There was a time, not very long ago, before our people were torn apart by the first war. It was a happy time when trust and comfort could be found within the smile of another. And who better to lead them through such good times than my son, Nicholas: the sire of imperial Berdume.
"Hello Grandmamma!" a young redheaded girl shouted. An older man, greatly resembling the girl laughed and swung her around in the air. The girl's hat fell off and upon meeting the ground again, she ran around her father making faces at her older sisters.
"Hello darling!" Arabella greeted her. She waved jovially to her other relations and took a seat next to the thrones. She watched with a small smile on her face as her son told off his daughter for making such faces. The girl quickly curtsied and made her way to her Grandmamma.
We were celebrating an anniversary, putting on a grand ball of sorts. And no star shone brighter than our Lilliana: my youngest grand daughter.
"Grandmamma! Look at this! I made it for you as a going away present…" at this point, she scrunched up her small nose and glared half-heartedly. "So you'll remember me in England," Lilliana finished solemnly. Arabella laughed.
"How could I forget you my dear? You will always hold a special place in my heart!" Arabella told her grandchild comfortingly. Arabella's eyes suddenly lit up with a mischievous glow. "And speaking of presents–"
"JAMES! REMUS! YOU BELONG IN THE KITCHEN!" a man shouted near the staircase behind the throne. Lilliana glanced quickly enough to catch to small boys being hauled back to the kitchen by their ears for being absent at their station. Lilliana would have giggled if it had not been inappropriate. She turned back to her Grandmamma who was sorting through her purse for something.
She had begged me not to return to England so I had decided to have a gift made to make the separation easier for the both of us.
Arabella took out a small circular box that was green with gold trimming. At each side, was a tiny picture of a dancing couple – save for one side. There was a hole where a picture should be and Lilliana looked at her Grandmamma expectantly. "Is it a jewelry box?" she questioned excitedly.
Her Grandmamma shook her head. Arabella continued to sort through her purse until she found what she was searching for. She pulled out a thin gold chain that connected at one end to form a necklace. A small pendant hung from the necklace; it was just the right size to fit into the hole.
Arabella inserted the pendant into the hole and wound it up like a toy. When she stopped, the top of the box opened and two figures on a platform rose. They twirled and danced around one another to the music the box was playing.
Arabella's rich voice sang along with the music, the words jolting a remorseful emotion in Lilliana's heart.
"On the wind;
Cross the sea,
Here this song and reme – ember:
Soon you'll be,
Home with me;
Once upon a December."
"That's our lullaby!" Lilliana exclaimed joyfully as she danced around to the soft melody.
"You can play it at night before you go to sleep and pretend that it is me singing," Arabella told her dancing grandchild happily.
"But it still won't be the same as you singing to me," Lilliana replied, her emerald eyes immediately losing their warmth.
Arabella chuckled. She took the pendant from the music box and held it out to Lilliana. "Read what it says," she commanded.
Lilliana took the necklace in her small hands, squinting her eyes to read the print. "Together… in… England…" Lilliana said slowly. Realization dawned on her and she squealed with delight, hugging her Grandmamma close.
But we would never be together.
A shadow had fallen over the House of Evans. His name was Lord Voldemort. We thought he was a holy man but we were mistaken. He was a fraud, twisted by the dark ways and engulfed into a bottomless pit of snakes.
A lone figure parted the crowd, easily avoiding fallen champagne glasses and spilt drinks. Snake-like eyes and nostrils flared maliciously from under his black cloak and slowly became fiercer as he approached King Nicholas and his family.
"What are you doing here? You were banished!" King Nicholas shouted, meeting the figure halfway.
"But, I am your lord!" Voldemort said, feigning shock that Nicholas would suggest such a thing.
"You are a traitor! Get out!" Nicholas commanded him.
An ugly sneer appeared on Lord Voldemort's face and he laughed. It rang through the silence of the Hall and shook every bone in every person's body. Cries of fear were heard from some of the children.
Voldemort stopped laughing slowly and glared menacingly at Nicholas. "I banish you, Nicholas, with a curse!"
Gasps were heard around the Hall, especially from the royal family. Lilliana grabbed her Grandmamma's hand for support and Arabella held onto her tightly.
"Mark my words!" Voldemort continued, "You and your family will die within a fortnight! I will not rest until I see the end of the Evans line, FOREVER!"
A flash of green light sparked in the Hall and shot towards one of the large lamps in the ceiling. It came unhooked and crashed onto the floor, thankfully not hurting anyone.
Consumed by his hatred for Nicholas and his family, Lord Voldemort sold his soul for the power to destroy them.
The spark of unhappiness in our country was soon fed into a flame that would kill us all…
"Lilliana, hurry!" Grandmamma shouted frantically to Lilliana. They rushed through the Hall, trying their best to catch the last train out of Berdume. Lilliana suddenly stopped dead in her tracks.
"My music box!" she said worriedly. Lilliana turned around and raced back to her playroom where she had last put it down.
"Lilliana!" Arabella called after her. It was no use; she kept running. There was nothing else to do but follow her, so Arabella ran as quickly as her legs would allow after her grand daughter.
"Lilliana! What do you think you are doing?!?" Arabella panted, shutting the playroom door.
"Got it!" Lilliana exclaimed triumphantly. As soon as she had said this, voices were heard in the hall with the bangs! as furniture fell in their wake.
"Lilliana hurry, now!" Arabella said frantically. But it was too late and they both knew it.
"Wait! Come this way, out the servants' quarters!"
Lilliana and Arabella were suddenly being steered out of the playroom through a door that looked curiously like its surrounding walls. While stumbling, trying to keep up the hands that were pushing her out, Lilliana dropped her music box. She protested loudly but the hands kept pushing her and she had no other choice but to oblige.
When they finally reached the door, Lilliana turned around and faced a small, black haired boy with round glasses. "My music box–!" she tried to explain, but the boy continued to push her out into the small servants' hall.
"Go!" he told her forcefully. He shut the door just as many men barged into the room, realizing there was no time to get out, James did the only thing he could think of.
"Accio Music Box!" he yelled loudly. But just as he said this, a Death Eater knocked him out and he knew no more.
"We must make it to the train in time! Come along Lilliana!" Arabella yelled as she practically dragged Lilliana behind her. A cruel laugh sounded above them and they looked up, just in time to see Lord Voldemort jumping onto them from the bridge above.
He landed with a thump just behind Lilliana and grabbed her foot. Lilliana screamed and held onto her Grandmamma tightly.
"Let me go! Please!" she pleaded hysterically.
"You'll never escape me child! Never – AH!"
Arabella looked up from Lilliana and saw cracks forming in the ground below Lord Voldemort. Slowly but surely, the ice gave way under his weight and he sank into the frozen water. Lilliana squirmed out of his grasp and ran after Arabella with tremendous speed.
The trains sounded off in the distance making Arabella pick up her pace. "Lilliana, hurry!" she panted as she tried to make her way through the crowds. Unconsciously, she let go of Lilliana's hand, grasping the train conductor's hand and hauling herself up onto the car.
She turned around just in time to see Lilliana, stumbling after the car, not quite on it.
Arabella shrieked and reached out her hand to Lilliana. "Take my hand! Don't let go of my hand!" she yelled as Lilliana's hand grasped her own. "Don't let go!" she yelled again.
"It's slipping!" Lilliana recklessly cried.
"DON'T LET GO!" Arabella shouted as loud as an old woman could. But it was too late.
"AHHH!"
"LILLIANA!!!!!"
"…….."
So many lives were destroyed that night; and my dear, sweet grand daughter… I never saw her again…
(A/N:)
Trust me, my chapters are normally much more detailed and into it. I just had to make this prologue vague because I was using the movie as a main source. The italics were the commentary the Grandmamma (Arabella) was giving in the movie. I thought the commentary was good so included it.
Tell me what y'all think and if I should continue!
Corey