"Maybelle, dear, is everything alright?"
Maybelle glanced at Helena with solemn eyes. The ghost of her past was slowly creeping inside her mind. They were in a carriage, the orphanage was already left far behind. Her head was resting against Helena's shoulders.
I guess I will never learn from my mistakes.
"We're here," Helena whispered. Maybelle nodded ever so slightly and followed her new guardians into her new house. When she finally lifted her face from the ground, she was left awestruck.
It was not a house, it was a mansion. She was standing in the hallway which lead up to a grand staircase. Soon, three little house elves came and waited for any instructions. Maybelle frowned a little at the situation. She never liked the idea of having house-elves as servants. But she knew better not to protest in the entirely new environment.
"Rolim, take Maybelle to her room. From today onwards you will tend to her," Andrew ordered the youngest elf who bowed and walked towards the little girl. She was hesitant first but followed him anyhow.
"Rolim thinks you are beautiful, young mistress," the house-elf muttered cheerfully. She didn't respond but continued climbing the stairs.
"Master Andrew is a kind man. He takes care of Rolim like a family. Rolim likes families. Rolim would like to be your family too," the small elf rambled all the way to a door.
Maybelle kind of hoped that her room won't be too big. Big spaces made her feel lonely. She followed behind Rolim and entered the room as soon as he opened the door. A look of relief crossed her face when she realised that it was quite a cosy place.
The room had a large window facing a quiet garden. In one corner, there was a closet already filled with decent amounts of clothes for her. Her single bed occupied the middle space of the room. There was a sitting place just below the window. The only drawback of the room was that the walls were blank, pure white. It made her feel melancholic for some reason. The blank walls reflected her life in the present reality. It had no memories, no stories, no plans.
"Does young mistress like her room?"
Maybelle nodded and glanced at him, "Call me Maybelle."
"I want to call you May!"
She jumped slightly at the new voice. There was a boy, who looked the same age as hers, standing in front of her room. He had soft brown hair and green eyes. His cheeks were dusted with freckles. He had a big grin plastered on his face.
"Who are you?"
He took her question as an opportunity to enter her room. Maybelle couldn't help but notice that he was quite clumsy and almost tripped on-air while coming towards her.
Ah, must be my twin.
"My name is Zayden Parks. Nice to meet you."
He opened his mouth to say something more but had to stop when a lady interrupted from the doorway, "Zayden, we must leave. You can catch up with your friend later!"
"Young master Zayden is my friend. Now, Maybelle is his friend too. This makes Rolim happy."
Maybelle couldn't help but roll her eyes. Her life was already so packed at such a short period of time. The last thing she needed was more friends.
Rolim smiled at her and bounced up and down in joy. He came at her almost running and tugged at the pink fabric of her dress.
"Rolim is glad that you are his friend. Mistress is calling for you downstairs. We must go."
She nodded and a chuckle erupted from her throat at his excitement. She was quite pleased to know that the house-elves here were not tortured, unlike some other households. Her hair fluttered behind her as she glided down the stairs after the hyperactive elf.
"Maybelle, dear, let's sit for our lunch. We have lots to discuss," Helena exclaimed. Maybelle didn't understand why everyone around her was so excited. She followed Helena towards the dining area where loads of amazing food were already assembled. Andrew was waiting patiently on a chair.
Helena helped Maybelle sit on a chair that was right beside Andrew. She was quite embarrassed at first because of her height. She still remembered being tall in her previous reality.
When everyone was settled, Helena and Andrew joined their hand to start a prayer. Maybelle followed the suit and closed her eyes. A certain raven-haired boy invaded her vision making her pout ever so slightly.
Get it together, Leo. He's not worth it.
"Okay, let us eat. Don't be shy Maybelle, dear. I know the orphanage has not been kind to you. So, eat as much as you can," Andrew smiled at her and gave her shoulder a light pat. For the very first time, Maybelle gave them a toothy grin and dug in the food.
"So, do you like your room?" Helena asked with a polite smile and Maybelle nodded as her mouth was full of food. She swallowed with a lot of afford and cleared her throat. She had a few questions which needed to be answered before anything else.
"Why did you choose me out of all the children from the orphanage?"
Andrew and Helena became quiet all of a sudden. They put their spoons down almost simultaneously which creeped her out to some extent. Helena cleared her throat and met her eyes for a second and then again looked away quickly.
"Let's just say that it was a promise we made," she answered in a soft voice. Her eyes welled up with years and Andrew put a hand on hers to comfort her.
Maybelle frowned ever so slightly, "A promise to whom?"
"Your father," Andrew answered as Helena burst into tears. If Maybelle had any food inside her mouth she would've choked on it by then.
"But I am not even from....." She trailed off before she sputtered out any more information she was not supposed to say. She glanced at Andrew hearing him sigh loudly.
"You are not supposed to be here, Maybelle. Whoever sent you over here did a very dangerous gamble with the strings of fate."
What have you done Voldy?
"I don't understand. If you could just elabo-"
"No, the less you know, the better," Helena interrupted, "We have to keep you safe!"
Maybelle flinched at her tone. She was beyond confused. She didn't know what kind of mess she just got tangled in.
The less I know, huh? That's what every grandfather said to a male magical protagonist before throwing them into a world of unknown only to make them realise how much crucial information they actually needed to know.
But Maybelle didn't voice her opinion. She literally begged all her life to get an adventure like this. Now, it was being handed over to her. How could she just ignore it?
"Do you happen to know about the chest pain I usually have?"
Helena gasped dramatically making her raise a questioning eyebrow.
"Oh dear, Andrew! It has already started!"
What has started?
"Finish your food first. Then we will do something about it."
Oh, how bad she wanted to ask about what was going on. But she knew better. She saw enough movies to know that she won't get a straight answer.
As the family finished eating, Maybelle was pulled into Helena's embrace. She just stood there with a very stiff posture, not liking the sudden physical contact.
"Come along dear," Helena hurried.
She nodded firmly and followed them onto a library. A gasp of awe left her lips as soon as her eyes went over the bookcases. She could bet that the library was bigger than Hogwarts'. Her fingers glided over the old books as she followed the couple without paying much attention.
"Maybelle."
She focused on Andrew who was holding a very old and dusty wooden box. The sides of the boxes were already mouldy and gross. The latch had rusted after ages of corrosion. She brought her face closer to it in curiosity at the same time when he blew the dust off it. Maybelle stumbled back and went into a fit of violent sneezes.
Ah, the dust allergy is still there in an entirely different reality.
Andrew opened the box and took out a locket. Maybelle was suddenly very intrigued by it. It was as if she was in a trance. All the things around her suddenly blurred into nothing. Her ears were filled with distant screams and a thousand waves of laughter.
A scorching heat almost burned through her flesh but a cold feeling of dread made her shiver to the bone. A face of a man she couldn't recognise flashed in front of her eyes for a brief moment. It was too fast to even notice any feature but Maybelle didn't miss the bloody tears on his face.
"Forgive......" The whisper rang in her ears like the screams of millions of taunted souls.
"Maybelle!"
She jumped three feet high in the air and clutched the place above her rapidly beating heart. Her eyes were glazed over with tears she didn't even remember shedding. She was just thankful that she didn't curse out loud.
"I...I am okay. Pardon my behaviour. I....tend to zone out quite frequently," she stuttered and wiped the remaining tears.
Andrew handed the chain to Helena who moved it towards Maybelle's neck. She gulped and lifted her hair up so that she could put it on her.
"Your magic, it's too strong for your little body to control. You must wear this all the time. Make sure to use magic only during emergencies. Understood?"
Maybelle just managed to nod. Things were happening too fast. It scared her. If things happened at this pace, maybe it would end faster than she wanted. A thought suddenly crossed her mind.
"Am I a pureblood?"
Helena placed her hair down and crouched down to her height.
"Your blood is the purest, Maybelle. But never let pride take you down. It is your blood that caused havoc in the past."
She was taken aback by her statement. For the very first time, she saw rage and hatred in her gentle eyes. She backed away unconsciously while Andrew kept a hand on his wife's shoulder.
"What is wrong with my magic?"
"The magic that runs in your blood is not accepted in this society, Maybelle. Therefore, you must refrain from using it," Andrew ordered.
Suddenly it all made sense to her. She clutched the locket around her neck, "I have dark magic."
Oh my namjesus! What sh*t did I get myself into?
"You must keep this as a secret, Maybelle. Promise us!"
She glanced at the couple with dreadful eyes, "I.....I promise."
••••••••••••••••
"You need to control your thoughts, Maybelle!"
"I am trying!"
If only I could strangle Voldy for putting me in this situation.
Andrew sighed loudly, " I am unable to understand the situation with you. I can't really get inside your mind but whenever you think something, I can clearly hear it. And who in the name of Merlin is Voldy?"
Maybelle rolled her eyes and got up from the chair. As soon as she saw Helena, she ran towards her. They had grown quite close over the course of a few months. Zayden, who was standing beside Helena, waved at her. Maybelle had tried her best to push him away. She was still not ready to trust someone once again. But he never gave up and grabbed every opportunity to make her crack even the smallest smile. He kind of reminded her of Noi Noi.
"Give her some break dear. She has already mastered occlumency at such a young age," Helena scolded her husband and turned towards Maybelle," Belle, dear, you need to think carefully. You'll be attending Hogwarts in a few months. We don't want anyone to know about your secrets now, do we?"
She shook her head from side to side. Her hands automatically clutched the locket around her neck. It was a beautiful thing, no doubt. The crescent moon was made with some kind of black metal bent carefully into some intricate swirly designs. Just beside it, there was a small charm that looked normal in the daylight but gave a light blue glow when it was dark.
Maybelle thought back to the last eight months she spent in the Wright household. Her mornings would start with breakfast and then she would spend half of her day in the huge library with Helena learning all about potions, magical creatures, charms, basically whatever sparked her interest.
Her evenings were mostly with Andrew training herself to control her dark magic as much as possible. She even learned a few advanced spells just for self-defence from something that Andrew never mentioned.
Unfortunately, the Wright family could not give her all of their time. Andrew actually owned the biggest platform in trade business, both for muggles and wizards. That explained the huge mansion. So, the couple usually spent most of their days overseas leaving her alone in the house.
Those were the times Maybelle spent training herself with more advanced magic which she found out from the books in the library. She also realised that if her magic was restricted, she should at least know how to fight. So, her little friend, Rolim and the annoying boy Zayden would often help her revise all those memories of karate classes from her previous reality.
By the end of the day, Rolim would be left to clean up tons of broken woods and shattered glasses. Zayden would shower her with compliments and beg her to teach him some moves which she would always deny. But that never really discouraged him.
Maybelle was also quite surprised by how much her 10-year-old body could take. All those intense training had made her body quite toned. She had even managed to gain back the slight tan of her skin.
She also took time to plan for her original goal of coming here. Though it was quite difficult at first, she had managed to become absolutely immune to the tactics of Tom Riddle. Her main aim was to open the chamber of secrets and defeat the basilisk at first.
Though she would have to do further studies to gain that knowledge. Unlike Hogwarts, the restricted section of her library actually had a few hexes and curses. The first time she tried to enter it, she was almost turned into a barbecue.
"Lost in your thoughts again, Belle?"
She smiled at Helena sheepishly and shook her head. She felt Zayden bump shoulders with her which made her scowl immediately.
"What were you thinking, May?"
"Nothing," she mumbled under her breath ignoring him completely.
Helena pulled a strand of her hair hard enough to make her wince. She received a look of warning and refrained from rolling her eyes.
"Thinking when I'll go to Hogwarts," she mumbled again.
"That's great! I can't WAIT! I hope I'll be in Griffindor."
Maybelle snorted loudly making Helena gasp in surprise. The rest of the way to the dining hall was filled with lectures about how to be a lady and an occasional burst of excitement from Zayden.
Can't wait to go to Hogwarts.