A/N: Oops! I almost forgot! Draco and the other HP characters are wholly & soley © JK Rowling. This is her world, I just popped by to play. I do, however, own Galia & her parents.
Also, anything that looks like this: ----- , simply means that it's a break in the story, but unfortunately there's no point in the story to start a new chapter.
Galia's Rebellion
"GO AWAY!" yelled Galia.
"But, Galia, honey, I only want what's best for everyone," protested her mother.
"Mother, what's best for me right now is to be left alone."
"Galia, but I am your mother, and you will obey me this instant. The Malfoy's have always been family friends, and I want you to be nice to Draco this time. I'm sure he's wonderful once you get to know him." Mrs Johansson's tone was getting increasingly impatient.
The sixteen year old dragged herself off her bed and glared at her mother with deep resentment. She had her mother's build and features, but her father's dark colouring. To the incredible disappointment to both her parents, she didn't inherit their dark tendencies, and, to make matters worse, she was sorted into Gryffindor House at Hogwarts instead of the traditional family House, Slytherin.
"Mother, Malfoy is very probably the world's most annoying person. I am not going to speak to him!" Galia was now the one who was speaking impatiently.
Oh, why can't they see that all I want is to be left alone! I really hate it when they force me to associate with their friends, and expect me to enjoy myself, she thought, frustrated.
"Oh, yes, you will," said Mrs Johansson, in a deceptively pleasant tone. Galia cringed. She knew what was coming next.
"CRUCIO!" yelled her mother. Galia tried her best to hold in her screams, but as always, failed miserably. When her mother finally lifted the curse, Galia lay on the floor, gasping for breath.
And they wonder why I don't want to be like them! she thought incredulously.
"We expect you downstairs in ten minutes," snapped her mother, before sweeping out of the room.
-----
"Hello Mrs Malfoy…Mr Malfoy…Draco," greeted Galia dully, reaching the formal living room.
"Hello Galia," replied Narcissa. Her husband and son nodded.
"Galia, why don't you and Draco go out into the grounds?" suggested Mr Johansson. "We have rather important business to discuss. Be back in at half past four."
Galia and Draco left the room and went outside.
"Having fun these holidays?" sneered Draco.
"Loads," snapped Galia before breaking out into a run and disappearing into the forest behind Johansson Manor.
"Hey, Johansson, wait up!" Galia felt something akin to grim satisfaction when she heard the panicky note in Draco's voice. She stopped about twenty metres into the trees and waited while he caught up.
"Nobody said you had to follow me, Maggot," she pointed out, leaning against a tree and arching her eyebrow condescendingly. "We were only told to go outside, not to stick together. And, let's face it, you can't stand being around me anymore than I can stand being around you. Why make it worse than it has to be?"
"Because there's no one else to talk to here," said Draco. Galia shrugged.
"Not my problem." She turned around and walked off. She had found some new tracks the day before, and today she was determined to follow them and see if they led to anything.
"Where are you taking me, Johansson?" demanded Draco after a while. Galia whirled around.
"I'm not taking you anywhere, Maggot! All I am doing is following these tracks," she whispered harshly, pointing them out. "I've never seen anything like them here before, and I want to see if they lead me to anything. Now would you do us both a favour, and SHUT UP!"
"What if they lead to…I don't know…a werewolf, or something?" he asked nervously.
"Not much chance of that, you idiot. There's not going to be a full moon for another fortnight yet. It looks like a big cat came through here, but I doubt it's anything serious. But on the off chance it does turn out to be dangerous, then you'd just better hope it can't climb trees, because I didn't bring my wand."
"Neither did I," groaned Draco. "I left it in the house, and we can't go back in 'til four-thirty."
"That's right. Now, if you're going to persist in following me, be quiet. I know for a fact there are plenty of dangerous creatures here. They usually stick to their own parts of the forest, but if they here you yelling, they might be tempted to investigate, and then think of the trouble we'd be in." This last bit was added quite cheerfully, as if Galia felt she'd gladly welcome a bit of trouble.
Draco stared at Galia in disbelief. The crazy girl was obviously going to get him killed, but if their parents saw one of them without the other, there was definitely going to be hell to pay, and she knew it.
They set off again, but now Draco was being very quiet, and was all but holding Galia's hand in his attempt to stick close to her. Suddenly, Galia stopped, and Draco walked right into her. She glared at him, steadying herself by grabbing onto a tree branch.
"Do you hear that?" she whispered. Draco listened carefully. Sure enough, he could hear a faint sound, that he could have sworn was…singing? Or humming, maybe. He looked questioningly at Galia, who shrugged.
They set off, following the sound, with Galia once again in the lead. This time when she stopped, he was ready. They looked around, trying to find the source of the crooning. Draco heard Galia draw her breath in suddenly, then she grabbed his arm, and pulled him alongside her, and pointed. There, in a large clearing, sat what looked like…but it couldn't be. The two teenagers looked at each other in disbelief, and then right back at the thing that sat and stared right back at them.
"Well," whispered Galia. "This can't be good."
"It gets worse. Galia, I think that's a baby."
Galia was fleetingly surprised at Draco's use of her first name, but shrugged it off, because there, in her own backyard almost, sat a baby Manticore. And, Galia realised, Draco was right. The Manticore had the lion body and the scorpion tail, but the head was that of a boy, not a man. Then Galia thought of a new problem.
"Maggot, if that's the baby, where do you suppose the parents are?" She was sounding as scared as Draco now.
He turned to look at her, his pale blue eyes large in his narrow face. "You mean, you don't know?" he squeaked, sounding more like Neville Longbottom than his usual self.
"Uh…nope. And I can't say that I'm particularly anxious to find out. Shall we go?"
Galia was trying her best to stay calm, and was only just succeeding. Draco nodded vigorously in agreement. They turned around and took off in the opposite direction, not caring where they went, just desperate to put as much difference between the Manticore and themselves as was humanly possible.
-----
"Galia, stop!" gasped Draco after about ten minutes of running flat out. She turned around and looked at him.
"What?" she hissed.
"I can't keep running. I have a stitch," he choked out, clutching his side. Galia sighed in frustration, then looked around, trying to figure out how far from the house they were.
Uh-oh, she thought. I don't recognise anything here.
"Um, Draco? I think we're lost." Galia accepted they were now in a situation where the use of first names was pretty much acceptable.
"What?"
"I said, I think we're lost."
"No, you called me by my first name."
"You've called me Galia twice now," she pointed out. Draco thought back, and realised she was right.
"Oh, OK then…did you just say we were lost?" Draco demanded, his voice rising shrilly.
"Uh…yeah," admitted Galia sheepishly.
"Well, now what?" Draco asked, wanting nothing more than to throttle the girl.
"Um…there's a cave in that rock heap over there," she replied, pointing up. "Maybe we should wait there until you recover, and so I can find my bearings."
"What makes you think you can?"
"It's higher than the trees. I should be able to see the Manor from there."
"Works for me," Draco replied, and they started climbing. When they reached the cave, they saw that it was really small and narrow. "This is probably a good thing," noted Draco.
"How so?"
"Well, we're both fairly thin, and I'm guessing we'll have a hard time getting in, so a Manticore won't be able to get us."
Galia looked at Draco with something like respect. "Good point."
While Draco wormed his way into the cave, Galia continued to climb up. As soon as she stood at the top of the rock heap, she saw the manor straight away. Then she glanced at her watch, and groaned. There was no way they'd be able to make it to the manor by four-thirty, even if they left now, ran full out, and didn't make a wrong turn.
"Well, this bites," she whispered to herself, climbing down.
When she got into the cave, scraping her elbows along the way, she couldn't help but notice that it was far roomier than she was led to believe from the outside. The narrow tunnel stopped suddenly, and there was maybe a two-foot drop down to a wide space, where Draco sat, waiting for her.
"Well, did you see the house?" he demanded anxiously.
"Ye-e-e-s," she said. "But…"
"But what?"
"We'll never make it by half past. It'd take us about just over an hour to get there, and it's already ten past four."
"You're kidding," groaned Draco. "Now what?"
"Why do you keep asking me? I've exhausted my supply of brilliant, life-saving ideas for the moment. You think of something." Galia lay down on the floor, and closed her eyes, trying to work out how mad their parents would be when they didn't show up at four-thirty.
"I don't have any idea, either," admitted Draco, stretching out beside her.
"How do you suppose a Greek monster made its way into a British forest?" speculated Galia.
"I don't know," frowned Draco. He turned his head to look at her, studying her profile. She's quite beautiful, he conceded, but she's also a Gryffindor, and rejected the Dark Arts that our families revere so much.
"What do you think of Potter?" he asked abruptly.
"I don't," she replied. "I don't really think of anyone. I don't really like people, full stop."
"Why not?" he asked, curious.
"Because they've been forced onto me my entire life," she replied. "Every time I wanted to be alone, my parents introduced me to someone new, or made me hang around people I'd already met. And every single person they've introduced me to have supporters of Voldemort and their families.
"Why don't you want to be a part of it?"
"I get the Cruciatus curse put on me at least once every two days," she replied. "Trust me, I never want to know I've been responsible for putting another sentient creature through the same torment."
"But you don't like people."
"I should have said I don't like being around people. I don't like using such crude methods to get my way, either. And the idea of doing it for fun is just plain sick."
Draco thought for a moment. "I've never heard it put that way."
"Yes you have, Draco," she sighed, looking at him now. "You've just never wanted to think about it that way before."
"I guess you're really popular with all the Gryffindor's," he speculated.
"No. I'm not popular with anyone, because I reject any attempts at friendship. All I need is me." She paused, then added "how are you feeling now? Is your stitch gone?"
"Yeah."
"Then we should probably leave. No point in getting into more trouble than we'll already be in."
Galia made her way out of the narrow entrance, and turned around to help Draco to his feet. Then they climbed down, and made their way to the manor.
-----
"Where have you been, Draco?" cried Mrs Malfoy.
"We, uh, we stumbled across a baby Manticore," he admitted.
"Galia, did you take Draco into the forest?" cried her mother.
"No, he followed me…how did you know we were in the forest?" asked Galia suspiciously.
"Your father and I had a family of Manticore imported from Greece for Lord Voldemort," said her mother impatiently. "But that's beside –"
"You what!" screeched Galia and Draco together.
"What is he, nuts?" added Galia. "When were you planning on informing me?"
"I assure you, Miss Johansson, I am very much of sound mind," said an evil voice from behind her. She turned around. There, standing in the doorway she and Draco had just come through, was Voldemort himself. Galia shuddered.
"We were going to let you know during dinner, Galia," added her father.
"Hello, Master Draco," said Voldemort sinisterly.
"My Lord," mumbled Draco, brushing past Galia to kiss the hem of Voldemort's robes. Galia watched him in disbelief.
"Urgh! Do you have any idea where those robes have been?" she demanded. "Do you have any idea as to what you might have just kissed?"
Voldemort laughed. "My robes are very clean, Miss Johansson, don't worry. But your insolence is very irking. Wormtail, if you'd be so kind?"
Stepping out from behind the Dark Lord was a man Galia recognised as the supposedly dead Peter Pettigrew.
"CRUCIO!" he yelled.
Not again! Galia thought as she doubled up, screaming.
Dimly, through her pain, she heard Voldemort say "That's enough, Wormtail. Let her up now."
As the pain ebbed away, Galia felt a new emotion coursing through her veins. Absolute red-hot hatred. She may have to put up with being tortured by her parents, at least until she was eighteen, but she sure as hell didn't have to put up with it from a snivelling, pathetic, cowardly little worm of a wizard!
"Now that," she hissed through her teeth, "was rude."
She got up, ignoring her aching body's protestations, and launched herself at Pettigrew. She punched him square in the mouth, knocking loose quite a few teeth by the feel of it, and kicked him in the gut. Pettigrew went flying across the room and slammed into the opposite wall. The wall was unaffected, being made of stone, but she was certain Pettigrew felt something. He was now the one lying on the floor, howling in agony. She had a fleeting thought – I never knew I was that strong! – before crossing the room, kneeling on Pettigrew's already crushed chest, grabbing his head in her hands and giving his neck a savage twist.
CRACK!
The sound reverberated throughout the stone room. It also brought Galia back to her senses, the hatred draining out of her with alarming alacrity. She hastily dropped Pettigrew's head, leapt off him, and stared at his lifeless body in absolute horror.
"Oh my…" she trailed off. "Um, oops?" she offered her parents, who were just as horrified as herself.
"Oops?" screamed her mother. "You just killed a man with your bare hands, and all you can say is 'oops'?"
"Calm down, Morgaine," ordered Voldemort. "What your daughter has done can not be undone. She will just have to pay for it."
"How?" asked Draco shakily.
"With her own life. You know Galia would rather die than join us, don't you, Draco?"
Draco slowly nodded.
"Well, then, I should think it's obvious that she would have had to die sooner or later. This just makes it sooner," explained Voldemort patiently, as if Draco were a slow witted but beloved son.
Draco nodded again, swallowed, and whispered, "I guess".
"Well, this bites," said Galia for the second time that day.
"What does?" Draco asked without thinking.
"This is not at all how I imagined my death," Galia explained, sighing. "I always pictured myself dying old and alone, perhaps in a small log cabin in an icy region, with a fire crackling merrily away in front of me, nodding over a hot cup of coffee, and just not waking up." She smiled a dreamy little smile at the picture. Then she came back to reality and frowned. "This is just all wrong."
"You never imagined yourself dying in a bed, surrounded by loved ones?" asked Voldemort, intrigued despite himself.
"Hell, no. Where's the comforting solitude in that? Besides, I don't have any loved ones."
"Oh, Herrick," whispered Mrs Johansson to her husband. "Why would she say that?"
"Obviously because you've subjected me to the Cruciatus curse too many times for me to care about you that much," explained Galia, frustrated at her parent's denseness. "Also because you're making no move to stop your dear, crazy Lord," this was said with as much sarcasm as she could muster, "from killing me now."
"I have already stated that there is nothing wrong with my mental facilities, Miss Johansson," spat out Voldemort, impatient now. "Goodbye."
To Galia's intense surprise, Draco knocked down her body as Voldemort said "Avada Kedavra!" and the green light of the Killing Curse hit the wall behind her, causing rubble to rain down on them both.
"STUPEFY!" yelled new voices from behind Voldemort.
Galia and Draco pushed their way out of the debris and looked at the wizards who had accompanied Albus Dumbledore to the Johansson residence.
"Man, Professor, you certainly cut it close, don't you?" complained Galia. "Oh, thanks," she added as she was helped to her feet by a young man she recognised as Bill Weasley. She looked over at Draco who was cut and bleeding, and being hauled to his feet by a wizard she didn't know.
"Hey, Draco. You OK?"
Draco groaned. "Yeah, I guess. What just happened?" he added as he looked at the unconscious forms of Lord Voldemort, his parents, and Galia's parents.
"Dumbledore and some of his friends knocked them out," replied Galia, stating the obvious.
"You knew he was going to do that, didn't you?"
"Nope. I knew he was going to be here, of course. I had offered to tell him what I knew of Voldemort's activities, and the involvement of certain people in them," she explained, nodding at their parents. "But I didn't know Voldemort was going to be here as well. Or that the Professor would bring friends," she added, frowning.
"I brought them along as witnesses to your testimony," said Professor Dumbledore, examining Pettigrew's body. "What happened to him?"
"Uh, I happened," admitted Galia, guiltily. "He used the Cruciatus curse on me, and I had already been through it once before today, and I guess I just snapped. Sorry."
"Who used it the first time?" demanded Dumbledore.
"My mother, this morning," said Galia, surprised he felt he had to ask. "But it's not a one-off occasion, you know. The parents have been putting it on me since I was four…no, five, it was. The first time was just after my fifth birthday. They told me I was destined to be a Dark Witch, and that all the kids at the party would be too – although the guys would really be Dark Wizards, wouldn't they? – and I told Mum and Dad that I didn't want to go around killing people. That was then they used the Cruciatus curse on me for the first time. They said I would do as I was told or I'd be experiencing the curse a whole lot more." She smiled ruefully. "They were right."
Everyone except Draco was shocked that anyone could be so cruel to their own child, and that she could recount it all so matter-of-factly. Draco commiserated with her. He knew only too well what her life had been like – he had experienced much the same treatment from his own parents. And he understood why she didn't appear worked up about it, either. Like himself, Galia Johansson was proud. She couldn't stand anyone's pity. Besides, the treatment had been happening for eleven years. It had become a normal part of her life.
Dumbledore shook his head, and conjured up five stretchers, binding the five unconscious people to them tightly.
"We will escort the prisoners to Azkaban, Dumbledore." An elite team of Ministry Law Enforcement wizards had arrived on the scene, but Dumbledore shook his head.
"I will take them myself," he stated.
"Then we will escort you, sir," the spokeswizard countered.
Dumbledore nodded. "But first," he said, "Minerva? Could you please take Miss Johansson and Mr Malfoy to Hogwarts? They can spend the rest of the holidays there. Thank you. And don't worry, you two – we will make arrangements for you to go to Diagon Alley to pick up the things you will need for the year."
"Yes sir," they replied.
-----
The week before September 1, Galia and Draco to Diagon Alley to pick up their school gear. Much to the displeasure of the two students, they met up with Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger at the Leaky Cauldron.
"Galia, why are you with Malfoy?" Harry hissed.
"I heard that his father was caught at the same time as You-Know-Who," added Ron.
Galia glared at them. "That's right, Weasley," she said. "His mother and both my parents were also arrested along with Voldemort. That's what you get for being evil. Draco and I were also there, but we didn't get arrested. Do you know why? Because Dumbledore is smart enough to figure out that we, Draco and myself, aren't Voldemort supporters. And for your information, Potter, I'm with Draco today because Dumbledore has had us staying at the school all summer – in fact we've been there since though third day of the holidays. We've come to Diagon Alley today to pick up our school gear. I hope that answers your questions?" Galia's tone was just daring them to ask anything else. They didn't. "Come on, Draco," she said.
Draco followed her, grinning. "You're going to be shunned by everyone in your House for that from now on, you know," he commented.
"And from Ravenclaw, and from Hufflepuff. Slytherin already shuns me…actually, things will just stay the same as they've always been." Galia replied, shrugging. The thought that nobody would think highly of her didn't bother in the slightest.
"I guess your rebellion is complete, then."
"Huh?"
"Well, you've been rebelling against the Dark Arts your entire life. And now you're rebelling against the mainstream way of thinking. The average witch who isn't into the Dark Arts would never think it's acceptable to snap at the highly beloved and worshipped Harry Potter," Draco explained.
"More fool them, then," replied Galia, shrugging once again.
Draco and Galia entered Diagon Alley together, leaving the mouths of the three other students flapping wide open in their wake.
Karma Kennedy- 8 -1125455.odt