Inside My Mind (A Harry Potter Fanfiction)

Interlude III

Starbucks, Stonebridge, London, England, Great Britain

Thursday the 31st of July 1994

11:45 PM

"Maya said she wouldn't be here for another fifteen minutes. So why are we here now?"

"Because we haven't had the time to really talk about what happened at…Hermione's school" Helen explained. Penelope blushed in annoyance and embarrassment when reminded of their time at Hogwarts.

"Oh, right. I don't think I want to talk about that" Penelope said, her face flushed. Helen smirked and rolled her eyes before taking a sip from her coffee.

"Why not? Because Professor Riddle wasn't into you even though you practically threw yourself at him. It was rather amusing, seeing that. That Bella girl didn't seem too threatened by it" Helen commented. Penelope glanced up at her best friend in surprise.

"What do you mean by 'threatened'?"

"Didn't you see it? They're meant for each other!" Helen said, grinning. Penelope looked at her in shock.

"He's like twelve years older than her! That's pedophilia" Penelope said, choking on her iced latte. Helen smirked and leaned back in her chair.

"Not now. But when she's older, it'll be fine. Did you see how they reacted when that little blonde girl said Bella might take his last name? It's was so funny. But I could understand your reaction. Professor Riddle was so gorgeous! But even I could see that he wasn't into you" Helen said, chattering as she took a bite of her scone.

"Whoa! Wait. How did everyone see it but me? Am I not good enough?"

"No, honey, that's not it. Not it at all. But he was mean to everyone. He was just as much of a prick as Maya always told us. And then he yelled at those kids. But, when he burst into the office, did you not see the worry and panic in his eyes when he looked for Bella? He was so worried for her" Helen explained, kindly. Penelope frowned and crossed her arms, pouting. It was totally not fair!

"But, I'm older than her. She's just a little girl!"

"Uh…she doesn't look like it to me" Helen said, pointing at the door. Penelope turned to look at where she was pointing and almost gaped in surprise.

Bella Potter stood in the doorway with the slightest of smiles on her lips. Her hair was pulled in a high ponytail and it seemed like she had had her bangs trimmed. She was wearing a black blazer and black jeans tucked into combat boots. She had on a pair of large glasses with thick lenses.

She walked in with her godfather, Maya, and Hermione. They were all laughing at her and she was trying not to laugh as well.

"My glasses are not funny."

"Yes they are. You haven't worn those since you were 7. What happened to your contacts?" asked Sirius. Hermione smiled.

"She lost them. They fell down the drain of the sink. She was trying to clean them and she dropped them. So I had to help her find those."

"Well, can you see? Is the prescription strong enough?" Maya asked. Bella nodded and cleared her throat.

"It was too strong at first. Remember I was trying to fix my eyesight with that…potion. But, I fixed it, relatively well. Well…Hermione helped me find the spell" Bella said, as an afterthought. Maya nodded and the group spotted Helen and Penelope.

"Oh, Aunt Helen! Aunt Penelope! Hi!" Hermione said, happily. Bella waved at them and Penelope looked at the girl, scrutinizing. She was holding a large and ornate locket and holding it tightly against herself. She was sighing in relief every few seconds. Sirius was frowning at her.

"Bella…maybe you should take off that necklace" Maya said, noticing as well. Bella let out another heavy sigh and shuddered. She shook her head and suddenly looked very light-headed.

"I…I don't want to."

"You're growing addicted. It's not good for you, Bella" Sirius reminded her. Hermione looked torn between agreeing and defending Bella. Penelope watched as she cleared her throat.

"She needs it. Remember, she made a deal with him. She keeps the locket with her at all times and she dies to keep it safe. It's okay if she's addicted to it. It's not like she can ever get rid of it, right?" Hermione said, uncertainly. Sirius shook his head and sighed.

"Getting addicted is never good. It's not so much that she's addicted but more like she's always trying to…I don't know. It's just weird" Sirius said, unable to explain himself. Bella glanced at her godfather.

"You're going to get coffee? You know my coffee order, right?" Bella asked. Sirius smirked and nodded.

"I do. It's been the same since you first tried my coffee when you were three. Two black coffees, a caramel brulée, and what would you like Hermione?" Sirius asked. Hermione shook her head.

"I don't really like coffee. Tea is fine. Two sugars and some honey."

"All right. I'll get that straight away. You ladies can go sit down" Sirius said with a devilishly handsome smirk. Bella nodded and sat across from Penelope. Maya sat on one side of her and Hermione on the other.

"So…those are two pretty lockets Bella" Penelope started. Bella awarded a bright smile.

"Thank you. Uncle Sirius gave the small silver locket to me. It has a picture of me as a baby, my parents, Uncle Sirius, and my other godfather figure, Moony. Tom gave the other locket to me, to keep it safe under all conditions. I swore to keep it safe with my life. Even being away from it makes me sick" Bella said, her smile growing dimmer as she was reminded by the locket.

At her reminder of Tom she almost flushed.

"What's inside?" Helen asked. Maya and Hermione shuddered. Bella's face grew grim.

"Bad things. Really bad things that are best not said."

"Oh…then why keep it safe?" Penelope asked. Bella smirked and leaned back.

"He cursed me. Tom cursed me last year. He made it that I wouldn't be able to express any emotion. Not rage, not fear, not pain. Not happiness, not joy, not sadness. Nothing. And to break the curse, I had to make a vow to protect the locket. The locket is very special to me" Bella said. Helen nodded in understanding and watchd in fascination as Bella stiffened and shuddered, violently.

"What's wrong, Bella?" Sirius asked as he came back with the coffee.

"Nothing…shock of magic. He used magic and the locket and my wand reacted.. He just used some very powerful magic. I think he used the same type of magic he used when he cursed me. He's using Dark magic" Bella murmured under his breath. Sirius' eyes widened and then Bella stiffened. She cleared her throat.

"It's nothing. Everything's fine. Just fine" Bella said. Penelope watched in shock as the pretty girl's lips curled into a cruel smile.

It wasn't a very bright sight.