I Solemnly Swear || Book One of the Pure-Blooded series

Chapter One: The Wand Shop

The house was quiet, nearly silent. I was used to it by now, but today it was especially stifling. This was probably because I'd been told to be quiet.

There were faint noises. Tick-tock. The pendulum swung back and forth on the clock, telling us it was nearly half past one. Scritch scratch. A quill scratched its way across a piece of parchment, words forming in my mum's elegant script.

She sat at a desk in the parlor, composing a letter. I sat in a chair by the fireplace, trying not to fidget. I was failing. I fiddled with the ribbon holding my not-quite-black hair in a braid, trying not to say it. I wasn't going to say it. I wasn't. I wasn't....

I couldn't take it anymore. "We're going to be late," I said into the silence.

"Shh. What did I say?" I ducked my head; I didn't like disappointing Mum, but I couldn't help it.

We were due to meet Tyler and his mum in Diagon Alley at half past one; the clock showed that was only five minutes from now. The hand on the clock ticked, and I deflated. Four minutes.

We should have left five minutes ago, but an owl came for Mum just as she was about to throw in the Floo Powder, and, after reading it, she insisted on responding right away. Something about a family emergency, although it apparently wasn't important enough that I should know about it.

Then again, we were practically related to everybody; there was no guarantee I'd even know who she was talking about.

The soft pad pad of bare feet added to the quiet cacophony of the room, and I glanced over to see our house elf, Tupsy, walk in and immediately bow her head. "Forgive Tupsy," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Tupsy thought Mistresses had left already."

Mum dipped the quill into the inkwell. "We'll be leaving soon; don't expect us gone more than two hours. Have tea waiting when we arrive back."

Tupsy sank into a low bow. "Of course, Mistress." But instead of keeping her bulbous eyes staring at the carpet, she turned her gaze to me. I smiled, and she smiled back.

It wasn't proper, but I liked Tupsy as more than a loyal servant. Not quite a friend, more like a pet. I talked to her, snuck her biscuits; sometimes, when I was left home alone, we even played hide-and-seek.

Mum would have a fit if she ever found out, but it got so quiet in this big, old manor with just her and me. And I didn't have any real pets.

I glanced at the clock: three minutes. I sighed.

"I do not appreciate that tone, Allison." Mum hadn't even looked up from her writing. Wait, she wasn't writing anymore; she was putting the letter in an envelope!

"Sorry, Mum," I said, standing and trying not to bounce on my toes as she sealed the envelope in our family crest. Mum didn't like it when I fidgeted. Pure-blood witches did not fidget. Pure-blood witches didn't do a whole lot, as it turned out.

Finally, finally she handed the letter off to the waiting owl, which flew off to its master as Mum stood from her chair.

I'd been told I look rather like her: tall, wavy hair (although she never had a strand out of place) and bright eyes that twinkled with magic. I hoped I looked like Mum when I was older; she was beautiful. Although right now, she looked annoyed.

She clicked her tongue as she made her way over to the fireplace, where a roaring fire already blazed. "Pure-blood witches are not impatient, Allison," she said, taking a pinch of Floo Powder. "You can be so like your father sometimes."