"Charlie I waited for fifty-five minutes, and your here! Why on earth are you here?" The voice didn't match the vision Larissa had created in her head as she listened to the conversation between Charlie and the woman who Larissa guessed to be Melissa. The woman that stood a few feet away wore a simple black office dress with matching simple black office shoes, her dirty blonde hair which was pulled back into a sloppy ponytail felt like a violent change from the neat office uniform and highlighted the woman's round face. She had quite thin lips that were constantly set in a displease line and all in all she was boring. Larissa hoped her characteristics made up for the lack of uniqueness about her appearance. She felt clean. Fake.
'I had an urgent owl from Tonks, it's all sorted now let's get going' his body had pushed itself off the door frame and was heading in the direction of Melissa.
'I hadn't realised the order was taking in the homeless Charlie dear' Larissa watched as the other woman's eyes moved from her hair down to her shoes and then back up again, she sent a sympathetic smile in the direction of Larissa's composed facade. "Melissa Fawley, secretary for the minister of magic himself, I was a Ravenclaw that'll give you all you need to know right Charlie" she laughed in the most ridiculous way, Larissa had to stop herself from snorting at the woman.
"This is Larissa Black, Sirius' daughter." Charlie made a small hand gesture in the direction of the much smaller woman who stood with her arms crossed, back against the wall.
"I'm quite capable to introducing myself thank you." She stepped forward towards the other woman. "Like Charlie said, Larissa Black, and well, im unemployed because there's really no need for me to be employed is there." Larissa's lips pulled forcefully in a tight smile.
'Mmmh' the other woman replied with a snooty look on her face. Larissa's eyes narrowed slightly before she turned on her heel. Her curly mane catching Melissa across the face as she went, the blonde woman huffed and glared at the brunettes retreating figure.
'Come on then' Charlie's deep voice broke the static atmosphere, the rustling of his coat set Melissa off through the front door, the sound of her heels changing between deep mahogany and stone of the were drowned out by the dramatic sound of the piano, Charlie's head whipped around at the sound, but it soon found its way back to the woman in front of him who was tapping her foot impatiently waiting to aperate back to the large house they shared.
He let his hand slip into her cold one, and the awful sensation of being pulled through a very tight tube engulfed him, but within seconds he was stood in the large hallway of the house Melissa's parents had gifted her from their property collection when she had graduated from Hogwarts. Charlie let his feet slip out of his shoes, and fall on to the cold stone floor.
" I don't like her Charlie, who the fuck does she think she is talking to me like that?!' She exclaimed in a shrill voice, her hands flapping about violently as she protested her dislike for the other woman.
He followed her through to an adequate sized sitting room, a large bay window took up one half of the room, 3 vases filled with extravagant looking flowers sat upon the windowsill. The room had beautiful high ceilings, with an old chandelier placed in the centre. Although the room was quite boxy, it was beautifully decorated in shades of blues and whites. Two deep blue settees were the focal point of the room, 1 placed under the window in front of the heavy velvet curtains and the other opposite it, a dainty and old looking coffee separated them and sat upon a grey rug that was covered in a magical silver patterns. Upon the coffee table was a gold tray with 2 beautiful crystal whisky decanters and 2 matching glasses.
Melissa walked through the open arched doorway sighing. "Peppermint!" She barked as she slid down into one of the arm chairs at the end of the room. Two arm chairs that matched the settees and a chaise lounge were placed towards the other end of the room in front of a beautiful old fireplace. Large paintings of both the Fawley family and medowed landscapes lined the walls above the white panelling and on top of a deep blue wallpaper that had a thin gold pattern engraved into it.
The sharp pop of peppermint entering the room made Charlie jump slightly, as he headed towards the settees rather than the arm chairs.
"Yes Mistress!" The little elf's voice was high pitched and soft, her eyes wide and a deep blue colour. Charlie had never imagined this life 5 years ago nor would he have wished for it, but life tends to serve you the unexpected.
'Prepare a tea tray please peppermint for two.."
"No..I'll stick to something a bit stronger love"
She huffed quietly before turning back to the elf. "Just for one then, and prepare me a selection of cheeses and meats please peppermint, bring them in with some bread and butter as well" the small elf nodded and snapped her fingers before disappearing with a pop.
The room stayed completely silent bar the sound of Charlie pouring himself a glass of whisky, Melissa looked on with displeasure. It wasn't long before Peppermint returned, a selection of trays floating behind her, she set them down on the side table beside Melissa.
"Thank you Peppermint, will you stoke the fire and get one of the other elves to fetch me my book from the library." She smiled as the elf nodded, her small hands reaching for the China tea pot. It wasn't long before the elf yet again disappeared with a small pop, this time Charlie threw back his glass swallowed the last bit of whiskey before removing his wand from his pocket and vanishing the glass down stairs to the kitchen. He stood and sighed.
"Im going for a shower and then to bed, feel free to join." He winked at her and her face darkened a few shades, he loved that he was able to cause that effect on her, but he often wondered how it would feel to see Larissa's face darkened with lust, her eyes large looking up at him. As he was climbing the large staircase the sound of classical music drifted through the arch at the bottom of the stairs, he smiled to himself before waving his wand to start the flow of water in the shower.
*
On the other side of London in the one of the large rooms of Grimmauld place, Larissa Black sat at her vanity, her hands pulled up behind her head trying to fix a Bobby pin in place. It was a Friday night, meaning it was party night, and the wizarding bars in diagon alley were yet to be explored.
She pushed back the stool, and stood her body pointed towards the large old dresser that seemed to be two hundred years old, she walked over to it slowly, now deciding that the jeans and shirt she chose weren't the one, she pulled on a deep emerald dress that in a sense was much more classy for the upper end bars she intended to enter.
At the back of the draw her fingers swept over a ridge of peeling paper, she tugged at it hard attempting to peel it away, a small opening in the back of the draw gave way and within it sat a very small wooden box, engraved with beautiful floral patterns. Larissa shuffled it slowly out of the tight cubby, her hands grasping it when it was finally set loose. With the box now in her hands she lifted the delicate lid. Within in was what looked like a small gold contraption pillowed amongst dark green silk fabric, Larissa stepped back quickly to inspect it at her desk, her foot catching on the edge of the rug. The box dropped out of her hand and onto the hard wooden floor, the small gold contraption falling to the ground with it and hitting the floor with a similar impact, Larissa winced at the sound of smashing glass.
'Shit' she muttered, but the 'shits' multiplied as Larissa's grey eyes watched a storm of dark purple smoke pour out of the box, she coughed as it flooded the room, she felt her head go light and then the room went completely black, her body collapsing onto the large bed.
Larissa woke suddenly, she sat up quickly on the bed, her head throbbing and her eyes blurry, there was definitely not sunlight streaming through the curtains 25 minutes ago, and the room felt cleaner and fresher, the curtains didn't have collections of small bite holes in them and rather looked full and heavy, they were a deep green velvet, similar to the extravagant bed spread. She stood, and looked around the floor for the box and golden thing but instead she found a pristine freshly steamed Persian rug that really wasn't there this morning. Instead of worrying Larissa thought it best to find out what had happened, and preceded towards the door but froze at the sound of voices she didn't recognise.
"Regulus darling get your brother, we're going to be late for the Malfoy's Lunch" the woman was stern and sounded icy; similar to her grandmother, a moment of dread hit Larissa as she wondered whether she should be questioning when she is rather than where.
The sound of someone trudging past the door nocked the breath out of Larissa, and she found herself frozen in place. She stayed there listening to the conversations below her.
"you don't think I'm aware of the circumstances Orion" was the last thing Larissa heard before the heavy door closed downstairs. She crept over to the large windows and watched as a family of four descended the large steps of the family's manor. The woman looked to be in her mid forties and wore a long elegant dress, heels and a heavy overcoat her deep emerald handbag was clutched in one hand and her wand in the other. Her hair was a deep chocolate colour, and was curled into a delicate hairstyle, she was very thin but in a curvaceous way with a heavy bust, she looked to Larissa like she had just stepped off a film set, with her dark eyes and deep red lips. She stood next to what Larissa assumed to be her husband, he wasn't much older than her and shared the same dark thick hair as his wife, he had a moderate amount of stubble lining his jaw. The two boys looked to be around sixteen and eighteen and both had thick locks of dark curly hair. Larissa realised with cold horror that it was a eighteen year old version of her father, along with his dead parents and dead brother. She watched a black car pull up, and a man in a smart suit step out, he stepped around the car to open the door for the family to get in to.
Larissa stayed in the same place for a long time after the car had left, wondering what to do. It took a while to think of a possible solution as to what to do from here as she no longer had the thing that had taken her 18 years or something back in time. But what she did have was a floo network somewhere in the house and that would take her to the only possible person she could think of that would know what to do. Dumbledore.
So with plan in mind Larissa approached the door handle, turning it slowly, although she was sure the family were out she knew the elves would be roaming the large manor somewhere. The staircase seemed to feel brighter and more luxurious, it led down into a gorgeous hallway that didn't feel damp and dark. She knew there were fireplaces in the dining room and living room along with the library, so she made her way towards the heavy door that led into the sitting room. Her heart beat seemed to jump from 60 to 100 as her hand went to push the door open, it squeaked and echoed off the high ceilings.
The room behind the door looked nothing like that of what Larissa had seen in 1995, it was the epitome of sophistication and luxury with the large crystal chandeliers and high walls of books.
Larissa stepped inside and headed towards the fireplace on the far wall. It all seemed a little to easy but she wasn't one to test fate, she needed to get to Dumbledore now before her family returned and saw her, or for that fact before anyone saw her.
Her hands found a beautiful glass pot that was engraved with crystal markings, it was filled to the brim with floo powder. She smiled triumphantly.
Her sock clad feet stepped into the fireplace, and it suddenly dawned on her that she had never been to Hogwarts and never even been in Dumbledores office. She jumped between whether she should say 'Hogwarts' or 'Dumbledores Office' for a while but eventually went with the latter.
Within moment of her shouting the words "Dumbledore's Office" the picture before her changed from the stiff living room of Grimmuald Place to the comfy space of Dumbledores Office.
A much younger version of the man she had seen a few weeks ago was sat behind an extravagant desk his eyebrows raised in shock at the sight before him. Larissa stepped out of the fireplace with as much confidence as she could muster and walked over to the edge of the desk.
"Can I help you Miss, it's not everyday I get people flooing into my office with such urgency." He smiled a tight smile as his eyes shone at the girl.
"Where am I?"
"Hogwarts dear"
"No no I mean when am I?!" She exclaimed with a huff.
"I'm sorry what do you mean when are you?"
"The date!"
"August 28th 1977 dear I'm assuming your from much further in the future?" Dumbledore replied with a confusing tone to his voice.
"18 years give or take" she tried to remain calm but she could feel the sweat clamming between her two palms, her brain trying to work out the age of her father at this point in time until it settled on 18, that would mean it's his last year. It took a moment for Larissa to realise her mother was still alive at this point in time. Marlene McKinnon. But when she did, her body slid down into one of the two comfortable looking red arm chairs in front of Dumbledores desk.
"That means my mothers still alive now" she said to him a sad smile pulling at her lips.
" Your parents are?"
"Marlene McKinnon and Sirius Black" The teacup filled with tea that Dumbledore had just brung to his lips stoped at the names of her parents. He placed the teacup back down on the wooden desk and folded his hands in front of him.
"Right Miss.Black i need to you to tell me how you've ended up in 1977"
"I was in my bedroom at Grimmuld Place getting ready to go out, I was looking in my dresser for something and at the back there was a loose bit of paper that I pulled, it revealed a cubby with a small box wedged into it, I pulled it out, opened it and inside was a small gold contraption that smashed when I stepped back and my heal caught on the edge of the rug, the room filled with dark purple smoke and that's the last thing I remember before waking up and watching my 18 year old father get into a car with his family! My fathers 40 not 18! I shouldn't be here and I need to get back to my own time as soon as possible" Larissa was talking very quickly now, attempting to keep herself calm, but voicing the situation she now faced had put it into perspective.
"I don't think it's going to be too easy to get you home Miss Black, as time turners are a rare object with only 3 left in the magical world they could be anywhere , it's going to take a while for myself to locate one without raising the alarm of the ministry, not with war brewing" Larissa had never heard him sound so serious, her face dropped as did her hope.
"So how long am I going to be here, what am I going to do while you find the time Turner, I could help you?" She was speaking in panicked sentences her hands moving as she spoke.
"I assume you attended Hogwarts in your own time?"
"No I did not."
"No? Oh, where may I ask did you study?"
"Bauxbatons."
"Ahhh Madam Maxine is a wonderful headmistress, your education must have been exceptional."
"It was okay." Larissa didn't exactly want to go into this subject right how and Dumbledore had sensed that, he had moved on to inform Larissa that she would attend her 7th year here at Hogwarts while Dumbledore worked out a way to get her home. She would take classes and her NEWTS (again) and attempt to blend in as best as possible, she will be sorted along with the first years on the 1st when all the students return from summer holiday.
Larissa watched as the older man waved his long wand in an elegant fashion, a bright silver Phoenix burst out the end of his wand and hovered in front of them.
"Minerva we have a situation in my office." The Phoenix flew quickly through the walls of the office and it wasn't long before the main door opened and an older woman walked through.