Armilla

Prologue

Not a sound could be heard in the dark, deserted street. The leaves on trees were quite still with the absence of a breeze. The chill in the air was enough to create an intense feeling of discomfort in the atmosphere. Every building in the street was in complete ruin. Shattered glass lay on the road amongst the once loved possessions of the inhabitants. What was perhaps the most disturbing thought was that only half an hour before, the lights had been on in every house, laughter had come from the families inside, and their televisions could be heard through the open windows by the night strollers walking their dogs.

But now, all was quiet as a group of Aurors and workers from the Ministry of Magic made their way into the street. Any conversation was minimal as they all took in the horrific scene before them.

"You-Know-Who has a sick sense of fun," a gruff voice muttered.

"Do you think it was him directly?" came another, younger voice.

"Of course not," the gruff voice answered. "He wouldn't carry out something like this himself. He'd save himself for people who are a threat to him in the wizarding community. This street was all muggle. He's sent out his followers to do this."

Three more people came to join the group after inspecting one side of the street.

"Any survivors?" said one of the people, her tone giving away that she had asked a pointless question. Rescuers.

"No, no survivors."

The group split up and they wandered throughout the ruins of the houses, looking for traces of dark magic or any evidence pointing directly to Death Eaters. At one end of the street, a faint cry was suddenly heard.

"What the...?" A woman ran into the ruins of the last house, hoping to hear the cry again to give her some direction. Her hopes were answered by another muffled cry, coming from underneath a small pile of debris.

"What is it, Merle?"

"It's a baby! Get the others and come quick. The child is scarcely breathing."

A group had crowded around Merle within seconds. Each was stunned that this baby could have been found alive. A few had their wands pointed at the child and were muttering enchantments to help her breathe better before they took her to St Mungo's.

"She must have lost her parents," said a sad voice. "Poor little muggle."

"What is that flashing on the child's wrist?"

Merle looked down at the left wrist of the child in her arms. The child was wearing a silver bracelet with no clasp. It had a small oval-shaped locket attached to it with an emerald on it. The emerald was now flashing and giving off a faint, green beam of light.

"What on earth is that thing?" someone asked.

"That baby is no muggle," said one of the Aurors. "That bracelet holds an extremely powerful piece of magic. Several hundred of those bracelets were produced a thousand years ago and only witches could wear them. The magic within them helps protect the wearer when in peril. It will not save the wearer from death, but will prolong it. That must be why the child is still alive."

"How on earth do you know that, Rolf?"

Rolf smiled grimly. "My wife has one; a constant reminder of her pureblood heritage. Seeing as she despises her family and everything they stand for, she loathes that fact that she can't get it off."

"But where would a muggle born child have gotten one of these?"

Rolf shook his head. "The child must be a pureblood. These bracelets are only worn by witches in the pureblood families. It is odd though that this child should be in a muggle neighbourhood."

"We're best getting her off to St Mungo's now," said another Auror, taking charge. "We can worry about where the family is later."

"Dead, I would say, Clarence," said Rolf, staring at the ruins around him.

"Try and be a little optimistic, Rolf," said Merle, glancing up from the baby in her arms. "I do hope she has a family, poor little thing."

"Will you two take her to St Mungo's?" asked Clarence. "You can meet us back at the ministry later."

"Certainly," Merle answered, staring down at the baby once more. "She's such a dear little thing, isn't she?"

"Now isn't the time to go all maternal on us, Merle," said Rolf gruffly, steering her out of the street.

Merle glared back at him. "Maternal indeed! I won't have time to be maternal towards the child. I'm just leaving her at St Mungo's where I'm sure the Family Services department will do their best to track down her family. This will be a distant memory in a few weeks time, so let me enjoy holding her now."

Rolf rolled his eyes as Merle cooed at the baby. He tried not to smile as the baby fixed Merle with a bewildered look instead of a giggle, which Merle had clearly been hoping for.

"Don't get too attached, Merle," he said, as they moved to a safe place to Disapparate. "If the child does have family, I'm sure they'll be prejudiced old fools just like my wife's family."

Chapter 1

Well, here I was sitting alone on the Hogwarts Express, feeling extremely lonely and utterly bored. It wasn't that I was being unsociable or anything, and that there were lots of chatting students in other compartments who I refused to join. There weren't any. All the compartments were empty except for mine, and I had to admit that the thought of being alone on the train kind of irked me.

I was starting my fifth year at Hogwarts a week late and Professor Dumbledore actually arranged for the Hogwarts Express to make a special trip for me. I thought that was a little ridiculous, sending a whole train for one student, but he seemed to think it was safer than having me attempt to get to Hogwarts by my own means and you don't question Dumbledore's judgement.

I was arriving a week late for the school year because my guardian, Merle Kemp, had taken ill over the summer and she had not been expected to live. Thankfully she had pulled through, and though she was still very weak, she was finally recovering. She had now been out of danger for a few days and I had been told not to fuss about her health any longer and at her insistence I packed to go back to school.

Professor Dumbledore had been wonderful. I knew he had a lot to deal with already with the Order and all. Merle had been a member of the Order of the Phoenix before You-Know-Who's first downfall and Merle had rejoined 'the old crowd' for week or two when the Order had reformed after the end of the Triwizard Tournament. She had been forced to stop her work for the Order when she had become ill.

A friend of Merle's, Matilda, was staying with her at home while she recovered. I was glad she had someone with her. We didn't have many neighbours. There was a man next door who had been friendly with Merle for years. I never got to know Shar well and I didn't really want to anyway. He was one of those people who seemed to prowl instead of walk and lurked in corners and then spoke out of the blue. Though he was been friendly with Merle, he generally looked at me through narrowed eyes, as if my presence caused him great annoyance. He never showed this in front of Merle; in Merle's presence he was usually very polite to me.

In all honestly I thought that he would like nothing more than for me to find my real family and go and live with them. He seemed to want to have Merle's company all to himself. I had been living with Merle since I was about sixteen months old. What I knew about my identity was very little. I had no idea what my real name was or if I had any family. All I knew was what Merle had told me about the night she had found me, only days before the downfall of You-Know-Who in 1981.

On this particular night, a large group of Death Eaters attacked a muggle area and practically wiped out a whole neighbourhood. I was found amongst the ruins, barely alive. The only reason I was alive was because of a silver bracelet on my left wrist. It had a small oval-shaped locket attached to it and when I was found the emerald on it was flashing. This immediately told the magical folk who found me that I was a witch. It would not save the wearer from death, but would prolong it. That was why I had not died on that terrible night many years ago. An Auror named Rolf had told Merle that the bracelet vanishes off the wrist of the wearer when she dies and reappears on the wrist of the next female in that family. I was not sure if that was true. If it was, then my mother must be dead.

I had no idea how to get the bracelet off. I had tried all sorts of charms to remove it, but it continually refused to leave my wrist. It does not even have a clasp.

I was taken to St Mungo's where I stayed for many weeks, and no one knew who I was, just that the bracelet had saved me. After the downfall of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, a number of people were searching for my family. Only muggles had died on the night I was found. It was a complete mystery how I came to be found in this location and it was assumed that I was muggle born. It seemed that bracelets like mine were now scarce and many believed that the pureblood rule to wearing it was merely a superstition.

It seemed that no family had lost a child, and so it came to be that I was well enough to leave the hospital and was in need of a guardian - and a name. Merle Kemp was one of the people helping the Ministry search for my family and she grew so attached that she took charge of me with the Ministry's permission. I came to be known as Armilla Kemp. Armilla is an unusual name, I'll admit, but considering the situation, it was not that original because it is Latin for 'a bracelet'. At the hospital I was "the bracelet baby". But I've been Armilla for so long now, that even if my history suddenly came crashing down around me and I found my name was Jane, I wouldn't change it.

I had lived with Merle in her little house since she became my guardian. She was retiring at the time anyway when she adopted me. Merle taught me before I went to Hogwarts and became one of the most diligent Ravenclaws. Now she was eighty-one and it seemed that I had become her guardian. Not that I minded, but I knew that I was going to spend between now and Christmas worrying about her and whether or not she was alright. I just couldn't do without her in my life. Merle was one of those people who just by being there made life worth living.

The sun had set by the time the train pulled into the station. I grabbed my things and got up, my mind shifting between Merle's health and how much work I would have to catch up on.

I stood on the platform and waited for Professor Sinistra, who, according to Dumbledore's last letter to Merle, was going to meet me at the station. I looked at my watch. 6:33 pm. Everyone was probably in the Great Hall eating dinner.

"Miss Kemp?"

I turned towards the voice and felt relieved at seeing the familiar face of a Hogwarts teacher. I was glad that Dumbledore had chosen to send one of his kinder members of staff. There were certain staff members who I generally liked to have as little to do with as possible.

I walked towards Professor Sinistra, praying that I would not be in the same situation next year. All I wanted was for Merle to be completely well again. She had plenty of years left in her.

As we walked up to the school together, I only half paid attention to the conversation my teacher was making, which was mainly about the constellations in the sky. I was thinking about seeing Merle again at Christmas time, restored to perfect health and laughing off the illness she had been through over the summer.