The Three Keys

A/N: I do not own any Harry Potter Characters, just my Laurel, her family and anyone you never heard of before...Oh yeah, and one more little thing – THE PLOT!

A/N: One of those 'necessary' transitional chapters. There IS some plot in here, after you've waded through the necessities. Anyway, meh.

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Ch 10 – A NEW LIFE

The soft haunting melody drifted through the hallway from the grand parlor. Inside was a small girl with honey blonde hair seated on a couch playing with her Barbie dolls, and not paying the least bit of attention to the melodic tunes filling her ears from the piano directly across from her.

Finally unable to stand it any longer Willow moaned, dropping her head on the back of the couch, “GODD Laurel, do you have to go on playing that boring song over and over? Don’t you know how to play anything other than ‘Woe-is-me-this-is-gonna-kill-me-from-boredom song’?”

Laurel ignored her and continued playing, letting the music fill her soul and concentrating on the ebony and ivory keys at her fingertips. Laurel loved feeling the strength of the piano as she caressed the keys and relished knowing that she was the one creating the beautiful music as it drifted and floated around her, soothing her shattered spirit.

“Laurel! Play something else!” Willow demanded.

“GOD Wil, you are such a heathen! This is Brahms after all.” Laurel snapped.

Willow rolled her eyes, “I don’t even know what that means.”

“Yeah…Exactly!”

“Whatever, you are in a foul mood and I won’t stay in here one minute longer!” Willow got up, collected her dolls and flounced out of the room.

“Finally!” Laurel muttered, “Took her long enough to get the clue.”

Laurel was indeed in a foul mood and she had been all summer. As a matter of fact, she had been since she woke up, more than half dead after her ‘boyfriend’ tried to kill her!

‘God, why doesn’t anyone understand how I feel?’ Laurel fumed.

She had been moping since she came home from the hospital after Professor Palmera saved her life that fateful evening in May and the rents dropped the bomb on her that they were moving. Not just moving from their home to maybe another city or state…No, no they had to move in a BIG way.

They were moving across the Atlantic, to another country!

It still made Laurel groan when she thought about the HUGE fight she’d had with her parents over whether or not to leave. Her lips curled into a sneer and she snorted remembering there really was no ‘whether or not’ about it, they were leaving and Laurel had absolutely no say in the matter what so ever!

It made her stomach do lazy flip-flops when she remembered telling her friends she was leaving – and she couldn’t even tell them the TRUTH as to why!

Her mom and dad threatened to kill her themselves if she dare squeal to any of her friends about the attack. Laurel had never seen them so livid as when she mentioned wanting to tell her best friend Marlena about it.

“Why not? She’s my best friend!” Laurel had begged. “She will understand why it has to be kept a secret! She can be trusted!”

Her parents were adamant about insisting they keep the ruse up of her absence from school, after the attack. It was explained away as a chance for the family to take a quick vacation and check out their new home in the UK. The deception had worked beautifully and no one had questioned it.

And Maggie and Jack intended on keeping it that way.

The parents decided at that moment that Laurel was not to visit with anyone unless one of them was actually sitting with her. They continued their protectiveness by placing a strict no going out curfew on her period. Laurel was not even allowed to go back to school and finish out the year; she had all her lessons sent to the house where she completed them alone.

Her mom and dad had explained it all away as simply being fearful for her safety. They’d not let her out of their sight until they were away from California or until they felt certain that her life was no longer in danger.

She’d felt trapped, hurt and lonely. It wasn’t her fault she’d been attacked! And now Laurel was being punished for it. Sure she understood her parents were just freaked out and worried about her well being, but it still didn’t make living these past months sequestered away like a monk any easier.

Laurel’s eyes welled up with angry tears again thinking about the fight she and her mother had while packing up their house to move…

“I wish I had died, because this life sucks!” she shrieked at her mother and was completely shocked when her mom hauled off and whacked her hard in the arm.

“DON’T YOU EVER LET ME HEAR THOSE WORDS OUT OF YOUR MOUTH AGAIN, YOUNG LADY!” Maggie screamed. “DO YOU KNOW YOU ALMOST KILLED US FROM FEAR AND WORRY WONDERING IF YOU WERE GOING TO LIVE OR DIE?” Maggie began throwing Laurel’s old stuffed toys and school things into a box as she continued yelling at the top of her lungs. “AND THEY TOLD US IF YOU DID LIVE THERE WAS A 50/50 CHANCE THAT YOU WOULD BE A VEGTABLE! DO YOU HEAR ME A VEGTABLE!”

Maggie froze and turned looking at her daughter, hands balled into fists at her sides, shaking with anger, her eyes narrowed to slits. Maggie’s wand, sticking out of the back pocket of her jeans was shooting out yellow and gold sparks all around, whizzing and snapping in crazy arching patterns as she turned and resumed storming about the room. Laurel was amazed that her mom’s rear end did not catch on fire, although she did set a few of Laurel’s old school papers ablaze and Maggie screamed in frustration as she threw a glass of water on them and turned back to Laurel.

“ARE WE UNDERSTOOD, YOUNG LADY!” Maggie screamed anew. Laurel resignedly nodded her head and shut up.

Oh she understood why it was so important not to say anything about her attack, she just didn’t like it.

Besides, it was clear the subject was closed.

Her parents and the Ministry had forbid her to discuss the attack since ‘The Lover’s Curse’ was a particularly evil bit of dark magic that had been all but abolished for hundreds of years.

The Ministry felt they had enough on their hands trying to find ‘He Who Must Not Be Named’ and didn’t want or need to give any scorned, foolhardy, jilted lovers out there any more evil curses to hurl around if they didn’t have too.

No thank you…So Laurel had been effectively silenced.

She had had plenty of time to read up about the ‘Amatore Blasphemere’ during her convalescence and still shuddered with dread and fear when she thought about it…

The ‘Amatore Blasphemere’ or ‘Lover’s Curse’ was an age-old dark spell that had been cast typically when a spouse was caught cheating on their mate, hence the name.

The guilty party was hexed and bound to the person who cast the spell until either one of them died, thereby releasing the other from the curse. If you were cursed it was a horrible and torturous way to be killed as the person’s heart actually shred itself slowly into pieces and you would die, quite literally, from a broken heart.

Sometimes however, particularly strong individuals would survive. That’s where the binding would come in. If you lived, you were still bound to the person who cast the spell and if they hexed you again, the second attack was immediately fatal.

The ‘Amatore’ had been a popular and acceptable punishment for a traitorous partner for centuries back; but when it began to be misused in the 1800s and a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Magic was unjustly cursed and did not survive, a swift halt was placed on its practice.

It had not really surfaced again until Laurel was cursed.

And since Don had gone missing there was no way to guess if he was alive or dead, which meant she was still vulnerable for another attack.

It was a tough situation for Laurel’s parents to be put in. Stay at home and hope her assailant never comes back to finish what he started or flee and try to make a new life elsewhere…

Her parents were thrilled that they even had that choice to make.

The medical wizards at St. Mungo’s – Los Angeles who had treated Laurel, were glad to have been able to heal the young woman and also for having the opportunity to observe a case of ‘Amatore Blasphemare’ as they had never seen one. They gave complete credit to the fact that she was alive to Professor Palmera. Yet even though he had managed to keep her living the healers cautioned that the first 72 hours were critical and if she did manage to survive they could not guarantee she would be anything more than a vegetable.

It was just a matter of waiting and praying at that point.

It had been sheer torture for her family as they waited, sitting like hollow shells of themselves looking around wondering what they should do, until at last Laurel began to come out of the curse and regain some of her strength.

The family was so overjoyed at her apparent, complete recovery that Maggie and Jack made some very serious choices very quickly…These decisions led them to their current home – London, England.

Although both families had searched for Don Charlaton, Laurel’s boyfriend, after the attack, they came up empty handed.

Since the Ministry was so concerned about this scandal getting out Don was not considered a suspect.

Don’s family was in shock that the Ministry took his disappearance so casually and insisted an investigation be opened as to why he was last seen with a mudblood at her school after hours and then simply vanished.

The Ministry, sensing serious trouble what with the rumblings of Voldermort back and gaining allies, did not want to deal with some pureblood / muggle born scandal. They played off his disappearance as some silly spat between boyfriend and girlfriend and left it at that. There was only a small mention in the Daily Prophet that he was still away getting over his broken heart and sulking (And yes the pun was intended)…

They played it out as a joke and it seemed to work, the talk died down in just a couple of weeks.

Even though the search was closed publicly for Don, the Ministry continued quietly making inquiries. Jack, Laurel’s father had the FBI, CIA, even Interpol looking for him and the Ministry’s Aurors searched everywhere, but it was evident after a few weeks that he was gone.

The circumstances as to why Don would want to attack Laurel and with such a vicious curse were only speculative until Laurel herself had regained enough strength to discuss it and confirm that it was in fact Don that had attacked her. She had told them she believed it was over a disagreement on where their relationship was going physically,but no one, not even she, really agreed with that theory.

They just couldn’t figure out what the connection was. Why would anyone want to hurt or kill Laurel? It made no sense, Don had seemed genuinely interested in Laurel before this and it was so out of his character….

So Laurel’s parents decided that perhaps it was not safe for them to reside in California any longer. John pulled some strings after a lengthy visit with the President and was able to secure the prestigious position as US Ambassador to the UK after the sudden demise of the former Ambassador.

It was a sad but fortuitous opening and John accepted without hesitation.

By late June the family had packed up and moved to 24 Grosvenor Square – the US Embassy in England.

Since moving to London, Laurel and her parents had come to an uneasy truce about the entire matter and were beginning to get their lives settled and feel more secure about her safety. Even Laurel, reluctant as she was to let go of her life in California had begun to relax and sleep just a little better at night now…usually.

Heaving a ragged breath in, Laurel remembered what he mom had told her when they first moved in a few weeks back; she'd turned to her daughter and hugged her tight saying, "Laurel, this is new for all of us, you know. We're starting over, new job, new friends, new home...It's a whole new life."

Laurel realized now with a rueful little smile and sigh that it was time to put those unhappy feelings aside. She was going to try at least to embrace her 'new life' and with those uncomfortable thoughts finally dealt with headed up to bed.

After all, she was exhausted from her long evening of trying to make up with Willow for being such a grump earlier in the day. Willow was having nothing of it, deciding instead to make her suffer a little longer…sighing Laurel knew she deserved it. She’d pretty much been a major bitch for the last few weeks.

It was very unlike Laurel to be so angry all the time and it was taking a toll on her mentally and physically. She rolled over and hugged her pillow close as she drifted to sleep and decided she was going to make a much stronger effort to be back to her normal self….

It was a loud piercing scream that jolted her into awareness, shaking she jumped from her bed, grabbed her wand from the nightstand and looked around. The room was full of luminous moonlight and her open terrace doors blew the white billowy curtains around the doors like beautiful ballroom gowns dancing with ghostly partners.

The screams filled her ears again, pounding against her head – trembling she covered her ears and looked around. Laurel’s heart was thudding against her chest as she realized they were coming from the room next to hers.

She saw it then, the door – it stood out like a pale signpost beckoning her. Her feet took her to the door and with cold, shaky fingers she tried the knob. Locked, ‘No’, she thought, furious for some unknown reason. ‘I have to get in, I have to get in….’ She tried the knob again and saw the lock was on her side of the door. Gulping, she unlocked it and turned the knob, it opened noiselessly in her hand.

Moving slowly, carefully, Laurel steeled her shoulders and peered into the next room. Moonlight flooded the room and as she stepped thru the doorway, she gave a start as a warm breeze that blew thru the open doors caressed her body sending tingles of fear and anticipation shooting thru her nerve endings.

She looked around the large room now, to her left, against the wall opposite her was a large four-poster bed with two large nightstands on either side. It was beautiful, if not foreboding. The bed was made of thick dark oak and the posters were intricately carved with a delicate leaf and vine motif winding its way up to the top of the each post. There were rich dark velvet curtains draping each corner of the bed, she couldn’t tell what color they were, in the moonlight they looked black as the night sky.

Her eyes however, were riveted on the figure at the center of the bed thrashing about and moaning. She leveled her wand and fought back a wave of nausea as she approached the bed. Cautiously, shaking more violently now, Laurel bent down and pulled the covers from the moaning form...

It happened so fast she had no time to react. Suddenly, she was pitched off her feet and jerked onto the bed, her wand flying out of her hand and clattering onto the nightstand nearby. Laurel struggled to free herself and looked up to see her captor’s face, but the room had gone suddenly icy cold and black and she could make out only a dim halo of fair hair as a hard, heavy body pressed her into the mattress.

Fear gripped her and Laurel seized in panic, trying to get out. A sob welled in her throat and stuck there. Laurel was ready to do whatever it took to get out from under the imprisoning embrace of her unseen assailant. She was so very afraid, so afraid that she heard them as if outside herself…terrifying screams…screams in the back of her mind, piercing her soul, she didn’t know if they were hers or her captor’s…

Laurel gasped for air and bolted up in bed, fear coursing thru her body, pounding in her ears, she couldn’t hear…oh God! Her nightshirt was soaked thru and she gasped again looking wildly around the room…

Slowly, slowly rational thinking started to return to her.

It was the dream….

She moaned and flopped back down on her pillow, her thoughts were still feral and every sound made her heart stop.

Well she thought, forcing calm to return, ‘At least this time I actually got into the room and could see it was a someone in the bed.’

Still she puzzled over the screaming. It sounded like they were in such pain, it was agonizing to listen to and as she thought about them again the screams echoed in her mind, ringing and buzzing against her skull like a swarm of bees in the distance. Laurel yanked the pillows over her head and moaned. She was not sure what this dream meant but it was significant, of that she was certain and now Laurel realized the dreams were progressing and becoming more clear, more like a vision…

She already knew the room she entered in her vision was the one next to hers. She’d recognized both her room and the adjoining bedroom as the very ones from her dream the moment she walked in to see them upon touring the embassy living quarters.

Sure, Laurel could have chosen another bedroom, but she felt compelled to pick this one with its twin just a common door away. Instead of feeling a sense of dread, Laurel had this overwhelming feeling of butterflies growing in her belly…

Laurel was actually anticipating being scared shitless?

She shook her head, ‘God, what kind of creepy crap am I into?’ she thought sickly, rolled out of bed and checked the empty room next to hers just be sure, as she did each time she had the dream…nothing there…

Heaving a heavy sigh, she decided for tonight it would be best to try and rest and attempt to calm her shaken nerves. Tomorrow she’d try to figure out what all this meant…did it have to do with her inner sight? She just didn’t know, but these visions were getting stronger and more intense each time she had them and they were happening regularly now every few days…

Laurel rolled over and forced herself to relax, she wasn’t sure what was in store, but she knew it had something to do with the visions that haunted her almost nightly….

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A/N: Yeah. Like I said. It HAD to be written. You needed to know about the HOWs AND WHYs Laurel and her family actually got to London so she can meet Draco and company… There was actually something important for future events in there as well…I’m sure you can guess what.

Oh and in case you were wondering, 24 Grosvenor Square is indeed the address to the American Embassy in London.

Be sure to leave me a little ringy-dingy and tell me what you thought…HUGS AND KISSES!