A/N: Again, don't own the rights to Harry or the Doctor.
By afternoon the next day, I was finally awake. I sat in silence, wallowing in the aching of my heart. My mother was gone. She was my only friend in the world and just like that, she was gone. I'd never have blueberry pancakes in the morning with her or hear or laugh again.
Tears swelled once more and I wept again. Eventually, I was able to pull myself together enough where I could leave the bedroom. Venturing out into the hallway, I realized just how large the house truly was. How would I ever find my way in this place? Despairing, I nearly turned around to re-enter my room when something caught my eye.
A tear. In the wall. I had been looking at these tears my entire life. I had even dared to open a few of them. Yet, every time I saw when, it surprised me. They were never where you would expect them to be and I certainly would never have imagined one being across from my room. Curious, I stretched out my hand.
"Lost, Miss?"
I jolted from my curiosity and noticed a figure in the corner of my eye. When I turned to look, a shiver ran down my spine. There, before me, floated the scariest looking figment of a man. I knew about ghosts, my mother and Mrs. Combe had told me about them. But I had never met one in person and I certainly had never imagined my first encounter being with one so frightening.
He was tall and broad with an ugly, fiendish scar across his face: from his right eyebrow down to the base of his throat. He had died a long time ago from the state of his clothing; torn and ragged rags hung about him. "Who-who are you?" I choked.
"First run in with a ghost I take it." He chuckled, a malicious, threatening sound that made the hairs on my neck stand up. "Well, you look like you're in need of a distraction."
I didn't trust this mysterious ghost, whose presence was evidently malign. "You didn't answer my question."
"My name is of no consequence. Come on, how about I take you to where you want to be?" He grinned then, a sight that was terrible and terrifying.
"I'm not going anywhere with you." I began to back up to my door but his swift approach stopped me where I was.
"Little girl," His breath reeked of death and I stifled a scream. "I'm just trying to assist you. Rumor has it you lost your mother yesterday."
"I don't trust you."
"Why ever not?"
"You haven't told me your name."
He laughed again and I braced myself for the worst. "Alright, how about you call me M?"
"M? What's that short for?"
"NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" He boomed. I jumped in fright, much to his great delight. "Now come along, there's someplace I think you'd rather enjoy."
"How do I know you're not going to kill me?"
"Silly child! I'm a ghost! I can't kill anyone! Hurry up now!" He began floating down the hall and my desire to solve the puzzle overrode my self-preservation instinct.
"Where are we going?"
"You'll see soon enough."
Down narrow corridors and back stairs we went, my heart racing with each step. Who was this 'M'? What did he want with me? The questions ran through my mind, one right after the other. We stopped at set of double oaken doors. "Go on then."
I looked at the doors then back at him. "Why are you so keen on me going in here?"
"I'm just trying to help a girl in mourning. I know what it is to lose someone you love. Distractions are necessary to carry on." They were meant to be comforting but I could see the falsity.
"What do you want?" My eyes narrowed.
"I just want you to look around and enjoy yourself. Oh, look out for the book on awakening the realms. Seems like something you'd be interested in." He smiled that malevolent grin again and I cringed. I turned back to the door, hearing him swoosh down the hallway.
"Alright, time to find out what's in here." Cautiously, I opened the doors, not entirely sure what to do if something were to go wrong. Mr. Alderton was a kind man from what I could gather and I couldn't imagine him owning anything evil. Still, my encounter with M had left me wary.
To my great delight, however, I was greeted with the largest library I had ever seen. For a book lover like myself, it was pure paradise. Shelves grew to the ceiling and a massive set of windows lined the back wall, looking out to the gardens below. Sunlight streamed through the grand, velvet curtains. A squeal escaped my throat when I saw the various spiral staircases and ladders leading to the top of the shelves.
I wasn't sure how long I remained in the library before I stumbled across it, "Portals and Veils: A Guide to Inter-dimensional Travel". What was a book like that doing in a place like this? It had been hiding in a dark corner of one of the lowest shelves. Curious, I opened the front page. Initially, all I saw were ancient runes across the pages. Irritated, I nearly put the book down again, only to be surprised that they suddenly morphed into English characters. "What just-"
"You found the library, I see." Mr. Alderton stated bemusedly.
"Oh!" I jumped in surprise, the book falling to the floor. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Alderton. I didn't hear you...I hope I'm not intruding."
"The library is open to you any time, dear. I came to see if I could interest you in dinner. I know that with all that's happened you might not be hungry but-"
"Dinner would be great." I smiled at him and he returned the gesture. Perhaps he could tell me who M was. Something in me told me to not ask, however, and I held my tongue. Cheerily, Mr. Alderton took me on a tour of the estate, showing me the various rooms and cubbies.
"Scarlett," He began quietly as we sat at the dinner table. I stopped shuffling food around on my plate and put my fork down. "I know things are hard right now. I know the pain you feel is...immeasurable. However, I want you to know that this will be your home for so long as you desire it."
His kind words brought tears to my eyes and I found myself wiping rogue droplets from my cheeks. "I can never replace your mother. And I have no intention to. But I know what it is to lose those who you love. It might not seem like it now, but time makes scars of all things." His brown eyes grew dark and I questioned who he had lost.
"I thought the saying was that time healed all things?"
"No. They're quite mistaken about that. Time takes away the sting but never heals a loss. It remains on you and with you for the whole world to see. The best thing you can do is try to cover it up some so it's not as noticeable to everyone else. But you see it. Everyday, you see it..." His voice faded and we sat in silence for a moment.
"Now," Mr. Alderton cleared his throat. "There is the matter of your schooling. Mrs. Combe had informed me that you possess magical abilities, is this correct?"
"Yes, sir."
"Very well. I shall be expecting your acceptance letter to arrive on your eleventh birthday. Which is?"
"July twenty-fourth, sir."
"Splendid. Now, I do believe that I'll be in the shop that day but Mrs. Crumplebottom can take you."
"Who?"
"My secretary. Dorcas Crumplebottom. She's a bit uncouth but she has a good enough heart. She will take you to get your supplies when the time comes."
"Why won't you be there?"
"I own a store in Diagon Alley, in London. It's a broomstick repair shop. I sometimes need to go in to do more difficult work that the others have trouble with."
"Oh, okay."
"Do you have any questions?"
One came to mind. "Are you sure they'll let me in? I mean, I'm not British. I wasn't born here, my parents weren't from here-"
"Had you remained in America, no. Salem has jurisdiction in North America. However, since this is your home now, Hogwarts will be your school. The school that is closest to your location now, is Hogwarts. There's no reason for them to not allow you entrance."
"Great." We spent the rest of the evening discussing trivial matters, like our favorite colors and favorite meals.
The rest of the summer blew by in a haze of reading and crying. My days were spent in the library while my nights were filled with mourning for my mother. Then my birthday came. That morning at breakfast I had the pleasure of meeting Dorcas Crumplebottom. She was an elderly woman, dressed in clothes reminiscent of the thirties. Her hair was thin and gray, worn in the bob of that time.
She was indeed a bit brash. "Your letter came."
"Oh, it did. That's great! Where is it? I want to open it!"
"It's already been opened. I have your list of materials in hand."
"Oh." My heart deflated. I had been wanting to read it myself, just to make sure they had really wanted me.
"Are you about finished with your food? We really need to keep to our schedule."
"Right. Sorry." I quickly scarfed down my remaining piece of toast and flew out of my chair.
That day was a whirlwind of activity. I had never seen a place like Diagon Alley before and I certainly didn't get to for long. Into Flourish and Blotts, the bookstore, out almost instantaneously. It went like this for nearly every store, resulting in me having poked and scraped in Madame Malkin's dress shop, all due to Mrs. Crumplebottom's need for punctuality. She impatiently tapped her feet on the floor at Ollivander's, where I got my wand. A process that couldn't be rushed, according to him. She had also turned her nose up in disgust when I had emerged with a rather large wand.
"What are you supposed to do with that, anyway? It's nearly the size of your arm!"
"It chose me, apparently."
"What is it?"
"Acacia, 13 inches, phoenix feather."
"Acacia? Come on, we're going back. Acacia doesn't work for anyone." She grabbed my hand but I retorted.
"It's my wand. You're not taking it from me. Let's just finish up."
She stared at me for a moment before acquiescing. "Alright, you just need to pick up your owl and then we can return home."
"I thought I could have an owl, or a cat, or a toad?" The woman had worn me out but I wasn't going to forget that part. My entire life, I had wanted a cat. The only problem was that Mom had always said we couldn't afford to take care of one. So instead, I had dreamed of owning one. With the opportunity at hand, there was no way I was going to let it pass me by.
"Yes, but you'll be getting an owl. They're the most useful. They deliver packages and letters. Functionality at its finest."
"Well, I want a cat. So, I'll be getting a cat, actually."
"I don't understand why. Useless things." She turned and marched me into the store, a thousand voices running through my mind at once.
"Why are there so many people in here?"
"People? Dear, are you hallucinating? There's not a lot of people here. Now hurry up and grab your ruddy cat. We have things to do."
Confused, I looked around the shop. A pair of bright blue eyes met mine from the back of the shop and I sought them out. They belonged to a beautiful silver point siamese. "This one."
"Well, get it and go. I don't know why you want that awful thing." Mrs. Crumplebottom stalked to the checkout counter, waving me impatiently.
"She didn't mean it." I whispered to my new friend.
Of course she did.
"What?" I looked around the shop in confusion, the strange voices still ringing in my ears.
Of course she meant it. That ghastly woman doesn't like me.
"You!" I said in disbelief. "You're talking!"
What of it?
"Are you an animagus? Because cats can't talk."
Are you daft, girl? Cats talk all the time. And don't bring up that dirty word. Humans. Ha! Try as they might, they're a poor imitation of us at best!
"This isn't possible." I stated flatly.
Clearly, it is. Now hurry up, girl. I've been here long enough.
Bewildered, I made my way to the checkout. On the way back to the manor, the strange cat chattered away, all the while making me question my sanity. As soon as we were inside, I made a mad dash to my bedroom (cat in hand), nearly knocking over a suit of armor along the way.
Slow down! You're going to make me ill!
I slammed the door behind me and put the cat on the bed. "What are you? Why can I talk to you?"
Well, heavens if I know. You're the first human who's ever understood me either.
"Am I insane?"
A bit dense, perhaps. But not insane.
"Right. There has to be a logical explanation for this."
Naturally.
"My dad's from space. Maybe it has something to do with that?"
I wouldn't know. Look, you're entirely skipping the important part.
"What part is that?"
The part where you give me a name.
"I assumed you had one. I mean you can talk."
I might be able to talk but I cannot, however, name myself. That's your job. I'm certainly not going to do it for you.
"What did your last owner call you?"
I didn't have one. You're my first owner. Not that I'm particularly enthused. I was rather happy out there, in the wild...
"Right. Well, Snowball won't do."
Heavens, no!
"Not Fluffy or Cuddlemuggins, either."
Were you dropped on your head as a child?
I stood looking at the cat, noting his seemingly great age. "How old are you?"
Why does it matter?
"It might help with the name."
I'm a cat, girl. Not a clock. I don't keep track of the time!
Sighing, I sat on the bed and picked him up. "You sure are grumpy."
I wouldn't be, if you were smarter.
"You remind me of someone." I heard the cat sigh inwardly and thought back to books I had read when I was younger. My favorite was the Legend of King Arthur and it was at that moment I had it. "Merlin!"
I beg your pardon!
"Merlin! How do you like that name? I used to think he was fantasy until I found out he was real. Mom had a version where he was somewhat grumpy. Reminds me of you."
Merlin? Hmm...I like it. Sounds...wise and all knowing.
"Merlin?"
Indeed.
"Well then, Merlin. Nice to meet you."