The Adventure of A Curly Haired Girl

A House Secret

Chapter 3: A House Secret

They all sat around an old wooden dinning table in a small meeting room just beside the kitchen. The table and chairs were all black, but Emily didn't expect anything less from the house that previously belonged to Sirius Black.

Emily snuggled the warm cup of tea That Mrs. Weasley had given her between her palms. She relished its warmth as she brought the smooth liquid to her lips and its heat started to spread throughout her body with each sip.

She smiled at kind woman in thanks, for Mrs. Weasley had been watching like a concerned mother and was waiting to make sure she was no longer shaken up.

After the three had lowered their wands and all had calmed down Mrs. Weasley walked out of the kitchen. She fussed over Emily and the Doctor like they were her own children.

The woman had exclaimed, "Oh dear! You've frightened them half to death!"

She didn't seem to mind that they were complete strangers or that they had somehow found their secret meeting place. She hurried them into the dinning room and brought them tea with the biscuits following behind her, hovering in mid air.

The reason for Mrs. Weasley kindness was partly because she had seen a look she knew all too well in Emily's eyes. A look of pure hopefulness and truth.

As a mother, she couldn't help her heart swell for the young girl.

Emily recalled with a smile how Mrs.Weasley had fussed over how pale she was from fright and gave a stern look to her husband before scurrying off to get more tea.

Now, with a warm tea in hand, Emily began to tell her story and recalled the events that had occurred just before arriving at Grimmauld Place.

The Order did not interrupt her in her story. Well, except for Tonks who was curious to know what a Timelord really was and the purpose of a Tardis. The Doctor did his best and explaining quickly, and finished with, "it's timey-whimey stuff."

Tonks still didn't seem to quite process all that he had said, but Emily continued with her story anyway.

Her eyes kept shifting to Lupin, who was listening intently and nodding once every few moments, encouraging her to continue. When she finished, he remained silent for a few minutes and looked down at the table in deep thought.

They sat there in the dark dinning hall with nothing but the noise of the sipping of tea filling the air as they processed all that they had heard.

"It sounds like, from what you described." Lupin began, " That the creature could very well be a Lethifold."

"A Lethifold?" The Doctor asked, feeling the strange name upon his tongue.

Lupin nodded, "Yes, it's a very old creature."

"Wasn't there a huge breakout of them in the muggle world in the 10th centaury?" Tonks asked.

Lupin looked at her in surprise, "Yes, but now they are almost extinct. How'd you know about that? The information on them is sparse."

Tonks shrugged and mumbled something about how she doesn't sit around like a muggle all day.

Lupin chose to pretend like he hadn't heard and continued, " They're rumored to be derived from the Dementor family. That is why you felt immense dread and fear when it was near."

"So does it want your soul?" Emily asked.

"No, the Lethifold's aren't exactly satisfied with just part of yourself. It devours you, body and soul and uses your energy to regenerate another copy of itself."