"Happy birthday to you!"
Ida's hands stung from clapping, and her cheeks ached from the huge grin on her face.
"You're getting old, Katie!" Cyrus joked, his eyes glittering with amusement.
Marissa, who had been keeping a close eye on the family, finally cracked a small smile.
"Don't say that, darling!" She responded playfully. Ida's insides felt warm and fuzzy at the sight of her mother aloofness slightly fading.
Katie beamed, before her eyes darted longingly at the uneaten chocolate cake.
"Can we cut the cake yet, Dad?" Katie pleaded, glancing up at Cyrus.
"Of course, you're practically drooling!"
Katie's face flooded with heat at the joke. Marissa leaned into her husband, sensing Katie's embarrassment.
"Don't provoke her." She muttered in Cyrus's ear, who rested a reassuring hand on her arm.
"I won't let her try anything." He whispered protectively in return. Marissa's shoulders relaxed visibly at this.
Ida knitted her eyebrows together. She had overheard the short exchange, and now gazed at Marissa and Cyrus in puzzlement.
What could she try?
However, she couldn't ponder the short conversation for long, as a sharp knock startled her out of her thoughts.
"Quick! You know the drill, girls." Cyrus ordered, his expression transitioning from calm and happy to cautious and guarded.
Obediently, Katie and Ida ambled to the staircase, dawdling to overhear the scene that was undoubtedly going to take place.
Climbing up the stairs, Ida kept a firm grip on Katie's wrist, nervous.
"I know you're in there." A rasping voice sounded, consequently causing Ida's heart to skip a beat.
"Go away!" Marissa's high-pitched voice rang out from the living room, fear lacing her words.
Katie and Ida exchanged a glance, terrified.
A latch clicked.
The heavy door rattled on its hinges as it swung open.
Ida's stomach dropped.
"We told you to leave!" Cyrus boomed, but that didn't stop the man.
"Katie Bell resides here, does she not?"
As soon as they heard this, Katie and Ida clung onto each other even more, their eyes brimming with horror. A single tear rolled down Katie's face.
"What do you want with my daughter?" Marissa hissed, her voice catching slightly.
Ida trembled in Katie's iron grip.
"She does not belong this normal world, now that she has turned eleven."
Katie gulped, her face devoid of all colour.
"What do you mean?" Marissa spoke raggedly. Ida could picture her mother's grip on the weapon she was undoubtedly brandishing, tighten.
"Katie is a witch. She has reached of age to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There is nothing left for her here."
Ida inhaled sharply at that, digging her teeth into her lip until a small trail of blood dribbled from her mouth.
Katie looked like she was trying to wake herself up from a nightmare.
"What about Ida?" Cyrus growled.
"Her time will come. Now, where's Katie?"
The stranger came into view, bespectacled and sporting an expression of upmost tranquility.
Ida froze.
"It's alright Katie. You'll be in good hands." The stranger smiled gently.
"N-No." Katie stuttered tearfully.
"I'd be happy to wait until you're ready, but I'm running a tight schedule, you see." He advanced slowly, as if approaching an injured animal.
Katie made a sound like a strangled animal.
"It's okay, you can still write to your sister, though I doubt your parents will allow her to read your letters."
Katie shook her head violently.
Brandishing what resembled a stick, the stranger directed it at Ida, his eyes pools of sympathy.
"Petrificus Totalus." He muttered, and jet of sparks erupted from the stick.
Ida's hands immediately removed themselves from Katie's arm, and snapped to her side.
Falling back, Ida found herself unable to move her limbs, only dart her eyes around wildly. The stranger grabbed Katie, who was hysterical with terror, by the wrist. She unsuccessfully tried anything in her power to escape his clutches.
Murmuring something again, Ida found herself released from her state of paralysis. She desperately reached out to grab Katie, her hands softly grazing the fabric of her shirt, but it was no use, as the pair vanished into thin air.
A shrill wail escaped Ida's lips before she was even aware she had made a sound. Her sides heaved up and down, as she sobbed intensely at the disappearance of her only sister and friend.
Tears streamed down her face like a flooded river, and everything seemed distorted - like gazing through a kaleidoscope.
Her sibling, her other half, her heart, was gone.
Like dust through Ida's fingers.
YOU ARE READING
Silver Bell | Ginny Weasley
Fanfiction"I don't believe it, this can't be right!" "Well, unless you want your daughter to remain stuck inside her home for the remainder of her teenage years, I suggest you should." • The Bell sisters had been locked away from the outside world for years...
