Chapter two - The visitor

She woke up at 10 o'clock. Rex was playing with his teddy bear toy, which was ripped into pieces. She went to the bathroom and took a shower. After that she got dressed and went to the kitchen. That's when she remembered that she didn't have anything to eat.

"Damn! Why do I keep forgetting?" she asked herself. Suddenly she heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" she asked from inside.

"Remus Lupin. I am searching for Miss Lia Jones." The man replied.

Lia opened the door and saw a tall man standing there. "Hello. I'm Lia. Please come in." She said.

"Thank you." Remus replied and went inside. The poor look of her house said everything. She didn't have money for living. At least it was clean. He didn't expect to see her in such situation though.

"Have a seat. I'm sorry I can't offer you anything to drink. I've got nothing here."

Remus smiled and sat on a chair that cracked when he sat on it. He hoped that it wouldn't break.

"So, how did you find me? And who are you exactly?" Lia asked.

"I represent Hogwarts. School of…"

"Yeah I know." Lia interrupted him. "I am so sorry, but it seems that you didn't get my letter yet. I wrote that I am not interested in attending your school."

"But why? Only because you can't afford to buy the books?" Remus asked.

"Yeah."

"You can't buy them using Muggle money anyway." Remus said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Muggle money? What's that?"

"The kind of money that you use."

"Well, I didn't see the face of money for several months now. And I can't remember how they look like."

Remus looked at her. "You know, you look just like your mother." He said.

"What? How do you know my mom?"

"Your uncle was my best friend. And we went to school together. She was three years older than us."

"I have an uncle?"

"Not anymore, unfortunately. But you have a cousin."

Lia put her hand on her chest. Her scar felt warm again. What could this mean? She had a cousin that she didn't know that she ever had.

"Where is she?" she asked in a low voice.

"He lives at his aunt's house in England." Remus replied. He saw her rubbing the left side of her chest. 'Does she have a problem with her heart?' he thought.

"Oh, he. I thought it was a girl." Lia smiled. "Umm, does he go to Hogwarts?"

"Yes. He has just graduated from the fifth year."

"So that makes him fifteen?"

"Pardon me?"

"I mean, is he fifteen years old?"

"Oh, yes. And he's such a brilliant boy. He will be happy to find out that he has a cousin." Remus smiled.

"But I can't go to school. I already told you why. Besides, what is this witch and wizard thing all about anyway?"

"You don't know?" Remus asked.

"Know what?"

"I mean, didn't Emily tell you anything about the magical world?"

"Magical world? There's no such thing as magic." Lia replied.

"Oh yes there is. I come from there." Remus said, "You'll be able to enjoy magic when you start Hogwarts. And you'll learn everything there."

"But why me?"

"You are a witch. Just like your mother."

"My mom was a witch? What about my dad?"

"He was a Muggle."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lia said angrily.

"We call non-magical humans Muggles."

"Oh, Okay." Lia calmed herself as soon as she knew that he wasn't offending her father. "So, how am I supposed to buy everything?"

"Your mother has left you some amount of money at Gringotts. The wizard bank."

"A wizard bank?"

"Yes."

"When am I supposed to go there?"

"You can come now if you want. You can spend the summer with your cousin. You have a couple of months before the term starts."

Lia felt her scar get warm again. "What if he doesn't accept me?" she asked while putting her hand on her scar.

"He misses his family. And you are a part of it. No one knew that you exist. Your mother lived here with your father because he asked her to cut all her relations with the world of magic. His family didn't like wizards and to keep their marriage, your mother chose to live as a Muggle."

"So, that's why no one came to visit us after my dad died. They never liked my mother!"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Okay. One more thing, in the letter it said that I can only have an owl, a cat or a toad as a pet."

"I've read your reply. And you are allowed to bring your dog with you. As long as it behaves itself."

"Oh he's so good. Let me call him. Rex! Come here boy!" Lia called and Rex came dashing from the room. He started to bark at Remus and then he jumped on him and started to lick his face, his tail waving to the sides.

"See? He likes you already." Lia said happily.

"Yeah, he's nice." Remus said and gently pushed the dog away. He stroke the back of Rex's ears. Rex waved his tail again and lay right in front of Remus's feet. "So, are you ready to go?" he asked her.

"Yeah, just let me pack my bag." Lia said and went to her room. She took her bag out from under her bed and started to pack. She put her clothes in it and then went to the bathroom and brought everything she needed from there. After finishing she took the bag and went back to the living room. She put a collar around Rex's neck.

"We're ready." She said.

"Alright. You can lock the door now." Remus said.

"Aren't we supposed to get out first?"

"No. We are going to use a portkey. It's faster and safer."

Lia thought that this was weird. But she didn't say anything. She went and locked the door from inside. Remus got up and took out his wand and a little wizard statue from his pocket.

"Hey! My mom had a stick just like that!" Lia said as soon as she saw the wand.

"Do you have it?" Remus asked.

"Yeah. Wait, let me get it." She went back to her room and brought the wand. "Here it is."

Remus took it and looked at it. He saw three letters engraved on the handle. "M.E.L." he gave the wand back to Lia. "Bring this with you. It's a wand. And may I ask you, what's your fathers name?" he asked her.

"Mathew." Lia replied.

"I see. So those letters stand for Mathew, Emily and Lia, I suppose."

"Maybe. I first saw it when…" Lia couldn't continue. Her eyes filled with tears and she felt a sudden pain in her heart. She bent and put her hand on her chest.

"Lia are you alright?" Remus held her quickly and helped her to sit.

"Yeah, I guess so. It happens all the time since the day I…" she started to cry.

"Shh. It's alright. Everything will be fine now. We will take you to the hospital when we get there. I'm sure there's nothing wrong with your heart."

"It's… not… my heart." Lia said. "It's my scar." She lowered the neck of her T-shirt and Remus saw the bolt-shaped scar.

"Blimey! It's just the same." He said.

Lia straitened her T-shirt and said, "Same as what?" she wiped her tears.

"Your cousin has the same scar. Only it's on his forehead. And it gives him pain too."

"Really?"

"Yes. It hurts him when You-Know-Who is close."

"Who am I supposed to know?" Lia knew nothing about Voldemort.

"The Dark Lord. The one who gave him that scar. You know what? We'll ask Professor Dumbledore about your scar. Maybe he'll know how you got it."

Lia took a deep breath. It was always hard for her to remember. "I got it on Christmas Eve. The night when my mom was killed."

Remus stared at her and didn't say a word. Voldemort gave her the scar just like he did to Harry. "Let's go now." He said.

He put the wizard statue on the table. And clicked it once with his wand. A blue light flashed around the statue for a moment and faded as quickly as it started.

"Now, you hold on to your dog with one hand and to me with the other. I will hold your bag. And no matter what, don't let go." Remus said. Lia did as she was told. She held Rex's collar with one hand and held Remus's coat with the other. Remus took her bag and with his other hand he touched the statue. Lia felt her stomach turning around. She felt strange. She was so scared that she closed her eyes tightly. Rex whimpered a little bit, but soon his whimpers were replaced with barks. Lia could feel a solid ground under her feet again.

"You can open your eyes now." She heard Remus telling her. She opened her eyes and saw herself in another place. It was a dark room, lit only by a few candles.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"This is the house of my friend. He died about a month ago." Remus said.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Lia said.

"He died while defending your cousin."

Lia looked at him in a shock. "Defending? What happened?"

They sat on the couch and Remus told her how Sirius got killed by his own cousin Bellatrix. Lia was now in a complete shock and her scar started to burn at the mention of the Death Eater's name.

"That's horrible! How could she do something like that? And to her own cousin! She must be a beast!" she said.

"She is. And the worst thing is that we couldn't capture her."

"How awful! And where is she now?"

"No body knows. She disappeared with You-Know-Who."

"What is his name anyway? This You-Know-Who guy."

"Voldemort."

"And why do you keep saying 'You-Know-Who'?"

"No one dares to say his name in public. Everyone is afraid of him. He kills anyone who stands on his way."

"Just like the man who killed my mom."

"He killed your mother, Lia." Remus said in a calm but sad voice.

"Just like he killed my uncle?"

"Yes."

"When was that?"

"Fourteen years ago. Harry was only one year old at that time. He doesn't remember anything from that night."

"Who's Harry?"

"Your cousin. Oh forgive me. I didn't tell you his name." Remus smiled.

"Harry." Lia repeated. "Nice name. What does he look like?"

"Sirius had his photo somewhere around the house. I'll get it for you." Remus went out of the room and came back after a few minutes.

Lia took the photo and looked at the boy in the picture. He looked like her a little bit. They had the same cheek bones and chin. Their eyes were different. Harry had green eyes and Lia had hazel eyes. Just like her father.

"Hey! He moves! What kind of a photo is this?" She asked.

"Wizard photos. They always move."

She looked at the photo again and smiled, "He's cute. When can I meet him?"

"I'll send him an owl, and we'll know when and where the two of you can meet."