Author's Note: In this chapter, you'll be finding out whyMargaret/Meg/Brianne's mother left.
Chapter 2
The bookcase swung open, revealing a small and dusty room. It had wooden chests and boxes everywhere. There was a strange….feeling…. protruding from that room, some powerful feeling that Brianne just couldn't describe.
Bronzer scampered in, sniffing the dusty boxers, and then started sneezing.
Brianne cautiously followed. The dust on the floor layered so thick, she made footprints. This room had obviously been neglected for years. She doubted weather any of the servants knew it was here, or it certainly wouldn't be so filthy.
Curious at what this room contained, she stepped over to one of the boxes, opened it, and pulled out something long and black. Unfolding it properly so that she could see what it was, she found that it was a robe trimmed with a bright red cloth. Stitched onto the front was a label.
"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," she whispered to herself. 'Witchcraft and Wizardry? What in the world was this about? It must be an old Halloween costume,' she thought.
She slipped it on, and surprisingly, it fit so perfectly it could've been made for her. Still wearing the robe, she searched through some of the other boxes, and what she found intrigued her. There were dozens of books on strange things she'd never heard about, like necromancy, and occulemency. There were all kinds of odds-and-ends that she'd never seen before. Some of them whirled around, making funny little noises, and others would turn strange colors when you touched them. She found more robes like the one she was wearing, and more strange clothes.
After searching through all the boxes on one seid, she walked over to the other side of the room. Finding a big trunk, she wiped the dust of the top, revealing some old faded handwriting.
"Margaret Jaston! This must've been my mothers before she left!" she cried, and enthusiastically lifted the top up.
Everything in the trunk was crammed in. On the top was a beautiful old leather album. Carefully, so not to do any damage to it, she picked it up. Opening it, she expected to find pictures of her mother and possibly even her father, when they were happily married, but what she found though gave her the shock of her life.
"Loretta! Loretta! Where are you?" screamed Brianne, running down the stairs, "Loretta! Whe-, oof!" she was suddenly stopped short by a large something that had stepped right in front of where she was running.
"Calm down gerl, or its both our arses that'll be punished."
"Oh thank goodness I found you Loretta! Look what I found!" she shoved the photo album under Loretta's nose.
Loretta opened the album and stared, quite shocked.
"You see it to Loretta? You see the pictures moving too?"
But what next came out of Loretta's mouth was not what Brianne had expected to hear.
"Where did you find this gerl?" she said it almost angrily.
"What? You're not at all surprised at this?" cried Brianne, not quite understanding the way Loretta was reacting to this.
"Loretta, what on earth-, I don't- Oh Loretta, please explain, I'm so confused!"
"Oh child, I'm not sure I should be telling you this. I promised the lady that I would, but now that I'm sure its true. Oh it just seems utterly impossible, and I-,"
"What lady? My mother? You know something about my mother? But- you said you didn't know anything about her besides her name!" Brianne cried almost shouting. It was impossible for her to contain her excitement.
"Keep it down! Or we'll get caught," Loretta said, and then quietly she said, "Show me where you found this, and I shall tell you what I know about yer mother."
"Here it is," Brianne said, pointing into the room.
"Why didn't you close it?" hissed Loretta.
Brianne, gave an uncomfortable look before saying, "Now tell me about my mother!"
Sighing, Loretta said, "Alright, but you'd better sit down."
flashback, 10 years earlier.
Loretta was just getting into bed when someone knocked on her bedroom door. She quickly grabbed her robe, and said, "Come in!"
Margaret Hunter walked in through the door.
"Lady! What are you doing here! You havn't been around the manor in over two weeks! There's been a lot of talk among the servants. Sasha Howards is sayin she heard you and Mr. Hunter quarreling about something the night you left! Must've been a bloody big row for you to just up-and-leave. I nev-,"
"Hush Loretta. I don't have much time here. I've only come to tell you something very, very important. You must follow through with this, and you mustn't say a word to anyone. Not even Mr. Hunter."
Loretta remained silent, but a quizzical look spread across her face.
"I didn't choose to leave the manor, I was thrown out by 'my husband.' I suppose Ms. Howard didn't hear what we were quarreling about? No, or she would've said. Well, I- have a secret Loretta. A very-big-secret. I am going to repeat this secret to you, and you must promise me that you shall never utter a word of it-to anyone. Do you promise?"
"Of course 'mem," she said, her voice quivering a bit.
"Loretta, I'm a witch, and so is Brianne. When I told my husband that, he went bizerk and forced me to leave," she paused for a moment, letting it sink in.
Loretta had a cross between shock and amusment on her face. She obviously didn't know if it were some sort of joke, or the truth.
"I'm telling the truth Loretta! Now you mustn't ever forget what I'm about to tell you, alright?"
Loretta nodded, but she had a dazed look in her eyes as though she'd just been hit over the head with a frying pan.
"Loretta! Snap out of it, this is really important!"
"I'm sorry 'mem, but this is just a bit hard for me to believe, but go on..."
Speaking hurridly, Meg explained to Loretta the favor she needed. "The summer of Brianne's eleventh birthday, a letter should arrive. It will be sealed with the Hogwarts crest. Hogwarts is the wizarding school she will go to. Now you must make sure you get that letter! I'm positive if her father finds out that she is getting letters from the magical world he will do something terribly rash, and he most certainly will not allow her to attend Hogwarts. Now here's where you come in Loretta. You must make sure that she gets that letter! And you must make sure she gets to Hogwarts! You can't let her father see the letter either, or there will be some serious trouble, alright?"
Loretta nodded, still looking confused.
"Now you promise that you will do this for me? For Brianne?"
"Of course I shall 'mem," Loretta said, her voice sounding meek and still a bit shocked.
"Thank you Loretta, you have no idea how heavy a weight's been lifted off my shoulders. I must bid you adieu now, for I have very important places to be."
"Wait 'mem, where are you going?"
Meg paused, then said, "You know about all those strange people who've suddenly been seen wearing strange clothing? Yes, well, those people are from my world, the magical world. In the magical world there is one wizard that almost all of us fear. We fear him so much, we do not even speak his name. Three weeks ago, he was vanquished….by…. a one year old boy. The boy's parents were killed by this dark wizard first though. The boy's mother was my best friend, and now I fight for her and her husband's lives, seeking out the dark wizards followers, and giving them what they deserve."
Loretta just stood there in her dressing gown looking stunned.
"I must go Loretta. Remember what you promised me!" and she was gone with a loud pop.
end flashback
"That is all I know child. I know nothing more."
Brianne was staring at the wall now, her face screwed up in deep thoughts.
About a minute later she whispered, "I'm a… witch?"
Loretta sighed, "I never really believed it until today, but yes child. You're a witch."
Brianne gulped. She was a witch. She of all people was a witch. She was going to go to a school where she was going to learn how to use magic. Then suddenly:
"Loretta! This is the summer of my eleventh birthday! It could be coming any day now!"
She ran out of the room before Loretta had a chance to reply, and ran down the stairs. The postman usually came at this time of day, and maybe this would be the day! In fact, if it didn't come soon, then it might never, for it was already the middle of July!
She ran to the front door, and pulled it open, but was startled to see her father standing in the main entrance. He looked pale, and he was holding a letter written on a long piece of parchment. On the floor at his feet was, surprisingly, a large drop of what looked like, bird poop? And next to it, a bright green envelope. She could make out the words,
Brianne Hunter, and then she could read the word, attic, somewhere after that.
Her father suddenly looked up, noticing her for the first time.
"Brianne," he said. She knew this was big, because he hated talking to her, "I'm sorry to have to do this, but it's my only option. You will have to stay down in the dungeons for the rest of the summer."