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Chapter 1
Raylene Stewart watched as the little girl with messy raven hair played on the floor of the circular room. The four other four-poster beds around the room were occupied. Raylene tucked her shoulder-length light brown hair behind her ears as she gazed lovingly at the little girl who was shrieking with delight at the ragged doll she was playing with. Raylene smiled at the wonder at how she could find delight in almost anything, even that old rag doll. She ached to fix it for her; she could have done it easily with a flick of her wand, but the Death Eaters had taken it off her when they were captured and locked in Hogwarts, just like a hundred other families.
Hogwarts, once the safest place, was now a prison. The ancient spells that once protected it were now the only things keeping them in. Except, perhaps, the Death Eaters guarding them, and the handful of Dementors. She wondered why they were keeping them in Hogwarts, what they would do to them.
The room was stuffy in the sweltering heat. The wooden boards covering the window refused to budge, so they endured it with a lot of sweat and hand flapping. No one dared go outside, lest they cross a disgruntled Death Eaters path.
A blonde, middle-aged woman lay in the bed across the room, staring blankly up at the ceiling. A whole family of five was huddled up together on one bed near the back, next to another occupied bed with its hangings drawn around it. A young couple sat perched on the end of another, whispering quietly to each other, while a copper-haired boy, who looked to be about the little girl's age, dozed.
The little girl on the ground looked up at her, shifting her attention from her doll. "Mummy?"
"Yes Hope?" answered Raylene with a smile.
"When are we going home?"
It broke her heart to have to tell her that they probably never would, that they would have to spend the rest of their lives here, unless, by some miracle, they were rescued.
"Soon honey," she said instead, pulling Hope up onto her lap. "Soon."
"Are we gonna meet Daddy soon as well?"
Raylene sucked in a breath. Hope had been asking a lot of questions recently, a lot of questions that not even Raylene could answer. Raylene often wondered herself who her father was, and her mother for that matter. What was her name again? Ginerva? Ginevra? Yes, that was it. Ginevra. Ginevra Weasley. She remembered that night clearly. Remembered the fear and desperation in her eyes. She had said Hope was in danger. Well, not exactly like that, but she could tell by the look in her eyes that it was serious, something involving the Dark Lord.
Raylene's heart clenched at the mere thought of Hope getting hurt in any way, especially by the Dark Lord. She had grown to care deeply for Hope, and loved her like a daughter. She would rather die before letting anything happen to her.
A fifteen-year-old Hope Stewart sat on the ground, her back against the wall and legs stretched out in front of her as she gazed up at the enchanted ceiling. She watched in wonder as delicate flakes of snow drifted down daintily from gray clouds. It looked so real, almost like being outside. Almost.
She tried to ignore all the noise in the large hall as she imagined herself being outside, touching that pure white snow, breathing in fresh air, feeling the wind on her face.
BANGHope was very rudely snapped out of her daydream as something exploded on the other side of the Great Hall. Things often blew up, broke, was flung to the other side of the room, or dismantled somehow in this castle. Her mother told her it was because they all had magic, that years ago, everyone had a wand; even half-bloods. She found that hard to imagine.
Hope swept her gaze across the Hall. There was a little pocket of raucous over where the sound had come from, but otherwise there was nothing out of the ordinary. Babies wailed without pause, their cries echoing around the enormous hall. People muttered to each other, no one daring to talk to anyone they didn't know. No one trusted newcomers. Anyone could easily be a Death Eater. Hope remembered, just last week, Bobby Strausky had foolishly been talking to a stranger, inquiring about the outside world and wondering what it would be like to use a wand. The stranger had turned out to be a Death Eater sent in as a spy. Spying for what, exactly, Hope didn't know. They had no chance of ever escaping this place anyway. Bobby had been taken away on the offense of 'leading a revolt against the Dark Lord.' He had never been seen again.
Hope looked over at a crouched figure next to her. The man wore filthy rags and his greasy hair hung over his dark eyes. He stared blankly ahead as he sat huddled, slumped against the wall. His eyes were like two deep wells; empty. There were quite a number of people in the castle who were like this. Everyone just said that they had just lost the will to live on in this grim place. But for Hope, this place was all she knew. She had lived here nearly her whole life, and didn't know anything besides.
Her mother had once told her that this place had been a school; which explained all the desks, classrooms, and dormitories. Sometimes, Hope tried to imagine herself attending such a school, but the illusion was a hard one to conjure with the ever-present stench of thousands of unwashed people, the explosions, the dirt, and of course, the hopelessness of it all.
Hope's gaze wandered away from the man and around the hall again. Every space of living area was taken up. People sat huddled against the walls, using whatever scrap of solid material they could find to prop up over themselves for a roof. Walls were fashioned from threadbare curtains pulled down from boarded up windows for privacy.
Hope was one of the lucky ones, if you could call it that. She and her mother, at least, had a bed to sleep in, since they were one of the first ones to come here. It was all the way up in the other end of the castle, in one of the many towers. But the people in this hall were not the last of them. All the empty rooms were occupied, and yet more people, those who couldn't squeeze into the packed rooms, made their homes in various corridors throughout the castle.
No one, though, dared to go onto the seventh floor. They were banned from going up there, and Dementors guarded the entrance continuously. No one knew what was up there. Some said it was where the Death Eaters tortured people. Others said it was the headquarters of the Dark Lord himself.
There were no Death Eaters, at least. They used to roam the corridors every minute of the day, until the place had just become too packed. But when they did come, they were even worse than the Dementor's chilling presence. They picked on innocent people with their magic, in which they had no defense, torturing them for a laugh. Sometimes, they took thirty or so people with them, up onto the seventh floor. The innocent people, chosen at random, it seemed, came out as changed people. What they did to them up there, no one knew, but every last one of them came back like the man next to her: blank-eyed and silent.
Hope squinted at the clock on the far side of the hall, making out the hands. Nearly one o'clock. Lunch would be arriving soon. Sure enough, as the thin hand counting the seconds ticked towards the top, the clock rang out. The huge chiming bell echoed across the hall. The ever-present hunger gnawing at her stomach was raging in anticipation. Bowls full of cold porridge appeared in front of everyone. No matter how many times Hope witnessed this, it never ceased to amaze her. It made her want to do magic all the more. She quickly grabbed the chipped bowl in front of her and gobbled up the sloppy mixture. This was perhaps the only good thing in the castle; everyone got an equal share of food.
In a matter of seconds, she had finished and was scraping at the remains clinging to the side of the bowl. She wanted to savour it, make it last longer, but she had to go check on her mother. She watched as the empty bowl disappeared with a soft 'pop'.
"Hope!"
Hope looked up at the sound of her name. A boy, about her age, was making a beeline towards her, sidestepping feasting people. His coppery hair flopped over his eyes as he waved to her. She smiled and waved back.
"Hey," he said, finally reaching her. It was Michael, her best, and only friend. He had also been one of the first people here. She had known him ever since … well, ever since she could remember.
"Finished you're lunch already?" Hope asked incredulously as he pulled her up.
He grinned. "I was hungry."
Hope shook her head disbelievingly. If there was anyone in the world who could swallow the earth whole, it was Michael.
"Your mums looking for you," he said, his voice suddenly serious.
"She's alright isn't she?" Hope asked hurriedly. Her mother had been one of the many to fall ill. Living in suchcramped conditionswhere sickness thrived, it was a wonder they all hadn't fallen ill.
"She's…" Michael paused. "You better come and see for yourself."
Hope tugged at the filthy robe she wore, which hung off her skinny frame. Her figure wasn't much to look at, it was more like a boys, really, than a fifteen-year-old teenage girl. She brushed a strand of permanently messy black hair out of her eyes.
Hope followed Michael out of the hall, wringing her hand nervously. She shuddered at the chilling atmosphere out in the entrance hall, where she knew the Dementors lurked, just beyond the huge, double oak doors. Her bare feet made a slap-slap-slapping noise on the cold marble of the staircase, which was badly in need of a scrub after years of neglect. She walked silently as Michael lead her through corridors full of people lining the wall, eating their bowl full of porridge messily. Her eyes had nothing to focus on; her gaze kept slipping off the bare stone walls, where she remembered portraits once hung.
Finally, after what seemed like hours of nervous nail biting, they reached their destination; a round hole in the wall at the end of a corridor. Hope clambered through after Michaeland rushed up a flight of stairs, ignoring the grumbles of people as they reluctantly shuffled out of the way. She burst into a circular room full of people and spotted her mother immediately, lying on a four-poster bed.
"Mum!" Hope cried out, rushing to her side and kneeling next to the bed.
Her mother turned her head towards her and smiled wearily. Beads of cold sweat dotted her forehead, and her face was flushed with fever. Hope checked her temperature by placing the back of her hand against her forehead. She gasped.
"You're burning up!"
Her mother shivered, despite her fever. Her light brown hair, which was streaked with strands of grey, was messy and clung to the base of her neck with sweat.
"Hope?" she croaked, her voice hoarse.
"Shhh, mum. I'm here," said Hope, gripping her mother's clammy hand.
"Hope. I need to tell you something."
"What is it?" she asked as she dunked a square of cloth that had fallen down into a small basin of cool water. She wrung out the water and folded it, placing it on her mother's forehead in an effort to cool her.
"I don't have much long to live - "
"Don't say that," Hope interrupted, her eyes fierce. "You're going to get better. You just need rest."
"No, Hope. I don't have much time. I can feel it, feel it in my bones."
Hope shook her head firmly. "No, mum. You're not going to die. I won't let you. You will get better."
"I'm sorry Hope, but my time has come."
"No," she whispered, tears stinging her eyes. "No."
"I need to tell you something," croaked her mother.
She leaned in, not wanting to miss a word.
"I should have told you this a long time ago, but I wanted to protect you… and… you were in danger… Dark Lord…"
Hope had no idea what she was going on about. Maybe the fever was making her delirious.
"… but the time has come for you to know. I… I am not your mother"
Thanks to:
Britney Lauren, Twin Tails Speed, Daniel Radcliffe's Angel 10689, galleena, Kunai-chan, OperaGustus, Kittels, SongOfRoland, Danica01, Stasya, banner, SVU Lover4ever, Hope Wheeler, QuidditchGal89, All-knowing Alien, rkkiesasello, phoenixtear19, Phyre's child13, BLACKvWIDOW, oXShadowXo, ShyOrangette, The Female Nerd, linac428, DarkRoseRaven, Anonymous, Mrs. Radcliffe 13, Luckygurl12, rynayetra, surf all day and do the hula, Sesshomaro, Padfoots Daughter-Mivea, c.vigil xX
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