When I landed at the Lovegoods, I half expected rare creatures to come and attack us, but instead, the only thing that attacked me was Selena's body landing on mine. I pushed her off and tried to stand up, but Selena's legs were twisted with mine, and I fell on top of her.
"Get off me!" She said, shoving me off. I scoffed.
"What's got your panties in a twist?" I asked, rubbing my head that hit a table when she shoved me off. I had just recovered from a concussion; I hoped I hadn't gotten another.
"You-know-who and his followers could come through the floo and minute now, and we're just sitting here," She said. I rolled my eyes. Honestly, I don't know why she doesn't just call him Voldermort.
"Actually, only people whose blood is in the system can enter through the grate," An airy voice said behind us. We immediately spun around, and Selena pushed me behind her, much to my annoyance.
"Who are you?" I asked. Standing before us was a man with shoulder-length white hair, dressed in an odd-looking cloak. He calmly sipped tea as if we hadn't just broken into his house.
"I believe I am Xenophilius. I live here. You, however, do not. Who might you be?" He asked, not bothered by our defensive stance.
"I'm Coraline Amor, and this is my sister Lila Amor. Where is Pandora?" I asked, the lie easily slipping off my tongue. Selena elbowed me in the ribs at the bluntness of my question, and I groaned. My ribs were still sore. Xenophilius grew a solemn look on his face.
"Dead."
Selena let out a strangled sound, trying to keep in her tears. I put a comforting hand on her shoulder as my face went void of all emotions.
"How did you know my wife?" He asked suspiciously.
"She trained us in our magic every Friday after an incident with our accidental magic in a park. We never skipped a lesson, but in February, she never returned," I said with a slight shake in my voice. I pulled Selena into a hug, and she buried her head in my neck as we tried to process that the only person to ever be like a mother to us was dead.
"Ah, yes. My wife did indeed like to take in fascinating creatures," Xenophilius stated with a faraway look.
"Creatures?" I heard Selena mutter under her breath, insulted.
"Daddy, do we have any pudding?" A female's light, airy voice traveled down the stairs. A blonde girl was skipping down the stairs causing her polka dot skirt to bounce. She seemed a little younger than us and had an innocent yet broken look in her eyes.
"Oh, hello. Did you know you both have wrackspurts swarming your head?" The young girl asked. My eyebrows shot up in surprise. What in Merlins' name was a wrackspurt?
"Um, no?" Selena answered.
"Well, they tend to hang around the lost," The girl stated before skipping off to the kitchen.
"Lost? We're not lost," I muttered, offended. I felt the girl didn't mean the navigation type of lost.
"Would you like to stay for dinner with Luna and me? We can discuss my wife," Xenophilius asked. I subtly shook my head at Selena, but she smirked at me.
"We would love to. Wouldn't we, Coraline?" Selena said sweetly, smiling at me. I half-heartedly glared at her. I imagine this was payback for lying to her.
Xenophilius led us toward the kitchen in silence, and I looked around in amazement at the moving photos. I had a sense of longing as I caught sight of a family photo of Pandora and Xenophilius hugging Luna. I wished I could have grown up being squished by my parents for family photos or being tickled by my dad, but I didn't, and it was stupid to keep wishing for it to happen.
We entered the kitchen, and Selena wrinkled her nose in disgust at seeing the muddy kitchen table covered in trinkets and newspapers, leaving no eating space. We stood waiting for Xenophilius to use magic to clear the table but instead, he sat down on the floor beside Luna and floated the pre-made food to us.
Hesitantly Selena and I sat down and grabbed a floating plate, serving ourselves. Dinner consisted of different kinds of cheese and pickles that we were supposed to eat with crackers. This meal was new to me because Vernon and Dudley could never survive on pickles, cheese, and crackers. I ate it anyway, thankful I was even getting food. This would be the first time I'd had food in over a week. I was trying not to be greedy and take it all.
I looked around the room and choked on my cranberry juice. Selena gave me a questioning look and followed my eyes. She almost spit out her cheese. Sitting smack dab in the kitchen was a picture of Selena and me surrounded by several lit candles and jewels.
"Ah, I see that you've finally noticed the picture," Xenophilius said, taking a sip of his pumpkin juice. I raised my eyebrows, struggling to find the right words.
"Why do you have a picture of us in your kitchen?" I asked, not knowing if I really wanted to know the answer. I wasn't even going to ask how they had the photo. The whole set-up looked like a shrine for Jesus I saw in a Catholic church.
"My wife was always fond of that photo. She would say that you are our hope," He told us as if it was completely normal. I shared a glance with Selena. If someone thought we were their hope, they were crazy.
"Well, dinner was lovely, but we must be off," I said, standing, feeling weirded out by the whole situation. Selena nodded, standing up too.
"Good luck, Ophelia," A quiet voice said. I saw Luna staring at me with a dreamy expression as if she wasn't all there. I didn't have time to think about how she knew my real name.
"You may use the floo on the way out," Xenophilius said, shooing us out of the room. We thanked them for dinner and quickly floo'd back to Warlocks Wands, hoping our wands were ready.
On the counter were two wands, two wand holsters, and a note but no Colin. I grinned at the sight of one of the wands, immediately knowing it was mine.
It was black with a white twist in the wood. On the grip, it had blood-red vines that twisted into the shape of a crown. I grabbed it, feeling a warmth shoot through my body. I waved it, and a bonfire smell filled the shop. I smiled, breathing in the scent. A look of euphoria passes over my face making Selena laugh.
Next, Selena grabbed hers, inspecting every inch. It was a light chestnut color and had pieces of Cassandra Trawney's crystal ball decorated around the grip. She waved it, and fireworks shot out, making her laugh.
"Are you going to read the note?" She asked. I picked it up and read it aloud,
"I have included two wand holsters in exchange that you watch over my little sister, Emily Rinslow, in Hufflepuff. Remember, you are our hope. ~Colin Rinslom."
I was now a hundred percent sure that the Lovegoods and the Rinsloms were involved in some sort of cult. Like, what the heck does you are our hope mean, I wondered to myself. People only put their trust in eleven-year-olds if they were in a cult.
"Come on. We need to find a place to stay and keep hidden from You-know-who," Selena told me, slipping the wand holsters into her backpack. I nodded, and we set off to find the least sketchy place to stay until Hogwarts.
YOU ARE READING
The Slytherin Queen
FanfictionOnly a few knew about the girl who lived in the attic, and the Dursleys planned on keeping it that way. They were scared of her and her freakish ways. They thought they could beat it out of her to make her submit. And that's precisely what the old f...
