My small hands were covered in warm pink mittens, which made it harder for me to hold a firm grip on anything, but they held on as tightly as they could to the much larger hands of my father, Merciless Rosewood.
I didn’t have a clue where we were.
The air was cold; after all, it was Christmas time in London, and to add to that: it was snowing.
My mother, Cecilia, was smiling, and my father kept his face hidden beneath the shadows of his top hat and the walls of his long black coat - as he usually did.
I don’t think I’ve ever even seen his face, but surely, my father was a handsome man.
He must be!
I assumed, for my mother was beautiful, the most beautiful woman in the world! And it only seemed right that she would marry someone even better looking than herself! I love my mother. She doesn't scare me as much as my father.
No, it’s not that my father is mean; it’s not that he’s cruel, and my fear of him has nothing to do with his appearance either (How would it? I'd never seen his face!). My father has always been kind to me. He compliments me; he picks me up and twirls me around like a fairy, he pats my little brown head (that always feels nice!), and makes sure I always have the prettiest dresses. “Are you happy, my little queen?” he would always ask, “You should always be happy, my queen”, and then he’d go speak with mother.
Whispering, looking back at little me, whispering…
What makes him scary is before he goes to work every morning. Just before he walks out the door, he’ll glance back at me, standing beside mother, and I’ll see the colour of his eyes reflecting off the lights of our hallway.
Red.
Today father didn’t go to work. Instead, he has taken mother and I here, to the steps of a sad looking building. The building was entirely grey; the windows had scary looking bars on them, and the doors were just black. My father began talking to my mother. Words I did not understand. And then with that, he looked down at me. He was smiling, I could tell. “My little Vivie”, he paused for a moment before kneeling down to my level, and yet, I could still not see his face even when he was so close… scary. “My little Vivie, your mother and I are going to go away for a very, very, very long time. This is going to be your new home.”
Little me began to get upset, tearing up, but my father only chuckled lightly as he wiped away a stray tear.
“Don’t cry, Vivie. You know I don't like it when you cry.” He says sternly. He must be frowning now.
I know he doesn’t like it when I cry. Crying makes him angry. Father isn't very nice when he’s angry.
He sighs, and stands back up again. He nods towards my mother before disappearing into thin air. I remember my mother telling me it was called disaperating, which was basically teleporting, and being able to quickly get from one place to the other in a blink of an eye. It was called magic.
Now it was only my mother and I left on the stone steps. She looked like an angel in the snow. She had beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes. Just like an angel would! But right now she didn't look like a very happy one, she looked like a sad one.
“Your father”, a sigh, “he and I will always love you; we still love you, we always will, and that will never change. This… This isn’t going to be forever. You’ll find a better home soon. I promise. A place where you can make friends that are just like you! You’ll learn all about magic and you’ll be able to use it, just like your mummy and daddy!” she paused, just like father, but this time she paused to take a thick brown book from her bag, “Sweetie, I want you to read this. This is very important; only you can read this, but make sure you never lose it. Can you do that for me sweetie?”
Little me nodded eagerly, always happy, and always eager to please her mother and father.
She smiled, she looked like she was about to cry too, but it’s okay now, because father isn’t here. She asks me to turn around. She opens up my brown leather rucksack and places the book inside with the other things she had packed for me.
“Vivie, remember everything your father taught you, okay? Remember everything mommy has told you. Always remember. If you forget, you’ll find it all in the book.” She kneels down and puts her hands on the sides of my arms, rubbing them comfortingly.
“All of this, sweetie, is our little secret. Only mommy and daddy know. Don’t tell anyone else, okay?”
I nod.
“Good girl.”
She’s still trying to keep smiling, but I can see her eyes watering even more now.
“This was always how it was suppose to be, honey… Oh dear! I don’t even know why I’m tearing up! Your father would be having a field day right now if he was here… Sweetie, remember how we practiced? I know you do. It’ll be just like that!”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that!”
I knew what I had to do, everything I was suppose to say, where I was going, and where I was. I knew it all now. It was just like we practiced.
“Vivienne, there will be a boy. Just like you. His name is Tom; Tom Riddle Jr. You’ll like him, dear. I know you will. He’s just like you!”
She stood back up, wiped the snow off her skirt, and smiled, “Make the best of it, sweetie. It’s what your father would have wanted.”
“Yes, mother”
I walked up the steps, towards the black door. But before I knocked, I had something to say, just before this chance was gone, I needed to say it. I turned around, she was still there, and looking a bit confused.
“Mother…. Mother, I-“
“Don’t be scared, sweetie. It’s what we both must do”
“I know, mother, but I-”
“It’s okay sweetie, I know.” She smiled, a real warm smile that only a mother could give, “I love you too”
She was gone. Dissaperated.
I stared at the spot where she once stood; she was gone, just like that.
Just like that.
I turned around, and knocked on the black door to the orphanage.
Just like that.
*****
“I love you, mother” – words better left unsaid.