«Olive»
It's scary to realise that you don't hold the future in your own hands anymore. Someone else is pulling the strings, deciding what your future is going to look like. And it's safe to say that this someone doesn't give one fuck about how it's going to turn out.
Severus and I walked towards the front door of my house which was hiding in the darkness. I wrapped my hands around my shoulders, trying to shield myself from the chilly wind.
When we entered the little house, I found my father sleeping on the couch in the living room, still in his normal clothes. I sat on the edge of the couch and took a second to look at him. I grabbed my favourite fuzzy blanket and covered his body with it. I loved seeing him at peace. His features relaxed and his lashes curled to perfection. Life was unfair sometimes.
"You're really lucky to have him, Olive." Severus appeared behind me, looking at my father on the couch.
"I am." Was all I said with a smile, before leading the way into the kitchen.
"How are you feeling after today?" Severus eyes were resting on me with a concerned look on his face. I let my body collapse onto the chair at the kitchen table and rested my head in my hands.
"Honestly? I have no idea what even happened." I sighed and Severus took the seat in front of me.
The light bulb over our heads was the only source of light at this hour of the day. My hands were tracing along the wood structure of the kitchen table, trying to figure out why I even attended today's ceremony.
"If I'm too weak for him anyways, why did you bring me to the ceremony?" I asked, looking at my uncle in front of me, who remained silent.
"You're not too weak. On the contrary. But he saw something the second he held your arm." I tilted my head at his words in confusion. Whatever was going on, I needed to know.
"Something?" I questioned the words which just came out of his mouth. I knew it was way to late for this conversation. I would leave for Hogwarts in a few hours and I had not time to deal with some pale ass man's mental health problems.
"He had a vision and saw his wife." Severus said slowly. I raised my eyebrows at his words, trying to fight the urge to laugh.
"He has a WIFE?" That was the only thing I could think about. It was hilarious imagining him saying 'I do' in a suit.
"He HAD a wife. She died a few years ago." Severus was dead serious, looking at me as if I was a three year old without manners.
"Oh. I didn't know." The room went silent and I was grateful it was just the two of us in the room. By now my mind was racing, trying to put the pieces of why Voldemort had a vision of his dead wife, when he held my arm.
"How did she die?" I asked carefully, not knowing if he would answer my question.
"She was ill, that's why she died. At least that's what everyone thought." I knew this was going to be interesting, so I remained silent.
"It was quite clever to be honest. No one suspected anything else. But a few days later they found out that someone murdered Mariella Riddle." I stopped breathing, looking at Severus in utter shock.
The wife of the darkest and evilest wizard, who hurt countless innocent in his lifetime, get's murdered. That's a bold thing to do.
"How was she murdered?" I couldn't keep the question to myself, but I figured Severus was ready to answer it for me.
"Olive-" Severus sighed and I crossed my arms in front of my chest.
"Don't! I need to know what happened." I was surprised how easily he gave in, telling me every single detail of the death of a woman I never knew.
"The day she died, no one found her until midnight. She was usually up in her room. Alone or with Mattheo. He was one of the only ones that stopped by at her room. So it was the poor seven year old, who found his mother dead. Her condition was bad the days before and since she had no wounds or anything else, everybody thought she died because of her illness."
"Well, that's obvious. I wouldn't have suspected anything else." I said while Severus paused for a few seconds, staring out of the window. I followed his gaze into the front yard, trying to make out any familiar objects in the complete darkness.
"He didn't take it well at all, Mattheo. I was at the Manor that day, experiencing the pain he went through first hand. It was horrible. He changed a lot since her death and no one blames him. The last remaining light in his life got taken away in a matter of seconds. After that day he was never the same."
I didn't say anything. I thought of Voldemort's son, trying to picture his face in front of me. But my head couldn't really remember his features. He is handsome, that was the first thing I thought when he entered the room. But there was something off about him that I couldn't quite put my finger on.
"They found poison in her blood. So whoever did it, had to be in the Manor at some point that day."
"Did they ever figure out who it was?"
"No. Even though Tom did everything in his power to find the one responsible for her death. They-" he paused, not wanting to continue the story.
"You can tell me Sev." I looked at him, encouraging to continue.
"They had a complicated relationship. In the last few years he barely acknowledging her existence. But when she died he was awake countless of nights, trying to figure out who did this to her.
"He tried to make it right, I guess."
"It's the dark Lord we're talking about. You need to be sceptical. He's only nice to you, when he benefits off of it. Never forget that." I nodded at his words, trying to remember his advice.
"Is that why I didn't get the dark mark? Not because I'm too weak, but because I might help him to solve a riddle, which he benefits from?" I asked, putting the pieces together.
"That's what I'm thinking." Severus was looking at me concerned, but my head was only functioning halfway. I was way too tired to be concerned about anything right now. My eyes were so heavy that I could't hold them open any longer.
"I'm going to bed. You can stay in the guest room. We need to leave in a few hours anyways." Severus nodded at my words and we both left the kitchen.
I made my way towards my room, dropping the clothes onto my desk chair and getting ready for bed.
As soon as my head hit the pillow I drifted into a short but good sleep. Not thinking about why Voldemort saw his dead wife when he touched my arm or why she was murdered many years ago.
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I made my way downstairs, grabbing my coat from the hook. My father was already waiting next to the stairs with a sad expression on his face. Without me, the house was completely empty and I knew he hated a empty house.
"I'll see you on Christmas, Liv." he kissed the top of my forehead and I wrapped my hands around him. "See you on Christmas, dad." I mumbled.
After two more goodbyes, Severus and I apparated to the train station and we arrived at the platform just in time.
I looked around and immediately had a big smile on my face. Children were climbing into the Hogwarts Express, waving to their proud parents and some were still standing next to them, not having the heart to let go.
"Your books and all the stuff you need for this school year are already in your dormitory." Severus patted my back and I nodded thankfully.
"Look, there comes Daphne." I followed his gaze and yes. The blonde head was heading directly towards us.
"Excuse me, I need to get through here. Sorry, my bad. Ops." I laughed at her attempt to squeeze past a family of five.
"Olive!" The girl screamed when she got out of the crowd, rushing towards me and Severus.
"Daphne!" I screamed as well, feeling the judgemental stares of all the people around us. It took me a while to understand, that no matter what you do, people will still stare at you the second you stand out. But I didn't care. I was just happy to see my best friend again.
Daphne hugged me tight and I was directly met with her sweet scent, which she always wore. We've been friends since our first year at Hogwarts and I couldn't be happier.
When I turned around to look for Severus he had already disapparated.
"Let's go! Daphne grabbed my arm and pulled me into the trains direction. "Tell me, how was your summer?" she asked, while we got onto the train.
"Well, me and my dad went to France this summer. I loved it." I thought of the beautiful landscape and the evenings I got to spend with my dad.
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" she stopped walking and pointing at my face. "You met a boy!" she laughed and I felt how my cheeks flushed red. Daphne knew me really well and I hated it how right she always was.
"Come on! Talk!" she demanded, continuing the hunt for an empty compartment.
"I met a boy from England, actually. His name's Henry and his parents are originally from France. That's why they're in France every summer. Can you believe this?"
We sat down in an empty compartment and Daphne looked at me.
"Yes. Yes, I can. But I can't believe that you're just telling me about him now!"
"You returned from your family vacation yesterday, Daph!" I laughed and she crossed her arms in front of her chest trying to act offended.
"So, we met quite a few times and he showed me around his home town. It was really sweet. But I haven't heard anything from him since we returned home."
"Did you kiss?" Daphne asked with a big smirk on her face. When I said nothing she squealed, clapping her hands "Ohh, this is so exciting."
"What about your summer?" I smiled at her and she sat back in her seat, telling me about her vacation with her parents and sister Astoria.
The train started moving, which meant we're going to be at Hogwarts in a few hours. I watched the train leave the station and soon we were surrounded by nature.
The compartment door got ripped open and the two of us jumped at the sudden sound.
"Mamma Mia! You two look gorgeous." A voice droned trough the compartment. A grin appeared on my face and Daphne laughed.
"You don't look too bad yourself, Parkinson." I said, rising from my seat to give her a hug. Pansy, Daphne and I have been friends for a while now. Pansy's the Eyes and Ears of Hogwarts and always the first one two know all the rumours and gossip.
"What's the gossip?" Daphne asked because of Pansy's devilish smile.
"Did you hear- " Pansy started and Daphne excitedly clapped her hands.
"I knew that you had new gossip!" she shouted.
"Did you hear that Harry is now dating this Cho Chang girl?" Pansy started again because she got interrupted the first time.
"Some say that there was already tension between them while she was with Diggory." Pansy whispered.
"Poor Cedric, she didn't deserve him." I said and Daphne nodded.
"Oh Olive, you're only saying this because you favoured him yourself." Pansy said with one raised eyebrow and a smile on her face.
I frowned at her playfully. Pansy was right. I favoured him. But that's in the past.
Cedric and I were friends since beginning of the third year. I had a crush on him but shortly after he started dating Cho. But that is all in the past. I'd still say that she didn't deserve him.
"You know, I saw Potter and Cho walking to the train together. And you should have seen the face of the youngest Weasley." Pansy continued.
"You mean Ginny." Daphne added, while searching for something in her bag.
"Oh yeah, she looked like her heart broke in three thousand pieces." Pansy laughed and shifted my attention to the trees outside of the window.
I always thought that Ginny and Harry had something going on. But the Gryffindors are not my problem.
"I'm going to go to the toilet." I said after I couldn't hear anymore about the new couples at our school.
The two nodded and continued talking about Harry and his love life. My thoughts went back to the boy I met on my summer vacation. It bothered me that Henry and I didn't talk anymore. I really thought we had something special.
On my way to the toilet, I saw Enzo, who was standing with his back towards me.
"Guess who." I sang, covering his eyes with my hands.
"Draco?" he asked confused and I rolled my eyes at him, even though he couldn't see it.
"Oh, Olive." he tried to sound surprised and I playfully pushed him away from me.
"What are you doing here?" I looked at him, noticing a little scar above his left eyebrow.
"Oh, just trying to catch a break from Draco."
I laughed at his words. Enzo preferred being alone, but when necessary he spend time with Draco and Blaise.
"Voldemort's son was in our compartment just a few minutes ago. You should have seen Draco's face the second he entered." Enzo chuckled and my smile froze.
"Are you alright?" he asked, but laughed at my expression just a second later.
"I think he's kind of creepy." I whispered in his direction and Enzo smiled.
"Don't be scared, I'll make sure he won't steal your nose." He joked and poked my nose playfully.
"Wow, you chose to be real funny today, didn't you?" I asked him while laughing.
He patted my shoulder and wandered of to his compartment while saying „I'm always funny, Olive."
While passing the other compartments on my way back from the toilet I overheard a conversation of the so called golden trio.
"It's happened. He's one of them." Harry said when I stopped at their compartment door.
"One of what?" Ron asked clearly confused.
I moved closer to the door so I could hear their conversation better. Hermione sighed before she started to explain.
"Harry is under the impression Draco Malfoy is now a Death Eater." she said, sounding rather unconvinced of Harry's suspicion.
My head turned at the two words.
"I bet Voldemort sent his son to keep an eye on him." Hermione added and Harry agreed with her.
"Scary babysitter." Ron laughed and I rolled my eyes at the comment.
"I need some air." I heard Harry say after I blurred out the rest of the conversation.
Just before he pulled open the compartment door I scampered over in the opposite direction. That was close. After he disappeared I made my way back to the compartment.
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