Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Suing me would be bad! Most
characters are of J.K. Rowling's creation. The only other credit is to
Amelia Atwater Rhodes for the poem, Shattered Mirror.
Fight or Flight
A tall, Asian girl leaned against the wall at the beginning of term feast. Everyone wondered who she was and why she was here. She was dressed in traditional black Hogwarts robes, with only one piece of jewelry, a black silk ribbon with a large emerald hanging from it, but her pale skin and waist-length jet black hair made her look scary, like a Goth. But this girl was no Goth. All through the Sorting she stood and looked on. Dumbledore stood and raised his hand for silence. As everyone quieted, he spoke.
"We have a new student with us this year. She has just transferred from Salem Witches Academy in America. Her name is Elizabeth Majic." He turned and faced her. She raised an eyebrow expectantly, and after a few seconds shook her head and walked forward. The Sorting Hat was placed on her head. It took several minutes before decidingly announcing-
"Gryffindor!" Elizabeth stood and walked to the table. She sat down in the only available seat, next to Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom. They both stared at her.
"What are you looking at?" Elizabeth asked. Her accent was definitely American, and it seemed as if it would stay that way.
"Nothing, Elizabeth," Hermione hurriedly replied. Elizabeth had been staring at the food, but her head slowly turned to face Hermione.
"My name is not Elizabeth," she said. "I only answer to Frizz."
"But-" Hermione began, but was cut off.
"But nothing. Get it right or get out of my face." After that, most of the Gryffindor table was silent. Finally, what seemed like centuries later, Professor Dumbledore excused them. Yet again, everyone was silent. Frizz was the first to get to the dormitory, and everyone else was in for a surprise. When Hermione arrived, Frizz was sitting on the bed, surrounded by animals. There were cats and dogs, or what seemed like cats and dogs. Upon closer inspection, the cats seemed to have lion tails and the dogs' tails were forked.
"What are those?!" Hermione squealed.
"You call yourself smart, and you don't even know kneazles and crups when you see them?" Frizz asked.
"Oh, kneazles and crups. I thought they were something dangerous."
"They can be dangerous if you don't respect them." Hermione drew away. "Don't worry, if you don't hurt them, they won't hurt you." The smallest of the crups went and rubbed against Hermione's leg. "Oh, he likes you."
"What are their names?"
"All of them? Okay." She picked up the two smallest kneazles, the catlike beings. "These are Ripley and Oblio." She moved on. "Here is Chance, Duncan, Mr. and Mrs. B, Mac, which is short for Macavity, and Almonette. Those are all the kneazles. The crups are Pepper, Sultan, Nikki, Hampton, Spike, that's the one you're holding, Athena, and Venus. They are the majority of my pets."
"You mean there are more?"
"Yeah! There are Rocket, Racecar, and Rodeo, my winged horses, and Alf and Elm, my owls, and, not forgetting the coolest of all, Carrie."
"What's Carrie?"
"A basilisk." Hermione backed away.
"A basilisk?"
"Yeah. Don't worry. She's a special cross breed. Her eyes aren't normally dangerous, and I milk her venom frequently."
"Will she sneak up on me while I'm asleep?"
"No, she's in an enclosure outside."
"Good. I've had some pretty bad basilisk experiences."
"So have I. But I think it's better to face your fears then hide from them."
"That's a good philosophy."
"I think so too." There was a banging on the door. "Not again!" Frizz said. "What do you want?"
"Let us in!" several voices said at once.
"No!" she replied.
"We'll bang down the door!"
"Try it, I dare you!" Several minutes of banging came next. "Morons, you can't bang it down!"
"Insult us one more time and I'll tell Father."
"Dammit!" Frizz walked to the door and pulled it open. There stood four girls, all around 11. "What do you want?"
"Father said you have to show us around!" The first one said.
"I haven't been here any longer than you have." Hermione noted that, even though Frizz's accent was strictly American, these girls were all English. Frizz turned to Hermione. "My sisters, Rainbow, Sunny, Star, and Moon." She lowered her voice. "I call them the quads. Short for quadruplets, you know."
"Wow. Four sisters."
"I don't know them to well." She turned back to the quads. "I'll show you around as soon as I can, okay?"
"Fine." They turned, and as one, walked away. Frizz slammed the door.
"Our parents are divorced. I bet that you noticed the accent difference. I stayed in America with our Dad, and they came here with my Mom. But, about six months later, our Mom died, and instead of coming to America, they went to live with my pretentious Uncle who insists everyone call him Father. It is very annoying."
Before she got any farther, Hermione cut in. "We really should get some sleep. It will be a hard day tomorrow."
"Yeah. Busy day, and all." The sarcasm in her voice was obvious. "See you tomorrow." The next day, Frizz wandered into Transfiguration last, but right before she would have been late. Even though she looked Gothish the day before, she didn't today. What had been waist length jet black hair yesterday was now a knee length wave of black, green and hints of red. She wore traditional Hogwarts robes the day before, but today she wore forest green jeans, a bright green tank top, and neon green high top sneakers, with the over piece of the Hogwarts robe, but it had been tinted green. She abandoned the pointed hat in favor of a dark green bandana.
"Miss Majic," Professor McGonagall said in surprise. "Why are you not in uniform?"
"Show me where it is written that I have to wear the robes, and I'll change," she replied. Professor McGonagall sat at her desk and pulled out the rule book for Hogwarts. Frizz sat down and waited. McGonagall spent the entire class period flipping through the book. After class was over she called Frizz to her desk.
"You are correct, Miss Majic," she said. "You may wear what you will, as long as you are wearing part of the uniform. It would be nice if you could stick to the dress code though." Frizz just smiled and walked away.
Her next class was Care of Magical Creatures. She saw Hagrid and took off in a run. She reached him, and slowed.
"Hagrid," she began. "How long has it been?"
"Too long Frizz, too long."
"Definitely. It is okay for me to use your padlock for Rocket, Racecar, and Rodeo, right?"
"It's fine, as long as you let me use them in a lesson or two."
"Of course, anything for an old friend."
Hagrid lowered his voice, so only she could hear. "So, does anyone know yet?"
"No. and we're planning on keeping it that way."
"Good, wouldn't want anyone to panic."
"Me neither." Classes went smoothly for the rest of the day. Frizz finished her homework quickly and went outside. She didn't know that someone had followed her. She mounted a large black winged horse and took off into the air. A stranger in black mounted a broom and followed. Frizz realized that someone was there, but did not let on. Suddenly, she swung the horse around and faced him. Her eyes grew wide.
"That's why he sent me here," she whispered, and plunged to the ground. She put the horse away in a rush, and ran. She arrived in the dormitory and collapsed on her bed.
"My God, why did he do this too me?"
The next day, Frizz didn't talk back to any teachers. She was quiet and inverted, which was a side of her no one had seen yet. Hermione asked what was wrong and received no answer. Frizz wandered, almost aimlessly. Someone ran into her, and she snapped to attention. It was Harry.
"Watch where your going," she said, slightly to loudly. A crowd began to gather.
"Sorry," he replied, slightly sarcastic, but not one pick out the subtle tones but Frizz.
"What did you say?"
"Sorry. Do you have a problem with it, or something?" This time the sarcasm was obvious.
"Maybe I do." Frizz showed hints of anger. She cracked her knuckled and gritted her teeth. She turned her attention to the crowd of students. "What are you waiting for? Leave!" Everyone but Neville scattered. Frizz pulled out her wand. "It would take more than two hands to count the ways I could kill you. Without this." She tossed her wand behind her back and it hit Neville. He yelped. "What are you still doing here? Leave!" He ran. "Now where were we?" She advanced with a wicked grin on her face.
Frizz walked into Potions twenty minutes late. Surprisingly, Professor Snape did nothing to punish her. No one had every seen him be nice to a student who was not a Slytherin. Another thing was wrong. Harry didn't show up to class the rest of the day. It was Filch who finally found him. He was unconscious, tied up, and stuffed in a closet. There was no clue about who had done it, but every student in school and all of the teachers knew it was Frizz. But no one could prove it. The only clue about what had happened was there was a tear dropped shaped scar on his arm. Draco Malfoy seemed particularly interested in this scar. No one knew why, but he was.
Several weeks passed since Harry had been attack. Frizz was quiet and collected. It seemed apparent to everyone that she had proved her power by defeating Harry. She saw no more need to be confrontational. But Hermione saw in the dormitory that the confrontational Frizz, or even the calmer one, were simply shells. She discovered this one night that Frizz had revealed herself. She and Frizz were the only ones in their dormitory. Frizz was crying.
"Frizz, what's wrong?" she asked.
"Everything," was the reply she received.
"Everything?"
"Yes, everything. I was thrown into an environment I'm unaccustomed to, taken away from my friends, and soon I'll be facing something even I can't handle."
"What?"
Frizz stopped crying. "I was taken out of Salem for my selfish families benefit. If you must know, I was one of the most popular students at Salem. What I did to Harry is basically what I did to get noticed at Salem. I'm confrontational. My Dad took me to a psychologist, and he basically said I have anger issues and a need to be the best. And at Salem, there were three kinds of people. My group of friends, the people who were scared of me, which was just about everyone, and the few who decided to stand up to me. The world there basically revolved around me. I doubt even you could survive at Salem. We were a year ahead of Hogwarts in studies but a horrible Quiddich team was the only bad thing. I was the star there, but now I'm not even on the team. That's why I'm upset."
"Sorry to pry, but you said something about 'something even you can't handle.' What is that?"
Frizz sighed. "There is a trait in my family. It is believed that people with this trait should only marry others with this trait. And there happens to be someone like that here."
"Do I want to know who?"
Frizz shook her head. Hermione nodded in agreement. "Okay."
The next day, Frizz acted like the conversation between her and Hermione never happened. Harry and Ron were concerned about how strange Hermione was acting, but she wouldn't tell them anything. She didn't think that her being Frizz's only apparent confidence would make them too happy. The only difference in Frizz's behavior was that she was carrying a notebook around and writing in it constantly. Hermione sneaked a peek, but Frizz was only writing the same poem over and over. The poem was:
"Cold as winter, strong as stone,
She faced the darkness all alone.
A silver goddess, a reflection,
A mirage, a recollection.
No return, no turning back,
The past is gone, the future, black.
Serpents gather in their nest,
And she stands above the rest.
Shadows hunt, she hunts the shadow.
The moon is risen, she stands below.
She views the world through the lives of others.
Black and white; there are no colors.
As she looks down upon a shattered youth,
A shattered mirror shows a shattered truth."
It startled Hermione a little, but she thought nothing of it. Frizz, however, caught Hermione, and did think something off it. She was just happy that someone here was on the way to figuring out that she was more than what she seemed.
Late that day, after classes were over, Frizz wandered the halls. She was startled by a voice. "I know it was you." She spun, not surprised to see Draco Malfoy standing there. "I surprised at you Frizz. With your reputation, I thought you'd have killed someone in your first week. Either you've tamed your temper, or you've gone soft."
At this point, Frizz lunged at him. "Do not ever insult me." She pushed him and he pushed her back. She ran into a wall. He put a hand beside her head.
"I'll do what I want, especially if you are involved."
"You touch me, I'll kill you."
"Not unless you want your daddy coming down on you."
"My Father would never do anything to hurt me."
"Unless you broke his heart like he broke his Mother's."
"How did you know about that?"
"I know things." At that point, he realized her guard was down and leaned in. He placed his lips on hers. At that moment, Frizz flipped him, so he was against the wall and she was pinning him. Two knives appeared, sliding up from her forearms, and she placed one on his throat as if to slit it and the other over his heart. "So you do wear them," he continued.
"I never take them off. And take this as a warning. If you ever do that again, I will kill you." She slid her knives back into their sheaves and walked away. Malfoy stayed, intrigued by the fact that he was still alive. His eyes followed Frizz, but fell on a blur of someone as they ran. He smiled.
Hermione watched Frizz at night on the grounds. She was constantly practicing some sort of martial art. Every once and a while, she'd stop and examine her hands. She would come inside extremely late and Hermione would pretend to be asleep. Except one night. Frizz had stopped abruptly and ran upstairs. Hermione leapt into bed. Frizz ran in cupping her hand. She pulled a cloth out of her trunk and was dabbing her hand with it. Hermione sat up when she saw something drip from it.
"Frizz what's wrong?" she asked, upset.
"Nothing's wrong, nothing at all."
"Then why are you bleeding?"
"I can't tell you."
"Why not?"
"Because, if I tell you, my family will disown me."
"They will?"
"Yes. All I can tell you is that this is something dangerous for you if you get into it. Okay?"
"All right. Would you like some help with that?" She pointed at Frizz's hand. Frizz nodded.
"It's never bled like this before." She pulled the cloth away. There was a large cut sliced into her palm. Underneath it were older scabs and scars.
"Frizz, have you been cutting yourself?"
"Yes and no. I need to learn to master my knives before he attacks." Hermione decided it would be better not to ask who would attack Frizz. There were silent the rest of the night. It took nearly an hour to get the bleeding to stop. Hermione bandaged it expertly. Then they went to sleep. Hermione now knew why Frizz didn't let anyone look at her hands. She fell asleep to thoughts of Frizz and blood.
Months passed. It was snowing and Frizz was wandering around the grounds, dressed in almost the same outfit as the first one. Neville caught up to her, bundled in a thick coat and huffing.
"Aren't you cold?" he asked.
"No," she responded. "I love the cold. It's warmth I don't like."
"The Christmas Ball is coming up," he said, changing the subject.
"Yes."
"And, I was wondering if, if, you would, like t-to."
"Are you asking me out?" He nodded. "I'd love to." She smiled. They walked back to the castle together. Walking, she saw a familiar silver blonde braid on the girl in front of her. "Neville, I'll meet you up in the Common Room, okay?" He nodded. As soon as he left, she went up to the girl and tapped her on the shoulder. The girl spun around and Frizz stood with a look of fake innocence on her face.
"Frizz!" the girl yelled.
"Aisha Klan-Klan, of the Kitar-Kitaru Empire," Frizz said. "Are the others here, too?"
"Yeah, they're around here somewhere. Go find them." Frizz ran off. First she came up against a girl with shoulder length auburn hair and pointy ears.
"Well, if it ain't the greenie," she said in an annoying voice. The girl spun, with an angry look on her face, but she saw Frizz and that look softened.
"Frizz, I hate it when you call me that!" she said.
"That's why I call you it, Hope!" Frizz said as if it were obvious. "What house are you in?"
"Gryffindor. Aisha's in Hufflepuff and Meygan's in Slytherin."
"As expected, but cool. I'll show you where the Gryffie common room is."
"You got in Gryffindor?"
"Yep. Amazing ain't it?" She lighting slugged Hope in the arm and they walked up to the common room. Then Frizz went off to find Meygan. Meygan was easily recognized. Her bright blonde hair and short stature were easy to spot. They had a very mixed group. Frizz was a smart rebel; Hope, a brainy athlete; Aisha, a ditz, and Meygan, a prep. But they grew up together. Their houses were all next to each other. Frizz in the center, Meygan on one side, Aisha on the other, with Hope across the street. They would always stay best friends.
The next day, Frizz, Hope, Aisha, and Meygan were walking through the halls. Then they passed Harry, Ron, and.
"Hermione! Hi! Harry," Frizz said, starting out brightly, but ending coldly.
"Frizz," he replied equally as cold. Aisha just giggled.
"Meygan spat remarks. "Looks like we found the freak that got himself in Frizz's way." Ron lunged at them, but Hermione held him back. Hope stared at Harry with a strange look in her eye. Then they passed Draco Malfoy. Frizz walked by with her head held high, as if he wasn't there. He smiled and raised an eyebrow. After they passed him, Meygan started her trademark ecstatic whisper.
"Who was that?"
"Draco Malfoy."
"Damn! That means you've already nabbed him!"
"I wouldn't touch that slime bag with a forty foot wand!" She said quietly, but with as much fervor as anyone had seen that year.
"So I can have him?"
"Take him. Get him off my back. Just don't touch Neville."
"Who's Neville?" Aisha asked.
Hope laughed. "Probably the clumsiest, most foolish boy in the entire school!"
"Frizz, with a nerd? You're kidding right?"
"No," Frizz snapped. "He's a lot sweeter than Draco or Harry. Yeah, that's right Hope; I saw how you looked at Harry."
"What, is 'sweeter' slang for something here?" Meygan said as her eyebrows went up and down.
"Sweeter as in kinder, you freaks!"
"Okay. Whatever you say Frizz," she replied, sarcasm dripping from her voice. Frizz pushed her, not hard, but enough to send her back a few steps.
"Drop the subject," she finished. They did.
Fight or Flight
A tall, Asian girl leaned against the wall at the beginning of term feast. Everyone wondered who she was and why she was here. She was dressed in traditional black Hogwarts robes, with only one piece of jewelry, a black silk ribbon with a large emerald hanging from it, but her pale skin and waist-length jet black hair made her look scary, like a Goth. But this girl was no Goth. All through the Sorting she stood and looked on. Dumbledore stood and raised his hand for silence. As everyone quieted, he spoke.
"We have a new student with us this year. She has just transferred from Salem Witches Academy in America. Her name is Elizabeth Majic." He turned and faced her. She raised an eyebrow expectantly, and after a few seconds shook her head and walked forward. The Sorting Hat was placed on her head. It took several minutes before decidingly announcing-
"Gryffindor!" Elizabeth stood and walked to the table. She sat down in the only available seat, next to Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom. They both stared at her.
"What are you looking at?" Elizabeth asked. Her accent was definitely American, and it seemed as if it would stay that way.
"Nothing, Elizabeth," Hermione hurriedly replied. Elizabeth had been staring at the food, but her head slowly turned to face Hermione.
"My name is not Elizabeth," she said. "I only answer to Frizz."
"But-" Hermione began, but was cut off.
"But nothing. Get it right or get out of my face." After that, most of the Gryffindor table was silent. Finally, what seemed like centuries later, Professor Dumbledore excused them. Yet again, everyone was silent. Frizz was the first to get to the dormitory, and everyone else was in for a surprise. When Hermione arrived, Frizz was sitting on the bed, surrounded by animals. There were cats and dogs, or what seemed like cats and dogs. Upon closer inspection, the cats seemed to have lion tails and the dogs' tails were forked.
"What are those?!" Hermione squealed.
"You call yourself smart, and you don't even know kneazles and crups when you see them?" Frizz asked.
"Oh, kneazles and crups. I thought they were something dangerous."
"They can be dangerous if you don't respect them." Hermione drew away. "Don't worry, if you don't hurt them, they won't hurt you." The smallest of the crups went and rubbed against Hermione's leg. "Oh, he likes you."
"What are their names?"
"All of them? Okay." She picked up the two smallest kneazles, the catlike beings. "These are Ripley and Oblio." She moved on. "Here is Chance, Duncan, Mr. and Mrs. B, Mac, which is short for Macavity, and Almonette. Those are all the kneazles. The crups are Pepper, Sultan, Nikki, Hampton, Spike, that's the one you're holding, Athena, and Venus. They are the majority of my pets."
"You mean there are more?"
"Yeah! There are Rocket, Racecar, and Rodeo, my winged horses, and Alf and Elm, my owls, and, not forgetting the coolest of all, Carrie."
"What's Carrie?"
"A basilisk." Hermione backed away.
"A basilisk?"
"Yeah. Don't worry. She's a special cross breed. Her eyes aren't normally dangerous, and I milk her venom frequently."
"Will she sneak up on me while I'm asleep?"
"No, she's in an enclosure outside."
"Good. I've had some pretty bad basilisk experiences."
"So have I. But I think it's better to face your fears then hide from them."
"That's a good philosophy."
"I think so too." There was a banging on the door. "Not again!" Frizz said. "What do you want?"
"Let us in!" several voices said at once.
"No!" she replied.
"We'll bang down the door!"
"Try it, I dare you!" Several minutes of banging came next. "Morons, you can't bang it down!"
"Insult us one more time and I'll tell Father."
"Dammit!" Frizz walked to the door and pulled it open. There stood four girls, all around 11. "What do you want?"
"Father said you have to show us around!" The first one said.
"I haven't been here any longer than you have." Hermione noted that, even though Frizz's accent was strictly American, these girls were all English. Frizz turned to Hermione. "My sisters, Rainbow, Sunny, Star, and Moon." She lowered her voice. "I call them the quads. Short for quadruplets, you know."
"Wow. Four sisters."
"I don't know them to well." She turned back to the quads. "I'll show you around as soon as I can, okay?"
"Fine." They turned, and as one, walked away. Frizz slammed the door.
"Our parents are divorced. I bet that you noticed the accent difference. I stayed in America with our Dad, and they came here with my Mom. But, about six months later, our Mom died, and instead of coming to America, they went to live with my pretentious Uncle who insists everyone call him Father. It is very annoying."
Before she got any farther, Hermione cut in. "We really should get some sleep. It will be a hard day tomorrow."
"Yeah. Busy day, and all." The sarcasm in her voice was obvious. "See you tomorrow." The next day, Frizz wandered into Transfiguration last, but right before she would have been late. Even though she looked Gothish the day before, she didn't today. What had been waist length jet black hair yesterday was now a knee length wave of black, green and hints of red. She wore traditional Hogwarts robes the day before, but today she wore forest green jeans, a bright green tank top, and neon green high top sneakers, with the over piece of the Hogwarts robe, but it had been tinted green. She abandoned the pointed hat in favor of a dark green bandana.
"Miss Majic," Professor McGonagall said in surprise. "Why are you not in uniform?"
"Show me where it is written that I have to wear the robes, and I'll change," she replied. Professor McGonagall sat at her desk and pulled out the rule book for Hogwarts. Frizz sat down and waited. McGonagall spent the entire class period flipping through the book. After class was over she called Frizz to her desk.
"You are correct, Miss Majic," she said. "You may wear what you will, as long as you are wearing part of the uniform. It would be nice if you could stick to the dress code though." Frizz just smiled and walked away.
Her next class was Care of Magical Creatures. She saw Hagrid and took off in a run. She reached him, and slowed.
"Hagrid," she began. "How long has it been?"
"Too long Frizz, too long."
"Definitely. It is okay for me to use your padlock for Rocket, Racecar, and Rodeo, right?"
"It's fine, as long as you let me use them in a lesson or two."
"Of course, anything for an old friend."
Hagrid lowered his voice, so only she could hear. "So, does anyone know yet?"
"No. and we're planning on keeping it that way."
"Good, wouldn't want anyone to panic."
"Me neither." Classes went smoothly for the rest of the day. Frizz finished her homework quickly and went outside. She didn't know that someone had followed her. She mounted a large black winged horse and took off into the air. A stranger in black mounted a broom and followed. Frizz realized that someone was there, but did not let on. Suddenly, she swung the horse around and faced him. Her eyes grew wide.
"That's why he sent me here," she whispered, and plunged to the ground. She put the horse away in a rush, and ran. She arrived in the dormitory and collapsed on her bed.
"My God, why did he do this too me?"
The next day, Frizz didn't talk back to any teachers. She was quiet and inverted, which was a side of her no one had seen yet. Hermione asked what was wrong and received no answer. Frizz wandered, almost aimlessly. Someone ran into her, and she snapped to attention. It was Harry.
"Watch where your going," she said, slightly to loudly. A crowd began to gather.
"Sorry," he replied, slightly sarcastic, but not one pick out the subtle tones but Frizz.
"What did you say?"
"Sorry. Do you have a problem with it, or something?" This time the sarcasm was obvious.
"Maybe I do." Frizz showed hints of anger. She cracked her knuckled and gritted her teeth. She turned her attention to the crowd of students. "What are you waiting for? Leave!" Everyone but Neville scattered. Frizz pulled out her wand. "It would take more than two hands to count the ways I could kill you. Without this." She tossed her wand behind her back and it hit Neville. He yelped. "What are you still doing here? Leave!" He ran. "Now where were we?" She advanced with a wicked grin on her face.
Frizz walked into Potions twenty minutes late. Surprisingly, Professor Snape did nothing to punish her. No one had every seen him be nice to a student who was not a Slytherin. Another thing was wrong. Harry didn't show up to class the rest of the day. It was Filch who finally found him. He was unconscious, tied up, and stuffed in a closet. There was no clue about who had done it, but every student in school and all of the teachers knew it was Frizz. But no one could prove it. The only clue about what had happened was there was a tear dropped shaped scar on his arm. Draco Malfoy seemed particularly interested in this scar. No one knew why, but he was.
Several weeks passed since Harry had been attack. Frizz was quiet and collected. It seemed apparent to everyone that she had proved her power by defeating Harry. She saw no more need to be confrontational. But Hermione saw in the dormitory that the confrontational Frizz, or even the calmer one, were simply shells. She discovered this one night that Frizz had revealed herself. She and Frizz were the only ones in their dormitory. Frizz was crying.
"Frizz, what's wrong?" she asked.
"Everything," was the reply she received.
"Everything?"
"Yes, everything. I was thrown into an environment I'm unaccustomed to, taken away from my friends, and soon I'll be facing something even I can't handle."
"What?"
Frizz stopped crying. "I was taken out of Salem for my selfish families benefit. If you must know, I was one of the most popular students at Salem. What I did to Harry is basically what I did to get noticed at Salem. I'm confrontational. My Dad took me to a psychologist, and he basically said I have anger issues and a need to be the best. And at Salem, there were three kinds of people. My group of friends, the people who were scared of me, which was just about everyone, and the few who decided to stand up to me. The world there basically revolved around me. I doubt even you could survive at Salem. We were a year ahead of Hogwarts in studies but a horrible Quiddich team was the only bad thing. I was the star there, but now I'm not even on the team. That's why I'm upset."
"Sorry to pry, but you said something about 'something even you can't handle.' What is that?"
Frizz sighed. "There is a trait in my family. It is believed that people with this trait should only marry others with this trait. And there happens to be someone like that here."
"Do I want to know who?"
Frizz shook her head. Hermione nodded in agreement. "Okay."
The next day, Frizz acted like the conversation between her and Hermione never happened. Harry and Ron were concerned about how strange Hermione was acting, but she wouldn't tell them anything. She didn't think that her being Frizz's only apparent confidence would make them too happy. The only difference in Frizz's behavior was that she was carrying a notebook around and writing in it constantly. Hermione sneaked a peek, but Frizz was only writing the same poem over and over. The poem was:
"Cold as winter, strong as stone,
She faced the darkness all alone.
A silver goddess, a reflection,
A mirage, a recollection.
No return, no turning back,
The past is gone, the future, black.
Serpents gather in their nest,
And she stands above the rest.
Shadows hunt, she hunts the shadow.
The moon is risen, she stands below.
She views the world through the lives of others.
Black and white; there are no colors.
As she looks down upon a shattered youth,
A shattered mirror shows a shattered truth."
It startled Hermione a little, but she thought nothing of it. Frizz, however, caught Hermione, and did think something off it. She was just happy that someone here was on the way to figuring out that she was more than what she seemed.
Late that day, after classes were over, Frizz wandered the halls. She was startled by a voice. "I know it was you." She spun, not surprised to see Draco Malfoy standing there. "I surprised at you Frizz. With your reputation, I thought you'd have killed someone in your first week. Either you've tamed your temper, or you've gone soft."
At this point, Frizz lunged at him. "Do not ever insult me." She pushed him and he pushed her back. She ran into a wall. He put a hand beside her head.
"I'll do what I want, especially if you are involved."
"You touch me, I'll kill you."
"Not unless you want your daddy coming down on you."
"My Father would never do anything to hurt me."
"Unless you broke his heart like he broke his Mother's."
"How did you know about that?"
"I know things." At that point, he realized her guard was down and leaned in. He placed his lips on hers. At that moment, Frizz flipped him, so he was against the wall and she was pinning him. Two knives appeared, sliding up from her forearms, and she placed one on his throat as if to slit it and the other over his heart. "So you do wear them," he continued.
"I never take them off. And take this as a warning. If you ever do that again, I will kill you." She slid her knives back into their sheaves and walked away. Malfoy stayed, intrigued by the fact that he was still alive. His eyes followed Frizz, but fell on a blur of someone as they ran. He smiled.
Hermione watched Frizz at night on the grounds. She was constantly practicing some sort of martial art. Every once and a while, she'd stop and examine her hands. She would come inside extremely late and Hermione would pretend to be asleep. Except one night. Frizz had stopped abruptly and ran upstairs. Hermione leapt into bed. Frizz ran in cupping her hand. She pulled a cloth out of her trunk and was dabbing her hand with it. Hermione sat up when she saw something drip from it.
"Frizz what's wrong?" she asked, upset.
"Nothing's wrong, nothing at all."
"Then why are you bleeding?"
"I can't tell you."
"Why not?"
"Because, if I tell you, my family will disown me."
"They will?"
"Yes. All I can tell you is that this is something dangerous for you if you get into it. Okay?"
"All right. Would you like some help with that?" She pointed at Frizz's hand. Frizz nodded.
"It's never bled like this before." She pulled the cloth away. There was a large cut sliced into her palm. Underneath it were older scabs and scars.
"Frizz, have you been cutting yourself?"
"Yes and no. I need to learn to master my knives before he attacks." Hermione decided it would be better not to ask who would attack Frizz. There were silent the rest of the night. It took nearly an hour to get the bleeding to stop. Hermione bandaged it expertly. Then they went to sleep. Hermione now knew why Frizz didn't let anyone look at her hands. She fell asleep to thoughts of Frizz and blood.
Months passed. It was snowing and Frizz was wandering around the grounds, dressed in almost the same outfit as the first one. Neville caught up to her, bundled in a thick coat and huffing.
"Aren't you cold?" he asked.
"No," she responded. "I love the cold. It's warmth I don't like."
"The Christmas Ball is coming up," he said, changing the subject.
"Yes."
"And, I was wondering if, if, you would, like t-to."
"Are you asking me out?" He nodded. "I'd love to." She smiled. They walked back to the castle together. Walking, she saw a familiar silver blonde braid on the girl in front of her. "Neville, I'll meet you up in the Common Room, okay?" He nodded. As soon as he left, she went up to the girl and tapped her on the shoulder. The girl spun around and Frizz stood with a look of fake innocence on her face.
"Frizz!" the girl yelled.
"Aisha Klan-Klan, of the Kitar-Kitaru Empire," Frizz said. "Are the others here, too?"
"Yeah, they're around here somewhere. Go find them." Frizz ran off. First she came up against a girl with shoulder length auburn hair and pointy ears.
"Well, if it ain't the greenie," she said in an annoying voice. The girl spun, with an angry look on her face, but she saw Frizz and that look softened.
"Frizz, I hate it when you call me that!" she said.
"That's why I call you it, Hope!" Frizz said as if it were obvious. "What house are you in?"
"Gryffindor. Aisha's in Hufflepuff and Meygan's in Slytherin."
"As expected, but cool. I'll show you where the Gryffie common room is."
"You got in Gryffindor?"
"Yep. Amazing ain't it?" She lighting slugged Hope in the arm and they walked up to the common room. Then Frizz went off to find Meygan. Meygan was easily recognized. Her bright blonde hair and short stature were easy to spot. They had a very mixed group. Frizz was a smart rebel; Hope, a brainy athlete; Aisha, a ditz, and Meygan, a prep. But they grew up together. Their houses were all next to each other. Frizz in the center, Meygan on one side, Aisha on the other, with Hope across the street. They would always stay best friends.
The next day, Frizz, Hope, Aisha, and Meygan were walking through the halls. Then they passed Harry, Ron, and.
"Hermione! Hi! Harry," Frizz said, starting out brightly, but ending coldly.
"Frizz," he replied equally as cold. Aisha just giggled.
"Meygan spat remarks. "Looks like we found the freak that got himself in Frizz's way." Ron lunged at them, but Hermione held him back. Hope stared at Harry with a strange look in her eye. Then they passed Draco Malfoy. Frizz walked by with her head held high, as if he wasn't there. He smiled and raised an eyebrow. After they passed him, Meygan started her trademark ecstatic whisper.
"Who was that?"
"Draco Malfoy."
"Damn! That means you've already nabbed him!"
"I wouldn't touch that slime bag with a forty foot wand!" She said quietly, but with as much fervor as anyone had seen that year.
"So I can have him?"
"Take him. Get him off my back. Just don't touch Neville."
"Who's Neville?" Aisha asked.
Hope laughed. "Probably the clumsiest, most foolish boy in the entire school!"
"Frizz, with a nerd? You're kidding right?"
"No," Frizz snapped. "He's a lot sweeter than Draco or Harry. Yeah, that's right Hope; I saw how you looked at Harry."
"What, is 'sweeter' slang for something here?" Meygan said as her eyebrows went up and down.
"Sweeter as in kinder, you freaks!"
"Okay. Whatever you say Frizz," she replied, sarcasm dripping from her voice. Frizz pushed her, not hard, but enough to send her back a few steps.
"Drop the subject," she finished. They did.