Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Green-Eyed Orphan ❯ Chapter 1

Chapter One

 

The wind howled mournfully outside the window and rain streaked the window panes as Christiana Dalton sat clutching the letter in her hand as she re-read it for what seemed like the fiftieth time, yet every time the pain tore at her heart anew. The weather matched the way her emotions made her feel inside. Her candle burned very low in its holder. She had no idea how long she had been sitting in this same spot in the same position reading the same damned letter over and over trying to grasp what it said. The letter was from her father's close school friend, Evan Rosier. It bore good news and bad and both affected her life very greatly. Firstly, Lord Voldemort had just been defeated by Harry Potter, and of that she was glad. Secondly, however, her father, Severus Snape, had been killed in that final battle. Many others had also lost their lives, but she was still wondering why her father had to be killed. The letter also stated that Harry Potter did know some about Snape's past and his love for Lily Evans, but the Potter boy still knew nothing of her existence. Her father had apparently given some of his memories over to Harry in his final moments from which Harry obtained a good bit of information about her father's past. However, it seemed that everyone who knew about her and how she had come to be had passed to the hereafter. Those people were Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, and Evan Rosier.

Christiana stared at the pictures she had framed on her small desk in her small flat in the French wizarding town Chaney. The first picture was of a pretty auburn-haired lady holding a baby with the blackest hair and alternately smiling down at the baby and caressing her face and looking up to the camera and waving. There was a man dressed all in black also with the blackest hair smiling down at the child also. Christiana thought how much she would love to have known her mother. The next picture was of a four-year-old little girl standing next to a man, both with black hair. The little girl's hair was a bit messy, but she was dressed in a little robe and she rode a small broom about two feet off the ground. The picture showed the man help her take off again and again. The little girl's face was filled with laughter. The next picture was of Christiana again, only this time she was eleven and she was awaiting the train to Beauxbatons. She stood with her trunk, a bright blue steaming engine behind her. She was waving and half-smiling at the camera, but there was a wistful look in her eyes.

Christiana remembered that day like it was yesterday…

“Oh, Daddy, why can't I go to Hogwarts where you teach? Then we could be together every day and I wouldn't have to live with the Daltons anymore. I just want to be with you all the time. It's not fair.” The Daltons were the Muggle family that had raised Christiana.

“I've explained it to you already, Christy,” Severus said in a gentle voice that no student at Hogwarts would every experience.

Christiana sighed. “I know. If You-Know-Who found out about me and how I was related to The Boy Who Lived, he would try to kill me, too. But, Daddy, I'm your daughter. Since he knows you and you pretend to serve him, would he really hurt me?”

“My dear, that knowledge would only make things worse, because I work for him. I am so sorry, but I will come and see you every opportunity I get and you know I'll send an owl at least twice a week.” Tears welled in Christiana's eyes. This was her first year at Wizarding School, and special accommodations had had to be made. She had been accepted to Hogwarts, but because of her situation, Severus had made a special request of the headmistress of Beauxbatons. She had conceded to allow Christiana to the school as long as no one else found out about her.

Christiana now thought about her mother, Lily Evans. She remembered when she had asked her father why her mother never came to see her. Her father had looked extremely pained and uncomfortable, but explained anyway. He had loved her mother, Lily Evans, very much, and for a time, she had loved him, too. While in their sixth year at Hogwarts together, he and Lily had gone a little too far and conceived Christiana. Lily had not even wanted to have the baby, but with the promise of wiping her memory clean and making as if it never were, Lily had agreed to give the baby away. However, Severus refused to give his offspring to anyone else. It had been an uphill battle, but finally an agreement had been reached. The Daltons, a Muggle family, were let in on the whole secret situation. Albus Dumbledore had a huge job, because he had to clean the memories of everyone Lily and Severus attended school with of Lily's pregnancy. The Daltons would take the baby and raise him or her and inform this child of the wizarding world. Snape would be allowed to see the child any time he wished seeing as he was the father, but the child would take the Dalton name seeing as the Muggle society would question whether or not it was their child.

When all was said and done, all the memories modified, Snape, his friend Evan, and Albus Dumbledore were the only ones who still knew of her existence and connections to the wizarding world. They were the only ones who knew, for example, after Voldemort tried to kill Harry Potter, that she was also a living relative of his, being his half-sister. Unfortunately, in Christiana's opinion, he didn't know about her.

Christiana glanced at the next picture on her desk. It was a picture of Christiana, her father, and her O.W.L. scores. She had gotten an OWL in every subject. He was so proud of her. They were smiling and hugging, and he had even given her a kiss on the forehead. Fresh tears gushed down her cheeks as she realized she would never embrace him or kiss him on the cheek again. She glanced at another picture of her with her father on her last day at Beauxbatons the year before. The last picture was of her mother, only she was with a man with dark messy hair and glasses. They were holding a small child with eyes just like his mother's. He was giggling and pointing at something outside of the picture. That was the only thing that Christiana thought she shared with her mother: the eyes. Harry had those eyes and so did his half-sister.

She pushed her silky black hair out of her face and looked out of the window into the pouring rain. She leaned her head against the glass and her breath made little clouds on the cold pane. No more tears ran down her face. She was as cold and numb as her forehead was growing pressed against the windowpane. Her father, the only person she loved in this whole world, was gone. He had left her. She realized that although she was an adult and of age, she was an orphan. She stared into the cold black night long after her candle had burned out. She didn't even remember falling asleep.

*

When Christiana woke, pale gray light was coming through the window. Her entire body was stiff from being in the same position for all those long hours sleeping. Something had been making noise to wake her up. She looked around for the source of the pecking and almost screamed when she looked out the window and was face to face with an owl. She opened the window to let the owl in, and got up from the desk, stretching her rigid limbs. She untied the letter from the owl's leg and it flew back the way it had come off into the distant dawn.

She opened the letter and frowned at its contents. It was from her Muggle family, the Daltons. They were kind people and had loved her as their own. However, Mr. Dalton had recently contracted a disease called cancer, and Mrs. Dalton was writing to say that he was gravely ill and in a Muggle hospital facility. So far, since Christiana had gotten out of school, the Daltons had been funding her living expenses and she had yet to find a job. Chaney had not thus far had anything to offer her and had suggested she try the wizarding community of Hogsmeade or she could consider working at the Ministry of Magic in London. She had not done so yet taking into account that moving to London could risk her exposure to Lord Voldemort. However, now that he was dead, her chances of staying further in Chaney were looking rather grim. She sighed. The rest of the month's rent for her flat was paid, but the rest of the month consisted of barely a few days. She would have to be out by the end of the week, or she would owe another month's rent and she didn't have it.

She made a decision right then that going to London was her only alternative. She had to find work and she had to find it soon. She would go give her landlord her two-days-notice and go to London to find a job and accommodations. She didn't care where she ended up working, just so long as it was a job that put food in her mouth and gave her a bed to sleep in at night.

She looked at herself in the mirror. Well, she thought, I can hardly go looking like this. She didn't even bother trying to smooth her rumpled clothing. She had been wearing it the day before, so she began rummaging through her closet looking for something suitable to wear. She decided a shower would do her good also, because she was looking rather pale what with the news of losing her income source and her father all within a twelve-hour period.

When she was showered and felt a bit more refreshed, she slipped easily into some Muggle blue jeans and a soft green fitted sweater. She slid her feet into some green and gray tennis shoes and tied them up. She grabbed her wand and shoved it in her back pocket. She grabbed a small wallet with her proper wizard identifications and other assorted things along with a bit of money in it and put it in her other back pocket. She had just decided that she was almost ready to go outside and Disapparate to London when she heard a knock on her door. It never fails, she thought. No sooner do I get ready to go somewhere that someone wants to visit. Well, I'm not going to talk for more than a minute or so.

“Just a minute!” she called out when the impatient knock sounded again. She put the finishing touches on her mascara and opened the door while she was pulling her hair back into a no-nonsense low ponytail. She groaned inwardly when she saw his face at the door. It was the landlord's son, Andrew, and he had an enormous crush on her. “Yes?” she asked rather rudely, only wanting to get to London as quickly as possible if only to escape his presence.

Andrew Willoughby was anything but good looking in Christiana's opinion. Her father scared him thoroughly the one time Andrew had run into Severus in the hallway outside Christiana's room. They never did figure out why he was coming to see her, although all his reasons for coming to see her were rather lame. Snape had asked him two or three questions and he had run in fright. He was tall and gangly and his ears stuck out a bit from his head despite the fact that he had tried to grow his hair to cover them. He wore thick glasses that magnified his eyes equal with Professor Trelawney. His Muggle clothing was laughable to say the least. His pants were too short and his shirt too long. He was wearing purple bowling shoes today with a pair of khaki pants that looked three sizes too small. His shirt had green and orange stripes and hung well past his knees. Christiana was trying hard not to giggle.

“Um—uh—Father said to ask you—uhn—when you would be—um, uh—giving him next month's—um—rent—I mean—payment!” Andrew finished, seemingly out of breath. Christiana supposed it used up most of his brain capacity to even put that many words together at once. Most of the time, it took him ten minutes to tell her what he had come for.

“Is your father here today, Andrew?” Christiana asked; for she would much rather tell Mr. Chilton Willoughby why she was searching for new accommodations. Andrew shook his head no. Christiana sighed. She didn't want to give the boy the entire message. He would certainly mess it up. “Could you just tell him that I need to speak to him as soon as possible?”

“Father won't be back for a very long time,” a woman's cool voice said from down the hall. This was the first time Christiana had ever seen Addison Willoughby, Mr. Willoughby's daughter and Andrew's sister. “Any matters concerning your rent or your residence will now be taken up with me. I told Andrew that I would be coming to see you, but he insisted on coming to see you in my stead. However, I see he is quite inept at obtaining the information I much need. I'm sorry; I haven't introduced myself. I'm Addison Willoughby.”

“It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Willoughby. My name is Christiana Dalton. I am very sorry to say that I won't be with you and your brother for very much longer. You see, I received news of my father's death last night, and this morning, my income source fell through. I must find employment and lodging in London since Chaney doesn't offer me very much in that department.” Addison's eyes narrowed slightly. While waiting for her reply, Christiana took a moment to study her.

She was well-dressed as an upper-society Muggle lady might dress. She was wearing a cream-colored pant suit with a brown flowered cream scarf pinned around her slender neck. She was quite lovely, in great opposition to her brother's appearance. Her hair was dark and shiny in contrast to his mousy brown. She had it pulled up in a tight bun. Her dark eyes glittered in what small light was coming into the hallway from Christiana's flat. She was slender and fit; although she looked quite capable of jinxing your arm off if you got in her way.

“When, exactly, are you planning on making this move to London?” she asked in that cool, collected voice, although Christiana detected an underlying viciousness.

“I was just on my way to give your father my two-days-notice.” Christiana began to feel uneasy as she saw something kin to hatred growing in Addison's eyes.

“Let me have just a moment to confer with my brother. You see, my father left both of us in charge, so he needs to help me make an executive decision.” Christiana was baffled that she would consult the brother—the one she had just accused of being inept at obtaining important information—about something of much more monumental importance than finding out if she was ready to pay her rent. The two stood with their heads together whispering for quite a few minutes and Christiana was getting antsy to leave. Finally, Addison turned back to her, a cruel smile on her face.

“I am sorry to inform you that as the new caretaker of Chaney Inn, I must request a two-week notice. Since you have failed to give one, you may submit one today and leave in two weeks, thus paying next month's rent or you may leave now. Of course, I might consider letting you stay for just the two days if you would be willing to take my brother along with you for your little jaunt today. I'm sure he would greatly enjoy your company. In fact, he has told me how much he truly likes you.” Addison's eyes glinted in triumph.

“That's blackmail!” Christiana cried. “You can't just change the policies like that without informing the residents prior to the change!”

Addison's face filled with hatred. “I hate to tell you that you're not in Muggle society. I can do whatever I please with this place seeing as I'm in charge and you'll comply or you'll get out, you impertinent little chit. So what's it going to be?”