Hope Has a Place

Hope Has a Place

Written by forbidden-paradise

Inspired by the lyrics to Enya's "Hope Has a Place" from her album, The Memory of Trees

"Look to love and you may dream

And if it should leave then give it wings

But if such a love is meant to be

Hope is home, and the heart is free"

A zephyr blew around the small village of Little Hangleton, teasing the small flowers that grew around and kissing the waves that approached the sandy shore. The seaside town only had a population of around twenty residents, two of which were blessed with magical abilities. Nobody else in the village knew this, of course, and coincidentally the young couple were never bothered.

A woman in her early twenties stood upon Twycross Point, the highest cliff in Little Hangleton, wearing only a nightgown. She placed both her hands on her stomach and thought about the child that was growing inside of her. She was only in the first trimester, but already some mornings were becoming a fragment of annoyance. As she stared out over the endless ocean, the brilliant sunset accentuating her features, she reminisced about a time when she had met her soul mate.

"You ought to come in from the cold, Sienna," a deep male voice sounded behind her, and the memories diminished. But she smiled, as it was the reassuring voice of her to-be husband, Tom Marvolo Riddle.

"Why should I, when I know that you are holding a blanket and a steaming mug of hot chocolate?"

Tom knew he had been caught out, and he whispered in her ear, "How do you remember such things?"

Sienna shivered pleasantly, and then replied, "I know you too well, that's all."

Tom placed the warm mug into her cold hands, and wrapped the woollen blanket around her shoulders. He then placed his arms around Sienna's tummy, breathing in her musk scent as his head found the curve of her neck. His jet black hair was tossed playfully about by the breeze, and his chocolate-coloured eyes scanned the horizon and marvelled at the displays of red, orange and yellow.

Feeling comforted and safe in her fiancé's embrace, Sienna resumed her recollections of the past, a time when her Muggle parents did not realise they had conceived a special child; a time when the magical world was in danger because the wizard, Grindelwald, was in full power; a time when the name "Tom Riddle" became known to her.

After receiving her Hogwarts letter, Sienna Marie Darnel was perplexed to find out she could perform magic, and the visit from Armando Dippet (the then Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry) was most enjoyable and interesting. A visit to Diagon Alley, a ride on a magical train, and the castle at Hogwarts made Sienna realise that perhaps she wasn't as ordinary as she first thought.

The Sorting Hat decided on Ravenclaw, the house regarded as holding intellectual, witty and kind people. Immediately Sienna bonded with most of the students, regardless of what house they were in (she even befriended a conceited Slytherin named Olive Hornby). As the years went by, Sienna's talents remained mostly in Charms, Transfiguration and Divination, much to the astonishment of prejudiced wizards and witches who believed Muggleborns could not achieve reasonable results.

It was not until her sixth year that by chance, Sienna Darnel and Tom Riddle finally met each other after being awarded the Prefect's badge. Sienna had heard of Tom's fantastic aptitude in Defence Against the Dark Arts, and they soon had a cognizance of all things book-related. Despite being from totally different houses, they saw each other regularly and Tom even persuaded Sienna to take midnight walks with him around the luxurious and alluring castle.

During the summer before their seventh year at Hogwarts, Tom invited Sienna to stay over his house (which was a grand manor) in Little Hangleton. Once Sienna had arrived, she bonded immediately with his father, Tom Riddle Senior, who was a Muggle like her own parents. He was surprised to hear that she had brought an old gramophone, and eagerly tried to teach his wife, Merope, how to use it (and failed miserably!).

Sienna noticed that Merope didn't use magic very often, and Tom told her later that her father was not a very nice person, and constantly accused her of being a "useless Squib". Once Marvolo Gaunt and her strange brother, Morfin, had been sent to Azkaban Prison (for reasons Tom refused to divulge), Merope started a new life.

"And you can guess what happened after that!" Tom concluded, and Sienna smiled. He looked so much like his father; Merope sure had good taste ('and so do I!' she thought secretly).

On Sienna's last day at the beautiful manor, she and Tom sat underneath the gorgeous yew tree with its pointy thorns and cherry-coloured berries, and it was there that they shared a spontaneous kiss that resulted in a shift of their already strong friendship. They had been engrossed in Sienna's favourite book, Unfogging the Future, when the wind picked up and Sienna's curly brown locks were thrown straight into her face. Laughing, Tom carefully brushed the strands out of the way, and was left to stare into her blue-green eyes. Then before Sienna could register what was happening, Tom leant in and his lips touched hers ever so softly. Blushing, she shyly moved her head onto his shoulder and they continued reading as if nothing ever happened.

Fortunately, (they had both been thinking the friendship would never be the same again), Sienna took the irreversible plunge and asked Tom if he'd like to go out with her. Without any second thoughts, Tom agreed. It was underneath that tree they shared their first kiss as a couple, and remarkably discovered their wands both came from a yew tree.

"It's fate," Sienna said, grinning.

"Merely coincidental," Tom argued.

"Fate," she sung out, smiling.

"Coincidence..."

"I tell you, I should know if it's fate or coincidence, I'm the one good at Divination,"

"Are you telling me you possess the 'Inner Eye'?" Tom laughed.

"Shut up! At least there are some of us who are talented," Sienna stuck out her tongue, and Tom rolled his eyes jokingly.

"Whoa, you're really asking for it. Did you know that I am extremely talented at the Dark Arts, and I know every curse and counter-curse ever made?" he boasted, puffing out his chest. Sienna poked it and replied,

"I did know that actually, but my 'Inner Eye' tells me you're not interested in cursing me," she grinned shyly and flushed a little.

"Spot on," Tom winked at her, "Cassandra Vablatsky would be proud." And before Sienna could reply, Tom had pulled her into a sweet kiss.

The years went by with a flourish, and Grindelwald was defeated by Tom and Sienna's Transfiguration teacher, Albus Dumbledore, in 1945. They had left Hogwarts in June, and a year later, underneath the same yew tree they had shared that kiss, Tom proposed to Sienna and she accepted...

"Sienna? Sienna! Wake up!" Tom's worried voice broke her out of her sudden daydream. She tried to grasp her surroundings and realised that the hot chocolate had gone cold and she and Tom were in complete darkness.

"Lumos," Tom muttered, and the light from his wand hit Sienna's face.

"W-what happened?" she asked, only just coming to.

"I believe you fell asleep, and luckily I was holding you when it happened," Tom reassured her.

"Oh... I'm so sorry I scared you like that," Sienna turned to face the handsome man she was to marry, and looked up into his dark eyes that were being illuminated by the wand-light.

"Don't worry about it." He smiled, and put his arm around her waist, guiding her back towards their exquisite cottage that sat next to a dusty road. It wound all the way down the hill and into the motionless village where only flickering streetlights stirred.

Once inside the house, Tom took Sienna into their cosy little living room and helped her into a comfy couch, even though she could have sat down herself quite capably. Tom then headed into the kitchen and five minutes later, returned with two bowls of fettuccine with a creamy white sauce. He sat down on the couch opposite her, looked at her inquisitively, and said,

"Might I ask what were you dreaming about before?"

Sienna waited until she had finished a mouthful of pasta before replying.

"If you must know, I was thinking about when I came to meet you," she took a sip of her orange juice, "and underneath the yew tree," she added in a whisper.

Tom gave her a lopsided grin and nodded.

"What are you thinking?" she asked him, worried that he might think of her indifferently.

"I'm thinking of those memories, too," he said, smiling dreamily.

They ate their pasta in comfortable silence, and then suddenly, Sienna proclaimed,

"I think I have a name for our child,"

"That's wonderful. What did you have in mind?" Tom replied, eagerly waiting what she was to say.

"Sarra, for a girl, and perhaps Morfin, for a boy, after your Uncle," she announced.

Tom considered the names for a moment, and grinned.

"I love them, darling," he said, finishing off his pasta. He sighed and wondered what their child was going to look like, what it would be good at and if he was going to be a good enough father.

Within the next year, Sienna and Tom tied the knot at a private ceremony at Tom's parent's house in Little Hangleton. Shortly afterward, Sienna gave birth to a healthy, beautiful baby girl named Sarra Merope Riddle. Tom had never been happier than he was at this time.

*

Quite a few decades later, on the 31^st of July, 1980, a boy by the name of Harry James Potter was brought into the world. He had jet black hair and the loveliest emerald-green eyes.

Lord Voldemort did not show, for he did not exist.