constellation ✧ marauders

Chapter Five

Noelle seemed to only blink once before summer vacation was upon her. She was dreading it-- lonely days were her least favorite, and that was all she would experience over summer.

Noelle sat on her snug bed, alone in the large house she called home. It was mid afternoon, and she was incredibly bored-- Noelle had already read all of her schoolbooks for next year, and had them memorized by heart. The girl did fantastic on her final exams for first year, receiving full marks in every class. She had studied for them for half a year, and was very pleased with the outcome of the tests.

Noelle was fresh out of ideas as to what to fill her time with, and often found herself going on walks to the small lake at the end of her street. Noelle enjoyed basking in the sunlight there, and laying on a petite grassy hill near the lakes edge.

She also made a trip to Diagon Alley at least once a week, finding sanctuary in the wizarding world. When Noelle was at Diagon Alley, she decided to buy more books, including High-Level Astronomy, Advanced Charms; How to Cast, Block, and Create Spells, Advanced Potion-Making, Magical Beings and their Histories, The Tales of Beetle and Bard, and A Advanced History of the Wizarding World.

Multiple times at Diagon Alley she ran into people she knew from school, including Remus, Auggie, and a girl named Nina Novlenta who was a Hufflepuff in her year.

The summer scrunched by at the pace of a flobberworm, and Noelle truly wished for it to go by faster. She missed Hogwarts, her friends, and even her homework.

It was a humid Wednesday, and Noelle was walking around the large house, trying to cool herself off. She was looking for a fan- a muggle contraption that blew wind - to relieve herself from the deadly heat. Noelle decided the best place to look was the broom closet, and dragged herself there droopily. She had stayed up almost all night for the past week, gazing at the stars and memorizing each constellation. The girl had already read through her new book on Astronomy three times, and was close to memorizing it by heart.

Noelle finally found the broom cabinet she had been looking for, and pulled it open. A thick layer of dust laid on everything inside; she had never opened it before. Noelle rummaged through the cabinet, looking for a fan. She didn't find one. Suddenly, something caught her eye. One of the floorboards was adjusted oddly, and after feeling the ground roughly, she realized that she could pick up the floorboard easily. A space was beneath it, and Noelle looked closer. A medium sized black box was hidden in the space, and the girl pulled it out of the floor. She hurried back to her room, box in hand, forgetting completely about the flustering heat and how tired she was.

Noelle plopped on her bed, and slowly opened the box. She blinked once, taking in the objects inside. First she picked up a silver necklace. It was a delicate sort of thing, and had a simple diamond charm on it. Noelle inspected it carefully, and eventually realized that on the back of the charm, the initials A.D were carved. She ran her finders over the beautiful jewelry carefully, feeling each indentation and ridge. What did A.D stand for? Noelle though for a second, before deciding to put the necklace on, not wanting to lose it or to waste its obvious beauty. The girl felt slightly bad for taking the necklace-- she didn't know whose it was. It could be the woman's who owned the house's necklace, for all she knew.

She reached into the box again, this time pulling a weather-beaten and old diary out. It was damaged greatly on the outside, and Noelle opened it cautiously. The inside of the cover read, quite clearly, Tom Marvolo Riddle. Noelle flipped through the rest of the pages, noting how perfectly white and crisp they were. They were also empty of any words, and Noelle felt a pit of disappointment grow in her stomach. She was hoping that it would be filled with an explanation for the black box.