AN: So I decided that I didn't really like my first "Concrete Angel" songfic so I decided to try again with different characters and a slightly different storyline. If this falls under "rewriting names of characters/locations of one story in order to upload to multiple categories" or some other duplication rule, then I'll delete the first one. For now, I'll keep the first one for those of you who want to read it.
No one bothers to acknowledge the lonely redheaded girl with hazel eyes walking to school with a self-packed lunch for the first time. Her clothes are the same ones from yesterday: a faded white blouse and a frayed plaid dress from twenty years ago. She always has to wear long sleeves to cover the bruises, even in the summer. Her cousin shoves past her roughly with his usual sneer and cruel remarks. Attempting to ignore him, she observes her surroundings with eyes empty of emotion, stopping to look at boy with light brown hair and grey eyes being hugged by her neighbour Mrs Figg. The boy turns and looks back at her, offering her a small smile that she doesn't even try to return. He will learn to avoid a freak like her in a few hours.
Her teacher frowns when she notices one of her students subconsciously rubbing her shoulder as if she were in pain. Further observation shows said student pushing back her one of her sleeves to reveal purple and yellow bruises while wiping sweat off her scarred forehead. Before she can ask questions, the little girl replaces her brown headband on her forehead to cover the scar. Shrugging, she moves on to the next student, not knowing the level of emotional pain the poor girl was feeling.
During interval, the little girl sits behind some rubbish bins, trying to ignore the sounds of kids playing with new friends while screaming with laughter and having fun. Curling up into a ball, she prays to God and her dead parents to help her find an ally in this cold gruesome world. Her prayers are answered by the appearance of the boy she saw earlier. "Hi. I'm Tommy. What's your name?"
This boy already knows her name. Their parents had been best friends. Then her parents were killed by You-Know-Who, and his werewolf father was left behind by everyone. It is only because of his father and Arabella Figg that he's attending this school to keep an eye on her. He's supposed to keep under pretences by acting as if he never knew her before. He's supposed to be a new friend.
She doesn't look up at him when she answers. "Isabella."
He sits down beside her. "Hi, Isabella."
"Hello."
She is afraid, of course. No one ever is nice to her. A few in the past had been before Dudley scared them off or they discovered that she was a freak. It always ended the same way. So why shouldn't this boy be any different? "The others are playing over there. You should go."
"And leave you here all by yourself? No thanks."
She sighs. She might as well get over it. "My cousin Dudley will hurt you very badly if you don't go. Besides, you don't want to be friends with a freak like me."
He frowns as she winces and rubs her shoulder. "What happened to your shoulder?"
"Ran into a wall again. I have a lot of bad luck."
He had been watching her earlier during class. He saw her roll up her sleeve to expose her spotted arm. It confused him to no end. Was it common for kids raised by Muggles to have coloured arms? He would have to ask his daddy because it didn't seem like she would answer. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay. I'm used to it."
And she is. She is used to her uncle's beatings. At least once a day he'll hit her in many different ways with the use of his fists, his feet, or objects. Words are also used. The word "freak" still rings in her ears even now. As for her aunt, she was denied any decent portions of food. Her cousin would get four times as much as she did, which was half of what each her aunt and uncle would eat. She was a very fragile skinny girl.
Dudley sees them come back to class together after interval ends and scowls. His weird cousin isn't supposed to have friends! He has to tell his mummy about what she did. And he does. The second he gets picked up and his mother asks, "How was school today, Pumpkin?", he answers, "Horrible. It was so hard, and stupid Isabella made a friend."
His mummy stiffens. "The freak made a friend? Your daddy won't be happy when he gets home."
That night at the Lupins, Remus Lupin observes his son quietly picking at his dinner. He sighs. Tommy had told him that Isabella seemed to have trust him and that they hit it off all right. But clearly he wasn't given all the details of today. "All right, son. Did something bad happen at school today?"
"Do Muggle-borns usually have different colours on their skin?" Tommy blurts out, his fork held midair.
Remus stares at his son, surprised by the odd question. "What do you mean by 'different colours on their skin,' Tommy?"
"I saw Isabella in class," Tommy says quietly. "One of her arms had purple and yellow spots on it. And she seemed like she was hurting on the shoulder."
Purple and yellow spots? Remus is alarmed. His son saw bruises on Isabella's arm. It seems to him that his goddaughter is being abused by her relatives. To be certain he asks, "How did she seem to be feeling, Tommy? Happy? Sad? Angry?"
"Sad," Tommy replies glumly. "She told me that I shouldn't be around her because her cousin would hurt me and because she was a freak. She was hiding behind garbage cans."
Remus abruptly gets up from the table and hurries into the living room. He needs to Floo Arabella Figg.
A scream breaks out in the middle of the night. Then another. Then another. The neighbours are prepared to call the cops until they realize it's the nutcase Isabella Potter from 4 Privet Drive. They go on to don earmuffs and go back to bed. If only they hadn't.
Five people are standing around a small grave in Godric's Hollow. An elderly woman is crying her eyes out, wishing that the neighbours would have let her call the police. A young woman stares silently, guilt radiating off her like body heat as she wishes that she had done something the moment she noticed something was off. A man in his mid-twenties but with scars and greying hair is letting the tears fall silently, knowing that he would never ever get to see his goddaughter again. A fat blond boy is traumatized into silence as he replays his cousin's final beating in his head over and over, wishing that he had been kinder to her or that he stopped it. And a boy with light brown hair and grey eyes is clinging to his father, crying for the girl that should be growing up with him until the end but isn't.
Isabella Lily Potter
31 July 1980 – 2 September 1985
Misunderstood, lonely, and
Left to the cruelest part of the world
This little angel shall rest in peace
And watch over children like she
Isabella stands beside the sobbing Tommy, wishing that she could comfort him and tell him that she was all right now. She isn't hurting anymore. She is going to be with her parents soon. Very soon. But she has to wait for something.
The small funeral breaks up that afternoon. The next morning, the graveyard is crowded with cloaked people with sticks. She easily picks out Mrs Figg, Tommy, and his father in the crowd as they were the only faces she recognized. A very old man gives a very sorrowful speech as he wishes that he thought up of something other than the blood wards to protect her since they clearly didn't save her from her relatives. A middle-aged bespectacled woman is crying as she wishes that she had protested harder against the child being placed with her horrible relatives. A giant of a man is howling as he wishes that he had let Cassiopeia Lupin née Black taken her as the recently-escaped convict would've at least give her a quick death. The others merely cry for the loss of their saviour.
Isabella Lily Potter
31 July 1980 – 2 September 1985
Beloved Daughter of
Lily Jade Evans Potter
And
James Fleamont Potter
Our suffering saviour
Who finally is at peace
With those she had lost
But never should have
Isabella moves through the crowd to reach Tommy and his father. She slowly wraps her arms around Tommy, who stiffens slightly. He knows she's there. She whispers, "You are strong, Tommy. Had I lived, we would've been best friends. I'll be waiting for you."
The crowd finally disperses. Her grave is overloaded with flowers. After everyone has left, she sits on top of her grave, waiting. Someone was coming for her. She knew it. But who?
A boy slowly materializes in front of her. He is the same age as her with blond hair, silver eyes, and a pointed chin. He is wearing black robes. He blinks once and holds out his hand. "Come."
She takes his hand, and he pulls her up. "What's your name?"
"Draco Malfoy."
"How are you here?"
"My father killed me in a drunken rage last month. He has been drinking ever since you killed the Dark Lord."
"The Dark what?"
"I'll explain later. Come with me to meet your parents."
He pulls her into a hug before they both shimmer and disappear. They reappear in the same graveyard except it isn't a graveyard. It's a garden. And waiting where Isabella's grave would be are a young woman with red hair and green eyes and a bespectacled young man with messy black hair and hazel eyes. Her parents.
"Isabella," the woman whispers, tears falling down her cheeks.
"Mummy," Isabella whispers back, staring back in wonder. "Daddy."
She is engulfed in two pairs of arms the second she runs to them, hands stroking her hair and words of love being spoken to her. She is finally with her parents again. And this time they aren't going to be ripped apart. Never again.
Meanwhile, a big bear-like dog runs into the graveyard in Godric's Hollow and stops in front of the newest grave. It transforms into a ragged-looking woman in grey robes who collapses to the ground while sobbing for the loss of her goddaughter.
AN: Reviews are appreciated! Thanks in advance to those who do, and I'll answer any questions you have!