A 'Mirrors' Story
Story 4
Part 3
Kate's Narrative
"That was so scary, Mary Graham!" Claire exclaimed. I nodded.
"Shut up," Mary Graham shot back.
"But....." Jake said.
"Mary Graham!" Betsy cried, startled by her response.
"I mean it. I don't want to talk about it." We nodded. Mary Graham looked so determined, even though she was laying on a hospital bed, weak and pale.
"Are you all right, Miss Lupin?" McGonagall asked. Mary Graham nodded with a weak smile.
"Miss Carey, will you stay here with Miss Lupin for a few more minutes?" I nodded.
"That means that you five can go," McGonagall added. They nodded and slowly, one by one, drifted out of the hospital wing.
"Five?" Mary Graham asked.
"Yeah. Haley and Dave were really worried about you........"
"So they came with us."
"Oh." She sounded far-off and dreary, disappointed almost.
"You okay?"
"Yes," she said, not sounding in the slightest way convincing.
"That was freaky," I said.
"You don't know the half of it," she said in barely a whisper. She had obviously not meant for me to hear it, so I said nothing. I glanced out the window at the stars instead.
"What are you looking at?" Mary Graham asked curiously.
"The stars," I said, acknowledging that Mars was unusually bright.
"Why?" Mary Graham asked.
"My good friend was a centaur," I said.
"Oh. So, can you read them? I mean, the stars. Can you? I was just wondering, you know, because centaurs are known for their ability to read stars."
"Well, yeah."
"What do you see?"
"Just stuff."
"What are you seeing right now?"
"I see...... Well, it's hard to explain. See Mars?" I pointed.
"Yes."
"Notice how bright it is."
"Well, yeah."
"That means mystery in ones past." Mary Graham gasped.
"You really see that?"
"Yes. Would I lie to you?"
"N-no." She hesitated. Then...... "I think it's time I told you something.........."
I couldn't sleep when I got back to Gryffindor Tower. I could hear Claire snoring loudly in the bed beside me, and Betsy had disappeared a while ago. I was just thinking, mainly about the sorting. My parents had both been Slytherins. I hate my family. Briley may be my real last name, but hey, that's all the better reason not to go under it. I go under Haley Nordine, the name my foster parents gave me. I'm glad they let me go under their name. I wouldn't have been able to stand going under my real name, Brittany Briley. My family is just so terrible, I refuse to have anything to do with them. See, they're evil. They are huge supporters of evil, particularly Voldemort. Me, I hate Voldemort. My parents hated the stand I'd taken against their master at such a young age. In fact, that was the reason they dumped me at an orphanage, although heaven knows I preferred the crazy atmosphere there over the evil that lurked in the Briley house. Even though the orphanage was better than where I had been before, it wasn't my favorite place on earth, which is why I thank the Nordine's. They adopted me, and even luckier than that, they were an old wizarding family. They were very unlike my real family. The Nordine's house had a loving atmosphere, and the two young people (only in their early thirties) had both been in Ravenclaw when they had attended Hogwarts.
Getting back to the present (sort of)......... As much as I hated my last name being acknowledged as Briley, it had been a relief to be sorted under it. I don't think I could have lasted all the way to 'N'. I had watched the kids be sorted after me, and they had looked ready to faint. Their faces had gone colors like green, blue, and purple out of pure nervousness. Some had looked like they were going to puke at any second. I had been glad to be sorted at the beginning, even if it meant going under Briley.
Anyway....... All my blood-relatives had been Slytherins, evil, Voldemort loving...... Which left me to wonder: Why had I been put in Gryffindor? Even if I were more like the Nordines, that would have left me in Ravenclaw, like them. I think. Maybe I was just that different.
"That's awful, Mary Graham," I heard Kate say from outside the door, shaking me back into reality. Then the door opened. I immediately lay down, but they saw me.
"Hello Haley Briley," Mary Graham said.
"Nordine," I corrected.
"Oh. Okay," she said. You could tell she must have been tired. Unfortunately, Kate wasn't satisfied.
"How come?"
"My real name is Brittany Briley, but my real parents were evil....." Kate interrupted.
"How so?" she said.
"They support Voldemort."
"Ooh, yuck! Er, never mind me. Continue."
"They sent me to an orphanage because I hated the freak."
"You go girl!"
"And the Nordine's adopted me. Renamed me Haley. Let me go under their last name. It's really quite a relief. I hate the Brileys."
"Oh," Mary Graham said.
"So, are you okay?" I asked her.
"Yeah, I think so."
"Where's Betsy?" Kate interrupted.
"I haven't a clue." Betsy chose then to skip into the room, as if on cue. She looked utterly happy.
"Hello, all!" she said.
"Where were you?" Kate questioned.
"Oh, no where," Betsy said.
"What ever," Kate said.
"Look, I'm tired. It's been a long day, and I just want to sleep."
"I'm with her," came Claire's sleepy voice. We had obviously woken her up.
"Nope. You snore too loud," I declared.
"Why, you!" Claire pretended to be very angry, but she was failing miserably, considering she was laughing.
"Oh no! She snores!" Kate was looking mock-horrifed the whole time she said this, which sent Mary Graham into a fit of giggles.
"Is anyone else tired?" Betsy demanded.
"No!" we all replied. And we weren't. Now we were all wide awake. I mean, it was only 9:30!
"What do you guys want to do?" Mary Graham asked.
"Poker?" I suggested hopefully.
"SLEEP!" Betsy said, nearly yelling.
"Chill, Bets!" Kate said.
"But I wanna go to sleep!" Betsy whined.
"Good for you," I said warily.
"I seriously want to go to sleep," Betsy persisted.
"So?" I asked.
"Guys! How can any one be so cruel?" Betsy asked.
"Look, let's just sleep. It'll get her to shut up, and besides, I'm feeling kinda dizzy again," I said.
"Okay," Kate said.
"Yeah," chorused Claire.
"Good idea," Haley put in.
"What? You wouldn't go to sleep when I suggested it!" Betsy sounded hurt.
"Oh, honestly, shut up!" Claire said. We agreed. Finally, we settled down.
Betsy fell asleep almost instantly, Claire following short after. Haley wasn't awake much longer. Finally it was just me and Kate. Kate was sitting in the bed next to me. Headphones were over her ears. Out of shear boredom, I asked her what she was listening to. Big mistake. I'm sorry I asked.
"The Silverwing Kids. They're the best!"
"The Who Kids?"
"The Silverwing Kids. You can't tell me you haven't heard of them."
"I can't? That's funny, because I haven't."
"You've never heard of the Silverwing Kids? Oh, you poor thing! They're only about the greatest band around!"
"I listen to old stuff. Backstreet Boys........" Kate stopped me at that.
"You listen to stuff that old? Child, what am I gonna ta do with ya?"
"Er......"
"Here, listen to this," Kate said, shoving the headphones over my ears. I listened for a moment, then shoved it back at Kate.
"Great, aren't they?"
"Kate? How on earth can you like this junk?" I asked weakly. What I had just heard was a bunch of wailing maniacs. The lyrics they sang made no sense, and they flowed terribly together. They hit all the wrong notes with their voices and with their background music.
"Junk? Junk?" Kate started giving me a boring lecture. It actually was a good thing. It helped me fall asleep.
"Mommy, I smell fire!" cried the younger me, no more than four.
"Oh, no. Mary Graham, mommy's coming." Her voice soothed the young me. I relaxed as my mother ran into my bedroom, the very bedroom I had watched go up in flames years before. Seven years since the house had gone up in flames, my mother in it.
"Mary Graham, we're going to have to climb out the window."
"Away from the fire?" I asked.
"Yes. Now be a good girl and go first.
"No, mommy, you go."
"No, Mary Graham. You must go first." So I did. I climbed onto the windowsill, then hesitated.
"It's too high. I can't."
"You can!" my mother assured me.
"Mommy, I'm scared."
"I know you are, Mary Graham, but it's all going to be okay."
"Promise?"
"Yes, darling."
"Mary Graham, wassa matter?" she asked sleepily.
"Kate, it's important," I urged.
"All right, all right." Kate sat up, and finally looked at the clock. She went ballistic.
"What the heck do you think you're doing, waking me up an hour and a half before I have to be awake?"
"Kate, it's about those dreams," I whispered.
"Oh. Okay," she said, her interest finally caught.
"More of them, huh?" she asked.
"Yes," I said sadly.
"Wow, you must have a very terrible past if it haunts you that much."
"Oh, I do! It's just so terrible to think about," I sobbed.
"Shh. It's okay, Mary Graham," Kate said soothingly.
"I shall make my return to power soon." The evil one laughed.
"And then you shall kill those whose powers rival your own even at such a young age!" the servant said eagerly.
"Yes, child, but be patient. That will take a while."
"How I hate them! Potter's so stuck up, Black's so nosy, Lupin's such a freak....." the servant's voice trailed off.
"Ah, you mustn't forget what I did to her beloved mother. The fire was perfect. How unfortunate I didn't kill her then as well!"
"Yes, my lord, but you can't have forgotten Carey! Her being able to read the stars may interfere greatly in our plans."
"I shall do away with her first," the evil one said bluntly.
"But there's still Nordine. She knows too much. Her true parents are faithful servants of yours."
"Very faithful. They are both right in my inner-circle."
"I knew, my lord."
"Very well. I must tell you, I am very pleased with you. I found much disappointment in the girl. She has broken my trust. Refuses to betray her friends. What a goody-goody! Pity I couldn't kill her now, but it would make too big a scene. I must keep quiet until I am back at full strength."
"She left you?" the servant choked.
"Yes."
"Stupid girl. You must kill her first, master!"
"Second. After Carey." He laughed evilly at his own evilness before he and his servant departed.