Important: I'm back. I originally didn't really have a plan for this story. I started writing as a form of entertainment for myself in school, it still is but with more free time I finally have a plot. Which is good. I really loved this story and my character, Nelliel and want to see it flourish, regardless of if anyone else likes it. This is something I'm incredibly proud of. Hopefully other people on this site will enjoy my story, or anything I put out in the future as well. If not, no biggie, I had fun, and am still having fun. Please Enjoy ~

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, that belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own my ocs and the idea for this timeline.

*Parseltongue*

"Speaking"

"Whispering"

Diary

'Thoughts'

Chapter 1: (Prologue) Unexpected and Untimely Death

Somewhere in an American Library, June 26th, 2020. 6:34 p.m. Waxing Crescent. Clear weather.

A girl sat alone at a dimly lit table. Her fingers gently brushing over the pages in the book she was trying to read, unsuccessfully. Unknown to her, ancient and strong forces were at work. Her usually boring and uneventful life would soon become corrupted by the selfish request of two specific ancient beings. They knew their request was unreasonable, and that choosing her was up to their third counterpart and not themselves. Or they would have gladly placed the heavy burden on someone who could better handle it.

Even then, they knew there was no one better suited to the task, or the third would not have chosen this one.

The first was fed up with every timeline turning out the same for her children. Pain. Suffering. Betrayal. Without enough good to balance it out. The second just wanted his children to accept him. They both wanted the old traditions and rituals to be renewed and for the world to stop dying. Nothing was balanced. Their children were losing touch with nature and soon everything would crumble away.

While they couldn't directly interfere, the first had her gifts and the second mercy. They could offer indirect help. Through giving boosts to her gifts, and by summoning a soul to assist in restoring the natural balance.

This soul is the chosen. While not special on it's own, with the being's nudging and help, the child would be just the push they needed to fix their dying world.

Hopefully She could forgive their selfishness just this once.

~-oOo-~

Fwip-

She pushed her glasses upwards on the bridge of her nose when they slipped. Gently turning the page. The book was on the history of America, specifically the significant wars and world leaders. Her face contorted into a grimace when she had to re-read the same page for the third time to understand any of it. 'Why am I even trying to study?... Oh… Right...'

She was skillfully trying to avoid her mom who was currently at her apartment waiting for her to have dinner together.

Her excuse? Studying. The real reason? Her mom's boyfriend was kind of a creepy guy and made her uncomfortable. Why? For zero reason, he's just really weird.

Normally she'd just hang out with Taylor and Athene but they both had plans today. Taylor was working late and Athene had band. Which sucked cause Taylor had the Game Cube and she really, really wanted to do stuff on her Animal Crossing save.

'Oh well…' She supposed she could only avoid her mom and creep-o for so long. At least he was completely different to her real father, now that man was a real piece of work. She shuddered at his memory. He was abusive. The new guy had yet to try anything shady but she wasn't about to jump on the bandwagon just yet.

Giving up she put the book down. She was already having trouble concentrating and she knew she wouldn't get very far if she continued. What was the point, anyway? Sure she had trouble with history as a subject, but she could live with a B.

She was in college for Art, not Paleontology.

Standing up from her chair and putting the book back on its shelf, she continued browsing, bag in hand. She didn't want to leave the library empty handed though, the librarian would find that suspicious, she had been here for about four hours already and was the only one left. Not to mention the woman just didn't like her in general and looked for any excuse to single her out. Picking a random book up from an art shelf and flipping through it she paused.

"Nope. Not that one."

There were a bunch of naked people and face diagrams. Anatomy. While she loved that kind of art, like Roman statues of women and men, she didn't want to chance her mom's weird boyfriend seeing it and trying to turn it into an awkward dinner subject.

She put the book back and almost missed the leather-back journal behind it. her face scrunched up in confusion. The Librarian wouldn't have missed this and she was the only one still here. Reaching back and picking it up, carefully inspecting it for a name. It looked like there used to be one but it got rubbed off over time. It looked old and the pages appeared yellow and crumbly.

It was just a blank journal, it didn't even have the Library seal on it anywhere. She contemplated bringing it to the librarian's attention but it wasn't library property without the seal. She smiled.

"Time to become a real thief." 'Man, if only the others were here to witness this. The Librarian finally has a reason to dislike me.'

She stuck it in her bag and grabbed a random book from the same shelf. Going to the checkout desk to scan her book out, she handed it to the snide old woman behind the desk. She sneered at her and looked her up and down. Face wrinkling. She tried to give off an air of innocence but it probably didn't work. She nervously waited for the woman to comment on something but the woman just handed the book to her and told her when to return it. Surprisingly she didn't try to start a fight today, just waved her on. 'Weird.'

Not wanting to stick around any longer and press her luck, she left the old oak building quickly. Her hand raised to shield her face from the glare of the sun. She shuffled off to the side to switch books. Holding the journal to examine as she walked.

There was a scar on the leather on the inside. She almost didn't notice it but felt the texture with her finger tips. She didn't understand how it had scarred seeing as it wasn't alive. It was odd, too, because it looked deliberate, like a symbol.

'The scar looks newer than the leather…'

She was so busy examining it she didn't notice that the pedestrian light was a red hand. Nobody expected her to just walk into the street during a no walk period. Nor did she see the truck coming towards her on her right until it was in her peripheral. No one had time to react to pull her out of the way. All she could do was turn.

She wondered in a brief second if she was supposed to see her life flashing before her.

It slammed into her body. Still gripping the leather journal, she rag-dolled over the hood and several feet into the air. It hurt. Her skin was on fire and she could feel things breaking and cracking all over.

In a delayed reaction she blacked out for a moment as her head hit the pavement with a sickening crack. The panic set in. She felt her head roll to the side. She saw the book to her left by her hand, pages open and facing down. Her blood pooled around her and stained the pages red.

Her breath escaped her lips with a gurgle. Copper filled her senses which all came back at once. Her ears were ringing and she could hear screaming and sirens. She was vaguely aware of someone kneeling next to her with their phone out. Her eyes filled with tears.

"H...e...llp-"

Her eyes were getting heavy and darkness filled the edges of her sight.

'No no no! This is not happening!'

She tried to keep them open but she couldn't breath and they seemed so heavy.

'Please help! Please!'

It was no use. Her pleading went unheard. She couldn't speak as she was drowning in her own blood. Her body wouldn't respond to her commands. It was over.

'I don't want to die!'

~-oOo-~

The girl grimaced and turned over. 'Why is it so bright?' There was no window near her bed in her room. 'Is that… a woman humming? Why is this tune so...familiar?' She frowned but no matter how she turned there was a bright light. Her eyes wouldn't open because they felt heavy.

Suddenly, and without warning, it felt like a hand brushed through her hair accompanied by tiny soft touches everywhere on her body. Finally able to move a limb she brought a hand to swat at whatever it was.

She hit herself in the face. Something sharp was protruding out of her left eye and as her hand made contact with it, it became painful. It all came crashing down on her and she remembered everything. She was dead.

Dead.

Panic filled her and she sat up quickly. Hands flying up to her eye. They cupped around it as if trying to make the offending pain stop. Like a rush of adrenaline she felt a warm rush in her stomach. There was a warm tingling in her eyes.

"Ahn!"

Like a warm hug her left eye no longer hurt. She let out a surprised gasp and fell backwards off her knees. She was momentarily afraid to open her eyes. 'Will the pain come back…?' Slowly, with her hands shielding her eyes, she finally peeled them open.

"Eh!?"

She had no clue what to make of it. She wasn't in the middle of the street anymore. Rather she was now seemingly in an alley behind some store. There was a large brick wall behind her. She was effectively trapped here. She looked around for her glasses so she could get a better look at her surroundings. Hands shuffling through the dirt and gravel as she looked around. She stopped.

'Wait…'

She turned to look around once more. Her eyes widened and she had to double check that the glasses weren't really on her face. She could see. Not just the things close to her, but everything. Little details in the brick, the individual shoots of grass. The texture in the building.

It wasn't blurry. She could see clearly now.

'What on Earth is going on?!' She shook her head. She couldn't hesitate over that when there was a much bigger problem. Maybe two. 'Am I really dead? Where am I even?'

She pushed herself up and attempted to stand. Slightly wobbly on her feet, she turned her head to look for the journal and bag. If she turned her phone on she could likely figure out what was happening and where she was. The book was nearby. The bag was closer to the building.

The memory of the blood stained pages made her hesitate again and she shuffled away from the journal a bit frightened. No way was she ready for that revelation. She stepped around it to the bag instead.

"Okay, phone it is then…"

Expecting to easily walk to the bag, she found the reality to be quite surprising. She stumbled over her own feet. She wrote it off as her muscles were still in shock. This time she took great care in how she walked.

Kneeling, she opened the bag and pulled the phone out. Only for it to spark and the screen to crack violently. She quickly dropped it and nursed her stung hand. A small gasp escaped her lips as she looked upon her smoking and ruined phone.

"Nooo, now what am I supposed to do?" She frowned. "I don't have any money on me so I can't use a public phone…"

She kicked the phone off to the side. There was no way she was going to touch it again. The only thing left was the journal. She steeled herself. It was painful but…

Stepping over to it she had to force herself to touch it. She kept seeing those images in her head over and over. The phantom pain from the truck shot through her just as her fingers touched the leather.

"Mmn." She flinched slightly.

Slowly, almost like she expected the book to bite her, she lifted it up by the cover. She held it out in front of her and inspected it. To her surprise there was no blood. The pages were untouched. A breath she didn't realize she was holding escaped as a sigh. She was worried over nothing. Though, this didn't answer that question…

'Am I dead? Or alive…?'

She closed the journal and put it in her bag. The next thing is finding out how to get out of here. Being stuck in an alley for eternity, or however long it takes for someone to notice her, wasn't on her list of things to do. So escaping her alley prison was her new priority.

She swirled around, momentarily forgetting that her balance was off. Something swirled around her and out of view. It nearly caused her to jump out of her skin. Thankfully she just stumbled back.

"W-what was that?" Now that she thought about it… Her head felt unusually heavy.

'Maybe I just hallucinated that from dizziness…' Or she'd like to think that, but her vision was fine. She reached behind her and felt around. Her fears were calmed. There were no added appendages. The only discovery she made was the fact that her hair now reached her ankles. 'How did I not notice this before? It's so long!'

Pausing she took in a slow breath to calm down. She needed to check all the changes before leaving. There was no way her hair went from shoulder to ankle length and that was the only change in her appearance. Unfortunately her phone was fried and broken, or she would use it to look at herself.

"Reflection… Reflection-Ah!"

'The window on the building! I can use that!' She carefully rushed over to it and stood on a crate. Again, she was shocked by the new information that greeted her. Her face, normally round but not that round, was that of a child's. Her eyes seemed bigger but if what she was seeing was correct, that wasn't the case. No.

"I'm… a child?" 'No no no! That can't be right!'

And yet, she couldn't ignore the facts in front of her. Her sudden lack of balance, the awkward feeling in her limbs, it all made so much sense, and yet it made none at all… How did she even become a child? Now she realized why she had to stand on a crate to reach the window. A crate. If she was judging her height correctly then she would be about nine or ten years of age now.

This was bad.

She must really be dead, there was no way she could become a child if she were alive. That's definitely not how that works. She went through all the scenarios in her head and came up blank. Nothing she came up with answered this mystery in front of her.

With nothing she could do she would just have to accept her fate for now, no matter how troubling it was. There was nothing she could do about it. She needed to find out if there were other people here.

"I wonder if there's someone here who can help me…"

So she returned her focus to getting out of the alley she was in. She looked to be behind some bar or something judging by the empty alcohol bottles inside wooden crates. The only way out was the back door of the building. Hopefully it wasn't locked.

She walked up to it and tried to open it, finding it to be unlocked. The voices reached her ears and she looked inside the building. It wasn't just a bar, judging by the smell of food. A slight feeling of hunger made her wish she had been carrying money before she left her apartment that morning.

"Curse my lack of foresight." She mumbled.

She decided standing outside wasn't going to get her anywhere and began entering. A man turned the corner, nearly causing her to yelp, and they almost bumped into each other. He mostly ignored her and headed out the way she came.

'Well, at least no one seems concerned that a child is wandering into a bar.'

She self consciously brushed some dirt off her thigh highs and skirt. She was clean for the most part. She just hoped they didn't throw her out before she figured out where she was. Maybe even how she got here.

She walked forward into the main room which had a big fireplace, a big counter and tables and booths everywhere. Stairs led up somewhere. After seeing some people come down and go up she concluded this was maybe an inn of some sort.

It was a bit dusty but otherwise kept and tidy. She saw a middle aged looking man behind the counter wiping off some glasses and glancing around occasionally. He was observing his customers and waiting to serve anyone.

'I can ask him for help. Help with what, though? I can't outright tell him my situation... I don't know yet but I'll think of something.'

There was a surprisingly good amount of people here so she had to slip around several people to reach the bar. She was grateful her hair didn't get caught on anything or anyone. He definitely noticed her heading straight for the bar. She fidgeted slightly. Getting up onto a stool was going to be awkward now with how short she was. She reached an empty stool and pushed herself up onto it. His attention was on her though he was turned away slightly. He was wiping down glasses.

She leaned up against the counter to get a better look at him. He finally turned fully. 'I didn't think of how to start this.

"Uh...uhm…" She was panicking slightly. Would she sound clinically insane if she just outright asked if she was dead, or explained what had happened? She didn't think she could go home the way she was right now.

Not knowing where she is might be a good start. But then if they asked where she remembered being before this… Faux Amnesia? She really didn't know how she got here, so that wouldn't be fake but she wasn't the same person as before, she was a kid again. No one would believe that.

He glanced down at her with a patient smile and interrupted her inner monologue by asking with a thick accent, "What can I do for you kid?"

'Oh no, uh-' "...I-I think I'm lost."

"Lost eh? Where are you supposed to be headed?"

She was momentarily thankful Athene was in Drama once. Because she needed some good acting skills right now. She averted her eyes downwards.

"I'm not sure… I can't remember."

He frowned for a second and looked at her. Seemingly considering something before asking.

"What's your name?"

"Uh,-" She paused and gave the appearance of thinking about it like it was difficult to remember, "-N-Na…Nell-Nelliel."

Before he could ask another question there was a small flash of green from the fireplace which was accompanied by a loud swoosh sound. She turned as it caught her attention to see a man walk out of the fire and brush soot off of himself. It took a moment for her brain to process this information, as soon as it did Her eyes widened and her jaw nearly dropped.

'What in the world was that?' She openly gaped. 'They were in front of me, there was no way that was fake.'

The man at the bar studied her reaction with a slightly worried expression. He was aware she hadn't entered from the front entrance, so she shouldn't be so surprised by this and yet...

"How did he do that?" She asked, less scared and more curious. Having turned her attention back to him.

"It's called the Floo network. Witches and Wizards use it as a form of alternate travel rather than Apparition or Broom." He answered, nodding his head in someone's direction as they walked by in acknowledgement.

"Uhm...What?" She looked at him confused as alarms went off in her head. She'd managed to stay calm through all this so far but she was seriously close to outwardly panicking, "You mean like magic?"

This was worrisome. If she didn't even know that much…

She was relatively calm outside but inside she was a mess. She was unsure what to do with this information. With the way things sound she wondered if she was even in the same world anymore. She was distracted out of her thoughts when he put the cup he was drying down and addressed her.

"Follow me for a moment, Nelliel."

She didn't have much of a choice in the matter as he began entering another door behind the counter. Getting back off the stool was slightly easier than getting on it. She followed quickly after him.

'He's going to call authorities, isn't he? He can't be serious though… Magic?' She was worried herself. 'What mess did I get myself into?''

The room he led her to had a couch and some chairs. There was another stone fireplace but it was much smaller.

"Have a seat, I'll be back in a moment."

He went back out to the main room. She fidgeted some more. This was getting out of hand, how was she supposed to handle this situation?

It didn't take very long before he returned. Two men in tow. A short stout man with a monocle and a tall man with a fox-like smile and thin eyes. The second man unnerved her slightly. They both wore long robes decorated with swirls of golden thread.

"This is Alfred and Stanley," The first man introduced the other two in order, "-and I'm Tom, sorry for not introducing myself earlier, lass."

The smiley man leaned down and put his hand out for her to shake. "What would your name be?" He oddly reminded her of Gin from the anime Bleach, but without the silver hair and he was British.

She hesitated before responding.

"Nelliel…I don't remember my last name." She was feigning Amnesia so she'd leave it at the first name. He smiled even bigger if that was possible.

"Tell me, how old are you? Can you remember anything before arriving here?" Alfred asked.

"I think I'm 10... I only remember waking up in the alley. I don't remember anything else…" She reached over and picked up her bag and showed him. "All I have is this."

The two men nodded. Tom, the other man shuffled off to the front of the store after a moment.

"Well Nelliel, we're Aurors. Magical police if you will. We're here to try and help you. We can try and find your parents or someone who knows you." Stanley spoke again.

'Magical police? Oh boy...'

"But usually kids such as yourself that aren't aware of Magic don't just wander into this place because there's a barrier outside that prevents it. This means you must have known it was here or you have magic yourself."

Stanley stood back up and took a seat on a chair. Alfred remained standing.

"To find out some of this information we'll bring you to a place called Gringotts. It's run by Goblins and they have tests that can tell us which of those options you fall under. Afterwards depending on what information is revealed we'll act accordingly." Alfred stepped in.

Stanley tilted his head forwards. Standing once more, he held a hand out to her, motioning her to follow him.

"We can answer almost any questions you have after we arrive. Until then, allow me to escort you to our destination."

'We're going to a Bank? What sort of tests do they have at a bank that are even remotely useful for my situation?' She didn't ask this question out loud. Instead she held her bag on her shoulders and followed him after nodding.

They walked out to the front room and passed the bar. Tom waved as they walked by and the two men nodded. She silently returned the wave with a soft smile, glad that this wasn't more difficult than it could have been. They ended up in the alley where she woke up. At her confused expression Alfred turned on his heel and disappeared with a loud crack. All this did was make her head hurt. What even was that? Stanley held a hand out for her to take.

"Stay close, don't let go and don't move no matter what, alright?" The corners of his smile lifted.

'No! Not alright. What is even happening!' Still she took his hand and did as told. He turned on his heel and with a crack she had the opportunity of experiencing how her smoothies felt in a straw. She nearly vomited on the other side. That was probably one of the most unpleasant experiences in her life. Topped only with Death-by-Truck.

'Never again...'

She barely had time to gather her surroundings and the huge amount of people traveling around the street they appeared in before Stanley tugged her along. They entered the enormous Marble building in front of them. She caught the warning plastered outside as they walked up the steps and shuddered at the obvious threat.

Alfred was waiting for them inside. As soon as they joined him they continued down the long row of very tall desks. Short, very angry and intimidating creatures stood on tall stools in front of them, they were counting money or speaking to other people who also wore robes and fancy clothes. It was like a fantasy scene from a Jane Austen novel or RPG.

They guided her to one of the desks. Alfred nodded to the creature and started discussing a test of some sort. She pretended to be more interested in her shoes. But listened closely. It was an Inheritance and Magic test. When they finished talking Stanley directed her to follow closely behind him. The creature guided them to big round doors that led into an office. Another of the creatures sat there waiting for them and motioned for them to sit down. She smiled at the terrifying creature and was incredibly nervous.

"My name is Kroblac, I understand you wish to have an inheritance test done on this child?" He seemed to glare at smiley, who smiled bigger, believe it or not. Alfred answered this time.

"Indeed, we will cover all expenses. We also need to know if this child has magic." The creature nodded and pulled out a piece of paper and a knife.

"The child will prick their finger," She noticeably winced," …and leave three drops of their blood upon the parchment." He paused, holding the items out. "You know this already."

Smiley accepted the knife and parchment and handed the knife to her, holding out the paper. She hesitated but it couldn't possibly be worse than what she had just gone through so she pricked her finger. It stung slightly.

Gently she squeezed her finger over the paper until the last drop came out and her finger healed. It wasn't her this time so it must have been the knife. She handed the items back. Kroblac sent the paper somewhere with another of those people and they waited. She was worried about what would show up on the inheritance test.

Would her lies be revealed?

AN: Decided to cut the chapters to a word count that is more consistent, around 3-4k. Also changed from first person to third-ish, I like third much better and I kept slipping into that anyway. -Shrug- I'm almost done editing and re-writing the other chapters. It's good to be back after so long. Working on a new chapter as well. Can't wait for constant-ish updates. Big overhaul.

Let me know what you guys think of the new and improved MotV in a review! -Lav