Chapter Three
Aline
Aline stared up at the brilliant point of light moving across the night sky. It was a satellite, she knew. Where she came from, nobody was in the habit of wishing on stars, but this satellite was a fellow wanderer this night. As Aline tracked its course, she felt a concentration of hope rise inside her. Almost a wish.
It had been hours since she'd last heard the faintest sound of a car. And there was an emptiness to the night, far more eerie than any she had experienced anywhere in the wizarding world. It was too quiet.
They weren't off to the most promising start, Aline had to admit. They had come into some trouble when trying to navigate Waterloo station, which was - predictably - swarming with Muggles, and so missed their train.
Riley had been positively fuming by that point.
Aline had taken just a little too long trying to squeeze as many of her possessions as she could into the tiny Muggle bag that Riley had insisted she take. So it really was her fault that they missed their train from London. And Riley's angry disposition wasn't much help when they to work out how they could possibly buy a new set of tickets, the Muggle way. And then, once they had finally arrived at Tisbury, Aunt Betty was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is she?" Riley hissed, shaking Aline from her daze.
"I don't know," Aline replied, shrugging her cardigan up further as the wind licked her hair. "Maybe we should apparate."
"No," Riley said, forcefully, turning to face her sister. "Absolutely not. No magic, remember." Her voice quieted. "We need to live like muggles, now. It's safer."
"She has probably forgotten we're coming," said Aline, to nobody in particular.
As if to echo her words, the wind riled up, causing both of the girls' cardigans to billow. The night grew colder.
After what seemed a lifetime, Riley spoke once more. "We're going to have to walk." Eyebrows knitted together, she slung her bag over her shoulder and began to make for the edge of the carpark. Sighing deeply, Aline followed suit, walking ever so slightly lopsided from the weight of her bag.
Aline had just felt herself mind drifting off as her body set into a walking rhythm when she heard a pronounced "Shit". She looked up to to see Riley with her right hand pressed against a marker on a signpost. As she caught her sister up, the reason for Riley's exasperation became clear: they had another 18 miles to go. She groaned inwardly.
"Just this once." The abruptness of Riley's words startled her. It was most unlike her sister to change her mind once it was made up, and even more out of character now that they had something to hide. Indeed, Aline was still half in shock when Riley actually produced her wand. Not only that Riley hadn't actually discarded her wand, as she had instructed Aline to do, but that they were actually going to apparate. From what few conversations they'd had about it, Aline had gathered it wasn't exactly one of her sister's favourite things to do.
Aline grabbed ahold of Riley's outstretched arm, and watch her sister focus. She herself was not yet old enough to have an apparition license of her own, but even had Aline been seventeen, she wasn't convinced she would want to try. It took an awful lot of concentration, and with her attention span she'd most likely end up spliced.
She felt herself turning with Riley, and all of a sudden it was as if she was falling though nothingness, a weightless existence. But it was far from pleasant. She felt her cheeks being riled, her forehead straining, and every fibre of her being oscillating. Aline was happy when the ground rose up to meet her with a thud.
As Riley cleared her throat, Aline pushed herself at first up onto her knees and then back onto her feet, dusting off the dry mud from her jeans. She looked up. They were standing in the middle of a country lane. To their left, beyond the hedgerow, was a large expanse of woodland. To their right, beside a small coppice, was a series of detached cottages.
"Looks like we're here," Riley sighed.
Aline nodded, and started forward, carrying her bag by hand instead of slinging it over her shoulder. It had left her muscles achy. She made for the cottage furthest from them, next to the coppice, and pushed gently on the quaint door.
"Muggle houses have locks, Al-" Riley began, but the door swung open to reveal a darkened hallway.
"How… Bizarre?" Aline whispered, quizzically.
The girls stepped inside.
"Let's shut the door." Riley pushed it, until she heard the gentle click of the latch. Curious, she thought.
"Aunt Betty?" Aline called out, walking forwards with her arms outstretched. She reached a room, and was pleasantly surprised to find it flooded with moonlight. "Oh thank Merlin, I've found the kitchen. I'm starving." She rattled through the cupboards, pulling out some mouldy bread and tinned beans.
Riley was busy patting the wall, searching for a switch. She flicked it. Nothing. Bloody Muggles, she thought.
"Nothing's working." Riley called out. "I'm going to try find the fuse box."
She kept patting her way down the hallway in search for the staircase. Muggle houses always have cupboards under the stairs, she thought. When Riley's hand slipped into nothingness, causing her to fall forward, she reasoned that she'd found the staircase, at least. Backing up a little, and moving her hand a little lower in her sweeping movements against the wall, she located a handle.
Aline was still searching through the cupboards for semi-appetising food when the lights flicked on.
There was a scream.
Rushing from the kitchen, Aline found Riley frozen pale with shock, eyes widened in the dim cupboard light. Aline followed her gaze, then herself struggled to breathe.
Pinned up with a broom in the far corner of the cupboard, was Aunt Betty.
A/N: This was just a little introduction to two original characters who are going to play a big role in this story. But next chapter: Draco.
As always, please read and review! 3
Happy reading. :)
- Morglay
