Chapter Five: A Clean Sheet of Parchment.
Arabella held the letter in her hands, staring at her sister's loopy, girlish handwriting upon the now tattered and yellowed sheet of parchment. She wished so desperately that she had written back - that she had more than just a letter and a photograph to remember her sister by.
She remembered exactly where she had been when the owl had arrived. She had just returned from Diagon Alley after buying another cat - Mr. Tibbles - when a small owl flew in her kitchen window and dropped a scroll upon her table. She unfolded it, and could not believe what she read. Her sister, whom she had not spoken to in years, had been slain by Lord Voldemort while carrying out a spy mission for the Order of the Phoenix. Arabella had gone numb, trying hard to recall the last words she had spoken to her sister, and realized with a pang of sadness that they had been words of bitterness and jealousy, and not of congratulations and happiness. She had been asked to take Mirabella's place in the Order, but even this honor could not take away the stings of sadness that poked holes in her heart.
She turned to look at Harry, still fast asleep on her couch, his scar visible.
I have to protect him, she thought. It is the only way I have to honor Mirabella - I must look out for Harry - keep him safe from all the evils of this world, while I can. Her heart filled with a sickening mixture of sadness and pride as she thought of all the evil that this little boy had to face - and would have to face in the years to come. She planted a kiss upon his cheek, causing Harry to stir, but not to wake.
She then made her way to her desk, and pulled out a quill, an ink bottle, and a clean sheet of parchment. She sat down, and with a small smile on her face, began the letter she should have written many years ago.
