The Disappearances

                                    

                                          
The next morning, I woke up feeling refreshed. I turned over to find that Liana was fast asleep, breathing softly. I watched as her chest rose and fell for a few minutes. She was beautiful when she was asleep. I slipped out of bed, careful not to wake her up. I went over to the cage where Terry, our new owl, was pecking at something at the bottom of his cage. I patted him gently on the head. Luckily, Terry was rather friendly, so he didn't try to bite my fingers off or anything.
                          
I rummaged through the drawers in the room, looking for a piece of paper. I'd completely forgotten to write Harry. Eventually, I found one in the desk in the living room. I immediately started writing away, writing sloppily so that no one would recognize my handwriting, careful to reveal too much:
                          
We got here okay. This place is sort of interesting. We're not the only ones here. We're safe and hopefully we can get settled all right. I hope you're all right.
                          
I signed: "Sincerely, your new best friend," chuckling to myself. I wondered what his reaction would be to that. Sure, we'd put the past behind us, but we were nowhere near best friends. I wasn't even sure if we'd even consider each other friends. I opened Terry's cage and he hopped onto my forearm. I put the letter in his beak after sealing it, telling him to take it to Harry Potter at Hogwarts. He seemed to nod in agreement before I opened the window, allowing him to begin his journey halfway across the world.
                          
My stomach growled. I looked at the clock. It was early, only seven thirty. I saw a thick booklet lying on the desk, for ordering "room service." Room service? What was that? After analyzing the paper, I realized that it was a menu for ordering food. Apparently, you could order anything you wanted and they'd bring it up to your room. At the Leaky Cauldron, you either ate downstairs or didn't eat at all.
                          
I picked up the phone. It was my first time using one. There were buttons with numbers on it. The directions in the booklet said to press a few numbers. I did as it said and after three rings, someone answered. I was so fascinated that I'd forgotten what I called for. I ordered the continental breakfast, for Liana and I. Then I put the phone back.
                          
Liana entered the room, rubbing sleep from her eyes. She stretched, letting out a yawn. "Talking to yourself, are you?"
                          
"I was on the phone. I ordered some breakfast, if you must know," I replied. "Muffins, croissants, cereal, fruit, and some juice."
                          
"Sounds great," she said, plopping down onto the sofa. "I'm famished."
                          
"After we eat, do you want to go for a walk?"
                          
"Sure. Why not?"
                          

                          
We explored the city by foot. I thought it was alright. It was quaint. And the people were friendly. As we walked down Laurel Street, Liana nudged me. She pointed to a strange yellow house. I noticed that the door was slightly ajar. "Do people here usually leave their doors open?" Liana asked. I normally would've walked by and ignored something like that. Liana started walking toward the door. I only followed because Liana would want me to.
                          
We approached the house, rang the doorbell, and knocked several times. I looked around. There were no cars in the driveway and it appeared as if nobody was home. A woman in the house next door walked out of her house. "Excuse me… Do you know who lives here?" Liana asked her.
                          
"Mr. Daniels lives there, but I haven't seen him in weeks," the woman replied. "Are you family of his?"
                          
"Yes," she lied. "I just wanted to make sure I had the right address." The woman smiled, nodded, and went about whatever business she had.
                          
"Hello?" Liana called, poking her head in the door. We stepped inside and she called again. Nobody seemed to be in the house at all, after we'd searched both floors and the basement. From what I could see, the house was nicely decorated with paintings, knickknacks, and flowers, which were all dead now. It was neat and orderly. The home had a sort of traditional style. It was very cozy, unlike Malfoy Manor. It was the complete opposite of the large estate that I once called home.