There was no up or down, there was no left or right. No darkness and yet, no light. There was just a swirling mass of colour, no definite shapes, no lines, and no patterns. He couldn’t feel a floor, but he was still walking. He could feel his sister’s hand on his shoulder and his hand upon his younger brother’s. He couldn’t see them, he couldn’t hear them. He just kept walking.
The colour was driving him mad! There was no order, it was wrong, unnatural! It made him feel dizzy and confused; he couldn’t keep his eyes on a fixed point.
He didn’t know how long he had been walking for. It seemed to be days and days, but somehow he never got tired. The colour seemed to slowly fade away, and like a mist, a golden sandy shore came into view, with towering palms dotted around. He could hear laughing and the faint shushing sound of waves. A pleasant cool sea breeze brushed his cheek, warm sand grains were covering his still bare feet, and he was overwhelmed with a sudden sense of euphoria. He could taste salt on his lips, and could smell a tangy, fruity scent on the air.
Finally, the colourful mist cleared, and he could see his siblings and the other children, equally looking around in wonder. There were other people too, wearing plain white robes, though some where in different styles and cut to different lengths. They did not acknowledge the children but continued talking and laughing. Some where eating, others playing games, and a few seemed to be looking into stone basins, filled with clear, sparkling water.
“What a beautiful city!” remarked Lillian, gazing up in wonder, as if looking at tall skyscrapers. Everyone looked at her as if she was mad.
“Er… Lily, are you blind? We’re on a beach,” said Jamie, gesturing towards the calm turquoise ocean in front of them and the rolling sand dunes behind.
“You’re mad as well, we’re in a forest,’ said Sirius, bluntly, backing away from his siblings.
“Er… as far as I’m aware we’re in a meadow…” Rosa said, uncertainly.
“No… mountains…” began Danny, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
“A lakeside for me,” stated Nicolas, happily.
“I can see a palace!” Camilla exclaimed, gazing around with wide eyes.
“What the hell is going on?”
“Hello, dears, have you just come through? Don’t worry, everyone sees different locations, you’re all in the same place, though. I see a village myself. This is just the entrance though, if you look out there, outside of it, you’ll all see the same landscape. I’m Dorothy, by the way, I died in 1943, I was brought to a… well, we don’t need to worry about that; it’s all in the past now, eh? What are your names, and how did you get here?” The woman finished her monologue and the children were able to take in her appearance. She was rather elderly, and had a friendly face.
No one replied, although they wanted to. They all looked at one another uncertainly, no one wanting to be the one to ask where Tom was. Eventually, Jamie spoke.
“We’re looking for someone called Tom Marvolo Riddle. D’you know where-” He stopped at the sight of Dorothy. She turned pale and was shaking. Her eyes were nearly popping out of her head as she backed away from the children.
“D-don’t hurt me! I don’t know who you are but, if you’re looking for… him, then-”
“Please, we won’t hurt you, we just need to find him, it’s very important.” Dorothy still looked terrified at the sight of them and raised a shaking hand, pointing towards a bleak looking landscape. It appeared to be miles of bare rock, forming mountains and canyons. It looked to be about twenty miles away.
“T-that way!”
“Please could you show us the way?”
“NO! I won’t help you! Just going there is too dangerous let alone…” She shuddered and turned her back on them. Jamie watched her run away into the sand dunes then turned to the group.
“C’mon, I think the road will be dangerous, and that’s why she was so scared but-”
“No, Jamie,” interrupted Lillian, “I remembered, when we came through the veil, who Tom Riddle was. I could vaguely remember Mum talking about him, when we were little. I think she said that he was a friend of hers… no, wait… she said… Merlin, what did she say?” She chewed her lip as she struggled to remember.
“I thought he was my friend, at the time, but-”
“That was it! She thought he was her friend, but somehow, he wasn’t, I forget why, but that doesn’t matter. He’s not a good person! I bet he was some sort of… perverted creep or something and that was why Dorothy refused to come.”
“I dunno, Lils…” began Danny, looking at Jamie uneasily. Jamie nodded at him.
“Yeah, Danny’s right. But so are you. I can remember Mum talking about him, or it might have been Dad, but really, I don’t think it was in a scared way. I think it was in more of a sad way. I think he’s probably alright.”
“He was friends with Bella, well, more than friends,” pointed out Sirius, who seemed to agree with Lillian.
“Yeah, but Bella wasn’t a bad person then, was she?”
“We don’t know that, that was in 1945… hang on…” said Danny, doing the maths in his head, “she can’t be that old…”
“She might just look young,” said Rosaline, though she too, looked doubtful.
“No, he’s right, if she did have a boyfriend in 1945, she must be like, one million and two!” exclaimed Lillian.
“No, not one million Lils, more like one hundred and twenty. But the point is, she really can’t be that old… plus, how would your mum know this guy if he died in the forties? She wasn’t born ‘till the eighties,” said Danny.
“Well, maybe Mum didn’t know him, and we’re just confused. And anyway, about Bella’s age, she doesn’t exactly look young, does she? Yeah, she’s got black hair but that could be dyed, she could get anti-wrinkle potion and Granddad told me that wizards live much longer than muggles,” argued Jamie. Stumped, Lillian desperately tried to come up with another excuse not to go to the threatening looking mountains.
“I don’t like her. And, I don’t like the look of those mountains, either. Why would a good, decent person live up there?”
“Maybe it’s very nice on the other side,” said Nicolas optimistically. Lillian looked at him as if he was insane.
“That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, and I grew up with Jamie.”
“Shut-up, Lily. Let’s vote “ who says that we go look for him?” asked Jamie, taking control of the situation. Everyone raised their hands except for Sirius, Danny and, obviously, Lillian.
“You’re out-voted four to three, we look for him in the mountains,” snapped Jamie, turning promptly on his heel and striding towards said mountains.
“Hey! We’re not finished, Jamie!” shouted Lillian.
“Yes we are. Are you coming or are you gonna stay there, alone?” Jamie called over his shoulder. Lillian looked for a second as if she was going to do just that; sit down on the ground and have a good sulk on her own. Nevertheless, she grudgingly followed the group towards the treacherous mountains “ determined to make the trip as annoying as possible for Jamie.
Unfortunately, what the children didn’t know was the fate of one Death Eater, around four months previously, a certain Jeffery Shea.
The Third War by dumbledorefluertwins
Chapter Notes: Please, please please review, because I need reviews. Seriously, I nearly died when I only got 5 reviews on the big battle sence - don't let it happen again! Hope you don't all hate me (you will) at the end of this chapter!!!!
~Evie