CHAPTER THIRTEEN: MORNING

Marisa awoke in a dingy but soft bed. She bolted up with a start, to find her head spinning as the filthy room seemed to revolve around her head. She had a hazy memory of the night before that began to grow clearer. She had learned to be fearful of places like these.

"Oh, good mornin' there. Ye gave me quite a start last nite yeh did."

"Wha…"

"Yeh don't remember. No sooner had yeh come to my house when yeh passed out, dead on the floor. I put you someplace warm fer the night. It's dreadful cold out there," said a strangely familiar, incredibly large man who seemed to be making tea on a potbelly stove. She seemed to be in a strange little shack full of rotting meat and strange creatures. A large dog came up to her, covering her sleeve in drool. She was beginning to remember in snippets. She had been in an abyss for so long. She didn't remember a lot of things, although she felt almost certain they would turn up before long.

It was a dreadful feeling, being vulnerable and weak as she felt. She was always in control, if not, horrible things ensued. But for now she felt there was nothing more for her to do but lie back and stare at the ceiling. It was a cold, grey dawn with a sun the size of a coin blazing between the clouds. The ceiling was whitewashed and paint was peeling. The whole place was stuffy and let in little light. But it was warm, and it was almost vaguely familiar, as that man was. But she had a feeling he was lost in the jumbled haze that was her mind. She was safe from the abyss, and that was all that mattered.

Poor Asriel was dead soon after they fell, and she was near to it when she left. She realized she hadn't eaten in weeks. Her cheeks and eyes were sunken and her arms bony and frail. Some strange rock cakes came out of the oven. He tossed her one, and she gobbled it greedily, regretting not having made sure it wasn't poisoned. They were hard on her teeth, but she didn't care. It was food, and she needed it. She felt so very dizzy, and the food dropped into her stomach like a stone. She wasn't sure how long he would let her stay here, but decided not to question that just yet. The room was beginning to stop its spinning. She gulped down the scalding tea, not caring about the pain, and all at once she felt much better, and much much worse. It swirled around in her stomach like a tempest tossed sea.

She felt so very strange. The large man looked at her, concerned.

"You recall anuthing about the night before… not even before that."

"Vaguely," she said, "I've gone without food and rest for so long… thank you…"

She was flustered as well. They stayed in there for a few hours, talking in little spurts. The man was caring. That was something, wasn't it? She had a feeling he was safe despite his hulking stature.

"Sorry miss. Got to go teach now. You stay here and don't yeh fret. Yeh need yer sleep from the looks of it."

He left, shutting the door as gingerly as he could, and walked into the mob of children outside. She was too tired and dazed to be amazed or frightened by any of the strange things she saw, and decided it was safe to close her eyes for just a little bit longer…

Harry decided to walk by Hagrid's house. He still wasn't on great terms with him, so he didn't dare knock on the door. He walked around back to see a face peer at him from behind the tiny window. It was a grown woman, and a pretty one at that, who looked troubled. She had wild black hair and a thin, starving face. She stared up from the cot in the corner. Hagrid generally used it for the larger sick creatures. She appeared to be one herself. Her large golden eyes looked at him with a strange, almost inhuman expression. She leaned back on the bed. She seemed incredibly weak. He couldn't help but walk in the front door to find out what the matter was.

"Hagrid… I know we haven't spoken since… since the other day," he said, recalling Hagrid's previous rage, "But I couldn't help but notice the lady in the cot…"

"Come on in. I think she's woken up again. Strange woman. Looks like one o me old schoolmates, but she's mighty strange. She came in me door last night an flat out fainted."

"Who… what?" she said, in a voice like honey. She was strangely hypnotizing. She was probably a head turner in her health. Harry could see that.

"Marisa? This is me friend Harry. He takes me class."

"Uh, hello," she said, shaking her head as if she had water in her ears.

"You feelin better, Marsie?"

"Don't call me that," she said, almost instinctually, "Sorry… too much too fast. Uh…" She was at a loss for words, and seemed like she was trying to recall a distant memory. There had been a lot of strange newcomers to Hogwarts.

Come to think of it, the woman looked a bit like the Brooks girl. Same golden eyes and skin, and same nose and mouth. But the woman's hair was long, thick, and black as night, unlike Lizzie's tangled golden mane.

"Don't you worry. It's good yer rememberin that name. Lots o kids called yeh that. I know yeh hate it."

"Oh… all right then."

She seemed to absorb their every word, like a sponge. Her tanned skin began to turn sickly green.

"Oh, god," she said, limping to the sink.

"Ben like that all morning. I don't think she can handle the food yet. Seems to be a starvin' thing. Yeh know, the worst thing yeh can do to a starvin' person is feed em. I shouldn't o done that. She can't help herself. I can see why."

She gasped, turning sickly pale.

"Yeh better be leavin, got to figure out what to do wif her. Gnite Harry."

"Gnite," Harry said, realizing it was one of the only things he had said since he got there. There was another intruder to Hogwarts. He had a feeling she would be around for a long while.