A/N: Since I've been so brain dead lately, I have decided to write stories again. Please review and criticise and what not.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
September first.
And so marks the first day of my imprisonment.
I actually like school, until now. Father said the Death Eaters will be ruthless. He said to keep quiet and to do what I was what I was told. Not that I need to be told twice.
I'm the type of girl who you would see hundreds of times before but you can never remember her name.
"Mandy Brocklehurst? Who's that?" they'd say whenever I was mentioned.
"Wait, Mandy who?"
Let's just say I'm used to it.
It's not that I'm an outcast. I have plenty of friends, like Lisa Turpin and Padma Patil, but I would never be popular. Not like what Cho or Marietta were. Some things never change in the Ravenclaw house. Not since I was sorted six years ago.
But this year, I knew everything was going to be different. New regime, new times. Dark times.
Everyone was feeling it. There were so many deaths and attacks leading up to the takeover of the Ministry. They had started rounding up muggle-borns. Many went into hiding, including my mother.
She hadn't said where she was going. She just left in the dead of night, pausing for one last look and my dad and me before she apparated.
It couldn't be just a month since her departure. It felt like years, centuries even. Time couldn't pass any slower.
And here I was, waiting at Platform 9 ¾ with Dad. The day I had so looked forward to, I now dreaded. I can never say goodbye.
Dad had said he didn't want to send me off this year, but as those lovely Death Eaters made it compulsory, I had to.
He looked just how I feel, maybe even worse, if that's possible. He gave me a long hug, patting my light brown hair. I could tell that he doesn't want to let go.
"Take care," he said in a strangled sort of voice. His smile was awfully forced.
I nod stiffly, not daring to open my mouth for fear of letting out the huge tears that I could already feel were forming. I was going to be with my friends again. At least we'll be together.
The thought only lasted me five minutes of happiness- only enough time to go to the nearest window and wave to my father. After that, I needed to find an empty compartment where I could be as miserable as I wanted.
I dragged my trunk along the narrow corridor, glancing at the compartments as I passed. I couldn't see an empty one, nor my friends. Just then, I saw an exceptionally crowded one. Slowing, I craned my neck and scanned the area for them, and suddenly, I felt something hard hit my back.
"Oh sorry!" I said, slightly flustered. I was many things- observant, meek, obedient, narrow-minded,- but never clumsy. I looked at the person who I had nearly knocked over.
It was what I saw that made me back away hurriedly into my luggage, ending up with me landing roughly on the floor.
"It's fine," said Theodore Nott, but very quietly. I was surprised he hadn't told me to bugger off, then again, I had never talked to him before, as he was in Slytherin. He held out his hand and, after a moment's hesitation, I took it and he helped me to my feet.
We stood there for a few seconds- a few incredibly awkward seconds.
"Er-I-have-to-go," I said in one breath. I grabbed my trunking, wanting to dissolve right on the spot.
"Wait," he said. The calmness in his voice made me stop. "What's your name?"
Did he want it for future references or was he just checking to see if I was a mass murderer in disguise?
"Mandy," I found myself saying. "Mandy Brocklehurst."
And without another word, I ran off, knowing he was watching me go. I wanted nothing more than to get away from that calculating gaze.
The Great Hall lacked its usual cheerful chat and bustle. Students were whispering to their friends. I noticed a few were missing. Muggle-borns, I suspected. And Harry Potter. I never met him, but I hope that he survives this war, if you can still call it that. With a fallen ministry and Dumbledore gone, it is certainly clear that we have lost.
I was wedged between Lisa and Padma. We weren't talking much. It seemed that they, like myself, were more absorbed in their own thoughts. We wouldn't be able to talk freely again until we were safe in our dormitory.
I scanned the tables again, once again looking at the Slytherin table. That lot looked a tad more smug than usual. But I wasn't interested in them. Only one of them.
My eyes locked with Nott's. He nodded at me and smirked. I blushed and looked down at my hardly touched food. Suddenly, I wasn't so hungry anymore.
Lisa nudged me. I had found her earlier on the train and noticed that she looked so much paler than usual. She was nervous. My gaze switched over to where she was looking. Professor Snape had stood up to give his first speech as the Hogwarts Headmaster.
"Welcome back," he said, though eying us rather coldly. I could hardly hear him. Why he never opens his mouth more than a fraction of an inch, I wonder. "As you probably have heard, there will be a few changes at Hogwarts."
I saw Padma's eyes narrow.
"Oh yes," she said under her breath. "Things are going to be very different..."
My first class was Defense Against the Dark Arts. I walked there with Padma, as Lisa failed at the simplest of curses and decided not to continue at a N.E.W.T level.
I trailed slightly behind her. Padma was used to being in charge. She walked confidently with her head up, smiling at everyone. When I walked, I would always look down, fiddling with my hands.
That's one of the reasons I envy her. She's pretty and always calm and composed, never embarrassed or unsure.
Though, she looked rather frightened now. The teacher, Amycus Carrow, was big and intimidating. When he saw us come in, he looked at Padma.
"You- over there. And you- over here," he said to me, pointing at the desk next to Nott. Padma looked at me sympathetically and walked at her assigned seat across the room.
Slowly, I walked over to him. When I didn't sit down right away, he let out a laugh. "Come on, I don't bite," he said, pulling out the chair for me.
"Thanks," I murmured and let my bangs fall in front of my eyes. I took a seat and stared at Carrow, who was scanning his classroom with cold, blank eyes.
We were all silent, not really sure of what to do. Someone sneezed and no one dared to say "bless you."
"Today," he said, smiling sinisterly, "We'll be studying the Cruciatus Curse. Longbottom, if you would be kind enough to demonstrate."
I froze.
And with a cruel laugh, Carrow pointed his wand at the boy now standing defiantly before him.
"Crucio!"
Quickly, I looked away, Neville's shouts echoing in my ears.
What kind of deranged class was this?
Unfortunately, his sister was no better. Alecto was just as ruthless and evil as her brother, if not worse. In Muggle Studies, she taught us that non-magic folk were stupid animals that deserved to be locked up.
I entirely disagreed. In fact, I admired muggles for getting along so well without any hint of magic at all. But there was no way I was going to say that in her class, not if I wished to be whipped and humiliated.
Within a week, the Carrows had taken over the entire school. They thrived in their students' misery and considered their safety and well-being optional.
I don't remember hating anyone anymore than I hated them.
Their classrooms were like torture chambers and there was no way out.
And there was only one rule- behave or you shall be severely punished.
I felt that the only positive factor of their presence was that the homework was horribly easy. Just cause enough pain and write a bunch of lies and you pass.
And for the first time, grades didn't seem so important anymore.
Though, I was starting to spend a lot of my time in the library. It may look like I was just studying, but I was also trying to get away from the Carrows.
Sure, I was out in the open, but they never came in there. It made me wonder whether they knew how to read at all. I told this to Lisa, but she looked behind her as though to check if anyone heard.
"Don't talk like that," she'd whispered. "Not if you fancy becoming a knife sharpener."
She liked it in the library, too, and today, she was being even quieter than usual. It made me miss the old Lisa- the one who would joke around and talk at the top of her lungs until a teacher threatened to give her detention.
But there was definitely something else bothering her.
"What's up with you?" I asked, careful to keep my voice down so not to upset her.
Slowly, Lisa set her quill down. "They got him," she said, trembling. "Terry Boot. He was trying to stop them from torturing his sister." Her voice was smaller than I had ever heard it before.
My eyes widened. "Is he all right?" I asked, genuinely concerned for him. Terry was one of my few friends. Seeing him tortured would be, well, horrible.
She shook her head frantically. "I don't know! He hasn't been in class the past couple days."
My stomach lurched. Merlin, I hoped he was fine. If he had been killed...
And suddenly, I had another nasty thought. What if news like this became daily and frequent?
I stood up and muttured something about getting a book on muggle killings in the nineteenth century, not wanting Lisa to see me this frightened.
Quickly, I walked amongst the huge bookcases of ancient textbooks, picking up a random one and opening it. My hands were shaking so much, I dropped it.
I bent down to pick it up, when someone else got it for me. Startled, I looked up.
Theodore Nott.
Is it just me, but is anyone else screaming "stalker?"
"Here," he said, handing me my book.
"Oh, thanks," I replied, not knowing what else to say.
"You're rather quiet today."
"Always, you mean."
"Yeah. Is there any reason for that?" He asked. I wondered why he had this sudden interest with me.
I blinked. "I guess I don't like talking."
"Oh."
"Look, I have a lot of homework."
Without even waiting for a reply, I turned on my heel and left. Once I had exited the library, I made for Ravenclaw Tower, running all the way.
What the bloodly hell was that?
