A/N: I own nothing you can recognize!
I am Jade, seeker for Appleby Arrows.
Round 6 - Cult Classics
QL film night, anyone? We have eight films on offer, which will hopefully satisfy everyone's tastes, whether you're watching for the first or hundredth time! Grab your popcorn, find a comfortable spot and settle in for a marathon film fest!
Each position has a different film assigned to them, which you must use as inspiration for your story. (The story does not need to directly follow the plot of the film if you don't want it to.)
SEEKER: Matilda
This is also for Hogwarts Birthday: Treasure Hunt on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments).
Prompt: I7: (Word) Sweetheart
I am giving a warning: This story has been knowingly made OOC.
Word count without A/N: 1 196
Sweetheart Everything Will Be Alright
Andromeda Black married a young squib called Ted Tonks. They loved each other and when someone saw them, they would never suspect that the love that shone from the two was so restricted - no one could suspect that their love could produce a bundle of joy - Nymphadora Tonks.
Nymphadora has always been told, ever since she was a year old and she could understand, that the Light is the right way to follow even though she is considered a Pureblood. She was told that Dark was bad; but no one ever asked her.
oOoOo
Dora, as her parents called her, was five when she first heard the label - a freak.
She was sitting in her room, waiting for her parents to tuck her in. She heard it in front of her door in hushed whispers.
"What is she?" her father's voice whispered.
"A Metamorphmagus," a female's voice said, clearly annoyed.
"And that is what again?"
"A Metamorphmagus is a witch or wizard who has the ability to change their appearance at will, without the need for a wand, spell, or potion," her mother cited the book.
"A freak then," her father said with a tone she was familiar with - the one he used whenever purebloods were mentioned.
"Ted, I wouldn't say that..." Her mother trailed of and Dora knew that she was alone.
oOoOo
She started Primary school the same year. It was a small but well known wizarding school situated in the suburbs of London. That year, the number of students was forty - which is a large number considering that it is a Pureblood school.
Tonks loved all of the classes. To her mother she would always say that her favourite class was Cooking Charms - taught by Madame Weasley - but in fact it was Healing Skills taught by Madame Malfoy.
Dora loved that class; it was so powerful and full of healthy magic even though the Madame was a Dark witch instead of a Light. Unfortunately, she was forced to downplay her ability because her mother did not want her to catch the attention of Narcissa Malfoy - Andromeda's younger sister.
oOoOo
Days passed in her school and with time, instead of gaining friends with the right sort as her mother had told her, she gained enemies. Instead of accepting her for who she was, the children of Light - with Charlie Weasley as their leader- treated her like rubbish always wanting her to change her appearance for their amusement.
A year passed without a change, and Dora made peace with the fact that she would never be loved and adored, but that she would be a freak - not worthy to be more than a slave for Light's amusement.
oOoOo
Her second year in the school started with the Healing Skills class. Everyone sat in their places, waiting for the Madame to start.
"Good morning children!" Madame Malfoy greeted with a smile. "Today, you are going to write an essay for me. It's title will be 'How Do I Feel?'. I want you to write something about how you feel. I will read them later and then talk to each one of you. It will be confidential, of course, and no one but me will know its' contents."
When Dora first heard that task, she got scared and angry because what would happen if they found out about her unhappiness. However, after a while, she realized that this could be her ticket out of the prison she was kept in.
'How Do I Feel?' by Nymphadora Tonks
How do I start something like this? How do I interpret this question? What do you want to know, about what, more exactly? My feelings, I suppose. But what about them? Who cares? I am not supposed to feel anything like sadness and anger. I am not supposed to even know about half the things I know, after all I am only six, but I do. Do you really want to know about the mess my head and my feelings are? Don't say I did not warn you.
I am very sad when I think about my parents. To them, I am nothing but a freak who shouldn't show her powers - who shouldn't be herself. I feel sadness whenever I enter the Healing Skills' classroom because I must not show my power in front of an influential Dark witch - I am Light and I should stay that way.
I am angry because school started. I get space here from my parents' hateful looks but I am met with mocking glares from Light children and even worse with pitying looks from the Dark. Not one professor notices when I am sad or when I am angry, neither do they notice when I am used for amusement by others - by the Light. Why do you not notice? Am I not worth attention?
Nymphadora stopped writing the essay to wipe her tears. Before she looked up she used her Metamorphmagus' abilities to hide any physical sign that she was crying. She pushed the essay aside - afraid to write anymore - and lifted her hand up in the air.
"Yes, Miss Tonks?" Madame's honey like voice cut through the silence.
"I finished my essay, Madame," Tonks said quietly.
"Very well, bring it to my desk and as you are the first one to finish you can do some of your other homework while you wait for your classmates to finish."
Tonks just nodded and went back to her seat.
Madame was reading Tonks' essay and she could feel the anger poured into the lines. They were sharp and angular instead of soft, and slightly roundish as they always are when young Nymphadora hands her homework in.
Just before the bell rang, Madame's voice cut through the air, "Miss Tonks, please stay after class."
The bell rang and Tonks went forward to talk to her professor.
oOoOo
She was told that the Light is the right way to follow even though she is considered a Pureblood. She was told that Dark was bad; but no one ever asked her. They were wrong. For seven years she suffered alone with no one she could talk to, but when the opportunity to escape that torture presented itself to her and she took it, the Dark helped. No longer did she suffer alone, she got a father and mother that loved her more than anything and soon after, she even got a younger brother.
They told her that Dark was bad when, in fact, they were the ones to show her love and kindness. She relished in that; waiting to start Hogwarts.
She remembered the words told to her when she cried in her new mother's arms. 'Sweetheart everything will be alright, I promise you.'
oOoOo
Nymphadora Malfoy started Hogwarts and got sorted into Slytherin. Everyone hated her for that - all except the Slytherins. They gave her support and a family. After only a month, she was chosen to be their Princess because who suited the title better than the Malfoy's adopted daughter?
The End