CHAPTER 1: THE PROBLEMS WITH CONFRONTATION
DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything in the harry potter franchise; if I did I would be rich, famous and the fattest person on the planet because absolutely love food and would spend all my money on it.
I had been nicely and very innocently doing my potions work, I swear no mischief- doing at all which, I rarely did anyways, when a rough hand almost yanked me off my seat.
"Miss Rosier," Professor Sheperd sneered into my face," The Headmaster would like to speak with you." Beside me Noland stiffened and from behind me Stella's voice rang clear," Professor if this is about the fight yesterday during the Sorting Ceremony, then I and the whole of the teacher council knows that Creevy started it, you Slytherin hating fools would just never admit it!"
Stella earned a slap across the face and a week's detention for that. I had motioned for her not to say anything but why would anyone ever listen to me?
I still remembered Creevy's contorted face as he tripped a Slytherin first year and called him a little unwanted snake.
The kid's tears had compelled me to do what I did and my heart had bloomed with pride when I had seen Creevy's bloody nose. .
However, I had already got a month's punishment for that so I didn't see why I was being called to the Headmaster's office.
My suspicions were confirmed when Sheperd called for Stella, Noland, Ray and Kate too.
My face paled as I thought about what awaited me.
We were all waiting outside the Headmaster's office enveloped in an uneasy silence.
Noland was the one to break the ice. "You know Sam is going to kill you right Kate," he said.
Not the most appropriate way to start off this conversation.
Kate's warm brown eyes pooled with tears and I knew she was worried that he was right.
Sam was Kate's seventh year boyfriend, who at seventeen was two years older than the rest of us.
Before leaving for the summer he had made Kate promise that she would make it work with her family for the summer to prevent herself from getting into trouble with the authorities.
Easy for him, to say, he was out of the prison they called 'a safe haven for all orphans.
However, as it turned out she had done exactly that.
"They found out about my heritage and turned hateful, I couldn't stay there anymore."
Saying that she burst into tears and I went over to her and patted her head, drying her eyes.
In doing so I passed a mirror and my reflection stunned me.
Everything about me was so at odds with each other.
My long blonde curls, blue eyes and aristocratic features made people think of me as a spoiled child but I was far from one.
A long scar marred the porcelain skin of my right hand from the time a crazed parent had tried to hurt me with a knife when she realized that I was a part of the family that had tortured her parents during the second wizard war.
One of my shins was bandaged up and I still had a black eye from the last social service man I had fought.
Moreover the thing that disturbed me the most was the hungry yearning look that had overtaken my eyes over the summer.
I hoped at least that would go now that I was back to having three square meals a day and living in a castle.
I looked around the room and I saw that even the others hadn't fared so well. Noland had a new scar on his face that ran across his cheek and he had grown taller, if that was even possible.
He had a tired expression on his face and was softly whispering to Stella in the corner.
I despaired when I saw her. She had always been too beautiful for her own good. I mean don't get me wrong I am pretty too but that is simply a fact; but if you ever saw Stella it was like rediscovering her beauty every single time.
She had beautiful auburn hair and slanting emerald green eyes which sparkled when she smiled. It was due to this precise reason that she always attracted unwanted attention. She too sported a fractured hand and a couple of cuts on the face.
That was it I had had enough time cataloguing the latest injuries of my best friends.
This wasn't the worse any of us had suffered, we would live without medical assistance.
My neutral frame of mind quickly shattered leading to an avalanche of anger.
"I thought we made a pact that none of us would run, however bad the family!" I said walking to the middle of the room.
Noland said with a grim expression, "They found out that I was a Nott by birth, life became hell."
"The old couple lost their kids at the hands of my mother," Stella said pain clouding her vibrant eyes," I ran before they killed me in my sleep."
My anger wavered.
It was always the same story, we would be sent to the houses of the war veterans or their families and one of the social service officers would 'accidently' let it out that we belonged to the 'darkest of the dark' purebood families in the country. That was all it really took.
The headmaster Professor Longbottom ushered us in and as I entered the stately office, I was met with the cold gray eyes of our personal social service officer/ torturer, Miss Chang.
She was very pleasant to look at but every time I saw her I felt an innate urge to puke.
She wrinkled up her delicate nose at my mud caked worn out sneakers which had originally had belonged to my 'sister' and had been a deep purple albeit slightly torn.
Now they looked to be a color of slime and slush held together by tape.
Heat rose to my cheeks but beside me Stella who was dressed similarly gave the 'dragon' as we called her an indifferent glare.
I was so proud of her.
Neither of us deserved this.
The only one time I had allowed myself to think about how my life could have been, breaking all of my own rules, I had fantasized about living in a big mansion with a happy family and having my friends over for sleepovers, all the things normal girls my age did.
That was the closest I ever came to crying.
"Stella Goyle, Noland Nott and Reyna Rosier," the dragon said in her high shrill voice.
I fought the compulsion to close my ears and Noland winked at me from behind.
I also hated it when people said my full name.
It was like a constant reminder of why I and everyone I was close to was universally hated.
She gave us an hour long lecture about why it was wrong to run away from the 'loving' people who adopted us, even as her gray eyes danced with mirth as she noted our various injuries.
I wondered which important person did the 'Dark Lord's Faction' that Voldemort's army was now called take away from her that she hated us with such vigor.
Stella whistled the tune of 'Stayin' Alive' under her breath low enough to prevent the dragon and headmaster from hearing us.
Noland, Kate and I smiled a bit till Prof. Longbottom threw us a glare.
By the end of it we were all counting the number of times the dragon used the word 'ungrateful'.
"We should make this a drinking game," I mouthed and Stella burst into giggles.
"Okay I am done here," the dragon said.
We heaved a collective sigh of relief and were about to leave when the dragon asked me to stay back.
Before leaving Stella asked me whether she could take my stash of money if I died and I said,'' What is mine is yours darling, that is called a healthy marriage."
She blew me a very exaggerated farewell kiss till she was dragged out of the office by Noland before she got into any more trouble.
The dragon gave us all a very positive disgusted look which rather pleased me.
"Look here Ms. Rosier we have a very important matter to discuss with you," Prof. Longbottom said.
I gave him an openly enquiring look.
"Taking into account the fact that you are only fifteen and have the most important three years of schooling left, we have a prospective family that has taken an interest in adopting you.
I mentally cursed him.
"Sir isn't it too early for any of this, I mean we have almost a whole year to think about where I will be spending my summer." I said hoping feverently that he would drop this subject.
No such luck, he continued his train of speech.
No amount of warning could prepare me for what I was going to hear next.
"The family will be visiting next week; I am they would like to get to know you better before adopting you."
"Could I ask who the family is?" I asked Prof. Longbottom.
"Why, it is the Potters of course," he said trying to camouflage his uneasiness with an over the top display of indifference.
My heart skipped a beat and the dragon's smiling face was the last thing I saw before the world turned black.
Note from the author: please review and tell me whether you liked the story or not and whether I should continue writing this; I need to hear people's response before writing the next chapter