It was on an unusually warm evening in October 1938 when she was taken to her new home. Even from the outside it seemed to diffract the light and warmth leaving in its place a tall and cold atmosphere. Alice already didn't like it here. Everything was large and scary and motionless, including the people. They told her it would feel like home. They were wrong.

Wools orphanage was one of the scariest places Alice had ever encountered. She had heard rumours of the muggle world being dire but never expected this. War hung around everyone's necks and she shuddered. Her life had already witnessed enough death.

The police man guided her inside and they soon reached a desk occupying an old woman. The two appeared to be already acquainted and casually conversed whilst checking her in quickly and dismissively. They claimed she was lucky that a room had just come free. From what they said she gathered that a girl had been taken to the hospital, in need of serious help as a result of a terrible accident. The tone the woman used suggested that it was anything but an accident but the police officer didn't seem to care and soon was off, probably happy to leave such a glum place.

The seemingly nice old lady then sighed, her face morphing into something less than pleasant, "Well what are you waiting for, you little brat. Come on!"

Alice followed behind quickly as she was lead to her new room on the first floor. She decided to put her suitcase down excluding the book in her hands which she would bring with her.

"You'll be expected to keep it clean at all times, no exceptions! Punishments are enforced to keep all you little devils in line so don't push your luck!"

She nodded her head but the matron was less than impressed by her gesture and sharply slapped the back her head.

"Verbal communication girl! Come on!"

"Yes ma'am." She whispered whilst following the old woman back out and into a dining room filled to the brim with children.

She was then introduced to the imitating few who chose to listen and then indirectly guided to a table which contained people seemingly of her age. They looked at her expectantly, there was a empty seat which seemed to be welcoming her and she was about to sit down but then a boy screamed and she ran. Ran, right to the back where there was an empty table in which there was nobody screaming.

In fact, as she looked round she noticed that it wasn't just the screaming that had stopped but the chatter as well. She searched to find the source of the silence and it didn't take long.

A boy stood at the entrance with a exceedingly noticeable smirk upon his face. He had black hair, indistinguishable eyes along with a sharp, pale face and a demanding aura which complemented his posture well. His head was held high as if he was royalty in the presence of scum and Alice found herself sitting down at her empty table rather wishing to disappear. She didn't belong here.

However instead of disappearing, which was unquestionably impossible she got out her book and began to read. It was a feeble attempt to block out this new scary world in which she worried she would never become accustomed to. She pushed her head further into the words of her book in hopes of full subregion however a dramatic tilt of atmosphere suddenly chocked the room and she was forced to look up. At him. Right in front of her.

A member of staff then came in and dismissed everyone. Then everyone left apart from her and the black haired boy. He assessed her dismissively and then made a quite tutting noise that in the silence of the dining room seemed deafening.

"You do not belong at my table." He whispered the words and then sighed before carrying on speaking, "There is an order of hierarchy in this place which needs to be respected and dim ignorance is no excuse for failure when concerning these rules. You must be punished."

Alice tried to ignore his words by casting her gaze elsewhere however her façade came tumbling down when she heard a hissing sound. Out from the boys sleeve came a small serpent in which she recognised immediately as the Black Mamba. Her father and mother had loved creatures of all kinds however openly preferred the more mild species of the animal kingdom therefore Alice took it upon herself to favour what her parents overlooked thus her knowledge for cold blood creatures.

She had come across a Black Mamba before, during a visit to Africa with her parents, and although her memories of it weren't completely clear she distinctly remembered its shallow behaviour. This surprised her considering it's comfort within the arms of the boy. And then it happened. He spoke the language of the serpent; Parseltongue.

"Wow." She whispered unable to stop herself. She had only read about such a gift and in the flesh it was beautiful.

She met his glaring eyes again and noticed a slight shift in accusation, they were now also laced with slight curiosity as he held the snake up to her face.

"Do you know what snake this is?" His tone was weighted with demand and smugness.

"Black Mamba."

"Do you know what it can do?"

She nodded not having confidence in her voice. Normally she could talk to people for hours about animals but the boy in front of her was scary.

"And how do you know this?"

"Books." She tone was even more hushed as she felt the familiar pink blush bloom on her face. Her old friends had never understood her fascination so she often kept her reading habits hidden but there was no point now so she carried on, "I love snakes and um… cold blood creatures. Misunderstood."

"You believe so?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Beautiful… also… dangerous, should be respected."

He was about to reply but a bell shrieked and she flinched massively and ran. Ran until she reached her new bedroom and by that time the noises had stopped. Alice hated loud noises, especially screams.

The angry boy would be furious now. Hopefully he wouldn't shout at her.

She sat on the squeaky mattress with the book in her hands but she didn't read. Instead she found comfort in just holding it and recalling the words within that she cherished, she could even imagine her mothers voice reading to her as she had done when she was alive. Everything was so different now. This world was not her home but maybe if she tried, and the screaming stopped, one day it could be.

She awoke to another bell early the next morning. Luckily this one was muffled by the walls separating her from the ring so it wasn't too bad. She got herself ready and headed to the dining hall where there was no screaming. The chair in which she was welcomed to yesterday was still left unoccupied so slowly she walked over and sat down. The people around the table halfheartedly smiled when she sat down and introduced themselves.

She looked around for the black haired boy already knowing that he wasn't in the room, with him came fear and everyone here was calm.

"He never has breakfast so don't worry." She looked up to meet the eyes of a pretty boy with blond hair, "We're all surprised your even downstairs most people take days to recover."

Despite the fact that he spoke in a hushed tone everyone around us heard and another boy who was sat beside him smacked the back of his head.

"Shut up Darren! Do you want to end up like Sarah?"

He shook his head and looked down in shame before meeting Alice's eyes again, "Don't worry, you'll adjust, we all have." He looked around the table before continuing, "Just avoid him, keep your head down and you'll do fine."

The rest of the table nodded and readily explained to her the daily routine obviously wanting to move onto any other topic of conversation. She also found out that it was the beginning of the autumn holidays meaning they didn't have school. That seemed to please the people around the table but Alice saddened at the thought, she loved school, especially reading.

Everyone at the table finished eating just as the bell went off. She desperately wanted to run to her room away from the noise but that wasn't an option so instead she put her fingers in her ears to block the sound. It wasn't fully effective but worked well enough to subside her terror. The people at her table had hold her that it was the 'food bell' to tell people when meals were being served and when they had ended. If what they had also said was true, now they had morning chores.

She followed them as they walked to a router. Some children moaned whilst others cheered as they found their names. Alice, after five minutes of waiting, found that she was on dusting duty in the main office. Beginners luck apparently because the others claimed it was one of the easier jobs.

Half an hour later, with sweat glistening on her skin she wondered what the hard chores were like. The member of staff however was marginally sympathetic so did allow her too leave earlier than the others.

As she walked down the empty corridor, Alice decided to give herself a tour of the place. It was all rather dull until she came across a small library, if you could even call it that. The dark room consisted of two chairs, a table, a window and a pitiful bookshelf. Either way, books were books so she ran over to the bookshelf and picked up a familiar title.

Heidi was the story of friendship as a consequence of abandonment and she found herself relating to the protagonist much more now. It was comforting and she found herself so lost in the words that she didn't realise the door open. Nor did she notice the figure watching her closely. In fact she only came to the recognition when the chair scrapped across her floor and the boy sat before her.

"I do not appreciate what you did yesterday." His tone was testing.

"I'm sorry." She breathed the three syllables quietly before continuing, "It was too loud."

"You… dislike loud noises?"

She nodded her head quickly and an awful smirk was painted on his face.

"Well that's a shame considering that lunch is in two minutes… and one of the bells is right there." His long, spindly finger pointed to the ugly round shaped piece in the corner of the room.

Alice stood up in an attempt to escape but his hand wrapped around her wrist disabling her from escaping.

"Tut tut tut." He titled his head to the side patronising her, "You don't get to run from me, not this time Alice."

"Why are you being so.. so cruel?" Her voice was shaky and quite but Alice needed to comprehend his abnormally horrible behaviour.

"You are the cruel ones." He looked at her with disgust, "You were the bullies but not anymore. Oh no how the game has changed now. I have powers, I can make you hurt like you hurt me!"

He didn't ever shout which in normal circumstances Alice would have been grateful for however now it was terrifying. She could physically feel his anger coursing around the room but she still couldn't understand, "I haven't hurt you."

"You would have done, they all did. I'm not like you, I'm different." His words carried hints of self loathing and in a moments flash she saw the shadow of a boy desperate to fit in.

"So am-" She was about to respond when the shrill of the bell slammed into her ears and she tried desperately to escape his iron grasp.

The look of pleasure filled his eyes as he held his free hand towards the bell that carried on screaming. She knew it was him. Prolonging her torture. Her knees began to buckle as tears streamed down her face. Her brain felt as if it had been put in an oven as she began to shake. She couldn't take it anymore.

Suddenly the familiar white hot power surged through her veins and the screaming bell was put to death with a dramatic bang that emitted across the building. Silence fell and in his shock she managed to break free of his grasp and run. Run to her room wit's hopes of never leaving.

I hope you enjoyed because I did!

Updates soon if you guys liked it (and since I've broken up for summer they'll probably be regular).

Comments always appreciated.

Sarah