In the Shadow of Azkaban

Volume II: Alternate Ending X

Lailah's Point-of-View
Manor Cape
December 1904

"Aunt Kass." I pressed my lips into a frown and brought my hands together to plead.

"Please. My recollections of father are so faint. You said once my magic came in that I could view the pensieve." I stared up at her, my brows raised.

"Ask your mother." Aunt Kassia flicked her wrist at me as she peered down at master plans given to her by the Ministry.

"Ask your mother what?" A door on the upper floor closed, and quiet footsteps descended the stairs.

It's almost as if she heard she was called.

My mother waited on the last step and leaned against the banister. Her arms hugged around the post on the railing. "Ask me what, Lailah?"

I spoke quickly to get the words out, "Can I see the pensieve?"

"I was wondering when you would become curious about it." She sighed and pressed her lips into a thin line before nodding, "Alright, darling. Follow me."

Her skirt swished up the corridor, and I trailed just behind her. She removed her wand from her pocket and began speaking incantations while waving the tip of the wood at the wall facing the stairs.

The plaster disappeared to form a small semicircle where a basin fit perfectly inside. I had never seen a pensieve in-person until now, but it seemed exquisite. Enchanted.

The light blue liquid hadn't moved until I approached it. Once I placed both my palms against the edge of the ceramic, the water swirled.

"Go on, sweetheart. I'll be just outside. It's best you experience it by yourself." She brought her hand up and gestured at the pool of magical memories.

My mother told me once that when they returned to Greece, before burying my father, she removed her favorite memories of him that she would show me one day. I held onto that sentiment and patiently waited until now.

Although, part of me wondered if this would change my relationship with my dad. He never seemed particularly upset when I asked about my father. But once I turned a certain age, I noticed it may have affected him more than I realized.

I braced myself against the concrete and plunged my head into the water. It wasn't like swimming though. Instead, I fell onto a patch of dirt.

Screaming ensued, and I quickly rose to my feet. I spun around a few times until encountering my mother.

I watched the scene carefully. She was cowering and cornered by an enormous spider. And then I saw him. My father emerged from the treeline and shouted something.

I sucked in a large breath, noting he casted The Imperius Curse.

Merlin. An Unforgiveable?

However, the memory progressed, and I saw my father comforting my mother. His voice was harsh, almost breathless when he spoke to her, "I swore I would never use them unless absolutely necessary. I could feel it in my bones that she was planning on ripping you to shreds. I meant that curse because I would only ever use it to save you."

The air and leaves levitated into the air and began whooshing around me until the location changed.

Instead of a forest, the memory took place in a village. The town appeared to be bustling as people filtered in and out of the main area. Vendors lined the circular area with their bright colored tents and stalls.

My father stuck out like a sore thumb with his expensive robes. I could hear my feet clacking against the cobblestone when I hurried over to my parents. His voice was low when he asked, "Is there anything particular that you would want from the market?" His fingers intertwined with my mother's.

It seemed my father never let my mother out of his grasp. His other arm was wrapped around her waist, and his head rested on her shoulder when he spoke, "I have never seen it for myself, but I've been told that Tanzanite appears lovely in all lighting."

I mimicked my mother's movement to see the piece of jewelry. I should have known.

It was my necklace. Though, as I understand now, it was my mother's first.

The pendant shone a deep blue as it glinted in the sunlight. Delicate silver metal barely covered the edges of the elongated diamond, and there was more silver detailing at the bottom. My fingers traced the necklace on my collarbone until the hamlet disappeared.

A multitude of memories surrounded me. I witnessed their private engagement, my father's family, the public engagement, and even their wedding. I shied away at some moments, like my own birth.

Some memories I attempted to enter immediately repelled me. It was as if there was a protection spell cast over it to prevent me from experiencing the recollection.

When the last memory finished the rerun, I grounded myself and managed to pull my head out of the pensieve.

"Was it everything you hoped for?" My mother's voice sounded fuzzy, and I realized that the experience must have lasted a lot longer than I believed it to be.

It was worth it. My father adored my mother, his family, and me. Obviously, I would have been more fortunate if the other half of my family survived, but I understand it was to avenge Morganna and rise against Xilia. But there was one issue that I couldn't seem to wrap my head around.

"Yes. I just have one question." It was a genuine curiosity, and she would know the answer.

"Shoot." She was leaning over the pensieve, staring down into the enchanted pool.

"Where does my dad fit into all of this? Why wasn't he in most of the memories?" My eyes fixed on my mother's face.

But she kept her eyes glued to the basin, her expression clouded. She spoke into the water as if she were directing her words to it, "When you are old enough to understand, I promise I will tell you."

She resealed the entrance to the pensieve and shuffled down the stairs without another word.