Melody Riddle and the Sorcerer's Stone

Chapter 7: Friends and Family

 "Mom!" I shouted, running towards her and wrapping my arms around her in a hug. She squeezed me back hard enough for me to burst, but I was too relieved to have her back to note on it.

Wow, it's great to see her after so long. Now I know the meaning of the saying that 'absence makes the heart grow fonder.' "You had the baby. How did that work out? Where is he.. or she?"

"Oh, it went very well!" she said, pulling away from me with a forced smile, "I did what needed to be done..." her smile reduced to a frown, and she gave a small sigh. "You and I no longer exist. As far as Jim recalls, the baby boy appeared on his doorstep from a random fling he had. Your classmates don't remember you and none of Jim's friends remember anything about us."

She left the baby boy with him? "Wha – but... is there never going to be a time where we get to meet him? I mean, he's likely going to end up being magical, too, why couldn't—?"

"Eventually, I'm sure," she said evasively, immediately turning to Professor Snape. "Thank you...erm... Snape."

"For what?" Snape asked her coldly.

"For watching over my daughter while I took care of business," she said, ignoring his tone. "Give Dumbledore my thanks as well."

He inclined his head, and then Disapparated.

"Do you know him?" I asked as she led me away from the bank. Obviously she wasn't going to talk about the brother I would never meet, but... why not keep him? Why not tell Jim? Why am I not being clued in on important details?

"Oh, yeah," she said with a shrug. "Did you get into my Gringotts account all right?"

"You're lucky I thought to bring this key." I told her, fingering the chain around my neck. I vaguely wondered if I should ask her about Professor Quirrell.

"Thank goodness for that. Now, let's get your supplies, we'll go to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions first!" mom said, coaxing a big smile back on her face and pointing towards said shop.

We went inside and a squat witch dressed in mauve robes walked over to us and smiled kindly at me. "Hogwarts?" she asked. My mom and I nodded.

She beckoned me to the back of the shop to two footstools and had me stand on top of one. Then she brought some robe fabric and draped it over my head, pinning it to just the right length for me.

A couple minutes later I saw another family walk in with a boy my age who had a pale, pointed face. He looked a lot like his father, with pale blonde hair. Why couldn't I look like mom in that same way?

Another witch brought him to the back of the shop and set him on the stool next to me, doing the same measurements on him. But I didn't pay much attention to him because I noticed his parents started talking to my mom, with shocked looks on their faces— her own look was that of embarrassment. I studied their conversation, wishing I could read lips. Then they waved to her before leaving.

"You starting at Hogwarts, too?" the boy asked me in a bored tone.

"Yeah... I'm starting this year." I said, still preoccupied with staring at my mom. She looked a little pale now as she paced around.

"You have a strange accent!" he exclaimed in surprise, causing me to look at him. He had an extremely gleeful look on his face, and I couldn't help but think about how strange that felt for me. Someone who was actually interested in talking to me— including Fred and George Weasley, but they were oddballs anyway so they didn't count.

"I'm from the United States, that's why." I said. "I mean, it's the same situation for me. Come here and everyone else has an accent."

"Why are you here then? Isn't there that school in America— Ilvermorny?" he probed.