Disclaimer: I do not own anything that pertains to Harry Potter or J.K. Rowling's characters.
A/N: This story will be slightly AU. This is my first fanfic so any criticism or compliments are welcome!
Thanks,
Whatamess
And That's How I Got to This Point
I'm a million contradictions
Sometimes I make no sense
Sometimes I'm perfect
Sometimes I'm a mess
Sometimes I'm not sure who I am
Hilary Duff – I Am
Prologue: And Here I Was
March 12th 1978; Sunday
Here I was, standing, like a bloody idiot I might add, in the torrential down-pour that was flooding northern Scotland. My black turtle-neck clung to me like a second skin. The weight of the rain was pulling it down, stretching it, and my dark blue jeans felt as if they were made of lead due to their water logged state.
The black rain clouds were dumping buckets of water on my head as I stood only metres from the eerily creepy and haunted Shrieking Shack which sat on the edge between Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. It was the middle of the night and I was risking getting in serious trouble for just being out past hours but I wanted to be here. I shook my head. No, I needed to be here. For the sake of my heart at least.
"Where is he…", I mumbled to myself while trying to pull the sleeves of my soaked shirt down over my hands that were quickly turning blue from the cold.
It was freezing, Merlin! I didn't even know how much longer I could last out here without coming down with some horrendous cold the next day.
Or wait, was it already the next day? I had been waiting for a while now and it had already been dark when I had gotten here. How much longer would it be until he showed? Would he even show? Did he even know I was here? All these thoughts rushed through my head as I paced back and forth on the edge of the grass. I was trying to keep my body moving. Maybe it would stop me from freezing. Fat chance of that.
I felt like a fool. I looked like a cat that had been picked up by the scruff and dunked into a tub of water. I would probably be laughed at if someone saw me right now. I knew my hair was hanging like a limp mess around my face and some of it was even plastered to the sides of my face. My make-up had probably started to run and I knew I most likely had black smudges under my eyes. Why didn't I invest in water-proof mascara? I thought bitterly.
But that wasn't the point. I just needed him to get here so I could explain everything. To tell him how very sorry I was. To let him know it wasn't his fault. And maybe, just maybe, he would start talking to me again.
But wait, I'm sorry. You have no idea what's going on, now do you? I guess I should start from the beginning, huh? Well, here it goes…
The name's Lorraine Marie Mancini, the only child of Aquila Mancini, formerly Aquila Burke, and Cristiano Mancini.
My parents had meet at Hogwarts almost twenty years ago. My mum was a sixth year prefect in Ravenclaw and my dad was one year above her in Gryffindor. They met purely by chance in the library. My father was making a loud ruckus and she went quickly to shush him. According my mum it was love at first sight but if you ask my dad he'd say it just happened. About two years later they got married and I was on my way. They've been great parents, I can't complain. Well, my mum is a great parent but my dad is just kind of there to discipline me when I misbehave.
I think that's why my mum happens to be my role model; she was one of those women who were just meant to be parents. You know the type; calm, understanding, bubbly, loved kids? Yeah, that was her.
Ever since I was little she supported me through my many ups and downs. Whether it be from wanting to join choir only to find out that I sang as wonderfully as an unearthed Mandrake (which I'm not ashamed to admit was the reason I quit), to the time I joined the local muggle football team where I spent my whole time picking at grass and watching the faster girls kick the ball back and forth (which is when I realized I was not cut out for football), to the time I tried to learn how to ride a broom only to fall over and smack my head on the ground the second I got on (See a pattern here? I am NOT athletic or graceful in any sense of the words...).
My mum, bless her heart, let me humiliate myself multiple times as I attempted to find something I was good at, whether it be muggle or magical, but she was always there when I needed a shoulder to cry on when my latest attempt turned to failure. Which, unfortunately, happened often.
It was then her, who, after all my mishaps with sports, encouraged me to focus on my academics. She was the one who taught me to thrive for knowledge, which is probably the reason I value intelligence so much today.
My dad, on the other hand, wanted me to be good at something instead of being smart. He believed in tough love and wanted a son so badly that he could sometimes be a little bitter toward me. Now, don't me wrong, I knew deep down that he loved me (way deep down…) but he just didn't think that I should get away with everything just because I was a girl. I learned at an early age to be afraid of the sharp, smacking sound that a belt makes when your angry father is snapping it and yelling your complete name because you had decided it would be funny to rescue an injured toad and leave it in the tub. And just so you know, under the bed is not a good hiding spot when your father is a wizard. But that is a completely different story.
How my parents manage to stay together I will always wonder. My father hates any animals. Except his dumb owl who he named Beast. But he especially hates all the ones my mum tries to bring home who smell distinctly like the rubbish they had been digging through. She loves reading and quiet nights sipping tea while wrapped in a blanket. He likes shooting off guns, hates reading, and wouldn't be caught drinking tea if his life depended on it. I doubt my father even knows that some books don't have pictures.
My mum is also in love with the idea of "romance". She gets all sappy and wants nothing more than for me to find my "true love" and live happily ever after. My dad, however, thinks romance is for the sodding actors in the moving pictures and wants me to marry for practicality. I happen to agree more with my father, I mean look at all the divorce there is nowadays and my parents do fight all the time which usually ends in my mum crying and my father saying that she needs to be less emotional.
So I guess that's where I got my contradicting personality. I was honestly a nightmare to figure out. My personality went from one extreme to the next and didn't pause in between. But that's how I got myself into this mess in the first place.
Author's Note:
Well, there is the first chapter in my first ever fanfiction. I'm nervous. I hope you enjoyed this although I think it was a little boring, but it will get better. Tell me if you liked it or not.
-Whatamess