Finally here is the chapter eleven. I'm sorry for making you wait so long. I hope you didn't all forget me
Chapter 11
Mitch watched the little girl walk away. He didn't try to stop her. Instead he made his way towards his own house, not far away from Alicia's.
His parents shouted at him for coming home so late. He apologized and then climbed into his room.
He grabbed a large book from one of the shelves. A dictionary.
The word 'muggle' wasn't in it. He wondered if the little girl had invented it. Kids her age always invented new words, words nobody but them could understand.
Mitch closed the dictionary loudly. He yawned and pulled off his shirt. He didn't have the energy to do anything else. He fell on his bed and fell asleep almost immediately, half-dressed.
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"Mitch! Come on wake up! There's someone here who wants to speak to you!"
Mitch woke up suddenly at the sound of his mother's voice. He sighed and went to see his mother.
"A little girl is standing on our front door, waiting for you. She has something to tell you. " Mitch's mother said.
Mitch frowned. Was it possible that his mother was talking about Alicia? Alicia was the only small girl Mitch knew apart from his cousin who lived miles away.
Yes, it was Alicia. Mitch recognized her immediately when he saw her. Alicia had dark circles under her eyes. Her skin was paler than usual, her small determined lips were stretched into a timid smile, and her eyes were shining. Pure innocence was written all over her face. Mitch wondered how Alicia could change the expression of her face so much. Last night, Alicia's face had been ugly, wet and stubborn. As Mitch approached Alicia, he had the feeling he was standing in front of a perfect little doll, with the perfect lips, nose, and eyes, with the perfect creamy skin, with the perfect expression, with the perfect hair, with the perfect clothes. It all seemed so unreal.
"Hello. What are you doing here?" Mitch asked Alicia.
The little girl looked at Mitch up and down and blushed. Mitch thought she was behaving very strangely.
"I just came to say I'm sorry for yelling at you, last night." Alicia said.
Mitch scratched his head, confused. Was this the same person he had spoken to last night?
"You're apologizing?"
"Haven't I made myself clear?" Alicia asked with a touch of annoyance in her voice. Mitch grinned. So she was still the same. But why did she feel the need to come at his house so early in the morning to apologize?
"Um, okay. Thank you. That was nice from you."
"I know." Alicia smirked, glanced at Mitch up and down once again, and walked off.
Mitch tried not to laugh as he watched the girl walk away. He couldn't help liking Alicia, even if she was very small for him.
Mitch closed the door. He went to see his mother in the kitchen. He took a bowl of cereals and sat down at the table in front of his mother.
"What did she want?" His mother asked him.
"She wanted to apologize for shouting at me."
"She yelled at you? I can't imagine that little child doing something like that. She's sweet don't you think so?" Mitch's mother said.
"I don't know. She's weird."
"Oh, you're just jealous because she's so well-behaved. You never used to go to the neighbour's house to apologize. Her parents must be so lucky."
"Yeah, whatever." Mitch sighed. It seemed his mother had fallen under Alicia's charm. It was true she looked cute when she wanted to. But Mitch had seen her real face last night, and he didn't see Alicia the way his mother did.
"Oh, and Mitch, please put a shirt on. You'll catch a cold if you stay like that." Mitch's thoughts were interrupted by his mother's voice.
He frowned and then looked down at himself. He only had his jeans on. Suddenly Mitch knew why Alicia kept looking at him up and down.
Mitch quickly ate his cereals to hide the fact that he was blushing.
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Alicia was sitting in her room.
"Have you done what I sssssuggested?"
Alicia nodded.
"Yeah, thank you. It was a great idea. You're a real friend." Alicia hissed back.
Alicia took out the snake from under the bed and stroked it gently.
"You don't have any friendssss, Ali." The snake hissed.
"Yes, I do. I have you and Elisabeth." Alicia said.
The snake rolled itself around Alicia's thin arm and hissed even more.
"Don't confuse friends and sssservants. Elisabeth and I are your ssservants."
"No, you're not."
"Yes, we are. I've been your ssssservant since the day we've met in the foresssst."
Alicia laughed. She took the snake by the tale and put it under her bed again.
"Stay here, Morla or else." Alicia said.
The little girl went out of her room.
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Christmas past and soon Alicia found herself on Hogwarts' train once again. But this time she was not alone in her compartment. This time she was surrounded by a group of Slytherin's and Elisabeth.
"Okay, so have I made myself clear?" Alicia said loudly. The students around her nodded quickly.
"Ali, are you sure about this?" Elisabeth asked.
"Do you doubt my abilities?" Alicia snapped.
"No, of course not, but this seems like a crazy idea."
Alicia sighed. She stood up and spoke to everyone around her. There were three boys and three girls in the compartment. They all looked at Alicia in admiration.
"Rule number one: never suggest I'm wrong, never doubt me. Rule number two: don't talk to anybody about this. And rule number three: do what I say and everything will go as planned."
Elisabeth didn't say anything. She looked out of the window and didn't speak for the rest of the journey.
"We're going to make the Chamber of Secrets live again." Alicia said smiling.
"And how are we're going to do that? Everyone knows the basilisk is dead. Harry Potter himself killed him." A boy in his third year said. His name was Peter Parkinson. He liked Alicia a lot, but her ideas seemed so crazy.
"I agree that the basilisk is dead, but we can do something else. We will make our very own monster, with the help of my dear Morla here."
The small snake looked out of Alicia's sleeve and hissed. The Slytherin's backed away.
"With a few potions and dark spells I'm sure we can turn Morla into our very own basilisk. But I will need your trust and your cooperation."
Alicia smiled coldly as her new friends promised they were never going to betray her.
Only Elisabeth didn't agree.
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A few weeks had passed since the Christmas holydays. Alicia was eating her breakfast at the Slytherin's table with her new group of friends: Peter, Frank, David, Ramona, Andrea and Elisabeth. Morla was tucked under Alicia's uniform.
Alicia noticed that Elisabeth wasn't eating much. She had gotten thinner and thinner since the day Alicia had announced to her friends the plan she had.
Alicia trusted Elisabeth but she couldn't help feeling worried. She would have to keep an eye on her friend.
Hundred of owls suddenly flew into the great hall. Alicia looked up at the flying birds out of habit. She didn't expect anything. So she was very surprised when her mother's owl flew down towards her and stretched out its leg to hand her over the letter.
Alicia gave the owl a bit of milk and opened the letter.
Dear Ali,
You have received a letter from one of our muggle neighbours. They don't use the owls to post letters, as you surely know, but they use envelopes and stamps. You know what stamps are, don't you? Your grandfather is very fond of them. He collects them and hangs them on every single wall at the Burrow. It drives Grandmother crazy. Anyway, here is the letter from your muggle friend. I didn't know you had muggle friends, you could have told me. Don't worry I haven't read your letter, it's yours and I have no right to read it. Your father wanted to read it but I stopped him. I understand you need some privacy now.
Hope you're well
Lot's of love,
Ginny Wesley
Ginny didn't say anything about the baby but Alicia didn't want to think about that for the moment. She lay her mother's letter aside and opened the envelope.
Hello Alicia
I haven't seen you for weeks and weeks. Don't you live at your house anymore?
It's weird writing you a letter because I don't even know you, but my mother likes you so much she insisted I wrote to you.
Mitch
Alicia couldn't help smiling as she saw who exactly had written to her. It seemed, since the day Mitch had asked her if she could show him the way to the supermarket, as if she and Mitch were meant to be friends. And Morla had said it would be very useful in the future to be friends with a muggle like Mitch. So Alicia grabbed a quill and a piece of parchment from her bag and began to write as well.
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Elisabeth felt worried. Since the day in the train Alicia had began to have far too much people around her. It wasn't normal; Alicia normally preferred to be alone.
As she watched Alicia in class, once again Elisabeth wondered why the daughter of Harry Potter had turned out so different than the world thought she would.
Why hadn't Alicia been put in Gryffindor like the rest of her family? Elisabeth had the same thoughts she had had the first day when Alicia told her they would be friends.
The Malfoys and the Potters were never meant to be friends; it was just the way things worked. No family was superior to the other one but they just didn't get on together.
Elisabeth remembered how she used to laugh as Draco told her about his childhood, about that kid Potter he disliked so much …
Elisabeth had been sad when her father told her Harry Potter was a great wizard but not a friend for their family.
It was a shame really, Elisabeth thought. Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter were sure to understand each other after their terrible past. They had both changed after all. But when Elisabeth suggested this to her father, Draco Malfoy had laughed and told her it was impossible.
As Elisabeth sat down next to Alicia in the Defence against the Dark Arts class, she noticed the teacher, Mr Collins, staring suspiciously at them. Elisabeth sighed. She hoped Alicia was not going to get into trouble. It would only make the little girl bitter.
Elisabeth remembered the day of the sorting hat. The hat had spoken to Elisabeth for a very long time.
"It's a shame you love dark magic so much, Elisabeth Malfoy. You would be a great Gryffindor."
Elisabeth could still hear the hat whisper in her ear at night, as if to remind her that maybe she should have gone into Gryffindor.
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Elisabeth was walking in a dark corridor. Red evil eyes were staring at her from the ceiling. Elisabeth began to hurry her step to get out of the corridor when Alicia appeared in front of her.
"You have betrayed me."
Alicia transformed into a gigantic snake. Elisabeth screamed and tried to run but the snake caught her legs and she fell on the floor. As she felt the snake hissing behind her, Elisabeth spotted a lion at the other end of the corridor.
"It's a shame, Elisa, you could have chosen the right side."
Elisabeth screamed and she knew she was going to die.
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"Elisa! Elisa! Wake up!"
Elisabeth opened her eyes. Her whole body was sweating and her blond hair was sticking to her forehead. Alicia was standing in front of Elisabeth, she was frowning.
"Elisabeth, you've been having one of your nightmares again."
Elisabeth felt dizzy, she tried to stand up but the pain in her head stopped her.
"Ali, can you get me a glass of water?" Elisabeth croaked.
"Sure." Alicia drew out her wand and a glass of water appeared in her hands. She knew many spells for a first year old.
Elisabeth took the glass of water and drank quietly. Alicia sat down on her bed in front of her and waited till she finished.
"So, who killed you this time?" Alicia asked when Elisabeth finally found the strength to straighten up.
"Well, you, actually." Elisabeth said in a broken voice.
"Again?" Alicia sighed and looked away. It hurt her that her best friend kept dreaming of her as a murderer.
Elisabeth said nothing. The images of her dream were still vivid in her mind.
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Mitch checked the letterbox that day. He found a letter for his father, a magazine for his mother.
He was about to turn around and go back inside, when he heard some sort of animal hooting behind him.
Mitch had never seen an owl in the middle of the day, yet here was one, on his very own letterbox.
The owl hooted some more and waited for Mitch to react. Mitch's first instinct was to shoo the animal away.
And then Mitch noticed the strangest thing, a piece of paper was attached to the owl's leg.
"Oh, you poor thing, is that paper preventing you from flying properly?" Mitch asked and approached the owl slowly. The owl stuck out his leg which made Mitch grin.
"It does bother you, doesn't it?"
The owl hooted some more. Mitch took the paper. It was then that he noticed that his name was written in a curly writing, on the top of the paper.
Mitch frowned and started to read what was written on the paper.
Mitchell,
It's nice to hear from you. I'm back to school. You won't see me for a couple of weeks now. I only come back home for the holydays. It's weird writing to you, because you're a muggle. I never had a muggle friend. Usually I hate muggles, but I can make an exception for you if you want to.
Hope you're well
Alicia
Ps: The owl is called Sodapop. Give him some biscuits or he'll get angry.
Mitch finished the letter and looked up at the owl. So this was Alicia's pet. What a practical way to send letters!
Mitch pocketed the letter and sighed. The owl in front of him was eyeing him suspiciously as if daring him not to give biscuits.
Mitch stroked the owl for a while and then decided he'd better go and get some biscuits because the owl called Sodapop was starting to get impatient.
When Mitch walked away, the owl followed him and started to bite his left ear.
"Ouch, let me go, you stupid owl! I'm just going inside to get you something!" Mitch cried hitting the owl on the head.
Sodapop hooted angrily and sat down on the letterbox again. Mitch came back a few seconds later with a box of biscuits. He handed the owl a biscuit. The owl immediately took off, flapping its great wings in Mitch's face.
As Mitch closed the lead of the biscuit box, he wondered if he was going crazy. Had he just received a letter delivered by an owl that demanded biscuits or had he dreamed it all?
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Dear Ali,
I'm so flattered you're making an exception for me although I don't even know what a muggle is. How are you, by the way? Do you still feel as if everything in your life is changing?
Mitch
Ps: Can't you teach your owl not to bite me?
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Mitchell,
There's nothing wrong with Sodapop. He's a great owl. I've had him for four years now and he never hurt anyone. He must really not like you. I do understand him. Anyway, everything is fine in my life, thank you very much. I have really good friends, who will do what I say, and I have a new pet called Morla. She's a lovely snake, so don't insult her as well.
Alicia
Ps: What about you? How are things with you?
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Dear Ali,
I've made friends with Sodapop. He really seems to like chocolate. Anyway, everything is fine in my life. All the kids in the neighbourhood seem happy that you've gone. Apparently I'm not the first person you call a 'muggle'. What does it even mean? Come on, tell me!
Mitch
Ps: You're joking, right? Nobody's crazy enough to take an owl and a snake as pets.
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Mitchell,
I'm not joking. I have a snake. And please don't call Morla a pet. She feels deeply insulted by that. I hope you have a lot of work to do back there in your muggle school. I don't have to do anything. It's so easy, I get so bored.
Alicia
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Dear Ali,
You can't get any stranger, you know that, don't you? I laughed out loud when I read your letter. You speak of your snake as if you two have a chat together now and then. So what? You have secret powers and you can speak to snake?
Looking forward to your reaction
Mitchell
Ps: My mother cooed over your last letter. She says you're such a sweet girl
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Mitchell
If only you knew!
Ali
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Dear Ali,
Knew what?
Mitch
Ps: I saw your mother today. You didn't tell me she was pregnant. Is that why you were so upset a few months ago?
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Mitchell,
It's a shame you're a muggle. I'd like to tell you so many things about my life, but I can't, you won't understand.
Ali
Ps: Mind your own business
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Dear Ali,
You can give it a try. Maybe I'll understand. When do you have your next holydays?
Mitch
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Mitchell
In two weeks. I'm so not looking forward to seeing you.
Ali
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Dear Ali,
I don't believe you. I'm sure you'll be happy to see me. You act as if you really dislike me, but then, why are you answering all my letters?
You like me admit it
Mitch
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Mitchell
Dream on
Ali
Ps: I'm coming home in three days