Author note: Hey! I've been in a writing slump today and have only written about 900 words, so I've edited my next chapter instead. I'm still drunk from King's day, but I hope you guys like this chapter! I am taking a bit of a break next week since I was to finish up a few things for school but I will try to update once every week :)
-beckysparks1389
August 31st, 1993
The temperature outside had declined drastically since last weekend. It had been raining almost the entire week and there was even a thunderstorm last night. Caelina stayed up through most of the night as she worked on a new song.
Her father never found out about her sneaking out to go after the weird box who now stayed hidden behind her closet. He therefore restored some of her privileges, but she still couldn't speak to friends or go outside unsupervised. It didn't bother her that much though, since her friends probably wanted nothing to do with her, anyway. And the weather had been completely shit.
They were now inside of the pub The Leaky Cauldron drinking a cup of tea. "You need different robes as well," her father said, taking her out of her thoughts. "You've grown a few inches, and Hogwarts doesn't allow the ones from Ilvermorny," he continued.
Caelina nodded as she took another sip from her tea as her eyes traveled around the busy pub. Several wizards and witches were eating, drinking and enjoying what was probably the last sunny day of summer. Families and children, doing last-minute shopping before term started, filled most of the pub.
Sunlight shone through the windows, lighting the old pub up. She continued to watch the groups of people walk in and out of the pub until a few very familiar faces walked in. And she locked eyes with Amelia. She walked inside with both her parents, Lewis and Jake, and his mother. Amelia immediately broke eye contact, asking her parents to leave the pub to get into Diagon Alley.
Jake hesitated for a moment until his mother dragged him along. But Lewis continued to stare at her.
He almost started walking towards her before Amelia called out his name. Lewis gave Caelina an apologetic smile and then followed the rest of their friends outside.
The girl drank the rest of her tea, bringing her attention back to her father, who was observing the interaction with a raised eyebrow. "Are you ready, Caelina?" he asked her, ignoring the situation for now, but she was sure that he would question her about it once she settled in at school.
"Yeah," she replied, getting out of her chair. Her father then followed her, keeping her at an arm's length as they made their way through the back of the pub. Her father then tapped the stone wall in front of them, which immediately opened up after.
Although the Leaky Cauldron was busy, children and teens running around made the streets of Diagon Alley absolutely packed and chaotic.
She was getting her new robes fitted first, and they almost reached the shop until suddenly a flash of orange hair ran past her feet. Followed closely by Harry and Ron. She focused on what they were doing and realised that the flash of orange was a cat. Ron was an emotional mess, and she overheard him using the word Scabbers.
Caelina didn't know what he was talking about and ignored the boy. They soon reached the shop and swiftly stepped inside. She noticed that there were already a couple of students there, both first years and older.
Her father walked up to the counter, and she waited by his side until the owner of the shop, a short woman dressed in mauve robes, stepped behind the counter. "What can I do for you?" she asked happily.
"She needs new robes," her father said. The woman nodded. "Okay, dear, you can walk over to that room over there," she said to her, pointing at the fitting room full of children. Caelina nodded and stepped into the room. Her father stayed behind, most likely to put the order down on his name before he got out of the shop.
He was going to buy her books while she got fitted and they would meet at The Leaky Cauldron in the afternoon for lunch. Other students had already taken all the spots, so Caelina still had to wait.
Draco Malfoy stood on one of those stools. Judgingly looking down at her as Madam Malkin walked past him to another student next to him. She continued fitting the first year's clothes and Caelina glared at Malfoy.
The girl then jumped off the stool and Caelina knew she would have to get fitted next to Malfoy. She stepped onto the stool before Madam Malkin could even speak a word.
She then walked off to another student to Caelina's left. The girl kept her eyes away from Draco, focusing instead on the mauve coloured walls and rows of dressing robes. She buried her hands in the pockets of her black leather jacket, trying to ignore the burning glare from the boy beside her.
"Are you just going to continue staring at me?" she eventually asked in a bitter tone. She heard a scoff from beside her.
"I heard you're going to Hogwarts from now on," he said with a hint of disgust in his voice. Caelina nudged her head towards him, narrowing her eyes as she watched the boy's lips curl. "Yes?" she replied, eying the boy carefully
Draco snorted. "I always knew you were stupid. But stupid enough to get yourself expelled in just your second year? You must have set a record," he scoffed. Caelina felt a surge of anger rush throughout her, but stayed calm and looked him straight in the eyes.
"I didn't get expelled, not that it's any of your business," she cut back. Madam Malkin finished working on the student to her left just at that moment and immediately made her way over to Draco.
"You two better not start fighting, because I will not accept that sort of behavior in my shop," she told the two.
Caelina nodded, smiling down at the lady. "Sorry, Madam Malkin," she said. Meanwhile, Draco simply huffed and told the owner to hurry. She could hear Madam Malkin mutter something under her breath about disrespect.
She continued working at the same space, ignoring Draco's request and after a few minutes she was done and the blond boy jumped off the stool. Caelina watched the boy storm out of the shop, muttering a bunch of insults, which instantly made her roll her eyes.
"Don't listen to him Madam Malkin, he's a twat," Caelina told her, and she heard the woman struggle to keep back a chuckle.
She just wanted to start with Caelina when the door opened once more. Both Madam Malkin and Caelina nudged their heads to the front of the shop. A man with light brown hair that had already started greying and a woman with bright red hair who Caelina instantly recognised as Harry's mother walked in.
They were both in their thirties and both Harry and his younger sister Gemma stepped into the shop after them. Madam Malkin quickly made her way over to them and Caelina diverted her attention to her feet. She wore almost the exact outfit as she did when she went out on the boat. The only difference being the t-shirt. As she now wore a Nirvana one.
Caelina only looked up once she heard a noise beside her. She looked to her left where Harry, who was wearing a black hoodie with a pair of regular trousers and converse, stood. His hair was as messy as ever and the girl was still taller than him, even though he stood on the stool. Gemma wore a light red oversized cardigan with blue trousers and wore her curly dark brown hair down.
Madam Malkin returned not for long after his arrival and began measuring her body instantly. Harry stood next to her in complete silence. While Gemma waited for another spot to open up. Caelina, however, completely ignored the two's existence as she stared deep into the shop. Harry's mum and the man hadn't left but were instead looking around the racks of clothes inside the shop.
"We're all done, dear," the woman said after a few minutes, and Caelina gladly got off the stool. "You can pick your robes up at two pm," she told the girl.
"Okay," she said, moving away from the lady. "Bye, have a nice day," Caelina told her, and Madam Malkin gave her a huge smile.
"You too, dear," she replied before turning around to get started with Harry, who observed the conversation from a distance. Caelina then moved out of the shop, her eyes falling on the nearest clock. It wasn't time for lunch yet, and the girl wanted to snoop around Diagon Alley for a bit.
She turned around, walking further into Diagon Alley, and almost got a heart attack when an arm jerked her off the sidewalk. She reached to grab her wand but stopped as soon as she realised who it was.
"Lewis!" she exclaimed. The blond teen chuckled as he patted her back in a friendly way. "I have so much to tell you," Caelina said as she looked around to see if nobody was there to eavesdrop.
Lewis raised his eyebrows and he crossed his arms. The girl gave one last glance around the street of Diagon Alley before she leaned in. "You were right about the gold," she whispered in his ear. Lewis took a step back, his mouth wide open.
"I told you so! I knew it was real!" he shouted. Caelina's eyes immediately widened in panic. "Shhh," she shushed him, holding her hand over his mouth.
"We don't know if anyone else is after it as well," she replied, taking another look around, but nobody paid them any attention. Lewis nodded as he regained his composure.
"Do the others know about it and why did you suddenly change your mind?" he asked.
Caelina shook her head. "No, they don't; you're the first one I've told," she admitted, leaning against the stone wall of Madam Malkin's robes for all occasions. "My dad took my tv and a bunch of other stuff after he found out I lied to him. And it revealed a piece of paper that was stuck under a loose floorboard," she started, and Lewis leaned in, his eyes narrowing as he tried to focus on her story.
"It had a clue written on it with a drawing of a mineshaft. So I snuck out last week and got into the mines where I found a strange box. Only thing is I can't get it open and neither of us can use magic until we're at Hogwarts," she rambled.
Lewis couldn't help but chuckle. "You snuck out, again?"
"Yeah, but if I didn't, we would have had to wait a whole year to find that box. And besides, I had a solid plan," she shrugged. "Fair," he replied.
"Do you think the gold is in the box?" Lewis asked her with a hopeful tone. Caelina shrugged as she brought her hands back into the pockets of her jacket.
"I don't know, it could be, or maybe it's just another clue," Caelina told her friend.
Lewis was nodding along. "Okay, so what should we do next?" he asked her and Cealina signed, biting her cheeks.
"We should meet up in the library right after dinner on our first day of school. We can try the unlocking charm. And if that doesn't work, we'll have to find another solution," she suggested, and he nodded in agreement.
"Yes, that sounds good," he said, moving past her to walk back down the street. "Hey, I told the others I'd meet them at the ice cream shop at twelve pm so I have to leave now," Lewis continued to talk, sending her an apologetic smile.
"I also have to go; see you at school," she told him as she too moved back onto the street. Lewis walked with her until they reached the ice cream shop.
He turned around to look at her eyes and let out a deep breath. "I don't know what exactly happened between you and Amelia at the lake, but you can still talk to me," he said.
Caelina nodded softly, diverting her attention to the ground. They then both heard Amelia call out Lewis's name from inside the shop. "Anyway, bye," he said as he stepped inside.
The girl took a glance inside the shop where her friends were sitting and breathed in. Before she continued her walk to the Leaky Cauldron. Caelina didn't tell Lewis about the black dog yet. Which continued to crawl back into her mind as the days went on. The dog was the only thing that kept her from wanting to go outside.
She tried to convince herself that it was probably just an angry dog. But deep down, she had a feeling it was something much more sinister.
Author note: ALK'Q AOFKH XKA TOFQB
