Prologue:

The green flames begin to extinguish and I already hear the stirring of casual conversations at the annual back-to-school dinner. The awaiting scenario sickens my stomach and I want to run away. But no, I'll play along. I always do. It's why I'm the favorite; my poor brother never stood a chance, not that he cares. Attention torn from him allows him to do whatever he pleases. I'm the one left to cover the secrets.

"You alright, Ali?"

Dad nudges my arm. His eyebrow is arched, probably to question my semblance. My skin feels tight- suffocating- and most likely tinted green from flooing. It always happens, yet we always use it. I'm sure the tint darkens when I look at him. I hope it does. I hope he sees it in my eyes, too.

"Yup." I pop the 'p', as I brush past him. He doesn't fight back, because he knows he'll lose. I know a secret that could strangle him if I let it out.

"Having daughter issues, Longbottom?" laughs George, and I can feel their eyes focusing on my escape towards the door to the den.

Dad grumbles something, and I imagine he shakes his head. I'm not the issue, but no one will be revealing that.

I glimpse back to see Percy look up from the paper. "Welcome to the club. I never know what the girls are on about."

"Percy!" Audrey softly swats at her husband, as the other fathers laugh.

I can't help but wonder what secrets all of their families are hiding, as well. Shaking my head, I resist the urge to observe the adult's mingling. It's the very thing that landed me to the place I am now. How many more secrets do I need to know before I spill?

"Hey, how has Wonderland been Alice?" asks Teddy, or should I say professor, and I roll my eyes.

"Pleasantly normal," I reply, as a ghost of a smile haunts my face for the first time in a while. It's as though the summer never happened and I'm still the same as I left Hogwarts in the spring. Reality, though, bites me hard enough to remember I'm not.

"New look?" smiles Victoire, as she rests her head against Teddy's shoulders. Her eyes are round like two globes- perfect mixtures of blue and specs of green- and her hair cascades over her shoulder in a blond wave. Anyone who says they don't envy her is liars. It must suck to be Dominique.

"Yeah, I guess so." I shrug, tugging down the soft pink skirt of my dress. The top portion I covered with a purple, loose sweater that Mum says clashes with the dress. She hates it. It's why I wear it now.

"Well, it's certainly… unique?" chimes in Albus, before looking back down at the chess board. Nothing ever breaks him away from a game, not even me, and I'm his girlfriend.

I make my way over in their direction and plop on the ground beside him. Thank Merlin for leggings or I'd always be acciendently showing people more of me than they want.

"Yeah, it really makes a statement, you know?" I reply, naturally regaining my grove of being around people I didn't completely hate. That family summer holiday almost drove me insane.

"Your tights-"

"Leggings." I hum, while leaning back on my hands and craning my neck to see the board. I already know what James is about to state. He's the only one bold enough to point it out. At least he has balls, unlike some guys I know.

"Your leggings, whatever. Either way, they're still green." He pauses, to casually make his move and redistracts Albus. "Did you dress yourself in the dark this morning?"

I roll my eyes.

"Nope. I just felt like not matching today. What's really matching anyway?"

I know I'm igniting a fight, but it's so easily to push his buttons. I can't explain it. It's like the image of his face swelling with anger excites me. I desire to see how far his eyes can pop from their sockets before falling out. How loud can his voice get? I want to know the worst he's got.

"Yeah, okay, I believe you now. Your outfit is stating something- very loud and very clear." He mumbles more under his breath towards the end and I perk up onto my knees.

"What does that mean?" I ask, the feigned offense drooling from my lips; it sounds so real. All of this feels so right.

"He means nothing by it," intervenes Albus, quickly; he's never been one for arguments, and for a moment I feel bad about what I'm doing to him. "Right James?"

When all of this is over and done, he'll be the one left upset that his girlfriend and brother don't get along. I can't help it, though, and I know he won't understand. It's another secret to take to my grave.

I almost stop, but James gruffs.

"No, what I bloody mean is your girlfriend's mad." He lets out a laugh. "Are you sure you didn't go to Wonderland as Alice, but come back as the Mad Hatter?"

"Take that back you foul git. She can dress however she wants and it doesn't mean anything!" snaps Albus, as he topples over the edge.

He doesn't like arguments, but I know him well enough to know that once he is pushed over everything he has been bottling up explodes and drowns the world.

I need to see more.

"It's whatever, Al. It's fine." I console, leaving hints of hurt in my tone. I need him to read in to my words and perceive that it's not okay, but I need the onlookers to see I tried to keep the fight from brewing.

It's slightly exhausting.

"No. It's not."

I'm taken aback by the force of his voice, almost like how Dad sounds discussing anything with Mum. A shot of electricity spikes up my spine. I hate him so much right now, but I love that I can do this.

"I promise that it is." I softly comfort, glimpsing over at a smirking James. He finds this amusing, but I know it won't last. The dam is spilling over and there are so many things Albus will end up screaming at him.

"But Alice, if you've only heard everything that prat has been saying this summer about you-"

Albus freezes, as James rises in from his relaxed position. Tension is growing, and I see Lily pop up from the couch and hustle into the kitchen. Parents are being alerted, so this secret must be really amusing.

"What has he been saying about me?" I match their intensities and up it just a shade.

"It- It really doesn't matter," assure Albus, and it's so kind that he's protecting my emotions. But I'm not a little girl and I make my own choices.

"I have a right to know." My push my shoulders back and square him. This isn't being dropped and James is inching away. I catch his eyes and my breath catches my throat as the memory of those eyes seeing me-

"He said you're a slut…"

Great. This is going to get even better than what I imagined. I brace myself knowing more is to come. That nasty, nasty James: the man who doesn't know that secrets aren't supposed to come out.

"…that you've been sleeping around with tons of guys this summer…"

I hide my laughter. Apparently, he doesn't tell the secret as it happened either. He leaves out key information. He's such a naughty, naughty boy. I can't wait until I can correct him. I'll watch the color drain from his face and-

"…but I know you didn't- you wouldn't- so it's not a big deal, you see?" Albus turns to me and lightly grabs my hand. My body stiffens and I slowly pull away. I want to collapse into his arms and have those warm, emerald eyes take me on endless journeys. I'm in love, but I can't be.

Not anymore.

And he'll never understand.

"What's going on in here?" asks Mum, as she follows Mr. and Mrs. Potter into the room. Dad isn't far behind and my semblance darkens. I feel it invade my soul and begin to drag me into total blackness.

I yank my hand away from Albus, whose face falls with realization that I hadn't once protested James's statements. He's connecting the pieces and I need to do the big reveal before it's too late.

All eyes on me, I take a singular breath.

"James needs to learn that to tell secrets right all information must be included. If not, that's fabrication and a lie. And I hate liars."

I glance over and see James a sickly white. A fire ignited under my stone heart. I don't know what it is, but it gives me courage to focus back on Albus. He's shaking his head. Denial is a pitiful thing.

"I don't under-"

"I slept with your ruddy brother, Albus, along with most of blokes on the Quidditch team. It happened. It's real life." I pause, momentarily, taking in the mixture of anger, betrayal, hurt, and confusion on his face. I stare at his forehead, not his gentle, kind eyes, before adding as an afterthought, "I was going to tell you a different way, but since the secrets out of the bag…"

There will be no apologies, despite one burning on my tongue. I can barely comprehend that I actually did that. I may have just thrown away the best person in my life. I lock away my tears. It's not time to feel remorse or anything. Thus, I sit back on my heels and shrug.

"So, when's dinner?"

I may be a lot of things, but I will not be a liar like my father or feign obliviousness through drinks like my mother. No, I will come out stronger.

I will banish all feeling.

A/N: Hello, all of you readers. I know I should not be starting a new story, since I never finish any, but I heard Melanie Martinez's album Crybaby and this magical piece popped into my head. If you have heard of her, you'll definitely be able to know which songs I've been influenced by the most, and if you haven't heard of her, I recommend listening to her.

Besides that, I hope you enjoyed this prologue and more fun drama will come. Reviews are wonderful, because I love feedback of all kinds. If people don't give me feedback, then I tend to try to give myself some and it turns into me criticizing the piece until I cannot stand to write it anymore!

Lots of Love,

Kaitlyn