The Other Side: A Harry Potter FanFiction

Chapter VIII

After supper, Resa wrote directions to Number 12, Grimmauld Place on the same paper she'd given Lana earlier. As the sun began to set, the two women stood by the window, staring at the empty street outside and the threatening Death Eaters roaming the sky on their flying broomsticks.

            "You don't have to worry," Resa murmured for what felt like the thousandth time, "Once you're in the Refuge, you'll be perfectly safe."

            "Once I'm there," Lana said, "But the walk will be deadly. That I'm sure of."

            Resa nodded sadly. "You'll have to be very careful, Eliana. Very, very careful."

            "I know." Lana took a deep breath before looking over to Resa and saying, "So, what's up with you and Chandler?"

            Resa looked surprised. "What do you mean?"

            "I mean, my parents fight-fought-all the time, but you two just seemed... cold, you know? Like there was nothing between you. No love or anything at all."

            "I love Chandler like a brother."

            "Not like a husband though?" Lana asked incredulously, "I mean, if you don't love him that way, why marry him?"

            "Neither of us really had a choice. The Dark Lord wouldn't let muggles go long without being married. Any muggle over twenty-three and unmarried was sentenced to death."

            "That's horrible," Lana said, "But I don't understand. Why?"

            "Married couples end up having children," Resa replied quietly, "That's what the Dark Lord wanted; enough muggles around to remain his servants for as long as he's alive. He forces people to get married, and everyone who refuses is normally kidnapped and fed to Nagini alive."

            "Nagini?"

            "The Dark Lord's pet snake."

            "So, you and Chandler were forced together?"

            "We grew up as neighbors. After the Dark Lord took over, we remained pretty close, and when it was our time to get married, neither of us wanted to die, so we decided to marry each other."

            "Was the wedding at least beautiful?"

            "Wedding!" Resa snorted, "Muggles aren't allowed weddings!"

            "Why not?"

            "Weddings are above us," she replied sourly, "We have to go to the Death Eaters and apply for marriage. They do a very short ceremony and then its over. No dress, no cake, no music or dancing. No wedding."

            "Do you wish you could've had a fancy wedding?"         

            "Of course. What girl doesn't? I wanted to walk down the aisle to see the man of my dreams standing there, looking amazingly handsome and smiling down at me. I wanted to wear a beautiful, white, flowing dress. I wanted to cut the cake. I wanted to dance with my husband to a romantic song. All I got was a small room, with a lawyer as my audience, and a Death Eater pronouncing us husband and wife."

            Lana couldn't think of anything to say to that. As the sky darkened, she whispered, "It's almost time."

            "I suppose it is," Resa sighed, "I think I'm going to miss you, Eliana Herondale."

            "I know I'm going to miss the only kind person in this entire new world," Lana said with a sad smile. She looked at Resa with teary eyes, fighting the urge to give her a huge hug.

            "I just have one more question," she said.

            "Ask anything," Resa insisted.

            "You said that the Dark Lord wanted married couples to have children. So, did you and Chandler ever have any?"

            Resa's eyes darkened. "Yes. We did."

            "What happened to them?"

            "Every muggle child born is sent away to be trained in a certain job. Parents raise their children until they're three, and then the Death Eaters take them away."

            "At only three?"

            "Yes. At three."

            "How many children did you have?"

            "Three girls," Resa replied, "Jane, Elizabeth, and Mary. I named them after the eldest three girls in Pride & Prejudice. That was my favorite book before the Dark Lord took all books written before his reign and had them burned. The Burning of the Books, he called it. I was nineteen at the time."

            "And he just took all three of them away?"

            "One by one. All at the age of three. Jane should be six by now, Elizabeth five, and Mary four."

            "Will you ever get to see them again?"

            "Maybe by chance some day when they are much older," Resa whispered, "But I don't think so. The Dark Lord is cruel in that way. When they are freed, they will be sent to some other country to work in. Muggles aren't allowed to travel unless they have the Dark Lord's consent. I'll probably never see my little girls again.

            "You should go. It's dark now and I don't see any Death Eaters lurking around here," Resa said.

            Lana looked back out the window. She was right; the sky was empty of any Death Eaters.

            Quietly, Lana pushed the door open and stepped into the cool night air.

            "Remember, when you get there, it won't appear as you'd think," Resa whispered, "And when someone answers the door, tell them that Resa sent you. They'll know what to do."

            "Goodbye, Resa," Lana said, but it was too late. The door had already been shut, Resa hidden behind it.

            Staring back out at the street, Lana bit her lip. Here goes nothing.

            Then, taking a look at the first direction, she set off down the road, watching the sky carefully.

            Resa hadn't lied when she said it'd only take between five and ten minutes to get there. The walk was short and the Death Eaters were unseen. As Lana turned the corner onto Grimmauld Place, she smiled triumphantly at how easily she'd managed to get there.

            And then she stared at the place where Number 12 Grimmauld Place should've been, only it wasn't.

            There was Number 13 Grimmauld Place, and Number 11 Grimmauld Place. But there was no Number 12. Confused, Lana looked once more at the paper to make sure she'd read the directions correctly.

            Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, the buildings moved.

            Numbers 13 and 11 literally moved apart, forming a new building in between. A worn set of front steps led to a battered, old door with a silver knocker that appeared to be in the shape of a serpent of some sort. Beside the door on the wall was the number 12.

            With an astonished smile, Lana walked towards the new building, not noticing how the paper had fallen out of her hands and was gracefully making its way down the street in the light summer breeze.