Annabel

Chapter 1: Little Riddle.

         She woke up to the sound of a big thunder outside. The clock marked almost midnight as the girl sat on her bed, shivering from the cold and looking outside of the window. Rain poured down strongly on London's streets and the Wool's II Orphanage trembled under the storm; the 10 year old girl got up, slowly approaching the window, staring at a very odd cat who was sitting on the floor outside of the building, under the pouring rain.
         She was about to open the window when another girl came in her room, looking terrified;

   "Strong storm right, anna? I can't sleep either... The thunders are too loud." she said as she entered in the room and sat on the bed.

   "Right... Look at that cat though! It's been outside since yesterday, even with the rain."

   "It's probably Mrs Coldin's cat, remember that dog who wouldn't come out of her room?"

"Amelia! What are you doing out of your bed? I was checking if everybody was alright and didn't find you! Annabel darling, close the window, we don't wan't your bed to get wet." said the skinny old lady, Mrs Coldin, coming in and looking up at the ceiling
"The other room has a leak... this one looks fine though. Let's go, Amelia, go and try to get some sleep, both of you have school tomorrow." she said, waiting for Amelia as the girl got up from the bed and headed towards her room, closing the door behind her.
         Annabel looked at the cat once more and closed the window, laying back on her bed; the black tiles on the walls of the small room kept reflecting the lightnings as the clock marked midnight. Her eleventh birthday. She wished herself a happy birthday and closed her eyes, waiting for sleep to take over.

It wasn't the best night of sleep she ever had. She kept waking up to the thunders, and now, at 8AM, she was pretty much sleepwalking. Her light blond, long wavy hair was all messed up and she was late; she was sure she missed the bus too. She quickly put her uniform and ran downstairs, tying her long hair into a ponytail while running outside, just to see the bus leaving. She tried waving but it was already gone, and to make her day even better, it started to rain.
Annabel took a good 20 minutes walk to her school, and once she got there, she was dripping wet. She went straight to the bathroom to try and dry herself a little, just to see the same cat outside of the window, looking at her. The cat remained there the whole morning, but Annabel didn't care, she was sure she had catch a cold and felt like shit. The girl took the bus to get back to the orphanage, and when she got there she went straight to her room, changing into some warm clothes. She put her school books on the little table beside her bed, and when she was about to sit down to do her homework, Mrs Coldin walked in smiling.

"Annabel, there's a lady wanting to talk to you; go downstairs and be nice, she looks like she would adopt right away. Happy Birthday by the way." she said, smiling at her and holding the door open. The girl felt butterflies on her stomach. She really wanted to get adopted by someone, but she never had the luck. She straightened her jeans and her tank top before heading downstairs, to the meeting room.
         Once she got to the room, a tall, grey-haired lady in emerald-green odd robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Annabel's first thought was that she was not someone to cross. Her mouth was very thin and she looked like she was disgusted by the place. The girl walked in with Mrs Coldin by her side, but the woman spoke up.

   "I would like to speak to miss... Gaunt, in private if you don't mind." she said to Mrs Coldin, who nodded and left, leaving only the two of them.

   "It's Riddle, ma'am. Gaunt is my middle name." said Annabel as she sat down, the old lady looked like she was going to explode as her mouth became thinner.

   "I would like to speak about your education. You've been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." she said and Annabel lifted her eyebrows "You are a witch, did you noticed strange and odd things happening around you?" asked McGonagall.