Fate: Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Letter

            Osena stepped out of the shower onto the cool rock of the mountain cave. A red towel hung on the wall. She grabbed it and wrapped it around herself. Up ahead in the trees of her glade, just outside the cave opening Osena could hear the birds start to sing and before she could stop herself words started to bubble out and began to sing a song in her native tongue.

            Osena cringed. That song, that language brought up memories from over a thousand years ago Osena did not wish to think about at that very moment. In a desperate search for a song to get the latter out of her head she sang, “Here we are as in olden days, happy golden days our yours. Faithful friends who are dear to us, gather near to us once more. Through the years we’ll all be together, if the fates allow-”

            Osena choked the last word out. She didn’t know why the mid part of the muggle Christmas song had found its way into her mind but it wasn’t welcome. Osena pushed it away from her thoughts with all her will.

            She stepped out onto the warm grass from the cool rock of the cave floor. Her glade was where she existed, but her life and home was elsewhere, far from her glen. Tall trees surrounded the clearing, towering over it like sentinels. Her bed was up in the lower branches of some trees up ahead. To her left was a runty old trunk that lay lonely near the cave wall behind her, to her right was a large royal chest that sat against the smoothed surface of he mountain, engraved into the hard leather of the top were her initials O.B.N, and just twenty feet in front of her was a vanity magically morphed from a very large tree.

            Osena quietly sighed to herself, the words of the song still echoing through her mind making her think of her long history. Silently, she walked over and sat in a delicate chair sitting in front of the vanity. There in the mirror staring back at Osena was an eleven year old girl with pixie features, damp white boy-cut hair, crystal blue eyes, a pale complexion, and ears tapered to points.

            A long time ago she had accepted her fate to grow with the children around her and then regress to the age of eleven, if she hadn't found the place in time fate had decided she belonged in. Osena once had tried to continue to grow and live with her friends outside of the glade long ago, but she hadn't known what and if there would be any consequences until she began to regress right before their eyes and went through excruciating pain, ever since then she had immediately gone back to her glade for a year to regress fully, and would occasionally visit people in the outside world until she was yet again called upon by a head master. For the last thirteen years it had been hard for her not to feel aggravated and furious of being tapped to an eleven year old body.

            Osena sighed, saying, “No use dwelling on what I can’t control.” She looked away from the icy stare Osena was giving herself. From the vanity, she plucked up her long and slim wand, it was sixteen inches, beech wood, and essence of unicorn hair. Osena always favored a long wand.

            She stood and walked over to just inside the cave, and started to lightly outline a door on the wall, the area began to melt away and seconds later there was an opening showing a long hallway lined with clothing on either sides. Osena never got rid of her clothing she needed to use to blend in with muggles, because she often found it useful to give away to those that needed it and to use at random times. She lightly placed her wand in a little holder on the wall and quickly went into the closet of sorts and quickly found what she wanted: a bright red elbow length sleeve tunic, a large black belt and a pair of dark blue skinny jeans.

            Osena laid her clothes neatly on the cave floor and reached for her wand. She threw her towel off and before it landed, Osena pointed her wand at it making it disappear.  She replaced her wand in the holder and she quickly put her clothes on.

            Osena finished positioning her over-sized belt around her tiny waist and walked out of the cave to the grass when an owl drifted down from the branches above and lightly landed on her shoulder.

            It had been nearly eleven years since she last had contact with the outside word. A mix of excitement, fear, and reluctance welled up inside her as she let her mind go wild with who it was from and what it was about.

            Osena reached up and lightly ruffled the barn owl’s feathers under its beak and opened her hand under it. His beak opened, the large envelope landing in Osena’s hand. The owl abruptly flew to a branch and quietly hooted.

            She instantly recognized Albus’ slanted scrawl. The front of the envelope said:

            To: Ms. O.B.Nexues

        The Forbidden Forest

        The Glade where the mountain and the Forest meet.

            Osena carefully opened the envelope, pulled out the parchment, and unfolded it. The letter read:

       Dear Osena

        How have you been my dear friend? I send you this letter to ask you to fulfill your duty once again and attend Hogwarts, to be the great guardian you have always been. Harry Potter, James and Lilly’s son, is starting his education this year. I am exceedingly sorrowful to inform you that the Potters were betrayed and killed. I will brief you more thoroughly when you are here. I know that you were so secluded from the world that you do not know what happened. I know you all were so close. I have enclosed a list of what will be needed this year. I have also included notes that will explain as to why you can have your broom etc... My office’s password for the first week of school will be “lemon drops”, feel free at an time to come see me.

        Love,

                Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

        P.s. I wish for you to be in Gryffindor this year

            James and Lilly were dead? Osena could hardly believe it. She had just been there with them eleven years ago when Harry was born. That had been one of the two times Osena had ventured out of her glade since she last went to Hogwarts. After that she had refused to leave her glade, hence no more contact with the outside world, because she selfishly was brooding.

            Tears brimmed Osena’s eyes, she knew that the only living family of Harry must be the muggles that were on Lilly’s side.She had told Osena how much her sister hated her and everything about the magical world.

            Lilly and James had been dear friends of Osena’s at Hogwarts, but they had often just seen each other at night because she had been in Slytherin then.  She caught herself before Osena started thing about those years further. She read the letter from Albus once more, the tears brimming over this time.

            Osena wiped them away and opened a drawer in her vanity and retrieved a parchment from it and placed it on the vanity. She sat down in her chair and wrote a quick not saying:

            Dear Albus,

            I accept my duty and come. I am looking forward to see you and everyone once again. I’ll be by your office after the first day of classes after dinner.

            Yours truly,

                        Osena Betania Nexues

            P.s. I expect you to answer all my questions, Albus, and I also wish for you to not inform anyone that I am coming, I will be able to handle it on my own. You must catch me up on current events thoroughly when we talk.

            The piece of parchment was not very large so Osena just simply rolled it up. She lightly whistled to the owl who fluttered down from the branch it had been preening its feathers on and rested on her shoulder, again, holding its beak open.

            Osena placed it so the owl could clasp his beak around it. Simultaneously it closed its beak and flew off into the distant trees. She stood for a moment just staring off at where the owl had disappeared. Osena shook herself and forced herself to clear her mind.

            As to avoid her inner thoughts, Osena grabbed the extremely thick envelope and pulled out the list of needed items for first-years. She had received so many of these lists that is was not even funny. Osena even had seven little closets of black robes for every year at Hogwarts, with accessories from all four houses to go along with. She glanced down at the eight books needed for the following year, Osena owned all eight  already because whenever she did go to diagon alley she would always buy the books she didn’t necessarily need from the the book store as to keep up with the writings of he wizarding world.

            Osena glanced at the large chest and then looked at the under sized trunk  in the cave. She walked over and sat crossed legged in front of it.

            Osena carefully opened it. Odds and ends tried to escape the reaches of the old trunk. She started to dig through all of the different books and odds and ends trying to find the books she would need. Unlike her organized clothes her school trunk was a disarray. Osena referred to the trunk as ‘The Void’ because of its ability to never run out of room.

            She started to dump the contents on the grass. Osena was amazed how much she had stuffed in there over the years. After pulling out a bunch of old dung bombs, that smelled like a rotting carcass, she pulled out the book, Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander.

            Osena was so relieved to finally have found one, she fanned the pages of the book a light musk coming off it. A slip of paper slipped out of the pages and glided to the ground, face down. Osena looked at it curiously.

            She set the book aside on the grass.  Her hand reached for the paper and carefully lifted it. The piece of parchment felt thicker than a normal one should be. Osena flipped it over and there staring back at her were two teenagers happy in each others arms, a girl and a boy. The girl had; short white hair, sharp pixie features, and piercing crystal blue eyes. She sat on the lap of a greasy looking boy with a pale complexion, black eyes, hooked nose, and shoulder length greasy hair hanging down in his face. They looked to be the age of sixteen, both smiling broadly. The smile looked odd on the boy as if he hardly ever smiled. He held the girl by the waist, he leaned over and lightly kissed the girl, she kissed back.

            Osena had forgotten that she had put this picture in every one of her school books even though most of them she didn’t use anymore because Osena had memorized their contents. This picture brought back wonderful memories of those years at school when she had gone with this boy and other friends.

            Osena wished she hadn’t found the picture for she knew she could never have those years back, no matter how much Osena wanted them. She sighed in resignation; the picture had made her tired and depressed, she decided to just summon the rest of the books. Osena stood and picked up her wand. She waved it quickly, “Accio- first year school books”

            Books started to fly out of her trunk, sending random pieces of parchment flying after them, the books stacked themselves neatly in front of her.

            Osena looked back at the picture one more time, the two were now cuddling on the ground next to the lake, falling asleep in each others arms content happiness on their faces. Pain wrenched through her chest, the picture fell from her hand, she sucked in a breath sharply. Osena stood dazed. A flash of anger and resent ment ran through her. Osena pinted her wand at the picture laying on the ground and muttered a pell under her breath, causing the picture to tear itself apart. Tears began to brim her icey eyes, they ran over. A chocking sob escaped her throat and dropped her wand and desperately tried to force the image out of her mind. Osena desperately wiped the tears away. She needed to forget about him, she needed to learn to deal with the choices that he had made, Osena reminded herself that even if he had been her fate, he never truly loved Osena, he loved... This just increased the pain.

            “WHY!?” Osena looked up into the sky seemingly rebuking the fates for something she knew she had done to herself. Osena shouldn’t have fallen in love, never should have gotten so attached.

            She tried to shove it off, ignore the pain, ignore the sadness another time, it had almost become a routine over these twelve years. Osena focused on the books flying out of her trunk and silently told herself that and old lady like herself should be able to control her thoughts, she had a duty to accomplish and if she wanted to do it she couldn’t have something so pathetic as a past-. She cut the thought off there.

“No more.” Osena whispered solemnly. Then thought to herself, not today anyway.

 Once there were no more books coming, she fetched her copper cauldron and the other things she would need during the following year.