About the story: the title 'Broken Strings: A Guitar Quartet' is an actual guitar piece, I think. Or some variant of one. I don't remember what the selection was called exactly, but I heard it at a camp, and I thought it suited this story well. The main character, Lana (pronounced: Lona [with a short o sound, who remembers their phonics?]) has a guitar and it's pretty much her passion, so the whole guitar theme fits. Also, I'm sorry if it starts off a little slow, but it's all for a good reason. Lana herself needs some explanation before she goes off to Hogwarts.
Sorry if this doesn't at all go with the HP books, I'm trying to keep it somewhat close (i.e. James and Lily getting married, the Marauders being friends. . . . it's not like I could change any of that) But the addition of my character Lana will change some things around a little, but none of the major points.
Also, I claim no rights to any of the HP characters, except Lana and any others I might come up with using my own brainpower. (just thought I'd throw that in.)
Now, with out further ado....
::Broken Strings: A Guitar Quartet::
::1::
Running. That's all. Nothing on her mind. Just running. Short sobs erupting between breaths. Falling behind. Too tired. Couldn't go on. Slowing. That one fatal mistake. Tripping. Cobble stones rushing towards her. Blue light. A blinding pain. And then nothing. All thoughts like a deep crimson blood staining a white sand.
That was the dream, the dream that had haunted her for years. It returned every now and then. And every time it brought back the pain.
She was sweating as she stumbled into the bathroom. Leaning over the sink she turned on the faucet and splashed the icy cold water on her face. Her ears pricked up as she heard a sound from the hall.
"Lon, are you okay?" called her mother.
"Yea, I'm fine," Lana said, her face still buried in her hands.
Lana listened as her mom's footsteps died away followed by the quiet click of a bedroom door. She looked up at her face in the mirror. Her short dirty blond hair gently curling out, accenting her blue eyes that shown like brilliant sapphires. She wasn't by any means ugly, but had never been called the school beauty queen. But what really caught your attention were her ears. They were where any normal ears should be, although they were anything but normal. Protruding about five and a half inches off her heard, covered with a soft velvety tawny thin fur, they greatly resembled that of a cat's ears. In fact, Lana found she felt particularly feline at times, most likely owing to the feline blood now circulating, mixed with own which happened to be the direct cause of the change in her ears and growth of her tail. Approximately two and a half feet in length, her tail was covered in a thicker and longer tawny fur and often the source of her lack of humanistic qualities.
Artemis Lana Wright sat staring at her reflection. That dream was all she could remember about why she was this way. Even though no one knew for sure, a strange transfiguration that went awry was anyone's best guess. But the fact of the matter was that Lana was facing her sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was doing so with a tail and ears. Just like it had been since she started at Hogwarts in her first year.
She walked back into her room and sat on her bed. Her truck was packed and everything was ready. Lana would soon be leaving for Hogwarts; a trip she longed for and dreaded at the same time. Sure she had friends. Maybe not a large group of good friends, but she did have Lily Evans, and that was good enough.
Lana was brought out of her musings by her mother's voice. "Lon, it's time to go. Hurry up and get ready or you'll miss the train."
"K, Mom," she replied as she started undressing and quickly pulling on her faded gray jeans and black sleeveless undershirt. Tying her shoes and buttoning her white shirt as fast as she could she kicked her trunk out of her room and grabbing her guitar case she walked downstairs pushing her trunk down violently in front of her.
Having finally boarded the train, Lana began searching for Lily when she heard a voice call out from behind her.
"LON!!!"
Lana turned around to find herself being hugged by her best friend.
"Lon! Wow! You're gorgeous!" Lily said, holding her friend at arm's length.
"What? And I wasn't before?" Lana laughed.
Lily giggled, "of course! You were butt ugly. . . .just kidding! No, I mean something's different."
"No Lil, I've always had the ears."
Lily laughed again, "I know that, but something still seems different."
"Well thanks. . . .I think," Lana said giving her friend a quizzical look. "And you've changed a lot, too. I mean look at your hair. It's longer. It's auburn color stands out so much more. It's hideous."
Both girls started laughing. It looked like their normal routine of jokingly insulting each other was back in place.
"Oh shove it, you wanker, you can't say much about my hair, look at yours," Lily said.
"What?" Lana said smiling as she pretended to be offended.
"It looks like someone took a razor to it. So choppy. Did you let the neighborhood schizophrenic cut it?"
"So funny. . . so funny," Lana laughed.
The train lurched forward as it pulled out of the station. Lily fell sideways and grabbed onto the nearest sliding glass door but Lana stood unfazed.
"Having some trouble there, Lil?" Lana said in a high pitched voice, as if talking to a child.
"Shut up, it's just because of that tail. It's not like you've got any real balancing skills," Lily said as she stood back up, accustoming herself to the motion of the train.
"Ouch, you got me" Lana said as she pretended to stab herself and fell back onto the train seat behind her.
"Oh stop being so dramatic and tell me about your summer," Lily said as she sat down on the bench across from Lana.
Lana sat up and the girls chatted for the remainder of the trip. It was just like going home again.
-- Ok, well, I know that was kind of slow and kind of short. But it gets better. Trust me. This was more of an introductory chapter; I'll be posting the next one shortly.
Elveren
Sorry if this doesn't at all go with the HP books, I'm trying to keep it somewhat close (i.e. James and Lily getting married, the Marauders being friends. . . . it's not like I could change any of that) But the addition of my character Lana will change some things around a little, but none of the major points.
Also, I claim no rights to any of the HP characters, except Lana and any others I might come up with using my own brainpower. (just thought I'd throw that in.)
Now, with out further ado....
::Broken Strings: A Guitar Quartet::
::1::
Running. That's all. Nothing on her mind. Just running. Short sobs erupting between breaths. Falling behind. Too tired. Couldn't go on. Slowing. That one fatal mistake. Tripping. Cobble stones rushing towards her. Blue light. A blinding pain. And then nothing. All thoughts like a deep crimson blood staining a white sand.
That was the dream, the dream that had haunted her for years. It returned every now and then. And every time it brought back the pain.
She was sweating as she stumbled into the bathroom. Leaning over the sink she turned on the faucet and splashed the icy cold water on her face. Her ears pricked up as she heard a sound from the hall.
"Lon, are you okay?" called her mother.
"Yea, I'm fine," Lana said, her face still buried in her hands.
Lana listened as her mom's footsteps died away followed by the quiet click of a bedroom door. She looked up at her face in the mirror. Her short dirty blond hair gently curling out, accenting her blue eyes that shown like brilliant sapphires. She wasn't by any means ugly, but had never been called the school beauty queen. But what really caught your attention were her ears. They were where any normal ears should be, although they were anything but normal. Protruding about five and a half inches off her heard, covered with a soft velvety tawny thin fur, they greatly resembled that of a cat's ears. In fact, Lana found she felt particularly feline at times, most likely owing to the feline blood now circulating, mixed with own which happened to be the direct cause of the change in her ears and growth of her tail. Approximately two and a half feet in length, her tail was covered in a thicker and longer tawny fur and often the source of her lack of humanistic qualities.
Artemis Lana Wright sat staring at her reflection. That dream was all she could remember about why she was this way. Even though no one knew for sure, a strange transfiguration that went awry was anyone's best guess. But the fact of the matter was that Lana was facing her sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was doing so with a tail and ears. Just like it had been since she started at Hogwarts in her first year.
She walked back into her room and sat on her bed. Her truck was packed and everything was ready. Lana would soon be leaving for Hogwarts; a trip she longed for and dreaded at the same time. Sure she had friends. Maybe not a large group of good friends, but she did have Lily Evans, and that was good enough.
Lana was brought out of her musings by her mother's voice. "Lon, it's time to go. Hurry up and get ready or you'll miss the train."
"K, Mom," she replied as she started undressing and quickly pulling on her faded gray jeans and black sleeveless undershirt. Tying her shoes and buttoning her white shirt as fast as she could she kicked her trunk out of her room and grabbing her guitar case she walked downstairs pushing her trunk down violently in front of her.
Having finally boarded the train, Lana began searching for Lily when she heard a voice call out from behind her.
"LON!!!"
Lana turned around to find herself being hugged by her best friend.
"Lon! Wow! You're gorgeous!" Lily said, holding her friend at arm's length.
"What? And I wasn't before?" Lana laughed.
Lily giggled, "of course! You were butt ugly. . . .just kidding! No, I mean something's different."
"No Lil, I've always had the ears."
Lily laughed again, "I know that, but something still seems different."
"Well thanks. . . .I think," Lana said giving her friend a quizzical look. "And you've changed a lot, too. I mean look at your hair. It's longer. It's auburn color stands out so much more. It's hideous."
Both girls started laughing. It looked like their normal routine of jokingly insulting each other was back in place.
"Oh shove it, you wanker, you can't say much about my hair, look at yours," Lily said.
"What?" Lana said smiling as she pretended to be offended.
"It looks like someone took a razor to it. So choppy. Did you let the neighborhood schizophrenic cut it?"
"So funny. . . so funny," Lana laughed.
The train lurched forward as it pulled out of the station. Lily fell sideways and grabbed onto the nearest sliding glass door but Lana stood unfazed.
"Having some trouble there, Lil?" Lana said in a high pitched voice, as if talking to a child.
"Shut up, it's just because of that tail. It's not like you've got any real balancing skills," Lily said as she stood back up, accustoming herself to the motion of the train.
"Ouch, you got me" Lana said as she pretended to stab herself and fell back onto the train seat behind her.
"Oh stop being so dramatic and tell me about your summer," Lily said as she sat down on the bench across from Lana.
Lana sat up and the girls chatted for the remainder of the trip. It was just like going home again.
-- Ok, well, I know that was kind of slow and kind of short. But it gets better. Trust me. This was more of an introductory chapter; I'll be posting the next one shortly.
Elveren