The Story of Sheila Riddle (Harry Potter Fanfic)

Chapter 33

A twenty-year-old Sheila lay sprawled across a bed in a dusty, well-hidden room. She stared up at the ceiling of the abandoned home, her hands holding something small and shiny. It was a perfect hideaway for two fugitives who had long since faded from people's minds. There was peace in the Wizarding World again; no one was bothered by their absence. Sheila had always been good at being a ghost, and at that point in time, it couldn't have suited her purposes better.

She had given up the search for her niece. There was no hope of finding her when they had been given no clues. She had returned countless times to the ruin of her old lab, but Tom's presence appeared to have vanished completely.

So she had gone back to the waiting game, waiting for the perfect moment to strike against Harry Potter, who was now nearly forty, and the head of a family. Dismal day after dismal day passed. Sheila felt the last embers of her hope slowly dying as she spent the everlasting hours missing her brother and pondering the fate of her niece.

Sheila looked down at the glittering engagement ring on her finger and smiled gently. Barty was the only thing that kept her going. Everyday, he promised her they would get through this and see Lord Voldemort rise to power once again. And after that, they would be married.

Sheila envied her fiance's unwavering faith. She tried to hold onto the image of their wedding day, but sometimes it felt beyond reach.

Her eyes wandered past the engagement ring and settled on the thing gripped tightly in her hands. Her smile vanished as she remembered her conversation from several weeks ago.

She stood in a dank room, facing a stringy man known as Theodore Nott. It was out of sheer luck that she had found him. When she had learned of his possessing an illegal Time-Turner, the temptation had been too great. She asked him to build her one and he had all too readily agreed. Sheila had been surprised by his enthusiasm, but had accepted it as another stroke of luck. If she had a Time-Turner, there was no telling what she could do. She could talk to Narcissa one last time, she could save her brother in the Battle of Hogwarts, perhaps she could even save her own child...

When she had returned to claim the newly built Time-Turner, Theodore had expressed his concern that the Ministry of Magic had caught wind of his illegal business. Without ever revealing why, he explained that he had added an extra feature to her Time-Turner. He had linked it to his own, so that if one of the two was activated, the other would immediately activate as well.

It was only a few days afterward, that Sheila learned of Theodore's arrest. The Ministry of Magic had confiscated his Time-Turner, and more than likely destroyed it.

Sheila turned the shiny object over and over in her hands. She held time itself in her hands. She was awed at how much power something so small contained. She was both tempted and afraid to use it. She'd heard all the stories about time travel. A hundred different things could easily go wrong. And yet, so much good could be done! Sheila was plagued with indecision. And worst of all, she felt guilty for not telling Barty about it. What would he say if he found out?

Sheila put the Time-Turner in her pocket and got up. She needed some fresh air to clear her head. She needed a walk.

She headed downstairs and paused at the door to the sitting room. Most of the things had been left when the previous owners had abandoned the house, so it was still nicely furnished. Barty was fast asleep on the couch. Sheila gazed down at him for a long time before blowing him a kiss and creeping past the door. She could easily be back before he noticed.

She left the house and started down the road, listening to the merry birdsong. The property was mostly overgrown and the house was well distanced from other establishments. Sheila didn't have to worry about being seen.

At least, that was what she had thought.

It didn't take her long to realize, however, that she was being followed. A figure followed not far behind, keeping to the shadows as best as he could. Sheila stopped dead in her tracks and spun around, her wand at the ready.

"All right, come out of there," she snarled, "What are you following me for?"

"I came to tell you something," a rough voice replied.

A thickset man with a wild appearance and stringy black hair covering his eyes stepped into view. Sheila gasped as she recognized him.

"Rodolphus Lestrange!" she exclaimed, "But how did you get here? How did you know where I was? How did you escape from Azkaban?!"

"I came to tell you something," Lestrange repeated, taking a step forward, "About the Dark Lord's child, his daughter. The Dark Lord...he spoke to me...in my head. He sent me to you."

"Tom," Sheila murmured to herself, "So he's still trying to help?"

"What do you know about his daughter?" she said aloud.

Rodolphus fixed her with his blank eyes, replying in a low rumble, "Everything."