Chapter One
My name is Morgan Alexander Nalin. My mother and father are died but my features are from them both; my hair is a deep rust colour, a mixture of my mother's deep brown hair and my father's flame red and it was curly as hell. My skin resembles both of theirs; almost a ghostly pale. My body shape is rather odd, my back is broad and my legs are long but my hips and ribs have only a few inches between them, leaving my body tiny looking, and my chest was small but noticeable. I guess over all, I'm cute looking maybe even pretty. My eyes creep others out though; you see, my father had eyes of emeralds but my mother had eyes of ice and my genes had decided it would fun to give me one of each colour, so my left eye is ice blue and my right is emerald green.
My younger brother, Vlad August Nalin, was luckier; he looked like our father with his huge build and eyes but had the same hair as our mother and it was shaggy. The lucky bastard had all the good genes and only one eye colour! Fair, I think not!
It doesn't matter now anyway, our mother and father are dead and have been since I was five and Vlad was three. We lived with a friend of my parents, but he is a jack-ass. James, or Mr. Freeman, didn't like me because I was a girl but he took a liking to Vlad so kept me around to keep my younger brother happy. He also raised me to be like a boy, most likely in hopes that if I acted like one he could deal with me.
Oh and we lived in London now, though Vlad and myself were born in Scotland.
Over all, I'm a depressed, tom-boy, loner in a high school filled with people that love hitting me and making me fear for my life. Which was happening right now... As I hide in a cubical in the girl's bathroom with my main abuser standing on the other side of the mouldy door doing her make-up.
"Have you seen that freak-Morgan girl today? I miss my knuckles in her face!" Laughter echoes around at the main girl's, Claire's, joke.
Built up anger washes through me as they keep bickering. Normally I would write in my blue leather bound book and hum to cool down but humming wasn't open and neither was writing since my book was in my locker on the other side of this crummy school. Anger for me wasn't a good thing, weird things happened, rooms would shake and it would feel like there was fire in my veins instead of blood. The want and need to get my book and hum was murdering and without another thought I push open the cubical door, rush past Claire and her slut-brigade, and run through the crowded halls of Everlong High.
I get about two inches of my locker before I'm tackled to the ground. I manage to scream for Vlad before someone kicks me in the head and blood fills my mouth.
"Vlad, Vlad, Vlad! You are always getting him to save you, aren't you, Morgan? Do you hate us that much, Freak? Or is it that your dead mother and father told you that you are better than us? I think we should teach her a lesson!" Claire's laughter rang clear after Jackson's, her boyfriend's, words.
I'm pulled to my feet and held up by my arms as fists and kicks are thrown at me. It's seems like years before I hear the familiar booming voice, indicating that Vlad was here.
"Hey! Get off my sister, you asshole!" Grunts and the sounds of scuffling fill the halls as I'm let go and Vlad fights for me.
My body aches but I manage to curl into a ball with my hands clutching my head. I swear my brain was about to explode from the amount of hits my head took. I try to focus on happy things, change my thoughts to ones of happiness.
Suddenly, my attention moves from my head to the lights. Slowly, one by one, they were suddenly going out without so much as a flicker. It started to grow cold and I watch as frost seems to cover the ceiling. The laughs and chants of our peers grow silent when the last light is gone and everything is dark. I scream when I start to hear voices that don't belong to anyone here, screams from two people I had blocked from my memories... Screams of my dead parents. Down the hall it looks like the shadows are moving but it seems I'm the only one to see them, though...it appeared that everyone could sense that something was there. This hallway was a dead end so no one was game enough to run through down the hall to get away but they were game enough to step back and press themselves against the wall in huddled circles, leaving Vlad and myself to face what was to come.
I flinch as a hand touches my shoulder but relax when I look up to see Vlad's face. His voice is soft as he looks from the shadows to me. "Did you hear the scream? Is this you?"
My eyes water when I realize he heard the same as I and goddamn it, I had screamed like one of those stupid chicks in horror movies while he hadn't done anything but stiffen. My voice is hoarse as I reply. "I heard it...Vlad this isn't...I don't think it is me... I'm scared!" I push myself into his chest, turning my head so I can watch the shadows with wide fearful eyes.
Out of the shadows a figure appears floating soundlessly and the hall grows colder. I shudder as I feel frost on my lips and eyelashes, it was so cold I was shuddering from the inside-out. Fear, despair and hollowness are the only things I feel as more figures appear. They noiselessly glided closer, slow at first before Claire screams and runs down the hall, most likely in hopes that this wasn't happening and she was dreaming or something. Claire caused a chain reaction and people started to run forward. It wasn't until the first three stopped in their steps and collapsed to the ground with a figure over each of them that everyone stopped and started to sob in corners. Breaths that sounded rattly raise over top of the sobs and the figures pick up speed, flying toward us. Their black cloaks flutter noiselessly and their hands reach out for us, skin an ugly black that looks to be rotting and scabbed over. I scream again as I realize it's dark and I can see them as if they were darker then darkness. They had no eyes and their mouths looked to be only a hole, an open abyss.
I can feel the cold seething out of them and thought that my legs were frozen in place... Until Vlad made a sound of pain and had one of the beings over him. Instinct to protect the last of my family kicked in and Vlad was shocked and scared enough that pushing him out the way was easier then it normally would have been. I open my mouth to scream but not a sound escapes my frost covered lips.
The world falls away as I'm forced into memories I wish I never had.
We were driving over a bridge, a very big bridge. Vladdy was crying in his car sit and he was very loud, loud enough that Da had said "He is crying as if death be at the doorstep." a few minutes ago. Ma was in the front seat while Da drove. She was facing us and trying to calm our little Vladdy down but he wasn't being a good boy and wouldn't stop. The closer we got to the middle of the bridge the louder he screamed.
"Cináed, he just won't calm down and Morgan looks as if she'll be sick; maybe we should head back to the relatives, get one of them to help us find our way back?"
Da was a stubborn man, Ma had told me at a tea party, so he only shook his head. "I can no' go back, Ashling. Had a fight with my own Da again. I can no' be near him if he can no' accept ye and our bairns." He flicked his gaze from the road to the mirror and stared at me and Vladdy. "If ye do no' stop, the bridge will break from ye're screams, Vladdy. And if ye throw up, the extra weight will break it tae, Morgan.
Vladdy stopped screaming but still cried softly. Me and Vladdy had a bad feeling since this morning and as we got closer to the middle of the bridge it got worse.
"Cináed! You aren't meant to stop them like that! Now Vlad is crying softly and Morgan looks sicker...STOP THE CAR!" Da screeched to a stop and Ma got out fast before racing to my side of the car.
I was out of the car before I understood what was happening and Ma pulled my hair back as I'm faced toward the edge... And just in time because I threw up. Vlad was in Da's arms and screamed, thinking the bridge would break any minute now after what Da said.
"Morggy? Baby, are you okay?" Ma brushed the small curl on my forehead back as I face her.
With a small smile she cleans my face quickly while Da calms Vladdy down. After Ma cleaned me up she stared me in the eyes. Ma, Da, and Vlad were the only ones that looked me in the eyes with pure love and nothing else, others looked at me like I was weird, like I was a freak.
Bright blue-white slashes the memory away as it flashes past my vision, making it possible to see again instead of remembering and reliving a horrid memory. I look toward Vlad, the edges of my vision blurring as I see him laying on the ground in a pile... I hadn't been able to protect him after all. His name passes my lips in a soft whisper before I fall forward and hit the ground with a thud, everything going pitch black.
...
I blink slowly, seeing an unfamiliar ceiling stare back at me. Hot pain runs through my body as I try to sit up making me moan softly. Suddenly a heavy weight is keeping me down and stopping me from breathing.
"'Ello, mate! You passed out at the worst of times, you did! The Dementors were trying to give you the Dementors Kiss and the cutie with you! Then we busted in and were like "flick and swish!". But you passed out at the best of times, you missed them fleeing." I stare at the girl with wide eyes. Was she insane or just ignorant of the fact that I couldn't breathe with her on me?
"Miss Lupin. I believe Miss Nalin would prefer it if you got off her chest. She looks to be having trouble breathing and you are not helping the situation. Please remember she was raised by an ignorant Squib and is a Muggle-born." That voice was deep and sounded very, very, old.
The girl seemed to pout but got off and as I gasp for air I saw an elderly man standing at the end of the bed. His hair was pure white and his face was covered in wrinkles, yet what grabs my attention is the robe he wears and the weird pointed, but bent, hat on his head. Looking around I spot a few people sitting around the large room, that I had now put down as an infirmary, watching me and Vlad, who was laying on a coat that had been pushed up beside mine and sleeping.
"Get out of the way, Longbottom. They should have been here earlier!" A lady in an old looking dress, apron and old fashion nurse hat, pushes pass the old man and comes bustling over to me. "Drink this and eat this. A wise man once said to my ancestor that chocolate helps against the side effects of a Dementor, or at least those were what his words meant." She put a giant black glass on the hospital tray next to the bed, along with a chocolate bar and a rich looking chocolate cake. Whoever said that chocolate helps was an amazing person!
The nurse helps me sit up before she moves the tray so that it's in front of me. The smell hits me and I wrinkle my nose slightly. Maybe chocolate right now was a bad idea but I hate to see what the full or long term side effects are so I pick up the plastic spoon and slowly attack the cake. It hurt to swallow but after a sip of the warmed chocolate milk from the glass it went down easier... Though it would have went down fine if everyone in the room would stop staring at me!
I finish the cake and half the glass of choc-milk before I find the courage to whisper. "Why are you all staring at me and my brother? What's a Muggle and Squib? The Dementors... that's the figure at the Everlong High that attack everyone...?"
The girl that had sat on me, Ms Lupin, seem to shriek with joy. "She's smarter then she looks! Though a little quiet but that's nothing I can't fix!" I stare at the girl, studying her slowly.
Her hair is bright purple with horizontal yellow highlights. Her skin is a peach pink and she looked like something someone would count as wild... or worse.. bloody insane.
"Coraline Nymphadora Lupin! Get back to Hufflepuff common room and get ready for your classes. Ms Nalin has enough questions to ask without you piping in just yet. You can talk to her when she is well again. Now go, please, Coraline." I try not to gasp as Coraline's hair changes colour to a bright blue and she slowly leaves. Obviously, Mr. Longbottom's words had hurt her, it was easy to tell by how she hung her head and dragged her feet.
"I'm sorry about that, Miss Nalin. Coraline is a bit different to what you, and probably everyone else here, are used to. You have questions so I'll answer as best as I can. We didn't mean to be staring at you both, we are all just shocked that we didn't find you when you both were born. Do you mind?" He pointed to a piece of the chocolate.
Shaking my head I give him half of the bar, saving the rest for Vlad when he wakes. "Chocolate... I believe it cures a lot of things? Depression and other things. I heard from another witch that was Muggle-born, said that whenever she was on her cycle she'd eat chocolate to help. I don't really understand what it does to help.. do you?"
I frown hard before I realize what he is talking about and nod, keeping my voice low and soft. "It wouldn't have just been chocolate...Chocolate let's off endorphins in the brain the makes you think or feel happy but it doesn't help with cramps of that time, in fact it makes it worse. So maybe she was eating bananas and running as well. I've heard that bananas help and so does the running. I've never thought of this, little own talk about something like this aloud.. Wait! Did you say witch?" I frown deeply, realizing that I couldn't shut up, looking at Mr. Longbottom, I whisper with fear in my voice. "Why do I keep talking?"
Mr. Longbottom laughs before smiling kindly. "Fear not. Our Potions Professor just put a drop or two of Truth Serum into chocolate milk while Ms. Malfoy, the nurse, wasn't looking. I'll give you the antidote after our questions are answered, and don't worry, I took some earlier after bringing you here." He pulls a chair up beside the bed and sits down, smiling at a young man in, what I presume, was a teachers rob, making me remember everyone else in the room and causing me to blush with embarrassment. "Curious isn't she?"
The man nods and mutters as if he doesn't give a damn. "Hurry up. I have students to punish in detention. As much as I respect you, I hate the situation you have dragged me into."
"Understandable, Professor." His smile turned to me once again. "Yes, I said witch. Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"
Groaning snaps my attention to Vlad and I gently brush his hair away from his face. "Vlad, are you okay?"
His hand grabs mine and squeezes, making me help him sit up oddly. "No... I feel like death.." He stretches and pushes his hand through his hair. "What happened?"
Holding the rest of the chocolate bar out to him, I smile. "Well, from what I can tell, I don't think either of us is dead. Maybe a little crazy but certainly not dead."
Mr. Longbottom laughs as if everything is hilarious and I look at him in shock, only to have my attention drawn to the Professor who talked before. "Excuse him. He finds this fascinating. Normally he wouldn't laugh in such a situation. Headmaster, I'll be leaving now."
Mr. Longbottom's laughs died down and he nods. "Of course you will be, Creevey." Everything is silent as Professor Creevey leaves before Mr. Longbottom talks again. "Eat the chocolate, Mr. Nalin, it helps. You were both attacked by Dementors, as was most students in that school you were going to. I had someone fix up that miss, though told them to make sure that those students would be a little scared." He winks at me and grins cheekily. "After all, they did harm you and you obviously managed to keep in check. Right now you are both sitting in the infirmary of Hogwarts. Tell me, does something happen when you get angry? Something you can't explain?"
Vlad tenses and looks at me. "Strange things happen when Morgan gets angry and can't hum or write. I thought those things were from Morgan until she said that it wasn't her."
Mr. Longbottom looks at us both with a grim expression. "Actually, it most likely was. Dementors have been looking for a witch who is wanted for multiple murders so you attracted them. You are a witch and being with a wizard would have gotten their attention more so you were both doomed from the start at that school."
"Those things are called Dementors?" My younger brother snorted and glares at the ground. "Fits them perfectly. What do you mean by Wizard, Witch and Muggles?"
"Exactly that. Wizards and Witches are people who possess magical abilities. Muggles are those that have no magical abilities what so ever."
I cut Mr. Longbottom short without thinking as I realize something. "Then what is a Squib? And if there's Witches and Wizards that means that there are other...creatures that go bump in the night?"
Longbottom's laugh echoed around the room and his smile was kind. "You are sharp. A Squib is a Witch or Wizard with no magical abilities. Certainly, Ms. Nalin, there are other creatures that go bump in the night"
"Then wouldn't that make them Muggles?" Vlad frowns, confusion seemed to be all around him and I could understand why. This was so confusing.
"No. For you see, they are Squibs. Squibs are still Witches and Wizards, they just can't tap into their magic. They often don't work with those of us that do. So while they know about us and see everything we do, they live with Muggles. Which is how you get Muggle-borns like yourself. A Squib marries into a Muggle family and further down the generation from then on those that share any blood with the Squib has the chance of being Muggle-born." His old eyes stare at us intently, most likely seeing if we got the drift.
"So, we were screwed from the start. A Squib married our ancestor, had kids and infected the later generation with something they couldn't reach inside them." Vlad looks at Mr. Longbottom as if he was a target and Vlad were getting ready to fire an arrow at it. "Why us?"
"Vladdy, calm down." I rub my temples, trying to catch up on everything. This was just too much information to process at once. "Wait, earlier you said we were raised by an ignorant Squib!" I glare at Mr. Longbottom, knowing it would do more damage then what Vlad could do, which says something. "Mother and father were not Squibs!" I spot Vlad tense out the corner of my eye as he catches on.
"No, they weren't but James Freeman is. Stubborn is Mr. Freeman's middle name. He'll be arrested and questioned when we can get a hold of him. Hiding you both after you came of age isn't a thing to be done easily. Both of your blood contains blood of the Black family. I believe the person who married into your Muggle family was a student at this school as well. My turn for the questions." He lent forward and seem to stare into our souls as he rested his chin in his hands. "Exactly how old were you both when your parents died?"
Vlad's bodies tensed and he screamed. "WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH THIS! YOU STILL HAVEN'T ANSWERED MY QUESTION! WHY US!?"
Wincing, I cover my ears and squeeze my eyes shut. I hate talking about the death of my parents, just as much as I hated Vlad yelling. Vlad shouldn't be the one overreacting, I should have but ever since we lived with Mr. Freeman Vlad had grown up fast to protect me. When people look at us they see him as the eldest and me the weak youngest where it was actually the other way around, me being the week eldest.
I flinch when someone grabs my arm only to realize that it is Vladdy and everything is okay, we're safe. Vlad uncovers my ears and mumbles. "Sorry, Morggy... I didn't mean to lose it like that.. I'm just frustrated and scared." Looking into his eyes I could tell that my younger brother wasn't lying, it was time for me to be the big sister for once.
I turn my gaze to Mr. Longbottom, who was patiently staring at the window. "Vlad was three and I was five."
"I see." Mr. Longbottom paused as the nurse, whom I believed he had call Ms. Malfoy earlier, bustled pasted, followed by someone being carried in a stretcher with what looked like broom through his arm. It was the oddest thing I have ever seen, more so sense there wasn't much blood. My eyes widen further as another three people are carried in. The first three looked unconscious and were wearing strange yellow robes while the last to walk in was wearing green.
A blush creep over my cheeks as the guy in green turn his head toward us before coming our way. As he got closer I noticed he had a busted lip and black eye and was cradling his arm. "Good evening, Professor Longbottom. Are these the two children that were carried in earlier?" I shiver at his voice. It was smooth but held hidden emotions that lead more to the dark then it did the light.
Mr. Longbottom smiled at the boy with what I think fondness. "Good evening, Mr. Peverell. How was Quidditch today? I'm dearly sorry that myself and a few of the other staff members were unable to watch. Indeed they are. This is Vlad August Nalin and his older sister Morgan Alexander Nalin. They'll be joining us at Hogwarts this year. Morgan, Vlad, this is Ryu Peverell. He'll be a year above you, Morgan."
Ryu looks slightly taken aback before he composes himself and smiles at my brother and me with utter curiosity. "Hello. It's a pleasure to see the two people that are nothing but talk among the school. The hot guy that looks to come out of a magazine and the short girl that is an eyesore." Vlad glared at Ryu, making him laugh. "Take no offense to my words. It's just what everyone is saying." His attention left us and went back to Mr. Longbottom. "The Quidditch game went well. Slytherin won, though in Hufflepuff's defence I was in a bad mood from the start so it's only natural they'd lose."
Mr. Longbottom laughed but for some reason it sounded like he was mad. "Ryu, it is horrid to say things that aren't true or even take part in them, like spreading rumours." Mr. Longbottom smiled gently, as if he had shaken Ryu, which was hard to tell. "Why were you in a bad mood?"
"I understand, sir. The game was nearly cancelled, Professor. Your House Elf friend was lucky to get the message just on time, sir." Ryu looked toward Ms. Malfoy as she called his name. "Because you weren't there along with some other staff members, Professor, those that were there were very worried. Excuse me, sir. I need my arm broken back into place. Bye, Vlad, Morgan." And with that Ryu left us.
Sighing, Mr. Longbottom looks at us. "Excuse Ryu.. He has a twisted personality at times but he means well. Anyway, I have to go. You both stay here and rest. Tomorrow we have a lot to do."
I watched as Mr. Longbottom left before looking at Vlad. "Are you okay? I know this is a lot to take in and I'm sorry I got us into this mess, Vlad."
Vlad leans forward on his cot and smiles while drawing me into an awkward hug. "I was going to ask you the same thing. It's a lot of information to take in and there's more. The Headmaster, Mr. Longbottom, he is hiding something. Anyway, it wasn't just you. It was me as well, he said so." Vlad smile brightens in an attempt to make me feel better and I can't help but smile right back at him.
"Okay." I notice Vlad yawn and push him down onto the cot, grinning. "Go to sleep! I'll stay up for a bit more before I do the same thing. You heard what Mr. Longbottom said. We have a big day." I swing off the cot and pull the sheet up and over Vlad, kissing him on the forehead.
Softly I begin to hum until he is sound asleep by which time Ms. Malfoy had left and it sounded as if everyone in the infirmary were passed out too. I get up and stretch, wincing when a few cracks echo from my body.
"You stretch too loud."
I jump and spin around, seeing Ryu standing against the wall and watching me. "Sorry if I woke you.."
"Woke me? Nalin, you couldn't woken an army with your stretches! Hasn't anyone ever showed you how to stretch better?!" His hiss doesn't bounce as voice did and his glare burns my skin.
"No and why would they need to? Look, if I woke you, I said sorry. Can you leave me alone now?"
Within a moment of him stepping toward me I'm pinned to a wall and have his piercing eyes stare at me, as if he could burn the depths of my soul. "Leave you alone? Because of you my Quidditch game was nearly cancelled! You have no idea how much Quidditch means to me! I'm going to make your life a living hell here!"
I stop waiting to see if a snake tongue will come out of his lips and stare at him with wide eyes. "A-all this because of a game? It wasn't cancelled so what's the problem?!"
I wince as his hand suddenly grabs my throat and my feet are lifted off the ground. My nails latch onto his wrist and start to scratch him as I struggle to breathe. Tears brimmed my eyes as I look at him and regret it immediately. The look in his eyes told me one thing; I was going to die. He had the power to kill me and he wasn't afraid to. He could kill me right now and his problem would be solved.
"Quidditch is the only thing I can live for in this pathetic, pitiful, world. The only thing! And you almost took a game away from me. One game and I miss a chance to live, Nalin!" His eyes seem to show me what he decided and now sooner is his hand tightening.
I manage to make a choking sound and see crimson coming from his wrist. "Ryu... please...don't..." Gasping each word I start to see black and my throat aches. I manage to see his eyes flash with an emotion I can't detect and suddenly I'm on the ground. I cough for air and look up but Ryu is nowhere in sight which only leave a question in my mind.
Why did he stop?
'Ello mate! *waves slightly*
Please don't hate me if you read this! I'm a Potterhead that has so much to learn. And it's hard writing everything up, in my opinion, because I have to keep a few things in check because I don't own the Harry Potter series so I don't make the rules of which to live by in this world you are humbling reading!
As you can see (And if you don't you're about to know), I'M FREAKING OUT ABOUT THIS!
Anyway... Tell me what you think and if it's worth continuing.. I like where this is going and there are so many tricks to come that'll make you scream with frustration, amazement and wonder! Or so I hope...
I'll update when I can if you guys like it, okay? Also, sorry for any spelling mistakes.
Oh and by the way, please be wonderful little readers and see the button? Yeah the button underneath that large square! If you would so kindly Review for me and press the button I would love you forever! Which means Cookies! YAY!
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Love,
Magena Storm
