Author's Note: Hello, thanks to all of you for taking time to read my story! A bit of a shameless plug- for those of you who love the Hunchback of Notre Dame, I have written a completed story about him finding love called The Forsaken. If you are into 1480s Paris and romance, check it out! Now on with the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, nor do I own her lovely characters.
A pair of black, foreboding eyes watched the young woman play the piano with nimble, dexterous movements of her delicate hands. With his sullen ways and dangerous job description, he had never experienced such beauty, although he would never admit it. The soothing chords struck his heart with longing, and the minor tones left the music playing to his weary soul-lost, alone, forgotten.
And he left, ignoring the pangs in his heart to go back and listen to the beautiful music, and he went to the dungeons to fall into a restful sleep, devoid of dreams.
After all, his life was a walking nightmare by day.
I am finally halfway through my seventh year, I thought triumphantly and with a tad of relief as I gathered my books around me and began the lengthy trek down to the library. I had stayed up too long last night in the Room of Requirement playing piano, but I felt a strange urge to continue playing, even when the hour grew late. But how I love to play, anything would bring my heart solace after the many hours of researching for horcruxes.
And play I do, almost every single night, and it brings my heart peace to have some tangible relief after the long days of NEWT revisions, horcrux researching, and being friendly and outgoing with my Gryffindor counterparts.
Honestly, it is difficult to be outgoing and 'on' all the time when one is introverted.
I felt a tingle of foreboding run down my spine as I walked, and I stilled momentarily in the damp corridor, gazing around myself and remembering Mad-Eye Moody's snarls of "Constant Vigilance" to all of us during the Order meetings.
"Vocalus fortis" I overheard hissed from behind me, and by the time I had whipped around, it was too late. The spell struck me with a bright purple light that swirled around my body, and my arms flailed around, attempting to escape the spell unsuccessfully. I heard cruel low chuckles from behind the armor and saw a tall blonde boy step out from his hiding place to face me.
Bloody hell.
"What did you-" I trailed off when I realized my voice was not sounding, my lips moving wordlessly. I scratched at my throat in a panic, and my eyes grew wide as Draco began to applaud my efforts mockingly, the git.
"Looks like we finally found a way to shut up the mudblood" Draco drawled at his Slytherin cronies, Blaise Zambini and Theodore Nott, as they joined him to mock my plight. I open my mouth the scream at them, when the swirling purple light entered my mouth and went down my throat. I fell backwards agains the stone wall, frightened of the light within my body. What will happen to me now?!
"Listen up, Granger, that spell will ensure your little mouth doesn't go spouting off anymore. Anytime you wish to speak, you will sing. Not just anything, but a muggle song," He laughed at my horrified expression, "and good luck attempting to find a counter-curse, as the spell was created by an anonymous source and is undocumented in your precious little library," he sneered at me when he saw my eyes light up with possibilities of reversal.
"Oh, and one more thing" Blaise droned from his place to the right of Draco, "lok onoma" he cursed, and I swished my wand to place the protection spell protego, but to no avail, since my words were silenced, "now you cannot display who cursed you. Have a nice day" he intoned cheerily, and Malfoy, Nott, and he swaggered down the hallway and I heard their arching laugher through my panic. No words, no spells. Nothing without my voice.
"Help! I need somebody!" I sang my favorite Beatles lyric with horror, not believing my voice had just betrayed me. I adore music, but singing is a fearful experience. I know I can sing well, since I did in my primary school, but the idea of only being able to sing to communicate... How am I going to pass my NEWTS, or my classes? How am I going to help win the war against Voldemort without my voice?
I'm doomed.
I gathered up my books and fled from the corridor, back to Gryffindor tower to hide away and attempt to fix my humiliating condition.
