An Unexpected Owl

Kyrene sat in a silenced awe at her writing desk. In her hands she held a letter penned in green ink upon thick cream hued parchment, it trembled, as she did. Her fine brows furrowed as she looked unblinkingly at it, fearful, hopeful that it was a dream. No, the letter was quite real and had been dropped to her not long ago by an owl with a tawny body and white wings. Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes trying to calm her racing heart as it hammered noisily against her ribcage. Then when she felt refreshed the deep blue orbs that were her eyes flicked back to the top of the page, to begin again.

"Dear Kyrene Dashurie Seward-Reeves,

This is a letter of invitation to attend Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardry. We understand that these are troubling times and it is for that reason we urge the youth of this generation and their caregivers to provide them with the education required to lead successful lives. Please see the enclosed list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins September 1. We await your Owl by no later than July 31."

Kyrene squinted but could not make out the signature no matter how hard she tried. Her mouth was suddenly dry and she had the over whelming fear that she had done something wrong, but she couldn't have, could she? Biting her lip she quickly read it again before haphazardly scanning through the list of items. Tucking her feet beneath her she took a deep breath and smiled. Uncle Melech had always said she'd only ever need to know enough magic to make a good wife, and she believed him, but the idea of something more seemed too good to be true.

"I wonder what it would be like." she mused to herself making believe that she dazzled them all with her wondrous prowace and skill. It would be marvelous, she thought for a moment, but only just before sorrow took her, he wouldn't let her go and she knew it, he liked keeping her close too much, and besides Hogwarts was rumored to be under Order rule now.

The room, the locked room, was dark and dimly lit by a half dozen, eternal black candles. Gathered together they all rested upon a small table in the corner. The room was relatively bare in spots and numbingly cold throughout, but in this room held its owner's secrets. In this room stood the gleaming death mask and cloak which marked Melech, just as clearly as the black serpent and skull on his forearm as a Death Eater.

In the center of the room however, was the man's most highly prized treasure, a glass case filled entirely of wands. Though he did not remember all of their names, Melech could recount their screams, their pleas for mercy, their anguished cries, and the iron scent of their blood, their traitorous, filthy blood. Opening the case and closing his eyes Melech gently ran his fingers across them, a thrill of excitement running through his body at the point of contact before burning his skin with a sinful excitement. He remembered, adrenaline mounted, heart racing and a lustful heat taking over, he remembered each bout of torture, each tear, and each bloody twisted body, felled by his hand.

Pulling away from the case with a sharp intake of breath when it had grown too much to bear Melech turned swiftly to one side as though he had just been struck by a snake. He breathed in again, yes a snake, he could feel the heat of its venom coursing through him and burning him to the core as even his bones took to flame with it. He quickly closed and locked the case as if it would save him, but still the fire remained. Turning, he left the room and hurriedly walked down the narrow hall and past his many an empty rooms.

It wasn't long before he found himself at Kyrene's room, his sweet little dove of a paleness and beauty only comparable to that of the moon. The man's hand paused, halted and shaking on the brass knob of her door, to touch her would be to send the fire into a blazing inferno, his mouth going dry he suddenly craved such immolation and thrust open the door, ready and eager.

The sight of his niece was a breath of air fanning the flames, but that which she held, a snuff to quickly put them out, the seal of Hogwarts in a stark red wax seal glistening upon an opened envelope gripped lightly in the child's lithe and pale hands. The fire, just as well as the sudden rage he felt could not be constrained from his voice when he barked, "What is that, you have there?"

Kyrene had moved to her bed, where bold and fanciful dreams of skill and grandeur still tickled her brain. She'd heard of Hogwarts many times before, but usually in spiteful utterances or recounted war stories from among her uncle's older and more prestigious acquaintances. It was once a grand wizarding school, proclaimed to be among the greatest the world over, yet was now nothing more than a heap of rumble, a mass gravesite and memorial to all those who fell in honor of whatever side they fought for.

Only now, that no longer seemed to be the case. Kyrene had never meant to eavesdrop, and never had intention of doing so, fearful of her guardian as she was, but at times he treated her as almost part of the decor. Rumors regarding the school reconstruction had been flying about for a while now, and this was proof enough for the girl. Banishing away her dismal reality, and the subtle violences, and abuses of home life Kyrene lay back on her pillows, eyes closed wistfully as she imaged it.

The girl gave a small cry of surprise, jolting upright when the door to her bedroom burst open. Her uncle suddenly filled the space near the foot of her bed, smiling, eyes flickering with hunger but only momentarily before anger replaced lust.

"What is that you have there?" he railed eyes locking onto the envelope.

Dizzy with the unexpected fright, and eyes fluttering as though he could manage to strike her from such a distance Kyrene vainly tried to hide letter behind her back, scooting so that she was just sitting on it.

"Nothing," she lied hastily, waiting for his anger to break upon her like a wave upon the shore in the way it always seemed to no matter how hard she tried to make him happy. "I don't have anything!"

"Nothing," his niece lied as she frantically stuffed the letter beneath her rear. "I don't have anything!" she elaborated further, the soft blue eyes that might have disarmed him given another situation were wide and pleading. Melech could feel the anger welling within him. He loved Kyrene in ways no other could, yet he despised the child most when she was disobedient; but deceitful, this was a new side to Kyrene, one he was determined to stamp out.

Teeth gritting together the man crossed the distance between them with only a few long legged strides, a dark seriousness falling over his face. Grabbing the girl by her wrist he hauled her off the bed with one swift jerk and brought her to stand before him as he stared down at the trembling eleven year old.

"Do you think you can lie to me?" he asked a stark calm to his tone. He held her gaze for only moment but felt much longer in the light of her fear.

Producing his wand Melech flicked it at the trunk at the end of her bed. The object's mouth flipped open to reveal the bare space it held.

"In." was the simple commandment the man gave, his voice restrained, giving no hint of emotion as he did so.

Kyrene backed against the wall under the heavy gaze of her uncle, heart racing wildly in her ears as she pressed herself against the wall. She saw him coming coming and was filled with dread letting out a shrill yelp wehn Melech grabbed her forearm and yanked her off the bed.

"Please, Uncle Melech," she started as the first wave of tears began raining down her cheeks. "Please, I'm so sorry!"

Her words seemed to fall on deaf ears as he asked whether or not Kyrene thought she could get away with lying to him. Then the chest flew open. Only when he was really mad did her put her there. It was her room for minor things and closet for worse. Kyrene felt sick, she had really, really messed up this time and wanted nothing more than to make it all better and have him forgive her, whatever it meant.

"In." he demanded, and Kyrene obeyed curling herself into the confining space, trying to ease her crying as she did so. Crying only ever made the chest feel smaller.

There was the creek of the hinges, the click of the lock, her uncle's footfalls, and then nothing. Her whole world was nothing but walls pushing in on every side, and glaring silence.