The Little Lightning Girl

63- The Cage

Josephine's answering smile was sad, but she nodded and came fully into the room with me. 

"Yes, Alana," she said, sitting next to me, "I was her best friend."

Even though I'd guessed it, seen the pictures and made connections, hearing her admit it out loud caused a gasp to escape my lips. I'd not met another person in the Wizarding world who knew anything about my family. Tom, the bartender, he'd seen my grandmother, recognized her enough to recognize the similarities in our faces. But he didn't know her. This woman in front of me, who I'd written letters to for years now, she was my grandmother's best friend. 

"I met her our first night at Hogwarts," Josephine started, "she found me crying after the feast because, well because my family. I came from a pureblood family full of Slytherins. The only people in my family who'd been sorted outside of Slytherin had gotten disowned. I had two older twin sisters, Elizabeth and Penelope. They were both in Slytherin. My eldest sister Annabelle, well, everyone thought she'd get in Slytherin, they thought we all would. But Anna got sorted into Ravenclaw, and I knew. It didn't matter that Penelope and Elizabeth did get into Slytherin, because I knew from a young age that I didn't want to be anything like what they were."

Sneaking suspicion roiled in my gut. I knew all about blood-proud families. Neither the Potters or Weasleys were of this variety, but Scorpius had told me about his grandparents. If Josephine came from one of those families... shit. 

"What was your maiden name?" I asked hesitantly. 

"Rosier," Josephine said, her usual smile gone. 

Shit. I'd read up on the Sacred 28  when I got back from imprisonment. There was a list, of 28 families that were considered the most pureblooded, with absolutely no muggle breeding involved in their family lines. The surname 'Rosier' had been near the top of the list. 

Josephine smiled sadly at my realization, "Elizabeth was a genius, but she was cold and closed-off, and spent her days reading about the Dark Arts. Penelope was just like our parents. She was manipulative and cruel, and she hated everything I was. Annabelle, as you could guess, was different. She was kind and curious, and she loved to paint landscapes. She wasn't allowed home after her first year. She stayed with her friend Frank's family, Frank Longbottom. They were pureblooded, but they were Blood traitors and they knew what she'd been through. I wrote to her in secret until I got my Hogwarts letter. My first night at Hogwarts, Penelope cornered me to tell me that she was going to write our parents, and said some other disturbing things that left me crying. Kal found me, and she started singing. I was so surprised, I stopped, and we were attached at the hip going forward. I stayed with her family for the next seven years. She wasn't just my friend, she was-she-"

Josephine stuttered to a stop, so I reached out to her, placing a hand on her bony shoulder. 

"She was your sister."

Josephine nodded, "She was. I loved her. When we graduated, I joined the Order. Voldemort was rising, the Wizarding World was falling into chaos. I was young, and pretty, and despite my Sorting I was from a family full of pureblood wizards. So they used me as a spy. I only had enough time to write a few letters. I told Kal to leave. I told her to run far away and to hide her magic, even if she met other wizards."

It made sense, I supposed. Grandma never had told us why she'd left England and come to Hawaii. The only time I remember ever asking, she'd just said that she needed to turn a new page. But she'd been running. 

"Why did you tell her to run? Why her and no one else?" 

Josephine shook her head and sighed, so I knew it was serious when she spoke softly, "Because they wanted her. She was special and Voldemort knew that if he had her on his side, the war would be over."