Turn to Stone

Selling out
Is not my thing
Walk away
I won't be broken again
I'm not
I'm not what you think

Dream away your life
Someone else's dream
Nothing equals nothing

Letting go
Is not my thing
Walk away
Won't let it happen again
I'm not
I'm not very smart

Why should I feel sad
For what I never had
Nothing equals nothing

Turn to stone
Lose my faith
I'll be gone
Before it happens

*~*~*

Chapter 3 - Gaining Allies

Allura sighed. It had been three days since Tom had stormed out on her, and every time she asked, getting out of there seemed next to impossible. Like the days before, she spent her time looking out the window, in hopes of someone coming to her rescue.

Suddenly someone knocked on the door. "Allura?" It was Tom.

Allura sighed irritably. "Leave me alone!" she shouted back. "I don't want to see you!"

"Why are you so stubborn?"

"Why do you have to control my life? Let me go!"

Tom laughed. "Why should I? Give me one good reason."

His sister sighed, not in the mood to fight. "Because I don't think our mother, if she was still alive, would want to see you like this."

Tom paused before answering. "Fine," he hissed, "ignore me. See if I care." Allura was silent, listening intently to the sounds of his aggravated murmurs as he walked off. She sighed, feeling more than ever like a prisoner.

"I'm so alone ..." Allura muttered under her breath, lying back on the bed and staring at the ceiling in thought. "No friends, no family ... I feel like I'm in Beijing again." What about this Durmstrang Tom kept talking about? she thought. That sounds so familiar. "Hmm. Maybe it's time I took matters into my own hands. He said I'm good at karate." She grinned. "Time to try it out."

* * *

"Yeah, I know; those Aurors are still on the lookout. It's your turn to watch, Snape," said Avery.

Snape muttered something and stood up exhaustedly and stretching. "Still. There's nothing around here 'cept that shack, and the girl's in there; no one else." He thought for a moment. "You really think she's strong, Avery? I mean, we haven't even seen her."

Avery frowned at this. "I wouldn't question Master. You know what he did to you last time."

Snape hung his head at this, silent. Macnair, beside him, spoke in his place. "Still, I think you're right, Snape. Master has been acting strangely lately."

"It's because of that girl, Macnair. He's just obsessed with her. It's sickening," replied Avery.

"Talking about mutiny, are we?" said a cold voice. The three were silent, pulling out their wands.

"Who's out there? Speak up!" commanded Macnair.

The voice laughed lightly. "That girl you've been speaking of. The one your master's just obsessed with, you say. Do you know her name?"

The trio paused, looking at each other. Then they turned to where the voice came from, shaking their heads for an answer. The voice laughed again, a girl stepping out of the shadows. "I am Allura Riddle. No relation to Tom Riddle whatsoever. I have disowned my brother. Will you join me instead, or remain faithful to the cruelest man alive?"

Snape eyed Allura in wonder, taking in her beauty slowly. Avery, eyeing Snape, elbowed him harshly, then turned to Allura. "We want no business with you. I'll have to tell your brother about this, you know. You're not supposed to be out in the open."

"And why not? For your information I've been cooped up in that room and haven't seen another soul since I came. Tom, I think, has lost any soul of the kind, so I'm not counting that bastard. You get none of his power. You get nothing but pain from him! Why do you care about him?"

"Why is the dog so faithful to its master?" countered Macnair.

"You like being called a dog? Just a mangy, homeless son of a bitch with no one else to turn to?"

Snape frowned at this. "Shut up. You're annoying me."

"And what if I don't? What will you do then?"

The three sighed at her persistence. "What do you want," Avery groaned irritably.

Allura smiled. "Teach me magic and I'll make sure your master doesn't hear about your slacking off the job. Tell no one."

Snape laughed at this, Allura frowning. "Please. Don't bother us anymore, girl. We have nothing to teach you. Go back to your little house and rot for all I care." Suddenly Allura attacked him, remembering a few karate moves finally. Macnair and Avery watched the fight bemusedly, wondering what was going on.

Pinning him to the wall, Allura grinned at Snape's gape of fear. "I'm not the one that will be rotting in turmoil if you continue talking. Now, will you teach me or not?"

Snape glanced at the other Death Eaters, but they didn't show any sign of helping him. Finally Snape sighed, looking Allura in the eye. "When do we start?"

Allura smiled triumphantly. "Tomorrow at midnight is fine with me." She let go of him, turning to the others. "What about you? Will you go and tell on me like man's best friend should? Or will you get out of your little obedience school and change your habits?"

I'm getting irritated of this reference to us as dogs, thought Avery, turning to Macnair. Both shrugged, looking back to Allura. "Fine. But if Master finds out about this ..."

"Then he'll just have to kill me," Allura finished, grinning at them. "Let him live with the regret."

* * *

So, after a few practices, and some close calls of Tom's presence too near to them, Allura started remembering old spells from her schools' lessons. Snape had stolen back Allura's short stick, Allura recalling it as a wand. Soon reminiscences were returning to her as well.

One night in the room, Allura had a restless sleep, thinking about a daydream she had once during her practices. She pictured a woman with strikingly red hair holding to a baby tightly, calling to a man with dark hair and glasses. Then a figure came bursting through the door, laughing high-pitched and evilly. Screams could be heard from the other two, a green light filling Allura's mind. She screamed, waking up and breathing heavily. "Oh ... my god ... what's happening to me??" she thought out loud, examining herself. Her hands were trembling, her face pale. It was like she had been there, watching the whole thing and knowing she could do nothing about it.

"I see you're good at divination," said a voice. Allura turned to the window, finding Snape was there with a grin on his face. "I'll find some tarot cards if I can; a crystal ball if I could spare it."

Allura, however, seemed confused. "What do you mean, divination? Do you know what my dream was about?"

Snape shook his head. "No, I don't. It's just I've noticed that every night you're screaming in your sleep, calling out the names of people I used to know. And saying they were dead."

"I ... talked in my sleep?" Allura asked, Snape nodding.

"It's a rare ability to be a true Seer. I believe you are one. Just a few days ago, one of the people you called in your dreams, Bertha Jorkins, I think, disappeared and was never seen from again. One of your outbursts, I remember, you kept repeating to yourself, 'The ministry's follower will depart again, and return recalling nothing but her torture. Her blood will be forever run red on the walls of Little Hangleton.' Interesting prediction, I must admit."

Allura blinked. "I said that?" Snape nodded again, Allura sighing. "Why did you come to see me?"

Snape's face turned slightly pink. "We're leaving tomorrow for Durmstrang. Master will come for you in the morning. I don't know what he means to do."

She frowned, turning to her wand for comfort. "I'll be ready for him." She looked at Snape curiously. "What is Durmstrang? Tell me about it."

Snape looked around cautiously, hearing something. "Not now. You can ask your brother if you want. In fact, I think he wants to see you ... right now, actually ..." Suddenly Allura stood up, hearing Snape's screams and some high-pitched laughter like the one in her dream.

"Get out of here, Snape. She's not yours for the taking." Tom leaned in on the window and grinned at her. "Hello there, Allura. Care to come outside for a moment?"