Poppy
I was sitting in Harry's room, chatting with him about before Hogwarts, when he was in primary school when he told me. "It must have been awful," I said, twirling a strand of red hair around my finger, "Being picked on all the time."
Harry nodded. "I never got a break."
"Not at all?!" I was horrified.
Suddenly, he frowned. "There was one time. When I was 7, a new girl came to the school. She was really pretty, petite, with big dark eyes, tanned skin, and loopy black curls. But they decided that she was more fun to tease."
"Why?" I asked.
"She was deaf, and she couldn't speak very well. Because of it, people were constantly tripping her up, and making funny faces at her. Because of her disability, she was well ahead in school work, but not even the teachers liked her, because she had to be told so many times to do something. She was very thin, and very fast, which as lucky for her, because she would have been hurt a lot more if she hadn't been. I never teased her, but I never stopped the others either. I regret that now." Harry sighed heavily.
I sat there in shock. "Oh the poor girl." I whispered.
"That's not all." He replied, and I was surprised to see tears in his expressive green eyes. "One day, I was walking past what I assumed was an empty classroom, and I heard sobbing coming from inside. Being me, I decided to investigate, and upon looking in, I found Poppy, for that was her name, crying. I stared, feeling like I should go in, but just then, I spotted Mrs. Britch. I figured she'd sort her out, and kept walking. When I was about halfway down the corridor, I heard Mrs. Britch yelling, so loudly, that I'll bet even Poppy could hear her. Also, Mrs. Britch is one of those teachers who make wild gestures when she speaks, so Poppy would know she was in trouble anyway. The next day she wasn't at school or the day after that. I found out later that the same day she'd gotten into trouble with Britch, she'd been walking home from school. She'd been so upset, that, when she stepped out onto the road, she didn't see the car until it was too late. She died instantly." There were tears running down my face, and Harry's too.
I got up, and gave him a hug. "I'm sorry that you had to go through that." I whispered.
All of a sudden, he brightened slightly. "That's ok, Ginny, just telling you about it makes me feel better."
And somewhere in the world, a little deaf girl smiled.
Fin.