Chapter 2 - Through The Glass

hello everyone here is chapter 2!!

Chapter 2 - Through the Glass

Lydia
The next few weeks seemed to fly by after that strange day in Diagon Alley. My days were spent wiling away with Jason through the house, playing one on one Quidditch and reading and generally just relaxing before school began. This summer had been a blur; everything seemed to fly by in a flash of sunlight and books.
As the summer wound down and we got closer to the beginning of term, I began to feel that same usual anticipation settle into my stomach, making me dizzy with excitement. I would often take out my books or my new robes and just look at them, thinking of the days to come in the hallowed halls of my second home. The anticipation was building, and I was ready for my return.
“Jason, don’t you have to take your OWLs this year?” I asked one afternoon as we sat down for tea.
He stopped with a butterscotch biscuit halfway to his mouth, and glared at me.
“Oh, that’s right; you’re going to have to take your exams,” Mum said. “I trust you’re going to hit those books this year.”
He promptly slid the biscuit into his mouth, rendering himself incapable of continuing the conversation. I rolled my eyes and took a chocolate biscuit off the tray, taking a bite.
“You know, Jason, you could learn a thing or two from Lydia,” mum said as he followed eating the biscuit by burning his tongue with a gulp of tea. “She’s set quite an example of what you need to be doing in order to be successful in school. You could afford to take a few pages from her book.”
I watched him roll his eyes as she took her attention to stirring her tea. He wouldn’t listen to her. Jason, who was somehow a Gryffindor amongst Ravenclaws, had hardly any interest in his academics. Mum always tried to get it through to him to hit the books and get into his studies, but he was more interested in other things, like dung bombs and girls. It was a pain, but there’s just no changing some people.
The days flew by, until the worst day of the year rolled around: a day that Jason and I had dubbed ‘The Anniversary’, our own dark humour regarding a situation that was not humorous at all.
The day that dad left.
It was the one day of the year that we allowed ourselves to wallow in the sadness that resulted from his departure. It was the one time where we felt we could safely reminisce about the times when he was here, before everything went to Hell and he was gone.
Dad left when I was six, leaving mum strapped down with two small children to take care of on her own. They had been fighting in the year leading up to it; arguments about money, and responsibility, and his late nights that seemed to get more and more frequent as the days went on. Finally, after a huge fight, he packed up his belongings and left, right before tea. I remember the moment clear as day; sitting in my room, brushing out the untamable hair of one of my favorite dolls, when the fight began. It started out quietly, of course- as they all did- but very quickly escalated into an all-out screaming match. I remember that it had been a surprisingly cool and breezy day in the beginning of August in the midst of what had been a sweltering summer.
Everything happened so fast, after the screaming began. I went to my window, letting the breeze dry my tears in their tracks as they screamed and screamed about how nothing was working, and how they didn’t trust each other anymore, and how they were better off apart, and why did they ever love each other in the first place? It was madness in the kitchen, and not even the soft sounds of late summer coming from outside my window could settle my rattled six-year-old nerves. Jason crept into my room, and I took his hand, settling onto my bed.
I tried to distract him with word games and dolls and stories, but it didn’t work too well; for even though he laughed when I used my funniest voices to tell ‘Babbity Rabbity’ several times, there was still an edge to his voice; a certain dimness in his usually bright blue eyes.
And then, the crescendo.
A crashing, bitter finale to a ringing, thrumming, bang of a symphony. There was stomping, and the indistinct sound of my mother weakly yelling something, and before we knew it, my door flung open, and in stormed my father, looking like a wreck. He was a right sight with his red eyes and face, his mouth set into a firm hard line, his shoulders stiff. His dark eyes were ablaze, his face nearly the same red as his hair- the same red as my hair. He came forward and scooped us into his arms, holding us tightly to his chest, his firm hands that were so strong but gentle patting our little backs as we hugged him hard, not sure why we were being given such attention. He held us for a long moment, and when he finally pulled away, his eyes were moist.
“I love you,” he said softly in his sweet Scottish lilt. “I love you both so much; don’t you ever forget that. Be good for your mum, and don’t you give her a hard time. I know you’ll be strong, even without me.”
After a kiss to our foreheads, he was out the door. We heard the front door slam slightly. Running to the window downstairs, Jason and I watched as dad took one last look at the house, and our faces within, and turned on his heel, Apparating with a soft and final pop.

Now, that day seems like a lifetime ago. It always seemed more and more vague as the years went by; all the years of mum telling us that we had to go without extras because the bills were due; of being constantly reminded of dad’s departure by the picture of him on the mantel that mum refused to take down and put away. Even if she did not love him, she still felt the need to let him penetrate the shield that she had created against him and his memories in his wake. I always knew that she kept it there more for our sakes than hers, but I always did wonder if she still had an attachment, as well.
Jason and I would hole up in my room with tea and biscuits and whatever junk food we could find, sitting on my bed and just talking all day; first about memories of dad, and then anything else we felt the need to share with each other. And when it got dark, we would light a candle in honor of our memories, and sit there still, sometimes crying, sometimes laughing, sometimes talking, and sometimes completely silent. This year was no different from the rest; except for one thing.
As we sat there in a moment of silence, taking a break after the torrent of words that we had exchanged, my door creaked open slightly. I looked over and saw mum walking in, holding a tray with steaming mugs of hot chocolate.
“I thought you two might want something to drink,” she said softly as she set the tray on my night-table.
“Thanks, mum,” I said, giving her a small smile.
She leaned forward and kissed my forehead, and then did the same to Jason, who did not protest her affection for once.
“How are you holding up?” She asked, crossing her arms and sitting down gently next to me.
“I think we’ve had better years,” I said, thinking of the crying we had done earlier. “but we’ve also had worse. We’re doing pretty well.” I looked to Jason, and he nodded. “How about you?”
She gave a small smile that didn’t reach her eyes. She had Jason’s big blue eyes, and honey blonde hair that I had always been jealous of. Her hair was always straight and shimmering and blonde, whereas mine was.... well, for starters, it was red; and it was wavy and untamable.
“I’ve also been better,” she said with a small sigh. “I think we’ve all seen better days.”
Before anyone could say anything more, Jason reached over and hugged her, hard. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and just hugged her. It took a moment for the shock to wear off at this, but when it did, she gave a smile, and promptly burst into tears. I leaned in and joined the hug, and before I knew it, we were all hugging and crying; just one big family mess, we were. But it felt so good to just sit there and let it out together as a family. We shared this pain, after all; it only seemed fair to feel it together. And even if we only allowed ourselves this one day every year, at least we were together. We may not have had dad, but by God, we still had each other, and that had been more than enough for ten years.
And that’s how it always would be.

After The Anniversary, the days began to wind down as the end of summer approached. The days began to get shorter; the air began to get cooler; and there was a tangible air of excitement (even from Jason, who seemed to be full of surprises this year). Everything was coming to what seemed like a perfect ending after a rather lovely summer. Although I did have a new collection of freckles across my nose and cheeks that were not there before (much to my annoyance), everything seemed to be in order for the start of term. I couldn’t have been more pleased with how things were turning out.
I began a countdown to the days leading up to that fateful day when we would board The Hogwarts Express again and be whisked away to Hogwarts. And then, one afternoon, in thinking of school and what would follow, I remembered Dark- Emily. I remembered her mischievous smile, and the burning sensation on my cheek where her lips had touched it. I promptly turned red, dropping the book that I was transferring to a new place on my shelf.
What was I going to do about that situation?
I then remembered her suspicious association with Draco Malfoy. I knew what I had to do then; I just simply wouldn’t seek her out. It’s not like we would end up seeing each other very often; she was a Slytherin, after all. They usually saw the Gryffindors for most of their classes, anyhow, so I was sure I would be safe.
And it wasn’t anything against her, per say; she seemed nice, but after I saw her with Draco, well... One could never be too careful, especially when dealing with someone like Draco Malfoy. He was a nasty sort, he was, and so were the people he hung around with. I didn’t want to get mixed up in any of that. Merlin knows I didn’t need that trouble. And if she felt offended by my rejection, then so be it; after all, it was for my own good. And who could blame me for such a thing? Certainly she could understand why, right?
Not that we would be seeing much of one another, anyway. So I had absolutely nothing to worry about, then. Everything was under control, as always.
________________________________________________________

Dark

I heard screaming coming from my parent’s room. I scrambled to my feet out of my bed, tripping on my blanket. All I knew was I had to get to my parents. They were in danger.

The scene changed to a room being in a blaze of flames, I coughed as I accidently inhaled some of the smoke. I didn’t care though. I had to find them. I rushed into the burning room.

“MUM!” I shouted as I looked frantically all around me. I saw my dad’s body, all beaten and pale, catch on fire. I gasped as the tears filled my eyes. I rushed to my dad.

“Dad.. Dad get up!” I shouted as I tried to stop the flames, but it was no use as none of the simple spells came to mind. I heard manic like laughter come from behind me. Before I turned, I heard the person behind me scream a spell I didn’t recognize in my young state.

I heard my mouth scream in pain and I heard a body slump and fall to the ground.

“MUM!” I shouted as I was about to turn to the person as a green light flashed at me.

I screamed in terror as I sat up in my bed, breathing heavily. I felt the tears go down my cheeks as I heard my uncle’s feet run down the hall to my room. He opened my door.

“Are you okay, Emi?” He spoke to me softly as he walked over to me.

“I-I had a nightmare,” I spoke softly as I was crawling under my blankets again.

“Let me go get Shadow for you,” he spoke so gently to me that I had to strain my ears to hear him. I nodded to him as he was about to walk out of my room, Shadow ran into the room, alert.

I called to Shadow as he jumped onto my bed and padded to me, he turned three times next to me and laid in my arms. I cradled him there for a while as he licked my cheek calming me. At the corner of my eye, I saw my uncle leave. My cat perked his ears as he sniffed. He nudged me to look towards my door. I noticed his food and water bowl there. My uncle knew Shadow should stay in my room as he figured the nightmares got more darker, more vivid.

It was a good idea, cause Shadow was what calmed and relaxed me. I couldn’t fall back to sleep. Desperate for sleep, Shadow purred his special purr which lulled me to sleep.

_____________________________________________________________________

I woke up that morning to the smell of bacon and eggs. My aunt hardly cooked, she would just make a microwavable breakfast bowl for me and bring it to my room. She was probably not home and at work. She rarely let uncle cook, especially if the food went to me. As I got up and stretched, I heard my uncle call for me.

I walked downstairs, still in my pyjamas, and walked into the dining room. I yawned, still tired from my nightmare and dreamless sleep after that. Shadow jumped onto my lap, curled up, and fall asleep, like he hadn’t slept in a long time.

He probably didn’t sleep at all, worried about me. I’m sorry, Shadow.

I smelled the bacon; it was closer this time. I looked at the table and there was a plate of melted cheese covered eggs and bacon in front of me.

“Eat up, Dear,” he began, “We have a long day coming up. I have to find you a nice dress to wear for tonight.”

“What for, Uncle?” I asked him as I began to eat my breakfast, petting my cat under the table.

“You are to meet my boss at dinner tonight,” he told me as I continued to eat.

“Oh, okay?” I said between mouthfuls. I didn’t know this boss.

______________________________________________________________________________

After I had finished getting dressed, it was already 2 in the afternoon. We were to leave at 2:30 for lunch. I walked into my bathroom and brushed my hair down and out of my face. I pinned my bangs back with a hairclip. I was pleased with my appearance. I walked downstairs and waited for my uncle to come down.

As I walked to the study, where my lessons were taught at, the doorbell rang.

“Can you get that, Dark?” My uncle shouted to me from his room.

I walked to the door and answered the door. A tall man was standing in front of me, he almost looked like Draco. Then, I realized who this was. I stepped aside.

“Please come in, Mr. Malfoy,” I said showing him my polite manners. “My uncle should be down soon.”

As I said that, I heard my uncle’s faint chuckle from down the hallway near the stairs as I heard his footsteps go down the stairs. Then, I noticed a quiet form behind Mr. Malfoy. I pulled him in, I knew who this was.

“Dray,” I said softly to him. He looked at me with frightful eyes, but they quickly got masked over with seriousness. I was worried.

This wasn’t the Draco I knew when I reunited with him or when we were kids. What happened? That was only last month.

“Hello Lucius. It’s been awhile. It is nice that you get the chance to meet my niece. She will be joining our ranks,” my uncle spoke to Mr. Malfoy.

Ranks? Ranks like an army? What is happening? I am confused.

“Excellent; she will get to learn with Draco,” Mr. Malfoy said, smiling.

“What do you mean?” Draco and I both said. We looked at each other. He looked like he could throw up. I looked at him worriedly. He shot me glance that said ‘you’ll see what is going to happen’. I looked at my uncle as he said lets head out to get me a new dress.

______________________________________________________________________________

After a few hours of shopping, we got home and my uncle sent me straight to my room to change into my new outfit. I didn’t like the dresses, my uncle and Mr. Malfoy choose, but the black skirt with the purple shirt that Dray picked out was perfect. As I got dressed in my new outfit, I heard Dray’s footsteps walk towards my room.

I had just put on my shirt and all I had left was my skirt. I heard him knock, a light blush appeared on my cheeks as I hurriedly put on my skirt and opened my door.

“Come in,” I began, “you can sit on my bed or at my desk.”

“Sure,” He said as he sat on my bed. I walked into my closet, I had a tall mirror in my closet where I could do my own hair at. I took the hair clip out and began to brush my hair out. I heard Draco walk in the closet.

“I didn’t know you were such a girly girl now,” he said with a hint of a smile and a small chuckle.

“I’m not!” I retorted back and tackled him out of my closet onto my floor.

“You used to do better than that, when you were little!” He said, laughing at me.

“I can still do that,” I began as I heard my door creak open. I heard a gasp as I looked at who opened my door.

“Emily!” Shouted my uncle.

“Uncle Eddy, it’s not what you think!” I tried to reason as I got off Draco and walked to my uncle.

“Mr. Roy, I teased her and she tackled me to the floor, we weren’t doing anything, honestly.” He said in our defense.

“Fine, Draco. You are lucky you are in our Lord’s favorites circle with your father.” My uncle said. “Oh and you two supper is around 6.”

“Okay, Uncle Eddy,” I said as I saw that we only have an hour left.

______________________________________________________________________________

As me and Dray finished up our game of Speed, a card game, my uncle came up and told us that supper will begin shortly. As I got up, I re-brushed my hair as Dray followed behind.

“Don’t worry about me, Darky. Honestly, its nothing big,” he said to me.

“Dray, I am always going to worry,” I said to him as I finished brushing my hair.

“Well stop it,” Dray told sounding serious, I looked at him.

“Why?” I began as I finished brushing my hair down and fixing his a bit.

“Because a Malfoy doesn’t need a babysitter,” He said as he turned and walked out my door as if nothing bad happened. I forced myself to stay calm as I followed after him, leaving the comfort my room ever brought me.
______________________________________________________________________________

“Miss Emily, is it?” Tom Riddle asked.

“Yes, Sir.” I responded, we were in the study alone.

“Hmm. I see and you are a Slytherin, too, right?” He asked, making sure of my Uncle’s rambles about me.

“Yes, Sir.” I said as he kept interrogating me. I responded when need or I nodded as he evaluated me. Then he asked me to do something I couldn’t do..

“I will assign Draco Malfoy as your eyewitness, he will also have to do the same thing as you will do. Do you understand?” He asked as he looked me in the eyes.

“Yes, Sir,” I responded acting like nothing was wrong.

“You are dismissed, you may tell Draco, your mission and his place in the mission. Send in your uncle and Luscious.” He said as he dismissed me. I got up and walked out the study.

“Uncle, Mr. Malfoy, he wants to see you both,” I said as I tried not to let my mask fall or the fact I wanted to scream at the world. I soon found myself walking up the stairs towards my room.

“What’s wrong, Darky?” He began as he hugged me in my room as I rested my head on his chest.

“You have to be a witness to me murdering someone...” I say with no strength anymore.

“What? Who?” He began. “I have to kill our headmaster.”

“A-a Ravenclaw,” I choked the words out as I began to cry.

I had just met a Ravenclaw over summer. She was the most amazing girl anyone could meet. She had the most beautiful dark red hair.. She had the most mesmerizing olive-green eyes. She was a bookworm like me, even though I never showed anyone that I liked to read. She was already my closest friend, even if I had just met her. What am I going to do? I can’t do this mission.

As I was in my head, crying, Draco had brought me in a tight hug. I looked up at him as he began to lean down to kiss me. I just stood there, not knowing what to say or do. Then, I heard someone knock on my door and scratching.

Draco pulled away and I shook myself wiping my tears as Draco opened the door. Shadow ran inside hurling himself at him, expecting me to catch him like always, but something happened that made me want to die. Tom made my cat float in the air.

“Please don’t hurt my cat, Sir,” I began to beg him, staring at my cat as he meowed hopelessly in the air.

“I probably won’t. I hate cats,” He said as made my cat go all over the place. I freaked out and without using my wand, “STUPIFY!!!” I shouted at him.

He was surprised and caught off guard as I flung myself forward, but I came up short. I watched as my cat began to fall as I fall to the ground. Then, something surprised me as Dray reached out and grabbed my cat for me.

“Shadow!” I shouted as I got up, feeling dizzy instantly. I collapsed against my bed as Dray handed me my startled Shadow. I began to pet him as he looked like he was hugging me. “Shhh, Shhh. I am here, you are safe again Shadow. I am so sorry..” I said over and over again to my cat.

“I think you should leave, Lord Voldemort,” Dray said as he helped him up.

“She is one fast learner and thinker,” I barely heard him say this as I heard my door shut behind him. I felt Draco pull me into a tight hug, my Shadow hissing at him.