CHAPTER 3
"Katie are you okay? You look kinda blue." Oliver said as we passed
Flourish and Blotts. I looked at him and tried to smile but I just
couldn't, the images I had seen were buzzing around my head like haunting
ghosts.
"Yeah, I'm fine Oliver, its just those mirrors were really weird." I sighed the last vision of me in a wedding gown crying more tears then I thought I ever had. What was that? Why had I seen it? I tried not to think about it but it weighed upon me. I needed to find out about those mirrors.
"Okay then, do you want to come up to the flat now. But I warn you it is not the tidiest place on earth; I really miss having house elves." He said smiling. His smile was warming and it seemed to light his entire being. I had to smile with him as we walked the cobbled streets to his door. He unlocked the door with a small golden key and we walked up the narrow wooden steps to his flat. Inside was exactly how I pictured it when he told me it was not the tidiest place on earth. A pile of dishes looked menacingly at me from the filled sink, Quidditch gear was all over the tiny flat. A picture of the Gryffindor team sat waving at me on the dresser next to a manual on the duties of a proper Quidditch captain. I had to note that the book looked well read. I smiled as I looked at the large poster of a scantily clad model. Typical boy! I looked at Oliver and raised an eyebrow looking at the bikini clad blonde. He flashed me an innocent smile and shrugged his shoulders before vanishing it having turned a nice shade of maroon. I loved to tease him sometimes. The flat was tiny. The living room was also the kitchen, there was a tiny bathroom of to the right and a bedroom to the left. The sofa did look comfy I would have to ask Oliver in the morning because there was no way I was sleeping on it. I had spent two weeks in a log cabin on a wooden bench in the mountains of Norway, I wanted a nice comfy bed!!
"Would you like a drink? I got Muggle soft drinks. I have begun to explore London. My god it is so strange, I saw these boxes with people in them, I think they called them radios. It was weird; do they shrink them down to fit in?" Oliver said opening a press.
"I think you mean T.V. Well I have to say when I first came to Diagon Alley I was pretty much amazed at this place." I said as he handed me a cola. He sat down next to me and took a deep breath.
"Well, still you have to admit, Muggles can be odd, but so can Wizard's look at that Madam Dumas. While you were in the changing room she made me buy this." He dug into his pockets and pulled out a small long thin black velvet box.
"What did she con you into buying?" I asked my eyebrow must have almost disappeared into my hair when I saw the box. Jewellery. Oliver snapped the box open and I looked amazed at the thin diamond studded bracelet. But on closer inspection I noticed that they were wizard diamonds. They were the rarest stones on earth and were only found in Antarctica on the night of the winter solstice and you could never find enough to make a ring let alone the bracelet Oliver had now.
"This must have cost you a fortune. Pro-Quidditch must pay very well!" I said looking at the bracelet, the diamonds twinkled like stars.
"That's the weird bit she gave it to me for thirty Gallons. Like this is worth thousands. She just told me to be careful." Oliver said looking at the bracelet.
"Careful? Why do you need to be careful?" I asked as I closed the box and gave it back to Oliver.
"I don't know she just said be careful. And that this was to be given to you." He said passing the box back to me. Now I knew something was unbelievably odd about Madam Dumas and her shop.
"Oliver I can't accept this, it's worthy more then my house!" I said giving him the box back with trembling hands. He folded my fingers around the box again and looked deep into my eyes.
"Please I do want you to have this Katie. I owe you a lot." He said his hands were holding mine around the box softly, his chocolate eyes made me melt. For a second I thought about leaning in and kissing him. 'Katie this is Oliver. Remember your best friend. You can't kiss him!' a tiny voice in the back of my mind screamed.
"Oh Oliver, you don't owe me anything at all." I said softly, I leaned in a little, so did he, if I moved again I would be close enough to kiss him, to have his lips on mine. He took his hands away slowly and opened the black box.
"Please accept this as an early birthday present." He said as he fastened the bracelet on my wrist. I smiled and nodded.
"Oliver, I have to ask. How are you since you know the thing with your parents?" I asked softly. He bowed his head and took a deep breath. His eyes glazed over a little sadly and he looked me in the eye.
"I miss them sometimes. They are my parents and I love them, even if they don't love me. I was at the world cup and I met Harry and Ron. My aunt was with me and I told them she was my mother. I don't know why I did that." His head was bowed again.
"Your aunt?" I never knew he had an aunt. He smiled sadly.
"Yeah the black sheep in the family, next to me. She was in Hufflepuff. She's really nice, she visits every Tuesday to cook my dinner and make sure I am not living in sheer squalor. You'll love her. She's only a few years older then me. She's so cool she's an Auror for the ministry. She believes that Sirius Black is innocent 'cos she met him in school. He had been a fourth year and she was a first year, but apparently they got on really well and has always thought that it was too odd for him to betray his best friend in the world like that. Although she did say she wasn't one of James Potter's biggest fans." He said, he seemed excited about his aunt and I was pleased to see his face light up again.
"what's her name?" I asked, this woman seemed pretty cool.
"Abby Wood. She'll love you. You are so alike. I was going to owl her and ask her over later on this evening, that is if it's okay with you?" he asked cautiously.
"Why wouldn't it be okay with me? This woman sounds really cool." I smiled as Oliver jumped to his feet to write to Abby. Then a thought hit me, if Abby was an Auror, maybe she would know about Madam Dumas's mirrors. For a few moments I had almost forgotten about what I had seen.
"Excellent, all I need to do now is wash the dishes. I hate this job." He said looking at the piles of dishes with disdain. He raised his wand and muttered 'Leveionaium' and the dishes were suddenly clean and in neat piles back in their presses. I made a mental note to remember that spell, my mother would love it.
Suddenly the flat was filled with a shining blue light from which a young woman in her late twenties stepped forth. She was beautiful, with long blonde hair falling in loose wavy curls to her waist. Her eyes were blue and twinkled with glee. She was tall and thin like Oliver's father but that was all she shared with her brother.
"Oliver, it is great to see you have finally learnt how to wash up. Or was it this young lady who washed up for you?" Abby Wood said smiling. She took a step towards me and smiled warmly at me.
"You must be Katie Bell. Oliver has told me all about you." Abby said shaking my hand warmly. I shot a look at Oliver he smiled back sheepishly.
"I hope it was all good? For his sake at least!" I laughed as Oliver went a deep pink. Abby laughed and sat at the table next to me and Oliver.
"Oh it was. But I shan't embarrass my nephew anymore for tonight anyway. Shall I zap in dinner? Mexican or Italian?" she asked with a slight swish of her wrist the table was filled with both.
"Abby, can I ask you something?" I said after being totally filled with pasta, we had cleverly sent Oliver out for dessert so we could have a girly talk, but all I wanted to know was about the mirrors. She nodded and looked at me waiting for my question.
"Do you know a Madam Dumas?" I asked, suddenly Abby's face drained of all colour and I thought she was going to be sick.
"Have you seen her? Did you buy anything?" Abby asked quickly. I felt my heart skip a beat, why was she acting so odd about this.
"Yes Oliver and I were in her shop today. I went into the changing rooms and the mirrors." Abby stopped me and I felt my stomach lurch.
"You, you looked in the mirrors. What did you see? Oh my god." Abby said she was now ghostly white and my stomach was beginning to do back flips.
"I saw two things. The first was me in the Great Hall at Hogwarts at some sort of ball, then Oliver came in and we danced. The second I was dressed in wedding robes and I was distraught, I was crying really hard. I don't know what made me cry. Just that looking at it even made me feel sheer loss and loneliness. What do these mean?" I said looking at her searching her face for a clue. She was now shaking, I felt even sicker. Why was an Aurour shaking about mirrors.
"Oh God. Katie, did you buy anything else in the shop?" she asked urgently.
"Oliver bought me this. Why what's wrong?" I asked showing her the diamond bracelet that was on my wrist.
"Madam Dumas isn't a witch, she is a spectre."
"Like Nearly-Headless-Nick?" I asked.
"No. a spectre is much more cunning and devious. They appear only to certain people at pivotal parts of their lives to show them a glimpse of what is yet to be."
"So that's how she knew our names." I said softly.
"Katie, this is awful. You have seen into the mirrors of Avalon these are magic's not meant even for witches and wizards. I have to go. I have to talk with Dumbledore. But Katie, you must not take of the bracelet. You must leave it on until we sort this all out." Abby was whiter then flour now and pacing the floor.
"Why? It's only a bracelet." I said softly looking at the thin band of silver and diamonds on my wrist.
"It's anything but a bracelet; it may be a port-key. A spectre can fashion them so that once removed the soul of the wearer and that of the one who placed it on, is swallowed. Please just leave it on. I will be back as soon as I can." And with that Abby apperated away.
When she was gone I slumped back into the couch and tried to understand everything that had happened to me that day. Oliver wandered in with a bag filled with Every Flavour Ice cream only to find me in a dazed heap in the couch.
"Where's Abby?" he asked looking around.
"She had to go to Dumbledore to ask him something. It seems that Madam Dumas was really - really strange." I said my voice trembling as I looked at the bracelet as if it was a time bomb waiting to go off.
"I think we may be in some sort of trouble Oliver. Dumas is supposed to be dangerous." I said softly.
"That little old lady, you have to be joking." He said sitting next to me. I turned to him and told him what Abby had told me. But for some reason I couldn't tell him about the Mirrors of Avalon. He too was shaking when he heard it all. I almost cried but he put his arm around me tightly.
"Abby will sort this. I won't let anything happen to us." He said kissing my forehead. I pulled back a little and looked into his chocolate eyes.
"Oliver. What if I lose my soul, you know what that means don't you?" I said looking at him softly.
"Yes, but even if, I'll lose mine too. We'll still be together." He said tenderly, as he held me to him, I felt safe in his arms but I couldn't help but be afraid.
"But we won't love each other. I'll be banshee and you'll be a ghoul." Oh god I just said the L word. How was he going to react to that one? I looked at him with large tear filled eyes. he smiled softly at me and leant in closer.
"I'll always love you, even without my soul." He said brushing some hair from my face softly and then he kissed me. I hadn't expected such a sweet kiss and my breath caught in the back of my throat. He bit my bottom lip softly and I opened my mouth a little to permit his tongue entry. Our tongues did gentle battle as I felt his hands on the small of my back. He put one hand under my blouse and began to trace circles on the base of my spine with his fingertips. That gentle touch sent vibes of sheer want through me. He shifted gently on the couch and lay me back, he lay on top of me and I smiled up at him as he ran his fingers over my face.
"You are so beautiful." He whispered as he begun to kiss my neck. I smiled as he spread fire with his touch, his fingers slowly played with the band of my jeans, sliding in slowly rubbing the top of my panties. I stopped him then, if I didn't it would never end and this was moving to fast for me.
"Oliver, not yet. I'm not ready." I whispered in a heavy voice. He looked up at me and nodded. He sat up and held me again in his arms.
"Do you know how long I have waited to kiss you like that? God ever since I saw you on the platform on your very first day. You looked lost but refused help from anyone."
"Yeah I remember I nearly killed you with my trolley." I laughed remembering how I had made a running jump at the barrier to platform 9 and ¾. I had run straight into Oliver and knocked him flat.
"I think I still have the mark of the trolley on my hip." He laughed slightly.
"I'll have to take a look sometime." I said winking suggestively.
"Yes I think you should." He said kissing my forehead. I laughed slightly at the wink he gave me, for those few moments we forgot that our very souls lay on the line. I certainly didn't want to become a Banshee and I am pretty sure Oliver didn't want to be a ghoul. But I had to wonder what pivotal point were we both in our lives? Maybe if we could figure that out we could try get out of this fix.
But that night when I had kicked Oliver out of his very own bed to the sofa, it was all I could think about. All I wanted was news from Dumbledore or Abby to tell me everything was okay. I also wanted to know that the vision of me crying I had seen and felt in the mirrors was a fake, that when my wedding day finally came it would be happy. I lay there in the silence of the night listening to the evil visions that haunted me about why I would cry so much on my wedding day. By the time dawn reached the window sill I had exhausted my self with speculations of all that could happen. I wrapped myself in his blankets and breathed in his scent, it made me feel safe and content. As long as Oliver was with me I would be okay.
"Yeah, I'm fine Oliver, its just those mirrors were really weird." I sighed the last vision of me in a wedding gown crying more tears then I thought I ever had. What was that? Why had I seen it? I tried not to think about it but it weighed upon me. I needed to find out about those mirrors.
"Okay then, do you want to come up to the flat now. But I warn you it is not the tidiest place on earth; I really miss having house elves." He said smiling. His smile was warming and it seemed to light his entire being. I had to smile with him as we walked the cobbled streets to his door. He unlocked the door with a small golden key and we walked up the narrow wooden steps to his flat. Inside was exactly how I pictured it when he told me it was not the tidiest place on earth. A pile of dishes looked menacingly at me from the filled sink, Quidditch gear was all over the tiny flat. A picture of the Gryffindor team sat waving at me on the dresser next to a manual on the duties of a proper Quidditch captain. I had to note that the book looked well read. I smiled as I looked at the large poster of a scantily clad model. Typical boy! I looked at Oliver and raised an eyebrow looking at the bikini clad blonde. He flashed me an innocent smile and shrugged his shoulders before vanishing it having turned a nice shade of maroon. I loved to tease him sometimes. The flat was tiny. The living room was also the kitchen, there was a tiny bathroom of to the right and a bedroom to the left. The sofa did look comfy I would have to ask Oliver in the morning because there was no way I was sleeping on it. I had spent two weeks in a log cabin on a wooden bench in the mountains of Norway, I wanted a nice comfy bed!!
"Would you like a drink? I got Muggle soft drinks. I have begun to explore London. My god it is so strange, I saw these boxes with people in them, I think they called them radios. It was weird; do they shrink them down to fit in?" Oliver said opening a press.
"I think you mean T.V. Well I have to say when I first came to Diagon Alley I was pretty much amazed at this place." I said as he handed me a cola. He sat down next to me and took a deep breath.
"Well, still you have to admit, Muggles can be odd, but so can Wizard's look at that Madam Dumas. While you were in the changing room she made me buy this." He dug into his pockets and pulled out a small long thin black velvet box.
"What did she con you into buying?" I asked my eyebrow must have almost disappeared into my hair when I saw the box. Jewellery. Oliver snapped the box open and I looked amazed at the thin diamond studded bracelet. But on closer inspection I noticed that they were wizard diamonds. They were the rarest stones on earth and were only found in Antarctica on the night of the winter solstice and you could never find enough to make a ring let alone the bracelet Oliver had now.
"This must have cost you a fortune. Pro-Quidditch must pay very well!" I said looking at the bracelet, the diamonds twinkled like stars.
"That's the weird bit she gave it to me for thirty Gallons. Like this is worth thousands. She just told me to be careful." Oliver said looking at the bracelet.
"Careful? Why do you need to be careful?" I asked as I closed the box and gave it back to Oliver.
"I don't know she just said be careful. And that this was to be given to you." He said passing the box back to me. Now I knew something was unbelievably odd about Madam Dumas and her shop.
"Oliver I can't accept this, it's worthy more then my house!" I said giving him the box back with trembling hands. He folded my fingers around the box again and looked deep into my eyes.
"Please I do want you to have this Katie. I owe you a lot." He said his hands were holding mine around the box softly, his chocolate eyes made me melt. For a second I thought about leaning in and kissing him. 'Katie this is Oliver. Remember your best friend. You can't kiss him!' a tiny voice in the back of my mind screamed.
"Oh Oliver, you don't owe me anything at all." I said softly, I leaned in a little, so did he, if I moved again I would be close enough to kiss him, to have his lips on mine. He took his hands away slowly and opened the black box.
"Please accept this as an early birthday present." He said as he fastened the bracelet on my wrist. I smiled and nodded.
"Oliver, I have to ask. How are you since you know the thing with your parents?" I asked softly. He bowed his head and took a deep breath. His eyes glazed over a little sadly and he looked me in the eye.
"I miss them sometimes. They are my parents and I love them, even if they don't love me. I was at the world cup and I met Harry and Ron. My aunt was with me and I told them she was my mother. I don't know why I did that." His head was bowed again.
"Your aunt?" I never knew he had an aunt. He smiled sadly.
"Yeah the black sheep in the family, next to me. She was in Hufflepuff. She's really nice, she visits every Tuesday to cook my dinner and make sure I am not living in sheer squalor. You'll love her. She's only a few years older then me. She's so cool she's an Auror for the ministry. She believes that Sirius Black is innocent 'cos she met him in school. He had been a fourth year and she was a first year, but apparently they got on really well and has always thought that it was too odd for him to betray his best friend in the world like that. Although she did say she wasn't one of James Potter's biggest fans." He said, he seemed excited about his aunt and I was pleased to see his face light up again.
"what's her name?" I asked, this woman seemed pretty cool.
"Abby Wood. She'll love you. You are so alike. I was going to owl her and ask her over later on this evening, that is if it's okay with you?" he asked cautiously.
"Why wouldn't it be okay with me? This woman sounds really cool." I smiled as Oliver jumped to his feet to write to Abby. Then a thought hit me, if Abby was an Auror, maybe she would know about Madam Dumas's mirrors. For a few moments I had almost forgotten about what I had seen.
"Excellent, all I need to do now is wash the dishes. I hate this job." He said looking at the piles of dishes with disdain. He raised his wand and muttered 'Leveionaium' and the dishes were suddenly clean and in neat piles back in their presses. I made a mental note to remember that spell, my mother would love it.
Suddenly the flat was filled with a shining blue light from which a young woman in her late twenties stepped forth. She was beautiful, with long blonde hair falling in loose wavy curls to her waist. Her eyes were blue and twinkled with glee. She was tall and thin like Oliver's father but that was all she shared with her brother.
"Oliver, it is great to see you have finally learnt how to wash up. Or was it this young lady who washed up for you?" Abby Wood said smiling. She took a step towards me and smiled warmly at me.
"You must be Katie Bell. Oliver has told me all about you." Abby said shaking my hand warmly. I shot a look at Oliver he smiled back sheepishly.
"I hope it was all good? For his sake at least!" I laughed as Oliver went a deep pink. Abby laughed and sat at the table next to me and Oliver.
"Oh it was. But I shan't embarrass my nephew anymore for tonight anyway. Shall I zap in dinner? Mexican or Italian?" she asked with a slight swish of her wrist the table was filled with both.
"Abby, can I ask you something?" I said after being totally filled with pasta, we had cleverly sent Oliver out for dessert so we could have a girly talk, but all I wanted to know was about the mirrors. She nodded and looked at me waiting for my question.
"Do you know a Madam Dumas?" I asked, suddenly Abby's face drained of all colour and I thought she was going to be sick.
"Have you seen her? Did you buy anything?" Abby asked quickly. I felt my heart skip a beat, why was she acting so odd about this.
"Yes Oliver and I were in her shop today. I went into the changing rooms and the mirrors." Abby stopped me and I felt my stomach lurch.
"You, you looked in the mirrors. What did you see? Oh my god." Abby said she was now ghostly white and my stomach was beginning to do back flips.
"I saw two things. The first was me in the Great Hall at Hogwarts at some sort of ball, then Oliver came in and we danced. The second I was dressed in wedding robes and I was distraught, I was crying really hard. I don't know what made me cry. Just that looking at it even made me feel sheer loss and loneliness. What do these mean?" I said looking at her searching her face for a clue. She was now shaking, I felt even sicker. Why was an Aurour shaking about mirrors.
"Oh God. Katie, did you buy anything else in the shop?" she asked urgently.
"Oliver bought me this. Why what's wrong?" I asked showing her the diamond bracelet that was on my wrist.
"Madam Dumas isn't a witch, she is a spectre."
"Like Nearly-Headless-Nick?" I asked.
"No. a spectre is much more cunning and devious. They appear only to certain people at pivotal parts of their lives to show them a glimpse of what is yet to be."
"So that's how she knew our names." I said softly.
"Katie, this is awful. You have seen into the mirrors of Avalon these are magic's not meant even for witches and wizards. I have to go. I have to talk with Dumbledore. But Katie, you must not take of the bracelet. You must leave it on until we sort this all out." Abby was whiter then flour now and pacing the floor.
"Why? It's only a bracelet." I said softly looking at the thin band of silver and diamonds on my wrist.
"It's anything but a bracelet; it may be a port-key. A spectre can fashion them so that once removed the soul of the wearer and that of the one who placed it on, is swallowed. Please just leave it on. I will be back as soon as I can." And with that Abby apperated away.
When she was gone I slumped back into the couch and tried to understand everything that had happened to me that day. Oliver wandered in with a bag filled with Every Flavour Ice cream only to find me in a dazed heap in the couch.
"Where's Abby?" he asked looking around.
"She had to go to Dumbledore to ask him something. It seems that Madam Dumas was really - really strange." I said my voice trembling as I looked at the bracelet as if it was a time bomb waiting to go off.
"I think we may be in some sort of trouble Oliver. Dumas is supposed to be dangerous." I said softly.
"That little old lady, you have to be joking." He said sitting next to me. I turned to him and told him what Abby had told me. But for some reason I couldn't tell him about the Mirrors of Avalon. He too was shaking when he heard it all. I almost cried but he put his arm around me tightly.
"Abby will sort this. I won't let anything happen to us." He said kissing my forehead. I pulled back a little and looked into his chocolate eyes.
"Oliver. What if I lose my soul, you know what that means don't you?" I said looking at him softly.
"Yes, but even if, I'll lose mine too. We'll still be together." He said tenderly, as he held me to him, I felt safe in his arms but I couldn't help but be afraid.
"But we won't love each other. I'll be banshee and you'll be a ghoul." Oh god I just said the L word. How was he going to react to that one? I looked at him with large tear filled eyes. he smiled softly at me and leant in closer.
"I'll always love you, even without my soul." He said brushing some hair from my face softly and then he kissed me. I hadn't expected such a sweet kiss and my breath caught in the back of my throat. He bit my bottom lip softly and I opened my mouth a little to permit his tongue entry. Our tongues did gentle battle as I felt his hands on the small of my back. He put one hand under my blouse and began to trace circles on the base of my spine with his fingertips. That gentle touch sent vibes of sheer want through me. He shifted gently on the couch and lay me back, he lay on top of me and I smiled up at him as he ran his fingers over my face.
"You are so beautiful." He whispered as he begun to kiss my neck. I smiled as he spread fire with his touch, his fingers slowly played with the band of my jeans, sliding in slowly rubbing the top of my panties. I stopped him then, if I didn't it would never end and this was moving to fast for me.
"Oliver, not yet. I'm not ready." I whispered in a heavy voice. He looked up at me and nodded. He sat up and held me again in his arms.
"Do you know how long I have waited to kiss you like that? God ever since I saw you on the platform on your very first day. You looked lost but refused help from anyone."
"Yeah I remember I nearly killed you with my trolley." I laughed remembering how I had made a running jump at the barrier to platform 9 and ¾. I had run straight into Oliver and knocked him flat.
"I think I still have the mark of the trolley on my hip." He laughed slightly.
"I'll have to take a look sometime." I said winking suggestively.
"Yes I think you should." He said kissing my forehead. I laughed slightly at the wink he gave me, for those few moments we forgot that our very souls lay on the line. I certainly didn't want to become a Banshee and I am pretty sure Oliver didn't want to be a ghoul. But I had to wonder what pivotal point were we both in our lives? Maybe if we could figure that out we could try get out of this fix.
But that night when I had kicked Oliver out of his very own bed to the sofa, it was all I could think about. All I wanted was news from Dumbledore or Abby to tell me everything was okay. I also wanted to know that the vision of me crying I had seen and felt in the mirrors was a fake, that when my wedding day finally came it would be happy. I lay there in the silence of the night listening to the evil visions that haunted me about why I would cry so much on my wedding day. By the time dawn reached the window sill I had exhausted my self with speculations of all that could happen. I wrapped myself in his blankets and breathed in his scent, it made me feel safe and content. As long as Oliver was with me I would be okay.