OMG, I am sooo sorry that this has taken me so long to get out. Because I'm such a slack-arse, you're gonna get three chapters at once, how does that sound?
She was floating, ever so gently, in a pool of tropical green water.
//Well…//
She looked up, startled.
//This is a surprise. I never thought I'd see you here. Not yet, anyway.// The voice was amused.
"Who are you?" She called out. A pretty redheaded woman, with emerald green eyes and milky-pale skin stood before her.
//I'm Lily. Hello.// The woman said. The girl nodded, and got out of the water, mildly surprised to find out she wasn't wet.
"Oh. Nice to meet you." She said.
//What are you doing here, my dear? 'Tis not your time yet.// Lily said.
"I don't know. I woke up, and found myself here." The girl responded.
//What is your name?//
"I don't know."
//There seem to be many things you do not know.//
The girl hung her head. For some reason, Lily's comment shamed her.
//Do not be ashamed. 'Tis not your fault, if you cannot remember.// Lily said gently. //Come, we shall sit, and talk awhile. Mayhap my husband shall join us after a time.//
The girl nodded, and dutifully followed Lily.
~*~
"Jade?" Emily whispered, looking at her sister's still face. Her parents hadn't wanted her to see Jade looking like this, so Emily had had to wait until they were involved in a conversation with the Head, before she could slip away. She touched Jade's pale cheek, and felt the tears slip out of her eyes. "Oh my god." She whispered softly.
"Hi." A voice said gently. Emily looked up, and saw a girl her height, with fiery red curls, and sapphire eyes standing in the doorway. "My name's Siss Evans, are you Emily, Jade's sister?" Emily nodded silently, and Siss smiled softly. "This must be awful for you, worse than it is for us." She indicated behind her, where two other girls stood, a copper haired gold-eyed beauty, and a pretty brunette with understanding hazel eyes.
"Are you Melinda Warren, Amanda Pyro and Sicily Evan?" Emily asked.
"Yes." Siss nodded. "But everyone calls me Siss, not Sicily, and Melinda likes to be called Mel. Also, Amanda likes to be called Mandy."
"Oh." Emily nodded.
"We're sorry about your sister." Mandy said, her eyes red from crying, "I can't believe that it happened. It seems so unnatural, to see her so still…" She began to cry again, and Mel gave her a hug. Just then, a pale girl with white-blonde hair and silver eyes walked into the room.
"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Mel spat. Emily jumped, shocked. This was the girl who'd given Jade such a scolding? This was Draco Malfoy's daughter?
"I'm here to visit Jade. She mayn't like me, but…" Two tears trailed down the girl's cheeks, surprising everyone in the room, "But I've seen the way she treats her friends, and it couldn't have happened to a worse person." She began to cry in earnest. "Excuse me." She dropped the card on Jade's bedside table, and ran from the room.
"Well…" Mandy began,
"Maybe…" Siss continued,
"Don't even think it." Mel interrupted, "She's just trying to make us feel safe around her." She growled like an angry dog.
"I don't think so. Jade wrote to me that she gave her a good telling off, a really good one, and mentioned how the only reason Voldemort turned out how he did was because of the reaction of his school mates, y'know, being the first half-blooded Slytherin ever known, and all, doesn't do much for a guy's rep." Emily smiled sadly, mimicking Jade's exact words. The other girls blinked.
"Oh." Mandy said. Emily's eyes slid out of focus for a moment, then she waved.
"I've got to go, Mum's gonna notice I'm gone." She walked out.
***
"There you are! I was worried." Emily's mother said, smoothing her ebony curls, which had decided to behave, for once.
"I was exploring." Emily lied. "I met a really nice first year."
"Oh? Which house?"
"Ravenclaw."
"That's good. No Slytherins, k?"
"Her family's been in Slytherin for ages. She says she's glad to be the one to break the tradition, she doesn't want to end up like her father."
"Oh?" Her mother was braiding her own red locks.
"Dead, and an evil Death Eater before that." Emily said, without mincing words. "She had a really interesting name, too, Lucy Malfoy." Emily hopped off her bed, and skipped out of the tower she was sharing with her family.
~*~
She jerked her head to one side, as she heard someone's haunting voice singing. James looked up in concern.
Everything alright, Emmy? He asked. He and Lily had started calling her Emmy, as in Emerald, because of her eyes, since she still couldn't remember her name.
"Uh huh." The girl said distractedly.
//Leave her alone, James,// Lily chided, handing him a piece of pie.
'Heart don't fail me now,
Courage don't desert me,
Don't turn back, now that we're here.
People always say,
Life is full of choices,
No one ever mentions…fear.
Or how a world can seem so vast,
On a journey,
To the past.'
The voice suddenly changed tacts,
'-Things I almost remember,
And a song, someone sings,
Once upon a December.
Someone holds me safe and warm,
Horses prance through a silver storm-
Who are you?'
The voice stopped singing abruptly.
'Is she any better?'
A male voice asked. For some reason, this voice angered her. 'Twas familiar, but she didn't like it.
'Are you Luke Parker?'
Her singer asked.
'Yes.'
'Then, go away, this is entirely your fault. Jade, please, wake up, please, I promise I'll never pester you again.'
//What is it, honey?// Lily sounded concerned now.
You told me not to pester her. James said triumphantly.
//Careful, mister, if you wanna sleep with me tonight.// Lily warned.
"I feel…odd." The girl said.
//I think you're being called back. We'll see you again, grand-daughter.// These were last words she heard…
Grr, the chapters are getting shorter, and shorter. Sorry, I'm just writing as much as I can per chapter, and then starting the next.
