Prologue
The rain was wet, wet, wet, and the girl was still not used to it. It had only been a few months since she had felt the rain against her skin for the first time, unimpeded and free to weigh down her clothes until she could barely walk. She lay, crouched, soaked to the bone, waiting.
Finally, the small chime of the shop door tinkled, and there was a great deal of shuffling and scuffling and muttered curses. A thud rang out in the quiet alley as the bag hit the metal base of the dumpster. The girl's stomach was writhing, kicking, fighting, but she dared not move yet. She lay a small hand against her belly to quiet it. Another tinkling bell. The minutes dragged by slowly, and the girl focused on her breath. She had been waiting all day, she could wait a minute more. Finally, the lone lightbulb that flickered above the back door flickered out, and there was the dull roar of a car starting. Overcautious, the girl waited until the whine of the engine had faded out to blend with the noise of the city night before she darted forward and ripped open the black plastic bag.
The girl found what she was looking for and gorged herself on the stale bagels and crumbly cookies of the bakery's trash. The kicking protest of her stomach subsided slowly. She ate until she was past satisfaction, the memory of the bitter bite of hunger urging her into the realm of fullness that brought discomfort. Finally, the girl tore herself away from the bin. It would not do to try and store some extras in her soaking pockets – they would be moldy by morning. Sighing, the girl left the alley carefully, sticking to the shadows and crevices of the deserted commercial district. There was a nook where she had been sleeping recently, stuffed with newspaper and warm enough. Having survived January, everywhere was warm enough now.
The girl settled into her hidey hole, staring up to the moon from the cracks in the cardboard. She started whispering to the stars, her nightly prayer
'Tomorrow will bring better days
This I hope and this I pray
I sleep soundly knowing that when I wake
Tomorrow will bring better days'
Just as she finished and was about to turn over to chase the few hours of sleep that she could catch a night, a loud crack filled the air. White boiling hot panic filled her throat. No. NO. They could not have found her here. She had been so careful. Scrambling, the girl retreated to the corners of her hideout, holding her breath. She waited tense seconds, but no sounds of spells or flashing lights came to the alley. The girl found her thoughts again, pulling them from where they had been drowning in her pool of swirling anxiety.
No. It had not been the right type of crack. It had been more of a wooden crack, like the sound her wand had made when she had broken it over her knee. The girl shivered at the memory, hugging her knees into her chest. She strained her ears, past the drumming of the rain all around her, and thought she could make out a small cry for help. Yes, she decided, after another small cry reached her ears. Someone was calling for help.
'A trap' a nasty voice whispered in her ear, and the girl hesitated, hand aloft, reaching for the cardboard 'door' of her sleeping hole. The voice called out help again, and the girl pushed back the dark thoughts in her head. She wove her way around the littered alley where she had made her home, expertly avoiding any sound. She peered out into the open street from the shadows.
There was an old woman in the street. She had fallen over, and a wooden cane lay next to her, broken in two. The girl found the woman's eyes and she saw the fear in them. The girl tentatively kicked a small stone to get the woman's attention, still hugging the shadows of the night. The woman turned her head about, searching for the source of the small skittering of the rock against pavement, and finally found the girl. The girl reached out her hand, and helped the woman to her feet, her body never fully leaving the darkness where she hid at the mouth of the alley.
"Thank you darling" the woman said in a thick accent the girl did not have herself. The woman's eyes were blue, blue, blue and they did not leave the girls face for a moment. The fear was slowly replaced, but by what? The girl did not recognize the feeling. "What's your name, child?" The girl stepped back into the shadows again quickly. The old woman's voice was soft. "Now, now. It's alright. I don't bite." The girl struggled to find her voice- she had not used it in so long. Her eyes roaming, she found a piece of newspaper lying on the alley ground, probably from her hidey hole. "Jessica" she said, finding the first name in the paper that looked feminine.
"Jessica" the woman said slowly. Her voice was warm and sweet, like honey in tea. The woman was kind, even though she was a muggle. She didn't sound dull or stupid or any of the other nasty words she had been taught to associate with non-magical folk. The old woman continued "would you mind giving me a hand to the bus stop? I'm afraid I needed that stick to walk, and it's so slippery out right now." The girl, called Jessica now, bit her lip. But the old lady was small and frail. Carefully, the girl stepped out of the shadows, offering her arm.
"Oh darling" the woman said, gasping. She had finally caught sight of Jessica's ballooning belly when she had emerged from the shadows completely. Jessica rested a hand on her unborn baby protectively. "Where is your family?" The woman said, and Jessica flinched involuntarily. The woman tutted. "I see" she said kindly. "Would you like a warmer place to stay?" Jessica's belly went kick, kick, kick.