4 years later.
"WHAT?!"
"Well my lord, I said."
"I known what you said, Malfoy!" spat Lord Voldemort. "What I want to know is how that is possible."
"I'm unsure, my Lord." Replied Lucius Malfoy, a slight tremble in his voice. "But please trust me, it's true."
Voldemort laughed. "I'll never trust you, Lucius." He said coldly. "But I trust my truth spell. You're not lying. How did you find this out?" Lucius drew breath to begin his story but suddenly Voldemort interrupted. "No, I don't want to hear it right now. Call the Death eaters." Voldemort grinned. "I'm sure their just aching to have some fun."
* * *
"Happy Birthday, Lia!"
"Thanks Mike."
"Hug for your bestest of friends?" Michael Dawson laughed.
"OK!" Lianne opened her arms wide and Michael cringed away. She laughed and relaxed her arms. "Go!" She pointed towards the crowd of socializing people. "Mix and mingle. Introduce yourself to somebody. I need a bit of time away from you."
Michael slouched away pretending to feel rejected, to Lianne's great amusement. He then straightened up with a wink in her direction and proceeded to introduce himself to her foster cousin Drake, shaking his hand very hard. Lianne found this hilarious considering they already knew each other. Drake was very puzzled by the whole thing. When Michael left without an explanation he frowned, cradled his sore hand and decided he didn't like Michael very much.
"I can hardly believe it. Fourteen fabulous years with my sweet Lianne."
"Thanks Mr. D." Lianne leaned over to give him a kiss.
"Why don't you ever call me dad?" he asked her suddenly.
"I donno," she answered a little uneasily. "Habit I guess. But if it bugs you I can call you-
Just then there was a loud bang and a flash of light and a very scary looking man stepped out of the shadows. He had glowing red eyes shaped like those of a cat and an angry, down turned mouth. He was holding a small stick pointing in her direction.
"Wow! Party entertainment!" Lianne cried, exited. "Why are you wearing spooky black robes? How'd you get your eyes red? Are you, like, some kind of clown?"
His angry face turned a brilliant shade of red as he spluttered with rage. "I am most certainly not a clown and I am NOT HERE TO ENTERTAIN YOU!!!!!!!!" He spoke very firmly, trying to keep himself under control, but was yelling by the end.
Lianne was starting to feel very afraid of this man. Without ever taking her eyes off of him she muttered to Dave, "I'm guessing you didn't hire any entertainment." The only response she got was a gargle of fear. *I'm also guessing I'm the only one who still has my head on straight.* She took a tentative step back, expecting him to advance on her. *Oh god! I'm going to die impaled on the stick that this man holds in his hand. I repeat: Oh god!* But he did not make a move. He just stood, leering at her.
"Death eaters!" He yelled suddenly, making everyone in the room jump. *Oh god!*
And in came the death eaters, from every direction. They came smashing through the windows, banging down the doors and appearing with pops in the middle of the room. Everyone seemed to be frozen in place. Lianne's thoughts were racing. *I didn't know there was an insane asylum around here. No, crazy people can't appear out of thin air. Ok so it's magic. I can take that, right?* Suddenly she felt very dizzy. She heard somebody behind her say, "Voldemort. We meet again." She had a quick flash of deja vu, and then she neither heard nor saw anything more.
* * *
Harry grinned. Finally! He was going to leave, leaving, gone! He was so happy to be away from the Dursley's and on his way to Hogwarts. The summer had dragged on forever! Now a grouchy Uncle Vernon was driving him to Kings Cross so he could catch the train to his 5th year of wizard training. He was really quite nervous about this year. For one thing, he hoped he could be Quidditch captain this year. But that was the least of his worries. For last year he had come face to face, for the forth time, with the dreaded wizard Voldemort. And what he had seen had been plaguing him all summer, making near unbearable. Voldemort, who had been a helpless wreck for fourteen years, had now returned to his full power. Harry's grin began to fade. C'mon brain! Think of all the good times I'll be having! It's a lot better than waiting around at the Dursley's. Think of Ron, Hermione, Quidditch, Cho. Harry rescued his smile before it completely disappeared. After all, even if he had a lot to be afraid of, he had even more to be happy about.
"Wipe that loony grin off your face!" Uncle Vernon huffed. "Bah! Wizards! Bloody insane, every one of them. I should throw him out on the street."
*That is what I'm getting away from. I wish he really would throw me out. Maybe I could go live with Ron.*
What seemed to Harry like hours later, they finally pulled into Kings Cross. Harry was out of the car in seconds. He dashed to the back and pulled out his owl and his trunk, waved to Uncle Vernon, who didn't take wave back (Don't know why I bother.) and ran towards platform 9 and ¾. As he expected, he could see six redheads standing by the platform.
"Hey, Ron!" He yelled. One of the redheads looked up at him and waved. As he got closer he could see a girl blushing furiously, but not running and hiding like she once would have.
"Hi Harry." She said, rather quietly.
"Hi Ginny." Before he really knew what was going on he was being greeted by everybody.
"Hiya Harry!"
"Harry darling!"
"How are things?"
After a few minutes, he finally managed to disentangle himself. He glared at Ron (who was laughing like crazy.) as he tried to fix his hair.
"C'mon." Ron said, recovering from his laughter. "We're going to miss the train."
"Right!" Mrs. Weasley snapped to attention. "Harry, Ron you go first. Then Ginny and,"
"Let's go," Muttered Ron, looking exasperated at his mother's babbling. "Before she bores us to death."
They ran at the barrier, Harry closed his eyes at the moment of impact. He never really liked to watch himself collide with a brick wall. But, as usual, he went right through it. * You know, I don't think I'll ever get used to that.* He thought as he opened his eyes to the bustle of platform 9 and ¾. He and Ron got on to the train and started towards the back, where they usually sat, when Hermione stopped them. She seemed quite ruffled by something.
"You'll never believe this!" She said in a rather bothered tone of voice.
"Hello to you to!" Ron huffed.
"What's wrong, Hermione?" Harry said patiently, grabbing Ron's shoulder to calm him down. He didn't understand why his friend tended to over react like this. *Oh, well. It's just Ron, I guess.*
"Oh! You won't believe this. Follow me I'll show you." Hermione walked off towards the back of the train with Harry and Ron in tow. They stopped at the very back of the train, standing in front of the door to the compartment they usually sat. On it was a sign that said "Do Not Enter!".
"No explanation whatsoever." Hermione muttered. Just then a bang and a shout came from within the compartment. The door flew open to revealing a rather angry looking girl with midnight black hair and flashing grey eyes.
"I want an explanation. Now!"
* * *
Lianne yawned. She was so tired! *That must have been some party last night! Why can't I remember it?* The, suddenly, all the memories came flooding back. She opened her eyes, jumped, and fell off the bench she was lying on. She sighed stood up, and dusted herself off. Then she felt the panic beginning to rise in her as she realized what she was seeing. The scenery was moving quickly past her window. She was moving! She looked around her and realized she was on a train. Slowly, fear was replaced with anger. How could somebody take her away from everything she knew like that? She yelled in exasperation. It just wasn't fair. Without even thinking she threw open the door and made eye contact with the first person she saw. He was a couple inches shorter than her and, she thought, around her age. His black hair stuck out in many directions and his bright green eyes were wide behind his glasses.
"I want an explanation. Now!" She said a little firmer than she had meant to. She saw he looked more than a little surprised. "Well, what did you expect? Did you think I'd be scared? You obviously don't know me very well. Now, Tell me where this train is going?"
After a pause, the redheaded boy standing next to the black-haired one spoke up.
"Hogwarts of course. Where else would it be going?" He said in an exasperated tone.
"It could be going just about anywhere for all that I know!" She replied, equally exasperated. "Where is Hogwarts, anyway?"
This time it was the frizzy brown haired girl who spoke. "None of the student are allowed to know."
"So Hogwarts is some kind of school, then? And you're all students. You wouldn't happen to know why I'm being taken to your school, would you?" Now the black-haired one spoke. "Your not a student? Then why are you here?"
"I don't know! That's what I was trying to ask you. So please, can you tell me anything?" She asked, starting to get kind of worried now. There was another long pause then the black-haired boy stepped forward.
"I'm Harry. Why don't we sit down in that compartment behind you and we'll tell you what we know."
"Right. Ok. Sure." She stepped back and let them through. The three of them sat down on one side and she sat down facing them. "I'm Lianne." She offered.
"I'm Ron."
"Pleased to meet you. My names Hermione."
"So." She was tentative to ask any questions but she really wanted to hear what they knew. Harry seemed to understand this and began his explanation immediately.
"Hogwarts is a very unusual school." He started. "I don't know if you'll believe me but, this school trains people in magic. Witches and wizards and." He was watching her face very carefully as he said this. *Whoa! Hold on! Witches and wizards? I should have known!* During the next hour they talked about various finer points of wizardry and other things. Lianne got to know the three of them quite well and really like them.
"Alright." Ron said. "We've told you everything we can. Now, I want to know why you're here." As she started to say, again, that she didn't know, but he interrupted her quickly. "Ya I know, you not sure. But you've got to remember something! I mean, what's the last memory you have?" So she sighed and began her story. When she was done there was a very shocked silence that nobody really wanted to break. Harry was about to say something when the train started slowing down. Lianne jumped up.
"I should really go figure out if anyone knows why I'm here." She said. "See you later." She half-ran off the train and out into the cold, rainy night to find some answers.
"WHAT?!"
"Well my lord, I said."
"I known what you said, Malfoy!" spat Lord Voldemort. "What I want to know is how that is possible."
"I'm unsure, my Lord." Replied Lucius Malfoy, a slight tremble in his voice. "But please trust me, it's true."
Voldemort laughed. "I'll never trust you, Lucius." He said coldly. "But I trust my truth spell. You're not lying. How did you find this out?" Lucius drew breath to begin his story but suddenly Voldemort interrupted. "No, I don't want to hear it right now. Call the Death eaters." Voldemort grinned. "I'm sure their just aching to have some fun."
* * *
"Happy Birthday, Lia!"
"Thanks Mike."
"Hug for your bestest of friends?" Michael Dawson laughed.
"OK!" Lianne opened her arms wide and Michael cringed away. She laughed and relaxed her arms. "Go!" She pointed towards the crowd of socializing people. "Mix and mingle. Introduce yourself to somebody. I need a bit of time away from you."
Michael slouched away pretending to feel rejected, to Lianne's great amusement. He then straightened up with a wink in her direction and proceeded to introduce himself to her foster cousin Drake, shaking his hand very hard. Lianne found this hilarious considering they already knew each other. Drake was very puzzled by the whole thing. When Michael left without an explanation he frowned, cradled his sore hand and decided he didn't like Michael very much.
"I can hardly believe it. Fourteen fabulous years with my sweet Lianne."
"Thanks Mr. D." Lianne leaned over to give him a kiss.
"Why don't you ever call me dad?" he asked her suddenly.
"I donno," she answered a little uneasily. "Habit I guess. But if it bugs you I can call you-
Just then there was a loud bang and a flash of light and a very scary looking man stepped out of the shadows. He had glowing red eyes shaped like those of a cat and an angry, down turned mouth. He was holding a small stick pointing in her direction.
"Wow! Party entertainment!" Lianne cried, exited. "Why are you wearing spooky black robes? How'd you get your eyes red? Are you, like, some kind of clown?"
His angry face turned a brilliant shade of red as he spluttered with rage. "I am most certainly not a clown and I am NOT HERE TO ENTERTAIN YOU!!!!!!!!" He spoke very firmly, trying to keep himself under control, but was yelling by the end.
Lianne was starting to feel very afraid of this man. Without ever taking her eyes off of him she muttered to Dave, "I'm guessing you didn't hire any entertainment." The only response she got was a gargle of fear. *I'm also guessing I'm the only one who still has my head on straight.* She took a tentative step back, expecting him to advance on her. *Oh god! I'm going to die impaled on the stick that this man holds in his hand. I repeat: Oh god!* But he did not make a move. He just stood, leering at her.
"Death eaters!" He yelled suddenly, making everyone in the room jump. *Oh god!*
And in came the death eaters, from every direction. They came smashing through the windows, banging down the doors and appearing with pops in the middle of the room. Everyone seemed to be frozen in place. Lianne's thoughts were racing. *I didn't know there was an insane asylum around here. No, crazy people can't appear out of thin air. Ok so it's magic. I can take that, right?* Suddenly she felt very dizzy. She heard somebody behind her say, "Voldemort. We meet again." She had a quick flash of deja vu, and then she neither heard nor saw anything more.
* * *
Harry grinned. Finally! He was going to leave, leaving, gone! He was so happy to be away from the Dursley's and on his way to Hogwarts. The summer had dragged on forever! Now a grouchy Uncle Vernon was driving him to Kings Cross so he could catch the train to his 5th year of wizard training. He was really quite nervous about this year. For one thing, he hoped he could be Quidditch captain this year. But that was the least of his worries. For last year he had come face to face, for the forth time, with the dreaded wizard Voldemort. And what he had seen had been plaguing him all summer, making near unbearable. Voldemort, who had been a helpless wreck for fourteen years, had now returned to his full power. Harry's grin began to fade. C'mon brain! Think of all the good times I'll be having! It's a lot better than waiting around at the Dursley's. Think of Ron, Hermione, Quidditch, Cho. Harry rescued his smile before it completely disappeared. After all, even if he had a lot to be afraid of, he had even more to be happy about.
"Wipe that loony grin off your face!" Uncle Vernon huffed. "Bah! Wizards! Bloody insane, every one of them. I should throw him out on the street."
*That is what I'm getting away from. I wish he really would throw me out. Maybe I could go live with Ron.*
What seemed to Harry like hours later, they finally pulled into Kings Cross. Harry was out of the car in seconds. He dashed to the back and pulled out his owl and his trunk, waved to Uncle Vernon, who didn't take wave back (Don't know why I bother.) and ran towards platform 9 and ¾. As he expected, he could see six redheads standing by the platform.
"Hey, Ron!" He yelled. One of the redheads looked up at him and waved. As he got closer he could see a girl blushing furiously, but not running and hiding like she once would have.
"Hi Harry." She said, rather quietly.
"Hi Ginny." Before he really knew what was going on he was being greeted by everybody.
"Hiya Harry!"
"Harry darling!"
"How are things?"
After a few minutes, he finally managed to disentangle himself. He glared at Ron (who was laughing like crazy.) as he tried to fix his hair.
"C'mon." Ron said, recovering from his laughter. "We're going to miss the train."
"Right!" Mrs. Weasley snapped to attention. "Harry, Ron you go first. Then Ginny and,"
"Let's go," Muttered Ron, looking exasperated at his mother's babbling. "Before she bores us to death."
They ran at the barrier, Harry closed his eyes at the moment of impact. He never really liked to watch himself collide with a brick wall. But, as usual, he went right through it. * You know, I don't think I'll ever get used to that.* He thought as he opened his eyes to the bustle of platform 9 and ¾. He and Ron got on to the train and started towards the back, where they usually sat, when Hermione stopped them. She seemed quite ruffled by something.
"You'll never believe this!" She said in a rather bothered tone of voice.
"Hello to you to!" Ron huffed.
"What's wrong, Hermione?" Harry said patiently, grabbing Ron's shoulder to calm him down. He didn't understand why his friend tended to over react like this. *Oh, well. It's just Ron, I guess.*
"Oh! You won't believe this. Follow me I'll show you." Hermione walked off towards the back of the train with Harry and Ron in tow. They stopped at the very back of the train, standing in front of the door to the compartment they usually sat. On it was a sign that said "Do Not Enter!".
"No explanation whatsoever." Hermione muttered. Just then a bang and a shout came from within the compartment. The door flew open to revealing a rather angry looking girl with midnight black hair and flashing grey eyes.
"I want an explanation. Now!"
* * *
Lianne yawned. She was so tired! *That must have been some party last night! Why can't I remember it?* The, suddenly, all the memories came flooding back. She opened her eyes, jumped, and fell off the bench she was lying on. She sighed stood up, and dusted herself off. Then she felt the panic beginning to rise in her as she realized what she was seeing. The scenery was moving quickly past her window. She was moving! She looked around her and realized she was on a train. Slowly, fear was replaced with anger. How could somebody take her away from everything she knew like that? She yelled in exasperation. It just wasn't fair. Without even thinking she threw open the door and made eye contact with the first person she saw. He was a couple inches shorter than her and, she thought, around her age. His black hair stuck out in many directions and his bright green eyes were wide behind his glasses.
"I want an explanation. Now!" She said a little firmer than she had meant to. She saw he looked more than a little surprised. "Well, what did you expect? Did you think I'd be scared? You obviously don't know me very well. Now, Tell me where this train is going?"
After a pause, the redheaded boy standing next to the black-haired one spoke up.
"Hogwarts of course. Where else would it be going?" He said in an exasperated tone.
"It could be going just about anywhere for all that I know!" She replied, equally exasperated. "Where is Hogwarts, anyway?"
This time it was the frizzy brown haired girl who spoke. "None of the student are allowed to know."
"So Hogwarts is some kind of school, then? And you're all students. You wouldn't happen to know why I'm being taken to your school, would you?" Now the black-haired one spoke. "Your not a student? Then why are you here?"
"I don't know! That's what I was trying to ask you. So please, can you tell me anything?" She asked, starting to get kind of worried now. There was another long pause then the black-haired boy stepped forward.
"I'm Harry. Why don't we sit down in that compartment behind you and we'll tell you what we know."
"Right. Ok. Sure." She stepped back and let them through. The three of them sat down on one side and she sat down facing them. "I'm Lianne." She offered.
"I'm Ron."
"Pleased to meet you. My names Hermione."
"So." She was tentative to ask any questions but she really wanted to hear what they knew. Harry seemed to understand this and began his explanation immediately.
"Hogwarts is a very unusual school." He started. "I don't know if you'll believe me but, this school trains people in magic. Witches and wizards and." He was watching her face very carefully as he said this. *Whoa! Hold on! Witches and wizards? I should have known!* During the next hour they talked about various finer points of wizardry and other things. Lianne got to know the three of them quite well and really like them.
"Alright." Ron said. "We've told you everything we can. Now, I want to know why you're here." As she started to say, again, that she didn't know, but he interrupted her quickly. "Ya I know, you not sure. But you've got to remember something! I mean, what's the last memory you have?" So she sighed and began her story. When she was done there was a very shocked silence that nobody really wanted to break. Harry was about to say something when the train started slowing down. Lianne jumped up.
"I should really go figure out if anyone knows why I'm here." She said. "See you later." She half-ran off the train and out into the cold, rainy night to find some answers.