Annabel Lee
Part 2 Kalila and the Great Trelawney
I waited nervously by Hogwarts' main exit the students use to get to Hogsmeade. Maybe he wasn't coming! My fears and self-doubt seemed to triple by the second as I anxiously bit my lower lip. Finally, I saw Sirius round the corner flanked by a Hufflepuff I knew only by sight, the most popular (and the most conceited) boy ever to attend Hogwarts-one James Potter, and a Ravenclaw two years below me named Remus Lupin. Either his illnesses were strangely coinciding with the phases of the moon, or that quietly handsome boy was a werewolf.
Sirius finally noticed me by the door and waved me over. I walked as calmly as I could. I have never been good in social situations; books are my closest and, until I came to Hogwarts, only friends. I smiled at Sirius-more motivated by nerves than any happiness I was feeling. Sirius' three friends gave me inquisitive glances until Sirius took charge.
"Right, then. This is Kalila Rajaram, the girl who I told you about."
James's eyebrows arched and he thrust his hand forward. He flashed me his trademark grin that set most girls swooning.
"James Potter." I shook his hand tentatively. I could feel the glares I was receiving from many of the female Hogwarts students on the back of my neck.
"I know who you are," I responded, albeit a bit frostily. He blinked and took his hand back bemusedly. I could practically see his few brain cells grinding into action, attempting to contemplate my aloof response. The Hufflepuff was glaring daggers at me. It was clear who his loyalty belonged to. The werewolf edged his way to the front.
"It's a pleasure meeting you, Kalila. My name is Remus Lupin." I actually genuinely smiled at the nervous fifth year.
"I know who you are. You were the reigning champion in the dueling club." His eyes widened in recognition and he chuckled.
"Until last year when you joined and trounced everyone," Remus finished good-naturedly. James, Sirius, and the pudgy little Hufflepuff boy looked impressed. James whistled.
"I didn't know anyone could actually beat you, Remus," James exclaimed with his typical gusto. I delicately blushed.
Finally, I turned to the Hufflepuff. "I apologize; I didn't quite catch your name."
He seemed shocked to be addressed. He looked as though no girl had ever noticed him, as if he had been utterly eclipsed by his friends.
"P-Peter Petttigrew," he stammered. I smiled kindly at him, trying in vain to keep the pity out of my eyes. I could see Sirius giving his friends meaningful looks and nodding his head towards the door out of the corner of my eye.
"Didn't you three want to go to Honeydukes or the Three Broomsticks or something?" Sirius asked pointedly.
"Well, we don't really need to go, we can just ask-" James began teasingly before Sirius stepped on James's toe. Hard. With a mocking scowl, James, Remus, and Peter said their good-byes and left. Sirius and I joined the crowd leaving Hogwarts soon after. We walked in silence until Sirius broke the silence.
"So, where do you reckon we ought to go?" he asked awkwardly.
"Personally, I recommend Satsuki's."
"I've never heard of it before."
"Most people haven't," I informed him. "My family lives here, so I know my way around. Satsuki's is a little tea shop. Puddifoot's gets more attention, but Satsuki's is better, in my opinion. I haven't been there since I came to Hogwarts."
"In that case, lead the way."
Upon entering the cozy tea shop, we were overwhelmed with the scents of incense, candles, and tea. Satsuki's was dimly lit by Japanese lanterns and flickering candles. I breathed in the warm, heady aroma with relish and turned smiling to Sirius.
"We should get our fortunes told!" Sirius exclaimed eagerly. "You can go while I get us a table."
I shrugged indifferently but walked towards the sign in the back of the shop. I barely had time to read the sign ("Tea Readings by Madame Trelawney") before I entered the small room by way, pushing the silky curtain out of my way. An extraordinarily slim woman with large glasses blinked at me owlishly. Her arms and hands were covered with gaudy jewelry. The entire room was, like its occupant, draped in gauzy silks.
"Hello, my dear. Are you here to gaze into the future with Madame Trelawney?"
I shrugged my shoulders, pushed aside my misgivings and sat down. "I suppose I am," I said while she poured tea into a pink teacup and handed it to me.
"Drink it quickly," Madame Trelawney said. I gulped the scalding tea and gave it with not a small amount of trepidation to the slightly shaking witch who was looking at me eagerly through her bejeweled, oversized spectacles. She peered into the cup and shrieked. She looked at me with wide eyes made larger by her glasses.
"My dear, have you seen any large, black dogs?"
I raised an eyebrow. "No. Should I have?"
She breathed deeply and appeared to be about to do something terribly dramatic. I couldn't help rolling my eyes as she rose theatrically from her spindly chair, knocking it over in her enthusiasm.
"The Grim, my dear! I see the Grim!" she proclaimed loudly while pointing somewhere past me with a distant look in her eyes. I blinked and began to back towards the door.
"Look, a lot of people know I'm here, so-" I turned to leave, but the psychotic witch grabbed my arm.
"Stop! You haven't paid yet," Madame Trelawney cried piteously. I turned to look at this pathetic creature. She seemed to have shrunk from the aftereffects of her all-powerful Oz routine. Upon closer inspection, her jewelry was cracking and her cloths had gaping holes in them. I found myself giving her a rather large tip. She smiled gratefully as I left as quickly as I could without openly running. Sirius waved me over and I plopped onto the small, poufy armchair across a small, circular table from him.
"What a psycho," I moaned as I rolled my eyes. "She must have started here while I was at Hogwarts."
"Oh, really? You think so?" he asked politely. I nodded fervently. "Because that's my aunt," he said solemnly. I stared at him in shock. What have I done? I stammered out an apology, but he started laughing. "I wasn't serious! What did she say anyway?"
"She kept on babbling about a big, black dog."
Sirius squirmed in his seat.
An awkward silence passed before I asked, "So, what's it like to be friends with the great James Potter?"
Sirius gave me an odd look. "You sound slightly hostile."
"Well, let's just say that I'm not exactly a founding member of his illustrious fan club. After all, I'm no Hufflepouf!"
Sirius chuckled. "Did you know that one of his fan clubs has a monthly newspaper? They actually interviewed Lupin last week. Fortunately, my Slytherin robes seem to have put them off of interviewing me."
He leaned back in his enormous chair and said, "So, what's your family like? You already know all about mine."
"Well, mine isn't as… interesting as yours." Sirius snorted. "For one thing, my family is completely Muggle. My parents moved here from India when I was a year old. My parents were shocked when I got the letter from Hogwarts six years ago. I remember my first-" My trip down Memory Lane was interrupted by the arrival of my best friend. I stood up and called her over. "Lily! Come over here!"
As Lily walked over, I said to Sirius, "Lily is my best friend. We grew up together in Hogsmeade."
Sirius' eyes widened with shock and he sank down in his chair until the tip of his nose was roughly level with the table as Lily Evans happily strode over. Upon seeing my companion, however, her stride broke and an uncharacteristic sneer formed on her usually amiable face.
"What's he doing here?" Lily asked scornfully. Her spite seemed to give Sirius enough energy to sit up and respond.
"Kalila invited me, the same as you. Can we put aside our differences long enough to have a cup of tea?" Sirius asked resignedly.
Lily reluctantly sat down, but a hint of her scowl remained.
"We were just talking about our families," I said, perhaps a tad too brightly. "Don't you have a sister, Lily?"
She nodded sulkily as a look of horror spread across Sirius' face. He sat up quickly and swallowed hard as though finally putting two pieces of information together.
"Is her name… Petunia?" he asked anxiously.
She gasped slightly and said, "Yes! How did you know?"
Sirius ignored her question and asked, "Do you live in London, near Grimmauld Place?" he slowly asked, as if afraid to hear the answer. Her look of complete shock answered him for her. He knocked over his chair in his haste to leave.
"I need to go," he muttered and dashed out. I had risen out of my chair as well and silently stared after him.
I sluggishly sank into my chair. For once, Lily looked on wordlessly. I tipped my head to the side and said slowly, "That was odd."
"Indeed," Lily murmured. "Indeed."
A few weeks later, Sirius found me in the library, studying with Lily.
"…and he hasn't teased me for weeks- since you went to Hogsmeade with him." She caught her breath and a smug, self-assured smile crossed her face.
"Why, if it isn't the black spot on the face of Hogwarts. Whatever inspired you to grace us lowly Mudbloods with your presence?" Lily spat out spitefully.
I turned around to look at Sirius, who was gazing at Lily as if he hadn't seen that she was even there. He breathed deeply before saying, "Lily, do you mind if I speak to Kalila alone?"
Lily opened her mouth to protest, but I interrupted her. "That's okay, Lily. I'm pretty much done with Charms, anyway."
I gathered up my books in the uncomfortable silence and was pleasantly surprised when Sirius took them. We walked silently out of the library and away from Madame Camp's omnipresent, watchful eye. Once we had turned the corner, Sirius pulled me into an empty, unused classroom.
"I think that Lily is one of the only ones in the whole school brave enough to be nasty to me. Most people either see me as Bellatrix and Lucius's cousin-someone to be feared and detested- or James's Potter best friend-a demigod to be admired. She is refreshing," Sirius said fondly.
"Right. Let's get to the point, shall we?" I said bluntly. He smiled wryly and leaned casually against the wall.
"I'm really sorry I ran out of Satsuki's. It was a terribly rude thing to do and I'm incredibly sorry," Sirius said sincerely.
"Why did you wait so long to talk to me?" I asked, more than a little suspiciously, but I could feel his heartwarming grey eyes melting away some of my anger.
"I was afraid," he admitted sheepishly. "Will you please forgive me?"
"Of course I forgive you. Don't worry your pretty little head about it for one more moment," I said with a smirk of my own. I stretched my hand across the distance between us and found his hand. He squeezed my hand slightly and smiled.
"How did you know-" I began, but Sirius cut me off.
"Can we just put Satsuki's behind us?" he asked politely enough, but his sweet, puppy-dog eyes were begging me to stop.
"Okay, okay," I relented.
Looking into his eyes I realized that I didn't need to win fights with him. Just talking to him was enough.
And
this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A
wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So
that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To
shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.
The
angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and
me-
Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom
by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling
and killing my Annabel Lee.
6
