so sorry," Alicia sobbed.
Emma felt like crying as well, but she was stronger and she managed to control her tears. She sniffed and took in a deep breath.
"I know, Ana, I know."
Author's note: Please, please leave reviews so that I know at least what you think about this chapter
