The Third Orphan

Chapter 11

"Yuliana!" Briella and Emma exclaimed in unison.

Yuliana jumped backwards, a guilty expression on her face as she jumped off Briella's bed. Her arm swiped behind her and there was a bump as something heavy fell to the floor. Briella rushed around the bed to find her suitcase a mess and the photoalbum she had brought sprawled open on the floor, one of the pictures ripped. "Hey!" she cried.

"I'm sorry!" yelped Yuliana, taking another step backwards. "I was just trying to see if you were telling the truth."

"And you expected to find that out from what was in my suitcase?" Briella asked scathingly.

Yuliana looked sheepish. "You never know?" She said it as more of a question than a statement. "Look, I was hoping you might have something written down somewhere. Or the photos could have given my some clues."

Briella looked scandalized. "You were looking for a diary to read? I thought we were friends!"

"I thought you were too, unitl you lied to us!" exclaimed Yuliana defensively.

"I didn't lie!" yelled Briella.

"Do you have any proof you didn't!"

"Do you have any proof I did?"

"Well Gavin said-"

"You're going to believe Gavin over me?"

"Stop!" cried Emma.

The two turned to stare at her in surprise. Even the usually softspoken Emma seemed surprised at the volume of her outburst. "Can't we just talk about this?" she asked. "Yelling doesn't fix anything."

Yuliana looked hesitant, but Briella was still hurt. "No," she said emphatically. Grasping the photo album under her arm she turned and left the room in a huff.

Throwing Yuliana an uncharacteristic glare, Emma turned and rushed out of the room after Briella.

Briella ran blindly up the stairs of Ravenclaw Tower, passing countless dormitories on the way up. She knew that she had been stubborn and should just shake it off and forgive Yuliana, but she couldn't. The problems seemed to be piling up on her and Yuliana had been the last straw. She could hear Emma's footsteps behind her, but really just wanted to be alone at the moment. Rounding the last turn she pointed her wand at the corridor and whispered "Moirus." A translucent sheet sprung from her wand, creating a wall behind her.

Briella could hear Emma's muffled voice coming from behind the wall, but it faded as she crossed the final 20 meters to the top of the tower. Sitting down against the cold stone wall, she allowed herself to be consumed by her tears for a minute. It felt nice to cry away from everyone. She loved her new friends, but after one day their constant presence was becoming a bit too much for a solitary nature. Even at night her sobs could be overheard.

After about five minutes Briella managed to pull herself back together. Looking up, she realized for the first time that she was not alone. Sitting in front of her and was a sympathetic looking ghost. Briella spent a minute taking in her visitor. Her hair hung in long tangled sheets down her back and her eyes glowed with warmth. Her robes were patched, but despite them she seemed to maintain a queen-like dignity. She spoke not a word, yet looked at Briella kindly, waiting for her to speak.

The silence that temporarily endured between them was comfortable enough, but somehow did not seem quite natural. Finally Briella chose to speak. "Who are you?"

"I am Lady Arabella," the ghost replied. "I am the keeper of the upper tower."

Briella looked around the tower room for the first time. There wasn't much. A faded blue rug lay on the floor and there was a pillow in the opposite corner. The room could not have been more than ten meters across and was perfectly circular. It's ceiling had a cone-like peak and windows evenly spaced along the walls so that they were just the right height for Briella to see out of.

"I thought the Grey Lady was the ghost of Ravenclaw Tower," said Briella.

"She is," replied Lady Arabella, "but she leaves this room to me. I wait here for those who need my help."

"Your help with what?" asked Briella curiously.

"When people come here often it is to find solitude, or to admire the stars. When they are ready to speak, I reveal myself. While I cannot provide human touch, I can often my advice, and it is often good. When I was alive I roamed the earth for many years and saw many things, and for thousands more I have retraced my steps gaining wisdom. And when I felt the time was right I returned to the place I loved most in my childhood: this tower room."

"You went to Hogwarts?" Briella inquired with wide eyes.

"Yes," chuckled Lady Arabella. "Many years ago, shortly after it was first founded."

"Wow," breathed Briella. "What was it like?"

"That, my dear, is a story for another time," replied Lady Arabella. "Now what brings you here tonight?"

Briella hesitated for a moment before launching into the story, beginning not with Yuliana's betrayal but the moment she and Alyssa had convinced Elizabeth to go to Diagon Alley.

When Briella had finished her tale Lady Arabella sighed. "It is a hard thing to be separated from your family. And to stand out is always difficult. But look at me child, one day this will all make sense. It may seem hard now, but hard times make us grow. I would talk more, but the sun has moved far across the sky. I suspect you have more classes today?"

Briella gasped and jumped up. More time had passed than she had thought, and in Lady Arabella's comforting presence she had forgotten all about classes. "I'm going to be late!" She called a brief thank you as she dashed down the corridor.

Lady Arabella smiled after her until Briella was out of sight. She then turned, the smile falling from her face. She closed her eyes against the visions that assailed her even in death. "My dear child," she murmured. "You will need strength. There is great tribulation rising before you. It is a blessing that you do not know what your future holds."

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I'm too lazy to edit so I apologize for any mistakes. I'll fix it later.

So I really have no idea where this story is going... I mean I have a vague plan, but mostly I sit down to write a chapter having no idea what to write about and it sort of writes itself. So it's sort of like reading with you guys but with more effort haha. Happy late New Year's by the way!